Week #4 of Tea 103:
Aside from the bagged/loose English Breakfast homework assignment there are eight different teas to do cuppings for this week – and the focus/‘theme’ of the week is “pairs” so those eight teas are split into four groups. Today I did half of them, and I’ll do the other half before class on Tuesday.
The first set was Kenyan Teas; a CTC and an Orthodox. About 5% of tea Kenya produces is Orthodox, and the rest is black CTC for commercial use. My understanding is that while ‘tea’ is a fairly large industry in Kenya, there’s not much of a “tea culture” between the people themselves? Someone please correct me if I’m wrong – I just found that fact rather interesting.
I found the flavors of this pairing were strikingly similar with one major difference; while both shared major flavours such as raisin, citrus, and malt the orthodox was more naunced and had other flavours such as baked bread, cinnamon, and honey and was sweeter overall. The CTC on the other hand didn’t quite taste ‘bitter’ but was much more intense and focused on those three initial flavors that nothing else was present except for an almost vinegary sourness/acidity. It was also fairly astringent. I did prefer the orthodox for the nuances but both teas were in my opinion quite well done with very rich flavours. I think this CTC may be one of the best ones I’ve tasted; certainly within class but I think in a broader sense too.
The second pairing I did today was a high and low grown Ceylon tea. I wish I knew the specific region (for example Uva or Dimbula for the high grown or Rahuna for the low) but I don’t; I’m gonna inquire about it in class on Tuesday, though. This pairing definitely wasn’t as good as the Kenyan in my opinion; but I did find it interesting how big the visual difference in dry leaf appearance was; the low grown was much more wiry/spindly and a more uniform, even colour while the high grown was broken into smaller leaf pieces and had a greater colour range; it also opened up MUCH MORE when steeped while the low grown stayed very spindly but got longer.
The highgrown tasted so boring to me; it had a very light fruity sweetness as well as some light malt notes and a much greater, but still quite delicate, floral flavour. I can see why it’s so often used in blending/for flavored blends. It was just too thin tasting for me though, and I was eager to move on. The low grown definitely tasted richer and more full bodied to me; it still had floral notes but was more malty and sweet with a nuttyness that reminded me of walnut. By far my favourite of the two infusions.
I feel like I’m learning a lot from you sharing about your class. Thanks!
How are you liking the classes?
I’m really enjoying them so far :)