412 Tasting Notes
I took a better look at the leaves this time – it’s and interesting mix of broken black leaves and golden tips. I love the color of the liqueur, a really vibrant red. The taste isn’t wowing me this time though; the malty baked assam flavor is trending a little bit towards… sawdust. Sadly :( Even with a generous dollop of milk it’s drying my tongue out a bit. I have enough left in the sample for another cup or two though, so I’ll have to play with the steeping parameters (less leaf, maybe?) and see if it was my fault.
Preparation
This is really growing on me; I might have to buy more (when this generous portion from Meghann M runs out) despite my moderate dislike of Teavana. This tea is okay plain but a bit of cream really brings out the nutty richness. The rooibos gives it a woodsy/fruity base, and lowers the overall caffeine per cup (which I consider a plus).
One of my favorite flavored black teas (at least at the moment).
Preparation
Mmm. Maybe I’m getting used to the subtlety of white teas, or maybe it’s just that I used enough leaf this time (1.3g in the tiny pot, thank you scale!), but I’m liking this one a lot more now. I’m not familiar enough with chestnuts to know if it tastes like those, but it does have a certain sweet and savory addictiveness that makes me sigh happily after sipping, even as my mouth waters. Very interested to see how this holds up to multiple steeps, and how it tastes chilled – I feel like chilling might make the flavors more identifiable, but we’ll see.
Preparation
Hm. I think I enjoy Darjeelings more when I think of them as oolongs rather than black, and in light of what I’ve read about them recently, that may not even be inaccurate! (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling_tea if you too are curious). Anyway – light body, amber color, spicy/fruity/muscatel(?) scent, and a really light floral taste. I think if I’d brewed this any longer it would have been unpalatably harsh; as it is, there’s just a hint of astringency.
This is quite nice, but unless it lasts more than two steeps I wouldn’t choose to buy it over a similar tasting oolong.
Preparation
GM sample #2/31
The boyfriend requested something “fruity” from the GM sampler, so this seemed like the one to try. This is… interesting. Not what I expected. The honey is the strongest flavor, but it’s not sweet exactly – like someone separated all the honey flavor from the sugar and just added the flavor. Well, the ingredients do say “pollen” so I guess that makes sense. The black tea base is actually a little harsh for my taste – even at 3 minutes I can taste some bitterness. The pear comes through more as the tea cools.
Will try this chilled next. Used 1/3 of the sample (~1.3g, hooray for tiny scales) with 3.5oz water.
ETA: Very good chilled, on the second and third infusions; the sweetness comes through more. The 3rd infusion was looking pretty weak though, so I’ll stop here
Preparation
I enjoyed this tea from Golden Moon. I think I liked the second infusion even better than the first, because some of those harsher notes you mentioned in the black tea soften a bit and the pear and honey flavors become a bit more prominent.
Wow this is one of the bigger samples then! After being REALLY disappointed w/ adagio’s white pear, I have some hopes for this.
Pear is a difficult flavor, because it is such a subtle fruit that is easily overwhelmed. Which reminds me, I purchased the white spiced pear tea from 52 Teas – but I haven’t yet tried it. Perhaps later this afternoon, I shall open the package!
Very true LiberTEAS, the black base concerns me for that reason- not just cuz I don’t care for blacks.
I’m doing a second steep now – will update the post after trying. I’m optimistic, for the same reasons you mentioned LiberTEAS – second steep is usually mellower, and the flavors seemed strong enough to last. Cofftea, I just got the scale a couple days ago, so I’ve been measuring everything. The White Persian Melon sample was only 2g, this one was 3.8 :)
Other people have measured these samples- some are as light as 1.8! :( Mine goes to .01.
Tea Bird – which tea scale did you get? I’ve been looking on Amazon for some but haven’t come to any conclusions yet. Also looked on Upton’s website for theirs ….
Lauren, I know you didn’t ask me but I hope you don’t mind my advice. I got this one and LOVE it. http://www.amazon.com/WeighMax-Precision-Digital-Pocket-Scale/dp/B001QB2N1G/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1271032415&sr=1-16 I, too, looked at the UTI one when I was looking at their matcha sets… but they don’t have the precision of .01g accuracy. W/ low density teas there are is a lot of leaf that goes into .1g or even .05g. Whatever scale you decide on, I would strongly suggest getting one that has a sensitivity of at least .01g. I looked for one even more sensitive but couldn’t find one. I take mine everywhere- it just can’t go thru the xray at the airport.
Mine also goes to .01g, with a max weight of 500g – maybe got the same one?. I’m liking it so far, but obviously have no idea how it’ll do over time. It uses two AAA batteries, which were included. For $15, I’m quite pleased. Link here http://tinyurl.com/y52fga6
Bah! Humbug! All this talk of scales! LOL!
LiberTEAS, no one said you had to like or even use them. But some people do.
Where were you guys when I spent, like, 4 hours on Amazon the other night on scales? Thank you both very much! The more I get into teas, the more I think I need this kind of equipment – I’ve been using my measuring spoons and am a bit disappointed with the highly inaccurate nature of it for tea leaves.
Tea Bird, same brand but slightly different model. I love that yours has a place to put an extra battery! Great for going on vacation.
lauren, my love for whites especially, but also oolongs made me get a scale… measuring them is SUCH a pain in the butt. It also came in handy when my friend gave me some dried spearment and lemon verbena from her garden because the leaf size was not altered in any way. A tea scale probably wouldn’t be as neccessary for someone who drinks mostly blacks.
Tea Bird, I’d love to hear the details of your theory on having a different scale for every type of tea. As much as I LOVE mine and am a complete tea gadget addict, that seems to be over kill even to me lol.
Cofftea: I know that. I was joking. That’s why I included the LOL in my comment.
I am just so anti-gadgetry when it comes to tea… I like it to be simple. This is why I don’t drink as much Matcha as I think I would like to – because I don’t want to get my chawan, chasen and sifter out. LOL! It took me a couple of years before I actually broke down and bought myself a tea kettle, and now, second only to the refrigerator, it is the most used appliance in my kitchen! hehe! The truth is, that if I were to get myself a scale, I probably would find it just as indispensable. I just cringe at that thought though. I don’t like it when gadgets become indispensable. Simple, simple, simple…
The more I get into this new-methodical-way-of-tea-ing, the more I appreciate the posts where the steepsterite posts oz/g to water ratio along with all the other tea parameters (water temp & steep time)! It’s so very helpful to me when I am trying a new-to-me tea!
I don’t have different scales for different tea types; not sure where you got that from, Cofftea. I do actually have a second scale, but it’s for general kitchen purposes with a 1g-5kg range. I wanted a little one for tea in general, and large leafed teas in particular, because trying to measure white tea by the “teaspoon” was driving me crazy.
LiberTEAS, that’s fine… but then why do you even have a chawan and chasen? It seems like a waste to buy something and then not use it.
I’m very into authentic/historic preperation so I use it a lot. That and it’s just my opinion that if I’m going to invest in anything, I want it to come out the best possible… and I am ABSOFREAKINLUTELY horrible at winging it and having it come out both good and consistant.
~lauren, that’s why I do it! If someone loves a tea, I always want to know exactly how they prepared it so that I can try to replicate their parameters. Also so that I can replicate my own, when I get it right ;) Making tea is just like any other recipe to me in that respect.
I think I understand your position, LiberTEAS, afterall teas have been around since 2737 BC (I wiki’d this a while back) and simplicity really does have it’s draw but then again, I am so new to this methodical tea drinking, it does help me define the way a tea is supposed to be in theory (without any guessing on my part). Today, after deciding to drink Jasmine Pearls, I searched hi & lo for some idea of how many pearls I was supposed to put in for 10 oz of water …. LOL.
lauren, I can help you with that… or at least I can tell you what parameters work for me. For EVERY tea that doesn’t have unique steeping parameters (i.e. every Japanese green is different) and chai, I use the ratio of 2.25g of leaf/6oz water… so the number of pearls used would depend on how heavy they are. P.S. this is another tea thats a PITB to cram into a teaspoon:)
Lauren, I got the upton scale and I’m happy with it. It may not be as precise as the other one mentioned but it’s fine for my needs. I tend to experiment with putting in a bit more or less anyway from try to try. It’s the right blend of simplicity and method for me at this point though I can see myself becoming more anal about this as I go along. ;-)
Thanks y’all for the advice, insight & tea scale suggestions! Keep ‘em coming, I’m a learnin’!
Lauren: For me, seven is the magic number when it comes to pearls. That is for my 8 ounce glass tea mug – another “gadget” that I don’t like getting down to make tea. LOL! But I do get it down for jasmine pearls because I do enjoy watching them unfurl and I do get it down for blossoming teas for the same reason.
Cofftea: I have the chawan and chasen because I do enjoy matcha very much. I just don’t enjoy the ceremony/ritual of the gadgets. But, the chasen does give my matcha a nice foamy consistency that I appreciate and I love my chawan… I collect teacups and teapots. I just don’t like to get all that stuff out a lot, because then I have to clean it and put it away. If I were by myself in this house, I’d probably have this stuff out and not have a problem with it… but, hubby kind of loses it when my tea stuff “spreads” LOL
I hate cleaning (anything really) as well. But drinking from a bowl is just way too fun lol. And I also get your point about the spreading… but those things help me enjoy my tea. I found I don’t like my matcha cold, but I have a suggestion for you if that’s something you like. Pour cold water, milk, or a mix of the two in a water bottle, add matcha, and shake- I made cold matcha lemonade (unsweetened) last nite and was shocked at how much it foamed! Being able to screw on the cover really made it easy to shake it good. You could try it hot as well but you’d have to be careful to not melt the bottle. If you’re gonna buy water in a bottle, might as well use it more than once.
I finished watching a movie and I come back to check my mail + steepster and I see about 36 emails in my inbox… it seems it all came from this thread and the talk about scales =]
I have a similar tiny scale like you Tea Bird =]
That’s my fault, Ricky – I solicited their expert advice (if I had done it earlier, I would’ve saved myself a LOT of time perusing Amazon & Upton the other day) on tea scales. Sorry about the inbox explosion! But then again, it’s us! it’s fun! it’s much better getting mail from us than all that spam!
Hey, he’s the one that sets his email settings LOL.=D
Hahah, it’s okay. I don’t mind all the emails. I’m slowly working my way through them =], but they just keep piling up!
For the most part I just delete them and go off my notices.
Notices, notices, notices…. uhoh 1961 notices remaining
Don’t you EVER click on them to clear them out??? LOL at least the number doesn’t go down as you read them (I wish they did though), click it once and it starts over.
Haha, I click on it every once in a blue moon =P
For the most part I only use dashboard, recent/all and email notifications.
LiberTEAS – I just saw your comment – SEVEN for 8 ounces? Oh, I used too many of my precious pearls today! OH NO! I wish I thought to PM you or something and ask your advice … I knew that you really enjoyed jasmine pearls from some comment you had made earlier in one of your posts. Sigh. SEVEN, huh? BUMMED NOW I used 34 for 10 oz.
LiberTEAS… you consider a glass mug a gadget?!
Lauren: Yikes… yeah, that’s a bit too many. Seven has always been my magic number for pearls. If you like a tea a little stronger, you can up by a few, but 34 is a lot for 10 oz.
Cofftea: Yes, because it is not something I use on a regular basis. I have 3 mugs that I use on regular rotation, they hold about 16 ounces of liquid. This is just perfect for my smart brewing system, which brews about 16 ounces of liquid (simplicity at it’s finest) These are a breeze to clean because I can put them in the dishwasher. (simplicity) My regular, essential devices that I use are my mugs, my smart brewing system, a tea spoon for measuring, and my tea kettle. Any variation from these devices are additional gismos or gadgets – niceties that are not absolutely necessary to get the job done – but are nice to have and occasionally give me a little variety on my normal routine. Example: If I want Matcha, I suppose I could simply stir some matcha into my mug with hot water, but, it makes for a better matcha to get my chasen and chawan out and use them. But, I don’t want to have to get these things out every day.
I believe that tea should be as simple as possible. For some, that means weighing on a scale to get just the right measurement of leaves. For others, this means winging it. I’m the kind of gal that likes to wing it. Now my hubby, he’s a planner, and he would – if he were a tea drinker – want to weigh and be precise. I think that’s why we balance each other out so well.
I realize I may have come off as snarkly when I talked about gismos and gadgets, but honestly, I truly have a great respect for it. It’s just not in my nature to be like that. But, for those of you who are, that’s great. I say, keep doing what you’re doing. If it makes your tea more enjoyable that way, that’s cool. For me, it would make my tea less enjoyable and more like math. And I hate math. LOL
Haha LiberTEAS I hate math too. And I’m normally so extremely not type A (I’m not type B either as I have no creative side/talent so I have no clue what the heck I am), but a recipe I can follow and a method for making tea is just a recipe. I normally only make 1 serving of tea at once (I have the ingenuiTEA and love it as well) so I actually don’t do that much math…. only when making chai- and I know I like 4g of leaf in 6oz water for chai so I’ve committed to memory that a 16oz serving would be 10 2/3g.I can be type A, get my tea perfect and not really do much math- yay! lol.
Cofftea: I don’t follow recipes either. LOL
How do you get anything to taste good? Are you just lucky? Maybe if I had your luck I wouldn’t be so tea anal. LOL
I guess I’m lucky. I like to play around with spices and stuff… so I get a general idea of how something is made or what goes well with it and I just play around with it. I have a family with three pretty picky eaters, and I’m the only one cooking, so I must be doing something right because nobody is starving!
But then, cooking is so very much like art for me, and so it’s like a passion. But… baking… that’s another matter all together, I don’t like to bake because measuring and following recipes is essential to successful baking. I can bake, and do very well with it, but I don’t enjoy it as much as cooking because of the need of being precise with baking.
Go figure… I can wing it when it comes to blending, but when it comes to the preparation I need formulas lol.
Baking n cookin by winging. Uhhhh I’m scared :P. Just a tad. Well I can understand winging when it comes to cooking but baking. Hmmm how’d those cookies turn out =P
I am sorry if I was misleading in my post… but I don’t wing it when I bake. I measure, I follow the recipe to the letter. And I don’t like doing it. That’s why I bake far less often than I cook. :)
So, I just got this in the mail (thanks SoccerMom!) and wanted to try some out. I knew I should try it straight first, but could resist tossing a little of Adagio’s Cream into the mix, and they do indeed go very well together. Prepared on the stovetop with equal parts water and whole milk, this I used 2tsp chai and 1tsp Cream for what ended up being ~22oz prepared liquid.
This is a tasty chai drink that I would certainly have again; spicy more than sweet, very peppery, maybe a little too much pepper for my taste, but the milk and Cream tea (which really taste more like maple, but that’s another note) smooth it out nicely. A dash of honey improves it too. Since the spices are so strong, I think I’ll continue adding some extra black tea into this.
Preparation
I had a sample of this that’d I’d enjoyed hot, but never logged. When we had an 85°F day this week I decided to cold-brew the rest; about 8 tsp tea into a half gallon of water. It turned out great; the black tea and the rose both come through. No astringency, lightly sweet, floral. Tasty on its own, delicious with a bit of simple syrup.
Preparation
Oh this is tasty. I think I might have oversteeped it a little, but that’s my error. It’s.. sweet, and savory, and just much more complex and flavorful than I expected somehow. A Chinese black, clearly, but I’m not sure what region this is from, and don’t have quite enough experience to guess. Yunnan, maybe? Lovely little golden tips in with the black leaves, anyway; I’ll enjoy playing with this one
Preparation
TeaBird, According to Thia the Tea Master at The Path of Tea this tea won black tea of the year. Wish I could give you more details but I couldn’t find the info on her website but she had all the information in shop when I made the purchase (a couple months ago).
It’s alright – it’ll be fun to do some comparison tastings and try to guess where it’s from :) I’m not surprised it won tea of the year though – very good!
GM sample #1/31.
Got my GM sampler today! Disclaimer: I’m not a melon fan. G is though, so he’ll be getting most of this one. Dumped the whole sample (~2g) into the 3.5oz pot to make sure it’s strong enough. And it is – barely. Sweet and mild, the melon flavor is present but definitely not overpowering, and comes out more as the tea cools. Going to try chilling the next infusion. But for a white tea? Really tasty.
ETA: Infusion 2 chilled was very good; got 4 steeps out of this with no problems, with steep times of 2-5 minutes.
Preparation
Big, wiry leaves for this one, so I used 1 airy tsp for the 3.5oz pot; liqueur is a light amber color; smells a bit like Darjeeling, but softer and toastier, without the really sharp muscatel. First sip: much softer than anything I expected with the word “Darjeeling” in the name; also surprising hints of flowers. Nice, but a little weak – might not’ve used enough leaf. I’ll be glad when the tiny scale I ordered just for tea gets here!
