Alphakitty

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Lu Mei Green from Little Red Cup Tea Company

Alphakitty drank Lu Mei Green by Little Red Cup Tea Company

I am trying to brew this tea correctly, but it is really fighting back. My first steep (1 1/2 teaspoons, 190 degree water, 3 minutes) was awful. So so bitter, it totally overpowered any of the actual flavors of the tea. The second steep I dumped out half the leaves, lowered the water temp to 170, and steeped for only 2 minutes. And it tasted… like water. Well, the beginning of the sip was watery, then in the middle there’s some nice actual tea notes, then at the end… bitter! What the heck. It does say this is a “sharp” tea but it should NOT be bitter like that at only 170. Something here is going really wrong, so I am going to hold off on actually rating it until I get a gaiwan and can do some really short steeps.

2012-05-21 02:53:51 -0400

I Like This

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Invader Zim 2012-05-21 10:15:49 -0400

Try 175F at 1 minute 30 seconds. Granted I haven’t tried this tea but this is what I typically do my green teas at.

Azzrian 2012-05-21 14:05:19 -0400

I am finding that this company’s teas are very finicky!

Alphakitty 2012-05-21 15:04:46 -0400

They really are—I tried 175 for 1 minute, rather tasteless and STILL a bitter aftertaste. Hopefully the other ones are a bit more compliant because I got the sampler pack with all 5.

Little Red Cup Tea 2012-05-27 12:07:41 -0400

Hi Alphakitty — Sorry you’re having trouble steeping this. I can say that I usually go for about 1:45 at 180F. But really, anywhere between 1:30 and 2 minutes yields a good cup — with 1 tsp of tea 8 oz of water. It comes down to taste, I suppose, but your cup shouldn’t be bitter if you’re steeping less than two minutes. Let us know if you have any other questions.

Cheers,

Martin @ Little Red Cup

Kasumi no Chajin 2013-01-20 21:41:43 -0500

loving this one, personally.

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Tea has always been a passion of mine, though I got away from it during college. A lack of cupboard space and a constant influx of people into my suite made me pretty much abandon my teas at home. But now that I’m done with school, it’s definitely come back with a vengeance—to the point where I’ve purchased about 65 different kinds in the past 3 months!

I like most kinds of teas—yes, even peach, which I used to think I disliked!. Oolongs are definitely my favorite, and I’m an avid fan of earl grey, floral teas, and chai blends along with anything melon. The only kind of teas on my “no” list are rooibos blends (which gives me headaches) and banana flavored ones since bananas are public enemy #1 in my mind.

The best thing about tea for me is how you can be passionate about it and still have it integrate into all of your other hobbies. I like a lot of things: writing, video games, books, sewing, figure collecting, astronomy… it’s a long list. But whatever I’m doing, I can have a cup of tea in hand!