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Irish Breakfast - Extra Fancy from Red Leaf Tea
58

You are not seeing this post. This post does not exist because I am totally working on writing and totally not posting on Steepster. If you can see this post, you need to get your eyes checked. Cause it ain’t here.

That said, TeaEqualsBliss sent me a sample of this when we swapped earlier and I can’t really remember why I rated it so low, but I gather that I rated it that way in comparison to the Adagio IB which I can’t currently remember what tastes like, so I’m not going to tamper with the rating.

I used 50% more leaf for this pot because I thought I could finish the sample off that way. Turns out the sample was larger than I had expected and now I’ve only got an estimated amount of leaf left for half a pot. By the time I discovered that, though, it was of course too late to do anything about it.

The tea actually carries the extra strength quite nicely. I can’t tell in the flavour that it’s stronger than usual, and reading my previous comment on it, I still completely agree with myself.

So evidently what we’ve got here is a pretty forgiving blend, which kind of surprises me a little considering that it must surely have Assam in it, and in my experience you can call the Indian blacks many things, but ‘forgiving’ generally isn’t one of them. It’s possible that the Assam aspect is a bit more astringent this way, but it’s not something that really mars the flavour on the whole.

I’m looking forward to seeing how the Irish Morning Blend from A C Perch’s hold up to this and to Adagio’s equivalent.

Back to work (HA!) for me, and remember, this post does not exist, it isn’t here and I never wrote it.

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Comments

Jim Marks
Jim Marks 2010-03-31 14:58:01 -0400

Couple of thoughts:

~ Much like coffee, people tend to think “more leaf” (or grounds) means “harsher”. People say “I don’t like strong coffee” but what they mean is “I don’t like bitter coffee”. They then make coffee with fewer grounds, which actually makes the cup more bitter because there is more water per grounds and the extraction becomes more efficient, and as a result, undesirable stuff gets pulled out. Similarly, more tea leaf may make a “bolder” cup but it won’t make it more harsh, it will actually make it softer, because the steep will be less efficient and the harsh bits never get pulled into suspension. This is why hardcore tea use LOTS more leaf than casual drinkers use.

~ Assam’s astringency is likely to be exacerbated by over-steeping rather than by upping the leaf. Again, more leaf, less efficient pull, actually less astringent. Whereas over-steeping means time to pull out the bad stuff. (Although, Assam’s astringency is not seen as a negative when balanced properly with other notes.)

~ Blends, by definition, should be more forgiving, that’s kind of the whole point: consistency and ease of use. Just like blended coffee, blended whiskey, blended tobacco, &c.

~ Get to work!

Heyes
Heyes 2010-03-31 15:26:11 -0400

Excellent comment Jim!

Jillian
Jillian 2010-03-31 15:55:20 -0400

“There is no spoon…” ;P

Ricky
Ricky 2010-03-31 20:36:42 -0400

Hey! The tea’s extra fancy! o.O

Oh how we’ve all strayed off in the comments…

Amy
Amy 2010-03-31 23:16:45 -0400

Waiting to hear your post for a while Jim. It’s reaffirmed my own thoughts about the inner workings of tea. More is better! Thanks for boldly sharing your thoughts and experiences with us! :)

Jim Marks
Jim Marks 2010-03-31 23:21:16 -0400

Any time.

LENA
LENA 2010-04-01 11:30:43 -0400

nice comment jim…pretty cool stuff.

Angrboda
Angrboda 2010-04-02 03:34:59 -0400

That’s great and all, Jim, but I do actually have a sufficient amount of experience to know what I like and how I tend to like it best. I can assure you, I know what I’m doing.

Jim Marks
Jim Marks 2010-04-02 08:06:48 -0400

Wow.

Amy
Amy 2010-04-02 09:50:46 -0400

Not enough tea love going on here. I think the tannins have taken over. Must…inject…more…love.

Ricky
Ricky 2010-04-02 13:23:08 -0400

Spreading the love.

Now children gather around. Sit down, hold hands with the people next to you. Tell them how much you love them. If it’s a stranger or somebody you don’t know, just tell them what you love about them. Yes, I understand it’s a strange, but you can be like, oh what a wonderful name you’ve got. Any compliment will suffice. If you don’t want to speak, a simple hug will do.

Okay, that was just weird….

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Profile

Bio

Angrboda felt her bio needed to be re-written, but she failed to consider what she wanted it to say instead.

Um…

Okay. Ang prefers black teas and the darker sorts of oolongs. She has to be in the mood for green and white and she enjoys, but knows little to nothing about, pu-erh.

Her preferences with black teas are the Chinese ones, particularly from Fujian, but also Keemun and just about anything smoky. She occasionally enjoys Yunnans but they’re not favourites.

She is sceptical about Indian blacks as she generally finds them too astringent and too easy to get wrong. She doesn’t really care for Darjeelings at all.

She likes flavoured teas as well, particularly fruit flavoured ones, but also has an obsession with finding the Perfect Vanilla Flavoured Black.

However, she thinks Earl Grey is generally kind of boring. Cinnamon and ginger are also not really a hit, and she’s not very fond of chais. Evil hibiscus is evil. Even in small amounts, and yes, Ang can usually detect hibiscus, mostly by way of the metallic flavour of blood it has.

Ang is not super impressed with rooibos or honeybush. She doesn’t care for either, really, but when they are flavoured, there have been known to be surprising exceptions to this rule.

Ang has a number of teas that she regards her Standard Panel and will always try to have on hand.
-Lapsang Souchong, any brand really, but preferably AC Perchs.
-Blackberry flavoured black or similar, any brand.
-Late Summer Blend, AC Perchs
-Raspberry Oolong, AC Perchs OR Red Fruits Oolong, Le Palais des Thes
-Caramel, Kusmi OR Toffee, Le Palais des Thes
-Something orange flavoured, black or pu-erh, any brand.
-Tan Yang Te Ji, Teaspring OR Bai Lin Gongfu, Teavivre
-A good Keemun, any brand.
-The Perfect Vanilla Black if and when she ever finds it…

Angrboda is almost always open to swapping. Just ask her.

The Formalities

Contact Angrboda by email: iarnvidia@gmail.com
Contact Angrboda by YIM: angrboda@ymail.com
Angrboda does not respond to gmail chat.

Find Ang on…
Steam: Iarnvidia
Goodreads: Angrboda
Livejournal: See website.
Dreamwidth: Ask her
Teatra.de: Angrboda

Location

Denmark

Website

http://angrboda.livejournal.com

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