I think Steepster is making me sensitive to buzz words. There are certain words that I will never be able to bring myself to use again as the sight of them gives me tics… I just came across a bit of text that combined some of my most hated ones. Ick!
Brand new tea to the rescue! Just one of very many situations where writing a Steepster post totally helps. (In this case it helps by proving to myself and others that the above can easily be avoided)
Anyway, this one was part of my recent gift from Wombatgirl and one that she has had some trouble getting anything useful out of. Apparently the problem was that it simply refused to have any sort of strength or flavour at all.
According to instructions one is supposed to use 6-8 of these little rings for a cup and water a little under boiling. I have not followed these instructions. I have in fact used these instructions as a basis for how to NOT follow them.
For one thing I customarily use more than average leaf and shorter than average steeping times, so I counted out ten rings for my one-cup-pot and gave it the usual minute. Secondly ‘a little under boiling water’ is not something I feel comfortable about pouring on a green tea. That’s what I use for most blacks. (Experience have taught me that not quite boiling water brings out the best in some of my favourites) So I wated a little longer before pouring the water into the pot, like I would with any other green tea.
What I got out of this is a very pale cup, but not completely colourless. At first it was sort a slightly orange-y yellow tint to the water, but having stood and developed a bit it’s turning more orange.
The aroma of it is rather like the colour. Pale. Mostly it smells like steam, but as with the colour it comes out more after the cup has rested for a moment. I have to say my immediate thought was pu-erh. It has that same kind of livestock quality to it, but obviously it’s otherwise not even remotely like pu-erh. It’s got a sweetish note and something sort of straw-ish, which doesn’t surprise me, considering this is a Yunnan tea.
The flavour is… Um. Uh. sips slurp sip sip
MISSING!
Flavour of Daughter Ring from CaliforniaTeaHouse! Last detected leaving the CaliforniaTeaHouse headquarters. Supposedly smooth, fresh and high aroma.
Reward: Five biscuits.
I’ll have to experiment some more with this, I think. At the moment I can’t give it any points, because apart from warm water, I haven’t a clue what it tastes like.
