114 Tasting Notes
2/3/14 2nd tea of an afternoon pu-erh flight. 3g/100ml gaiwan/212F Washed. The dry leaf had a delicate cinnamon raisin scent which I associate with Yunnan black teas. After the wash there a richer wet leather aroma – the pu-erh in the blend coming out, I think. The brewed tea was very Yunnan black – pleasantly tannic and astringent, with a low key earthiness from the pu-erh. A bit of vanilla turned up in the scent and very faintly in the taste on the second steep. I might recommend this to someone who I knew loved Yunnan teas and was put off by the intensity of straight pu-erhs.
Preparation
2/3/14 1st tea in an afternoon Pu-erh flight. 3g/100ml gaiwan/212F Washed. This was the only tea in the tasting this afternoon that I actively disliked. The dry leaf smelled foul, like a dead aquarium, and the wet leaf added an ammonia scent to it. This is the first “fishy” pu-erh I’ve encountered, and now I have a definite context for that adjective and all it’s negative expressions. Fortunately the aroma was far worse than the brewed tea. The brewed tea was just boring and flat.
Preparation
2/2/14 Evening tea. 5g/8oz/185F?/4 min. I think my water might have been too hot. This tea had a rich toasted wheat/cinnamon/honey aroma. Very dark oolongy aroma. The taste was more flat though, an upfront tannic astringency that I do associate with Indian teas. An undertone taste of vanilla came out as it cooled. An enjoyable enough cup, a touch on the bitter side. I look forward to trying it again when I’ve had the chance to spend more time with Indian teas and have better context for it.
Preparation
2/2/14 Groundhogs day! Gongfu brewing in my water chestnut clay teapot. 3.6g/150ml pot/195F Drinking tea with my husband. He wanted something lighter this morning, after lots of western brewed black tea at work. Lighter then I brewed this in my gaiwan – the clay pot is still very young. Floral and fruity.
Preparation
Matcha. I can’t rate or taste it the way I do leaf teas because I don’t drink it as I do leaf teas. I had three bowls of tea this evening. The first was bitter and full of tears, the second the sum of all my fears, and third was thin and cool and clear. And all is left well with the world.
2/1/14 First tea of the month. 3.6g/100ml gaiwan/185F water. Washed. A nori scent in the dry leaves, a vegetal umami. I’m on the third steep of this now, up to 15 seconds. It’s brewing pleasant and light. Just a nice green tea – nothing extraordinary about it, nothing to be embarrassed by. A good session tea, to a borrow beer term.
Where this tea is made of win is the packaging. This is the most cutely packaged tea I have ever seen. This is tea I would buy just to own the tin. This is tea I probably am going to buy, international shipping and all, just so I can own a tin. I am enslaved by the kawaii.
Preparation
1/31/14 I took the rest of this and did a cold brew with it over night. Made a nice iced tea. There must have been some hibiscus in it – the iced tea has a pink tint, and a touch of that hibiscus taste. Thus passes the current tin of Random Green tea. And dH took the green tin and filled it with his favorite (Upton’s Turkish blend) and carried it off to work with him, so I don’t know how/if Random Green tea will occur again.
Preparation
1/30/14 Evening cup. 3g/6oz/212F/as long as it takes to walk to the living room. Currently Random Green Tea has a lot of little popcorn-rice pieces in it from genmaicha, and what looks like three different kinds of green tea leaves. I like it. Mostly Japanese teas I’m guessing – very umami seaweedy.
