MegWesley

I think I have learned a few things about loose leaf tea since the last time I tried this. The most important thing is to actually fill my tea ball up fully halfway. According to my note, the taste was weak. I think that was because I didn’t use enough leaf because this pot full was nice and flavorful.

I could taste the black tea base and then I got a strong floral taste. I’m still not entirely sure what rose tastes like, but the other taste I was getting was sweetly floral. But it was not a honeyed sweet floral taste like I get from chamomile. It was more of an earthy floral taste. I need to find a straight herbal rose tea so I can pin down that taste better.

But I like it. And now that I am using more leaf, I will be sipping on this one more often. Nice and light before bed.

I had the last of the teabags I took from my teacher’s tea basket for dinner. I think the love affair with the Lady is wearing off. I’m ready to go back to the Earl now. Farewell for now Lady, I’ll still love you. I just want something new.

I bought a half pound bag of this when I was at the store last time. It was a risk, but I was betting that I would love my new indulgence. I was right. I do love it down to the very last drop. I brewed this in my teapot and managed to get three steeps out of it. I could have gotten more if I didn’t shake most of the powder out of the tea ball.

The first steeps were roughly at 5 and 10 minutes. The liquid was a nice light honey brown. It smelled nice and I hoped that the unflavored mate tasted as good as the flavored. It tasted very earthy and a tad bitter, but I liked the bitterness. It reminded me of petrichor in taste form instead of scent.

The second steeps were another 5 and 10 minute steep. The liquid this time was a light green, which surprised me. The taste was a little softer, but it started to taste sweeter. I shared this steep with my roommate (she got the longer steep) and said that the taste was lighter than she was expecting. At the end of my cup, I was entertained by the fact that it tasted like I had real sugar in there when I didn’t. I am easily entertained.

The third steep is where I stopped paying attention to how long I was steeping it. I also ran out of water in my kettle, which was fine. The water was a little cooler by now. The liquid in the final steep is a light yellow green. The taste is reminding me more of green tea, but a little earthier than green tea. A slight sweetness is still hitting the back of my tongue, but it is less than the second steep was. So the third is more earthy and less sweet. I am down to sipping it now instead of really drinking it, so I think the balance of earthy and sweet in this cup is spot on.

So, I managed to get six cups of tea and I drank five of them myself. I really like the concept of re-steeping. It lets you get more flavors out of a pot of tea. I really need to get myself a gourd and a bombilla to try mate in the traditional way. But, for now I would be happy with getting a small one-person french press to have a way to make it easier in the morning. That way, I could have this as my morning tea again. Yummy!

I definitely like this one brewed up stronger. I think I didn’t get the water quite as hot the first time, so I got a slightly weaker cup until I steeped it longer for my last cup. Made it through two steeps and then ran out of water. I probably could have gone on to a third steep, but I won’t get that far because this was my last sample. I will have to explore yunnans more because I really like the rich, dark taste of a longer steep.

Backlogging from Thursday afternoon:

Oh, Double Dark Chocolate Mate! How I have missed my mate! Any mate! Why did I ever forget to drink your dark liquor even when I ran out of my own bags? How could I have forgotten that you were lurking in my teacher’s tea basket. Untouched except for my fingers scooping you out of your tin and into my styrofoam cup to have a bath in warm water to let you release your flavor. So delicious. So chocolate-y. So mocha tasting. I will never forget you again.

Backlogging from Thursday

I picked up three bags for the week from my teacher’s tea basket. I think this tea has become a staple for our whole class. Many of us drink it now.

I have never had blackcurrant anything before, so having this tea is a real step out of my comfort zone. If this tastes like blackcurrants, then I really need to have more blackcurrants in my life.

It tastes a little bitter with a faint splash of juice on the back of my tongue. It mixes really nicely with the black tea. The flavor is strong but not overwhelming. I had a carmello candy bar before this and it really helps get the sweet out of my mouth without being overwhelmingly bitter.

I am finally trying this sample that my friend E. gave me to try. I thought this was an herbal tea, so I saved it for nighttime to be a tea that I could calm down with. Well, this isn’t an herbal, but it smells really relaxing. Nice and peachy, the smell reminds me of peach cobbler. Now, lets hope that the taste will be as good. This is a new brand to me, so I don’t know how it will be.

I’m not getting much in ginger or peach. It tastes really smooth and I’m not getting much astringency. If I make sure that the tea touches the tip of my tongue, I get a tiny bit of sweetness. I wish I could taste more of the flavors, but I think that this is a very smooth black tea.

I would drink this for aromatherapy alone. I’m not sure if I would get a whole box of it, but I wouldn’t mind having a little sampler tin to have around the house when I am feeling blue. A nice tea to have when you don’t want anything too complicated.

I wanted something comforting tonight. This has been my pick-me up for the last several days and I have finally run out of it. I have to remember to pick another box up the next time I go shopping with my friend. I really, really like this.

It started snowing here today and I had a glass of this tea for lunch and dinner. The sad part is that I only have one more tea bag left. The happy part is that I beat Portal 2 today. Now I have to go back and play the original Portal.

Tea and gaming. Good day.

Last bag of my box! I’m excited to be finishing up teas. I’m not sure if I would buy this again because I found a tea that I like drinking in the morning better. But it is good. I just think I’m tired of it.

Hot with a drop of soy milk.

I have had better green teas and I have had much worse. I had this bag for a while so it might not have been the freshest ever. It might be better if it was fresher. But it was nice to have in the evening.

I think I had this for lunch today. It made me feel a little bit better until I remembered that I only have five or so teabags of it left. I know I have a half pound of plain yerba mate from Guayaki, but these are so convenient!

One bag down. Two more to go. With milk at dinner.

Apparently I have been on a Lady kick this week. We will see if this kick holds up or not.

I brewed this up a little too weak this time. No cocoa aftertaste and it tasted more like water than mate until I got to the end of the cup. I’m chalking this one up to a brewing failure.

I haven’t been liking this tea very much lately, so I decided to do something different. I brewed it for three minutes and just put a splash of soy milk in it instead of brewing it for five minutes and trying to drown it with soy milk.

It tasted better. It still woke me up fast, but instead of being a “kick in the face” it was more like a “roughly shake you awake while yelling in your ear”. Much nicer.

So, I was emptying out my purse today and guess what I found? An English breakfast teabag. Perfect to go with my dinner.

Plucked this out of my teacher’s tea basket to have with dinner. She apparently had the same idea that I did last Thursday because there was more of this tea in the box today.

Had some with dinner today. I think I was craving some Earl Grey.

I thought this would be a good tea for the afternoon. It reminds me of vanilla and carmel. But there is a really bitter aftertaste and the flavor is really light. There was quite a bit of dust that escaped when I was putting the tea in my teaball. I wonder if that was the reason that the flavor was really, really light. I’m not going to rate this one until I can try it again. Luckily, I still have one more sample, but it is at home.

I recently found out that one of my friends E. is into tea. I didn’t know this about her and she didn’t know I was a TeaGeek either. She gave me two of these little rosettes to try out.

This was my first Yunnan tea and one of the only natural teas that I have ever had. I made it in my little red two-cup teapot and steeped it for about four minutes, leaving the water in the pot to steep some more.

The first cup was a tawny brown in color and didn’t smell like much. It smelled like tea to me. The first sip was good, but I wasn’t that impressed until I kept drinking. It became smooth and rich as I adjusted to the flavor. Another four-five minutes later I poured the second cup.

This cup was a deep brown and looked like a cup of coffee. I took a sip and immediately realized that it wasn’t bitter like I had feared. The cup here had been steeping for about 8-10 minutes. I think I understand what the word “malty” means now. It is what I imagine a malted milkshake l would taste like if you removed the chocolate, the sugar, and the milk. Which leaves everything that I love about malted milkshakes. I thought I tasted something that I registered as chocolate, but I wasn’t sure.

Not wanting to leave this cup of tea since the first two cups disappeared way too quickly for my liking, I decided to try to re-steep the urchin. I wasn’t sure on the amount but I knew I boiled enough water for two teapots full. I poured another half a teapot and steeped that for about six minutes. Wow! Here is the chocolate I thought I tasted before! I am impressed. I didn’t really understand how a tea could do that when it didn’t have any chocolate flavoring added to it. The maltiness was still there but not as present as it was in the first two cups.

Overall, I think this is a very good introduction of a Yunnan to the uninitiated. Of course, I am still newer at this, but I thought it tasted really good. I am stopping at three cups tonight because I am full! I still have one more rosette, but I am going to wait to have that until I get home for spring break so I can share it with my fiance.

I looked for this at the Teavana website to see how much it would normally be but I don’t think they have it anymore. I would like to see about saving up some money and picking up a tin from somewhere over spring break. Would anyone care to share any good Yunnans that they like that aren’t that stupidly expensive?

It figures that all I want on a blustery winter’s night is a tall glass of iced chai. So, I made one to have with dinner. Instead of doing a long brew time, I tried using a shorter brew time to see if I was just over brewing the tea to make it taste entirely of pepper.

Nope.

To misquote one of my favorite quotes: There is too much pepper in the tea! Black pepper was one of the only spices I could taste. I was getting a little bit of black licorice from the star anise, but not much. I could barely taste the cinnamon or cloves. Just pepper.

Luckily, I gave most of this tea away and I think I have two or three teabags left. So after that is gone, I will not be re-buying this tea.

I haven’t had this for a couple of days, so I had it for lunch.