Spoonvonstup

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Spoonvonstup drank Golden Fleece by Verdant Tea

Yes- I’ve been steeping this up again from yesterday (all morning and afternoon). Such a treat!

2012-07-31 15:44:13 -0400

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Yogini Undefined 2012-07-31 16:20:24 -0400

wow, how many steepings have you been able to get out of it?

Bonnie 2012-07-31 17:48:27 -0400

You can’t beat really great tea for how much heart it has. Keeps on giving!

Spoonvonstup 2012-07-31 18:03:59 -0400

Good question! Hard to say, because I’m not steeping it as I normally would in a gaiwan or even a large pot. Instead, I’ve thrown leaves into the bottom of a mug, and then added water.. I haven’t taken the leaves out. The leaves keep steeping, I drink it down, then I add more hot water.

Yesterday, I think I did about five or six cups? Then I drained my leaves before I left, and wrote a pleading note for no one to touch the cup overnight. I started steeping again this morning around 10, and now it’s 5pm.. so another six or seven cups?

Put another way, the leaves have been steeping for about 10 hours, with an overnight break. Still warm and sweet and delicious with amazing mouth-feel. The aftertaste is reminding me at the moment of Rice Krispie treats and marshmallows (also reminiscent of the last few steepings of a more roasty DanCong).

I will definitely be sad to leave this cup at the end of the day. I know from experience that I can leave these buds out to dry, and when they’re done, they will look as gorgeous as they did when they came out of the bag.

Bonnie 2012-07-31 18:17:48 -0400

Where I live it’s so dry I can put the wet leaves on a paper towel and they dry in 20 minutes so bacteria doesn’t form. Then I can resteep the next day. When I’ve pretty much exhausted myself or the leaves I throw them in ice water and cold brew which always produces a good tasting tea. There is no way I waste great tea! I’m with you on that!

Jim Marks 2012-07-31 19:29:46 -0400

This is one reason I’ve moved to largely gaiwan steeping. I can wring out all the life in a set of leaves during a single set of waking hours.

Tea leaves take three or four days, at a minimum, to dry out here.

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I generally drink Chinese teas.

I love things that are interesting, that force me to stop and think about and enjoy what I’m experiencing. Even better are those teas you just have to drink with a friend so that the outpouring of tastes and memories find a sounding board in a trusted companion.

I’m into tea as an experience rather than just a thirst quenching beverage. I love to learn- there’s so much to learn about tea.

I also prefer my teas to be exceedingly delicious, if at all possible. Luckily, I have great tea friends and teachers that can hook me up with the good stuff.

Something I’ve noticed about my ratings:
I tend to use Steepster more like Yelp and less like Twitter. I’ll generally only review a tea once in its life (though that review and rating might be edited over time to reflect changes in my own understanding of it).
I do not generally log each tea I’m drinking as I drink, since that feels like a distraction- I’d rather just drink the tea!
I tend to only review teas I really love or that I really did not enjoy. If it falls somewhere in the middle of “meh” and “that was pretty good, I suppose,” then I won’t be compelled to sit down and spend time giving a nice, fleshed out review and rating.
As such, it might seem like I give out high scores willy-nilly. Instead, I’m doing my first round of rating mentally off-site, and presenting only the teas I really want to share with everyone.