Prepared as part of the Steepster meetup and tea tasting
There was a rinsing steep, about 2 seconds
Then it was steeped approximately 2 minutes
It smelled vegetal, it has a light body, the flavor was milky
We learned that higher temperatures (and shorter steeps) lead to sweeter flavor with this brew.
Over all we reviewed that you can come up with whatever method works for you to do temperatures, just be consistent so it’s repeatable (boil the water but pour from arm height if this bring it down to 195 for example)
With a good silver needle there is supposed to be buds, and the leaves should not turn black after brewing. If they turn black then it is old or poor quality / not first pick
We did a second steep that was sweet and milky
For the larger pot we had we could have gotten away with about 3 quality steeps
You should be using 2-3grams per 6-8 ounces
Milky teas should never have been soaked in milk, or contain condensed milk, as this is a mark of fake or low quality.
Sorry my notes are so short and cryptic but it was a whirlwind tasting of so much information and flavor!
I am intentionally not rating these teas as I didn’t really have a chance to sit there and sip on them and think whether I would by them again, like to play with them more, although none were awful (1 leaf) or fabulous (4 leaves)
Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/05/radiance-tea-house-and-books-loose-leaf.html
