I regularly go to my tea pub, Happy Lucky’s Tea House, to chat with the staff, customers and share information about tea. Everyone who works at the shop is very educated about tea and they care about their customers!
Usually, I enter the shop, sit at the bar and ask “Hey, what’s new?” Other times I pick some tea from the ‘tea wall’ that I’ve never tried before. I bring tea samples from my cupboard for these special people to share as a sign of friendship now and then. It’s really a cool place!
Today, I started asking questions about Jasmine Tea’s and Silver Needle. Since the new Jasmine Silver Needle was not in stock yet, I was shown the China Green Jasmine Pearls…and the scent was captivating. I decided to try the tea…my first Jasmine Pearls ever.
Sam prepared a glass pot with the pearls and at 3 minutes poured the golden liquor into my glass teacup.
The cup was very fragrant with Jasmine. I commented to Andy that there was a scent of new rubber ducky in the floral scent. “Huh?”, he said.
He poured himself a little and agreed…“Yep, I can see how you would say that.” (How do we come up with these things I wondered! Rubber Ducky?!)
I drank some more…the tea was strong and as it cooled…strong and astringent. I commented to Andy and Sam that it was not to my liking as much as Jasmine Silver Needle Tea.
Andy said he liked the pearls at a 2 minute steep instead of 3 minutes so he brought out a Gaiwan and steeped pearls at 2 minutes for me. (I never asked for this attention to detail…it’s just how considerate these tea professionals are)
Now the tea was very pale. The flavor was much more delicate and not astringent. Oh, I really preferred the 2 minute steeping so much more!
It would have been such a shame to miss out on this tea and probably never drink it again just because I had tasted it at a stronger, more concentrated steeping than I like. Sam prefers 3 minutes. Someone else might like it at 3 minutes. I prefer 2 minute steeping.
The tea was juicy and delicious.
This was a good lesson. If a tea is a little meh. Steep it longer, or shorter. Check the temperature. Give the tea a chance to speak to you.
Don’t be afraid to experiment until you find your comfort level.
I’m a fortunate person to have such a great tea shop to go to. (The owner is a great guy too and all the other tea experts that serve there!) Thanks Happy Luckys!
