Various Artists

Learning bout’ that honeysuckle
https://instagram.com/p/393zj9RYL1/

Unknown oolong steeped three times and thrown out three times. Whatever it was, it was the worst oolong I have ever tasted.
The only leads are: Taiwn Gao Shan Cha

Not sure what made me grab this tea today, but I did.
Out of my swap box I picked out a genmaicha that had more popcorn than anything! I thought that was kind of odd but I wanted to try it because it looked rather fresh. It brewed clean with a nice aroma. The taste is a bit overpowered by notes of popcorn which I normally never pick up in a genmaicha, but I really enjoy this pot I brewed :) this is not just a one cup drink for me so I shall have three.

I FINALLY DID IT!!!!!!!!!!
I drank hot water thinking it was tea I just brewed. I knew the day would come that I would forget that I didn’t steep anything yet and sip from pure water.

Well, here’s my take on it: Very pure in taste, very similar to the taste of hot h20. Not much to really comment on though, lacks in flavor and isn’t very appealing. While it doesn’t have much flavor, it makes up for it by quenching my thirst which is always good. My guess is that this would be perfect for mixing with other drinks and liquids, possibly even steeping something in it :p

Right now I am drinking a lot of oolongs that I will review later… but I want to write something for my fellow Steepsters to read.
Just being 100% honest here
Within the past 24 hours I have been treated so well on Steepster that I am unsure how to channel all the warm feelings. What has happened is that a few different people have offered to send me teas on my wishlist. Understanding that they would have to take the time to look at my wishlist and be willing to offer those teas makes me so happy. I can’t wait to make more connection and have a job so I can pay it forward 10×. I’m already at work on this as I correspond with individuals in China, New Zealand, Japan, and Russia. To be honest, I love the internet. The internet provides the ability for families to Skype over long distances, see what friends are up to via Facebook, purchase goods directly from sellers, obtain education where books are scare, talk to those with similar interest like tea, and so much more!!!
The future always holds a multitude of possibilities to which I look forward to sharing with you all.

Do not eat spicy gouda cheese and drink an orange oolong blend after… I just teared up from the pain that my mind experierened as my taste buds sent some eletrical messages to my brain that might have suggested I was to harm myself because of how awful that mixture tasted.

Bought some Chinese Yunnan Maofeng Maohou Bud because I like the silver that is wrapped around the green leaf. This tea was somewhat mild and had a very wild taste to it. I liked it enough to drink 8ounces of it, but I’m not sure how many more times I will want to drink this tea yet because it is odd.

I bought some Chinese Jiaogulan balls because they look cool… dumped that cup out quick- NOT MY CUP OF TEA!!!!!!!!!

I drank a lot of tea today :)
https://instagram.com/p/3Gqf3IxYC5/?taken-by=liquidproust

https://instagram.com/p/3H6M8yRYIx/

Watermelon Tieguanyin… this is my first time blending, I’ve baked sake into tea and infused them so this should be an easier method.
I will say that for my first attempt this is quite tasty. I balanced out the melon taste to the floral taste quite well. I think I’m going to make one adjustment to give it a slight buttery texture by mixing a very small amount of gyokuro to the mix.
I will go ahead and blend up the Watermelon Tieguanyin w/gyokuro in the next few days. If anyone is up to brewing a cup and giving me feedback, that’d be great!

Went out for sushi for the first time in Tokyo last night… I am not a fan of sushi.
Anyways, what I found to be very interesting is the little container of matcha at every table. So you take the tiny scooper and put bit of matcha in cup and fill it with hot water where napkins would be in the US. I was surprised to find out that it was a genmaicha matcha because it was rather green. The rice taste with the vegetable taste of matcha was appealing since I was eating (not just sushi either) but I couldn’t imagine drinking this just as a drink though.
Fun times :) http://postimg.org/image/nslsi36w7 (shadows and lighting make it look darker than it is)

With no agenda or idea of what I was doing in Tokorozawa, I walked to the top of a tall building. Knowing that I can’t speak Japanese I know I can always walk anywhere and just say sorry and it’ll be okay because I’m a foreigner , however I did not expect the top floor to be a restaurant area. I walked around and was surprised to find a high end tea shop that only carried 6 teas. There were two oolongs, a few green teas, and then randomly a pu’erh. I decided to buy the pu’erh because it’s rarely seen here in Japan. I’m still confused about that tea shop… why it was there and why they only sold 6 teas. Whatever, it was an enjoyable trip
https://instagram.com/p/15m_pBRYM7/?taken-by=sinhatin

Walked into a rather large tea store and a lady pulled out her phone to translate for her. It was pretty awesome. She ended up pointing at a chair for me to sit in… so I sat and she brought me some tea: https://instagram.com/p/15GFCOxYLK/?taken-by=sinhatin

Ended up being a mid grade sencha that was pleasant. I ended up buying the display box they had for a 2015 harvest sencha… now there is only one pouch left.

I look forward to opening the box in a month when I’m back home :)

Talk about random…
My bike had a problem so I pulled over and this lady randomly comes out to help me out. I couldn’t understand anything she said because she was speaking Japanese, but she fixed my bike for me and I followed her to say thanks and she happens to own a pottery tea-ware store with a few teas. There are only two chairs in her place but she made me some tea and I still couldn’t understand her which sucks because I didn’t have more then 1000 yen on me so I couldn’t pick anything up at the time. She brewed me a cup of green tea that was very strong but it was because it was a lower end green tea. It was a nice experience and I plan to go back .

Just ate at higher end Indian restaurant in Tokyo and decided to order a chai.
This was one of the worst chais I’ve ever had. I know it was hand blended, but that doesn’t equate to good and this is an example of that. The cup was tiny (4 ounces) so I thought it’d be strong and bold, however it was watery and tasted like cinnamon and black pepper that should be eaten and not drank. I like chias, I really do , but dang this was rough.
I only drank an ounce of it because of the taste.

I just bought 100g of hojicha off a dude selling tea on the street!
By the street I mean his tea shop on the corner of a street in northern Tokyo… anyways, this hojicha is very roasty. Steeping this is odd because the leaf is ugly; it looks stale and brown. Drinking this is the best past because you can somewhat experience the roasted green leaf process as the flavor fills your mouth. It is quite odd to drink a green tea that has been roasted after drinking straight green tea for awhile but I really enjoy this. I’m somewhat curious to how the flavored hojichas will taste like because I cannot imagine a roasted tea with fruit just yet… maybe it’ll be like a piece of toast with jam :p

Just went to a tea shop in northern Tokyo and had no clue what I was buying because it was all in Japanese.
I ended up getting a matcha that I really like that isn’t too strong and has a nice floral taste that comes in throughout the taste.
The oolong is mild, yet it is a wonderful taste. There is no astringency in this oolong and yet it keeps its brisk flavor even if it is mild (if that makes sense).
The green tea is decent but not the best. I am going to keep trying to brew it differently. The package says to use 8g of tea to brew it… are you kidding? I am going to try that suggestion soon and see what happens.
https://instagram.com/p/1AArFxxYHH/?taken-by=sinhatin

My host family in Tokyo took me to pancake house here that is known for its artisan coffee… but I don’t drink coffee so I ordered a Darjeeling. You read that right, a Darjeeling in Japan… I have no understanding of why this location had no green teas of any sort but I rolled with it. It was morning so a black tea was nice. This tea was strong and bitter, woke me right up. I just don’t like black teas in general but this Darjeeling was brewed quite nicely and I was impressed at its smoothness.

So I have over 40 days in Tokyo left and I have a plan to try all the loose leaf teas that are in the dollar store. Yes, loose leaf tea in the dollar store… and they are locally grown teas. At first I expected the tea to be shredded up and be bitter, however my first tea that I am trying is quite good. I would say it is a step below sencha. The color is rather green and the taste alone is semi sweet and not bad at all, it could pass as a medium priced tea which I find rather odd after trying many different types of green teas. I may have got lucky with this one… I plan to experiment though. The only downer about this tea is the dryness to it (which can be altered by adding 2g of sugar per 8 ounces of tea).Still, 50g of loose leaf green tea from Japan at one dollar is a great deal for how it taste. This would be a great tea to cold brew too with its semi sweet taste.

Butiki Educational TTB

Kenya White #2

The day is winding down to an end, and my stress is still through the roof. I picked this to calm me before bed time. I have never had a Kenyan White before and was very interested. I am hoping the magic properties of African tea will mystically relax me, haha. The dry leaf is similar to Bai Hao Yin Zhen except its more twiggy. They resemble small silver pins and sticks. They are a brilliant white and gray color. I brewed these in my tea press. The aroma is of wet hay and summer dew. The aroma from my cup is like a wheat field after a rainstorm. The flavor was very unique. It was a syrupy hay. It tasted like green hay and with a sweet after-tone of sugar cookies. This was nice before bed. I really liked this tea, and it was very interesting.

Butiki Educational TTB

Shan Lin #1 – Taiwan

Mmmmmm, this was delicious! The dry oolong consists of small forest green nuggets. I brewed these up in my yixing. I placed these small pebbles inside and washed once. The dry leaf opened up into a vibrant green array of leaves and stems. The aroma was like milk weed and fresh spring. This brew had a deep vegetal tones. The liquor was a brilliant moss agate colour. The taste was incredibly creamy! The initial sip was silky, vegetal, and full of a heady herbal flavor. The aftertaste coated your throat with sweet sugar. The best thing of this brew was the leaf quality. After brewing, I inspected the leaves in my brewing vessel and was amazed! My little pot contained full flawless leaves and each stem had two leaves exactly. I debated on keeping them, haha. I really like it when I get to drink quality Oolong, and I am very grateful for this opportunity.

Butiki Educational TTB

Darjeeling Oolong Autumn Flush – India

Darjeeling Oolongs always catch my eye, so I grabbed this fast. The dry leaf looks alike to Darjeeling black tea except for it carries deeper black and silver colors. I brewed this up in my tea press western style. The small shards steep into a iridescent citrine colour. The scent from my press is a candid vineyard. The taste is incredibly smooth and syrupy. There is a hint of muscatel and hay in each sip. The dominating flavor is light wood and caramel. I brewed this up softly to get lighter flavors, rather than getting the heavy flavors. I really liked this brew and I’m trying not to take it all….. hahah.

I bought a four pack of random blooming teas online. Today I decided to bust one out for Easter. The sad part is they don’t tell you what the tea is. Its completely unlabeled. I popped a random ball into my glassware and brewed. This one was beautiful. It was silver needle, amaranth, and some yellow flower strands. Sadly, I realized I need a larger glass tea pot. This blooming tea wasn’t able to fully bloom, so I will need to get one with a larger capacity. The flavor was incredibly smooth and almost brandy tasting. The floral tone became sweet and slightly menthol. The aroma was amazing. My tea room was filled with a honey caramel scent. I really enjoyed this, but I will wait until I get a larger teapot to brew more. This tea session definitely made up for this morning.

https://instagram.com/p/1GWj1STGdN/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel