Dinosara

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Dinosara drank Gardens of Anxi by Verdant Tea

I just couldn’t get this tea out of my head. Definitely one of my favorite oolong blends, if not actually my very favorite. So delish… if only I could figure out a good way to travel with oolongs!

2012-01-16 15:10:56 -0500

195 °F / 90 °C

3 min 0 sec

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5 comments

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Kashyap 2012-01-16 16:43:42 -0500

curious? what do you mean by ‘good way to travel with oolongs?’ Do you mean how to transport the leaves? brew it on the go? keep fresh? just wondering…

Dinosara 2012-01-16 18:28:13 -0500

I mean that when I’m traveling, usually I’m in sub-optimal tea steeping conditions, and I just feel like trying to do an oolong would be crazy. Usually the times I use my tea are times that I get a cup of hot water from a hotel or a restaurant and then steep a sachet of black tea I brought with me in it. Using an oolong in a situation like that would probably require a water thermometer (since I’m horrible at judging the warmth of water by feel) and some other steeping container (since I’m not going to put oolong leaves in a t-bag and give them no room to expand). Just way too much hassle and not worth using my good oolongs.

Kashyap 2012-01-16 21:40:00 -0500

when i travel I love oolongs, for the long, forgiving extrations and the fact that they steep amazing cold brews that keep me hydrated….also, generally on planes you can get super hot water and freshen them up….especially floral oolongs or fruity ones..that are generally mid-run, OK quality…or the deep, buttery, clean high grown Tawainese

Dinosara 2012-01-16 22:23:48 -0500

I wish I found oolongs forgiving in their steep times! I tend to like my oolongs with shorter brews. I guess I should experiment with temps, though, because maybe I can get away with higher temps than I think, and if that’s the case it would get a bit easier.

BTVSGal 2012-01-17 00:59:07 -0500

Drinking this right now…love it.

Profile

Bio

I am tea obsessed, with the stash to match. I tend to really enjoy green oolongs, Chinese blacks, and flavored teas with high quality bases, especially florals, bergamot-based teas, and chocolate teas.

I’m a grad student and in my free time I am a birder, baker, and music/movie/tv addict.

I have an Adagio Teas UtiliTEA kettle and a Tea Forté Kati cup for brewing. I also have a Chinese Ru Kiln tea set for gongfu brewing.

Here are my rating categories, FYI:
100-90: These teas are mind-blowingly good to me.
89-80: I really really like these teas and will keep most of them in the permanent collection, but they’re not quite as spectacular as the top category
79-70: Tasty teas that I enjoy, but definitely won’t rebuy when I run out.
69-65: Teas that I would probably drink again, but wouldn’t seek out. They don’t quite do it for me in one aspect or another; often just not quite my style
64-60: Teas that I don’t really enjoy all that much and wouldn’t drink another cup of.
59-50: Bleh. I usually choose not to finish the cup because life’s too short to drink tea I dislike.
49 and below: Mega yuck. This tea is just disgusting to me.