Steepster Select #010 Giveaway

It tends to vary, but I usually give it a pot or two (1-2 liters) before I decide. Some teas I can take a sip of and decide whether or not I like them, though that’s not the norm. Other teas take some time and more comparison with other teas of the same or similar type.

Usually it takes me 2 or 3 cups before I know for sure. But sometimes if I don’t really like the smell, I can’t even get through the first cup.

About 3 cups. Sometimes I can tell from the first cup but I try to give a tea three steepings (three 5-16oz cups) to make up for the variations of temp and time.

Anywhere from 1-4 cups. Many times it will be obvious but it occasionally takes some tweaking of steeping parameters to get a cup to taste it’s best.

Usually 3 cups to tell if I really like it. Less that that to know I don’t like it.

At least two, at most four or five… it really depends. The same tea can vary in nuances with different water and I get sometimes disappointed because of that.
I’ll always try different steeping times and temperatures, and even methods like the cold brew if I get the feeling that I might get something nice in my cup.

For me, it’s often just a single cup to decide whether it’s a like/dislike, unless I have obviously screwed up the parameters (and it’s bitter, etc.) Usually I’ll give a tea more than just a single cup to confirm this, but I’m not sure I’ve ever really changed my mind unless, as I said, the first cup involved user error.

However, in terms of determining my favourite teas, that definitely takes a few more cups (probably 3-4), because one of the things that makes a tea a favourite is when it tastes consistently good.

If the first cup was a positive experience, that’s really all I need unless subsequent cups are less than positive then I will need to rethink my first impression. If the first cup was less than positive, I usually do a little experimentation with the parameters to find out if something can be done to make the tea more enjoyable. This can take two or three attempts, sometimes more. I used to simply give up on a tea but, have since realized that it was premature to do that … I mean, I even like pu-erh and lapsang souchong now … and I had resigned myself to not liking them at all once upon a time.

It varies but usually at least 2 sometimes less if it’s that amazing :)

It only really takes one cup for me to decide if I don’t like it. Even if I don’t like it, I will usually drink a few more cups just to make 100% sure and so it doesn’t go to waste. It’s not very often that I don’t like a tea, though. I try to get sample sizes as much as possible.
If I like it, it only takes me one cup to realize it. I know what I like.