83

Mmm, I can certainly taste the bao zhong here! DELICIOUS! But the pineapple flavour is unfortunately too light for me to enjoy it as such. I’m getting floral, slightly fruity notes at the end of the sip, which must be the pineapple (along with a bit of aroma). We just had a fresh pineapple for dessert this evening; I should have saved a touch of the juice and infused a bit here!

Either way, I think we should all be thankful that Stacy didn’t decide to put hibiscus in here to make the tea tart!! Hahahahaha.

ETA: Second infusion in half the water (same brewing parameters) is a slightly fruity pouchong. Definitely worth it, but the flavouring is pretty much absent.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Sil

Hey! There’s nothing wrong with hibiscus in moderation :p

Indigobloom

Hibby is good, if used right!
I trust Stacy, she knows how to figure out the ratios :)

Kittenna

Haha Sil, but for your rhubarb tea, hibiscus would be appropriate (I thought it was great in DT’s Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait)! Here, however, I think hibiscus would have been a terrible idea, but you know that some blenders would put it in anyways!

Indigobloom

Kittenna, that is true. It must be inexpensive, because they use it like a filler!!

Kittenna

Inexpensive and heavy(ish)!

Butiki Teas

Hibiscus is super cheap and pretty heavy but I would be surprised if many companies used it as a filler because it doesn’t take much to go extremely sour. The difference between even 5 grams in a pound of tea can be pretty noticeable.

Indigobloom

5g per lb? wow, that is more intense than I realized.

Butiki Teas

Indigobloom-Well that would be for it to be noticed. I used 13 grams in your entire tea. I started out with 20 which was way too sour. Those 7 grams made a huge difference. Better fillers would be dried fruits though not freeze-dried (since the kind we use are super expensive and usually add cost) and some nuts would work well as fillers.

Indigobloom

Oh neat, good to know the amounts! I can’t wait to start playing with the parameters. (getting so tired of waiting for a filter. gah!!)

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Comments

Sil

Hey! There’s nothing wrong with hibiscus in moderation :p

Indigobloom

Hibby is good, if used right!
I trust Stacy, she knows how to figure out the ratios :)

Kittenna

Haha Sil, but for your rhubarb tea, hibiscus would be appropriate (I thought it was great in DT’s Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait)! Here, however, I think hibiscus would have been a terrible idea, but you know that some blenders would put it in anyways!

Indigobloom

Kittenna, that is true. It must be inexpensive, because they use it like a filler!!

Kittenna

Inexpensive and heavy(ish)!

Butiki Teas

Hibiscus is super cheap and pretty heavy but I would be surprised if many companies used it as a filler because it doesn’t take much to go extremely sour. The difference between even 5 grams in a pound of tea can be pretty noticeable.

Indigobloom

5g per lb? wow, that is more intense than I realized.

Butiki Teas

Indigobloom-Well that would be for it to be noticed. I used 13 grams in your entire tea. I started out with 20 which was way too sour. Those 7 grams made a huge difference. Better fillers would be dried fruits though not freeze-dried (since the kind we use are super expensive and usually add cost) and some nuts would work well as fillers.

Indigobloom

Oh neat, good to know the amounts! I can’t wait to start playing with the parameters. (getting so tired of waiting for a filter. gah!!)

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Bio

I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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