70
drank Thurbo FTGOP by Lupicia
6105 tasting notes

Uhhh, so I guess this stupid-expensive tea that a bunch of people got in Lupicia’s 2012 Happy Bags hasn’t previously been logged?? Anyone?? I’ll have to fill in the proper name later, when I grab the bag… I just know it had “Thurbo” in it… and was “Far Too Good For Ordinary People” aka FTGFOP (which I see I missed an F from, ah well).

Anyhow, finally got some new teas into my rotation… I’d been forcing myself to drink only what was already sitting in the kitchen, but I was getting bored quickly. I think I’m going to be the type of person who, once I get down to about 200 teas, stays there… I need variety, and lots of it. I’m sure there are close to 100 teas in the kitchen right now, but most aren’t favourites, and so boredom sets in more quickly.

Soooo the tea. I’m still not sure what I think about darjeelings, but at least this one reminds me more of the darjeeling moonlight from Butiki than of a couple others I’ve had, which were darker, astringent, and unpleasant. I also have yet to figure out the difference between first and second flush, but don’t really have time to devote to that at the moment! Anyhow, this tastes kind of white tea-vegetal-ish, with maybe a bit of a muscatel flavour, but to be honest, it’s reminding me of Verdant’s Silver Buds Yabao more than anything, which I’m finding strange. There’s just a clean freshness to it that brings yabao to mind, I can’t really explain it. Luckily, I like it and think it’s reasonably tasty, because it sure did cut down on the teas we got in our Happy Bag. Ah well – will still probably take me a while to finish it!

(Apologies for rambling; I can’t be bothered to edit anything I type because I’ve been doing too much thesis editing lately and my capacity for such things has run out. Sigh.)

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 1 min, 15 sec
adagio breeze

The name of this entry made me LOL :D

Kittenna

:D :D :D

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adagio breeze

The name of this entry made me LOL :D

Kittenna

:D :D :D

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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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