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32 years ago today I met a hot chick at a party our floor threw in the dorm. Honest, I knew I was going to marry her the moment we met. Forgetting we shouldn’t spend the money we went out today and ended up at Max & Ermas for lunch today. Any one know how to make their Tortilla soup? Love that stuff. We also stopped by Empire Tea Services and wifey picked up a decaf something, not sure what, I will review later. Oh yeah, this tea was cold and unsweet and cooled my throat from the soup.

Sample provided by Nature’s Tea Leaf. The sip when hot is a little light on the first cup. It at first seems non-descript, then suddenly bam, bam, bam. It goes from tasting watery to mineral, then immediately changes to floral, followed by mellow roasted. The aftertaste lingers long and floral green oolong with a cooling breath sensation. Pretty awesome for one sip. Yet, it is so light that gulping this, you would miss all but the roasted note and aftertaste. As the cup cools I am noticing more of a woodsy taste early in the sip. The floral aftertaste is somewhere between tiguanyin and high mountain oolong but more subtle than either.

Steeping a second mug resulted in a press full of huge leaf. It is still not completely unfurled but there is a lot of it. The brew is golden. The roasted taste has mostly gone in to hiding. It is replaced by a creaminess. The aftertaste continues to grow stronger. It is now largely tiguanyin but the cooler the cup, the more it takes on a citrus type flavor.

I decided to try something different on the third mug. I cold brewed. I poured cool water over the leaf and set the press aside for an hour and a half. The result was the most flavorful cup yet from this tea. Seriously good. The sip was what I call geranium as that is what it reminds me of as I taste. It had the same great aftertaste as when I used hot water.

I wish I had more time as I am sure this has lots of steeps left in it.

I started to put together a blog post on this tea and thought I had lost my notes. So had to steep it up again today :) Of course as soon as I got the leaf wet I found the notes. Oh well. As I sipped the first cup I thought I would cold brew the second. I added a mug of water to the press and set it aside. It only needed to set an hour or so. It made a very nice cup. I could get used to this cold brewing stuff.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this tea every time and in every way I have prepared it. It’s familiar and different at the same time. Technically a green tea, this looks like a white and is even labelled as white. Today I decided to try my hand at cold brewing for the first time after reading a Vicony Facebook post on cold brewing white tea. I steeped about 3 hours. This pretty much looks like water in the cup. The taste is really good. This tastes more green prepared in this manner. It’s kind of Dragonwell meets Bi Luo Chun. It starts crisp then turns buttery followed by the good kind of lingering bitter bite of a Chinese green. This is an awesome tea that tastes different using different methods. At the moment the cold brewed version is my favorite. Really good.

I had a horrible case of the dizzies yesterday due to an inner ear thing. Went to the clinic, got drugs. Feeling better so its time for tea!

The one ounce sample was provided by Nature’s Leaf Tea. The pouch is stuffed with beautiful white and grayish-green leaf. Not only does it smell so fresh and amazing but it also is the softest silver needle leaf I have encountered. I love silver needle. I am looking forward to this cup and trying not to get my expectations too high.

I used my wooden scoop to gather a generous portion of lovely leaf and placed it in my press with 12oz of water heated to a cool 175F. I steeped for about 2 1/2 minutes. The instructions say 4-5. This brewed up to the lightest of tinted liquors. The wet leaf still has a lot of white down in it. The smell of the leaf makes me think of a field of grain, maybe alfalfa.

The sip is a light refreshing white tea with a lingering fresh aftertaste. This is a nice complex cup, much more so than a white peony. I find it most refreshing when it reaches room temperature. It is kind earthy, a little fruity with some oats thrown in for good measure.

Next I added a little leaf and a little time to see how that would affect the taste.

While the second cup is steeping, I want to comment again on the aroma of the leaf in the drained press. The whole time I was sipping, this wonderful scent was rolling out of the press and keeping me distracted. Wow, this is fresh.

Ok, adding more leaf and time makes for a darker and bolder cup. It does not bring out any new flavors. I like my white tea to be delicate, so for me the shorter steep is the correct one. Either way this is a very nice silver needle. I had three mugs and was still going strong.

Dragon Pearls – the Sara Lee of teas. Who doesn’t like Dragon Pearls? As amazing as they are to watch once they unfurl, the leaf is large and fluffy. Dry this smelled a bit minty to me and it did leave a nice cooling sensation on the breath. There is no bitterness, no astringency. This is simply natural flavored Chinese green tea. It is very clean and fresh with a lingering sweet aftertaste. A very good cup. Actually, four very good mugs.

The dry leaf is dark, small, sharp, and wiry. It smells a bit of grain. I used 1 1/2tsp for 12oz of water heated to approx 195F. I steeped for 2 1/2 minutes in my press. The brew is dark caramel and still has the grain scent as does the wet leaf. The leaf is small fairly evenly cut pieces and chocolate in appearance.

There is no question this is a Fujian tea from the very first sip. It has that honey sweet, grainy goodness with more than a hint of malt. It has the yam notes. Yet there is something unique about it as well. It has what I can only describe as a darker edge way low underneath that comes out more in the sweet lingering aftertaste. The cooler the cup becomes the more I am detecting this as a roasted note or light smoke.

As the cup emptied I noticed the scent of the leaf still in the press. It was fruity with hints of chocolate. I needed a refill. Cup two is similar to cup one, sweeter with less of the darker notes.

Cup three is lighter. Still very flavorful. I read a description somewhere on the net that compared Fujian Congou to a cross between Yunnan and Keemun. Yes, I agree.

I didn’t realize I had tried this one before. It smells good. If steeped per the instructions it tastes good. A light peachy white tea with a light bite of ginger. The bag will steep twice. If you are a bagged tea drinker this is pretty good. The downside for loose leaf drinkers is you can taste the paper. Not horribly but more than I notice with most.

Cleaned my press. Got my water heating. Started digging through my home stash trying to figure out what I wanted to drink. The dinger went off saying the water was ready so I grabbed this one. Turns out it was a good choice. Nice evening cup of light strawberry goodness.

Not sure now, what Lipton version I have noted drinking at Mom and Dad’s. Which ever, it was wrong, as this is what they stockpile. Boil a pan of water. Turn off burner. Add 8 bags and forget while playing cards. Remember sometime later and pour into pitcher. Fill rest of way with tap water. Put ice that has been in freezer a bit too long in glass and add tea. Ahhh. Yep, this reminds me why I bought my first box of Bigelow back in the day. I don’t even bother trying to introduce them to better tea any more. They love it. I love them. Happy times.

I cleaned out all but the necessary stuff in my office yesterday. Filled the truck with stuff. How did I pack it all in to that office and why? What is left is my radio, tea kettle, and tea. Yeah, another truck full :)