1719 Tasting Notes
I am not even sure how long it has been since I’ve posted or had real tea. Too much going on to sit and relax. Finally had a quiet moment. I grabbed this one because it was at the front of my What-Cha box. While not the greatest reason, it turned out to be an excellent choice. This is such a wonderful cup of green tea. Crisp and refreshing, light and lingering. Turns out this is just what I needed.
Tea of the morning. I could not remember if I had logged this before. I couldn’t even remember drinking it before. Some one needs their Wheaties – not that I have any. I was expecting a big bold cup. This is rather mellow and easy to drink. The dry grain and grass scent is so pleasant. The tea brewed is fruity and floral. It reminds me of something I’ve had recently but obviously I need a hefty blast of caffeine to help wake up the brain. Despite my ability to articulate the most basic concepts this day, this was really, really, good.
I’m still running off my old Internet connection. Not sure why it hasn’t been disabled but I’m not complaining.
Been awake since 3:00 am. Not on purpose. Later I will be helping my wife with an all day craft show. It is going to be a long day. Miraculously I do still have internet at the moment. Thought it would be gone this morning.
So last night I continued my perfect Earl Grey quest. I mixed 2 parts Nina’s EG, with 2 parts Ahmad EG, and 1 part The Persimmon Tree Lapsang Souchong. Nope this ain’t it. Even at 4/1 the LS overpowered the bergamot. It was a good cup but not what I was going for.
This morning I prepared by volume 1/3 Nina, 1/3 Ahmad, and 1/3 RiverTeas Golden Yunnan. It is real fluffy so I used more and it is only very lightly smoky. I am taking it to the craft show so won’t know till later how it turned out.
I may have just brewed almost my ideal cup of Earl Grey. I mixed half a scoop of my comfort tea, Ahmad Earl Grey, with a half scoop of the much fancier Nina’s Earl Grey. I love both these teas separately. Looking at the dry leaf, I can’t tell them apart. Nina’s new Ceylon blend has the most glorious bergamot scent in the tin. Ahmad brewed has that ragged drying edge I crave and is quite brisk. Brewed together they meld to near perfection. I think it would take only a tiny bit of smoke to reach that hallelujah choir moment. The only tea I recall having that is smoky enough to stand up to strong bergamot is The Persimmon Tree Lapsang Shouchong. I may try a pinch in the mix and see if magic happens yet again. Even if that doesn’t work, I will definitely drink many more cups of this rags and riches blend.
It’s 48F, cloudy with intermittent rain. Perfect day for an icy cold Starbucks Green Tea Frappuccino with Pumpkin Spice syrup. I always get skinny, no whip cream, but forgot to tell them one less pump on the syrup. So it is sweeter than I normally get. It is still very delicious. It is more pumpkin pie like with less sweet but I didn’t mind today. Recommended.
Next time I am going to try peppermint syrup.
If I disappear from Steepster it will just be until I figure out an internet alternative. We may or may not lose service Saturday. Our current company went out of the internet business. To compound it my son, who I was splitting the bill with, decided he didn’t need internet anymore. Like most younger folks he now uses his phone instead of a computer. I am not willing to pay what the big phone company wants for a large wireless data plan for the computer. We have no access to cable, or DSL. That leaves satellite. I am probably going that route if I can get them out here. If I lose connection, I’ll be checking in from Starbucks at least once a week. Frap addiction you know.
Good luck!
Ugh, yes good luck getting internet :(
Hope you find a decent satellite provider soon!
Thanks. I called and am going the satellite route. The plan has half the GB I used to have so I’ll have to watch it. On the plus side they don’t charge or disconnect us if we go over. They throttle it way down from 10mbs to double dial up speed, which frankly isn’t much worse than what I have been getting lately. I should be up and running next week so there may be no down time or only a couple days. I can live with that.
That’s good about no extra charges at least!
I hope none of your service is discontinued and hopefully you will find one that works. have you ever thought about “tethering” a cell phone to your computer? We do this on occasion as it allows the cell phone signal to be a signal for your computer.
mrmopar that is kind of what we were doing. Our internet was transmitted over cell phone towers. Our old provider was half the price of the big company plans and it was still pricey for our budget.
We need to hire a hacker to get you some free stuff! I wish I knew something to help you out.
This is worth trying a sample just for the dance of the leaf. The unscented bi lou chun is long twisty curls of delicate silvery and dark leaf. This jasmine version rolls it into balls resembling a cross between dragon pearls and tieguanyin. It is highly jasmine scented dry. In the water the pellets drop to the bottom and bubble. Then like Godzilla rising out of the ocean, the expanding and relaxing whole leaves begin to slowly rise from the bottom. Most fun I have had steeping in a while. Best viewed from the front row.
The tea is delicious. It is fairly heavy on the jasmine up front along the lines of Silver Jasmine Green rather than the more delicate grapey premium dragon pearls. The tea flavor comes in later and is quite nicely brisk and somewhat grassy. I found it a touch drying. In the aftertaste it adds on a fruity element, that I think it was Kitty Loves Tea, compared to melon.
Usually I freeze everyone in the house because I am always hot. Today, I cannot get warm and my wife says she is comfortable. Uh Oh. I need hot tea – of course. I have been craving LS for days. Every time I smell burning leaves, or a fire – my brain goes, need LS! We went to a new BBQ place a week ago. All I could think was it smells like LS in here (really good food by the way). So it is definitely much welcome today. I even added sweetener, which I haven’t been doing, to bring out even more smoky goodness. Hope it helps warm me up, and if it could help with the headache, well, bonus! Probably should have been wearing a jacket the last week. Not ready for cold weather just yet.
The last few days have been lousy weatherwise. This afternoon it was partly sunny and low 50’s. I made a hot cup of this jewel, after Sil’s review had me craving it, and headed for the porch. Light touch of smoke, malt, caramel, honey, and more than a hint of leather. I really like this one.
Spike and Buffy went out with me. Spike is sill hobbling around from surgery and is kind of pathetic at the moment, but at least he is up and eating. Buffy on the other hand is the Tasmanian Devil on Redbull. Down the ramp, out in the yard through every pile of leaves she could find. From one gate to the other, then up the steps with a leap over her collection of sticks and around again as hard and fast as she can run. I don’t know about her, but I’m worn out.
Yay for quiet moments!