Joshua Smith

Tonganagaon SFTGFOP1 2nd Flush from Rare Tea Republic

Joshua Smith drank Tonganagaon SFTGFOP1 2nd Flush by Rare Tea Republic

Another sample from the Rare Tea Republic, and again inspired by Amy Oh.

This is my second tea of the day, and this was very different than the Temi I had earlier. The aroma of this tea is very pleasing, with interesting spices dominating the aroma. The first sip of the tea was interesting, because I’m not very familiar with Assam teas, so the malty taste was very different for me (but in a good way). It was also interesting, because this tea is sweeter than I’m used to for the first infusion of a black tea, but that seems to typical for Indian teas.

The second infusion is very mellow, and there are soem fruity undertones present in the taste now. The tea has also developed a bit of an aftertaste which reminds me a bit of a Wuyi Oolong, but it’s a bit faint. The tea is also a bit sweeter now, which has improved how well the different flavors balance each other, making for a very pleasant cup.

More to come later.

2012-03-09 17:03:52 -0500

200 °F / 93 °C

4 min 0 sec

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Amy oh 2012-03-09 17:50:35 -0500

I’m glad you’re enjoying these….

Joshua Smith 2012-03-09 18:41:48 -0500

I’ve been on a black tea binge, and was looking to expand my horizons a little bit. I had a wonderful sample of Darjeeling tea from Adagio, and then I saw that Darjeelings from RTR were getting really good reviews here on Steepster. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try some tea from them, so I looked through their stuff, and bought what sounded good.

Amy oh 2012-03-09 20:28:21 -0500

Darjeelings are not my area of expertise by far, but I do like everything I’ve purchased so far from RtR.

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Bio

I am a university student, studying Computer Science, who found that I really enjoy a nice cup of tea. I finally got into loose-leaf tea in August of 2011. I am currently in the process of expanding my horizons, and have found that I have a particular fondness for Oolongs in general, and Wuyi Yanchas in particular. The unique mineral taste is very appealing to me, as well as a nice Sencha. More recently, I’ve developed a taste for Sheng puerh, white tea, and black teas. The only things I’ve tried that I didn’t like was Shu puerh, but that might have been because it was quite young. Regardless, I’ve been slowly expanding my horizons, so if you have any recommendations, please feel free to send me a PM.

I’m working at a tech internship right now, so my free time is a bit limited. Expect infrequent notes for the rest of the summer.

Just for the heck of it, my other interests include classical musics (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Debussy, Shostakovitch, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, and Wagner, to name a few composers). I also have a fondness for a bit more modern music, like The Beatles, all Jazz (by all, I really do mean all), Gorillaz (I love Demon Days), and a couple of Indie artists you will never run across unless you play a lot of semi obscure Indie games. Also, I love cats. When I can afford to have a pet (and when I live on my own…), I want to get an Abyssinian. That, or a Korat (but this is unlikely). Or an Egyptian Mau. I’ll narrow it down at some point…