Another day of intense study, another black tea, and another delightful piece of music. It’s really crunch time for me, so I’ll keep this brief. Today, I’m pairing this malty black tea with more philosophy (but I don’t agree with the author today, so it’s a bit frustrating…), and I’m listening to Das Rheingold as performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Georg Solti. Not the best recording, but I bought this when I was a little less picky, so if you know of a really good recording. please leave a comment.

Anyway, back to the tea, it’s very malty. Not as much as the Golden Buds that I was drinking yesterday, but it’s still the dominant flavor. The tea is a bit too strong yet to be classified as creamy, but I’d say that it will probably be next steep. Finally, the sweet aftertaste provides a nice smooth finish to complete the experience. It’s worthy to note that the tea is sweeter and a bit weaker than last time I brewed it, but not by a terribly significant margin.

As the forth scene of Das Rheingold draws to a close, so does my second cup of this tea. It must say that this was a singularly unique experience for drinking tea, but that might be due in part to the nasty weather I just had to deal with. Anyway, the malt flavor of the tea has begun to retreat a bit, and a wheat flavor has become evident. Also, the wonderful buttery mouth-feel has started to show itself, which combines with the wheat to give a sensation similar to taking a bite of buttered wheat bread, and letting it sit on the tongue. If you’ve ever done this, you’ll realize that it starts to taste sweeter the longer it sits there, kind of like how this tea has a sweet finish. Of course, you should take what I say with a grain of salt, as campus food leaves me longing for something a bit more flavorful…

As the the second act of Die Walküreplays (with an interlude of Byzantine music, see the comment from Bonnie for more info), the third cup of tea finally reached the right temperature to drink. The big developments of this cup was the malt flavor going dormant, and the beginnings of the peppercorn flavors beginning to show up in the aftertaste, lingering on the hard palate of my mouth. Unfortunately, I think this tea is past it’s prime, and I’ll probably only get one more cup out of these leaves.

Ah, the forth infusion of this tea was delightful in it’s subtleties. Most of the flavors of the tea are in decline, but the peppercorn flavor provides a delightful sensation as it dances across the surfaces of the mouth, and once again lingering on the hard palate. Unfortunately, there isn’t much else left for the flavor, so this is definitely the final cup. Surprisingly, one of the things that has stuck around until the (figuratively) bitter end was the buttery mouthfeel. Usually this little sensation would have been long gone from the tea, but that just goes to show how good this tea really is.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

I began to notice on the second steep as it cooled a bit a yam sugar wheat bread flavor, but you’re right that it was not as malty. I did enjoy this tea. I was listening to Russian Chant with it.

Joshua Smith

Oh, I remember when you posted that! That was some wonderful music to listen to, and sparked a bit of n obsession for me. Anyway, as I’m sitting here composing the edit for the second post, I have to agree with you about the wheat bread flavor in the second infusion. Combined with the newly-emerged buttery mouth-feel, it creates a very cozy experience, especially since the weather here has taken a turn for the dreary.

Bonnie

Very good too! Here is something different…tell me what you think. It is in Hagia Sophia (now a museum) so you know what it means to me that it is being sung in this sacred space. http://youtu.be/RwFYUJb03d0
So many people have never heard the more ancient Byzantine Christian music like this. It is still being sung here in the U.S. too.

Joshua Smith

Wow. That was some powerful stuff. The best part was the acoustics of of the Hagia Sophia letting the voices echo, giving the music that otherworldly quality. I wish I could get an album that was full of music like that…

Bonnie

I have a bunch of CD’s. Jim Marks can shoot you suggestions. I can shoot you a message with some I have but I need to go to the post office to send some samples off to a guy in Denver. I’ll be back. Uh Look at Sacred Treasures Choral Masterworks from Russia there’s a series (Hearts of Space) but I have others from like St. Catherines on Mt. Sinai and Vaalam in Russia and so on.

Joshua Smith

That would be greatly appreciated. I’ll send Jim Marks a PM to ask him as well. Again, thanks for the recommendations!

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Bonnie

I began to notice on the second steep as it cooled a bit a yam sugar wheat bread flavor, but you’re right that it was not as malty. I did enjoy this tea. I was listening to Russian Chant with it.

Joshua Smith

Oh, I remember when you posted that! That was some wonderful music to listen to, and sparked a bit of n obsession for me. Anyway, as I’m sitting here composing the edit for the second post, I have to agree with you about the wheat bread flavor in the second infusion. Combined with the newly-emerged buttery mouth-feel, it creates a very cozy experience, especially since the weather here has taken a turn for the dreary.

Bonnie

Very good too! Here is something different…tell me what you think. It is in Hagia Sophia (now a museum) so you know what it means to me that it is being sung in this sacred space. http://youtu.be/RwFYUJb03d0
So many people have never heard the more ancient Byzantine Christian music like this. It is still being sung here in the U.S. too.

Joshua Smith

Wow. That was some powerful stuff. The best part was the acoustics of of the Hagia Sophia letting the voices echo, giving the music that otherworldly quality. I wish I could get an album that was full of music like that…

Bonnie

I have a bunch of CD’s. Jim Marks can shoot you suggestions. I can shoot you a message with some I have but I need to go to the post office to send some samples off to a guy in Denver. I’ll be back. Uh Look at Sacred Treasures Choral Masterworks from Russia there’s a series (Hearts of Space) but I have others from like St. Catherines on Mt. Sinai and Vaalam in Russia and so on.

Joshua Smith

That would be greatly appreciated. I’ll send Jim Marks a PM to ask him as well. Again, thanks for the recommendations!

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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.

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.

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