teabird

teabird drank China Breakfast by Rishi Tea

Finishing this sample so that I can use the tin for some of my new Den’s Teas! Yes, I caved on their novice sampler. But to be fair, this is totally worth drinking in its own right! Really delicious and strong and flavorful and not boring. Apparently this and Fujian Baroque are the highest rated plain blacks I have, so it’s possible I should move them higher; on the other hand… room for growth? Drinkable but very spicy plain, even at 3 minutes, but really super tasty with milk.

2010-05-13 13:36:17 -0400

205 °F / 96 °C

3 min 0 sec

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teabird 2010-05-13 17:24:05 -0400

I reliably get three steeps out of this one, which is why it utterly trumps LeafSpa’s Yunnan for me…

Ricky 2010-05-13 19:58:47 -0400

Agree with you on this one. It’s good but soooo plain. I enjoy it more with milk and sugar.

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Some notes on ratings:

I’d have separate rating scales for tea types if that were possible (probably Black, Flavored Black, Darjeeling/Dark Oolong, White/Green/Light Oolong, and Herbal) because the flavors and quality markers are just too different. A flavored black rated 100 isn’t better than every oolong I’ve ever drunk, just delicious for a flavored black.

Ratings are a combination of my enjoyment and the perceived quality – I do often demote teas a few points for artificial flavorings, small quantity of steeps supported, or weakness of flavor (requiring extra leaf).

I pay less attention to the number than the order of my ratings; I don’t necessarily keep a stock of everything rated 80+, but if two breakfast blends are rated 82 and 84 I consistently enjoy the 84 more.

And in case it’s not obvious? I am not an expert. I don’t even know what I like until I taste it sometimes, but I’m ok with that :) I like learning to like new teas, as well as enjoying the comfort of familiar ones.