87
drank Ancient Emerald Lily by Rishi Tea
187 tasting notes

Hrm. So maybe this whole work tea experience isn’t working out quite as well as I hoped!

So I figured I’d finish off the sample that takgoti sent me, and try some Ancient Emerald Lily at work (I have a tin of this as well).

I think the problem is actually my Flavia machine’s water. I’m not sure having the water run through the same spout that produces coffee and hot chocolate and various types of tea is such a good thing. Or maybe it’s just the water that tastes bad…

Anyway, this tea, which is one that I found in the past to be very enjoyable, pretty much fell flat today. None of the flavors really stood out. There was a weird, almost mineral-like taste, and the formally nutty notes were really harsh and unpleasant. The lower water temperature I used really caused the tea to lose a lot of its astringency, which was definitely pleasant. And as the cup cooled, there was definite green-sweet peeping through.

But overall, the cup just wasn’t as good as I’ve had in the past. Tea is probably 99% water, so I have a feeling the water might be the key to my problem. The next step is going to be boiling some water in the microwave and then letting it cool to an appropriate temperature. Or I might test another tea, like Adagio’s Gunpowder, and see how it stands up to these icky water conditions. I don’t want to be ruining tea with bad water.

Looks like the hot water kettle + bottled water might just end up being the more viable option…

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Ricky

Aww, poor teaplz and your bad tea experiences. There’s always the option of bringing a cup of tea in a thermos, that’ll get you a morning cup of tea =]

Even though I have a kitchen, I think I might bring an electric water kettle as well and leave it by my desk. I was just wondering how I would separate the tea leaves. I mean I’d technically have to head to the kitchen to clean it… so that eliminates the whole purpose. Then again I could have oolong and green which would work for multiple steeps. Decisions decisions.

Angrboda

Coffee flavour does rub off something awful! We’ve had that problem at work too, where the thermos pots used for my tea and the coffee are the same colour, so the lids have sometimes been switched around in spite of them being labeled. I have to make a whole new round of tea then, because if it isn’t noticed before I start pouring, the whole lot just tastes of coffee. It is not pleasant.

Auggy

My water at work is nasty, especially heated, so I feel your pain. I used to bring bottled water to make tea but found that it made it taste a bit flat. (Apparently distilled water doesn’t make the best flavored tea – there was a site that did a great post comparing teas made with distilled, tap and filtered water – they also did another one with brewing vessel materials – glass, iron, clay. Really interesting but I have no idea where it was so boo). Anyway, now I bring a refillable water bottle to work every day with filtered water from home. I feel a bit like a dork doing it but it makes for happy tea so I’m happy. (I also have an electric kettle here for my tea so I’m pretty sure I am a dork). Anyway, it all boils down to what ends up working for you which can take some trial and error to figure out. Good luck and may you get it all perfected soon!

Auggy

(Wow – long comment. So sorry!)

takgoti

Oh dear. I’ll second Auggy – I’ve made tea from bottled water before in a pinch and it does not work well. Not that I want to encourage you to set up camp in your office, but a little Brita pitcher might be a good way to go unless the sink is…you know, all the way over there. Either that or Auggy’s water bottle idea is made of win as well.

kingly311

I think it may not be your water, because I’m using deer park bottled water, and I got the same result with this tea. I had a very similar reaction. Perhaps we need to brew it longer, like someone here suggested. 3 minutes was definitely not enough.

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Ricky

Aww, poor teaplz and your bad tea experiences. There’s always the option of bringing a cup of tea in a thermos, that’ll get you a morning cup of tea =]

Even though I have a kitchen, I think I might bring an electric water kettle as well and leave it by my desk. I was just wondering how I would separate the tea leaves. I mean I’d technically have to head to the kitchen to clean it… so that eliminates the whole purpose. Then again I could have oolong and green which would work for multiple steeps. Decisions decisions.

Angrboda

Coffee flavour does rub off something awful! We’ve had that problem at work too, where the thermos pots used for my tea and the coffee are the same colour, so the lids have sometimes been switched around in spite of them being labeled. I have to make a whole new round of tea then, because if it isn’t noticed before I start pouring, the whole lot just tastes of coffee. It is not pleasant.

Auggy

My water at work is nasty, especially heated, so I feel your pain. I used to bring bottled water to make tea but found that it made it taste a bit flat. (Apparently distilled water doesn’t make the best flavored tea – there was a site that did a great post comparing teas made with distilled, tap and filtered water – they also did another one with brewing vessel materials – glass, iron, clay. Really interesting but I have no idea where it was so boo). Anyway, now I bring a refillable water bottle to work every day with filtered water from home. I feel a bit like a dork doing it but it makes for happy tea so I’m happy. (I also have an electric kettle here for my tea so I’m pretty sure I am a dork). Anyway, it all boils down to what ends up working for you which can take some trial and error to figure out. Good luck and may you get it all perfected soon!

Auggy

(Wow – long comment. So sorry!)

takgoti

Oh dear. I’ll second Auggy – I’ve made tea from bottled water before in a pinch and it does not work well. Not that I want to encourage you to set up camp in your office, but a little Brita pitcher might be a good way to go unless the sink is…you know, all the way over there. Either that or Auggy’s water bottle idea is made of win as well.

kingly311

I think it may not be your water, because I’m using deer park bottled water, and I got the same result with this tea. I had a very similar reaction. Perhaps we need to brew it longer, like someone here suggested. 3 minutes was definitely not enough.

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28-year-old NYC girl just starting out on her tea adventures! I used to hate tea. If you asked me a few years ago what I thought of tea, I’d tell you it tasted like hot, dirty dishwater. Not anymore! I acquired a taste for tea when I started drinking peppermint tea for my upset stomach problems. From there I graduated to teas like chamomile and Lipton. But Lipton wasn’t strong enough!

I’m getting the hang of this loose leaf thing. Black’s my default, but I’ve found that I really love teas that fall into every category. I’m a purist – I always drink my tea neat. I prefer unflavored tea over flavored tea, and really dislike anything flavored with artificial-tasting substances. I’ve grown up a bit in my tea drinking, and I find that novelty appeals to me less and less.

I also am the happy wife of the boy that created the tea randomizer, which can be found here: http://www.jaydeee.net/pickatea.php

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New York City

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