Random Steepings

Hey everyone, I am back! Between me moving out and breaking up with my long-term boyfriend, I found that it had killed my creativity and joy a little bit, so I had absolutely no inspiration for tea for a while. It feels good to be back, though, and I am back in force considering I am planning on making a big order from Harney and Sons. I don’t think it’s sold locally except for Indigo, which only ever carries a selection of 4 teas, all in sachet form. I’m ordering a tin of Paris, which I fell in love with (in loose leaf this time), and Boston, which I feel like is one I would really enjoy just based on its description. I need to get at least one more in order to qualify for free shipping. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good H&S tea? I generally enjoy blacks, flavoured and unflavoured, and green tea (though nothing genmaicha-like, don’t like the toastyness). Will go for herbal if it’s really good!

Today I am finishing off my mysterious “Black tea with coconut and berries”, which I have come to love and really felt comforting to sip in my toughest moments. I would love to find a replacement for this tea, as I have really come to enjoy the combination of the bright fruitiness with a delicate sweep of sweet coconut in the background, all balanced on a fine foundation of a black the base. At least now I have a tea mason jar freed up so I can fill it with more wonderful tea! If I could just get the damned sticker off completely…

On the 17th day of sipdowns…

I got this in a swap but I’m not actually sure what it is… It’s in an Adagio tin labeled “Pearl” but the list I received from the swapper said there were two other Adagio teas but no Pearl. I decided this must be Strawberry Shortcake from the list (though it doesn’t taste like it.) It was good, but not as wonderful when iced. I’m not terribly let down that I can’t figure out what the tea is but it was interesting to try to decipher the tea without having an ingredient list.

Acquired through the Regional Group Buy. This is only for my second or third purple-ish tea. Still very new to me. I evaluated this tea as best as I could, and I tried to be as concrete in identifying the flavors I was smelling and tasting. I decided to first brew half the sample in a gaiwan and then then other half in an infuser mug.

120ml. No rinse. Steeping times: 30 seconds, 10, 20, 40, 60, 90; 2 minutes, 3, 5, 8, 12.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJsuYUQB4eJ/

I had difficulty discerning specific notes in the dry leaf aroma. I wrote: sweet, cloves, grain-like, Cheerios. I let the leaf rest in the pre-heated bowl and smelled an entirely different aroma: tart berries, particularly blackberries and gooseberries. The wet leaf aroma is combination of the previous, smelling of pies made with tart berries, and of Cheerios.

The gongfu method produces a liquor the color of rose quartz. The body is medium, and the texture creamy, and the aftertaste consistently sweet. The tasting portion starts off sour – literally. At the second and third, the tart berries stay in the front of my mouth while the Cheerios note rests in the back. The fourth and fifth infusions are more grainy than sweet/tart. From the sixth infusion to the end, the liquor tastes sweet with a note of chard, the grain having disappeared entirely.

I found steeping the leaf Western method more favorable. This leaf is meant to be steeped this way. Steeping times: 3 minutes, 5, 10.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJxxlyuhD15/

Two days later, I had an easier time picking out what I was smelling in the aromas. Dry: rhubarb, gooseberries, gooseberry pie. Wet: same notes, but the sweet- and tartness are stronger. I can’t tell what the liquor color is because the inside of the mug is blue. This time, the body is fuller. The first cup, at first taste, has a bitter grass notes, underneath of which is plum. As I continue to drink, the tea becomes more flavorful. The bitterness disappears, the sweetness completely takes over, and the delightfully fruity aftertaste lasts for minutes. The second and third cups taste lighter and not as flavorful, but are just as sweet, with no bitterness at all.

Additionally, I couldn’t find anything off-putting about this tea. Preparing Purple Leaf Tea the gongfu method draws it out too much. Consequently, its personality doesn’t shine through. I highly recommend to steep the leaf in an infuser mug like me or a larger pot. The leaf gives out so much more.

I finished a bunch of stuff at work in the last year and didn’t record it. Going to list them all here and then go update the spreadsheet…

Finished:
22 hr Dancong – White2Tea club (sipdown)
Sparrow tongue (Apr 2019) – White2Tea club (sipdown)
White Crow 2018 – Bitterleaf (sipdown)
Hot Brandy – White2Tea
Keemun Black (x4) – Little Woods
Creamsicle – Little Woods
Old Tree Assamica Black – Mountain Stream Teas (sipdown)
unlabeled package (label fell off) – Mountain Stream Teas (sipdown)
Fireside – Little Woods
another unlabeled package – who knows?
Nepal Jun Chiyabari ‘Winter Special’ Oolong – What-Cha (sipdown)
daily jinjunmei – White2Tea club (sipdown)
Yunnan Pure Bud Golden Snail Black – What-Cha (sipdown)
Georgia MANNA Black – What-Cha (sipdown)
Shangri-La Oolong – Nepal Tea (sipdown)
Jin Xuan – Floating Leaves (sipdown)
Black Beauty – Mandala Tea (sipdown)
February 23, 2019 26hr roast Milan Dancong Maocha – White2Tea club (sipdown)
Ganlu (Apr 2019) – White2Tea club (sipdown)
Jin Jun Mei Black – Mandala (sipdown)
February 23, 2019 No Roast Milan Dancong Maocha – White2Tea Club (sipdown)
Dragon well – Little Woods
Herbal Sunset – Little Woods

There is a local shop called Yan-Tsu Hong herbs that sells Chinese herbs, medicines, and teas—-Regina friends, have you been here? It is right by Cuppa’T. A few years ago, I tried their Iron Buddha tea (Tiekuanyin—it says on the label) and hated it but that was before I appreciated and knew how to brew oolong teas. Trying it today, I know my tastes have changed because I am really enjoying this. It is buttery and floral with vegetal notes. This is a decent green oolong.
I think that I will brew it at a lower temp next time though to see if that brings out more sweetness.

Ok, I’m breaking one of my tea rules, which is not to try something new when I’m in a hurry or unwell. I am unwell, and trying a new tea.
My mom brought be back a packet of sachets of “Organic Corn Tea” from the Japanese shop Muji, and I know nothing else about it. And, as I’m drinking tea as if there is no tomorrow, I brewed some up.
Firstly, no idea if I brewed this correctly. The package may have instructions, but its all in Japanese, so I’m out in that respect.
It smells very rich in the sachet, but the scent thins out somewhat once brewed.
What I get is a roasty, almost earthen cup of “tea”, which is quite interesting. Huh. I’m gonna hold off on rating it, as I need more sampling time!

The dry leaf aroma is sweet and floral. It’s also almost fruity. The brewed tea aroma is a floral green oolong. This is my kind of tea!

I got this sample from a co-worker/friend. I have no idea what company this is from as the red, vacuum sealed package is only covered in kanji. I tried translating 茗典茶藏 and determined it says: “tea for ceremony, tea to have.” Anyone come across this before?

The leaves fully unfurled after the second infusion for two minutes. It’s a shame I can’t identify the source because this is a great tea! The leaves have more stem attached then I’ve ever seen before, but the resulting tea is delicious! It’s probably an unflavored milk oolong. This second infusion is creamy! Mmm, yum! This is soooo good! It’s really hitting the spot. I’d rate it a 92.

Bagged houji-cha. Made at work with microwave boiled water (not having a hot water dispenser kind of sucks…)

This was good. First time having a roasted green tea and I was struck by how oaty it was. Reminded me a lot of oatmeal without actually tasting like cereal. This was interesting enough to warrant revisiting … perhaps with a loose leaf version.

I drank some Japanese green tea with matcha from a sample from LiquidProust. The green tea tasted very “leafy green”, combined with the taste of Trader Joe’s Mochi green tea (if that makes any sense ;-) ). Unfortunately there was also too much bitterness to it for my taste.

I’m so far on the backlog….

Since I’ve been teaching so much on the computer, I’ve been trying to take breaks from technology. Now that I have a moment of respite, I wanted to get back some reviews of some of the teas I’ve hoarded from whiteantlers.

There’s one black tea that I’ve deeply enjoyed, but don’t know quite what it is. It’s only got Mandarin on the package, but if I were to guess, I think it’s either a Tongmu/Wuyi or Tie Guan Yin type black since the leaves are smoothened out with few to little gold tips and a longhan aroma, or it could be Taiwanese because it’s sickeningly sweet and fruity. I have had fruity Chinese and Fujians for sure, but they are usually limited to apricot, citrus, berry and cherry for blacks while the flavor is usually more savory. Taiwanese blacks in my experience are thicker and fruitier, especially leaning into more tropical and stonefruits.

Going into this tea, it’s a sugar bomb-I’ve questioned whether or not it’s been roasted with sugarcane because it’s that immense. Lychee, Longhan, Chocolate, Cherries, Brown Sugar, and Light Malt is what I get, but then it dies off after steep three western, and five if I really take the time to gong fu it. There were times were I’ve wondered if the tea has raised my bloodsugar because of how sweet it is.

I don’t know how else to describe it in terms of notes, but it’s one of those teas that I want to drink all the time, but I get overpowered by cloy if I do. I LOVE it, because it does have some depth and layers underneath all the sugariness, but it pack a punch. Whiteantlers, you might be able to define it?

Anyway, it’s one of the teas that I’ve drank the most so far. I’ve been occasionally trying my new teas if its a sample, but I’ve mostly drank Hugo’s Jasmine Green, What-Cha’s Li-Shan Black, Hugo’s Earl Grey, What-Cha’s Amber Gaba Oolong (SO SMOOTH), Unytea’s Jasmine Black, and Whispering Pines’s Imperial North Winds…which I’ll add today for notes. The rest I’ve already added from what I’ve listed-go check them out!

Selfish side note-Heavily missing my lack of Alice…