Random Steepings

A red tea in the middle of the Galician countryside. Tea options have been black and mint for most of the Camino, but I have had some decent puerh tea here too. Stopped for a late breakfast (seems that the Spanish do everything a bit later than I am used to, breakfast, lunch, siesta, late dinner too) and asked for tea. The cafe owner didn’t speak much English, and my Spanish is not fluent, but he did ask black or red, so I had a nice puerh that steeped twice, wasn’t fishy and had a nice earthy taste that went with my tomato, avocado, ham toast.

I am back for 2022!! I haven’t posted since June 2021 but I’m still sipping away, still reading the discussion boards and tasting notes (I’m only 68 pages behind from being caught up), still posting a bit (and following a lot) on Insta, etc. I don’t know how often I’ll be posting notes here but I’m going to try to do them sometimes. Hope everyone is doing well. :)

I grabbed a kombucha from the store that was on clearance. It’s local-ish company called BNF and it’s the mango marigold flavor. It doesn’t have a distinctive flavor and I wouldn’t recognize it as mango flavored. It’s not a vinegar-y kombucha though and really reminds me a lot of beer. It’s not what I expected but I don’t mind it either. I also grabbed their pear flavor as well.

Drinking a random matcha genmaicha teabag that came in a Japanese snack subscription box I’ve been getting. It’s actually a really nice genmaicha. No bitterness, just smooth and toasty.

TeaTiff TTB #3

Skysamurai kindly included a number of teas from a special “Japanese Tea Marathon” she participated in last year. This one is a Kabusecha from Nakamori Seicha, which I couldn’t find on Steepster and didn’t have enough information about to add myself. Apparently, Kabusecha is a shredded Japanese green tea. It looked like bright green grass clippings in the bag and left a fair amount of dust at the bottom of my cup. I was expecting the flavor to be strong, like a CTC tea, but it was actually quite light and delicate with notes of fresh green peas. I didn’t personally love it, but it was definitely an interesting experience to get to try it!

Found this very old pack of oolong plum tea in the back of a cupboard this week. The label is half worn off so I can’t tell where this tea is from, just the name “oloong yello plum”… and a use-by date of 2014. So I guess random steepings is where I’m supposed to review this tea?

5 years past the use by date… can anyone beat that?

Smells amazing despite being so old (it was sealed up very well, although opened inside) with plum and apricot and warm black tea.

I brewed it. First few sips there’s a light fruity sweetness and earthyness that’s lovely. Then there’s what I can only describe as bin juice. To be precise, it’s the smell of the juice/liquid that’s lingering in the bottom of your bin after being too lazy to take the trash out for a few too many days. Rotting garbage and earthy and sweet, because the trash is full of sugary drink cans.

Once you’ve got that smell in your mind and what you imagine it would taste like, this tea becomes a mind battle. The more you think about the bin juice, the more you can taste it. I battled to the bottom of the cup by focusing on the taste of plums.

I’m now pretty sure the plum flavouring was added, not just a description of the natural oolong leaf flavour. I think that’s what has started to rot. Throwing this tea away now, sadly. I imagine it was delicious fresh.

Here I am! I was for a week on the trip with my best friend in Poland. We were in Torun, Gdansk (Danzig for German speakers) and in the end Poznan.

I will be honest… hotel teas are bad. Worse than I have been expecting.
Here is the list I had this week(tea bags mostly). I won’t make a separate post for each tea tried.

I have started wih Dilmah Earl Grey — I have been expecting better. Quite bitter base tea, bergamot is rather lemon, or I have thought.
Very same day I tried Ceylon Gold by Basilur (I had two cups of tea for breakfast each day in Torun). Even worse flavour. Even more bitter. No other flavours.

Next day… another Dilmah tea; this time flavoured with lemon; and the second wih passion fruit, pomergranate and honeysuckle. First one was probably the worst from my Dilmah experience? The aroma was foul. Very dish soap like, very artificial and it went to flavour very much as well. Ugh, I am trying to recall worse lemon tea! Second one was fruity. Yes, it was black tea with fruity flavours. But can’t find out any of the flavours that should be in. Aroma was so strong, that it made me cough.

I thought it can be better. My expectation in the hotel in Gdansk weren’t met. Actually, it was rapid downhill. Due to Covid-19 we had to order breakfast beforehand, and there was “Tee” in English translation. Breakfast was fine, but “Tee” we got was round tea bag, without any information on it or on the label, because it has got no label! I was trying to find out and they (the staff) only told me it’s black tea. Thank you, I have recognized, based on the brew. It was very earthy, dusty, bitter… probably Tetley or some Polish, worse, tea.

Luckily, during our stay in Gdansk, we have visited local restaurant and there I have ordered a tea. Green tea. Of course, they brought boiling water. The tea was Classic Green from Ronnefeldt company. I know that they are pretty much okay. It’s not top-notch. Probably best bagged tea I had this vacation. It was mild and a bit grassy.
We actually went to the restaurants twice this day. Or it was day before? I don’t know. But once, we have received even a loose-leaf tea. It was some easydrinking Ceylon black tea, but it was so big change of pace. I loved it (in terms of “teas” I have got earlier)

After arriving in Poznan, we needed to eat something. So I have ordered again a tea… but this time it was with ginger, raisins orange, dried morello cherries and honey. I thought it will be some loose tea steeped in and then whole finished drink will be delivered to me.
I was wrong. I have received hot water with all the ingredients and on the top, there was floating a tea bag. An unknown brand (teArtis). It was very fine for me that day.

And at last, Poznan. We were about to get some breakfast at hotel, but because it was New Year, they did not serve any. But we had tea bags in our room so I have tried one. It was Green Tea Peach from Teekanne. Well known company for me, and I was so disappointed. I know I have oversteeped it, but it must be wrong even before. Turned out bitter and hay-like. Maybe it was there for long? Who knows.

So I have decided that we will go to the tea room. I really wanted a good tea. Really good tea. And why not the very last day of the vacation?

I have ordered probably the most expensive tea there? It was Oolong Kaoribi Shibamoto. Yes it is Japanese oolong… I never had any before. It was so good that I have bought 100 grams of it to take home. With it I have took some blend they had there. It is called “Z Perskiego targu” which means “From Persian market”. I haven’t opened it yet, so I have no idea what it is.
The oolong? I just have to say it was awesome. I will write more about it later. If you have any information of this tea, let me know. I have only Polish text that was written there.

And one more pouch I took home. Torun is famous for Gingerbread. And I have seen one little pouch of it in gift shop, so I have decided to take it home. And it is very potent, but it seems to be nice.

Note: I was able to read and like your tasting notes. I was happy that you have been enjoying this week as I was. Sometimes I was even able to write a little comment (during the train ride), but I was never able to write a proper tasting note for each tea. It is so hard to write on my mobile. Sorry if I have missed some.

Welp, I’m putting this here because while I know what kind of tea it is, it is not available to purchase except by wholesale. It’s a US FOODS tea, under their “Rituals” brand. Specifically their Citrus Green. I got about six teabags of this from a hotel we stayed at when my Grandmother passed away.

The flavor of this tea is very tasty for a teabag. I can taste the green, but it isn’t too overly astringent or grassy. The citrus shines through nicely, without it having an overpowering citric acid taste. In all, I will be sad to see this one go. This is my last of the six teabags that I brought home with me. So yeah, sad day, not just because this is the last of this tea, but because drinking it reminds me of my Grandma’s passing. All in all, a good bagged tea. If I ever stay at a hotel that stocks it again, you can best bet I will be getting more.

On the 7th day of Sara’s Old Tea, Sara gave to me…
Greek Mountain Tea! From an unknown maker.

This is a tasty herbal! As suggested, I left the tea bag in my cup. It tastes like walking around the rose garden in Portland and hearing birds singing. Seriously, where can I get this stuff? Would drink more.

I’ve never been one to celebrate anniversaries, nor have I ever been a particularly sentimental person. Don’t get me wrong, I have great appreciation for all manner of folks and events that happen their ways into my path and mine into theirs. I do experience weighty nostalgia at times. Reflection has always been a pastime, though instead of it being a conscious choice to take some time for processing, it is usually spurred by the anxiety of an overwhelmed and subsequently depleted nervous system. That is where tea comes in. Conscious reflection and centeredness.

I’ve been spinning in place lately. Every input from the reality that whirls around me sets me a little off balance and into unexpected territory but I come right back to this every time. This neglected website. Both the members new and those seasoned, some of whom have put up with my life happenings and musings and contributed their own. You’re all so very excellent and I wish that sometimes I were in the mood to communicate with you more, but damn, am I tired. Twenty-twenty, I’m trying. I’m trying to break out of this dizzying spin.

Here’s to 2 years of Steepster. I’m in awe of all that has happened in this short amount of time. Come what may. Hopefully a brighter future for the site and for us all.

Song pairing: Stevie Wonder — As
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLbmdG8U60E