tunes&tea

Revised note;
Dropped the temp to 185. I had this tea AGAIN tonight yet didn’t remember that I had it before until I saw my score on the Steepster reviews page. It’s funny to go back and see what I was writing my first few days of being on here. I don’t see anything that I think is wrong, just not enough of it. I shall correct…
Normally I like to do my tasting withn a fresh palate before eating (not sure if it makes a difference), but today I could not help myself. I made my wife scrambled eggs with sweet onions, sweet banana peppers, jalepeno, and tomatoes (Mr Stripey/Ruckers) all pulled fresh from the garden. Wow fresh is good. Only wish I woulda grabbed the brown eggs I considered stopping for the other day.
On with the tea. Pale green color. Unfurling brought good sized leaves. Nice aroma that I soon found hinted at taste to follow. Initially I was impressioned with a green, but not grassy, slightly minty flavor. There were delicate notes of floral sweetness and little to no astringency. The buttery creaminess was so good and it hung with me for a little bit, coating my mouth and leaving a pleasant aftertaste indeed.
Second steeping the sweet remained though not as sharp or minty. The creaminess was still present too. The flavor became bolder but the astrigency remained nuetral. It’s very refreshing and, truthfully, hard to put down. I ended up steeping this one maybe 7 times, backing off the amount of water and bumping up the duration a little each time. I found it to change slightly each time with the final cup leaving me with a salty soup like flavor that was still holding on to a touch of the sweet notes. A splendid drink I would suggest to anyone.
Tune;The Glorious 9th,by Ludwig Van
I did not listen to this tonight, we were actually playing the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy Edition of-Risk, though I left it to see if anyone knows what I meant by it…

Revision, one of my first notes;
Dry leaf smells beautiful and somewhat spicy. Color is a nice amber. Flavor immediately displayed a sweet current, which coupled with it’s boldness is a nice mix. After a few moments the tea gains the slight malty aspect I hadn’t picked up on a moment before.
Second steep; Still very smooth and the sweetness is definitely present in the aftertaste. This is a quenching drink leaving my mouth ever ready for the next sip.
This is the kind of black tea I could enjoy all the time. Clean, not too heavy yet bold and full of flavor, sweet notes but not artificial tasting.
This sample originally came to me from Pureleaf, but may have resurfaced in the sampler I bought from LiberTEAS (which I still suggest that all fellow newbie drinkers to get one of these to help you in your tea learning journey), not sure so thanks to you both!
Tune;none aside from that of one of my sons practicing his newly acquired xylophone.

Thanks to Pureleaf for the sample.After screwing up my first infusion and making this tea too strong(not sure if it was amount of water,temp,or duration.just dropped the ball)I got it right the second time. As far as green teas go I’m not a huge fan to begin with but it’s hard to deny the clean taste thids portrays.For me,this is GREEN.The greenest I’ve tasted.Very grassy with low astringency.Aroma of wet leaf matches the flavor.Smooth with light aftertaste. Tune; Of Monsters And Men-Dirty Paws

Thank you Pureleaf for this sample.Wow what a drink.Forgive me if I repeat myself but this tea is difficult for my novice palate to grasp.I was first impressioned by a bold smokiness that reminds me of a bonfire put out by water.Dry with a strong walnutty afterflavor. With the second steeping the smokiness started converting into another flavor I will have to try to determine the next go around. By the fourth steeping much of the dryness had dissipated and a creaminess had appeared.Very interesting to see a beverage change from very dry to quenching in a short period of time. I must come back to this tea and do it’s description more justice at another time. Tune:Buddy Guy,Baby Please Don’t Leave.Incidentily from the album-Sweet Tea

I’m happy with this tea.My wife made the comment that she detected hints of floral smells to the dry leaf.I was surprised at how quikly it unfurled,big leaves.Noticing leafless stems had me a little concerned,but that quickly diminished.Amber color was a bit cloudy(may have been my water). The sweetness in dry leaf was only slightly present after infuse,but definitely enough to appreciate.The was very smooth yet at the same time dry.Grassy aftertaste;bold yet not strong/astringent enough to call barley,maybe hay if that could be interpreted as something not offensive. The tune was Bob Dylan-Wicked Messenger

Today’s first cup really grabbed me. I was initially confronted with a very clean flavor.I thought there must have been an error in packaging the samples in that there were none of the charcoal characteristics I have read about.Almost sweet,and green to be sure.And yet within a few sips I had changed my mind two or three times.Though I still detect green It is intermingled with a,not so much nutty,but barley note.theres an undercurrent of sweetness Second steeping I bumped time up thirty seconds and it sure brought the barley to the surface and diminished the green aspect.Still that hint of sweet,maybe more in the aroma than anything else.Very enjoyable,one I might drink regularly. Tune playing; Green Onions by BOOKER T&The M G’s…classic

What a complicated drink for my first review. I started off slow,only infuzing one cup at a time. My initial rinse left impressions of several flavors/sensations on different parts of my tongue, too much for my novice palate to do justice with description. The deep red/brown color is misleading in thinking that there would be an acidic bitterness which was not present. For me the earthy aroma(as another post says)is mingled with an aqautic tone. The combination of bold yet smooth flavor is what I truely enjoy. I’m reminded of gray shades in a forest, older and richer than browns. Yet after saying that my next sip brings to mind a seaweed impression I’ve also seen cited. I guess ‘mossy’ is the word I want,but somehow that doesn’t seem right either. Such a difficult thing to describe for me. After a dozen or so steepings I’m finally getting to the nuttiness I first expected. The after flavor is surprisingly strong and stays with you like a tasty tomato you just pulled from the vine. In a sense I regret that my time with this tea is at an end, but let me also note that I would not drink this tea regularly, it is more occasion specific for me. I shall conclude my ramblings to include that Mumford&Sons-Dust Bowl Dance was my selected ‘tune’ for this tasting. Not because I deemed it fit, but rather this song has captivated me as of late.