So I think I discovered the secret to this tea: make it, then let it sit for a few hours. I’m not sure why (perhaps it’s just the cooler temperature bringing out more flavor complexity), but it seems like every time I make myself a pot of this and have one cup right away and one cup in the late afternoon, the second cup is the one I end up craving.
With this tea, the instructions are to let it steep for five minutes, but even after four the tea is always kind of a pale yellow liquor. I usually find myself swishing around the strainer, or pouring and repouring the water over the leaves to speed up the infusion process. Maybe I should just learn to be a little more patient. Still delicious either way.
…Oh, and on a side note, I think I’ve discovered why my past several teas keep tasting like metal. It’s the damn strainer I keep using in place of my teapot! Maybe because I haven’t truly washed the strainer with soap yet (I always rinse it off after I use it to make tea), but the past several times I have tried to use it to make tea, the tea tastes metallic, and the past several times I have used the pot, the tea tastes delicious. Nrrrrrgh….
