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Backlogging.

I remember liking this odd lime tisaine well enough the last time I had it. I enjoyed the taste and its uniqueness. This time the tisaine wasn’t as I remembered it being. I didn’t enjoy it as much and I struggled to finish the last of the cup. I suspect I need to try it another time or two to make a firm decision on how I feel about it. This steep maybe have been user error. Perhaps I steeped it three minutes the first time I had it. Either way, I have no more bags of it. I’ll not buy it again for the sole purpose of trying it again. But I may at some point get another Numi bagged teas sampler from the grocery.

The end result is that I’m rating it for this time drinking it. I thought I had tealogged it last time I had it but I see I did not. So it gets a 45, right in the middle of drinkable (40-50). I actually feel it should be even lower, closer to 40, but it gets a scant few points for the memory of having liked it last time.

Here comes the second set of backlogs.

So I woke up wanting darjeeling that morning. I used a lower water temperature than I ever have with this tea. I liked it and think I’ll continue to do so.

2nd steep: 6 min.

Backlogging.

A single simple mug of Ceylon. This tea tin is getting empty. This has been a v good standard tea for me.

(I’ve decided to backlog in sets of three, with three sets total, so the second set is coming later today.)

Backlogging.

Drinking this Sencha again sooner rather than later. I am not finding myself resteeping this tea when I have it. Perhaps I need to make sure I finish my cup while it is hotter, I don’t like this tea much as it cools.

Damn it, I’ve accumulated a backlog again. At first it was only 3-4 teas, now it’s up to about 10. Okay, must slog through getting these tealogs done. =D

What’s not the love about the Tiger? I’ve been steeping him slightly stonger lately.

2nd steep: 6 min.

My husband and I shared a pot of Kenchanjangha this afternoon while watching this week’s Mad Men then cooking dinner – naked baked salmon with just a touch of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, pole beans (long, flat green beans), and sweet potatoes with brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon.

I don’t know what was off but the Kenchanjangha didn’t come out as it has in the past. The first two steeps were bitterer than usually and the last steep was on the weak side (it’s usually as flavorful as the others). Perhaps it was steeping in a teapot instead of by the cup or perhaps it was too much leaf. I intentionally used to bit more than normal but not by very much.

I nearly forgot to mention. I love the smell of this tea (okay, I love the smell of quite a lot of teas). It’s different from any other I’ve smelled before and I had yet to be able to put my finger on quite what I thought it smelled like. Today I distinctly thought it smelled like nice really dark chocolate or unsweetened dark cocoa powder. My husband did not get this when I asked him if he smelled it too and I’m not entirely sure it’ll smell like that to me again next time I have it.

1st steep: 2 min.
2nd steep: 2 min 15 sec.
3rd steep: 3 min.

Oolong is SO good. I don’t know why I don’t drink it more often. Two steeps before dinner, two steeps after dinner. Stopped resteeping because it was time for bed and my previous tealogs said that the fifth steep was on the weak side. Again, steeps three and four were the best.

1st steep: 4 min.
2nd steep: 4 min 30 sec.
3rd steep: 5 min.
4th steep: 5 min 30 sec.

These steeping parameters worked well.

Yesterday afternoon, I started watching Oprah’s interview with JK Rowling and they were drinking tea so I had to pause and make tea. I liked this tea so much the first time that I thought I might have built it up in my head saying “I can’t drink this now because I want to be able to fully enjoy it” each time I thought about having it. But it wasn’t built up at all. It was that good. Except now that I know for sure, I don’t think I’ll wait to have it again. =)

I’m happy with this tea at these parameters. I might try a higher water temperature or a longer steeping interval. I did not steep past the fourth steep, but it was still going strongly then so I don’t know if it could take more. Several of the steeps started out tasting mostly of white tea and fading into the black current taste as I drank. I think that had to do with the temperature of the tea as it cooled while I drank. I liked the latter steeps most.

1st steep: 2 min.
2nd steep: 2 min 30 sec.
3rd steep: 3 min.
4th steep: 3 min 30 sec.

Backlogging. Wednesday morning.

I wanted something more delicate and more complex. I also tried steeping using a lower water temperature, which I think I like. Although, I can’t put my finger on why.

2nd steep: 6 min.

Backlogging. Tuesday morning.

The Tiger needs no reason. Okay, he’s what I usually drink in the morning if I don’t know what I want. My tin is definitely at the half full point or less now. =( Currently, I think the Tiger is my favorite of all the A&D teas.

2nd steep: 5 min 30 sec.