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Tea of the afternoon…..

I was at the eye doctor today with my son. They happened to have this as a wrapped bag along with hot water, so I thought I would give it a go. It was pretty good. I don’t think I steeped very long, and the water was out of one of those office type hot water dispensers. I am surprised to read it is 100% Assam. I seem to have it in my head that Assam is bitter and over the top, but this one certainly was not. I did probably steep for about 1 1/2 – 2 minutes, so as long as I do my Chinese blacks for sure. Hmmm. I may have to consider this one!

Tea of the afternoon…..

I think I am going to have to rewrite my views on green teas after this one. I will have to admit that words like grassy and vegetal were not at all appealing to me before today. I also think the experiences I had with green tea in the past might have been influenced by lower quality tea as well as poor preparation on my part. Now, I must admit that Teavivre is going to make a green tea drinker out of me. The tea is smooth, lightly vegetal, and I am even getting a hint of butter. There is nothing harsh or bitter about this tea. While it is a relatively new frontier for me, I will say that I know I like this one. The leaves are long and very green. Brewed up, they look like they could have just been plucked from the bush. I am going to see how it resteeps, but this is definitely going on my shopping list. Imagine that. Me, a drinker of green tea!

Thank you to Teavivre for the sample! But mostly, thank you for showing me how wonderful green tea can be.

15 oz infuser mug with 180 water for 2 minutes and about 2 tsp tea. No additions.

Tea of the afternoon…..

We are preparing for a Girl Scout night…..we are watching both of the Harry Potter 7 movies tonight and then going out for a late night breakfast. Lots of cleaning to do since I am hosting. So, I chose this one in the loose version to see if it was as good as the sachet they sent as a sample, as it has the ability to really perk me up. I am not disappointed. The bergamot notes are so bright in this. It almost leans citrusy orange than citrusy, well musty, like some Earl Greys. I love this! It has a Keemun base. I compared this by sight to my Earl Grey from thepuriTea, and they look very similar. I will have to try them in succession some time….or if I wait long enough (I am planning to get another white ForLife mug the next time I am in Baltimore), I can do a side by side. I have a full pot today, so it is unlikely that I will drink more Earl than that!

Usual teapot method.

Tea of the morning…..

I am trying to get an idea of where this one sits in the line up of Keemun. It does have fewer yellowy tips than the Hao Ya A I have on hand, but it is very similar to my Hao Ya B in appearance. The golden tips are there, just not as prevalent in comparison to the Hao Ya A, and definitely more prevalent than the lower grades. I know that there is a specific grading system for Keemun tea, and in my short online research for a listing of the levels, I can’t really find a good guide in English. I might have to dig further. In comparison to my lower grades of Keemun, the leaves on this are narrower, but about the same length. I am throwing out a guess here, but the fineness might have to do with the part of the plant it comes from. Tips and first leaves are often smaller than leaves further down the stem in my limited gardening/botany experiences. So perhaps the higher grade Keemuns come from leaves closer to the apex of the branch? I did do a bit of reading on Teavivre’s website, and it also has to do with the part of the season they are harvested. My extrapolation of that….the earlier harvest would be the bud and first leaves of the season, the later harvest would still be the buds and first leaves, but produced a little further down on the plant? (I am going based upon my experience with roses and dahlias here…..the apex flower is always the best. Once it is picked, it will produce more flowers, but they are not as big or vibrant as that apex flower of the season.) One of these days, I am going to find that information!

As far as taste….I was thinking it would be easier to detect a difference in taste between this one and the Grade 2, since I am not a tea master. I do think this one is smoother and less earthy (although the Grade 2 is only lightly earthy in taste). Definitely a little less astringent at the end, even though neither is really all that astringent at the end when I brew them properly. The chocolate note in this is more of a darker chocolate.

A very good cuppa the morning!

Usual mug method, a little light on the tea, and a 3 minute steep.

Tea of the evening…..

And tea #6 out of my 2012 Lucky Bag……. This is nice and fruity. I seem to really like Lupicia’s fruit flavored teas. This one has tropical fruit notes on a light green rooibos base. I definitely like green rooibos better than red, and I think this will make a lovely iced tea in the summer. Oh, the summer….how far away you seem today! Probably not a tea I would have ordered, and I am not likely to reorder, but I will enjoy it.

Usual mug method with an 8 minute steep.

Tea of the afternoon….

I did finally purchase some of this for my cupboard. I am always trying to drink more green teas, and this one is just so interesting. I think I am getting a little more spearmint flavor this time. It is very mellow, slightly vegetal with an overtone of spearmint this go….. The leaves are not yet all the way opened up. I can’t wait to see what the second infusion does.

15 oz mug, 2 tsp tea, about 180 water, 3 minutes. No additions.

Third cuppa the morning…..

Resteeped beautifully. I just added a minute onto my initial steep.

Second cuppa the morning…..

I am so glad this one has come to live in my tea cupboard! Roasty and perfect. A little more malty and less cocoa-ey than the Keemun. It is a beautiful tea. And I do agree with JacquelineM. It does taste of sweet potatoes. Really good, freshly baked ones that are slightly browned on the edges for a bit of a caramelized flavor. Yum. It is probably the coldest it has been all winter today (it shows up as 1 degree without windchill), and I am inside, all warm and drinking this perfect tea. Now where is my book?

Usual mug method.

Tea of the morning……

And a lesson in steeping parameters! This cup is so much better than the last. The last was a 4 minute steep with about 2 1/2 tsp tea in a 15 oz. mug. It was a little intense for me, a little too smokey and too astringent at the end…so I slightly lowered the amount of leaf. I also cut back on the steeping time by 1minute. What I have now is the perfect mug of Keemun. Perfect level of smokiness, perfect nudge of astringency at the end (which is pretty slight!) Yum! I am totally changing the rating! The take away lesson…..as tea preparers, we do have control over what we taste to some degree……use that power wisely, my friends! ;)

Usual mug method with a 3 minute steep and 2 tsp. tea rather than closer to 2 1/2 tsp.

Tea of the afternoon……

I am not disappointed in this one…. The bergamot notes are bright. The tea base is very good! I am not sure I could pinpoint a difference between this and my new found favorite EG from Lupicia. Aha! Yet another mystery that needs to be solved by your ace tea detective, SimplyJenW! Comparisons to come at a later date, because all of this perkiness in my tasting note is more tiring than I thought…..or maybe it was the shoveling snow……

Usual teapot method.