73

Sipdown no. 169. Another sample I’ve been considering for a while and finally decided to try.

This is a visually fun tea, particularly when prepared as suggested at the LIT site and as described in other folks’ notes, where you cover the bottom of your mug with tea, pour in water, and then wait for the leaves to fall to the bottom leaving the jasmine flowers floating on the surface. It looks a lot like the picture, though my tea’s liquor ended up being a darker, more golden yellow. It was fun to watch, but I confess that when I went to drink the tea, after the first few sips I poured it through an infuser basket because the petals kept sticking to my lips and I found that disconcerting. YMMV.

I really love jasmine as a tea flavor, and this is a nice jasmine green. The jasmine is strong — pretty intense, actually — on the dry leaf, in the aroma, and particularly in the taste. But it tastes very natural (unlike some jasmine greens I’ve tried where the jasmine tastes sort of sprayed on). I can definitely discern the tea underneath but not enough to be able to separate it from the jasmine and describe its character as a green. Mine was just a tad on the bitter side, but I think that was because I usually only steep greens for 1.5 minutes max. That’s what I intended to do here, but because I futzed around a bit with the petals sticking to my lips before I decided to strain them out, I left the tea steeping a bit too long for my taste. In other words, I don’t think it is necessarily the tea’s fault.

If I had more of this, I’d try it again and see if I could improve my results. But since I don’t and I’m unlikely to be in the market for any green tea soon, I have to rate this based on this single experience. And I would have liked to be able to taste the tea a bit more and the jasmine a bit less. That said, I like it well enough that I’d definitely give it another shot given the opportunity.

Flavors: Butter, Green, Jasmine

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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