Taiwan Tea Crafts

Sipdown! (see terri, i AM trying even though i don’t normally achieve sipdowns through my work teas…) The last lonely cup of this one will also be going to a random swap partner to try out. I prefer the assams to this one, but the one reason i had wanted to try this was because i had tried a similar tea via butiki. Now, i can’t recall how that one tasted but impressions are good.
While it was nice to have this one, i feel like i’m better off not keeping it as a staple in my cupboard because there are others i prefer more. This is a tasty treat that i like, but it’s more of a rotate in from time to time sort of tea :)

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Had a couple delicious cups of this with dinner – staring at the fire, watching the sunset over the lake. Glorious!

really like this one as well but a real note will have to wait for another night. Terri go try this one later. :)

SIPDOWN! no more october teas! In to December i go! WOOT WOOT! Yeah so i did that. and it was good. and this will come back to me someday in the future lol

trying to get a few things done before my other half wakes up. One of those is updating and figuring out where i am in terms of my tea now that it’s July 1st.

My goal was to get to 100 teas and have the oldest tea be from January 2014. Where i stand is: 164 [Fake Cupboard at 105 teas and 60 samples] and my oldest tea is from Oct 2013 (1 serving left) + 4 teas from December (about 3oz). Not too shabby considering i lost about a month of tea drinking with the move and everything else going on. So i’m putting myself on hiatus until i’m caught up with my goals. For July i was aiming for 95 teas with the oldest being from Feb by Aug 1. I’m allowed to order if i hit one of those goals before Aug 1. I’m so mean to myself lol BUT i really want to get my cupboard in order over the year now that i feel like i have a solid handle on the majority of my likes and dislikes. That was i’ll have more room for puerh cakes and still find the time to drink them :)

Happy Canada Day everyone!

I won’t finish this up for July 1 but I am only 1 or 2 more sessions away from a sipdown with this one – the oldest tea in my cupboard (oct 2013) ignoring puerhs heh. I am a fan of this one and it’s because of teas like this and others that i’ll continue to pick up teas from TTC to try out. :)

My other tea of the morning. I’ve decided to work from home until Wednesday given that it’s a holiday on tuesday and as a result have the world isn’t at work and my meetings are waaaaaaay less than normal. This gives me time to spend with my tea and means maaaaaybe, just maaaaaybe, i won’t work 12-16hr days for the next couple. Plus no travel time = more time for painting and cleaning and moving things around in the house. We picked up the paint yesterday so now it’s time to finish up the living room and the kitchen. They we’ll be set for putting all the other rooms away. and THAT would make me a happy camper, if we can finish it all by July 1st :)

I seriously love this tea. I don’t love whoever edited the tea and removed the lot number. Sometimes when multiple lots are in cupboards you need that information. So i beg you..whoever you are, please don’t remove lot numbers! even if that lot never comes back…

This was one of the two teas i packed up in a hurry this morning when i discovered my plan for getting work done and drinking tea at home was not allowed because of my computer issues. Every time i have this, i’m reminded of just how much i love these teas…

Another backlog from friday – one of two teas that went on our road trip with me to get me from toronto to detroit. I knew we wouldn’t have time to run around findind water for me, so i just brought the two travel mugs for the trip and then went nearly the entire rest of the weekend with no tea. eep! it sucked. haha but this tea? Still loving’ it’s juicy tastiness.

My other morning tea! I have a bunch of TTC teas that i need to start working my way through before i end up placing another order. I have a sneaking suspicion that i should stick to sample orders with them, though i love their teas. It just takes me so long to get through 50g that the lot is either finished by the time i try them or another 4 have come out haha. So yeah. Love their teas…just want all of them!

mmmmm had a few cups of this one this afternoon to have a tea that i was familiar with. I have zero desire to go in to work tomorrow so i may just ride out the rest of the week, working from home haha. I still love this tea and i’m glad i have a bunch of it to drink and share with friends!

sipdown! I tucked this into my travel mug today because it was very nearly a sipdown AND i wanted something lighter and refreshing today. Lighter while still clearly being a black tea. I have enough left for a cup, but i’m choosing to pass that on to a random tea swapping friend to share the Taiwan Tea Crafts love. :) This has been a delicious time drinking this one and #154…so not sure which i love more :)

stupid steepster…ate my tasting note. soooo tried to use today to compare this vs stacy’s taiwan tea but i forgot which was which…and not that it should be difficult to tell but it’s been a while. soooo at least i have enough for another cup of this and i’ll just do a three way comparison with this, lot 157 and stacys’ haha

I’ve been trying to make my days a little better by having a teas I really like rather than risking the only tea I’m managing to make with sip downs or samples. Makes for awful tasting note because I’m so exhausted but good tea times.. This is a tea I want to save some to compare against Stacy’s Taiwanese Assam and lot 157? That I also have from this company. Regardless, anyone who enjoys Taiwanese teas should really check this company out. They have excellent customer service, sample sizes that are great for sharing and delicious, delicious teas….

nom nom nom nom nom tea = good, tasty delicious, more to write later!

Welcome to day 15 of little terri’s Ultimate Sipdown Extravaganza!
For the final session with this tea, part of a joint order Sil & I placed a year ago, I decided to go with about 5G steeped in 8oz at intervals of 1,2, & 5 minutes.
It’s tart & tangy tea, still reminding me of Apricot, more than anything. There is also a spicy quality, like maybe allspice &/or clove.
I’ve enjoyed the teas we got from Taiwan, & they are of high quality, but truthfully, none of them will become permanent members of my cupboard, as I don’t really love them.
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Special Announcement
Little Terri’s Ultimate Sipdown Extravaganza will begin this Thursday, May 1st.
We (that would be little terri, Ms Theresa, & myself) don’t plan on some crazy mass drinking schedule of 15 teas per day, just for the sake of polishing them off, but rather, a relaxed month (maybe less) of savoring that last cup of anything that is in small quantity. Ms Theresa is compiling a collection of teas, & will attempt to create a daily sipdown schedule, carefully curated to make each day interesting, varied, & productive. We aren’t sure how long this extravaganza will last, but our goal is to drink up all the odds & ends, the remnants of various TOMC bits & pieces, the lingering random packages from various friends (Mostly Sil), & the ultimate goal is to get our crazy tea collection under control. Please feel free to join us!!

Now on to this tea, my morning gongfu session:
5G + 4oz (rinse) 15/30/45/60 sec
This first round, poured into separate cups, starts out fruity, tart, bright, & spicy. It brings to mind the sweet tartness of plums or cherries, & coriander. My favorite cups were 45 & 60 seconds, where the flavor & mouth was so rich & thick, filled with everything this tea offers.
2min: Still a nice full flavor, although a bitter tannic quality has arisen, like white willow bark tea (from which aspirin was invented).
3min: Nice cup! Still sweet & rich, no longer bitter, but starting to mellow out.
4min & 5 min: less sweet, almost has a root like quality to it, kind of woody-earthy. Still plenty of flavor.

I have a tendency to go overboard when I measure out tea, & today was one of those days. I over-tea-ed, & it was too potent. I divided it between 2 cups, adding more hot water to each, & then it was better, although I realized afterwords that I much prefer this tea brewed gongfu style. The leaves are gigantic, & I feel that the short potent steepings do it much more justice.

I drank some of this earlier in the day, shared with one of my morning students. I’ve reviewed it several times, so I won’t go on & on, but I did enjoy it! All in all, it’s been a wonderful day. I woke up, did my taichi, qigong, yoga mix, made a nice breakfast, & found myself singing throughout. I don’t know for sure, but I think the return of the sun, just a little earlier each day, is responsible. That & good tea ;)

I thought I’d brew a cup of this, as comparison to the Eco-Cha Red Jade. Both are tres 18 teas, & they are very similar. The appearance is slightly different, as these leaves appear to be larger, & less tightly twisted. Flavorwise, they are both tart, fruity, & spicy. The Eco-Cha features more of a minty sensation, more clove, & more bitterness. I’d say this one is sweeter, but the re-steep was weak.

To be fair, although I used the same steep times, I can’t be entirely sure I used the exact same amount of tea, so don’t take this comparison too seriously. I didn’t weigh either tea, & their leaf size & shape is very different. On my next steeping, I’ll weigh them both, & use same sized Gaiwans.

I drank this earlier today, while warming up on the Harp for a rehearsal. It’s a lovely fruity cup, with a sweet thick scent as well. I can’t believe I haven’t drank it awhile, because it really is divine!