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I finally did what the instructions said on the packet. I just didn’t believe that something that is so similar to a green tea could need the brewing instructions they gave it: boiling water (leave water to stand for 30 secs before pouring) and twenty minutes to brew. After all, I’m used to sencha, that often needs under a minute with 70-75 degC water.

But I have always found this tea very mild and pale, so I was curious what would happen when I actually followed the instructions. The instructions said that the tea tastes okay after 5 minutes but best after 20, so I put it in a pot with a tea cosy to keep it warm, and had a cup after 5 minutes and left the rest brewing for a bit longer.

The five-minute cup was still very pale, and mild tasting. It tasted no stronger than an unripe pear or melon. The taste that was there was nice, but it was so pale that I could easily taste the water it was brewed with rather than just the tea. Unfortunately, water in this area tastes pretty horrible, so it wasn’t pleasant.

After 20 minutes, it is much better, as the packet suggested. The tea never went bitter, it just tastes slightly grassy but with a flavour that I can only describe as being interesting. By which I mean that it’s not exactly the same as any green tea I have had, there’s something individual about it. And I like that.

The tea company was right and I have paid the price for being so stubborn and independent not to follow their advice. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had other good cups of this tea, but I was missing out a bit by not brewing it properly

It’s all gone, thank goodness. I’ve had it at work and had lots of comments about how it’s not very manly. They are right, but it wouldn’t bother me if the tea was worth it. After all, I eat lots of houmous at work and have loads of comments about that, but I still eat it because it’s delicious and morally good (I’m a bit of an environmentalist but not actually a vegan). I had it in work simply because it was in a teabag and therefore easy to make at work, but I think I’ll find something better.

I’ve actually just had an e-mail from Birt & Tang but I won’t be getting this again. If I have anything, it’ll be their Ginger one, which is quite nice

I don’t often drink darjeeling but as I have said before, I really love this blend. I am sitting down in the living room watching the final of the masters snooker tournament, and it’s lovely and homely. I have spent the weekend with friends from university, who I used to wach snooker with. I have had this type of tea for quite a few years and drinking it reminds me of late nights watching the snooker with a slight feeling of panic that exams were coming up and I couldn’t really afford to spend an evening until 12.30am watching wo middle-aged men puzzling over safety shots. Still, it was very absorbing and it still is.

This is one of my late-night teas, which means it’s black and I tend not to have milk. It tastes caffeine-licious so it shouldn’t be late-night tea. It just is.

The leaves in this are enormous. I just threw a few into the bottom of a cup rather than using a strainer, and they have opened up fully. Leaves are several centimetres long and it looks like some weeds are growing in the bottom of my cup

And that’s the end of it. It’s not the worst tea I’ve ever drunk but it’s probably not good enough to be worth the effort of making tea from loose leaves. So powdery that I always had powder at the bottom of the mug that came through the sieve. I won’t be buying it again

A brilliant tea to help me forget the tetley earlier

I had to drink this all day at work today and I’m sick of it! We only had horrible UHT milk. You get hot water from a machine that only fills the cup just over half so you have to find a solution like getting a partner to join you. Then you can press the button to fill your cup, press it again and then transfer the second half of the water into the next cup so that both cups get 1 1/2 servings each. It wasn’t worth the effort, urgh

I can’t believe I have missed this out from all my notes. I got this at the same time as the other Lapin Yrtti Oy tea that I logged some time ago. A couple of my friends brought it back with them when they came back from holiday in Scandinavia in early 2008 and I have had it ever since. This is a nice mild green tea. It’s very mild in flavour and the cloudberry flavour is mild too. It recommends to steep for 10 mins but I am a bit flexible and rarely wait that long.

I had it when I visited Ann Arbor in October and loved it then, but then the friend who I was visiting bought me some for Christmas and it was excellent. It’s a lovely strong tea, a bit like assam and I’d recommend it to anyone

To use my word of the week, this tea is ACE. I’ll brew it again and again until I go home for Christmas tomorrow morning