There are some things about being a tea drinker that I have learned over the years make me “unqualified” to be a “proper” tea drinker:
1) I don’t like doing gong fu sessions. They take up too much of my time, which I don’t have, and make me feel too “water heavy” on tea. Like, I just don’t need to drink that much tea at once. Even if that is the “right way” to drink a tea, I’d rather make it western because one cup that I can brew all at once works better for me…
2) I hate resteeping me leaves. Call me sacriledge, but I swear they never taste as good on resteeps.
3) No matter how many times I’ve tried, I just can’t seem to warm up to pu’erh. It always tastes like dirt or swamp water to me. And I’ve tried a lot…
4) I seem to like every single ingredient that is universally hated. And that includes hibiscus and licorice root (while I loathe all the “reknowned” banana teas…)
So, this falls solidly into #1 this morning. Another Discovery Teabox tea (thanks to Skysamurai for coordinating and all who contributed!), I took a 2g sample which I know I should brew gong fu, but damn it all, I just want a simple cup of tea for breakfast and brewed it in 8oz of 205F water for a 3 minute steep.
The aroma smells very nutty! I’m getting plantain, roasted nuts, and minerals in the aroma wafting off the cup. Maybe also a little wood and spice. The flavor is reminding me a lot of the Adagio “Fujian Rain” that I’ve been sipping down recently. I’m getting a roasted flavor with a somewhat malty flavor that is a little honey sweet with a touch of cinnamon spice, with a strong roasted nuts, quite walnutty, that fills out the sip. There is a minerality that settles on the tongue toward the end of the sip, and there is a subtle plantain note in the aftertaste.
Satisfying, even if I drank it the “wrong” way!
Flavors: Cinnamon, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Roasted Nuts, Toasty, Walnut, Wet Rocks, Wood
1. There is no “right” way to drink your tea outside of the way that you enjoy it; don’t let people shame you for not brewing Gongfu or any other method: they’re being snobs, and are not worth your time/concern.
2. If you don’t like to resteep you don’t like the resteep – nothing wrong with that. Outside of Gongfu, I don’t resteep either – I want to fill my day with as many teas as possible. In a broader sense, there are advantages to either side of the argument – but those advantage may not apply to you and if so, then fuck ’em! Do what you want.
3. You can’t force yourself to like something – that’s not how taste works. If you’re experimented/tried different things out and you’re still not feeling pu’erh don’t force yourself to keep trying it and don’t feel bad for not liking it. Honestly, you’re saving yourself a lot of money by not getting hooked on it, anyway XD
4. See same point about tastes be individual and outside of your control! Also, they can’t be universally hated because then they wouldn’t be used to frequently in tea. Maybe your tastes don’t largely overlap with a bunch of the people here who very vocally hate licorice or who love banana teas – but your people are out there!
I laughed with delight at your ‘dislikes.’ I have been drinking tea for many decades. Still don’t much care for pu erh after years of trying, prefer not to gong fu, using a gaiwan or having repeated resteeps. I much prefer to make a pot of hot tea or a pitcher of cold and enjoy in a relaxed way. I also don’t have any interest in taking leaves I’ve used for a pot of hot tea and resteeping them as a cold brew. Maybe I am a wasteful tea barbarian, but I don’t care. It’s my house, my tea.
Ha! You and I share quite a few ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ when it comes to tea. I brew everything western style, I’m not a pu’erh fan (but I’ll still try them once in a while), and I rarely resteep my leaves. Like Ros said, if you enjoy it then you’re doing it right. :)
I agree with what everyone else is saying. There’s no “wrong” way to drink tea; just do what makes you happy. I’ve tried valiantly to like green tea, but it still isn’t something I gravitate toward. The same applies to puerh, though I haven’t had many of them. If, like most of us, tea is a hobby and not a job, there’s no reason to drink anything you don’t like or to brew it in a certain way.
Ah, Leafhopper. Yes-green tea. Another one that I’ve never been able to embrace, hot or iced. I find it too grassy, vegetal and fussy but I don’t have to drink it, so more for other folks to enjoy.
Perhaps I’ve been inundated with too many pretty little gong fu setup pictures lately and feel, as White Antlers put it, like a “wasteful tea barbarian” for drinking my coffee mugs of western brewed hot leaf juice every morning where I promptly dump the leaf afterward. :P Thanks for the smile, y’all.
Yes, White Antlers, grassy, vegetal, and fussy is also how I’d describe green tea. It doesn’t help that I don’t have a variable temperature kettle, so I have to check the water for each infusion with a thermometer.
Mastress Alita, my usual gongfu setup isn’t pretty and is very utilitarian. I have an inexpensive 120 ml porcelain teapot and some 150 ml cups, and I steep two infusions at a time. The second cup of tea is sometimes cold, but at least I don’t have to heat up the kettle ten or more times during a session. I think for some people the teaware is part of the experience, and it’s fun to use clay teaware on occasion, but for daily use it’s a hassle. That’s all to say that a lot of people don’t have elaborate setups or photo-worthy tea sessions. :)
Since we’re airing our ‘tea laundry,’ and confession is good for the soul, when I first started out trying to drink pu erh, I had no clue what to do with it so I’d break off a small chunk, put it in a pyrex measuring cup, fill that with water then chuck it in the microwave for 2 minutes or so. I’d strain that into a big, heavy, 12 ounce coffe mug and pour in some cream or half and half. In retrospect, I liked it much better that way than gong fu. On the rare times I have pu erh now, I brew it Western style and no tea police have broken down my door yet.
Thanks for the note that made me laugh. We barbarians need to stick together.
As I used to say: “As long you like it, you are doing it well!”
I prefer to do gong-fu while doing pu-erh, but I did some grandpa brewing too, as well western. No big issue! I don’t mind you guys prepare it somehow else. Tea should make you happy, not too tense about “correct” preparations!
Yes, you are a “proper tea drinker”, Mastress Alita! Nevermind the snobs. :D