A Tasty Beverage

matchaddiction

2009-02-28T07:35:00.003-06:00

Blast you, Chip! You got me hooked.

I cut back a lot in an effort to make my kiri-no-mori last until the replacement Yame and Yuuki Konjo arrived. As the stash dwindled to a whisper, I did a little photojournalism and will await the stream of awards.

Wednesday:
Krap... running out.

From matcha

Thursday:
Starting to look pretty grim. :/

From matcha

Friday:
Ruh roh. If I lick out the tin, I'll cut my tongue...

From matcha

Fortunately, I got the call a few hours after emptying the tin that a box had arrived today from Japan.
Suite Sister Mary! YES!!!

From matcha

Now I see a glimpse of The Way.

Empty tin = bad.

Open tin + reserve tin = good. :D

And now for a little history to view while enjoying some tea, compliments of Seven Cups:

matcha fever

2009-02-22T08:05:00.002-06:00

Chip over at TeaChat sent me a serving of Organic Yame Matcha to try, and I used this as a thin excuse to do something I've wanted to do for a while, buy a set of matcha prep tools (which are really just plain cool).

Chip's reaction to this?

LOL, free 2 grams of matcha cost you a bundle.

As I'd window-shopped for matcha ware before, I knew I wanted an O-Cha Matcha Starter Kit, in which I bundled a tea bowl, whisk, whisk holder, bamboo spoon, and tin of Kiri-no-Mori. I use a tea ball to strain any clumps out of the matcha powder.

From Fight Club

A number of other reputable vendors offer similar starter kits and/or the components, such as (links to the actual kits or components) Den's Tea, Yuuki-Cha, and IPPODO.

Several days later (yeah, I know, shipping) I found myself at the office making a bowl of the Yame. Ooohhhhh it was sooo goood. Seriously, matcha so far is just delicious.

So I cracked open the Kiri, which was good in a totally different way! I feel I've been employing considerable restraint by making only two or three bowls per day since then.

I made a YouTube vid of the basic process I use when making matcha at the office. It's really not tricky at all, and I honestly find it far more suited to getting my tea/caffeine fix on the go at work than other methods. I whip it up and slurp it down.

Just as tea provides a different caffeine buzz than that of coffee, matcha gives me a different high entirely. And unlike a good sencha session, late-day matcha doesn't interfere with my sleep. It just makes me feel GREAT for a few hours and then mellows back down to normal in a gradual, easy way.

Curious to read more?
Another Tea Blog: Matcha, Part 1
Another Tea Blog: Matcha, Part 2
Another Tea Blog: Matcha, Part 3

Tea Nerd: Matcha Madness, Part I
Tea Nerd: Matcha Madness, Part II
Tea Nerd: Matcha Madness, Part III

Cheap matcha tips from Matcha Man Savage

An Ji Bai Cha from TeaSpring

2008-10-04T12:27:00.004-05:00

An Ji Bai Cha

I've been making infusions of this one on and off since early this morning, never quite topping 180° F and varying the times from "vaguely over a minute" to "just over a minute and a half" with good, consistent results in a preheated kyusu.

A few random notes:

Very light aroma.

Clear liquid with the insinuation of yellow.

Not nearly as heavy on the palate as a lot of the good chinese green I've had this year. Lacks the buttery taste of many of those same teas.

This is a good tea to loudly slurp (OK, maybe not in the office during normal hours) to get a fuller sense of it.

According to the vendor, "Research found that the tea plant has low chlorophyll and polyphenols content (which explains the whitish-green tea leaves) but is very rich in amino acids. It has almost twice the amount comparing to other green teas. Amino acid helps suppress cortisol and reduces stress."

I can't confirm the scientific content, but I have found this to be a relaxing tea on a stressful day.

En Shi Yu Lu steamed Chinese green from TeaSpring

2008-09-27T06:59:00.003-05:00

The en shi yu lu leaf appearance is similar to sencha (presumably from the steaming process), but definitely not quite the same. But I couldn't quite put my finger on the difference until I placed them side by side.

Whereas sencha leaf tends to have a needle-like appearance, this tea's needles are a little gnarly and bent in a subtle way. A heavy, delicious aroma like a first class dragonwell wafted up from the bag during the pour.

155°F
preheated kyusu
1 minute
2 grams of leaf
150 ml of water

Color and initial flavor remind me immediately of a high quality long jing. The first sip, however, left me with an impression of warm butter (real butter, not the fake, flavorless stuff).

The color of the brew is bright yellow, with no discernible dust or hint of darkness.

Huang Jin Gui oolong from Teaspring

2008-09-26T18:10:00.004-05:00

For the first time since I got this latest batch in from TeaSpring, I had a challenge dialing in a tea today: Huang Jin Gui oolong.

I started off with 4.8 grams of leaf in a preheated yixing, boiling water, 1 minute, like most other teas I've had this week.

The scent was moderately thick and floral. The color was sort of a tinted amber with a hint of green. And there was more tea dust in the cup than other teas I've had lately.

The flavor was subtle and crept up on me over a few sips. A cool, refreshing mouth feel was immediately evident. There was a perfume-like quality to it, but not to outrageous excess.

It reminded me of a jade oolong. If I'd had to guess blind, I'd have tagged it as straight from Taiwan (and would've been mistaken, as it's from An Xi, Fujian Province).

After several infusions, I finally tried just reducing the steep time by about half in a cool pot, producing a more agreeable brew. Next time, I may try a more gong fu influenced approach with ultra-short steeps.

There's honestly nothing wrong with this tea. It's just not my personal style.

However, I think it may prove quite worthy with some tinkering, and is certainly a candidate for blending to lend some of its enjoyable qualities to some other tea.

Ya Bao from Teaspring

2008-09-25T18:04:00.005-05:00

This morning's Ya Bao turned out to be an unusually pleasant surprise.

I've had a good bit of pu-erh, and this was unlike any I've tried to date. In fact, it reminded me more of a really flavorful white tea.

I used 5 grams in a preheated yixing pot with boiling water for 1 minute. After several infusions I ramped it up to a minute and a half with no negative impact.

The color was light, and the taste was sweet & pleasant.

The dry leaf looked nothing like other loose tea leaves I've seen, but my phone cam took a really inadequate picture. The vendor has some pretty good pics, which may be found via the link above.

Feng Huang Dan Cong from Teaspring

2008-09-24T18:02:00.004-05:00

This morning I tore into the Feng Huang Dan Cong that came in my big Teaspring order.

Contrasting it with yesterday's Bi Luo Chun Hong Cha is easy enough at a glance.

From Fight Club

In this picture, the BLCHC is on the left, and the FHDC is on the right.

The BLCHC is twisted up into tight little nuggets, whereas the FHDC is on the verge of being impractical to handle with a spoon.

I weighed out 3.1 grams and steeped about half a minute in a yixing slightly less preheated than normal in water just below boiling.

It came out amber, unlike the deep brown of most of yesterday's BLCHC infusions. I found the taste bright and complex, with a cool sensation that may have been astringency. In comparison with this, the Bi Luo Chun Hong Cha eats like a meal.

Subsequent infusions over the next several hours continued to produce satisfying cups of tea. I changed up the temp and steep time semi-randomly and was just couldn't make a bad cup.

At the end of the work day, I took the following pic of one of the wet leaves.

From Fight Club

Bi Luo Chun Hong Cha from Teaspring

2008-09-23T18:09:00.004-05:00

Last night I came home to my long-awaited shipment from Teaspring!

So this morning I was able to start my work day with some Bi Luo Chun Hong Cha, a welcome change of pace from the green tea I've been drinking to the near exclusion of other teas for the last several months.

I figured Teaspring's brewing suggestions were bogus based on the fact that they say to start out with 212°F water and increase temperature with subsequent infusions (For the science-disinterested, that's not exactly something easily done in the average kitchen.)

So I measured out a rounded, but not heaping, spoon of leaf weighing in at 4.8 grams into my preheated yixing pot. I didn't rinse the tea, as this isn't that kind, but made the first infusion really short to err on the side of caution. (Every now and again you can destroy a perfectly good cup of tea on the first infusion if you try hard enough.)

The color, flavor, and aroma were much to my liking, but I decided longer infusions were in order.

Most of my infusions were probably in the 30-second range, but I guesstimated instead of using a timer.

I eventually lost count of the number of infusions, but kept it coming until early afternoon. The tea prevailed!

This is a great little black to shove in your tea hole.

What Is Genmai Cha with Matcha, and How To Brew It

2008-08-23T18:32:00.008-05:00

Genmai cha is roasted/toasted brown rice kernels and bancha green tea. The bancha has a less refined flavor than some of the more exotic Japanese green teas and mixes well with the nutty, aromatic qualities of the cooked rice.

In the rice cooking process, some kernels pop, leading to the nickname "popcorn tea" used by nobody I know personally but seen in marketing propaganda.

The matcha green tea powder adds more essential green tea characteristics to balance out the rice notes, which some people don't like as much in traditional genmai.

It's inexpensive, easy to brew, forgiving of mistakes in the brewing process in comparison with some other, more esoteric Japanese green teas.

Brew at 175° F in 6-8 oz. of water for a minute and a half, up to 2 minutes in a pre-heated kyuusu (or kyusu, if you prefer) with the lid off.

Konghea Assam "Golden Bud"

2008-08-23T14:45:00.004-05:00

I was just rooting around in some pu'erh and found this sample that must've fallen into effective invisibility among the larger Hou De bags.

So I preheated a kyusu, and spooned 4.8 grams of leaf to several ounces of water cooled down slightly from a rolling boil to infuse for 3 minutes.

The result was the fine cup of tea shown here.

It's a thick, dark brew with a clean, earthy smell. While I love my white, yellow, and green tea, I was raised on strong tea the Southern tradition, and this one hits the spot.

I love happy accidents!

Late 80's Meng Hai 8972 Brick Uncooked (from Hou De)

2008-08-23T09:08:00.003-05:00

According to Hou De, this is a "blend of early 80s and late 80's leaves" produced "1989~early '90s".

I preheated my trusty yixing pot and rinsed 3.6 g of brick. The rinse was as clean a rinse as I've ever seen.

I didn't pull out the clock for this session, but thumbnailed my infusion timing.

The first steep was pretty highly aromatic, with a scent that gave me a better idea of what shu-producers must be shooting for. Only this didn't have the funk and gunk I normally associate with even good shu.

The second infusion was mellower, less aromatic, and seemed very well-balanced. The third has continued this trend.

I'm sipping this tea for breakfast, and I think that may be an ideal application for it. Historically, I've found many breakfast teas to be way too aromatic and heavy, but this is closer to the sweet spot.

I have enough left for a few more sessions, fortunately, and look forward to them. I may take these to the office for good day-starters.

tea at Saigon

2008-07-04T17:41:00.002-05:00

# El Padre - 4:37: At the vietnamese place where we had lunch today, they brought me hot water and a tea cup that looked like a diner-style gaiwan-ish cup

# El Padre - 4:38: I pulled out the xu fu long ya and weighed out 2.1 grams, and proceeded to make some tea

# El Padre - 4:38: in the porcelain gaiwan salsero gave me

# Ed - 4:38: lol you brought your scale?

# El Padre - 4:38: The waiter wanted to try my tea after smelling that first flush yummy fresh smell

# Ed - 4:39: :)

# El Padre - 4:39: yup, the digital scale, also from salsero heh

# Ed - 4:39: lol

# El Padre - 4:39: my lunching partner said if I had pulled that stuff out at any other kind of restaurant, he'd have walked the **** out

# Ed - 4:41: lol dre... if I saw a dood pull out a scale in an eatery, I'd probably go ask him for a dimebag

current teas and other tasty beverage treats

2008-05-17T08:00:00.004-05:00

This week, I've divided my tea time between 2008 Emperor Long Jing from Teaspring on the hyper-fresh end, through the spectrum to include some Phoenix Bird Oolong from Mighty Leaf (which I enjoyed more than most oolongs I've tried over the last several months). But I've also dipped into staples like genmai cha and (this morning) Citron Green from Adagio.

Tea is not my only tasty beverage, but it's really my default beverage of choice for daily activities. It's caffeinated, but tends not to be ridiculously so. (Oh, but the exceptions! Some sleepless nights can result from unwary overconsumption of sencha too late in the day.)

I like to delve into the different when I can, which is one of the treats of the local Vietnamese restaurant. There one can find many cool things to sip, including durian, lychee, mango/avocado (not to be missed, that one), papaya, or even what I had last night: a milk egg soda. (It was what it sounds like, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.)

With a few exceptions, like the iced tea we drink here in Mississippi and Thai tea, I don't take sweeteners in my tea. I find the stuff sweet enough, as a rule. Same for yerba mate.

Now, coffee's a different story. Unless I can find something like a nice Hawaiian kona, I generally like to turn my coffee into a dessert. Adding contrasting flavors can help highlight that which is enjoyable in a mediocre coffee, and mediocrity is abundant in the coffee world.

I guess there's plenty of tea mediocrity, as well. It's just so easy to find superior tea that I don't bother with the crappy stuff much any more.

first flush fever

2008-05-02T21:17:00.002-05:00

I'd like to say I've been enjoying some first flush green tea lately, but "enjoy" just doesn't get it.

When the first freshly-harvested green teas began to hit the part of the tea market I frequent, I went to teaspring.com and just ordered up 25 grams of each first flush green they had available, and 50 grams of meng ding huang ya, a yellow tea that rocks my socks.

In the last few weeks I've killed off the huang ya and lion xi hu long jing, and have just broken out the zhu ye qing this evening.

This stuff is just about inexpressibly good. Fresher is just plain better.

The zhu ye qing is the wild card so far, and I had no idea what to expect. But when I pried open the sealed pouch, a thick, luscious aroma danced up at me. Wow. Then the taste of the tea itself. Mmmmm.

I've been steeping all of these in the 70-80° C range for a minute or two, repeatedly until I feel content or otherwise diverted. They hold up unbelievably well.

Get some, dammit, and feel the love.

Mighty Leaf Kyoto Rice

2008-03-30T10:38:00.003-05:00

Genmai cha is a Japanese green tea with roasted rice kernels (some of which pop like popcorn during the process) historically said to have been an innovation of people who could not afford the luxury of costly tea without introducing rice as a filler.

Some modern people, myself included, drink genmai cha not for economic reasons, but because we enjoy the aroma, color, flavor, and (for some people) reduced caffeine it offers. I have not verified that it is less caffeinated in any scientific way, but it makes sufficient sense for me not to question it.

Kyoto Rice is Mighty Leaf's branding of this traditional infusion. I have enjoyed a few cups now, brewed in the neighborhood of 170° F for 2.5 minutes or so, and find it quite satisfying.

When I enjoy genmai cha (which I have done for years now), I look for certain signature traits. The aroma should be pleasant and inviting. The infusion should be an insanely bright yellow. It should settle in my stomach in a warm, soothing way. The texture should be like a liquid interpretation of satin.

Kyoto Rice meets all these standards. But the sample I received did not seem to contain any dust or other tiny particles that can soil an otherwise good cup of genmai cha. I hope this is the case for all of their Kyoto Rice, because when a vendor sends me dusty genmai, it consistently produces an inferior cup of tea.

Although I prefer to prepare cups of no more than 4 oz. of most teas, a good genmai cha is one you can make by the cup or mug full and enjoy with a meal or snack.

Like most genmai cha I've enjoyed, Kyoto Rice was good for a second infusion. I don't generally go for a third with this type, because I find that after the combined infusion time of a few cups, diminishing returns may be noted. But this is something of a casual observation, and I encourage you to find your own happy place with this fine and versatile beverage.

Mighty Leaf Deep Roast Sencha

2008-03-28T17:59:00.002-05:00

When rummaging through my stash for some weekend review ideas last night, I stumbled on this little gem. I hadn't tried it for the same reasons I haven't been doing many review tastings at all lately: office construction and illness. (Between the two, I've had few chances to really appreciate the subtleties of unfamiliar quality teas lately.)

When I first saw this one, I was honestly a bit puzzled. Other roasted teas I've seen have been brown, and this is a rich, deep green. Plus, steamed sencha is all the rage among my fanatical sencha clique. I didn't really know what to expect.

It turned out to be essentially indistinguishable from a good fukamushi in my book, which I consider a good thing. It's got more of a kick, I feel, than the same vendor's Shincha, which I found robust and yummy.

The first steep, like those of its deep steamed cousins, was the "wake up" infusion, flavorful in comparison with other greens, but nothing compared to the awesome payload of flavor administered in subsequent infusions.

I took a pic of the second infusion, which lasted literally only a few seconds:

My camera just doesn't do justice to the green teas I love, but perhaps you can see why some of us invoke the name of Kermit the Frog in reference to this class of teas.

I loved the flavor of this and following infusions. And, also like a fukamushi, I received a caffeine rush of biblical proportions.

Wow, was this tea good. I give it two muppets up.

Mighty Leaf Dragonwell Tasting

2008-03-22T08:51:00.003-05:00

Mighty Leaf sent me several samples recently, and the Shincha sample impressed (see recent sencha post), so I've been looking forward to hitting the Dragonwell.

The leaf had a good appearance, looking colorful and vaguely healthy. Eyeball measurement told me I should be able to have at least 2 sessions with it.

This morning I gave it what I consider a standard dragonwell treatment: infuse one teaspoon (not heaping, but all that cares to come out on the spoon) in preheated kyusu at 170° for a hair over two and a half minutes.

The resulting brew came out bright yellow and inviting, with a pleasant aroma.

The first sip was immediately flavorful. Some dragonwell is more subtle, and some just doesn't work out, but this was just plain good. During part of the first cup, I had some oatmeal with dried peaches (hey, don't knock it), and find myself thinking this tea has good prospects as a breakfast tea. (Haven't tried it with huevos con chorizo yet, so the final verdict is out!)

I bumped the heat up to 180° for the second steep, but was unable to make detailed tasting notes due to having just inhaled it. But it takes a good tea to inspire such an attack, so add points for this aspect of the tasting experience.

The third cup is mellow and pleasant, capping off an enjoyable session.

Follow-up edit:
I had initially entitled this "Tasting 1" but was thwarted in my attempt at a second tasting. I broke it out earlier this week for a second session at the office, but construction workers came by and started painting. The potent chemicals in the air completely wrecked the entire session and made me rather violently ill.

I'll have to sum up by recommending this as a perfectly good dragonwell for anyone on the cusp of trying it and looking for an excuse. I liked it.

sipping on some sencha

2008-03-17T20:12:00.002-05:00

I've been hooked on sencha since that first ineptly-infused cup. At its best, sencha is wickedly good.

Right from the start I found myself on a mission. I asked sencha fanatics, "If I could only have one sencha for the rest of my life, which one would you suggest?"

Answers came.

Sencha lovers, if opportunity allows, will really geek out on you. So it's not hard to learn a few things.

Fast forward, and I've had countless cups of some seriously good steamed green tea from Japan.

The word "sencha" doesn't encapsulate a single, two-dimensional tea experience. Sencha can be fresh, buttery, grassy, astringent, and more, in varying degrees and depths of expression.

O-Cha's Uji Sencha Miyabi, for instance, can be fresh, and potent, even capable of relieving congestion in my upper respiratory system when the mojo is on.

Den's Sencha Den, Hibiki-An's Sencha Superior, andAdagio's Sencha Premier are less intense, but still complex and yummy.

Some, like Den's Fukamushi-Sencha Maki and Mighty Leaf Tea's Shincha will shove you in the trunk, drive you to the docks, and hurl you into a river of flavor.

Friendly advice to senchadventurers: Evil faeries sneak in to tea vendors' supplies and work their magic to play tricks on you with instructions psychotically suggesting that you prepare your sencha in a particle accelerator. Or worse yet, they have been known to trick people into steeping sencha for three minutes.

Madness!

Depending on the sencha, the first infusion is quite often less than a minute, and some times significantly less. This infusion is generally milder than subsequent infusions.

The second infusion for me is usually over nearly as soon as I pour hot water into the pot. No, seriously. We're talking seconds here.

I go longer for milder variants, but do not dally when fukamushi is involved. This second cup will tend to be stronger, more aromatic, and in some cases eerily reminiscent of Kermit the Frog.

Third (and subsequent, in some cases) steeps can be longer and/or a bit hotter, depending on personal taste.

A cup of sencha can be a truly sublime experience during an otherwise very hard day. I can hardly do it justice here.

My advice? Get some. Get *lots* in great variety.

And at the time of this writing, the first sencha of the year will soon be plucked, shipped and finally sipped by some lucky soul. Why not you?

just4tea.com Dragonwell

2008-02-29T19:23:00.002-06:00

It's taken me longer than expected to get this review up, since just4tea sent me the tea to taste a few weeks back. However, I have kind words to say.

They sent enough of a sample for me to get a little creative. I tried brewing some strictly according to the instructions on the pouch, and was pleased with the result (which runs contrary to vendors generally providing *miserable* brewing instructions with their tea), then overbrewing some just to see what would come of it.

The overbrewed tea was pleasant and drinkable, and I snarfed it down cheerfully.

But the tea I made following their instructions turned out to be some perfectly good dragonwell. In fact, it actually reminded me of a good yellow tea!

Off-hand, I'd recommend this as a good introduction to loose green tea, and long jing lovers like me can appreciate it as well.

I was unable to find any points of criticism.

Sencha Den

2008-02-14T19:43:00.002-06:00

I'm currently enjoying a cup of Sencha Den, a sencha blend from Den's Tea sold only in a 3.5 ounce vacuum-sealed tin.

It's not as intense as some of the other senchas I usually enjoy (Fukamushi and O-Cha's Miyabi), but I'm loving it already.

The smell when I first broke the seal was complex and suggestive. It made me want to get right on with the preparations for tea.

I disregarded the brewing instructions on the side of the container and used a level teaspoon of leaf in 4 oz of water just under 180* in a preheated kyuusu for about a minute.

The color was bright yellow with just a whisper of green tint and very clear.

The taste was not explosive, but full, fresh, and bright. A sensation of coolness filled my mouth, throat, and entire torso by the time I finished the cup.

It was then that I noticed the most outstanding feature. Prior to brewing, I had felt exhausted and lethargic due to work stress and lack of good sleep for days. In a span of several minutes, though, I felt great. Not hyper, or giddy, but just plain good.

For the second cup, I brewed for a full 45 seconds, and the color remained in the bright yellow range, but more dense.

The flavor remained fresh and interesting, and about half-way through the cup I decided to start this entry while the impressions are fresh on my palate.

One of the TeaChat guys asked (repeatedly) if I detect tinny or woody flavors, presumably based on some previous experience of his. I haven't noticed these yet, but it's late in the day, and my palate may be too exhausted to pick out something I may well notice in the morning.

I'll keep an eye out for both the good and the bad. So far, though, my impression is that this is a good tea for the price, and I look forward to more tomorrow.

the wikicha.com tea wiki, TeaChat, and IRC #teachat

2008-02-09T08:33:00.000-06:00

A group of tea zealots (m'self included) have been working on a tea wiki to house some of our collective knowledge of things tea.

If you are looking for information on some specific tea-related subject or just general info, please feel free to stop by and check it out.

If you have expertise to pass on, adding to the knowledge base is also good.

Of course, as always, you can swing by TeaChat and join the forum or live chat.

Tea aficionados may also be found in the #teachat IRC channel. If you do not have an IRC client, you can use the java client at Talk to The Ernest. Once there, type:

/join #teachat

in the long text-entry bar at the bottom of the chat window. This should take you to the #teachat channel.

Then, let us know what you want to be called. Let's say you want your nickname to be JohnDoe. In the same bar where you typed the command to join #teachat, type:

/nick JohnDoe

Otherwise, you will have a nickname like Guest123, which confuses the locals.

new pu'erh order

2008-02-09T07:47:00.000-06:00

I've been looking at my meager collection of pu'erh samples and decided to splurge last night on a wide range of ages, because I've been a Very Good Boy.

I went to Hou De Asian Art & Fine Teas and bought, in chronological order:

70's Chun-Cha "Jian Tie" Simplified-font Iron Cake, 10g sample
Late 80's Meng Hai 8972 Brick, Uncooked 10g sample
** Tasting Set ** Chen Guang-He Tang 99 YiWu & 2001 Meng Sa
2005 Jiang Chen Factory "Gu Shu Cha Wang" Beeng, 1oz
2006 2nd SouthEast Asia Puerh Trade Memorial Cake, Uncooked 1oz
2007 "5th Intern'l Aged Puerh Appreciation" Memorial cake, 1oz

When it comes to pu'erh, I usually refer to sheng, one of two major varieties. Younger sheng tends to be more astringent (a good thing, in my book) and floral.

Older sheng develops these complex layers of flavor, tending to be more mellow, woody, fruity, etc. The complexity can continue to develop over years and decades.

Personally, I like both.

Taylor Connoisseur Series Tea Thermometer & Timer #516

2008-02-07T21:18:00.001-06:00

I picked up this little gadget at Bed Bath & Beyond this weekend and have put it through vigorous paces over the last several days. Now I feel I've made enough notes for a useful review post.

The basic functionality is that it alerts you when your water has reached a desired temperature, then times the steep of a cup of tea.

The price is $20-$25, depending on where you shop. Look on-line if you're obsessed with finding a good deal, as you can save a few bucks.

Now, the details....

The best way I've found to use it is in a cooling vessel. If you heat your water in a kettle, pour water into a vessel for it to cool to the desired temperature, then pour the water from there into the teapot in which you will steep the tea.

After trying several different vessels for cooling the water, I have settled on a one-cup measuring cup. This allows me to measure my water precisely and allows the thermometer to be covered in at least an inch of water when I use only 4 oz of water (normal for me).

It is very portable, slightly smaller than a modern tattoo gun, and transporting it back & forth to the office for several days has not resulted in any mishaps.

The wide-open top of the measuring cup allows the water to cool fairly rapidly to the desired temperature while still allowing the thermometer to be mounted effectively.

I plan on tinkering with the mount later to make it more doubleplus good good, but its default configuration is just fine. Its contact points are covered with silicone, which is far more heat resistant than you will need for tea water and should prevent damage to porcelain and other surfaces from contact with the mount.

My over-all impression is that this is a highly functional device and worth the price. But I do feel there is room for critique.

The computer is supposed to turn itself off after a period of non-use, but I have seen no circumstance under which this feature actually works. I always have to turn it off by holding down a certain button for three seconds. I hope to find the solution to this soon, because battery conservation is important.

Every button press comes with a *beep*, and one can do a fair bit of button pressing to get the settings just right. When the water reaches the desired temperature, and when the steep time completes, the device beeps some more and flashes a spiffy green LED display.

The beeping is pretty unobtrusive, but I do wonder if people in my department at work have considered homicide.

The system comes with preset times and temperatures for a variety of teas: white, green, black, puerh, oolong, darjeeling, and herbal. You can select one of the presets, then modify the steep time and water temp in a reasonably intuitive way.

This can involve a fair bit of button-mashing beeping, though. And you can not, to my knowledge, add your own preferred presets. I just pick one that's close and then change the time & temp to suit my preferences. Unfortunately, it appears necessary to change the settings manually.

I'd like it a bit more if I could change the volume or just turn off button-mashing beeping, but it's not a big deal.

I have become quite fond of this device already and like it lots.

Edit: Follow-up thoughts....

This little gadget has really won me over after about a week of use because of its ease of use and usefulness in making tea under those sleepy low-light conditions of morning.

Some of my favorite morning teas reward precise handling. And morning time is when it's the most challenging to fuss over precise temperatures and steep times.

I've made two cups of O-Cha's Miyabi sencha in a dark room, guided to sencha perfection by this little device. As Rachael Ray (yeah, what of it...) would say, "Yum-O!"

Additional Edit:

Some of the presets for this device are set to 212° F, which I consider to be a design flaw in this case.

In order for the thermometer to beep and light up, allowing the timer sequence to be initiated, the water temperature must exceed the target temperature, then cool down to the target temp.

Under normal circumstances in most locations inhabitable by humans, water can not be heated above 212° F with normal heating processes. In fact, it is often simply not possible to make water even reach this temperature at all using ordinary means.

Therefore, the user has to determine the temperature to which one can actually heat water locally, then modify the preset to a temperature slightly lower than this in order to use the device's temperature/timer sequence.

A more practical solution for teas requiring boiling water is simply to have another timer handy, which is activated when the boiling water is poured on the leaf.

And if you have to keep an additional timer around, this device's usefulness is greatly diminished.

I still like this device, and use it regularly, but in actuality, I find myself working around its flawed user interface most of the time, and often in conjunction with an additional timer (a meditation timer in my Treo).

Is it worth $20 to $25? For me, the answer remains yes. But I give it a qualified endorsement for the general public.

TeaSpring Yang Yan Gou Qing

2008-01-27T11:57:00.000-06:00

Another mystery sample sent from one of the TeaChat guys, selected randomly for a morning tasting.

This one is a green tea by the looks of it (although color alone doesn't really define a tea's category that simply).

I steeped the first infusion at about 180*F, but for way too long.

The resulting brew smells astringent and grassy, but still not bad despite careless time management.

The on the tongue, the tea is thick and heavy, rolling with a flavor I can't yet define.

The liquid's color reminds me of amber or wheat.

For the second infusion, I went with one minute just below 180*F.

The color of the liquid this time is a bit more in the yellow-green spectrum, and the scent is decidedly less pronounced.

The taste is now much more like what I tend to associate with a Chinese green tea, but I think it's got a bit less bite due to the long first infusion.

For the third infusion, I use water just above 180*F for about 2 minutes, based on the guess that I took a lot out in that first long infusion.

The color and scent this time fall somewhere between the extremes of the first 2 infusions. It smells sweet and pleasant.

The beverage itself is on the upper end of mildly astringent, non-grassy, and carries a nice flavor.

Considering how well this tea stood up under sloppy preparation, I expect it will prove itself when handled properly.

Adagio Ti Kuan Yin

2008-01-27T09:41:00.001-06:00

I just made 3 infusions of Adagio's Ti Kuan Yin.

Despite having to take a guess at the brewing instructions, it came out well.

The dry leaf consists of little nuggets, each of which looks to be a single leaf, more or less. Leaf color is primarily a swirl of dark and light green. These expand quite a bit in the hot water, as shown here.

I settled on 180*F for 5 minutes for each infusion.

The fragrance was pleasant, noticable but not intense, and a contributing factor to the enjoyment of the tea.

The color of the brewed tea was not muddy and reminded me of a good olive oil.

The flavor was light and fresh, but I didn't have to search for it.

I feel good about the time and temperature I chose worked out fine for this. The amount of leaf was also fine, but I think I can get away with a little bit more next time.

Living the good life....

2008-01-26T15:24:00.000-06:00

Weekends allow you to do normally crazy things with abandon, like drinking obscene amounts of tea. Sign me up!

This morning I had a few cups of Miyabi sencha to part the haze of sleep. On a normal day, you don't necessarily need any more boost to get through the day.

So are we done? Heck no!

It's too nasty outside to go play, so it's time to get teadrunk.

Tea? How about a little yerba in the mix.... [digs around, produces re-purposed Adagio sample tin containing...] Guayaki!

The Guayaki was a hardcore deep brown, with a pleasant "Saturday morning" sort of aroma and a light smokiness it took my a while to put words to.

I liked it. Time passed.

What will pair well with chicken, veggies, and rice for lunch? How about one of these nameless tuo cha salsero sent me?

These are compressed single-serve shou puerh tea nuggets, and need to be rinsed a bit in boiling water to open them up for the actual infusion process.

After that, they're good for multiple infusions.

Time passes. So..... What else is in this box here?

Next comes Lochan Premium Assam Tips, 2nd Flush.

Wow, is this some good tea, perhaps the most enjoyable of the day thus far. (Not turning my back on Miyabi, Ed, I swear!)

There are far worse ways to spend a day after a long week's work than with tea and snacks.

But even at work, I manage to treat myself a bit.

Yesterday, for instance, I was breaking in a new gaiwan at the office, which I saw fit to record for posterity.

tea drunk and taking over the world

2008-01-25T09:40:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I got a bit creative and blended one part genmai cha with one part casablanca twist (both from Adagio) and tested them out on a few of the programmers here.

The blend's power must have been mighty indeed, for this morning I saw one of them brewing dragonwell in one cup and pouring it into another.

Moments later I appeared at his door with an IngenuiTEA in one hand and a [branded] single-serve french press in the other.

"Pick one," I said. He chose the french press, and I said it need not be returned.

If a man's going to take my advice and that of his parents, who'd sent him the dragonwell from China, he should be encouraged.

This weekend I plan to clean the IngenuiTEA thoroughly for donation to someone else I know. I'll see to it she receives samples and links to youtube videos demonstrating its use.

People in the tea community have been kind to me, and the notion of extending that kindness is compelling. Someone turns you on to a tea you enjoy, and a wish to share this delight with someone else wells up within you.

Don't believe me? Try it!

tea science and a cold morning's oolong

2008-01-22T11:52:00.000-06:00

Making a cup of tea isn't rocket science, but when I'm not at the office making bucks for The Man, I like to tinker with the process for fun, the advancement of human tea knowledge, and some times even a better cup.

The basic principles involved may be expressed in the equation L+W+H*T=C where L is leaf, W is water, H is heat, T is time, and C is cha (the resulting beverage).

Although different teas come from essentially the same plant, varieties differ in climate, soil conditions, processing methods, etc. So different teas will have different surface areas and chemical compositions. So they are not all prepared in one unified way. For instance, some teas benefit from a hot rinse prior to infusion, to remove undesired materials, or to cause more leaf to be exposed to the infusion, etc.

The water used in tea introduces a wide range of different variables, mainly involving chemicals other than water molecules. Some of these are desirable, and others are not. The subject is a big one and will have to be explored in other entries.

Heat is simple. Apply heat to the water, which applies it to the tea. As heat increases, molecules in the water and the tea leaf become more active. And more active molecules lead to a greater number of points of contact between water molecules and leaf molecules in a given period of time. This is one factor in why some teas are rinsed to open up the leaf.

Choices in infusion vessel can dramatically affect conservation of heat. Factors include the material of which the tea pot is composed, whether the vessel is fully enclosed, whether the vessel is preheated, as well as the temperature and molecular composition of that upon which the tea pot rests. For example, if a tea pot rests in cold water, more heat may be lost in convection than if the tea pot were to lose heat to certain cold materials through heat radiation. This is another one of those big subjects one can explore further elsewhere.

Time is chosen in part based in large part on type of leaf used and the ratio of leaf to water.

This morning's challenge wasn't a challenging tea, but challenging temperatures. It was pretty chilly when I set out to make this oolong.

Since I planned a good bit of steep time, I wanted to add in a little protection against the cold.

So first off, I preheated everything in boiling water, including the frigid tea tray. But I also added a thick porcelain cup half full of boiling water to elevate the tea pot.

I gave the tea a really quick rinse to warm up and wet the leaves.

I touched up the preheat of the tea pot lid while pouring water for the steep. The only possible way this can have contributed to conservation of heat is in the creation of a water seal between the tea pot and lid, which I doubt is significant. But I figure it was harmless to do so, and keeping it in the hot saucer during prep was better than placing it on some cold surface, which I felt was undesirable.

I then left it all alone to do the real work without my intervention for about five minutes, resulting in a good cup of tea.

90's Select Aged Nan Tou Oolong

2008-01-20T18:12:00.000-06:00

Hou De tossed in this thoughtful extra sample in with my recent order, and today I tackled it after having spent some time honing my oolong skills.

Based on the description attached to the sample, it's apparently been roasted about as far as an oolong needs to be roasted, and aged to a state of sublime mellowness.

I dumped all of the several grams in the sample into a 10-ounce porcelain tea pot, gave it a several-second boiling rinse, and then a quick first infusion.

It was fragrant, but in a way that suited me. The color was dark and visually striking. And the flavor was good in a general, indefinable way.

The second infusion spoke up with a bit more of a voice, which I find is often the case (particularly when the initial infusion is quick).

There's nothing perfumey about this tea, although it does offer a real fragrance. The flavor has a certain complexity I appreciated, with no one layer of flavor dominating the cup.

I would like to try more oolongs like this, and will keep my eyes peeled.

No snooty teaware? No problem!

2008-01-20T13:49:00.000-06:00

Appreciating fine tea can easily appear to require specialized equipment, a notion supported by many tea aficionados who not only own and use but also collect gaiwans, kyuusus, yixing pots, and a host of other single-purpose items.

I have been performing experiments with a variety of items found in my own kitchen, and feel I am well on the way to demonstrating the fact that these specialized items, while perfectly fine, are not actually required for the production of a good cup of tea.

Some of my experiments have been somewhat elaborate, such as yesterday's "Crock-Fu" experiment, in which I used a Pyrex measuring cup inside a baby Crock Pot, and covered with a stoneware saucer. These were all pre-heated, and boiling or near-boiling water was over, under, and between every layer to maximize heat the effect of heat conservation:

A less elaborate means toward the same end was employed today when I simply preheated a porcelain 4-ounce cup and ceramic cover, and simply poured the tea into an identical recipient cup when the infusion time had passed. This method also produced fine, drinkable tea:

Pyrex has been working out just fine for green teas, as demonstrated in a previous entry on sencha brewing.

This kind of experimentation may not be... *ahem* your cup of tea, of course. But it's fun to me!

Premium Fukamushi-Sencha Maki from Den's Tea

2008-01-19T10:56:00.000-06:00

This is going to be a bit of an unusual post, containing a couple of youtube vids of how I brewed the tea. The first of the vids goes dark during the tea pour, but I had someone else hold the camera during the recording of the 3rd infusion.

So now anyone who cares can see how I arrived at the brew I'm describing here.

I tried three infusions from one flat teaspoon of leaf last night, and did the same again this morning.

I have been told that o-cha has a fukamushi better than this one by some slim margin, but this from Den's is quite possibly the finest tea that has passed my lips to date.

The flavor is full, but not overpowering. The smell is good, but in that sencha kinda way that you may or may not care for.

But the complexity of this tea just astonished me by the end of the second infusion last night. After knocking back the last ounce or so from my 2nd cup, an ineffable bouquet danced up into my nose and literally resulted in my tear ducts activating.

I was so stunned by the beauty of that moment that I was unable to do anything much beyond sit there and float in it for a minute before I could go start the 3rd infusion.

This stuff has powerful magic, I tell ya.

This morning, I attempted to more or less recreate the conditions of last night's tasting for youtube videos. The videos are clumsy and don't adequately represent how I make the tea under normal conditions, but I think the basic gist of the mechanics comes across.

The first infusion:

The third infusion:

Even with the fumbling about with the camera and resultant dodgy steep times, this morning's tastings were on par with those of last night.

I offer an extremely favorable rating to this tea, even more so because it can be obtained in a 2 oz. (56 gram) hermetically sealed sample pouch. Stop what you're doing right now and obtain some.

we take our tea seriously here

2008-01-17T23:55:00.001-06:00

O-Cha.com Sencha Miyabi

2008-01-16T21:09:00.000-06:00

100g of Miyabi sencha arrived today, and I did a quadruple infusion tasting this evening.

I'll have to tinker some to try and perfect the brewing process and suit it to my taste, but I can already tell this is going to be an outstanding addition to my collection.

Sencha has rapidly become a favorite of mine, and Miyabi is a sencha of really high quality.

There's no harshness or room for constructive criticism I can find yet. It's just a fine cup of tea.

I made four 4-oz. infusions from a level teaspoon of leaf, tinkering with temperatures ranging from a top end of 180*F on down a bit in pyrex.

Each infusion, as usual, had its own character. But the tea was a little bit sweet, a little bit buttery, and fresh without leaving me feeling like I was sucking on grass.

Sencha is the closest I've found to a beverage equivalent of kissing, and this was a fine example.

Fortunately, I bought enough to last for weeks!

aged and young puerh samples from Hou De

2008-01-15T21:50:00.000-06:00

I took some friendly suggestions and tried a couple of puerh samples from Hou De:

1996 Chung-Cha MengHai Factory "Orange-in-Orange"
2005 Ming-Yuan Hao Yi-Wu Wild Old Tree Cake

(Hou De also kicked in a sample labeled "90's Select Aged NanTou Oolong", but I haven't tried it yet, so that's another episode.)

I prepared these in a series of quick, hot infusions. Both are flavorful and frankly visually beautiful. A real pleasure to drink.

Puehr, unlike most other teas, is intended to be aged for years, decades, or even longer. Over time, the flavor, aroma, and visual characteristics of the tea gradually evolve. The particulars vary from tea to tea and based on assorted conditions, but mellowness tends to increase over time.

The '05 Old Tree was the first I tasted, and it had a lot of *wow* going on. It tasted like a really top end cigar, which I love. I haven't had a good smoke in a looooong time.

By comparison, the '96 Orange-in-Orange was more subtle, and the first thing I noticed was the gorgeous color. The next thing to run through my head was that this is the sort of thing I'm subconsciously longing for when some oolongs seem to be lacking.

I am definitely looking forward to becoming more acquainted with these!

keeping tea fresh

2008-01-13T12:13:00.000-06:00

With a few special exceptions, tea should be kept away from oxygen as much as possible to keep it fresh.

Some tea vendors help delay oxidation by displacing oxygen in tea containers with nitrogen for shipping, which is a fine idea that I think should spread far and wide.

But once you open the container, oxidation begins anew. What should you do?

One common option is to order in smaller quantities so you will finish off the tea before it becomes meaningfully stale. But this is far from ideal.

For one thing, shipping costs can be proportionally larger for smaller quantities, particularly if your vendor eats the shipping cost on purchases over a certain amount. Over the course of several months, it is possible to spend as much on avoidable shipping charges as one might on a month's worth of quality tea.

Beyond this, though, is the fact that almost every tea lover I know, myself included, has thrown out tea due to having simply stocked too much for too long, despite best efforts.

One suggestion I have seen is to install your own nitrogen flush system. I dismiss this idea due to expense and safety issues. But if you plan on redistributing teas and/or dealing with positively massive quantities over long periods of time, you may want to look into it. Your local welding supply shop can probably point you in the right direction.

Personally, I favor vacuum packing for daily home use. It's essentially free and presents no meaningful safety issues with which I'm familiar.

Commercial vacuum packing solutions are available, ranging in price from inexpensive to only moderately expensive.

The simplest inexpensive commercial offering I can think of is the use of a wine bottle vacuum sealer. If you are handy with tools, you can mount one of the gaskets on the resealable container of your choosing. But you can also simply use an empty bottle of the type used for holding vinegar or olive oil, which I demonstrate here:

But what if you are disinclined to spend even this much on a vacuum containment solution? You want to spend that money on tea!

I don't have video for this one, but you won't need it.

Grab a big plastic jug, at least a few liters or a gallon if possible. Now poke a hole in the bottom of the jug. Place your tea in a plastic bag. Fill the jug with water. Run a plastic tube from the top of the jug to the bag of tea.

When everything is in order, unplug the hole in the bottom of the jug. The water rushing out will rapidly suck the air from the tea bag, which can then be sealed shut.

The actual sealing can be done in a variety of ways, but the simplest is probably to clamp it. A rubber band should do nicely with a bit of practice.

Looking for a less involved approach? Put the tea in a plastic bag, insert a drinking straw into a narrow opening, suck out the air, and close the bag. It is actually quite a bit better than nothing.

What are your ideas?

blowing more of the tea budget, and struggling with oolongs

2008-01-12T09:26:00.000-06:00

I've got a couple of tea orders on the way.

From o-cha, I've ordered Uji Sencha Miyabi, which I vaguely expect to arrive early in the upcoming week. This was recommended by TeaPerv ED, although somehow fuka managed to get the referral credit. (Life's a mystery.)

And from Hou De, I'm gettin' my pu on with:

1996 Chung Cha "Orange-in-Orange" #7532, uncooked 20g Sample
2005 Ming-Yuan Hao Yi-Wu Wild Old Tree Cake, Uncooked 1 oz
First-Step to Chinese Puerh Tea ** De Luxe Revised Version **

I've been spending my money on tea, and not on snooty pots & such (not that snooty pots & such aren't appealing).

Instead of a gaiwan, I dug up a few old 4 oz porcelain airline tea cups bought at a fire sale store untold years ago.

I've got a porcelain tea pot of indeterminate origin, made of glazed porcelain, with a capacity of 10 oz. "Made in Japan" is indicated on the bottom.

What I've found so far is that starting off with good tea and good advice can result in some fine tea, even if it is actually true that the fancy teaware does produce a meaningfully better tea experience.

However, I have really been more than spotty making a good oolong here lately. I've made some truly vile oolongs, and a few that were decent.

Gotta keep experimenting with those. Greens are a lot easier for me, and whites have been proving hard to just completely destroy.

hibiki-an sencha superior

2008-01-08T13:52:00.000-06:00

After work yesterday I had the chance to try Sencha Superior from hibiki-an, thanks to a generous complimentary sample sent by Andy at TeaChat.

It didn't have the sex appeal of adagio's Sencha Premier, but it was quite good in a general way. I might recommend this as a good first sencha.

It was bright and interesting, with a mellow, buttery finish.

Now, when I say "buttery" in reference to sencha, I mean it in a very literal sense. An actual flavor of high grade butter will spontaneously explode in the back of the throat in a post-sip swallow. I really love this aspect of sencha and want more, more, more.

After a few infusions, this is on my "recommended" list.

where I'm at

2008-01-06T10:03:00.000-06:00

I've been hitting the various adagio teas pretty hard since their arrival.

What I'm enjoying:

So far I'm finding that just about all the greens and whites are right up my alley, although some are more exciting than others.

Snowbud is one of the less exciting to me, although I feel I'm getting the hang of brewing it well enough to give it a fair tasting (which took a few attempts).

It, like the oolongs, just doesn't seem to carry as much of a "wow" factor as some of the other green and white teas.

This is purely subjective, of course, and I see nothing about the "less exciting" teas that makes them inferior in any way.

The stand-out so far is the sencha premier.

Preparation of greens:

I've been experimenting with lower temps and shorter steep times with the greens. The recommendation stamped on the tins for these is 180*F for 3 minutes, which I'm finding to be a little hotter and longer than may be optimal for some of them.

Even my beloved genmai cha seems to benefit from a less intense steeping process. Try 4 oz. of water (maybe 5 oz. before addition of tea to allow for absorption of water into leaves) with a rounded (but not heaping) teaspoon of leaf, for a max of 2 minutes and max temp of 150*, then a few short steeps of 45 seconds each at the same temp for 2nd and 3rd infusions. I think you'll find this provides a different genmai cha experience than heavier doses of leaf, heat, and time.

Gear thoughts:

I'm giving some thought to a more portable way to heat water and infuse. A good bit of gear can become involved without too much effort.

silver needle

2008-01-01T19:52:00.000-06:00

Earlier in a chat about tea, a few people brought up how you can throw yourself off your game by changing to the preparation of a different amount of tea from your usual amount.

Undeterred, I tried my hand at making small servings of silver needle.

For each of 2 infusions, I used about 100 ml of water.

In the first infusion, I used a rounded teaspoon of leaf and steeped for 7 minutes in 180* water.

For the second infusion, I added an additional teaspoon of leaf.

The second infusion was definitely more to my liking, although both were a little subtle. I'm going to have to experiment with this one more to see if I can get the feel for it.

how to make a good cup of tea

2008-01-01T13:55:00.000-06:00

There just isn't a single way to make a good cup of tea. And the many options available can make it seem pretty complicated.

I make mugs of tea, while others I know prepare single 100 cc servings. Niether approach is incorrect, but a bit of care should be taken in exchanging recipes and tips across such a difference of approach.

Some teas also benefit from different temperature ranges. Know before starting whether you should boil the water, dial it in to 180* F, etc.

Rules of thumb, such as "green teas for 180*F for 3 minutes" can be misleading, and certainly leave out much information. Sencha gurus I know suggest steeping it for less time on the first infusion and significantly less on subsequent infusions.

Be sensitive to the difference between "teaspoon" in that it can mean a teaspoon measuring cup or a teaspoon in the silverware sense. Additionally, diffferences between a level, rounded, or heaping teaspoon can be dramatic. The option of digital scales as means of measure adds another dimension for some.

Teaware varies even more. Basic common themes involve heating water to a desired temp and pouring it into a pre-heated vessel in which it will steep some tea. An infuser, strainer, or some other method for separating solid tea leaf material from the tea infusion is also common, but not strictly necessary.

Preferences vary regarding type of water, handling of the tea leaf, etc.

Simple fact is that after some experimentation (and it need not be *a lot* of experimentation) you can settle into a routine that results in a cup of tea that pleases you. It will not likely be a complicated process, either.

Most of the perceived complexity comes from the dizzying array of options available when you first approach the subject.

ringing in the new year

2008-01-01T09:17:00.000-06:00

I couldn't wait around until 2008 for a celebratory sencha, so I heavily caffeinated myself in some experiments last night.

Man alive, that stuff is good!

But this morning I'm kicking off the new year with jasmine #12. Neat stuff, partly due to the jasmine scent, but also just in the physical shape of the tea.

It consists of these tight little "pearls" (nuggets, balls, or whatever term does it for you) of 2 leaves & an unopened bud.

I've had a lot of jasmine teas that just didn't live up to the name, most of which have been found truly lacking. But this one stands right up to the task.

It's mellow and fragrant, but not weak. And nothing artficial or "chemical" stands out in this brew. I give it high marks.

Edit....

My next follow-up tea today is dragonwell. It's got a stand-on-its-own flavor about it that I like so far.

Some reviewers have noted a grassy quality to it, but I haven't picked up on that aspect yet.

The "pucker" is what hit me first, but then follows a sip that glides along the tongue like the brush of a silk sheet along a cheek.

My 3rd infusion of dragonwell remains enjoyable. It's less intense than the first sip, but not in an unpleasant way.

casablanca twist and snowbud

2007-12-31T17:16:00.000-06:00

I made a few cups of casablanca twist when I made it to work this morning, and won over the crowd with scent alone.

It smells and tastes simply great. In fact, it's probably the best mint tea I've ever tried. Just delicious.

Now I'm thoroughly enjoying a cup of snowbud.

Honestly, it's going to be a bit tough when I have to decide which ones to buy in larger quantity. *Almost* all the teas I've tried so far have met or exceeded my expectations.

I may have to see to it I'm not without a quality sencha ever again, though.

wading through samples: pouchong, silver needle, green anji

2007-12-30T15:14:00.000-06:00

My first tea of the morning was pouchong, which falls vaguely between oolong and green territory. I'm going to have to give this one another attempt later, with more leaf to see if I can tease out the flavor more successfully. It wasn't terribly exciting this morning.

Silver needle was the follow up, and it got my attention a bit more successfully. It stood up to a second infusion, and some time I may see if it will lend itself to a third. The sense impact was reasonably complex and fully enjoyable. I give it the nod for further study.

I'm currently sipping on the first infusion of a green anji. So far it strikes me as a well-rounded green tea with a mellow but decent flavor & scent.

I notice it's got low ratings in comparison with some other adagio greens, but I don't see why off-hand. It lacks the wow factor of sencha premium, but I'm enjoying it.

Price-wise, this looks to be more costly to brew than green pekoe, another "just a nice green tea" with which I'd compare it. So perhaps the low marks are weighted accordingly. I might like to taste the two against one another some time soon and see how they compare.

Edit re: 2nd infusion of green anji....

I've stretched out the green anji into a second cup, and it seems at least as good as the first. This is another candidate for multiple infusion experiments.

The flavor is more complex than I detected in my first cup. Is that a bit of a peppery taste?

new tea delivery

2007-12-29T19:49:00.000-06:00

A box of tea arrived today from adagio.com:
(gr) = green leaf; (w) = white leaf; (bl) = black leaf; (oo) = oolong

oriental spice (bl)
genmai cha (gr)
jasmine #12 (oo)
oolong #18 (oo)
oolong #40 (oo)
pouchong (oo)
white monkey (gr)
dragonwell (gr)
casablanca twist (gr)
white peony (w)
snowbud (w)
sencha premier (gr)
song yang (w)
silver needle (w)
green anji (gr)

First cup was white monkey, which I put through two infusions. I found it quite enjoyable and look forward to more.

I had churros handy after a trip to the latin market, with which I paired oriental spice at the suggestion of a tea forum companion. It wasn't bad, but I'll be fiddling with the preparation details to see if I can tailor it to my tastes a bit more.

Then came the sencha premier. (Instructions from TeaChat varied, but a sample set: 2 minutes or less for the first infusion; 30 seconds for the 2nd infusion; 45 seconds for the third; 3 minutes for the fourth)

I infused a rounded teaspoon into 10 oz. of water for 3 minutes. The resulting brew was just left of astonishing. Wow and a half! I'm currently sipping my 2nd infusion, and it's just a sheer delight.

This is a fairly complex tea, with multiple waves of flavor and scent, and a sensation the tea geeks referred to as "astringent". Buttery and a little sweet.

I'm sipping the 3rd infusion presently, and it's still got enough flavor to be enjoyable. Each infusion is understandably less intense than the previous.

now that I've polished off the adagio.com green tea starter set...

2007-12-27T21:03:00.000-06:00

I've been craving some good (by my standards) tea for a while now, and recently did something about it.

But first, what constitutes "other than good" tea? For starters, almost any tea in a bag will score "tolerable" or worse on my tea scale. The two main reasons for this are:

Brew-in-bag is not an ideal way to prepare tea, for reasons I'm sure I'll explore in more depth elsewhere.
Tea bags are often used to disguise bad tea in the same way that the best ribs are not the ones chosen for serving in a wet sauce. As a rule, the best tea is loose and the best ribs are served with a dry rub. (If the rib reference escapes you, don't sweat it.)

Other sorts of "other than good" boil down to objective matters such as freshness (even though tea can be kept in good shape for quite some time if handled properly at all) and subjective matters such as straight up personal taste.

I first "got hooked" on good tea back in the early 1990s, but never developed a really cultivated tea palate. I tried various teas and noted that some I loved, others I hated, and some left no meaningful impression. For the most part, I was still drinking tea from bags, but found that some enjoyable cups of tea can result from applying hot water to at least some tea bags.

Worth note is that I was able to have a very good time drinking teas that weren't amazingly good and were prepared... inelegantly, let's just say.

But over time, I've come to prefer better teas over worse teas in an increasingly meaningful way. But I needed a less messy way to prepare a cup of tea, and my search for one led me to an office-friendly tea infuser sold at adagio.com under the name IngenuiTEA.

I noted that they had one on sale with a little tea book and some sample tins for the same price as the device itself, and was pleased that one of the options was a green tea sample set including genmai cha.

Mmmmm, genmai cha.

Only one of the sample green teas didn't really suit me: the kukicha. I honestly can't say what it is I didn't like about it, because the smell and flavor (floral and sweet) were fascinating. Maybe it was just too much in such a small package, because I have tried mixing it with things like green pekoe and yerba with enjoyable results. Flavorful stems, of all things, stand out the most about this one.

(I'll prattle on about yerba later, as it's well worth some words.)

Citron Green turned out to be something of a treat for me, with little dried chunks of some kind of citrus in with it. The smell, flavor and color were thoroughly enjoyable. I would actually serve this to people afraid of good tea.

Green pekoe is a great "drink this any time you like" tea. You totally don't have to be a tea snob to enjoy this, as it is not exotic in any way.

The genmai cha is a personal favorite of mine. It is another non-exotic tea, blended with roasted rice kernels (some of which are popped like popcorn). I understand it came about due to times when tea was a real luxury item and rice was readily available, reminding me of the history of chickory coffee.

I learned about genmai cha quite by accident some years back. At a "Day of Zen" at the home of a Zen monk, I had a bowl of something that just blew my mind. When I asked him about it later in the day, he said, "It's just genmai, rice gruel. It's nothing special."

Nothing special, but I loved it. Of course, I'd been in zen practice for hours, so I may have simply been more mindful of the meal, enhancing the whole experience. More on mindful consumption later, I'm sure, as it's part of my long-term approach to enjoyment of food & drink.

In searching for information about genmai, I found essentially no information about the rice dish I'd eaten, but I found out about genmai cha. Then I found a local market where some passable genmai cha could be purchased. The genmai cha from adagio.com's sampler was in fine condition by comparison, and I consumed it with glee.

The little book that came with the set was interesting enough. It struck me as a long essay with lots of pretty pictures. Not a bad addition to a starter set, considering that one might give such a set to someone unversed in tea snobbery. It was informative and well-written.

The IngenuiTEA device has proven its merit since the shipment arrived. It has made the process of preparing and enjoying loose tea about as simple and painless as I can imagine.

For a single cup (the only amount of tea I actually prepare), I spoon in (depending on the tea) a rounded spoon or so of tea, then fill with water to the level of the text printed on it, fire up the pre-set tea timer on my Palm Treo, and wait.

When my Treo emits the sound of a Chinese flute about 3 minutes later, I place the IngenuiTEA on top of a cup (any cup I've tried so far), and the hot, yummy liquid drains neatly into the cup.

The tea leaves remain in the IngenuiTEA, to either be used again or rinsed off into some handy means of disposal.

I found that the IngenuiTEA works just fine with the Taragui yerba I buy by the kilo, as well. This frankly surprised me, because the yerba contains some material that is ground pretty much to a powder.

quick review of the adagio.com green tea starter set

2007-12-27T20:54:00.000-06:00

First off, a prettied-up (but word-for-word) copy of the review I posted on their site:

Decent value all around, and the range of teas included represented a good sampling of the green tea experience. And I can't think of a more 'no fuss' way to make a good cup of tea at the office than the included ingenuiTEA.

Mine came with:
citron green: An outstanding cup of tea, really. Same basic idea as putting lemon in a tea, but done better than I ever do by myself.

genmai cha: Tea meets rice! My default tea when I can get it, with a quiet yumminess and pleasant scent.

green pekoe: A fine 'any day' tea.

kukicha: Rich and springlike, with a serious sweet finish. Not my style, but definitely cool.

In the next post, I'll share more of my actual experience, now that I've just about finished off the tea samples.

2007-12-21T11:38:00.000-06:00

2007-12-20T18:47:00.000-06:00

2007-12-19T10:56:00.000-06:00

2007-12-18T23:48:00.000-06:00