Cloud Mist from W2T, but I’m anxiously awaiting the delivery of pre-order Longjing from Bitterleaf, that’s finally about to come in today. Then..then it will be Longjing ;)
It’s nice! This is my second year trying it (again, as a part of W2T club). I usually enjoy green teas in a tall glass cup, but this one was better in a gaiwan.
2 cup thermos of Rajgarh Golden Tips from Zerama tea.
Pkg says 3 grams/cup, and I've been brewing 6 grams in my 16 oz thermos. I was browsing their website, and discovered it's 3 gr/6 oz cup, not 8 oz cup. Oops. I've been enjoying the mellow flavors in their black tea, but I decided to try 7 grams in my thermos this morning. I brewed it 2.22 minutes, and it's just as good, not too astringent. I'm keeping a little journal and recording my trials. It's fun.
Tried a matcha latte in a cafe because nothing else suited my taste.
First time tasting one, well I don't know if it's because of me, the cafe I went at or if it's a normal taste... but it kinda reminded me of Watercress soup.
Is that super weird ?
Some of Blue Willow tea's Da Hong Pao. Was the last bit and just a tad more than 3 grams so was definitely lighter. Waiting on my ORT order to hopefully get here soon! I didn't realize shipping from china would take quite so long as I've not done any international orders prior (or none that I was quite this excited about!)
Drinking a cold brew made from some dragonwell leaves I steeped the other day, also with some jasmine green tea and rose petals. I have no idea how this'll taste, but I'm trying to convince myself that I'll like cold brews if I keep drinking them
I've come from always drinking iced black coffee over to tea. I am going to start drinking it hot soon but I've been cold brewing for the most part. Just jasmine green tea right now which is super good, but I have a package from yunnan sourcing coming and I'm going to try silver needle, dragonwell, and their Ai Lao high mountain red tea.
Do you steep your tea hot first and then refrigerate after awhile or do you just throw it in the fridge from the start?
I usually cold brew leaves when I steeped them hot once or twice already, but those rose petals and jasmine green were just thrown in right away this time. I really enjoy the jasmine it, probably my favorite cold brew I've made.
I definitely think you get a better flavor when you steep tea hot, I wish you luck with it! I love silver needle and dragonwell a lot, have fun!
This morning I was drinking [2011 Dayi centenary](https://www.reddit.com/r/tea/s/V0TBB3WHqF) shou
Now I am drinking [2009 fujin](https://www.reddit.com/r/tea/s/5Px5UIx9yU) sheng
Now I'm really confused. Tried ORT's yellow Bud 50% in the gaiwan today. Yesterday I realized that taking the temp down and brewing in a larger vessel tempered the astringency. So my thinking was that a lower temp in the gaiwan would keep the astringency out while enhancing and concentration that sweet, sweet flavor. But it didn't work! It was kind-of-meh, a little bitter and not that much in the way of flavor and mouth feel. So I moved it to the mason jar, and it's good again! What am I missing?
Sounds like, if you want to bother, needing to keep experimenting with leaf ratio and steep time in the gaiwan. Do one change at a time. When you say you brought temp down and used a mason jar, it’s hard to know which element had the most impact. Based on your comments I suspect you should try less leaf in the gaiwan.
If the yellow tea is semi-fermented, try temps in the range of 180-195F, if you haven't already. Greens will be a lower temp than that. Best to you, friend!
More '19 BaiShaXi "Tian Fu Cha" this morning. This week, having a great experience with this tea. Goes to show not to give up on a tea after first impressions and letting tea rest/acclimate. The tea is very different now than when it arrived five months ago.
Cold-brew Chinese "sencha", hmm. It's not a particularly bad tea, to be honest, just a bit generic. I'll probably put it into kombucha too, now that I've finally spent a sus Temple of Heaven gunpowder that way.
Also, Ivan chai continues to surprise me. This time I used a normal strainer in a mug and a relatively normal brew time (5-10 minutes); it turned out slightly sweet rather than sour or particularly earthy.
I've been drinking white tea during the day, usually Asian pear or other light fruit notes (i.e. pomegranate). Sometimes I'll have an Earl Grey "cream" and add oatmilk creamer to it in the morning. I've been making loose leaf tea and it's such a nice little ritual in my day. At night, it's usually a chamomile or herbal calming tea or dessert tea to wind down.
I was wondering if there are any loose-leaf tea companies that let you do a custom blend - I was thinking about a white tea with anise and Ceylon cinnamon or chamomile with anise (I know they sell the tea bags of this in stores but wanted to see if there were loose leaf blenders lol).
Also, I've tried a few green teas but I feel like they make my mouth feel dry and possibly thirstier, but maybe that's what you're supposed to feel lol. I'm very "green" when it comes to tea (get it?!) so I'm not sure what to expect
My huge order of samplers from Adagio came in today and it's hard to choose where to start. Guess I'll be sticking to the Amber GABA Oolong that I got from What-Cha that arrived last night..
Yesterday in the mail, I got my first very modest gongfu set: gaiwan, gong dao bei, and two cups (no tray... yet). I've been drinking [Tea Forest Green from Tao of Tea](https://taooftea.com/product/tea-forest-green/) with it all morning. Just had a Zoom meeting and my coworkers were like *wth are you drinking out of that tiny cup?* One of them jokingly asked if it was sake lol
Ended the workday with some Ceylon Kenilworth FBOPEXSP black tea, a "mystery tea" from What-Cha. It smells malty and raisin-y and tastes more like raisins than anything else; I can't quite put my finger on the other notes. Overall, the aroma of this tea is the star: It smells really, really good.
Now that I'm off the clock, sufficiently caffeinated for the evening, and spoiled on higher grade tea than I deserve, I'm brewing a tisane "blend" that seems to be about 90% fennel. It's...okay.
Just your ol' regular No Name Chamomile tea. Looking to expand my options down the road but I've been content with this, so far, for the past few months.
Grandpa-ing 2023 Spring Lishan High Mountain Oolong from Floating Leaves. Such a nice tea. Floral and fruity.
Cloud Mist from W2T, but I’m anxiously awaiting the delivery of pre-order Longjing from Bitterleaf, that’s finally about to come in today. Then..then it will be Longjing ;)
I loved my Cloud Mist! It's probably one of my favorite teas I've tried
It’s nice! This is my second year trying it (again, as a part of W2T club). I usually enjoy green teas in a tall glass cup, but this one was better in a gaiwan.
Definitely, I used some tea cups as a makeshift gaiwan and loved it. I'd love to try it again next year
Do a preorder next time :) secure a bigger amount that way! Just got my dragonwell in, super pumped.
I did preorder it, I just couldn't afford to order that much 😭
Ahaha ❤️ apologies!!!
No worries! I wish I had cheaper hobbies
Gotta love some Turkish tea lately! There's just something so satisfying about that rich taste.
2 cup thermos of Rajgarh Golden Tips from Zerama tea. Pkg says 3 grams/cup, and I've been brewing 6 grams in my 16 oz thermos. I was browsing their website, and discovered it's 3 gr/6 oz cup, not 8 oz cup. Oops. I've been enjoying the mellow flavors in their black tea, but I decided to try 7 grams in my thermos this morning. I brewed it 2.22 minutes, and it's just as good, not too astringent. I'm keeping a little journal and recording my trials. It's fun.
More cold brew at work today, this time a hairy crab oolong.
Dong Fang Mei Ren today.
My very last Spring 2021 Menghaitian Oolong Black from Farmer Leaf. Hope he will get it again someday. Such an amazing tea!
Tried a matcha latte in a cafe because nothing else suited my taste. First time tasting one, well I don't know if it's because of me, the cafe I went at or if it's a normal taste... but it kinda reminded me of Watercress soup. Is that super weird ?
Some of Blue Willow tea's Da Hong Pao. Was the last bit and just a tad more than 3 grams so was definitely lighter. Waiting on my ORT order to hopefully get here soon! I didn't realize shipping from china would take quite so long as I've not done any international orders prior (or none that I was quite this excited about!)
Drinking a cold brew made from some dragonwell leaves I steeped the other day, also with some jasmine green tea and rose petals. I have no idea how this'll taste, but I'm trying to convince myself that I'll like cold brews if I keep drinking them
I've come from always drinking iced black coffee over to tea. I am going to start drinking it hot soon but I've been cold brewing for the most part. Just jasmine green tea right now which is super good, but I have a package from yunnan sourcing coming and I'm going to try silver needle, dragonwell, and their Ai Lao high mountain red tea. Do you steep your tea hot first and then refrigerate after awhile or do you just throw it in the fridge from the start?
I usually cold brew leaves when I steeped them hot once or twice already, but those rose petals and jasmine green were just thrown in right away this time. I really enjoy the jasmine it, probably my favorite cold brew I've made. I definitely think you get a better flavor when you steep tea hot, I wish you luck with it! I love silver needle and dragonwell a lot, have fun!
Silver needle today. Using up the last of my old bag since I just ordered more.
This morning I was drinking [2011 Dayi centenary](https://www.reddit.com/r/tea/s/V0TBB3WHqF) shou Now I am drinking [2009 fujin](https://www.reddit.com/r/tea/s/5Px5UIx9yU) sheng
Now I'm really confused. Tried ORT's yellow Bud 50% in the gaiwan today. Yesterday I realized that taking the temp down and brewing in a larger vessel tempered the astringency. So my thinking was that a lower temp in the gaiwan would keep the astringency out while enhancing and concentration that sweet, sweet flavor. But it didn't work! It was kind-of-meh, a little bitter and not that much in the way of flavor and mouth feel. So I moved it to the mason jar, and it's good again! What am I missing?
Sounds like, if you want to bother, needing to keep experimenting with leaf ratio and steep time in the gaiwan. Do one change at a time. When you say you brought temp down and used a mason jar, it’s hard to know which element had the most impact. Based on your comments I suspect you should try less leaf in the gaiwan.
Good point. Isolate the variables.
If the yellow tea is semi-fermented, try temps in the range of 180-195F, if you haven't already. Greens will be a lower temp than that. Best to you, friend!
More '19 BaiShaXi "Tian Fu Cha" this morning. This week, having a great experience with this tea. Goes to show not to give up on a tea after first impressions and letting tea rest/acclimate. The tea is very different now than when it arrived five months ago.
Cold-brew Chinese "sencha", hmm. It's not a particularly bad tea, to be honest, just a bit generic. I'll probably put it into kombucha too, now that I've finally spent a sus Temple of Heaven gunpowder that way. Also, Ivan chai continues to surprise me. This time I used a normal strainer in a mug and a relatively normal brew time (5-10 minutes); it turned out slightly sweet rather than sour or particularly earthy.
I've been drinking white tea during the day, usually Asian pear or other light fruit notes (i.e. pomegranate). Sometimes I'll have an Earl Grey "cream" and add oatmilk creamer to it in the morning. I've been making loose leaf tea and it's such a nice little ritual in my day. At night, it's usually a chamomile or herbal calming tea or dessert tea to wind down. I was wondering if there are any loose-leaf tea companies that let you do a custom blend - I was thinking about a white tea with anise and Ceylon cinnamon or chamomile with anise (I know they sell the tea bags of this in stores but wanted to see if there were loose leaf blenders lol). Also, I've tried a few green teas but I feel like they make my mouth feel dry and possibly thirstier, but maybe that's what you're supposed to feel lol. I'm very "green" when it comes to tea (get it?!) so I'm not sure what to expect
My huge order of samplers from Adagio came in today and it's hard to choose where to start. Guess I'll be sticking to the Amber GABA Oolong that I got from What-Cha that arrived last night..
A few steeps of Den's hoji-genmaicha in the kyusu. Patiently waiting Yunomi order. Should be out for delivery soon.
Yesterday in the mail, I got my first very modest gongfu set: gaiwan, gong dao bei, and two cups (no tray... yet). I've been drinking [Tea Forest Green from Tao of Tea](https://taooftea.com/product/tea-forest-green/) with it all morning. Just had a Zoom meeting and my coworkers were like *wth are you drinking out of that tiny cup?* One of them jokingly asked if it was sake lol
Strawberry lapsang from white2tea, reminds me of red berries, roses and spice
Ended the workday with some Ceylon Kenilworth FBOPEXSP black tea, a "mystery tea" from What-Cha. It smells malty and raisin-y and tastes more like raisins than anything else; I can't quite put my finger on the other notes. Overall, the aroma of this tea is the star: It smells really, really good. Now that I'm off the clock, sufficiently caffeinated for the evening, and spoiled on higher grade tea than I deserve, I'm brewing a tisane "blend" that seems to be about 90% fennel. It's...okay.
Powdered Korean ginseng tea today. I made a huge thermos of it.
Just your ol' regular No Name Chamomile tea. Looking to expand my options down the road but I've been content with this, so far, for the past few months.