Yajna Patni
-
Posts
310 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by Yajna Patni
-
-
I tried a new to me haagan daz this evening. Banana Split. NAASTY! it claimed to be whipped cream and banana ice cream with a chocolate ripple. and there was a picture of a strawberry with it. When i got it home it mentioned on the side cherries. Well. It had a chocolate ripple, but the only discernible taste in the ice cream was fake cherry. really really nasty.
-
wow. This tea was great! It reminded me of a Darjeeling at first sniff, and at first sip.
really delicious. more details to follow.
-
More Lapsang for me. Not a really good one. I got it in a local tea store, and it is very mild/tasteless. My guess is it had sat there for years and gone stale. Very frustrating as it was a splurge for me.
It still hits the spot in the morning though.
I am interested in the idea of it iced.... I have a hard time with iced tea. Iced lapsang is an interesting concept.
-
I agree with all that has been said above about bottled tea. I don't see how it is quicker either. how long does it take to throw water from a kettle onto leaves?
and i have no desire to lug heavy bottles of liquid around either.
All this said... i have an addiction. In the Korean store on the way to my old work they had bottles of what was called hong Kong milk tea in the cooler.
This stuff is heaven. I have asked a friend from Hong Kong how to make it, and he shrugs his shoulders and looks at me like I am insane and says, well, its tea with milk and sugar.
But this is more. Perhaps it is the sweet taste of pasteurization or substandard tea, or the plastic bottle leaching in to the liquid, but something is right. I drink this stuff by the gallon when ever I can.
-
I have a toaster that I LOVE. It is a stainless steel Dualit. It looks vintage but it is not. It has three slots and in the third you can make grilled cheese if you feel like blowing $25 on Amazon for the wire holder.
I found the toaster in a thrift store for very little, and its awesome.
-
I found a green tea with Lavender in an Asian grocery store in Fort Worth on a trip a while ago, I really liked it. The lavender however was very strong, and you couldnt really taste the green tea. This worked for me!
-
Lapsang Souchong with milk. Strong and hot. Probably wrong for the hot steamy weather we are having here, but it works for me!
-
I dont have a diswasher but i wash my teapots by hand, with a scrubby if there are stains. They are all regular glazed inside and out.
My mom and aunt both use the denture tablets!
I have a number of silver plate older family pots, these i never ever use silver cleaner on the inside, because it tastes funny no matter how i rinse. I rinse the insides of them with soap and water, never use a scrubby so as not to wreck the plate on the inside.
on the silver pots I am all about the patina building up. I think that is makes the tea taste more tea and less very slightly silver.
-
I am about to brew up a pot of either Russian caravan or lapsang souchong, before i go out and brave the heat in a 10 mile run. And yes. If i had got up when the alarm went off at 6, it would all be over by now, and it would not have been so hot.
-
Never heard of caffeine added tea, but drinking two or more cups doubles or more your caffeine intake!
-
As i drink the rest of that second infusion i have to say it rocks. I generally find the second time round tea gets sweet of vegetal flavoured, and i cant stand that. but this does not. it holds its own.
I would definatly be interested tin drinking this on a regular basis.
-
I just got mine, and brewed it this afternoon. I can't deal with caffeine in the afternoon so this was great. Just enough, but i will still sleep tonight.
The smell out of the little bag was strongly toasty. The leaves are pale and a lot of twigs looking pieces.
I used water that had boiled, and i waited around for a few minutes till it had gone off the boil and poured about 8 or 10 oz of water onto about 2 tsp of tea. My pot was warmed btw, because i always do.
The bag said to soak for a minute, which i did. The tea was delicious. that wonderful toasted aroma came through in the brew. There was a taste that reminded me of sushi, but i think actually reminds me of toasted nori. Very pale color, I decided that it need some more steeping so i left it for another 3 mins or so. Resulting brew was dark, and much stronger. Back taste slightly bitter. I was dissapointed not to find the umami taste of the last green tea i tasted, I was looking forward to a roasted umami thing. But the toasted taste was strong, with a very slight astringency, seemed all round dark and almost syrypy.
delicious.
second infusion.... almost boiling. paler color, toasted taste still there, but with out the astringency and bitter back ground i could taste more of the hazelnut mentioned above.
I prefered the first infusion. but both were excellent
what do i change next time?
-
I had a recent impromptu trip to San Francisco for the weekend and found myself eating breakfast in a rather nice cafe. Great pastries, and a selection of the most frou frou fruity teas I have ever seen.
The closest to a tea I would want for breakfast was the earl grey. They made it to my surprise from water from the steamer on the espresso machine.... what a brilliant idea! the water was hot enough! Much more than when it is made with water from the coffee machine which is just too cold.
I found myself really enjoying it. IT was a great earl Grey, with the black tea strong enough to shine through the bergamot. I came home and got some earl grey leaves.... bleagh. perfumey and no taste of tea.
Any one got some good recommendations for a robust earl grey?
And i posted it here because that is what i am drinking this morning. weak earl grey. Help me please
-
I had a recent impromptu trip to San Francisco for the weekend and found myself eating brekfast in a rather nice cafe. Great pastries, and a selection of the most frou frou fruity teas I have ever seen.
THe closest to a tea I would want for breakfast was the earl grey. They made it to my surprise from water from the steamer on the espresso machine.... what a brilliant idea! the water was hot enough! Much more than when it is made with water from the coffee machine which is just too cold.
I found myself really enjoying it. IT was a great earl Grey, with the black tea strong enough to shine through the bergamot. I came home and got some earl grey leaves.... bleagh. perfumey and no taste of tea.
Any one got some good recommendations for a robust earl grey?
And i posted it here because that is what i am drinking this morning. weak earl grey. Help me please.
-
If any one is on the fence about this... do it! Its free! and you just have to write a paragraph or two after. (but you might end up having more to say)
I do not have any esoteric knowledge of tea, and no special equipment aside from taste buds and an opinion.
The teas I have tried have been really interesting, and the flavours downright different..... not like debating the blackcurrant vs blackberry at a wine tasting. ( I don't do that BTW!) Not subtle .
Its a really good opportunity to branch out and try something new for free!
-
Richard that does make perfect sense. I tend to soak quite a long time. I have no more of that assam left but i do have some keemun I will try that approach on.
It also explains my Grand mothers watery second brew. The first one was well stewed having sat in the pot until it was empty.
Next time i have a good re steeping tea, i am going ot try the with a little extra tea and a little less brew time.
-
Hey Richard,
THe first infusion i used as said on the package, one teaspoon tea and one cup of water. This did not taste strong enough to me.
So for the second, I used one and a half teaspoons and the up of water. It might have been more than a cup,but not by much.
Unlike cdh, i prefer tea made with the hottest water. I did this like the packet said at a rolling boil. I did the second soaking at the same temp, and left it for the same 5 minutes.
It may just be my taste, i have never found a second soaking i liked. My grandmother did it, and it always tasted weaker to me. It may be just that i really like the strong robust flavors, and find the sweeter less appealing. I also am fond of the tannin, and enjoy bitter notes a lot, and i think these may be less in second infusion, what my grandma called "wetting the pot".
I did it because i was trying to find what it was that others taste. I will keep trying!
-
I did two infusions on the second brewing... I guess i must have a dull palate. It just tasted weaker to me.
-
The first thing I noticed was the golden color. I am not sure I have ever seen black tea this rich golden color. Nice malty rich aroma. Edge of fruit and spice. Made me think of Christmas pudding.
The first infusion i made with water on a rolling boil and let is sit for 5 minutes. I used a small tea pot with no cage inside, and a tea spoon of tea. and a up of water
I used about a teaspoon of milk. The most prominent taste was the malty, but that would be pretty typical of Assams. I definitely got the fruity and spicy that were present in the aroma of the un-brewed leaves. I liked the fruity high notes that almost reminded me of the kind of notes in an African coffee. The lack of astringency was noticeable, and made the tea taste kind of bland to me.
The second cup brewing I used extra tea to see if making it stronger would add some astringency; I used about a teaspoon and a half, it was much the same as the first cup but stronger. I preferred it this way. Still un-astringant.
For the third cup I had a half teaspoon which i mixed with about half Darjeeling (brook bond green label). The Darjeeling filled out the space that the lack of astringency made for me, playing well in my opinion with the spice and fruit. This tea is a wonderful mellow back ground, that seems to me to be the perfect base tea for blends.
-
Just tried the 5 ginger flavor. It was really really good. Not the richest or creamiest, but a really good fresh ginger flavor.
-
Has anyone tried growing ginger? I live in New England, and have no yard, so I was going to try it inside in a pot. Does anyone have any tips or success stories?
-
So i Finally got round to my first brewing. At first sniff the unbrewed tea smelt very rich. Not really what i would call vegetal.
I brewed just over one third in a one cup tea pot that was warmed. i used water just off the boil ad let it sit for about three minutes.
The aroma of the brewed tea was again, rich, i would say almost umami.
The tea. Not at all what i expect from green tea, but my green tea experience has been very limited. I would expect a watery very vegetal grassy taste, one that i think in my head of tasting like water that vegetables were boiled in.
THe tea itself. I am not sure of the right words to describe it. I would say hay. No tannins, again, i taste an umami edge to it. Very mellow. Not sweet, and not astringent. A very full mellow brew.
I may well do the other two brewings the same way. I liked it
Thanks Richard!
-
Did you find the page vedrenne in BOS? and if so where?
thanks!
-
As i think i realise i do make blends sometimes. For me it is generally honestly to eke out an expensive tea. I mix my beloved lapsang with either keemun or Assam, it reduces the smokiness and adds other nuances, and the old standard which is Assam +Darjeeling. I assume it is standard because i have seen so many Indian families mix red label and green label, which is Assam and Darjeeling. at least i think red label is assam? this makes quite a balanced tea, the Darjeeling giving the top notes. It would probably not work with the really delicate Darjeelings, but works great with the more robust ones. And again, can be used to eke out a favorite.
What Tea Are You Drinking Today? (Part 1)
in Coffee & Tea
Posted
I had a bag of Ten Ren Lapsang. I loved it! it made my whole kitchen smell of smoke. I used to mix it with other tea a bit though.
It was definitively not an elegant tea. I think strident is a word i feel would describe it. Strident, and perhaps aggressive.
I must say i enjoyed it though.