LuckyGirl
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Posts posted by LuckyGirl
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I have been enjoying the Rishi Ancient pu-erh that WC sent me a sample of and which I subsequently ordered.
This pu erh comes in small 5-6 gram cakes that I steep in a large mug with about 14 ounces of water.
This pu erh cha is robust and very smooth. It has no funk. It is not the deepest most rubyst pu erh I've had (but is still rich enough), probably a 7 on a scale of ten, but that makes it nice for a daily drinker.
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I finally had time this morning to dedicate to the remaining 4 grams of this tea. I brewed it in a loose gong fu style (oxymoron, I know). What I mean is that I do not have a proper pot for gong fu but used my cup for multiple infusions of 4 ounces water to 4 grams of tea. I did a quick rinse then 1:30, 2:30, 3:45, 4:20.
The biggest surprise for me was how much more this tea opened up on the third steeping than it did the first two.
I am getting that note we have all had a hard time describing in a more pronounced way with this style of brewing. I keep going back to pineapple but not a juicy ripe pineapple. The tropicalness that I taste is a flavor like pineapple but not in a sweet, juicy way rather the dry, almost prickly way of a slightly under-ripe pineapple. The sweetness of the tea is a separate element to me while that beginning of astringency/dryness is part of this pineapple flavor element.
When I first read cdh's post where he mentioned lilac I went "ah, ha" and now that I am drinking the tea again I am inclined to call the floralness a lilaciness vs. an orchidiness. The orchid floralness that I think of has a floweriness with a bit of cola while this is just flowery and really does put me in mind of lilac.
I am finding that while I enjoy the floral, perfumey teas in a novel way, my strong preference for a daily tea leans towards the more toasted and earthy teas. I am struck that this is much the same as my wine preferences.
Is it just me or does this tea offer a rounder, fuller mouthfeel than the Alishans from Norbu even though the Alishans flavor elements are a little bolder?
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I received my sample today from Richard as well as my order from Norbu. Though I didn't have the time to devote to a gung fu session I was nonetheless eager to try the hairy crab sample. I brewed 3 grams of tea to 8 oz. water. The first two steepings were 3 minutes and the 3rd steeping which I am drinking now went for 4 minutes.
The liquor is a golden yellow almost hayish color. There are some very fine bits floating on the top even after the tea sets for a minute.
The tea is very floral and perfumey. I get a slight tropical note, almost like pineapple, in the middle and then the tea finishes in what seems like it's going to be a dry/tanninness or astringency but it stops before it actually hits my mouth with the dryness.
The first cup was perfect as far as body goes. The tea had a nice round mouthfeel and was not thin as I was expecting. The second cup was almost all that the first was with the slightest let up in the body. This third cup is lighter yet but still enjoyable and not thin. The floral and pineapple notes are still there but a little more of the dryness crept in on the end.
I am likeing this tea better than the Alishans. Even though it is very floral and perfumey it has counterpoints to the floralness that make it more enjoyable to me.
I definitely prefer the roasted oolongs but I have greatly enjoyed tasting the Alishan and this Harry Crab. I look forward to a gung fu session with the remaining 4 grams of my sample next week when I return from my trip.
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this morning, brewed a not very successful batch of the purple bud sheng puerh from norbutea that I've done much better before. I think used too high a leaf to water ratio and ended up with more smoky than fruity flavor.
This evening, some more Pouchong, pleasing as always.
This is one of the samples that you sent me. I enjoyed it. I thought it had a nice balance between the smokey and sweet after the first few sips but definitely, the smoke hit me at first.
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WC, my girlfriend has a Brita that gives off a moldy taste. I think they need to be cleaned faily frequently to avoid mildew building up. The unfortunate thing is that I cleaned her pitcher with hot soapy water and it still gives off that taste. I'm thinking that once that moldiness gets into the plastic you might just want to buy a new set up?
I am drinking Scarlet Robe from Ten Ren. The first few sips were too perfumey for me, especially after drinking pu ehr the past few days, but I have settled into it.
My husband and I are going away for a week so I have to figure out what teas to take with me.
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The past two weeks were incredibly busy and while I tried lots of new teas thanks to my Norbu order and the many samples Wholemeal Crank shared with me, I didn't make any tasting notes other than mental ones.
The frenetic pace caught up with me and I have been nursing a sore throat since Thanksgiving day which was spent in Michigan with my husband's family. My husband and I host Thanksgiving dinner the Saturday after T-day for my family and our friends. Fortunately, the bug stayed at bay enough for us to get through and enjoy both Thanksgiving celebrations.
Since I started fighting this bug last week I have been drinking concoctions of mostly pu ehrs (raw and fermented) steeped with fresh ginger and finished with lemon and honey.
Right now I am drinking Lao Cha Tou, Old Tea Nuggets from Norbu with lemon and honey.
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I am drinking a cup of the Wild White tea from Norbu that Wholemeal Crank included in a generous package of various teas to sample that she shared with me.
This is the first tea I've had that I get what people mean when they refer to "camphor".
My husband and I had a rich meal this evening at the home of some friends and we both ate too much. This tea is acting as a nice digestive.
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I have two kids, 12 and 4 1/2, and they loves them the spaghetti and meatballs. I usually make them a pound of pasta, thinking that I can get another meal out of it, but I often overshoot and have extra pasta that's lightly sauced.
A couple of days ago, I got an idea. I chopped up some homemade pancetta and sliced two garlic cloves. I sauteed the pancetta in a bit of olive oil until it was crispy, added the garlic, threw in a handful of red pepper flakes, got everything aromatic and then added the old spaghetti. Tossed it for a while, adding water toward the end to get up anything that had browned, and ate it with some parmigiano reggiano. It was a fantastic home alone dinner.
What other ideas do you have for leftover pasta in its various states?
You sauteed the lightly sauced pasta like that? I thought we were the only ones. You've nailed my husband's all time favorite use for pasta, fried spaghetti. He sautees leftover sauced pasta (any sauce, any pasta)in with oil, red pepper flakes, and garlic till it's dry and the pasta has soaked up all the sauce, then covers it in handfuls of parmigiano reggiano, and stirs that in till it just begins to brown. He never thought about pancetta...that's genius. I'll have to pass that along.
I do unsauced pasta like that too, I'll just saute it in a pan with other leftover bits and eggs, sometimes making it into something like lo-mein, or maybe a weird Italian stir fry. If it doesn't get heated that way, someone usually warms it up and eats it with butter, garlic, and cheese.
Yep, fried spaghetti, you beat me to it!
I LOVE fried spaghetti.
When I was growing up none of us kids in my family would eat too much spaghetti at Sunday supper at my Grandmother's if we knew we would be at her house the next day as she would take the left-over spaghetti and fry it for us.
The trick to this is the spaghetti must sit overnight in the fridge with the sauce on it so that the pasta absorbs the water from the sauce. That way you can get a good char on the spaghetti when you fry it.
I recall Grandma making it in a cast iron skillet but I use a regular frying pan.
Get the pan hot then add oil to coat the bottom of the pan. As soon as the oil is hot put your left-over spaghetti in the pan, smoosh it down and let it brown/char as much as you like. For me, the more charred the better. I cut what is at that point like a spaghetti pancake into quarters with a spatula so I can flip it a piece at a time.
The best!
Better yet is if you have some sliced, seeded Italian bread, butter two pieces and put the pasta between the two slices for a fried spaghetti sandwich.
Oh geeze, now I am totally craving it!
There is an Italian word for cooking pasta with tomato sauce to the point of scorching. I wish I could remember it. I used to frequent an Italian place that did their linguini with red clam sauce that way.
ETA- Ha! Yesterday I took from the freezer what I thought was a container of chili. After posting this I went to warm it up for lunch only to dicover it is a container of sauce not chili! Woot, woot! What a happy accident. I always label what goes into the freezer but this happened to be unlabled. I am psyched to have fried spaghetti tomorrow!
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Today I tried my sample packet of Norbus 2009 Alishan Fall Oolong.
5g to 8oz, 190F
The first cup seemed to have more green notes than the the winter Alishan. Not to say it is as green as a green tea but more so than the winter and maybe slightly less toasty. It strikes me as slightly less carmelly as well, but still sweet. The perfuminess of this and the winter Alishan remind me of the Oriental Beauty I tried from Ten ren.
The second cup is giving me what I can only think to describe as orchid notes. In the little I have read about various teas (even some that I have tried) I have seen reference to notes of orchid in the taste but I dont know that I really understood that taste until this tea. This second steeping is giving me an incredibly sweet taste of some thing like cola. I keep orchids and I have one that smells distinctly like cola when it blooms and another whose blooms are described as having a chocolaty smell (to me it smells more like cola than chocolate). This tea is like drinking the aroma of those two orchids. That is really wild to me!
It is really cool how long the sweetness of this tea lingers in my mouth.
Is it possible that the fall tea gives off slightly more caffeine than the winter or is it just a difference in how I am perceiving/reacting to it today vs. yesterday?
ETA I don't get the light peachiness from this tea that I got from the second and third cups of the winter Alishan.
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Right now I am drinking Norbu Tea's 2009 Fall Alsihan, one of the 3 packets of Alishan samples Greg kindly sent with my order.
I am eager to get back to tasting more of the pu ehrs I ordered from him.
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Greg from Norbu Tea included three sample packets of his 2009 Alishan Oolongs, Summer, Fall and Winter.
Yesterday I started with the winter.
The first session was 4.5g of tea to about 10oz. water around 190F.
My first two observations were that it is perfumey and a little less robust than what I seem to be inclined to enjoy. The floral perfuminess is not really my thing but it is neat to experience in this tea. This tea gave me a spicy end note that really took me by surprise. At first I was wondering if the spice was remnants on my palate of the pumpkin bread I had had about a half hour earlier but as I continued to drink the first cup I realized that it was indeed from the tea.
The second cup lost that spicy end note but I was stuck by a peachiness to it. Is that something anyone else has picked up on or am I mis-naming this element that I tasted? The tea also gave very lightly roasted, light caramel notes.
As this tea was a little light for my liking I didn't go on to a third steeping rather I started another session with what was left of the sample.
This time I used 5.5g to 8oz water, 190F.
This little tweak in the ration definitely improved things. This is still a thinner tea than what I've been gravitating towards but I think this time I got a better idea of what the body should be like. All of the same tasting notes apply. I did go onto a third steeping and I used water just off the boil as I wash rushing to get out of the house. The higher temp did set off an astringency or tanniness.
ETA- I didn't get the little caffeine bump that I want in a tea for the morning (when I started on this tasting session). Anyone else have thoughts on its caffeine content/effects?
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I'm also looking forward to making a comparison between the spring, summer, and fall Alishan High Mountain Oolongs. Should be a nice chance to educate my palate about the differences between the seasons in the same tea.
I have all three of them too and am looking forward to trying/comparing them and also to reading your tasting notes.
Today I again grooved on the 2006 Feng Hua, Qi Cha from Norbu.
Tonight I am drinking chrysanthemum tea.
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Any chance of some more details in the puerh topic?
Yep! I will in the next few days. Long day today getting ready for a HUGE garage/tag sale. Very tired. Just checked in for a quick post and to see what everyone else was drinking.
BTW, I sampled Ten Ren's Super Fine and First Grade Pouchong. I really liked the First Grade.
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Today I tried 2 of the pu erhs I recently ordered from Norbu tea.
One was strange, strong and smelled like fish (for real). I took the tea to my husband and asked him what he thought it smelled like and he too said "fish". I drank it and while it didn't taste like fish it was a strong, deeply earthy (like bowels of the earth) brew. This was the lao cha tou. I drank two infusions of it.
This afternoon was 2006 Feng Hua, Qi Cha. Love, love, love it.
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I finished my sample today. A little more than 4 grams to 8 oz. water for three minutes again. I got three nice infusions from the leaves.
After focusing on oolongs and drinking the pu erh we're also currently tasting, each time I've had this sencha it has at first struck me as very green and vegetal but after a few sips I happily settle into it and greatly enjoy its sweetness and the vegetal qualities mellow out on the second infusion.
WC's description of this tea's liquor as silky is right on.
Thanks to Kyle for having us sample this tea. This tasting has me eager to do more tasting in the world of senchas.
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This won't likely help you this time of year but something to think about late next summer, early fall.
When ground cherries (aka cape gooseberries) are in season I make a sauce with them that I often use with pork. I don't have a recipe but I put them in a sauce pan with a little water and let them cook until they burst (like cranberries) then I add a little sugar and lemon juice.
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Well, my old favorite, Millender's, is unfortunately long gone. I was on assignment at the hotel right next store to Millender's and that family sure took me under their wing. I spent what little free time I had helping them pick pig on Thursdays (roasting day) and hanging out, bussing tables and helping in the kitchen Friday nights.
Anyways, the other BBQ place I liked is Duke's at 2736 Emanuel Church Rd
West Columbia, SC 29170.
Good pig and good sauces. They make mustard, vinegar and a red sauce. Try them all. Even though red is not traditional SC sauce Duke's is really good. They also serve house made potato chips which is a bonus.
There is a local chain in Columbia called Lizard's Thicket. They make really good fried chicken and have great southern side dishes. Great as in the mac & cheese that they make is good but some of the veggies are canned.
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So, let's talk about aging this pu erh.
What could one expect from aging this particular pu erh? How long is ideal? Sample along the way?
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I spent yesterday drinking this tea from the leaves that I had started on the 9th.
I lost track of how many infusions but I was up to 6.5 minutes and was maybe on my 8th or ninth cup when I finally switched to an evening tea.
I greatly enjoyed this new pu erh and thank Greg from Norbu tea for sharing it with us and Richard for organizing the tasting.
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I spent yesterday with the 2009 Spring Norbu - Lao Mansa Sheng Pu-Erh Tea from the tasting. I used the leaves that I had started the previous day and they took me through the whole of yesterday. I lost track of the number of infusions, maybe 8 or 9, and was up to 6 minutes. I felt like it could have gone even further but I switched to chrysanthemum for the evening and didn't choose to keep the leaves over a second night.
Today I am drinking Ten Ren's, Scarlet Robe Oolong. It is a nice robust cup of tea.
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I am happy when after a nice meal I at least have a few nice teas to choose from. The teas don't need to be loose but I would like at least to have options other than the usual commercial bagged teas.
My first experience with good tea in a restaurant was at Sanford's in Miluakee. I don't recall every detail but I do remember that the teas that they offered were very nice. The tea may have been in bags that they put together or from a local tea shop that put the bags together. The tea was served with a proper pot of hot water. I think my dinner there several years ago was the first time I had chrysanthemum tea.
I was also pleased with the tea service at Alinea though again I can't recall the specifics.
I have taken to carrying my own tea with me. I haven't quite figured out the way to best handle having my own tea in a restaurant. So far, I've just asked for tea and then used my own tea bag. I don't mind paying for the tea. I figure it is polite to do so since I am still using there service. But, I have wondered what I would do if I was at a restaurant that charged 3 -5 dollars for mediocre tea. Do I really want to pay 5 dollars just for their set-up?
Actually, now that I think about it the tea I had at Sanford's was peony not chrysanthemum.
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Tea
in Coffee & Tea
Tonight I was going through the past topics on the Coffee & Tea forum and came across this topic which I find interesting since my own methods of drinking tea have changed since it went from something I drank on occasion to my usual cuppa.
I have always taken black tea with milk and sugar or honey and green teas always with honey. As I started trying new teas and discovered oolongs I was taking those with honey and occasionally milk as well.
It didn't take much time for me to give up the honey, sugar and milk. Now as I'm trying new teas it is hard for me to imagine having them with any adulturations. I'm mainly speaking of greens, oolongs, pu erhs and the likes.
I think if I were to have a cup of black tea I would still want it with milk and honey. Also, if it were summer and I was brewing my green or jasmine teas for iced tea I would still use honey and lime in those.
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The bay leaves I have are organic, came in a plastic box and are from "Jacob's Farm". I probably bought them at Whole Foods.
They have probably been in my freezer for 2 years if not three.
Like I said in an earlier post, they are particularly small, like a quater the size of most bay leaves. I wonder if these small leaves are particular to a specific type of bay.
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Richard mentioned drinking a low-caffeine Houjicha in this thread.
This got me wondering; what are some other low caffeine teas that one might consider for their evening or before bed cuppa.
I occasionally drink chrysanthemum tea at night but I would like to learn more about what teas other than the flower, white or red teas might be good for evening enjoyment.
TIA,
Diane
What Kind of a Cook Are You?
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted · Edited by LuckyGirl (log)
What a fun question and what interesting responses. I have greatly enjoyed reading this thread.
I would call myself an eclectic, intuitive, from scratch cook.
Eclectic because I cook the cuisines of many countries and cultures and intuitive because I rarely follow a recipe. I either cook off the cuff from taste/flavor memory or I look at several recipes for a dish to get a basic idea of what I want and then I go from there without actually following a recipe.
I tend to cook farm to table but am not a slave to the notion. I don't buy commercially raised meats but I do buy veggies and fruit from the market in the winter when things are not available locally. I put up a lot of the bounty from my CSA so I can enjoy a good bit of that throughout the winter but if I want fresh broccoli or oranges I am not going to deprive myself.
I have never been a baker (I'm sure because I can't follow a recipe!)but I have experimented more with baking lately and have been enjoying it.
Wowing my husband or guests isn't my goal but of course I want them to enjoy what I make. I also want them to feel thought of and cared for. Cooking is really my only creative outlet and it is also one of the wayss I express my love and fondness for family and friends.