Richard Kilgore
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Posts posted by Richard Kilgore
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A pot of Puttabong Estate Darjeeling (first flush) came with the dawn this morning.
What teas are you all drinking today?
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Brewed a cup of the Ceylon Vithanakanda Estate, Extra Special from Tea Source to start the morning. Later, more of the Oganic Kagoshima Sencha Saemidori from yuuki-cha.com I have been drinking regularly. And now having a gong fu cha brewing session of a 2005 Shui Xian Oolong that I got a year or two ago from Hou de. It may have improved with age.
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I'm just wondering what Kinsey is mixing with that Dolin, Herradura and WD-40?
And I'm just wondering what he's mixing with that Ryobi.
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Today it has been the Oganic Kagoshima Sencha Saemidori from yuuki-cha and the Sheng Pu-erh Mao Cha from Norbu Tea featured in the current Tea Tasting & Discussion.
So, what's in your tea cup today in your part of the world?
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Yes, always worth paying attention to the last thing eaten or drunk before tasting any tea.
It's amazing how different each of you are experiencing this pu-erh. There are usually some differences, but this time seems more than usual. I am not sure what to make of it, but somewhat different descriptors for the same tastes may be part of it. Any ideas?
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More of the Oganic Kagoshima Sencha Saemidori and the Organic Shizuoka Matcha Iroka. A note on this matcha in the Matcha topic.
Now brewing from a small sample of a Zengh He Bai Mu Dan white tea that came in an order from jingteashop.com last year. A pleasant white tea, and I'll add a note in the White & Yellow Tea topic after a couple of brewing sessions with it.
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An Organic Shizuoka Matcha Iroka was part of my recent order from yuuki-cha.com. Interestingly, it came in a 50 g stand up zip pouch, which is much better than the tins for keeping the air out. This is a usucha (thin matcha) stone ground from Saemidori tea bushes in Shizuoka, Japan.
I have made this a number of times in four different chawan and find it to be very forgiving. Using two rather heaping, sifted (but not weighed) scoops and approximately 2.5 ounces of water, it froths up beautifully...and much faster than the others I have tried. I like it a lot and it is one I would re-order.
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More of the Da Hong Pao that I let sit overnight. Hot 20 sec rinse and have had two more infusions and it's not giving up yet. But I have.
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Another day of the Oganic Kagoshima Sencha Saemidori and the Organic Shizuoka Matcha Iroka.
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I let the Da Hong Pao sit for a while and brewed a two year old shu pu-erh from Yunnan Sourcing. Don't recall the name of it, but it was not just inexpensive; it was a dirt cheap tuo. One dimensional, but smooth. The back to the Wuyi, which continues to give fruit and honey infusions after five steeps, the fruit being more dominant than the roastiness.
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I just succumbed to the hype and bought a purple clay tea pot. My tea still tastes the same
Does anyone else use a purple clay tea pot?I own several Yixing pots (a few of them can be seen here My Tea Service) and I find that it more of a cultural attraction than anything else. The heat properties are supposed to be supperior however it more art in my mind. Will it make you tea taste better today, probably not, but it is said that if you brew ONLY the same type of tea in the pot it will develop a seasoning and character of it's own.
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Mike Petro
While Yixing pots are of cultural significance and they have been made in a wide range of interesting shapes over the centuries, my experience has been that while the shape of the pot has some practical importance related to the shape of the leaf, the clay used has even more impact on the final result. Matching a pot with the type of tea that brews best with it often takes some experimentation.
I do agree, Mike, that with seasoning and use, a Yixing teapot that is used to brew one type of tea will develop a character of its own. In fact, when I first got one older Yixing, I poured hot water in it after a quick rinse, and the hot water tasted of Oolong. Not just a Yixing legend.
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Also today the Oganic Kagoshima Sencha Saemidori and a bowl of the Organic Shizuoka Matcha Iroka from yuuki-cha.com.
Now gong fu cha brewing a very nice Da Hong Pao that I got from The Cultured Cup two or three years ago. Still good. Still very good despite storage in a too large cannister exposing it to more air than would be optimal.
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Started the day with a traditionally roasted TGY that Wholemeal Crank sent me in a tea trade. This is a good grocery store tea in a tall rectangular red tin. Brewed in a Yixing. Nice everyday drinking tea.
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Do you have a fine strainer to help with the dust?
I usually rinse it in the fine mesh infuser that comes with my teapot. I usually use cold water to rinse - should I be using warm?
I use water as hot as I will be brewing in, or close to it. Let the leaves soak in the hot water before pouring it off. For lighter Oolongs it's usually a flash rinse; in other words, pouring almost immediately...sometimes up to 5 seconds. I may go a little longer with high roasted ones.
Letting the leaf float freely in your brewing cup or pot, and then pouring the rinse water through the strainer may help.
If it is terribly dusty, it's probably low quality leaf, but you could also try shaking it in a kitchen strainer to see if you can get rid of some of the dust that way.
Hope that helps. Let us know if anything works...or not.
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Started off very early today with the Vithanakanda Estate, Extra special Ceylon from teasource.com. Then on to the Oganic Kagoshima Sencha Saemidori from yuuki-cha.com that I have been enjoying over the past week.
Now sipping the Lao Ban Zhang Mao Cha Sheng Pu-erh from norbutea.com featured in the current Tea Tasting & Discussion.
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LuckyGirl - please clarify how you are brewing? Filtered water? Are you measuring the water and weight or eyeballing? What type of brewing vessel and its capacity? Are you pre-heating the vessel and cup? How are you rinsing?
It is some times surprising how a seemingly small difference or adjustment can effect the result. Even backing off the temp to 195 and the timing to 5 seconds may make a difference.
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Interesting. I think that if you did the two 20 second rinses you would not feel the need to dilute. May be worth trying.
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This morning it was an Assam - Konghea Estate, Golden Bud, from teasource.com. I like this Assam a lot, but it is apparently sold out at tea Source. I'll call and see if they will be getting more.
Later it was green tea time, with the Organic Kagoshima Sencha Saemidori - even had a decent fourth infusion from it today. Also a bowl of Organic Shizuoka Matcha Iroka, which is showing itself to be a pretty forgiving matcha. Both from yuuki-cha.com.
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That's a beautiful Tokoname, WmC. A very useful size, too.
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Count me a skeptic. Three guys who make taco vending machines and other cool stuff....hmmm. The only thing that appeals to me are the Julia Childs re-runs. Those I would watch.
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The leaves have apparently lost more moisture than when Greg wrote the description on the Norbu Ta site. At this point the leaves will fit in a smaller gaiwan than a 150 ml. I use a 120 and smaller may be possible if they will fit without breaking.
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I think that in these tighter times especially, it makes good commercial sense for the sellers. Maintaining a price point while reducing quantity creates less sales resistance.
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Is that a taiwanese tea, rmillman?
Started the day with the nutty, veggie Kagoshima Sencha Saemidori from yuuki-cha.
Later, in order to prevent any Oolong deficiency, I again brewed the Phoenix Mountain (Dan Cong) from The Cultured Cup. This time with more leaf and longer time, and with fine results. Two good infusions so far, and at least a couple more left in the leaves.
Edit: Oops! This is a 2008 Spring Natural Harvest WuDong Feng Huan Dan Cong from Hou De, not the Phoenix Mountain from The Cultured Cup. I'll do that soon, however.
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Yixing pots are not typically coated in wax or anything else More likely it is a non-Yixing clay treated to look attractive to the buyer. How about separating the waxy ones and seasoning the others.
What Tea Are You Drinking Today? (Part 2)
in Coffee & Tea
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Also had more of the Oganic Kagoshima Sencha Saemidori from yuuki-cha.com today. I'm getting four very good infusions out of it, so I should try for a fifth some time.
Discovered I still had a little of the Spring 2009 Diamond Grade Tie Guan Yin from Norbu Tea. I thought it would be pretty flat by now, but this is nicely aromatic and with good flavor.