Richard Kilgore
-
Posts
6,424 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by Richard Kilgore
-
-
This morning it was the Assam Panitola Estate, Whole Leaf from TeaSource.com again.
A couple of iced teas off and on during the day and with meals...a blend I do of two Mariage Frères teas from TheCulturedCup.com for one and a generic decafe bagged grocery store black tea (pick a store, any store) for the other.
And the Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori from o-cha.com , three infusions in a Banko kyusu. A very nice Japanese green tea. I have brewed and enjoyed similar senchas in past years in a mug with infuser, as well as in a western style teapot, but I think the Banko's clay may add something to the final result.
-
Thanks for the detailed report, Yajna Patni. I think the timing suggestions for the tea are 4 - 6 minutes, rather than 8, but given your preferences that may seem a bit weak to you. However, it would explain why you found some astringency and why your second infusion washed out.
I like your multi-tasker cozy...I usually grab a dish towel and wrap up the pot.
-
Only two free samples left.
-
The three free samples are now available to all. Please see the first post and PM me if you are interested.
-
Thanks for the comparison tasting notes and the great photos, baroness. I'll have to put Tea Source's Glendale Estate, FOP on my next order.
-
This afternoon did a gong fu session with a loose pu-erh from Wing Hop Fung that Wholemeal Crank sent me. More on that later in the Pu-erh topic after another brewing.
Also had some Barley Tea iced.
How about you?
-
What are you all doing for iced tea this summer?
For me it's been everything from decafe no name grocery store tea bags to barley tea (mugicha) to to Korean roasted corn tea to Mariage Frères Marco Polo from The Cultured Cup to a fresh 2009 tgy from norbutea.com to Hibiscus tea.
-
Just a reminder, preference will be given until midnight (EDST) tonight to those who did not participate in the last two tastings. If you are interested in a free tea sample, please PM me after reviewing the first post.
-
In my cup this morning - the Nilgiri Glendale Estate Handmade from Tea Source we are discussing in the Tea Tasting Discussion here.
-
Late brewing of "Diamond Grade" Spring Harvest 2009 Tie Guan Yin from Anxi county in Fujian province. From Greg Glancy at Norbutea.com. I think I have posted up-topic about it, but at any rate this is an exquisite TGY, still fresh and aromatic after a week or two of opening the vacuum sealed bag.
-
Today a 2007 Menhai Lao Cha Tou (Old Tea Nuggets), the last of a sample from Norbutea.com.
Iced Mugacha, barley water for iced tea.
How about you all? What kind of tea are you drinking today?
Wholemeal Crank and I are exchanging a few samples of Pu-erh and I'll work through hers over the next week and post more in detail in the Pu-erh topic.
First I tried a mini-tuo cha from Rishi that I was dubious about, having found most minis somewhere in the not-so-good to "eewww!" range. Brewed it gong fu style, the 3 gram shu (ripe or cooked) mini to about 80 - 90 ml of water with a series of 5 - 10 second infusions after two 20 second rinses and a 30 second rest. This is the first mini I have ever liked. I also did a comparison between the effect of the neutral gaiwan and a Yixing that I have now dedicated to shu pu-erh. But more about that later in the pu-erh topic.
-
Today a 2007 Menhai Lao Cha Tou (Old Tea Nuggets), the last of a sample from Norbutea.com.
Iced Mugacha, barley water for iced tea.
How about you all? What kind of tea are you drinking today?
-
Iced Mugicha is excellent! and very cooling. An old English cooling drink is barley water, which is made with unroasted barley, and ayurveda gives cooling properties to barley.
works for me!
It is really interesting, the rather ancient use of barley and other grains to make tea in many cultures around the world. And eG member Tony Bolton mentioned to me that Robinson's Barley Water is the official drink of Wimbeldon.
-
Okay, I'll jump in.
I think the biggest change for me has been exploring Japanese green teas more this year, and brewing them in Japanese kyusu tea pots. I have been drinking some very good sencha and kukicha from The Cultured Cup for several years, brewing them in a western teapot or in a cup with infuser basket, and have just started to explore brewing in kyusus and the diversity of Japanese teas with teas from The Cultured Cup, yuuki-cha.com and o-cha.com.
-
Consider me a traditionalist who prefers to get a good night's sleep. I used a charcoal Brinkman for several years and lost a lot of sleep tending briskets overnight, and have been using a Weber kettle more recently for pulled pork and for grilling. But a Bradley is appealing for the 12 plus hours usually required for smoking a brisket properly. I would be interested in hearing more about the newer digital version. I saw it at Cabella's a year or so ago, but am not sure how much of an advantage it provides.
Just bumping this up to ask if anyone has the digital version of the Bradley and what you think of it.
-
Browsing at the deli meat counter the other day I noticed they have a selection of several capers in bulk. Sampled them. Some in sherry, salted ones and large devina capers that were crunchy delicious. All better than any jarred ones I have had.
Anyone tried these?
-
I think one of the things I like about tea is one of the things I like about other interests of mine. Like cooking and fly fishing, you can approach tea in a basic, simple manner and get a great deal of satisfaction out of it. All three also have enough depth, richness and complexity that you can spend a lifetime expanding your knowledge and skill and not know everything there is to know and not do everything there is to do.
-
Started out the day enjoying an Assam Panitola Estate, Whole Leaf from TeaSource.com. The one baroness mentioned in the recent Assam Tea Tasting Discussion.
This evening had a longish tea session with Greg Glancy at Norbutea.com brewing a couple of shu pu-erhs and an aged Wu Yi Oolong (can't remember the cultivar).
-
The Cultured Cup is providing 10 mg samples for another Tea Tasting Discussion. This time a tea blend they have developed for iced tea. Their Yin Yang blend incudes Japanese green tea, Chinese black tea, orange, pineapple, safflower & strawberries.
The Cultured Cup has provided four samples of 10 grams each, and I will mail three of them to the eG Society members participating in this tasting.
While the tasting is open to all members who have posted at least ten substantive posts in the Coffee and Tea forum, preference will be given until midnight (EDST) Friday, August 14th to those who have not yet participated in any of the last two tastings.
As always, everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate in the discussion.
So, please PM me now for details if you would like to receive one of the the free samples and participate in the tasting and discussion.
As I have mentioned in other topics, I have known Kyle Stewart, co-owner of The Cultured Cup, for some time now, having bought tea from his shop for many years, at least 10 years I believe it is. And for the past three years or so Kyle has been instrumental to my tea education through the T-Bar Club at The Cultured Cup. Kyle attended the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas recently and completed his three years of training with the Speciality Tea Institute to become the first certified tea specialist in Texas. I have had many pleasant times with Kyle and his staff, trading teas and sharing new tea discoveries. More than just a tea merchant I happen to buy tea from, Kyle is a culinary friend as well as a tea friend - the wonderful tea pairings at Sharon Hage's York Street restaurant and a shared interest in Asian food.
-
Only one free sample left. PM me if you are interested.
-
Bill Waddington at Tea Source has contributed an Okayati Estate Darjeeling 1st Flush for this Tea Tasting discussion. He provided 10 gram samples for me and three more eG Society members. Each sample is enough to make about four cups of first infusion tea.
The three free samples are available to members who 1) will do at least two brewing sessions from the sample, 2) will report on their experience and participate in the discussion, and 3) who have previously posted at least ten (10) substantive posts (questions, answers, comments that add to discussions) in the Coffee and Tea forum.
Preference will be given until midnight (EDST) Tuesday August 11, 2009 to those who have not participated in the last two tastings.
As always, everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate in the discussion, whether or not you receive a sample.
So, please PM me now if you would like to receive one of the the free samples and participate in the tasting and discussion.
The three free samples are now available to all members, including those who participated in the last two Tea Tasting Discussions. If you are interested, please review the first post and send me a PM.
-
I am loving the little pot just posted above, and understand that traditionally these are kept one per type of tea.
To what level of detail do most of you try to go with that--
I have enough Yixing pots and other brewing vessels to divide things up quite a bit, but I think the basic divisions for Yixings are one each for shu, young sheng and aged sheng; one for Oolongs ( you could have two - one for lighter and one for darker); one for red teas. While there are all sorts f theories about matching clay and pot shape to a particular category of tea, I have found that it's a matter of trying different teas in a pot to see what one shows the most improvement over brewing it in a gaiwan. The more you brew, the clearer and fuzzier all this gets. Of course, many people would say just get one for pu-erh and one for Oolong and be done with it. And that's not unreasonable either.
would the same teapot for green and white teas be stretching it too far?
what about green/white vs yellow teas?
In general, it's better not to brew green teas in a Yixing, because if you accidentally over-brew the tea will become bitter and that's what will be absorbed into the clay. Better to use a gaiwan or your glass teapot. There are Yixings that are okay with white teas, but not many and I don't know how to identify one that would work; I rely on tea pot merchants I trust for that kind of advice. For all three I would stick to a gaiwan or a glass pot.
and should the light Taiwain oolong we just tasted be ok in the same pot as some basic anxi ti kuan yin?
I think so. I had been thinking about trying it in a Yixing that I have dedicated to greener TGYs.
green tea with green tea with jasmine?
Again - gaiwan or glass pot. I suspect the jasmine will cling to any clay.
Just curious.
And then, how do you keep track of which pot is which?
I can easily see keeping track of 'plain pot with dots on the spout' is for oolong, 'decorated pot with dragon on side' is for pu-erh, but beyond that, they might need to be labelled or a photo key posted inside a cabinet to keep track of them.
A photo posted is a clever idea. I may do that, but so far I have placed a little card next to each pot. This really has been helpful only for those I don't use regularly. And things can get confusing anyway, because I continue to try new teas on old pots to see if there is a better match. In fact, I found a better match for Dan Congs just the other day, in the form of a Yixing that I had been using for sheng pu-erh.
I also wanted to mention that you did well selecting a simple shape Yixing. The fancier ones are interesting but typically made of the lower grade Yixing clays. The complex designs are more likely to break by the time they come out of the kiln and potters do not want to sacrifice the scarce quality clays that are valued for tea making. The fancy designs are usually meant for display, although any number of tea merchants sell them anyway.
-
Afternoon brewing of a Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori, a fukamushi (deep-steamed) sencha from o-cha.com in Japan. Ran through multiple infusions twice in order to learn how to brew and pour out of my new kyusu, which has a ball-shaped ceramic filter, without clogging it. I'll post more about this later in the Japanese Green Tea topic after a little more experience with the tea and the pot.
Later an aged ripe tea of Menghai, a 2000 Longhe Tea Factory pu-erh, a sample in my last order from Yunnan Sourcing. Gong fu style in a Yixing tea pot. I am enjoying exploring these older ripe pu-erh teas. Also more later - in the Pu-erh topic.
So, what teas are you all drinking in your part of the world?
-
Wow! You guys are really hard on yourselves. Remember gong fu means "with skill". Would you expect yourself to do kung fu fighting, or say, skillful grilling and smoking, or pastry and baking without doing it a lot and frequently and experimenting with the various parameters involved, including those that are most commonly used by those who have been doing it for many years? But with all those skills you can do something pleasurable at the beginning, too.
It's not for everyone, of course. Nothing is. Fortunately, everyone can choose their own culinary obsession.
**************
The way these fancy teas are brewed requires a fair amount of work as well as a fair amount of equipment. Take a look at Richard's topic Show Us Your Teaware, and you'll see what I mean.
**************
Errm...that topic was a place for people to simply show their teapots and other tea-things, since for some people who are interested in tea, the various teaware from around the world is just as much an interest...not as a demonstration of what is necessary to drink a cup of tea. (Doesn't andiesenji have some cool stuff?)
Actually, you can partly blame Paula Wolfert for this tea-thing accumulation of mine. A few years ago here in the forums she got me interested in cooking in unglazed clay pots. I have always liked ceramics, so decided that I would only buy functional ceramics. In other words, cookware and tableware. So, here I am.
As far as my coffee ware goes, trust me, I'm obsessive - as can be seen in this topic started by Mr. Kinsey. Teaware - not so much. I have 2 of those little cute pots and they each hold about a cup of water when full - or, in tea terms, 250ml.
Your two clay pots are two more than 99.999% of the US population has. So you too qualify as a tea fanatic.
To brew a great cup of coffee, I can put water on to boil, get my whole coffee rig set up, weigh out and grind my beans, and have a great 6 -8 oz. cuppa coffee in under 5 minutes 99.9% of the time. If I've preheated Silvia, I can have a great espresso 90% of the time in a minute. Of course, in both cases, excellent fresh coffee is of the utmost importance.
But tea? What a pain. Constantly reheating the water (or heating fresh water even), taking it's temperature, timing things, swirling stuff - and all for like a 2 oz. sip of tea? That a lot of times doesn't even come out great.
Let's see, my cup of black tea most mornings takes about 5 minutes for the first cup, and another 6 if I have a second infusion, as I usually do. Delicious. But I find a few gong fu sessions getting to know a fine tea to be much more interesting. It's not much good though if you are in a rush. That's what coffee and teabags or tea leaves in an infuser insert in a cup, or Chinese green tea leaves thrown in a glass or large cup "grandpa style", or a jug of iced tea in the fridge is for.
Additionally, it's about 1,000,000 degrees here the last couple of days (so I may be a little cranky) and who wants to spend the afternoon brewing shots of hot tea? I know, I know, people in hot countries drink tea because it cools them off. All over the world, they're drinking hot tea to cool off.
Me, I just want air conditioning and an iced coffee. Shaken, frothy and so refreshing.
Or a great iced tea.
Am I the only one?
Be grateful. It's always a million degrees here in the summer...until the middle of October. Iced barley tea in the fridge. Decafe Black tea in the fridge.
While we're engaging in tea blasphemy, some personal observations:1. I never boil the water, or take its temperature when I'm brewing greens and oolongs... I just use the espresso machine to shoot hot water out of its steam wand. I don't flip the steam switch for particularly green teas, and I do flip the steam switch for teas that need water a little hotter.
Whatever works for you.
2. I have never accomplished the very short infusion gong-fu style of brewing in a fashion that makes me think it is worth the bother. I brew in a hybrid style. I use yixing pots. I use probably 3g/150ml. It swells up and fills 2/3 of the pot nicely after a few infusions. And I infuse for a minute or two. That keeps good leaves giving for 5 or more infusions...
That's a good way to do it. Did that for several years, too. Started learning to do gong fu style brewing a year ago and just no longer find it interesting when I can do a gong fu session. Though I have one larger (380 ml), older Yixing pot that makes great tea using about a 1 gr leaf to 1 ounce water ratio.
3. If they're not done giving, I'll leave the leaves in the pot overnight. It seems that they keep oxidizing, as they tend to brew darker the next day. Maybe this will kill me someday when deadly mold/bacteria/boogeymen take hold in my teapot. Hasn't done so yet.
Brave soul. I have done it but can't recommend it. Food safety issue, not a blasphemy issue. I think the two-hour rule for food is a reasonable one to use. A hot rinse will put the leaves back in action. I have been keeping them for a few days in the fridge, however, with good results.
4. Dragon Phoenix Pearl jasmine tea makes some damn fine iced tea.
You have a very low threshold for tea blasphemy.
5. Pouchongs and lightly oxidized oolongs make a great adjunct to brewing Belgian style wheat beers.
May the tea gods forgive me my apostacy and spare me the lakes of Lipton that such blasphemy is punished by.
Tea Tasting: Yin Yang blend for Iced Tea
in Coffee & Tea
Posted
The free tea samples for this Tea Tasting Discussion go to ---
* weinoo
* lperry
* baroness
However, everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate in the discussion, as always.