Richard Kilgore
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Posts posted by Richard Kilgore
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I'll kick this off with some of my wishes.
I would like to try more Japanese teas this year, although I have had a little bit of most types grown there. I have accumulated Matcha tea-things, so a tin of high quality Matcha tops my list. Plus sincha, sencha and gyokuro.
From India, more Nilgiri. I hope there is another Nilgiri handmade out there this year that is as good as last year's. And then a couple of Darjeelings of differing character.
China. I am more interested in Oolongs than any other category, but I'll be watching for what's available in green teas.
While I'll be ordering some from US based suppliers, I'll also order some direct from Japan, India and China. I have ordered from China in the past and it has allowed me to sample teas that I can not source here. It's a long wait with some risk, but an interesting way to explore.
I'll post more specifically as we have a chance to tell what the various harvests have to offer.
How about you all? What are you looking forward to this year?
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Twice in the last week people have mentioned that chocolate and Lapsang Souchong are a great combination -- Kelly at TCC and friends this past weekend. We tried a medium smokey LS with chocolate cake on Sunday and it really works.
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I stopped by The Cultured Cup yesterday and picked up another tea from their new "Cup of Value" line - a Pai Mu Tan white tea. I have been enjoying it today. This is a keeper.
TCC recommends brewing it for 6 minutes at 175 F, which I did. 2 grams in about 6 - 7 ounces of water. I can't not play around with the parameters, so I'll try it various ways the next few times and see what happens.
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One of the best branded Bangladesh is organic Kazi & Kazi sold in Japan for $9/kg, but retailed under a Japanese brand. None but a professional tea taster would be able to pick it out from a set of related high priced Assam estates. What a rum joke! 9 of 10 online tea dealers in the US and Canada are having a fine time making fools of their customers.
Do you by chance know which Japanese brand it's retailed under? I'm curious, and wouldn't mind trying it if I could get my hands on some. If it's not a supermarket brand, my guess would be Lupicia Tea, but their website doesn't show any organic assam teas.
The results of my googling suggest that it may be sold in Japan also as Teatulia, but more likely under another name by an un-named Japanese retailer. It appears that Japan was involved in the Kazi & Kazi project, both financially and in terms of the approach to organic tea production. which makes sense in that Japan does not produce enough lower priced tea for its own consumption and has to import.
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I'm seeing words like "arrogant," "affectation," and "silly" used to describe the practice of wearing a chef's coat in the home kitchen. That, my friends, is "nonsense."
Perhaps it would be an affectation to don an entire chef's uniform, including a tall toque, to prepare dinner for the family. But I think we have established that a chef's coat is above all a practical garment that protects the body and clothes from splatters and stains -- and does a far better job of it than an apron. In this regard, using a chef's coat at home is the same as using any appropriate piece of professional cooking equipment at home: it's smart.
I'm not sure what motivates people to feel uncomfortable wearing a practical kitchen garment at home, and I'm not here to speculate as to motivation. But there's certainly no good reason to feel uncomfortable.
I don't think people's avoidance and discomfort about the idea of wearing a chef's coat at home, despite the fact that they may see them as practical, is "nonesense". It's just what it is. Most members posting in this topic don't wear a chef's coat at home. You don't most of the time.
Perhaps it's because the chef's coat is a symbol of a profession, a uniform, and "home" and "uniform" don't quite go together. There is not just a clothing change, but a symbolic role shift that may go on. Similarly, a fire-retardant race car driver jump-suit and helmet would be a more effective and protective piece of clothing when driving to the office or the grocery store, but most of us would feel a little odd doing it.
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The spring tea harvest season is upon us in tea regions around the world. What teas are you looking forward to drinking this year? Are they your old standbys or are you exploring new ones?
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No chef's coat at home. I would feel mighty silly, though there actually are times it would make sense. I do have a handful of aprons that I don't wear quite as often as would be prudent. Got a spiffy black-with-thin-white-stripe one recently for my birthday. But I seem to avoid wearing it most of the time, too. Shoes - always. Okay, almost always.
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This is the third tea tasting of 2009 thanks to eGullet Society member Greg Glancy of Norbutea.com. This time around we will be tasting and discussing a 2008 shu (ripe) pu-erh, a classic 7572 recipe from Menghai Tea Factory in China. The samples were taken from a 357 gram beeng.
Greg has provided five samples of 10 grams each that I will mail to the five eG Society members participating in this tasting. While the tasting is open to all members who have posted at least five substantive posts in the Coffee and Tea forum, preference will be given until midnight next Tuesday to those who did not participate in either of the two previous tastings of TGY Oolong and Imperial Dian Hong.
Everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion, of course.
So, please PM me if you would like to receive one of the the free samples and participate in the tasting and discussion.
Here is some background information on this Menghai shu pu-ehr from Norbutea.com.
(Copyright Norbutea. Used with permission.)
'7572' is another classic recipe from Menghai, and these cakes are from batch 802, which is the second pressing of this recipe for 2008. See the Terminology section on our About Pu-Erh page for an explanation of these numerical trading codes. It is composed of a blend of grade 7 Pu-Erh that was fermented in 2007, so it has mellowed a bit in flavor and lost some of the 'just fermented' taste. Another 6 months to a year of storage should mellow the flavor of this tea even more and improve the clarity of the steeped liquor. The taste of this blend is a bit lighter and sweeter than the '7262' blend that is also available here. -
I may be interested in trying the organic Kazi & Kazi sold on their Teatulia site. There is little in the way of tasting notes on each of their teas on the site. While I can tell what the Earl of Bengal is designed to resemble, the other black, green, white and herbal are fairly vague. Have you tried any of them? If so, what would you compare them to?
What would you recommend as an "everyday tea"?
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Last night at the monthly T-Bar club meeting at The Cultured Cup I picked up an ounce each of two teas from their new Cup of Value line of about 20 teas they have added in the shop and on-line. They are buying more teas now - both inexpensive ones and the special teas from small producers - from other sources in addition to those they import from MF in France.
These two teas were inexpensive at $2.25 - 2.75 per ounce. This morning I tried the Margret's Hope 2nd Flush Darjeeling and found it to be okay for an everyday tea. Not a Castleton, of course, but satisfactory and about what I pay for a good breakfast blend anyway.
So what teas are y'all drinking this weekend?
Since trying this inexpensive Margaret's Hope Darjeeling the firt time, I have had it two more times, including today. And a Castleton. The Catleton is clearly my preference, and I don't have to do a side-by-side comparison to tell the difference - it's not subtle. But I am prudently dishing out my limited remaining better Darjeelings and Nilgeri until I order again, so the Margaret's Hope is okay to me for an everyday subsitute for a breakfast blend.
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I agree. Tea is one of the world's most affordable luxuries.
Take a quality loose leaf breakfast blend. Costs about $2.25 - $2.50 USD per ounce. That will make about 12 - 15 first infusions. So about 20 cents per first infusion. But most of these will make a very good second infusion...so closer to 10 cents per cup.
Take a high quality Oolong at, say, $12 USD per ounce. Same math, except it will make 5 to 9 infusions brewing western style and 10 - 20 brewd gongfu style. So western style with 5 infusions, that's about 20 cents per cup...with 9 infusions it comes down to about 10 cents per cup.
When you look at the actual costs per cup, even a $300 USD per pound Oolong or Puehr is a bargain compared to Starbucks...and competes fairly well with an inexpensive bottle of wine. Do the math.
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Thanks for pointing out the Bangaladeshi teas. A little web research shows that Kazi & Kazi is sold internationally as Teatulia, is available on-line on the Teatulia site and runs $71.43 - $100 per pound - I think that's in USD - plus shipping.
Are the other, less expensive, teas from Bangaladesh available on-line?
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Last night at the monthly T-Bar club meeting at The Cultured Cup I picked up an ounce each of two teas from their new Cup of Value line of about 20 teas they have added in the shop and on-line. They are buying more teas now - both inexpensive ones and the special teas from small producers - from other sources in addition to those they import from MF in France.
These two teas were inexpensive at $2.25 - 2.75 per ounce. This morning I tried the Margret's Hope 2nd Flush Darjeeling and found it to be okay for an everyday tea. Not a Castleton, of course, but satisfactory and about what I pay for a good breakfast blend anyway.
So what teas are y'all drinking this weekend?
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I think Yajna has it pegged for the types of black teas you are looking for, Jeff.
English and Irish Breakfast Blends (and at TCC what they call an American Blend)
Ceylons
Assams
Keemuns
I typically drink either a breakfast blend or a Ceylon for my first morning cup. Around here PGTips and similar run about $8US for 4 ounces, but you can get a very good blend or Organic Ceylon at TCC for about $9US for 4 ounces. Or a good Ceylon for $7US.
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I can't answer you question about 10ths or 100ths for your application, but wanted to mention a point about these scales. I have one that I use for tea and it works well, but do be aware that they are vulnerable to very slight breezes and vibrations. That may be an issue in your kitchen and may not. Do get one of their vibration damping mats to place it on. For measuring tea, I just don't have equipment running near it and check the display to make sure it's not fluctuating when I am measuring.
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This morning I enjoyed the same Castleton Estate Darjeeling (2nd Flush) from The Cultured Cup that Jeff Meeker wrore about above. This is from the 2007 harvest, if I remember correctly. Great stuff.
This afternoon I started a gongfu session with a hand harvested 2007 Winter Feng Huang Wu Dong Old Bush Dan Cong from Hu De. The package says it is a 35% fermentation with a medium-light roasting.
I brewed this in a 90 - 100 ml Yixing pot using 6 grams of leaf, which filled the pot to the mouth with the dry leaf. Rinse: 10"; 1:20; 2: 15". And it should produce about 9 - 10 more infusions.
This Dan Cong is deliriously delicious, with the classic floral aroma and taste. Worth every penny.
So, what teas are you all drinking this weekend?
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last night, I brewed a cup of some lapsang souchong Richard sent me.
I gotta say, I really like this tea. The smoky smell was great. For me, that's where most of the smoke was. In the smell. Not as much in the taste. But since it was a black tea, it had a really good, full bodied flavor that I like in a tea.
Glad you liked it, Jeff. LS is known as a tea that's good with meat rich meals, so I would be interested in reading about it if you try a LS some time with or after a steak or barbecue dinner.
yeah.. I should give that a try. I am also wondering how well I could use this tea as ingredient in cooking. I have a method that basically braises baby back pork ribs. Wondering if I could do it with some tea as a way to get some smoke flavor in to the ribs without actually using a smoker/BBQ
Check out the Cooking with Tea discussion in the Cooking forum. There are some specific ideas for using LS, as well as lots of other great ideas for cooking with tea.
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Today it was the handmade Nilgeri I very much like and have posted about a number of times. From Tea Source.
So what teas are you all drinking today?
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last night, I brewed a cup of some lapsang souchong Richard sent me.
I gotta say, I really like this tea. The smoky smell was great. For me, that's where most of the smoke was. In the smell. Not as much in the taste. But since it was a black tea, it had a really good, full bodied flavor that I like in a tea.
Glad you liked it, Jeff. LS is known as a tea that's good with meat rich meals, so I would be interested in reading about it if you try a LS some time with or after a steak or barbecue dinner.
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Thanks to baroness, naftal, jpr54_, jsmeeker amd chrisamirault for participating in this tasting of an Imperial Dian Hong red/black tea. And thanks to eGullet Society member Greg Glancy at norbutea.com for providing the tea. Greg has chosen not to post during these tastings, so as not to influence in any way the tasters' responses.
I'll start a topic soon for the next tasting. This time a cooked Puehr. And again, I'll make the 5 free samples from Greg available first to members who posted in Coffee and Tea at least 5 times and have not participated previously in one of these tastings. If you subscribe to the Coffee and Tea forum you will not miss it.
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This topic is not about the fine art and etiquette of formal tea preparation or serving as pouring a pot of freshly brewed tea into a thermos jug would I'm certain constitute a sin, rather just a practical way to lessen the time spent preparing (fiddling) tea to drink throughout the day.
When preparing an amount such as a litre, is there much practical difference in taste and aroma between using a quantity of tea leaves so a single infusion produces the desired amount in the least amount of time and assuming the tea can take a second infusion, using half the amount of leaves, brewing half the desired amount of tea and pouring into thermos, followed by a second infusion producing the remaining half?
Thanks
I agree. Not all tea drinking has to be formal, though much of the pleasure for me is in the "fiddling" and the nuances of aroma and flavor in multiple infusions. If I am drinking a Chinese green tea, for example, I will sometimes drink it the way most people do in China...throw some leaves in the bottom of a cup, add water and drink, adding hot water from time to time during the day.
A thermos is a practical solution, too. Tea holds longer, better in a thermos than coffee does. Some people prefer a glass thermos to stainless because it is easier to clean the tea residue.
As to your last question, it would make a difference with most teas, but may not make enough difference for you since it seems to be practical and cost effective tea drinking you are after. (Then it also depends upon whether you are talking about one infusion at , say, 7 minutes vs one at 3 and one at 5 OR one at 5 vs one at 3 and one at 5...or some other timing.)
Let us know what you try with what teas and how it turns out.
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I think you are on to something, Chris. Changing brewing parameters, even a little bit, can affect the tea dramatically. As can water.
Have you tried using filtered water or quality bottled water? While I have only rarely gone to the expense of bottled, I routinely use a simple, inexpensive Britta jug filter for both tea and coffee. It would be interesting to see what happens with your tea brewing with filtered.
My experience is that taste and aroma may be affected by many other things...what I have eaten or drunk recently, residual soap or toothpaste, congestion due to a cold or allergy. And sometimes it's just an unsolved mystery.
I hope that sometime you will try gongfu style brewing with a Yixing teapot or a gaiwan for this or another good Chinese tea. I brewed this Imperial Dian Hong today in my little gaiwan and have had four very good infusions out of it, with several more to go.
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I agree with all the above. In addition to "fields" and equipment vibrations, some are so senitive that even a light breeze will make them fluctuate.
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This is definitely a case of YMMV. Some of the individual responses to this tea are strikingly interesting.
Chris found that...
....................The aroma is intoxicating, with a woody, rich base and smoky top notes. It's a cross between (idiosyncratic comparison ahead) deep Maine woods and the Russian dry heat saunas at Brooklyn's Sandoony spa.
The flavor is smooth and not at all bitter, a surprise since I'm used to that bitter edge when drinking a tea this black. I have to say that the flavor isn't as intense as the aroma for me; it's got the same elements but is more muted.
It's terrific, no doubt, but I'm not used to a tea that has a bigger nose than tongue. Takes getting used to.
On the other hand, the baroness found that...
I brewed the remaining 7 to 8 grams of tea Western-style today in a BeeHouse pot that holds about 22 ounces; water just at the boil and a 5-minute steeping. So far, I have re-steeped the leaves once with little loss of flavor.Nice rich, reddish brown color; flavor is very smooth and rounded, though not as hearty as the typical Yunnans. I didn't detect much aroma while brewing or sipping. These whole leaves drastically reduce the amount of sediment that makes it through the strainer and into the cup.
Do you two have any ideas about the difference in your comments about the aroma?
What Tea Are You Drinking Today? (Part 1)
in Coffee & Tea
Posted
This morning I got into almost the last of my MF 1854. A lovely tea that I am going to have to forego when the last leaf floats into my brown betty.
So...what's in your cup today?