Richard Kilgore
-
Posts
6,424 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by Richard Kilgore
-
-
I have not had a problem with the regular knob on the lids of my LCs. But if and when I do, my understanding is that LC will mail one to you for free or you can buy one at places like Sur La Table for about a dollar-US.
I have not done any tests of the alternatives, though I have a Staub and a Nomar(made by Staub) with the basting spikes and think they do well. However, I almost always deal with the issue of moisture retention using a truc I believe I learned from Paula Wolfert, either in a post here or in one of her books: crumple a piece of cooking parchment paper and lay it over the meat and up the sides and over the rim; press the lid down tight. Works great!
-
*************
I really like it, though it's a lot more delicate than the oolongs I've been used to drinking. The color is a pale straw yellow, with almost a shale gray tone. I really like the aroma on this, with lilac, lemongrass, and kaffir lime notes. The color may be having an effect on my nose, but I also think I can detect sweet grassy elements like freshly cut hay. It tastes very smooth and slightly sweet at the end.
*************
Just read that some folks have green tints, which I don't really have. I used tap water here, which I've found produces a better cup than the spring water we get delivered. Can the different water quality can have that effect?
*************
The "pale straw color with almost a shale gray tone" is similar to what I am getting with Britta-filtered tap water for the tea liquor, Chris. We have a discussion topic on water here, but any effect of water on tea liquor color has not come up before now. Perhaps the color of the cup may have any effect. Even white cups can have a fairly wide variation.
What water source and color-tone of cup is everyone else using? Is your tea liquor more like the pale straw color or does it have a green shade?
-
Here's a link to a discussion of the doufeu in slkinsey's eGCI course on cookware.
-
Thanks for the additional ideas. Keep them coming. We are not committed at this point to complex, casual, sous vide, hunting camp or any other style or level of cooking. There are lots of great suggestions here that we can draw from...and perhaps they will be of interest to others with a few ducks, wild or domestic.
-
I'm just finishing the cup now and realize that its lack of off-notes is very striking to me. I've been drinking Tealuxe and Tradition oolongs at work, and there are nearly always elements that leave the taste less smooth. I suppose that this is precisely what one gets for the extra bucks, eh?
Yes, I believe that's part of what you get when you get away from grocery store and other lower quality teas. You also often get a larger number of quality infusions that off-set the higher cost of quality teas.
Perhaps Greg and others can speak in more depth to the question of what distinguishes better from lesser quality TGYs. And what factors cause those rougher taste elements in lower quality teas.
-
Hello-I brewed mine gong fu- style. It tasted very light and crisp. It did not hold up to a second steeping.
That's interesting, Naftal, since I got three infusions yesterday during the day and another later. We must be doing gong fu differently. Can you say more about how you are brewing? Time, temp, leaf-water ratio? Gaiwan or Yixing?
Hello-I guess one would say I used a Gaiwan, though I actually used a small pot for brewing.The second steeping was 3 min. I think a third steeping went longer, but I was not as impressed with the second or third steep. That is what I meant when I said "it didn't hold up", perhaps I should have said that I was not impressed with the results of my resteepings. Or perhaps I should have let steeping #2 go for a longer period of time.
Thanks, that helps to clarify the differences. You are using longer steeping times and mine are much shorter -- your second infusion was 3 minutes and mine was 20 seconds.
Next, what temperature was the water?
Then, how much leaf and how much water in the pot?
Hello-Other TGY info:the water was 175-195 degrees F., leaf to water ratio was approx. 3g leaf to 8 oz water.
Thanks. That helps clarify things further. I would think of this as western style brewing, Naftal. With 3 g to 8 ou I would expect only one or two infusions. You could try 3 g to 4 - 6 ou water, 195 F, for 1'30" for the first infusion and see how that does for you. Then extend the steeping time for additional infusions. (Perhaps 2: 2'30", 3: 4', etc.) Adjust for whatever works for you.
Hello- Thanks for the info. You are probably not going to believe this, but I rechecked and
We did indeed use 4g to 6 oz But, the difference in steeping times did make a big difference.I tend not to pay a lot of attention to numbers.The tea was brewed at Goldfish Tea by the people who work there and I neglected to get the exact numbers,which I have now: 4g to 6 oz.I got my previous numbers from a handout they give patrons. That explains why they were western-style numbers instead of gong fu style numbers like they should have been.I would think of 4 g to 6 ou as western style, just richer. For gongfu I usually start with 2 gr per ounce (about 30 ml) -- and a short first infusion time of about 30 seconds for this tea. Then adjusting the infusion time on additional infusions based on the first one.
I prefer as small a gaiwan as possible if doing gongfu style for just me -- my 50 - 60 ml gaiwan. If for three or four people, I use one of about 120 ml (but I would like one of about 90 - 100 ml).
It would be interesting if the people at Goldfish Tea could take your other 6 gr and brew it with 3 to 4 ounces of water for a much shorter first infusion -- maybe 30 seconds -- and see what happens with that and additional infusions. Perhaps they have a small Yixing pot or gaiwan that would fit this.
-
Using my ingenuiTEA set-up here, I just brewed 5g in 400 ml of 194F water for 4 min. That's my standard first steep. I'll start with my own impressions without having read those of the others and then comment.
I really like it, though it's a lot more delicate than the oolongs I've been used to drinking. The color is a pale straw yellow, with almost a shale gray tone. I really like the aroma on this, with lilac, lemongrass, and kaffir lime notes. The color may be having an effect on my nose, but I also think I can detect sweet grassy elements like freshly cut hay. It tastes very smooth and slightly sweet at the end.
I just read Richard's first post with the notes about production, and the lack of roasting really does have a big effect. That comment about floral notes being retained (and the dried fruit flavors left undeveloped) makes sense to me.
Just read that some folks have green tints, which I don't really have. I used tap water here, which I've found produces a better cup than the spring water we get delivered. Can the different water quality can have that effect?
I'm just finishing the cup now and realize that its lack of off-notes is very striking to me. I've been drinking Tealuxe and Tradition oolongs at work, and there are nearly always elements that leave the taste less smooth. I suppose that this is precisely what one gets for the extra bucks, eh?
Thanks for the comments, Chris. There are a number of isues you have touched on, so I'll try to address them in separate posts. For now let me say that your note on aroma of "lilac, lemongrass, and kaffir lime notes" and "sweet grassy elements like freshly cut hay" may be good examples of aromas and tastes being associations to other tastes that are familiar. Two people are likley to label the same aroma differently depending on past experience. Much like wine in that way. For my part, I would have said lilac or something similarly floral and hay, but have not had a lemomgrass or kaffir lime association to the aroma. But now I'll have to watch (or sniff) for that.
-
Thanks everyone. These are ambitious, delicious sounding ideas and we would be more than pleased to see more.
-
Hello-I brewed mine gong fu- style. It tasted very light and crisp. It did not hold up to a second steeping.
That's interesting, Naftal, since I got three infusions yesterday during the day and another later. We must be doing gong fu differently. Can you say more about how you are brewing? Time, temp, leaf-water ratio? Gaiwan or Yixing?
Hello-I guess one would say I used a Gaiwan, though I actually used a small pot for brewing.The second steeping was 3 min. I think a third steeping went longer, but I was not as impressed with the second or third steep. That is what I meant when I said "it didn't hold up", perhaps I should have said that I was not impressed with the results of my resteepings. Or perhaps I should have let steeping #2 go for a longer period of time.
Thanks, that helps to clarify the differences. You are using longer steeping times and mine are much shorter -- your second infusion was 3 minutes and mine was 20 seconds.
Next, what temperature was the water?
Then, how much leaf and how much water in the pot?
Hello-Other TGY info:the water was 175-195 degrees F., leaf to water ratio was approx. 3g leaf to 8 oz water.
Thanks. That helps clarify things further. I would think of this as western style brewing, Naftal. With 3 g to 8 ou I would expect only one or two infusions. You could try 3 g to 4 - 6 ou water, 195 F, for 1'30" for the first infusion and see how that does for you. Then extend the steeping time for additional infusions. (Perhaps 2: 2'30", 3: 4', etc.) Adjust for whatever works for you.
-
Richard, a friend with ducks is a friend indeed. What species and how big?
Just checked with him. Three Mallards, one Canvassback - all probably not more than two pounds, and one small Widgeon.
-
Today a friend invited me to join him in cooking a duck dinner some time in the next month. He has four or five wild ducks he shot in Illinois this season and we are interested in doing them in three or more different ways.
We're interested in suggestions for various ways to do the ducks, as well as suggestions for appetizers, sides and salads that would go well with each duck dish. Plans are not final, but I think the dinner will be for six to eight people.
I am looking forward to what you all come up with.
Thanks,
Richard
-
Hello-I brewed mine gong fu- style. It tasted very light and crisp. It did not hold up to a second steeping.
That's interesting, Naftal, since I got three infusions yesterday during the day and another later. We must be doing gong fu differently. Can you say more about how you are brewing? Time, temp, leaf-water ratio? Gaiwan or Yixing?
Hello-I guess one would say I used a Gaiwan, though I actually used a small pot for brewing.The second steeping was 3 min. I think a third steeping went longer, but I was not as impressed with the second or third steep. That is what I meant when I said "it didn't hold up", perhaps I should have said that I was not impressed with the results of my resteepings. Or perhaps I should have let steeping #2 go for a longer period of time.
Thanks, that helps to clarify the differences. You are using longer steeping times and mine are much shorter -- your second infusion was 3 minutes and mine was 20 seconds.
Next, what temperature was the water?
Then, how much leaf and how much water in the pot?
-
Hello-I brewed mine gong fu- style. It tasted very light and crisp. It did not hold up to a second steeping.
That's interesting, Naftal, since I got three infusions yesterday during the day and another later. We must be doing gong fu differently. Can you say more about how you are brewing? Time, temp, leaf-water ratio? Gaiwan or Yixing?
-
Is there a way to decide what length of Nakiri to use? There seems to be a bit of a range.
-
Today so far it's a Castleton Estate 2nd Flush Wiry Darjeeling in my cup. From TeaSource. A great Darjeeling. I'll have to get a few shots of the leaf so you can see what this looks like.
-
I had a standard cup of Itoen green tea - my first in about a month. It was perfect and palate-clearing with my bento. It gave me quite the caffeine kick, too.
Is the Ito-en green tea a Sencha, Erin? What is a standard cup?
-
Here are some photos from my gongfu brewing today of this Fall 2008 TGY contributed for the tasting by Society member Greg Glancy of Norbutea.com. I measured 4 grams of leaf into a very small 50 - 60 ml gaiwan. Water at 195 F. 10" rinse, 30" rest, 1: 20", 2:15"; 3:30". This could go for several more infusions. Not great images, but it will show how the whole leaves unfurl from small rolled balls.
The dry rolled TGY leaf.
The wet leaf and tea liquor after the first infusion.
The almost fully infused leaves after the 3rd infusion.
-
I was surprised when you described it as not very floral, Joanne, so I gongfu brewed some and got an interesting result: mine is much less floral than it was even a week ago.
I'll have to do a mea culpa here. I opened the vacuum package and divided up everyone's samples back in early December, but only got them shipped last week. So the tea has had a chance to lose it's fresh-out-of-vacuum-packaging floral intensity.
Green TGY is much like Japanese green tea in its sensitivity to air. That's why the good stuff of both is vacuum packed in country and shipped to the US. It's best drunk within a couple of weeks of opening.
So, my apologies. It's still good, but looks like it has declined from my delay.
Well, that's a mistake I will not make again.
I took a few photos that I'll post later.
-
What teas are you all drinking today?
For me it's a Nilgiri Glendale Estate, Handmade. This is delicious. Love it. From TeaSource.com.
-
Beautiful, Elie! Thanks for sharing this.
Where did the 19th century recipe come from?
-
I'll add another voice to those singing the praises of "ethnic" food markets. I do a lot of my shopping in various Asian and Hispanic markets here and find substantial savings. Produce is usually 40 - 60 % less than the mainline grocery stores. Plus better prices on meat and fish...and often live seafood from fish to crab aand eels. And all those wonderful sauces and produce and rice you can't get in a regular store.
Many years ago when I was headed to graduate school I decided to learn how to cook some basic Chinese dishes. At that time I could live well with a wok, a stock pot, a pan, a cast iron skillet, a cleaver and a paring knife on a food budget of $40 per month, and I assure you I did not suffer. (Okay, it was more than a couple of years ago,
but you get the idea.) Stir-fried wok dishes are great for cleaning out the fridge, and there are many Thai and Vietnamese dishes that are great though inexpensive. -
My bad. I meant to refer to other enameled cast iron on the market, and why Le Creuset is so much more expensive than those other brands? For the same size enameled cast iron dutch oven from a company like Lodge or Tramontina, it'll cost something like $50 when Le Creuset will charge almost $300. With something like All-Clad, at least I can understand where the extra costs are coming in because its cladded all the way up the sides. But, is there something fundamental about Le Creuset that makes it better and thus more expensive? Or, is the extra cost not necessarily related to improved quality? If I bought Le Creuset, is that extra cost only go into subsidizing the out-of-control employee practices in France so some Le Creuset employee can dawdle on hours-long breaks to sip vin?
I'm surprised that nobody has any input on this. I've been very happy with my two Lodge enameled dutch ovens for over a year. I have only limited experience with comparable Le Creuset models that I've used in other kitchens, so I don't feel comfortable making any detailed comparison.
I just checked on Amazon, and a 3 qt Lodge runs around $40 while a 3.5 qt Le Creuset will set you back a whopping $175. That's a huge cost difference for potentially similar items. It would seem important then to identify actual differences between Le Creuset and other manufacturers, especially because so many people on this thread have intimated that they have had to stretch their budgets to acquire these items.
Cost-benefit analyses come up often in this part of the eG forums and are inherently subjective. A Vitamix blender costs much more than department store models but is clearly designed and built to different specifications; likewise a knife made from high-end Japanese steel versus the conventional French/German offerings. Every consumer will have to decide whether the difference in performance justifies the additional cost. In these two examples, we have specific information about what makes a low-cost product different from its high-cost brethren. As far as I know, this is not the case with enameled cast-iron pots. So, what are the tangible differences, if any? Otherwise, the amount saved by going with Lodge over Le Creuset could be put to better uses if it buys one nothing but a name.
The main difference I have noticed between the French Le Creuset and the ones made in China for the US import market as Lodge, Batali, etc. is that the enamel on the Chinese ones appear softer and it nicks and dents more easily...and the iron work appears a little cruder. I have noticed this in examining them in stores, but have not cooked with them. They may not have the life span of the Le Creuset, but they should function similarly.
I have quite a bit of US made Lodge raw cast iron and French made Le Creuset and Staub enameled cast iron and like them all a lot. Others here over the last few years have reported good results with the inexpensive Chinese versions. If I were in the market for Dutch/French Ovens today, I still probably would prefer something French, but would actually buy the inexpensive ones if I could not find a good deal on Amazon, at a Le Creuset factory outlet, TJMaxx, Marshall's, garage/estate sale, or at a Winter sale at Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table.
That said, with fuel costs coming down, there may be some better prices ahead for European products this year.
-
If you want to do something like this, and stick to one coffee, I'd say a good Kenyan, in a pinch, a good Yerg, or Sidamo could do the trick. I went through your links, and made a short list of descriptors and compared them to the typical profile of various regions.
For the blue, well, I have no idea, but the other 4, a big bodied Kenyan should work pretty well with the strong flavours of cheese, a lot of Kenyans will have really bold flavours, lots of spice, berry, and Kenyans can have great acidity. Kenyans tend to be a love or hate coffee - for some, the flavours are just too big, but with cheese, I think it will match nicely.
Best of luck. Now, you just need to find a good one.
Thanks for the interesting and well thought out suggestion. Can you say more about how you matched the cheese descriptors with the coffee region profiles? Were you looking for a contrast, balance or similarity?
Bold flavors do not bother me, but a great deal of acidity can -- in some Ethiopians, for example. But I'll have to try matching a Kenyan with one or more of these cheeses just to see.
-
Thanks, tsure and Beto.
I found some interesting info in Wikepedia, here.
Korean tea refers to various types of tisane that can be served hot or cold. Not necessarily related to "common" tea, they are made from diverse substances including fruits, leaves, roots, and grains used in traditional Korean medicine.The writer dates "the first historical record documenting the offering of tea to an ancestral god" to a rite in the year 661. Toward the end of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), common people joined the practice of royalty and "used tea for ancestral rites, following the Chinese example based on Zhu Xi's text Formalities of Family".
No mention of green teas similar to those of Japan and China, but it is not clear whether the tea ceremonies historically used green teas or some of the tisanes. At any rate the entry focuses on tisanes. And the list of the various tisanes is extensive.
Tasting: Imperial Dian Hong, Chinese Red/Black Tea
in Coffee & Tea
Posted
This is the second tea tasting of 2009 thanks to eGullet Society member Greg Glancy of Norbutea.com. This time we will be tasting and discussing an Imperial Dian Hong -- a Chinese red tea.
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 Monday to those who did not participate in the last tasting of TGY Oolong. Please PM me if you would like to participate in the tasting and discussion.
Here is some background information on Imperial Dian Hong from Norbutea.com. (Copyright Norbutea. Used with permission.)