Richard Kilgore

Only one sample left. Please PM me after reading the first post if you would like one. Brew, sip, discuss.

That's a lot of questions packed into a few lines. Here's a condensed version of my experience with some of these. Glass holds heat the least well, followed by stainless steel. Various clay, ceramic, porcelain, China materials hold heat better, with a range of heat holding capacity among them. Many think the English Brown Betty design using the original clay brews the best black tea due to both the shape that allows the leaf to swirl aound in the pot and to the heat holding quality of the clay. I currently brew in Chinese Yixing clay pots, Chinese porcelain gaiwans, ceramic cups, a Pulyviet French porcelain teapot and a Brown Betty. All of them brew tea well. It's a matter of matching the tea leaf and the number of people you are serving to the pot. No experience brewing in cast iron, but I don't think it's high heat holding capacity is altogether a positive, especially when it comes to delicate green and white teas. The only experience I have with brewing in glass is drinking tea brewed in a Mono pot at The Cultured Cup. An extraordinarily fine brewing vessel, which goes to show that there is more to teapot design than the materials alone. A one cup teapot is really not tiny. A 50 - 60 ml gaiwan or Yixing teapot is tiny. My various brewing vessels run from that size on up to 330 ml Yixing pots, to one to 6 cup English and European pots, to 10 ounce cup with infuser. Do I need all those to make a cup of tea or two? Of course not. Did I feel like I got along just fine for many years with one teapot and a cup infuser? Absolutely! Do I make a significantly bettter cup of tea by matching the tea leaf to the brewing vessel? I very much hope so.... Brew, sip, discuss.

Two samples left. Please PM me after reading the first post if you would like one. Brew, sip, discuss.

(In the interests of full disclosure, I should note that I have known Greg for two or three years. I originally met him at a presentation he did for The Cultured Cup's T-Bar Club of his travels in the tea regions of China, including Tibet. I have no financial interest in Norbutea.com.) ← There are three samples left. Please PM me if you would like one. Brew, sip, discuss.

Jingteashop.com carries several red (black) teas that I have not seen anywhere else. A few were in my last order, so I'll report on them as I work my way through.

In addition to what general type of material and size of pot fits a particular tea need, my interest in the history of tea and the cultures that developed around it inform my selection of teapots. So, it's Chinese porcelain gaiwans and Yixing Zisha clay pots for Chinese Oolongs, Pu-erh, green and red teas; English Brown Bettys for Black teas from India and Ceylon; Japanese Tea Bowls for Matcha and next year I'll get a Japanese kyuusu for Sencha. I'm not rigid about that, just a preference. After all, I do brew frequently in mugs, too.

What are you guys drinking today? For me it's a Japanese Kukicha green tea. Full of tea twigs and stems and roasted, so an interesting contrast with sencha. I got this from TCC a couple of months ago and am sure it's 2008 Fall harvest. Brewed Western style.

To clarify: the samples are 10 grams each, enough for two gongfu sessions, or about four Western style 6 - 8 ounce first infusions. I have tried this gongfu style, as I reported in the "What tea are you drinking today" topic last week. Either method will produce multiple infusions. PM me after reading the original post if you want to join the tasting. Should be interesting.

eG Society member Greg Glancy, who is the owner of Norbutea.com has contributed samples of tea for three tea tastings here on the eG Forum's Coffee & Tea Forum. This first tasting will feature a Chinese Oolong - a Fall Harvest 2008 Tie Guan Yin from Anxi county in Fujian province. Greg sent me five samples of this tea, which will go to the first five members who PM me and who 1) have been a member of the eG Society for at least 30 days, 2) have 5 or more substantive posts in the Coffee & Tea forum, and 3) agree to contribute to the discussion. Please PM me with a mailing address and I will send the samples out this week. Here's some interesting information on this Tie Guan Yin from the Norbutea.com website (used with permission). (In the interests of full disclosure, I should note that I have known Greg for two or three years. I originally met him at a presentation he did for The Cultured Cup's T-Bar Club of his travels in the tea regions of China, including Tibet. I have no financial interest in Norbutea.com.) [Edit: criteria changed to five or more substantive posts.]

Teavana has a large selection of tea pots. The cast iron ones have become very popular in recent years, but are not that good for brewing tea, especially the Japanese green teas people most often think of when they think of the cast iron pots. It's mostly a marketing triumph over practicality. These were, for at least a few hundred years, not made as tea pots but as water kettles. As I understand it, they figured out there might a larger market if they coated the interiors with enamel and sold them as tea pots. Great water kettles (uncoated) - and one is on my wish list - but not so much as a tea pot since they hold too much heat too long - a killer for green teas. Teavana does carry some interesting tea cups and other teapots, though I was not particularly taken with their few Yixing pots. As far as their tea goes, if you like it, that's what counts. As far as there not being a number of tea shops like The Cultured Cup in the Dallas area, there aren't a lot in the country. There are a handful of great teashops in the US, and a handful of on-line quality tea purveyors, and TCC was one of the first to bring quality teas into the US many years ago. It's a major effort to source teas from around the world, develope creative ways to market locally, maintain a retail operation with quality service, and run a web retail operation on top of that. Teavana is a very different operation, a chain that puts an emphasis on selling pots and accessories and has a comparatively small selection of teas. As I recall, about a dozen in the store vs 70 - 100 at The Cultured Cup and many other serious tea shops and on-line vendors. Not that there aren't a few vendors with a small stable of high quality offerings. (While Teavana does have a larger number of teas on-line, it appears that the vast majority of them are flavored teas.) Fewer choices can be comforting to many people vs the complexity and multitude of fine teas potentially available. Kind of like a fast food place with six major menu items vs a restaurant with many more. It's another option for people. I think of the teas at places like Teavana and CM as "gateway teas" -- the first teas that many people have had beyond grocery store tea bags. Many people stop there and are more than satisfied. Some go beyond to exploring the huge, wonderfully complex, delicious array of fine teas available from shops and vendors in the US and beyond. Very much like people and wine...except that tea is far, far, far less expensive to explore, with a very few excpetions, mostly in the world of aged Puer tea.

Yes, light blockage is important, but I would not worry about it too much with your flavored black tea. just roll it down as tight as you can. You could put it in a cupboard or a closet if you feel the need, or put it in a large canning jar, but you'll probably use it up sooner rather than later. You'll beat the light to it. You are right, it is hard to judge the size. I should have posed them with a nickle or some such for comparison. As i noted, they range from 2 - 6 ounce. Actually the largest one would hold about 8 ounces of your black tea. The smallest will hold 2 ounces of your black tea or about 1 1/2 ounce of larger full leafed teas such as many Oolongs (but it would hold 2 ounces of the Oolong you bought at TCC since it is tightly rolled). It's just not much to worry about. If you do order some from Birdpick, they ship them from California pretty quickly.

For the most part, we want tea containers to keep out the air. For pu-erh that's not as important and is a more complicated issue, as Mike Petro explains in some of his posts in this and other topics. If it's a matter of the convenience of scooping out of a tin vs a bag, there are inexpensive options. The smallest of the double-lidded containers I show upthread should suffice. They are inexpensive: go to birdpick.com for inexpensive double-lidden tea containers. Even though these are designed to hold up to 100m mg thery should be fine. After all, you are mostly drinking very durable black teas. And as andiesenjie has pointed out, they survived the long sail voyages from China to England.

Your small one ounce samples of black teas will do fine in the opaque zip bags. They will do as well or better than the Teavana tins. Just keep any flavored teas separated from the regular teas. Tea leaves will absorb stong aromas relatively easily, so that goes for herbs and spices, too. Once you get beyond the black teas, you may want another tin. Japanese and Chinese green teas are much more sensitive. If you are going to use them within 2 - 4 weeks, however, an opaque zip bag should be okay. For now, I think you'll be fine, and for the time you really need something else -- or just want it -- there are many ideas about, and for, tea storage in this topic upthread.

I am not familiar with "nana leaves-peppermint". What is that, Lior?

I think you have found most of the tea sources in Dallas, Jeff. Do not know about Ft. Worth. There are no "Asian tea shops" as such. And 99.9999% of teas sold in Asian markets are not what you are looking for, though they do have a few ingredients you could use to make your own herbal teas. I have been in Teavana two or three times, but have never bought any of their teas. I think, but am not sure, the minimum is 4 ounces and it is rare for me to buy more than one or two ounces of any tea. I did get one of their Japanese storage containers despite them costing a little more than less-expensive-just-as-good-or-better double-lidded Chinese tea cannisters you can get elsewhere. Just because of a design I liked, even though most Japanese green teas would probably do better in something else. Asian (ie. Chinese and Japanese) teas are found at The Cultured Cup, Central Market and Teavana. Whole foods has a very small selection of bulk teas. The British Emporium in Grapevine has a variety of bagged and loose leaf British teas similar to, and including, the Twinnings you have tried.

Today it's a red tea from China: Anhui Gift Grade Keemaun Gongfu from jingteashop.com. I am brewing it gongfu style: 5 g in a 120 ml gaiwan and have had 4 good infusions so far. A very nice Keemun. Anyone else drinking tea today?

Jeff, we may be able to help with this if you can tell us exactly how many ou/ml of water you are using at what temp for how many minutes. All those factors make a significant difference. Also are you using a regular teaspoon or a measuring teaspoon? If you have a scale that will measure to a tenth of a gram that would help, but is not necessary. ← I am using a measuring spoon. I just dip into the bag (I need some small tins or something to transfer the tea to) and measure out like I would any dried herb or spice. I used one measured out teaspoon each time. I didn't measure the water when I made it. I simply filled the mug, thinking it was pretty much 1 cup ( 8 ounces) But just now, I went and measured what the mug held. About 9 ounces. So, I guess I did 1 teaspoon to 9 ounces. Probably not exactly an optimum ratio. I do have a scale, but it won't weigh in down to the gram, let alone a tenth. I didn't temp the water (though I do have quick read thermometers). It was at a good rolling boil. The kettle was really whistling away when I took it off heat. I DID brew directly in a mug. So, there was no lid. I did pre-heat the mug. I do have something to add about the Ceylon Sultane. I enjoyed it more as it cooled slightly. I think when it was really really hot, I could only take tiny sips. But when I could drink larger amounts, I was able to get more of it onto my tongue. I know cold kills taste buds, but it seems really really hot does as well. ← Yes, you are on to something important. Most teas will taste better if you let them cool a bit, and some change their flavor profile in interesting ways as the temp slowly comes down. Here are some suggestions. 1) Using your measuring teaspoon is fine. The Cultured Cup website says to use 1 1/2 tsp per 6 - 8 ounces of water for the French Breakfast Tea, so you could try 2 1/2 tsp of leaf for your 9 ounces...or since you are experimenting, brew less and go for 1 1/2 tsp for 6 ounces. 2) I use my instant read thermometer for tea all the time. Try it at 212F and also at 208F and see if you prefer one over the other. If you have boiled water for one cup, get fresh water for the second, otherwise the tea is likley to taste flat. 3) The Cultured Cup website has a helpful chart on it explaining the different grades of black tea from India and Ceylon that may interest you. You will be able to interpret better the grading code for each of these two teas you have. 4) Not having a lid for the brewing cup, you coud simply place a small plate or saucer on top...anything to hold the heat. 5) Use your kitchen timer. Start with a first infusion of 3 minutes, second infusion of 4 minutes. See how you like it that way. If you think it needs longer, then start the first infusion at 4 or 5 minutes. Just experiment.

Jeff, we may be able to help with this if you can tell us exactly how many ou/ml of water you are using at what temp for how many minutes. All those factors make a significant difference. Also are you using a regular teaspoon or a measuring teaspoon? If you have a scale that will measure to a tenth of a gram that would help, but is not necessary.

What have you been drinking today? For me it's a 2004 Spring Wuyi Yen Cha Shui Xian that I ordered from Hou De for a good, inexpensive everyday tea. I think I may have gotten the last of it, because their site says "Sold Out", but they have a 2007 that's a little more expensive and I have not tried it. I have done it Western style a few days ago and didn't get it quite right. I'll have to try that again. Today I brewed it gongfu style in a 120 ml gaiwan with 5 g leaf. 13 sec rinse, 30 sec est, then infusions - 1:20", 2:20", 3:30". More left to go. Of the three, I liked the second best and the third better than the first. May be better with a shorter first infusion of 10 sec.

I was able to continue brewing this the next day after leaving it on the counter overnight and have had a total of 9 infusions. It still has a few more to go, but I am going to stop at this point. I need to try it Western style and see how it does.

I roast outside and it is impossible to get the roaster hot enough in cold weather. Once it gets into the mid-upper 60s, it works well. T least that has been my experience so far.

This week it's been a Brazilian from Sweet Maria's. Good stuff. Now that the weather is cooling off, roasting is going to be more of a challenge and I'll have to buy more locally roasted beans.

Grapevine - Friends suggest Cafe Italia on NW Hwy for a very pleasant cut-above red sauce place with BYOB. I have not been there, but have eaten with them at a little more casual place with BYOB, Amore - also on NW Hwy, near Park. Cheap and good.

Anyone have experience with other web retailers or shops that have a particularly good selection of black teas from India and Ceylon or red teas from China?

This afternoon it's a fresh Chinese Tie Guan Yin Oolong - Fall Harvest 2008, from Anxi County, Fujian - a free sample that Greg Glancy sent me to try. I am brewing it gongfu style in a gaiwan and am on the second of two 30 second infusions. It clearly has several more to go. Very clear yellow-green liquor. The first had a slight, very pleasant vegetal taste and aroma with a hint of sweetness. The second is less vegetal, thicker mouthfeel, buttery, lingering aftertaste. Wonderful!