What Tea Are You Drinking Today? (Part 1)

[Richard Kilgore]

It's unusual for me to drink a Dan Cong and a Da Hong Pao on the same day, but I am experimenting with a new Yixing teapot to see what type of tea works best with it. The Dan Cong was okay, but the Wuyi Seasonal Da Hong Pao from jingteashop.com is working better. (This is the 2008; I have not tried the 2009 yet.) This DHP is inexpensive, but not the flat shadow of a DHP that comes with some lower-priced DHPs. More on this later in the Oolong topic and the Yixing topic.

So what are you all drinking today?

[Richard Kilgore]

This morning I am enjoying the Assam Panitola Estate, Whole Leaf from TeaSource.com that baroness mentioned in the recent Tea Tasting Discussion on another Assam from Tea Source.

So, what teas are you all drinking in your part of the world?

[Richard Kilgore]

This evening it's an Aged Late 1990's Tie Guan Yin Oolong from Norbutea.com, brewed gong fu style. I have brewed it before in a gaiwan, but I think it's noticeably better in this Yixing I am trying out on several teas in order to decide what to dedicate it to. Could be I am just brewing it a little better with experience. At any rate, a very nice tea. I'll post more on this tea in the Oolong topic after getting to know it a little better.

[Beebs]

With the heatwave here in Vancouver, it's iced tea for me. Tonight I will be making iced lapsang souchong, with lemon & a bit of sugar. Sounds bizarre, but it's astonishingly tasty!

[Richard Kilgore]

With the heatwave here in Vancouver, it's iced tea for me.  Tonight I will be making iced lapsang souchong, with lemon & a bit of sugar.  Sounds bizarre, but it's astonishingly tasty!

←

Thanks for the tip, Beebs. I have two iced teas in the frig, but I'll try your iced LS today.

Started the day with a Makaibari 2nd flush Darjeeling. Like it.

So what teas are you all drinking in your part of the world today?

[Richard Kilgore]

I am doing a session with the 2009 Norbu Lao Mansa Sheng Pu-erh from Norbutea.com. Wow! I don't really care to drink most young sheng, except to try to get some sense of what it may be like when it has aged. But this is delicious. More on this later in the Pu-erh topic.

So what's in your tea cup, or glass, or yunomi today?

[Yajna Patni]

Lapsang Souchong with milk. Strong and hot. Probably wrong for the hot steamy weather we are having here, but it works for me!

[Richard Kilgore]

With the heatwave here in Vancouver, it's iced tea for me.  Tonight I will be making iced lapsang souchong, with lemon & a bit of sugar.  Sounds bizarre, but it's astonishingly tasty!

←

Lapsang Souchong with milk. Strong and hot. Probably wrong for the hot steamy weather we are having here, but it works for me!

←

Lots of Lapsang Souchong going on today! But I did not get around to it.

Instead I ended up spending time again with the Organic Sencha from Kuuki-cha I mentioned up-topic. More in the Japanesee Green Tea topic.

[Yajna Patni]

More Lapsang for me. Not a really good one. I got it in a local tea store, and it is very mild/tasteless. My guess is it had sat there for years and gone stale. Very frustrating as it was a splurge for me.

It still hits the spot in the morning though.

I am interested in the idea of it iced.... I have a hard time with iced tea. Iced lapsang is an interesting concept.

[Richard Kilgore]

I am on the LS band wagon today, with a Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong from jingteashop.com. This is an elegant Lapsang Souchong, and I'll post more on it later in the Black/Red Tea topic after I have gotten to know it a little better.

So, what's in your tea cup/glass/thermos/mug today?

[Richard Kilgore]

Today so far it's the Assam Sree Sibari Estate from Tea Source that was featured in a recent Tea Tasting Discussion. What a wonderful Assam it is!

So, what teas are you drinking in your part of the world?

[Richard Kilgore]

Today so far it's the Assam Sree Sibari Estate from Tea Source that was featured in a recent Tea Tasting Discussion. What a wonderful Assam it is!

So, what teas are you drinking in your part of the world?

←

I have opened a bag of early harvest 2009 Huang Jin Gui oolong - Anxi county, Fujian Province from Norbutea.com. Very much similar to TGY, and also known as Royal Golden Turtle and Golden Osmanthus. I am two infusions into it gong fu style and like it. I'll post more in the Oolong topic after I have brewed it a few times.

[Richard Kilgore]

Late night and it's the Houjicha Select from The Cultured Cup featured in a recent Tea Tasting Discussion. It's very low caffeine, easy to brew and tasty - this is competing with my tisanes for evenings.

[Richard Kilgore]

Today so far it's an Anxi Ba Xian (2008) from jingteashop.com, brewed gongfu style in a gaiwan. A good, tasty everyday tea that I got last year, but it's no longer on their site.

So what teas are you drinking today?

[Richard Kilgore]

First today it was Mariage Freres Nil Rouge, a robois based tisane from The Cultured Cup.

Then I dipped into a very good young Pu-erh sample from Yunnan Sourcing: a 2008 Hai Lang Hao, Lao Ban Zhang & Man'E cake. This cake has a future.

[Richard Kilgore]

First today it was Mariage Freres Nil Rouge, a robois based tisane from The Cultured Cup.

Then I dipped into a very good young Pu-erh sample from Yunnan Sourcing: a 2008 Hai Lang Hao, Lao Ban Zhang & Man'E cake. This cake has a future.

←

I continued bewing this pu-erh after storing it in the fridge overnight. I lost count, but at least 10 infusions in all so far and it's still going.

But first thing this morning I pulled out a Lapsong Souchong that I got from Ten Ren last year. It is a beast compare to the elegant one I mentioned up-topic from jingteashop.com. And it's the worst one I have had, so I'm throwing away or giving away the bag.

[Yajna Patni]

I had a bag of Ten Ren Lapsang. I loved it! it made my whole kitchen smell of smoke. I used to mix it with other tea a bit though.

It was definitively not an elegant tea. I think strident is a word i feel would describe it. Strident, and perhaps aggressive.

I must say i enjoyed it though.

[Richard Kilgore]

I had a bag of Ten Ren Lapsang. I loved it!  it made my whole kitchen smell of smoke. I used to mix it with other tea a bit though.

It was definitively not an elegant tea. I think strident is a word i feel would describe it. Strident, and perhaps aggressive.

I must say i enjoyed it though.

←

Yes, "aggressive" is the word for it. Perhaps I'll try blending it with something else. But maybe not. Thanks for the tip anyway.

[Richard Kilgore]

I have been drinking "old" not "aged" teas today. Started off with a tisane - a hibiscus tea made from a bag of hibiscus I have had for maybe five years. Still great.

Then in an effort to use up the remnants of last year's good Kukicha from TCC before dipping any more into the new Kukicha Fuka, I brewed several infusions. Still tasty, though way past its prime. On to the new.

While organizing my teas yesterday, I found a small sample from Hou de I had forgotten about. Also past its prime, but still worth brewing: a 2007 Spring FengHuang Lin-Tou DanCong "Mi Lan".

So, what teas have you all been drinking in your part of the world?

[Richard Kilgore]

Today so far, it's been the delicious Kukicha Fukamushi from The Cultured Cup and my first attempt at Korean Roasted Corn Tea. The Kukicha brewed in a new kyusu from Yuuki-cha.com made by Tachi Masaki.

What's in your tea cup/mug/yunomi/glass today?

[Richard Kilgore]

And now a late night TGY that Greg Glancy gave me a few weeks ago when we were tasting  and trading teas. This is a Fall Harvest 2007 that he had retired because he wants to offer only the freshest TGYs on norbutea.com. He gave most of his remaining stock of it to a charity.

The amazing thing about drinking this TGY is how well the original vacuum packaging works to keep the tea fresh. I opened it, breaking the vacuum seal, about two weeks ago. I would not have any problem ordering an older light TGY like this that, as far as I can tell, has all the aroma and taste it did in 2007. So if you find something similar and it has been vacuum packed, give it a try.

←

Today I pulled out this TGY again and brewed it gongfu style in a small (about 110 ml) dragon egg shape Yixing pot that I have dedicated to TGYs. Still good, but my taste memory is not so good I could say it has or has not faded a smidgeon in the last two months. I enjoyed the second and third infusions better than the first, so I may not have rinsed it quite long enough (only 7-8 seconds); perhaps 20 seconds next time. More infusions left in the leaf.

So, what teas are you all drinking today?

[Richard Kilgore]

What teas are you all drinking today?

I started the day with a a Darjeeling, the Castleton Estate 2nd Flush Wiry from Teasource. I am fairly sure this is from the 2008 harvest. A favorite of mine.

[Richard Kilgore]

Again it's the Kukicha Fukamushi from The Cultured Cup we had recently in a Tea Tasting Discussion. And brewed again in the new Banko kyusu from Yuuki-cha.com, which I think is beginning to enhance the flavor a little. Interesting, to me at least.

[Richard Kilgore]

Most of today I have been drinking the Taiwan 2009 Spring Harvest Ali Shan High Mountain Oolong contributed by eG member Greg Glancy for a Tea Tasting Discussion. I like it so much that I'm going to buy some of the first pick harvest from him to try out soon.

I just pulled out an adolsecent Pu-erh sample from Scott Wilson at Yunnan Sourcing on eBay. This is a 1998 Lin Cong CNNP Green Wrapper Raw Pu-erh that I got last year about this time and didn't much care for. I have come to take my first impressions of a tea with a large grain of salt, however, and always consider the possibility that the problem is with the brewer rather than the brewee. Thinking my brewing skills may have improved, I tried this one again.

The first infusion at 10 seconds after two 20 second rinses was pretty flat. Ho hum. But the second one I bumped up to 30 seconds and the Pu began to respond. I need to run through the infusions, but this is one that I might consider buying a whole cake, however, I see that Scott no longer has it on eBay. I may email him, though, just to see if he has one stuck away.

Edited to say that having brewed several infusions, I just can't get that excited about this Pu-erh after all. Not that it may not be my brewing rather than the leaf.

Edited August 10, 2009 by Richard Kilgore (log)

[Richard Kilgore]

Late night brewing of the Organic Kumamoto Yabe Hojicha that Dan at yuuki-cha.com sent complimentary with an unusual open kyusu I bought from him along with another kyusu. My second infusion was even more aromatic than the first, with more of its sweetness.

Also brewed a jug of Korean barley tea to drink iced tomorrow.

So what teas are you all brewing in your part of the world?