What Tea Are You Drinking Today? (Part 1)

[LuckyGirl]

Today started with the Handmade Nilgiri from teasource.com brewed in a brown betty. A lovely tea in all respects.

Now the Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori from 0-cha.com brewed in a Banko kyusu. Pleasantly vegetal and sweet with little astringency.

What teas are you drinking in your part of the world?

Tell me about the Handmade Nilgiri. I read the description on Tea Source and it sounds lovely. I have put it on my list to try. Would love to hear your tasting impressions.

[andiesenji]

This must be a day for Nilgiri teas. In the midafternoon I brewed a pot of Tiger Hill Nilgiri from last January's crop.

I think the Tiger Hill tea is the strongest of the Nilgiris and I prefer it with milk and a little sugar.

This tea, without the milk and sugar, has more body than any other tea I recall. It has a mouthfeel almost as "thick" as coffee but without the bitterness.

The color is a lovely clear chestnut.

[Richard Kilgore]

Today started with the Handmade Nilgiri from teasource.com brewed in a brown betty. A lovely tea in all respects.

Now the Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori from 0-cha.com brewed in a Banko kyusu. Pleasantly vegetal and sweet with little astringency.

What teas are you drinking in your part of the world?

Tell me about the Handmade Nilgiri. I read the description on Tea Source and it sounds lovely. I have put it on my list to try. Would love to hear your tasting impressions.

Better yet, take a look at the Tea Tasting & Discussion featuring the same Nilgiri.

[LuckyGirl]

Thanks for the Nilgiri thread link.

I am drinking the third steeping of Ten Ren's first grade jasmine.

I first brewed it yesterday evening while having pho for dinner with a friend.

I used about 5 grams of tea to about 20 oz. of just under the boil water. I let it steep for about 4 minutes (maybe closer to three, not exactly sure).

My first cup was a fairly deep chestnut color with a bit of a reddish hue, not at all the yellow-greenish hue the site's description said it would have. My first thoughts upon my first sip were: very little, barely noticeable astringency and lovely balance between the flavors of the green tea and the jasmine scent. This tea has a fuller medium body (7.5 on a scale of 10) and a nice round mouthfeel. My next few sips revealed the sweetness of the tea and an enjoyable sweet, floral finish. The tea seems a little toastier than what I would think of for a green tea. What I mean is that if one could take away the jasmine scent it seems to me like it would drink like a dark oolong not a green tea. Not saying that is good or bad, just an observation.

I saved the leaves to re-steep this morning as I felt they still had goodness to give. I was right, the second infusion was just as enjoyable as the first with no marked difference in the body or depth of flavors. If anything, the tea's sweetness was a little more apparent.

I am now drinking the third infusion of this tea and it is starting to suffer. I get more astringency and less body. The flavors toastiness of the green tea is still there as is the scent of the jasmine though that is noticeable lighter. Over all it is not as nicely balances as the first two infusions were. This one is thrown off by the new level of astringency.

I rarely have a cup of jasmine tea rather I make it in the summer to keep in the fridge for iced tea, a few quarts at a time, with a little lime juice, zest and honey. I think this tea will be lovely for my summer iced tea. At $16.00 for 4 ounces it is slightly more spendy than I would want for my summer iced tea but I suspect it is what I will use unless I happen accross one that I like as much that saves a little coin.

I am eager to get back to my oolong and green samples. I have another jasmine to try but, not today.

[Richard Kilgore]

Started the day with a 2006 Mengku Gong Ting ripe pu-erh from Yunnan Sourcing, gong fu cha in a gaiwan. Smooth with more of a cmaphor note on the nose than in the cup. And an almost licorice note on the first infusion. More on this in the Pu-erh topic after I have brewed it a few times.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Big red robe wuyi oolong. Enjoying the shift between the three teas I picked for this trip better than the every day same I did last time. Roasted oolong to floral oolong to smoky puerh. And will return tomorrow all ready for some green tea adventures with the novice sampler of Japanese teas I got from dens tea.

[qrn]

TGY brewed in my vacuum mug,(then poured into my regular mug)Three times..

Bud

[Wholemeal Crank]

Green jasmine tea from Peets, and even with taking the tea bags and hot water separate to better control the brewing I still overdid it and it is unpleasantly bitter, sigh. Tea on the road is so often frustrating.

[Richard Kilgore]

Today starting with the Organic Kumamato Sencha Yabe Supreme from yuuki-cha.com. I did this with longer brew times than I have before (60, 30, 90 vs 60, 10, 30) and it was only okay rather than very, very good. Back to the shorter second and third infusions next time.

Sorry to hear about the tea bags, WmC.

So what's everyone else got in their tea cup/yunomi/thermos/whatever today?

[LuckyGirl]

Right now I am enjoying the Alishan, Jin Xuan Oolong from Ten Ren.

I am really liking this tea, far more than the Alishan I had at Ching Ching Cha in D.C. This one has very little astringincy compared to the on I had at CCC. I love the light roasting. I still get the green tea elements but with a little more depth and just a hint of toastiness. It is very mellow without being weak.

The first infusion was with the tea in the basket of my pot but the leaves needed more room so the second infusion I emptied them from the basket into the pot.

[Richard Kilgore]

Started the day with a 2006 Mengku Gong Ting ripe pu-erh from Yunnan Sourcing, gong fu cha in a gaiwan. Smooth with more of a cmaphor note on the nose than in the cup. And an almost licorice note on the first infusion. More on this in the Pu-erh topic after I have brewed it a few times.

Drinking this again today. This time brewed in a Yixing. Not as much camphor, smooth, and a creamy mouth feel and that licorice-like note and sweetness showing on the third infusion.

[Richard Kilgore]

Started the day with a 2006 Mengku Gong Ting ripe pu-erh from Yunnan Sourcing, gong fu cha in a gaiwan. Smooth with more of a cmaphor note on the nose than in the cup. And an almost licorice note on the first infusion. More on this in the Pu-erh topic after I have brewed it a few times.

Drinking this again today. This time brewed in a Yixing. Not as much camphor, smooth, and a creamy mouth feel and that licorice-like note and sweetness showing on the third infusion.

Yet again. In a hurry earlier today, I scraped the leaves out of the Yixing and brewed them in a Brown Betty. Very tasty. And more still left in the leaves.

Later, a Spring 2009 Single Bud Bi Luo Chun Green Tea from norbutea.com. I brewed it with an infuser basket in a tall Ginny Marsh yunomi, 3.0 g to about 8 ounces, for 3 minutes. Very nice with no astringency. I'll brew it gong fu cha soon and post more in the Chinese Green Tea topic.

[nakji]

Out of curiousity, I bought a small bag of what looks like black tea leaves rolled into long cylinders. I should have asked after how to brew it properly, as once I got it home and made some, the black coating lifted off in a mess of black specks and the resulting brew was too foul to contemplate drinking. Any idea what I brought home with me?

[Wholemeal Crank]

Interesting description, but no idea what the tea is.

Yesterday i finally got to the bottom of the fabulous 2007 sheng white bud pu-erh from norbutea.com. About 2 grams of tea brewed up to one quart with about six serial infusions for one quart of lovely tea, but a pint brewed later from the same leaves was starting to get a little thin. It goes so far, though, that I have only just finished my first sample and this was the first time I broke into my beeng (if that's the right term for this disk).

[Richard Kilgore]

Out of curiousity, I bought a small bag of what looks like black tea leaves rolled into long cylinders. I should have asked after how to brew it properly, as once I got it home and made some, the black coating lifted off in a mess of black specks and the resulting brew was too foul to contemplate drinking. Any idea what I brought home with me?

Interesting. Maybe not tea leaves, but rather a medicinal plant leaf. I have some Greg Glancy gave me that look similar to your description, but I have not tried brewing it. I don't recall the name off-hand but will dig it up. Did you get it from a tea shop, grocery or what? If you go back, please ask for more detail about the whatever it is.

[Richard Kilgore]

A beeng it is, Wholemeal Crank.

Today started with the Organic Asahina Gyokuro Tsuyuhikari from yuuki-cha.com. Really like this, but it's the last of it I have.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Starting today with the Houjicha Gold Bancha from Denstea.com, brewed 2 grams in about 5 oz water just off the boil for 30 seconds. Toasty, quite nice that way, but a bit one-note on the toastiness.

[Wholemeal Crank]

After the cup of sencha, more from the sampler: sencha teabag from denstea.com, one teabag to about 5 oz of 160 degree water, for 60 seconds. Light yellow green liquor, delicately vegetal, sweet, nice!

[Richard Kilgore]

Had a pot of kukicha fukamushi during the Ginny Marsh pottery show at The Cultured Cup today - chawan (teabowls), kyusu teapot sets with matching yunomi, individual yunomi, serving plates, etc. Very cool teaware.

[saltedgreens]

Just Yama-Moto-Yama oolong. It's mobile. I can take it here and there. I can drink it anywhere.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Still working through the japanese green teas, and this morning, my first gyokuro: there is a strong resemblance to the wonderful green oolongs I've been drinking recently. I will definitely be keeping some sencha or gyokuro in my regular tea rotation.

[Richard Kilgore]

Just Yama-Moto-Yama oolong. It's mobile. I can take it here and there. I can drink it anywhere.

What is Yama-Moto-Yama oolong?

[Richard Kilgore]

This morning the Ceylon Vithanakanda Estate, Extra Special from Tea Source. My favorite Ceylon so far. Then this afternoon the delicious Organic Kumamoto Sencha Yabe Supreme from kuuki-cha.

What teas are you all drinking today - greens, reds/blacks, Oolong, Pu-erhs, Darjeelings...?

[Wholemeal Crank]

After starting the day with gyokuro, and doing a little gongfu puerh, I'm finishing with a thermos full of pouchong, probably made a little light on the tea leaf, because it's more dilute than it usually comes out. It's not as nuanced as the diamond tie guan yin or as sweet as the gyokuro, but it is undemanding, pleasing, and enough for a busy session of baking to come (two kinds of flatbreads, one batch of cookies, and walnut dip/sauce are on the agenda for the evening).

[LuckyGirl]

it is undemanding, pleasing,

I had a Pouchong today (Ten Ren's First) and I think that is a very fitting way to describe the tea I had, undemanding and pleasing.