What Tea Are You Drinking Today? (Part 2)

[Yajna Patni]

I am drinking the Ten Ren Lapsang that y'all hate so much, and I cant lie. It is seriously one of my favorite teas. I make it with water on the rolling boil, and am drinking it with a big glug of milk, goat milk as it happens, and it is piney and smokey and delicious. Reminds me of good strong scotch. It was cheap too! $2 an ounce, although i can see you all shake your heads and say for a reason.....

While at Ten Ren I also drank their raspberry black tea milk bubble tea... an old favorite of mine, and delicious. They have my favorite bubble tea anywhere I think.

This is the Ten Ren in College Park MD..They have a little cafe and some tea,I have never been to the one in NY.

[Richard Kilgore]

To each his own, YP. That's the stuff the Chinese will not drink. For export. I can imagine the milk helping a little. As I recall, you generally drink your tea with milk. The smoother Lapsang Souchong that is processed differently than the harsh version - and hard to find outside of China - may not stand up to milk as well.

The last couple of days I have been brewing several infusions of the Pai Mu Dan featured in the current white tea Tea Tasting & Discussion.

Starting today with the smooth Japanese black tea from yuuki-cha.

Last night I drank a lot of tea with Greg Glancy of Norbu Tea. We sampled a number of interesting new and unusual teas that he is considering carrying in coming months. I could tell you more, but I have been sworn to secrecy.

What teas are you all drinking this week?

[Wholemeal Crank]

Honoyama Shincha this morning. Such a nice start to the day, and nice to be back home after back to back trips away from tea central. Ahhhh.

[Wholemeal Crank]

And finishing a fulfilling, but very 'green' day of tea: Diamond Tie Guan Yin, and Meng Ding Huang Ya Sichuan Yellow TEa from Norbu. This yellow tea has some potential for bitterness in the early infusions, but those fade and leave only sweetness. Nice to close out the day, as I am back in the office trying to catch up on a foot or so of accumulated paperwork. Blech to paperwork, yay to tea!

[Richard Kilgore]

Ah ha! I am drinking the 2010 Diamond Grade TGY right now, WC. Got some as a sample from Greg at Norbu last month - the package lost its vacuum seal so he could not sell it. It may be slightly less fresh than a sealed pack, but it is still floral in aroma and taste. An aroma cup tasting set really enhances the experience of drinking this tea.

This morning it was the Nepal Chiyabari Estate black tea from The Cultured Cup, followed later by my daily matcha from yuuki-cha.com.

What teas have you all been drinking this week? Iced? Cold brewed? Iced?

[Wholemeal Crank]

Yin Zhen from the tasting, and then some Ye Sheng Wild Tea from Norbu. More on that one in the white tea topic, because that's where it seems to belong.

Edited July 25, 2010 by Wholemeal Crank (log)

[Richard Kilgore]

Slow tea days the last couple of days due to my schedule - mostly iced tea and matcha, and the Nepal Chiyabari Estate yesterday morning.

This morning began with the Assam Konghea Estate, Golden Bud from Tea Source. Now doing a session with the Spring 2010 Organic Kogoshima Shincha Saemidori from yuuki-cha.com. This is one of the two Japanese green teas featured in the newest Tea Tasting & Discussion. Free tea samples still available, so PM me if you are interested.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Several days, no tea updates....sometimes egullet is unavailable when I have the cup at hand.

Monday I drank a new Sheng puerh from Norbu, the 2006 Yong De Wild Arbor tea, which is twisted into a pattern that is as cool in the sample as it looks in the photos on his site. It was another fill-the-thermos-fast kind of brewing, not so carefully done or timed or measured, but the tea came through it beautifully, sweet, just a little smoky, gently woody. So yesterday, interrupted by an interlude for some Hankook Hwang Cha or yellow tea, I brewed up more of the Yong De gongfu cha, with a small gaiwan, and it was very nice, particularly the very looooongggg sweet finish. Have to do this one up nicely, with proper photos, because it's so pretty as well as delicious.

And today I started with a white tea, a silver needle Yunnan tea again from Norbu, which was quite nice, but I suspect needs some work to get the best of it.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Yesterday started with white tea, moved on to Tie Guan Yin, and ended with a nice Phoenix oolong. And today is again a sencha start, with the Yuuki-cha Honoyama. Mmmm. Sencha just fits the start of the day so well.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Today, more sencha, but the Okuyutaka from Yuuki-cha. A little more umami than the Sayamakaori or the Honyama (not honoyama, however much it looks like there should be an extra o in there......), but still delicious.

And yesterday was maddenly impossible on timing, so again I resorted to some of Den's houjicha tossed into the thermos, with hottish water from the water cooler, and had a soothing afternoon of tea that helped make missing lunch bearable.

In the evening yesterday, a short gongfu session with some Rou Gui from HouDe. It's a lovely spicy tea at first, but the 'cinnamon' quickly vanishes and the tea doesn't have enough depth to go for as many infusions as a nice Da Hong Pao or Ti Guan Yin. I think it may also be suffering from aging since I opened the sealed inner container.

[CKatCook]

I have not visited this thread for a while, nice to see everyone still drinking....

Anything iced! It is so hot out there it is crazy!

I plead forgiveness from the tea gods! (I normally would NEVER dare ice my tea)

[Wholemeal Crank]

Still drinking my teas hot.....had one or two acceptable brewings of cold Ti Guan Yins but really prefer it hot.

so yesterday, shincha start, yunnan mao feng, Zhang Shu Lake oolong, 2007 Menghai Silver Dayi puerh. Sencha to puerh, nice complete cycle.

[Richard Kilgore]

Catch up post!

The Nepal Chyabari Estate, the Assam Konghea Estate Golden Bud and the Ceylon Vithanakanda Estate, Extra Special have been my morning black teas the past few days. Matcha and Shinchas during the day, mostly the Organic Kagoshima Shincha Saemidori featured in the current Tea Tasting & Discussion.

More TT&Ds with free tea samples coming up soon. If you subscribe to the Coffee & Tea Forum, you'll be among the first to know.

[CKatCook]

Another sticky day here in the southern part of the U.S., but today I am drinking Rishi cinnamon plum, and I think I will take a white tea with me today to work, just don't know what kind yet. Maybe my persimmon white from republic of tea.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Tuesday I pretty much finished off a sample of a new oolong from Norbu that I got with my last order. I wrote about it in the oolong topic. There was also a short session with some loose mao cha from Wulian (more from Norbu) that I didn't 'finish' because my kettle ran out of water before the leaves ran out of flavor.

Yesterday, after several gongfu tasting sessions, I wanted a mellower afternoon tea, browsed through the shus, and came up with the Norbu 2009 Lao Cha Tou puerh brick, broke some off, and it was a lovely reminder of how nice shu can be: delicately sweet and fruity, hints of cherries, plums, grapes, a bit of caramel. It has always been nice, but this is the best infusion yet. And a good reminder that shengs are not the only wonderful puerhs.

Today, a change of pace, starting the day with Shincha (Sayamakaori from Yuuki-Cha), and now trying to decide on what to have next. It's time to prepare the afternoon thermos for clinic & sharing, and we had a birthday breakfast at work today, so again need something mellow, feeling a need for a simple pouchong from TenRen.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Today has been a bit backwards: started with a thermos of oolong (finishing the very last packet of the 2009 Norbu Diamond Tie Guan Yin, and looking forward to the 2010, already securely tucked away in the tea cabinet), and now just had dinner with a session of Sayamakaori shincha from Yuuki-Cha. I'm so used to sencha to start the day, but it's just as good in the middle. Yum.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Today the tea is starting late: I'm drinking my first Tai Ping Hou Kui, from Wing Hop Fung, a weird and wonderful green tea. More wonderful adventures in tea.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Posted a review of the Tai Ping Hou Kui in the green tea topic, and also drank my first Yunnan Silver Needles from Norbu and wrote about that in the white tea topic.

[CKatCook]

The forecast here is just plain hot! So it is more iced tea for me. I may take a break from the iced after being in the A/C for a while and get some pear white in the afternoon (sounds so good right now actually!)

[Richard Kilgore]

Hot here, too! It's been in the 102f - 106f range for some time now, so I have been drinking a lot of water and iced tea in addition to hot teas. On the hottest days, it a matter of alternating sips of cold water with the hot teas.

Saturday a tea friend and I drank several teas for several hours, including four interesting ones from jingteashop.com. More on this in the Chinese Green Tea topic soon.

In the morning yesterday, it was the Nepal Chiyabari Estate from TCCC; today the new Yi Mei Ren Wuliang black tea from Norbu. Yesterday also had my daily (more or less) matcha from yuuki-cha.

So what teas are you all drinking in your part of the world this week? Iced? Cold-brewed? Hot?

[Richard Kilgore]

Brewing the Xue Dian Mei Lan green tea from norbutea.com gongfu cha in a gaiwan. This is a very nice, subtle, pleasant Chinese green. BTW, here's a link to a video on the Norbu site that shows how to brew gongfu cha style in a gaiwan; it's simple and straightforward.

[Richard Kilgore]

Brewing the Xue Dian Mei Lan green tea from norbutea.com gongfu cha in a gaiwan. This is a very nice, subtle, pleasant Chinese green. BTW, here's a link to a video on the Norbu site that shows how to brew gongfu cha style in a gaiwan; it's simple and straightforward. (Scroll down about 2/3 of the page.)

[Wholemeal Crank]

So far, a one tea day: a thermos full of Yunnan gold buds from Tea Habitat with osmanthus. I don't get to share my tea at this satellite office, so it lasts a lot longer.

It has been so long since I drank Yunnan gold without osmanthus that I've forgotten what it tastes like. They're just so good together.

[CKatCook]

I was looking at my "tea stash" yesterday and I realized I really need to go shopping.

Richard - I tired your trick of alternating iced tea with hot tea, it is a great way to enjoy hot tea in the summer!

Today I think it will be more white tea, I have some rishi peach white that has been calling my name. That and some plain iced tea.

Have a good one!

[jpr54_]

I am making my second brewing of this wonderful tea from www.shanshuiteas.com

The tea is pricy but well worth the cost-

Special Acquisition Spring 2010 Fushoushan Wulong thumbnail

Special Acquisition Spring 2010 Fushoushan Wulong

Fushou mountain is located between Lishan and Dayuling, and has a maximum elevation approaching 2500 meters. The tea farms here are government-owned, but in recent years the employees have been moved from a salary to commission system, where they profit directly from the sale of the tea. This is my best Wulong of the season, with a thick, nectar-like mouth feel and the creamy elements of a classic "high mountain" tea. The flavor is not heavy, however, and the finish is smooth with a unique sweetness. Very limited availability.