What Tea Are You Drinking Today? (Part 3)

[Wholemeal Crank]

How do you make your chai?

I've had a few late-night sessions with herbal tisanes lately, when caffeinated teas would have been too much, and pondering making a spicier version of my usual chamomile plus hibiscus combinations--something more like a cinnamon/clove/ginger/cardamon combination, more like a classic chai--but I've read about boiling tea for chai, and that would make the base tea too bitter for my tastes. So, while I get ready to start the tea day with some reliable but undistinguished shu puerh, I'm contemplating something livelier for later.

[Richard Kilgore]

Little posting recently due to Thanksgiving activities and then being under the weather a little the past week. But a fair amount of tea drinking going on. Chinese greens, Japanese greens, Indian, Ceylon, Nepal and Chinese black/reds, including

Nepal Chiyabari Estate

Yunnan Imperial

Ceylon Kenilworth Estate OP

Castleton Estate Darjeeling, Wiry

Dian Hong Imperial, Hand Picked

Pai Mu Tan

2010 Organic Magokoro Shincha

I have also been brewing more Japanese green teas in a cup with infuser filter in order to introduce a new tea friend to the delights of Japanese green tea. This is how I used to brew them for many years. It's still good, even though you may miss some of the nuances of the three to five infusions you get using Japanese tea ware. Nonetheless, I am getting two nice infusions using cup and filter.

The last two days I have also been brewing from a newly opened bag of 2010 Organic Tenryu Misakubo Shincha. This is an asamushi (light-steamed) shincha/sencha from yuuki-cha.com that I saved until I worked through a few other 2010 shinchas. Very nice. I'll post on it in the Japanese Green Tea topic after playing with it a bit.

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

[Greenfeel]

hello!

this morning i have been drinking Bi Luo Chun, it is a famous green tea originally grown in the Dong Ting mountain of Tai Hu, Jiangsu Province, China. Also known as Pi Lo Chun, it is renowned for its delicate appearance, fruity taste, floral aroma, showy white hairs and early cropping.

The name Bi Luo Chun literally means "Green Snail Spring". It is called so because it is a green tea that is rolled into a tight spiral, resembling snail meat, and is cropped early spring.

Boris Kvitko

marketoftea@gmail.com

[LuckyGirl]

After drinking Japanese greens all spring and summer I immediatly went to oolongs and black teas when the fall weather went cold.

The last few days I have been sampling so Japanese black teas purchased from Yuuki- Cha. Specifically, this morning I am sipping their Organic Makurazaki Black Tea Hime Fuki.

[LuckyGirl]

Tonight, and the past few nights, I have been enjoying Norbu's, Yunan Silver Needles. It's funny that last year when I first tasted it I really disliked the cup full of camphor that it gives but here I am a year later loving it.

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks, LuckyGirl, it is always interesting when a tea that was previously "ho-hum" turns out much better later. When it happens to me I can't always tell if the leaf has improved over time, or if I finally figured out to brew it. I'll have to pull out the Norbu Silver Needles and try it again.

I have been drinking a number of different blacks and greens lately, including the Yunnan Imperial from The Cultured Cup; the Organic Magokoro shincha/sencha and the Organic Misakubo shincha/sencha, both 2010s from yuuki-cha.com.

Two infusions of Castleton Estate Darjeeling, Wiry from teasource.com this morning. This afternoon it will be green teas.

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

[DanM]

Wife and I had brunch at Bouchon in Beverly Hills yesterday. We had Earl Grey tea from Rare Cargo. It was decent, but I have had better (Rishi being my preferred Early Grey). I was actually surprised to see them using tea bags instead of loose leaf at such a nice restaurant.

Dan

[Richard Kilgore]

This evening I opened a sample of Sunpu Boucha, a 2010 1st Harvest Hon Yama Kuki-Hojichafrom norbutea.com that Greg Glancy gave me the last time we drank tea together. A very nice nice hojicha - low-caffeine perfect for this evening. I'll post more about it in the Japanese Green Tea topic later after playing with it a bit.

[Richard Kilgore]

Started off the day with the Organic Gokujo Sencha from yuuki-cha.com. I have only been drinking this one for a few days, but am enjoying it very much.

Next? Probably an Oolong.

What teas are you all drinking in your part of the universe?

[Wholemeal Crank]

Some quiet days, nursing a cold, some chamomile and some oolong, sencha and Tai Ping Hou Kui, but not really tasting all of it so well. Still, hot & wet, goes down well.

[Wholemeal Crank]

A working holiday today, with excellent tea--a really marvelous infusion of Norbu's 2010 Spring Wu Liang Mtn - Xue Dian Mei Lan - Yunnan 'green' tea, and finally opened a sample of an interesting young puerh from Yunnan sourcing, 2009 You Le Zhi Chun. Not sure where to put a review of the Xue Dian Mei Lan: Greg's listing it as a green tea, but it does get a little oxidation in the processing, and the result is wonderfully between an oolong and a green tea as far as I can tell, floral, fruity, sweet. I'll put something in the Puerh topic about the You Le Zhi Chun if I can ever get to the bottom of it. I started iwth high tea-to-water ratio because I didn't want to break up the sample too much, and even very short infusions are quite powerful stuff.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Experimenting this morning with a gift tea, a small quantity of gyokuro from my local chinese tea shop. I was quite skeptical of it when I first brewed it, but this morning, brewing it instead of my usual sencha, it's pleasant and mellowly vegetal, and not particularly briny--which is something I generally dislike in my tea. Nice. It will not be composted or fed to the worms!

Other teas in the last few days were the Winter 2009 Dong Ding from Norbu, a dark roast oolong that was just lovely sustenance through a long work day; some Silver Dragon white tea from Wing Hop Fung (yesterday I went up and down the office hallway with a kyusu, fair cup, and several nice cups sharing it, went over very well); and finished off a packet of 2010 TGY from Norbu and eked out a thermos full with some Zhang Su lake oolong from WHF. Plus several evenings of chamomile/hibiscus/tulsi herbal teas for a warm cuppa at bedtime.

Cold gray wet weather makes for excellent teatime.

[Richard Kilgore]

I envy your recent tea days, Wholemeal Crank. Allergies and a cold have made me almost impervious to flavors, to the point that I could taste the duck, but not the sauce, in the Wild Duck A'La Orange that I made for Christmas Day. When away from home the past week I have subsisted on coffee (yes! coffee!), and when home have brewed mostly black teas (Yunnan Imperial from The Cultured Cup today) with a dulled-palate experience several times of the normally very pleasant 2010 Organic Gokujo Sencha from yuuki-cha.

And I enjoyed the image of you serving Japanese tea to your colleagues, WC.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Actually walking up and down the hall with the tea tray was a new thing....and felt extra fancy. I've got a nice little collection of pretty cups now for sharing this way--feels so nice to do it.

Today started with Zairai Hon Yama sencha from norbu, and moved on to some Yunnan Mao Feng for the afternoon. Will be stuck with limited tea access again for a few days, so had to store up a lot of good tea time while I had the chance between colds & trips.

[Richard Kilgore]

Today I was craving an Oolong and am now sipping the Shui Jin Gui Wu Yi (Spring Harvest, 2009) from norbutea.com. Brewed in a large Yixing of indeterminate age, this is my favorite Norbu Wu Yi from Spring 2009.

[Richard Kilgore]

Before leaving for a New Year's Day party, during which I only eat - no cooking involved, I am starting 2011 with another Wu Yi Oolong, this one a Big Red Robe (Da Hong Pao) from The Cultured Cup. Delicious!

What's in your tea cup today?

[Richard Kilgore]

Today it was a Japanese black tea to start, the hand picked Organic Makurazaki Hatsumomiji from yuuki-cha.com. A very smooth black tea that brewed four infusions today. Now I am sipping the Big Red Robe from The Cultured Cup. Hope they have more in stock Friday for the T-Bar Club.

How about you all? What's in your tea cup/tea pot/tea thermos today?

[nakji]

I've got a Taiwan Tung Ding Oolong in my tea flask. It was a gift from a student, and I'm enjoying it a lot. It reminds me of a Tie Guan Yin, but with a more assertive clove flavour.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Had some very nice sessions while traveling over the weekend with TGY--'new style' from Norbu and old favorite SeaDyke dark roasted. This week, some sencha (Hon Yama Zairai from Norbu is nearly gone), puerh (a lovely session today with Wuliang Shan loose mao cha from Norbu), and oolong (now drinking some wood-roasted Shui Xian from HouDe); Houjicha from Den's got me through a long afternoon where I had no time to brew in advance, just toss in leaf (ok, stems), add water, go). Some Jin Xuan green tea last night too. But I am trying to forget a particularly unfortunate session with a cheap phoenix oolong, that previously behaved quite well. Keeps one from getting overconfident, I guess....

[Chris Amirault]

I've been moving through this bag of Assam Sree Sibbari Estate SFTGFOP from TeaSource.com at a steady clip and have a mug of it for three consecutive school tours this morning.

[Richard Kilgore]

Today the Ceylon Vithanakanda Estate, Extra Special from teasource.com is in my cup for several infusions - and still my favorite Ceylon so far. Yesterday it was an extended session of the Big Red Robe Oolong I started two days ago.

So, what tea leaves are you brewing today in your part of the eGullet world?

[Wholemeal Crank]

Today working through a large infusion of the Dong Ding dark roasted Taiwanese oolong from Norbu. It has a lot more elegant refinement than the SeaDyke TKY I have been drinking forever, just mellower but so very very good. I remember being a little wary of this one when I first saw it posted on Greg's site, remembering a quite harsh and unpleasant brew by the same name I got from TenRen (to be fair to TenRen, I don't think I bought the top grade of that one). The Norbu version just has a smoother base for the darker roasted flavors.

[nakji]

Wholemeal, is that Dong Ding more toasty or more floral? I got a small bag for Christmas, and was excited thinking it would be toasty, but it actually reminds me a lot of TGY.

[Wholemeal Crank]

It is quite toasty-roasty for me, but there is a sweet/floral base that is different than the more spicy/astringent, approaching bitter, base of the SeaDyke TKY, but both to me have a similar degree of roast.

[Wholemeal Crank]

I've started the last couple of days with sencha, and yesterday moved on to try a comparison of three versions of Norbu's Tie Guan Yin: 2009 spring, 2009 fall, and 2010 spring. I happened on a last sealed packet of the spring 2009 (in the back of a cabinet), had opened the 2009 spring just a few weeks before the tasting (oops, meant to keep it sealed until this), and then had a fresh package of the 2010. Sad to say, nothing much to put in the oolong topic as a review, because they were all so nice I couldn't really distinguish much between them. Today I'm having some Da Hong Pao, a 2009 from Norbu, very fruity & toasty.