It's been a few months since I last posted. As usual. Well, today I feel good! I've been laying on the patio like a cat pretty much every day, absorbing the warmth of the sun. Summer, at last, is here, has been here for the last week or two, and hopefully will stay for a while.
I finished tea 101 with a fantastic grade of 93%. I know it's a good grade because some other students shared theirs. I didn't out of respect because I'm sure they did what they could. Besides, they were so nice to talk to on the forum we got for our class, I couldn't think of bringing them down. It's not perfect, but for once I should be proud of only having 93%. I'm was such a nerd (a kinda cool marginal one) in high school. But I'm getting through that, thanks to my supportive husband who jumped out of happiness (he wasn't much of a nerd in school). I actually got shocked when he screamed "93%!!!". He seemed happier than me which in turn made me quite happy.
So there, I finished 1 course out of 8, but I'm not planning on taking 102 just yet as I'll be in Quebec for 3 weeks in September and October which is when the next course will be held. I'll take 103 when available.
I'll also be visiting Quebec province soon and make sure I get a full tea experience!
I've been a bit lazy on the tea cupping, but hopefully, I have a few teas here in my big book of tea that might interest you...
So after reviewing what I had posted about tea... it seems that none of the teas I cupped in my big book were ever published! Well, you're in for a lot of info! Note that the first teas didn't have as much info regarding to the steeping methods. Anyway, here we go:
Pu-ehr 2010 Yong De Lan Ting
Pu-ehr tea
Tried on the 26th of February 2013, so it was due that I publish those! This one is my very first entry.
Dry leaves:
- Dark dull brown colour
- Compact and crisp; will break if pressure is applied with fingers
- Smell like old cut grass & spinach
- Composed of pieces of stems & broken leaves that look smashed, almost mashed! Some leaves may have been intact, but the rolling process removed any proof of that
- Smells earthy and warm. There is a honey kind of feeling in there. It smells like bark, oak bark or similar strong dark brown barked tree.
- Surprisingly, very faint earthy smell, dull and not very wet (because I think Pu-ehr teas smell wet)
- Colour is dull dark orange, rather opaque than dull
2nd sip: stronger, bitter & astringent earthy taste. It leaves a strange anti-slippy-velvety feeling on the inside of the mouth when I rub it with my tongue...
3rd sip: The bitter and astringency were milder. Earthy nutty taste like chestnuts or walnuts.
Full sip (that I gulped): bodied, earthy, dull reminiscence of wet forest.
Verdict: Disappointing, had better... but the nutty taste was a plus in this dullness of a tea.
Ceylon Lumbini Estate FBOP
Black tea from Teasource.com (I got a sampler)
Dry leaves:
- Dark brown, almost black in colour
- Break (crispy) if squeezed a little, so brittle
- smell like raisins and dried figs (mmmh!)
- Some pieces are floating up to the surface. The tea leaves already look lighter in colour as the water changes to a dark orange hue. The leaves are unfurling nicely and look small in size.
- Smells great! Warm, smokey, with almost a sour note at the end. A bit of cacao.
- Dark pleasant orange body, clear and bright
- Smell like wet leaves after the rain has come and butternut squash baby puree
- Broken leaves and pieces of stem compose the tea. I cannot tell what type of plucking the leaves are (bud, 1st leaf, 2 leaves, etc)
- They look slightly coppery, but also a bit dull
1st sip: Bitter, earthy like chewing on a green leaf freshly plucked
2nd: sip: Slightly metallic (brass), less bitter
3rd sip: Still a bit metallic (brass), a bit more bitter than the 2nd sip, leaf after-taste
4th sip: slightly bitter, old leaf stem taste with almost a chestnut after taste
5th sip: It's beginning to be pleasant and tasting more like it smells. Maybe some astringency after-taste, dull taste and a bit pungent
6th sip: It tastes like Chinese incense. A bit brassy, not bitter after a few seconds. Slightly comforting ending.
Full sip (that I swallowed): It was a bit soapy...Slight raisin taste coming from the back of the mouth as an after-taste.
Verdict: It smelled better than it tasted. I would gladly ruin this tea with some milk and sugar to bring out the sweetness and round the rough edges.
Side note: I used tap water from the apartment in Frankfurt which contains a lot of calcium (still potable), but it's not very good water... So this one might be better with better water.
English Breakfast St-James
Black tea
Dry leaves:
- Little broken piece, obviously a blend
- Medium brown to dark brown
- Break a little, but seem to still have some spring to them when I pinch them
- Smell like fresh cut hay/grass not unlike a shaded tea like a Gyokuro would, but drier. Something smells sweet like apricots and maybe a bit floral
- Dull brown
- Broken pieces
- Smells very sweet like honey and mandarines, but there is something more... something sweet like a confited fruit or something, maybe dried strawberries? or flowers...
- Dark, slightly dull orange-brown colour
- Smells like leather, a bit of dry hay, a bit of mandarin and a light sweet note perhaps like honey
2nd sip: Taste of stems and sweet rolls. Light finish. The stem taste lingers...
3rd sip: A hint of mandarins (hurray!), but mainly stems... stems stems stems... Especially when swallowed.
With the addition of milk and sugar: Reminds me of milky pancakes, Aunt Jemima style. Now I wonder if I should add maple syrup to it...
Verdict: Better with sugar and milk... Just because of the pancake taste! Without is not bad either, but not high end. Suitable to breakfast, hence the name.
Tung Ting Wulong
Oolong tea from Teasource.com (I got a sampler)
Temperature of water: 90.5C (About 195F)
For the steeping time, I frankly can't read my notes... Something to 8 minutes... Sounds fairly long to me. The sampler bag says 2-4 minutes. I'm confused. Anyhow.
Description on the package: A silky, sweet, and floral tea from the mountains of Central Taiwan. Good for multiple infusions.
Dry leaves:
- A dark to medium green colour dominates with some paler green. Some light brown here and there
- The leaves are rolled into rough open curls that were then twisted (typical of a Taiwanese Oolong)
- Fresh green tobacco
- Camo green colour, shiny and healthy looking
- The leaves are big to small in size and most look intact, especially the big ones
- They smell like cooked asparagus with a little bit of cooked spinach
- One particular leaf set I found was a stem with 5 leaves on it, so most likely a bud and 4 leaves... um... I am not familiar with the plucking ways of Taiwan, but I am led to believe this isn't a high-end tea
- A pale yellow-brown, dark sand colour
- Smells slightly of honey. Almost earthy but sweet like mashed sweet berries (such as strawberries), but very faint
2nd sip: Taste of cooked asparagus, I felt like there could be a mild astringency in there. Tastes green.
3rd sip: Smooth, mild taste of cooked green veggies & broccoli (like broccoli AND some other green veggie)
Full sip (Which I swallowed): When I took a mouthful it was almost like I could taste peaches for a quick second. It also felt a little floral.
Notes: I set my boiler to Oolong which is 195F (90.5C) when the package did say 160-180F for 2-4 minutes... I just assumed my boiler had the right temperature. I ought to try it with that temperature next time I stumble upon the sampler bag. I did this tea cupping with a steeping time of 3 minutes and it didn't even seem like it was enough. Either the tea is just that mild and lacking taste or it needed more time. With a higher temperature, shouldn't the taste be stronger, more bitter or astringent anyway?
Anyhow, this is quite a lot of reviews and there is more to come!
I'll stop here as it is tasking for me and most likely would be tasking for you guys to read.
Next time, I'd like to finally do a review of all four Kurihara Family Gyokuro teas I have. Two out of five have been sampled. Eventually, not to backstab the Tea Association of Canada, but I'd like to also compare their White Silver Needle to the one I bought from the Camellia Sinensis. My thought is that the first is not a Bai Hao Yin Zhen, but rather a tea of similar plucking season and fashion but not from the Fujian province.
To be continued...
