Bio
Are you a company or tea blender on sites like Adagio that would you like your tea reviewed? If so, please e-mail me @ SMSchneider@live.com.
What I most enjoy from obtaining samples from companies to review is that it helps me to better learn to drink and review teas from a more objective perspective, meaning more of the “This tea is…” point of view rather than the “I like/don’t like” this tea. I feel objectivism in tea reviews is EXTREMELY important because no two tea drinkers tastes are exactly the same. I’ve also been extremely surprised by several teas. I love recieving a sample I think I will be only writing an objective review on, only to completely fall in love with it upon tasting it.
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Are you interested in redoing or starting your own tea related website or adding Search Engine Optimization? If so, please contact me at my work e-mail address: owcprojectmanager@gmail.com
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Tea tastes:
I will ALWAYS pick loose leaf over tea bags. I only drink bagged tea if that’s my only choice or I find a flavor that I can’t find a loose leaf version for. When I do drink bagged; however, I always weigh my bag and am constantly curious as to the weight/flavor ratio- sometimes I am quite surprised by the flavor punch of light bags.
I have a preference for organic and fair trade teas (preferably both), but would never pass up an amzing tea just because it isn’t organic and/or fair trade.
I love savory teas.
I’m currently searching for a chai flavored soy powder or a soy based chai mix (either already mixed or a recipe).
I hardly EVER sweeten my teas. I feel that sweeteners (unless flavored like tea honeys, brown sugar, ice cream topping syrups, flavored coffee syrups, etc) do not add anything to the flavor profile of tea- in fact, I’ve found that they dumb down the flavors.
I NEVER serve my tea over regular iced cubes- I always make tea cubes.
I LOVE cooking w/ tea and making smoothTEAS.
I LOVE tea blending.
I rarely drink herbal teas unless they are mixed with true teas. My favorite herbals to mix with true teas are: spearmint, peppermint, lemongrass, rose hips, and gingeroot.
I can’t stand anything w/ fennel or anise. Hot black teas (except orange pekoe bagged tea that you get when you go out to eat and chai teas) tend to upset my stomach.
I drink matcha daily and love flavoring it. I’m also in a constant search of preflavored matchas.
I’m constantly searching for information on how to prepare tea authentically according to its country of origin.
My Tasting Notes Ratings (edited 8/8/10)
1: I can’t even stand the raw leaf enough to make this (I’ve never owned a tea w/ this rating, but I’ve smelled some before buying resulting in me NOT buying them that were that bad)
2: I steeped this tea but couldn’t stand the aroma enough to get it past my nose
3: I immediately gagged at the 1st sip and spit it out.
4: I manageed to get the 1st sip down, but I tossed the rest.
5: I drank the 1st cup but I can’t bring myself to resteep
6: Made it thru the entire set of infusions but I can’t bring myself to tinker w/ the parameters and won’t be making it again.
7-10: Does not taste anything like the ingredients or name suggests (i.e. Adagio’s Sour apple)
11-25: I can taste some of the ingredients, but the flavor is severely lacking
25-49: Teas that I would not consider bad in their flavor profile, but certainly below average
50: Average.
51-69: Teas above averge, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling them “good”.
70-75: Very good, but still room for improvement
76-85: Above average flavor profile
86-90: REALLY good flavors
91-99: Almost PERFECTLY achieves the goal of the ingredients and name of the tea.
100: Abosolutely perfect teas!
Other Interests: GOD! and all things pertaining to Him and His children, my dog Madison, travelling, and coffee.
Favorite Music: ANYTHING Christian. I don’t normally listen to secular music, but I do love jazz and swing.
Favorite Movies: Romantic comedies mostly. My Sister’s Keeper, P.S. I Love You, Fireproof, National Treasure Trilogy (I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE 3rd ONE TO COME OUT!), Night at the Museum 1 & 2, Sister Act 1 & 2, Yes Man, Bruce & Evan Almighty, rarely watch animated movies but LOVE anything 3D.
Favorite Books: THE BIBLE!!! & My Sister’s Keeper
Favorite Quotes: “A sad soul can kill you far quicker than a germ”- John Stienbeck "
Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing”- Aristotle
“You should always carry burdens, but they should never be your own”- me
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” ~ Winston Churchill
“Mom was right, ‘because I say so’ is enough- at least when it comes to God.”- me
Favorite Foods: fried calamari, lemon chicken, anything w/ buffalo sauce.
Favorite Places: WA state, Switzerland, Orlando
Places I Want to Visit: Hawaii, Africa
Anything Else: I was born with a birth defect called Spina Bifida which is the failure of the spinal column to close en utero. Because of this I am a parapelegic and use a manual wheelchair.
Location
Oshkosh, WI
Website
http://www.adagio.com/signatu...
try it a bit cooler around 150 and for a bit longer- more like gyokuro!- u may even like that better!
May try that, the 2 gyokuros Den’s carries are 2g steeped in 2oz at 140 degrees F for 2.5min and 2g steeped in 3oz at 160 degrees F for 1.5min respectively.
2nd cuppa, 1 min 20 sec. I liked Networld’s suggestions, but noticing the water volumes suggested for gyokuro and the light liquor of the 1st infusion I decided a lower temperature would risk an even weaker flavor so I kept it at 160. The result was a nearly identical infusion in every way.
Did you chop it even more? =] At first I thought this was Samovar’s Tencha, then I’m like wait, no , H&S.
Chop it?
Woaps, grind =]
Oh heavens no! The leaves are tiny as it is and will be absolutely slimy and disgusting when I remove them from my ingenuiTEA.
Grounded tencha = matcha
ru06, I knew that. I was surprised at the taste difference though- but then again I think I used too much water for the amount of leaf I used.
I’m surprised too. In general, 2.2g of tea per 6-8 oz. of water is what I use across the board. Obviously it won’t have the same taste as actual matcha. Matcha will be stronger bc the leaves are more finely ground resulting in a greater surface area for which the water has to react with. Seems strange. Try different water. Sometimes if the water has a high mineral content, the amino acids etc. in the tea has a hard time being taken up by the water.
ru06, that general rule (I use 2.25 per 6oz, 3g/8oz) does not apply to a lot of teas- Japanese greens or pu erhs for example. For info on Japanese Greens, check out this link http://www.denstea.com/index.php?main_page=perfect_brewing for pu erhs, I use a 1:1 ratio- 1g of tea per oz of water.
Thanks for the link… very informative and interesting.