15926 Tasting Notes
You ever have that feeling like steepster is eating your tasting notes? I’m sure i’ve had this more than 6 times(though most of my tasting notes count for twice that…even 12 seems low). Anyway sipdown for me on this one! also added some of my 50/50 caramel to this and did a sipdown for that one too! :)
Today is going to be a loooooong day. So I opted to start out with a nice session of laoshan black to kick things off. Again, this tea makes me seriously happy. I love the way it changes as i re-steep it. I hopefully have some friends coming over in a few weeks and i’m looking forward to introducing them to this tea because they’re always complaining that black teas are bitter and lackluster. :)
I’m hoping this will knock their socks off!
Preparation
More of this tonight…which thankfully caffeine doesn’t really affect me cause I’m drop dead tired. I could pretty mucho to sleep right now. Got my haircut tonight..let me tell you how good THATfeels after 8 months of damage to my hair. Soooo nice!
Time to have a relaxing evening with some tea and Warcraft heh. Tomorrow is going to be a long night of testing!
matcha goes great with gaming :D or at least it does when I play GW2 :D probably because I don’t have to worry about steeping times hehe
Helena – matcha will be with me tonight….testing tonight from 7:30-2:30am so I’m letting myself drink more matcha tonight heh looking forward to maybe trying my english toffee in a latte…
ooooh yeah baby! Time to have this one again since it’s been a while. I needed a nice wonderful black cup of goodness this morning so this is what i reached for. Sadly other steepsings of it will need to wait until i get some. Work just isn’t condusive for doing that. Anyway, there is a reason i picked up 4? ounces of this on my last order. it’s is wonderful! i love the malty chocolatey goodness that is this tea and the subtlties that come out as later steeps happen. mmmmmmmm!
Me too!
Curious how you prefer to steep this. I keep experimenting with it. Do you do it Western or Gong fu? Would appreciate details. Thanks.
Donna – I’m a western kinda brew person. Mostly because i haven’t had a chance to find a gaiwan i love. It’s also more difficult for me to manage brewing things gong fu style unless i’m at home.
Donna, another opinion from someone who has had this a long time…I usually drink a pot, western style…or in a rush I use my finum infuser. I mix it into the newest alchemy blend too (Ginger Sage Winter Spa Blend).
I get totally different flavours from it depending on which method I take. I think of it as a very special tea that I like to savour in a gong-fu session but I rarely have the time so I occasionally do it Western style. I recommend trying both and having whichever you want whenever you want it! : )
Thanks for your perspectives. Western 1 T/cup for 3 min. is slightly bitter for me. I use a make shift Gaiwan-it’s a 5 oz china creamer with a lid and a handle. Works really well so I don’t burn my hand. I may prefer this tea gong fu, but it is more time consuming. I’m going to try Western again, but with less tea, slightly lower temp, and maybe a 2 min. steep.
that sounds like a plan donna. I think that’s similar to what i do. I know i don’t use a tablespoon of tea when i brew it western.
Sil, the only reason I used 1 T is that is what the Verdant website suggested for Western. It’s a bit much for my taste. With Western, for most black teas, I use 1 tsp, but sometimes 2 tsp with a Chinese black.
I use a teaspoon as well, typically for me 12 ounce Perfect Tea Mug. Works for me with a three minute steep in those proportions. :)
Donna – yeah I took one look at the tablespoon recommendation and went uh….I don’t think so! :) usually it’s about 1.5 for me for the 8oz mug
Thanks Uniquity and Sil. I’m going to try those suggestions. Sometimes a little tweaking can make all the difference. I usually start with what the tea company recommends, and if that doesn’t do it for me, then I start trying other temps, quantities and times.
I totally woke up today convinced it was saturday…snuggled down into my blankets hearing my other half get up to go to work. 15 mins later my alarm went off. UGH. Only thing to really look forward to today is that i’m finally gett my haircut! It’s been about 8 months so it’s um a little worse for wear.
On that note i needed a good strong smoothie this morning. Doubled up on my matcha and made a black cherry caramel (50/50) smoothie with extra matcha. soooo good! It’s going nicely with my other tea as i try to focus on work today.
I haven’t cut my hair in just as long it’s a mess that hangs to my belt!
heh mine’s not that long – just halfway down my back but my split ends are a mess!
I have a tendency to wear my hair in a sock bun ALL the time. I doubt if my husband even knows how long my hair is.
so this one’s not too bad. I’m pretty sure it’s the chocolate factor with Della Terra that throws me off. Still, not too shabby a tea if you’re looking for a good time ha! sorry..for something a little fun and different. Totally not an every day tea though. :)
