A few thoughts on this tea:
- 1 ounce is not enough. I should have gotten more but it is kind of expensive. Worth it, but the price kept me from getting the metric ton that I truly wanted.
- These leaves seem fresher. This seems to make the richness of this tea more intense.
- And speaking of leaves, they are gorgeous. I’m not a big one for the visual side of tea, but these leaves are so huge and twisty and beautiful that I can’t help but appreciate them.
- I just don’t understand how something can be this dark tasting and still have such gorgeous sweet notes. It’s like rye bread made into syrup. Or brown rice. And the aftertaste is like I’ve been drinking syrup.
- I need to buy more of this. Maybe Tea Hawaii sells it by the pound. (And the husband won’t have a heart attack at spending that much on tea.)
I think 4 minutes is my happy spot for steeping this. At 3 minutes (which Tea Hawaii recommends), the lighter sweetness was hiding but at 4 minutes it comes out more. I’m not getting quite the super-grilled fruit notes because the sweetness is richer than that.
Anyway, my first steep (3 minutes) was more sweet rye bread but the second steep (4 minutes) had a little more balance. Actually, the second steep tastes like a first steep so I find that pretty awesome. No loss of flavor or strength.
The third steep (6 minutes) still seems a little milder, but there is more of the lighter sweetness than the rye bread sweetness so that could be what is giving that impression. Also, this third steep tastes a lot like the first steep from first time I tried this tea. Yay for fresh leaves!
I’ll try for a fourth steep in a bit – I drink this tea really quick and am starting to feel a wee bit caffeinated. To drink it so fast I think means that I really like this tea. But I kinda knew that.
Preparation
Comments
There’s a math problem for you: how long would it take Drinker X to imbibe one metric ton of Tea Y at a rate of 3 steeps per teaspoon interspersed with twice-daily variations of teas (A-X)? (Sophomore complaining that Algebra II has no bearing on his real life.)
Forget algebra! As long as I get to be Drinker X, I’ll solve this problem the old fashioned way – just timing myself while drinking through a metric ton!
Actually, don’t forget algebra. I use it to figure out proper g/oz amounts for things. Of course, that could be because I’m a dork…
High school math can be sort of lame but just wait till you get to the fun stuff like Linear Algebra. :D Math can be so much fun if it’s taught right. And don’t get me started on books about math, those are the best… /math teacher
Also, Auggy, where do you get this? I would really love to try it but not much is coming up on the google.
It’s from Tea Hawaii which is a pretty low tech place. You can contact Eva at teahawaii@gmail.com (their website (teahawaii.com) has their email as teahawaii@aol.com but the all the things included in my order had it at gmail) and then you’d have to mail her a check and then she’ll mail out the tea. Pricing and shipping information is in the comments on this post (I posted it as I got info from Eva.) http://steepster.com/aug3zimm/posts/38501#comments
There’s a math problem for you: how long would it take Drinker X to imbibe one metric ton of Tea Y at a rate of 3 steeps per teaspoon interspersed with twice-daily variations of teas (A-X)? (Sophomore complaining that Algebra II has no bearing on his real life.)
Forget algebra! As long as I get to be Drinker X, I’ll solve this problem the old fashioned way – just timing myself while drinking through a metric ton!
Actually, don’t forget algebra. I use it to figure out proper g/oz amounts for things. Of course, that could be because I’m a dork…
Hmmm…a bad high school algebra teacher must be the reason I just eyeball my tea :o)
High school math can be sort of lame but just wait till you get to the fun stuff like Linear Algebra. :D Math can be so much fun if it’s taught right. And don’t get me started on books about math, those are the best… /math teacher
Also, Auggy, where do you get this? I would really love to try it but not much is coming up on the google.
It’s from Tea Hawaii which is a pretty low tech place. You can contact Eva at teahawaii@gmail.com (their website (teahawaii.com) has their email as teahawaii@aol.com but the all the things included in my order had it at gmail) and then you’d have to mail her a check and then she’ll mail out the tea. Pricing and shipping information is in the comments on this post (I posted it as I got info from Eva.) http://steepster.com/aug3zimm/posts/38501#comments
Wow, that is impressively expensive. Still want to try it someday though, thanks for the info.