Ummm… yeah… a little off the deep end.
19th – 600s – The leaves were cold and sleepy so the taste was a bit watered down, but still pleasant.
20th – “You can’t be serious” – I have a cup warmer at my desk and this time I set my teapot on it and left it steeping while I did some editing. Not sure how long I let it sit, LOL, but hot damn if it didn’t yield me a damn good cup of tea at least as good as the 17th steeping. At this point the amount of time needed to get great taste from the leaves is pretty dang high, but what the hell, let’s go for one more.
21st – “This is absurd” – Love it! I really should lay off, but now I’m amused at how much flavor I can get out of these longer steepings. I’m guess the last two have been at 15 minutes or so. I think keeping the temperature up and constant is a big help.I want to keep steeping until there’s just no flavor, but I don’t know if I have the patience. This one is pretty close to the 18th steep as well.
22nd – “Cut it out already!” – Alright, party people. I think this is the end of our reckless and insane tea steeping ride. The sweetness is now very mellow and alas, there is no discernible bite or crispness on the finish. Actually, there’s a little, but it does not soar my friend. It is time to retire these truly valiant and formidable leaves.
As a parting note, the flavor/aroma that showed up in the 16th steeping… that’s what the expired tea leaves smell like. Lovely experience from start to finish.
Flavors: Honey, Plum, Stonefruit
Toss it in a thermos with boiling water overnight and enjoy some more.
I’ll do it… for science! Seriously, good idea. Thanks!
Yep. It’s what I do for teas I like a bunch.