Learn More About Tea And Drinking Tea

i had a lovely chinese oolong today. it was wonderfully earthy, though not as pungent as the pu ehr can be. it was much softer. it tasted a little toasty, but not smoky at all. perfect!

and it took a lot of steepings. i love a tea with longevity!

i can’t quite remember what it was called, though. hmm…

today i had golden pu-erh for the first time in months. mmm, warm, earthy goodness. i forgot how energizing it can be. how could i have gone so long without it?

tonight i am drinking some yerba maté from argentina. i don’t know too much more about it, other than it’s not the smoky maté, which i can’t stand. it’s not bad, actually.

the tea shop guy gave me some tips on brewing maté. apparently, it’s good to soak it in room temperature water first, and one should be careful not to scald it. more like green tea temperatures as opposed to black tea temperatures.

hopefully this batch will give me the focus to get this paper done tonight. off to it!

my new favorite. the tea itself is soft and creamy, sans milk. multiple steepings encouraged.

And I probably will, as I am a member of a Tea-association at my school.

been drinking a lot of pu-erh lately. it mostly comes from southwest china and is fermented and aged in compressed tea cakes. my favorite pu-erhs taste really earthy. bonus: they can be steeped over and over again. the second steeping is better than the first and the third steeping still better than the second. very nice.

there is so much to learn about darjeeling! darjeeling is considered the champagne of tea, not only because the nomenclature applies only to tea grown in the darjeeling region of india but also because of its reputation for excellent product.

historically, the region produces primarily black tea, but it has become increasingly common recently to find darjeeling whites and greens. the black darjeeling is known for having some tannic, astringent characteristics and a musky spiciness known as muscatel.

the flavor also depends on the harvesting time!

“first flush” = springtime harvest – mild astringency, light color and aroma, gentle muscatel;

“second flush” = summertime harvest – full-bodied, amber, plenty of muscatel;

“autumnal” = coppery, fuller-bodied, somewhat less delicate flavor and less spiciness.

as i was researching online, some retailers not only advertise by flush but also by year and estate. apparently, tea from each estate has a characteristic taste and aroma.

i tried a pot of darjeeling at a tea house. no mention of which flush it was, but i would have guessed it was not a first flush. it seemed pretty intense. although, i accidentally steeped it for longer than i intended, and that might have had something to do with it also.

regardless, i am intrigued by darjeeling, a little seduced by its complexity. beyond the astringency, the taste had a lot of tone to it, certainly due to the muskiness – er, muscatel – that was mentioned.

i had no idea it was like all this.

white tea is my new favorite tea. i got some silver needle and it’s subtle and easy to drink. true to the many positive reviews, it does have a light nectar taste. i can see how it gets its name as it has some very slight pine nuances.

the purported health benefits are great also. word on the internet says that it may have up to five times as much cancer-preventing power as green tea. it’s super high in catechins, which help prevent against stroke, heart failure, diabetes, and cancer and has some anti-aging properties.

i have to watch the kettle more closely, though, as it should be brewed at a pre-boiling temperature.

antioxidant crazy and lots of subtle flavors. but so expensive. i may get some anyway.

i found a couple of good tea houses that sell the goods. i’m definitely getting my heart’s desires: earl grey and something green.

i saw on their website that they sell something they call ninja tea. it’s puffed rice with sencha and supposedly has a popcorn-like taste to it. i’m very curious.

i just learned that sencha is japanese green tea which goes through a different process than the chinese green teas. whereas chinese green teas are immediately pan-fried for preservation, senchas are first steamed, then rolled and dried before getting roasted by fire. the steaming lends japanese senchas a more vegetal, grassy flavor and so they tend to be more bitter than chinese teas.

i love it when things taste like grass (yeah, i think wheatgrass juice is delish!), so i’ll definitely be looking out for those senchas.

Yup, I now make a regular cup of green tea in the morning brewed of a loose tea blend. Because I’m that cool. Now I need to go back to Teavana (the previously mentioned shop) and figure out which of the 100 or so varieties I actually prefer. Which will be a costly and time-consuming process.