Your day in tea

User avatar
debunix
Posts: 1812
Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2017 1:27 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Sun May 30, 2021 3:51 pm

Last evening, I reorganized my tea chest. When I realized I was running out of my last Yancha last year, I ordered some from mostly new-to-me sources, and packets of twisty loose yancha takes up a LOT more volume than rolled, vacuum-sealed Taiwanese mountain oolongs...and the white teas I ordered at the same time come in even larger packages. So the tea chest got overwhelmed and stayed disorderly until last night, and I've been drinking a lot of some teas just because they were easier to grab. And I've got the puerh, which I store in bags that are not sealed, out of the chest, so only sealed teas are in there, and can't pick up any chest-funk from the antique chest.

But now I've got a much better sense of what is in there, and I'll be enjoying a greater variety of teas again. I limit number of greens and green oolongs that can be open at a time, but yanchas are more forgiving. Maybe it's time for a Rou Gui tasting as a reward for sitting down and getting this done.

It will be quite a while before there is need to order more teas....aside from those already in process.
User avatar
Bok
Vendor
Posts: 5782
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:55 am
Location: Taiwan

Thu Jun 03, 2021 7:33 am

There is something to be said about having the same tea over and over on consecutive days. It eliminates impressions arising from daily differences in our mood, body and weather and kind gives a more accurate picture of what that tea is.

I used to do this a lot more a few years back, before curiosity got the better of me, but I still find it a worthwhile practice periodically.

Mangzhi Puerh.
Attachments
F6C6A585-3190-418D-BF5B-7C7F4D559686.jpeg
F6C6A585-3190-418D-BF5B-7C7F4D559686.jpeg (141.84 KiB) Viewed 11580 times
faj
Posts: 710
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 6:45 am
Location: Quebec

Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:10 am

Bok wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 7:33 am
There is something to be said about having the same tea over and over on consecutive days. It eliminates impressions arising from daily differences in our mood, body and weather and kind gives a more accurate picture of what that tea is.
I agree that closely spaced, repeated tastings can give a more balanced view of a tea.

In addition to the above, I find sometimes expectations, hopes or the novelty associated with tasting a new tea can skew my perceptions. I try to delay my judgement on a tea, especially when the first infusion leaves me especially impressed or disappointed. Consecutive tastings, I think, reduce the tendency toward confirmation bias.
User avatar
Bok
Vendor
Posts: 5782
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:55 am
Location: Taiwan

Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:26 am

faj wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:10 am
I agree that closely spaced, repeated tastings can give a more balanced view of a tea.
Not only that, I think it also helps one improve one's own brewing skills. Keeping things constant help refine the other parameters involved. There was a time when I had the same 3-4 teas day in day out, for as long as a year. I like to think that in those years my brewing improved quite a bit.
faj
Posts: 710
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 6:45 am
Location: Quebec

Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:34 am

Bok wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:26 am
Not only that, I think it also helps one improve one's own brewing skills. Keeping things constant help refine the other parameters involved.
True.

I have said in the past that I find it difficult to perform side-by-side comparative tastings : for it to be meaningful, you would need identical teapots, a discipline method, etc. Then again, If you are testing small changes in parameters, it is very hard to really taste a difference (side by side), because the two infusions' tastes and aromas overlap so much. Tastings in consecutive days rely on memory, which is imperfect, but can still, I think, provide more information through enough repetition.
User avatar
belewfripp
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2021 8:10 am
Location: Pennsylvania

Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:44 am

My day(s) in tea continue to be sporadic and unfulfilling. The good news is that recent doctor's visits have confirmed my esophagus looks good, with no constrictions or signs of Barrett's esophagitis, The bad news is that my stomach continues to protest at anything but bland diets and cold beverages. Hot (or even warmish) beverages seem to significantly irritate my stomach lining recently.

So, I'm experimenting with cold brewing my teas instead. This morning I'm having some of Taiwan Tea Crafts' Spring 2020 3 Flower Grade Dong Ding oolong that I put in the fridge last night. I put 24 g in a gallon (3.8 L) of filtered tap water and let it brew for about 14 hours before straining the tea into another container this AM. I'd say it's going pretty well - the tea tastes mostly of the roast, but it's not a bad flavor at all and the mouthfeel and aftertaste are both nice.

I worry about wasting leaves, though - I took the leaves, which looked not even remotely spent, and put them in another gallon of filtered water to brew another batch this AM, and I suspect I may be able to get yet another gallon even after that. But do I really need three gallons of this tea right now? I guess I'll find out. I can always just make less, as well, it's just i have a lot of gallon-sized empty containers lying around.
Ethan Kurland
Vendor
Posts: 1026
Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:01 am
Location: Boston
Contact:

Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:33 am

I definitely believe one learns a lot about teas that are drunk everyday for a long spell. One also might learn about himself.

I am out of all of my good teas except one, the 1998, a roasted Taiwanese oolong aged 22 years. When I drank this tea about once or twice a week, I would say it is great, that I love it.

Now that I drink it daily, I love the first few ounces that I drink in the morning. I enjoy the rest of that fairly big cup; then, I am ready for a break. If I don't have more for an hour or so, that second round (prepared with the same leaves) is also quite enjoyable, as are 2 or 3 more infusions made with the same leaves if drunk with a fair amount of time between rounds.

So: About the tea, I learn that it is great but not so complex or dynamic that I will drink a huge amount of it in a session that lasts for hours (which I can do with another aged tea that is similar but better & to get more of it, I literally begged). About myself I know that l best appreciate the flavor of roast when I do not drink roasted tea in rather large amounts quickly.
User avatar
debunix
Posts: 1812
Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2017 1:27 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:59 am

belewfripp wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:44 am
I worry about wasting leaves, though - I took the leaves, which looked not even remotely spent, and put them in another gallon of filtered water to brew another batch this AM, and I suspect I may be able to get yet another gallon even after that. But do I really need three gallons of this tea right now? I guess I'll find out. I can always just make less, as well, it's just i have a lot of gallon-sized empty containers lying around.
Teas intended for chilled consumption do not have to be started cool. A little boiling water to soften and open leaves, then diluted with cool water and chilled can give a different brew. When preparing to enjoy cool tea on an airplane (back when we did such things!), I'd sometimes just put a few drops of boiling water over the dry leaf dropped in an empty water bottle, just as much as the leaves can absorb, so it reads as 'empty' to security screenings; after passing the screening, adding cool water from a tap yields a richer and more interesting infusion faster than starting with truly dry leaf. It might also bring out things that irritate your stomach, so your brewing needs may vary. But it's worth a try to see if it improves your experience.

I use enough leaf to make the desired quantity of tea as I would brewing up hot tea--but taking into account the many steeps I usually prepare. So for a tea I infuse 4-6 times, I would start with 1/4-1/6 the amount of leaf I'd use for a teapot of the same size. For a tea I infuse a dozen times, 1/12th as much as I'd use for a pot that size. There's a lot of adjustment for different teas and guesstimates for the giant thermos brews, but overall the rules of thumb works pretty well.
User avatar
belewfripp
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2021 8:10 am
Location: Pennsylvania

Thu Jun 03, 2021 11:48 am

debunix wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:59 am
Teas intended for chilled consumption do not have to be started cool. A little boiling water to soften and open leaves, then diluted with cool water and chilled can give a different brew.
...
I use enough leaf to make the desired quantity of tea as I would brewing up hot tea--but taking into account the many steeps I usually prepare. So for a tea I infuse 4-6 times, I would start with 1/4-1/6 the amount of leaf I'd use for a teapot of the same size. For a tea I infuse a dozen times, 1/12th as much as I'd use for a pot that size.
Thanks for the tips, both make sense and I'll be sure to try them and see how it goes. I'm not always entirely sure how many steeps I get from a particular tea, beyond general impressions, nor of the exact volume of water, but I'm sure I can guess well enough to give it a try.
Ethan Kurland wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:33 am
I definitely believe one learns a lot about teas that are drunk everyday for a long spell. One also might learn about himself.
Bok wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:26 am
faj wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:10 am
I agree that closely spaced, repeated tastings can give a more balanced view of a tea.
Not only that, I think it also helps one improve one's own brewing skills. Keeping things constant help refine the other parameters involved. There was a time when I had the same 3-4 teas day in day out, for as long as a year. I like to think that in those years my brewing improved quite a bit.
I agree with all of these sentiments. Holding all of the other variables steady helps isolate what issues are coming from oneself, rather than the tea/kettle/water/brewing vessel. On the other hand, with certain teas there's only so many consecutive sessions I can have before I'm worn out. Obviously it helps if I really like a tea or find that it has a lot of depth (or, alternatively, contrary to expectations i dislike it, so I want to try again); but I also find with some teas that have a very lasting and rich aftertaste that I don't need to drink them quickly; rather, more spacing is desired.
User avatar
Balthazar
Posts: 706
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:04 am
Location: Oslo, Norway

Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:02 pm

Bok wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 7:33 am
There is something to be said about having the same tea over and over on consecutive days. It eliminates impressions arising from daily differences in our mood, body and weather and kind gives a more accurate picture of what that tea is.
Excellent point. I've been doing the same myself lately, drinking the same puer almost every day of the last week.

In addition to the already mentioned benefits, I find that it reduces the "decision fatigue" I sometimes feel when I'm picking teas (a luxury problem)
User avatar
LeoFox
Posts: 1777
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 4:01 pm
Location: Washington DC

Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:04 pm

Drinking same tea every day becomes necessary if it is green tea since green tea can get stale fast.
faj
Posts: 710
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 6:45 am
Location: Quebec

Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:20 pm

LeoFox wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:04 pm
Drinking same tea every day becomes necessary if it is green tea since green tea can get stale fast.
True. Discipline in avoiding opening too many bags at once contributes to enjoying better tea on average.
Andrew S
Posts: 704
Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2021 8:53 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

Thu Jun 03, 2021 5:02 pm

A large part of my tea drinking is habitual, reaching for the same few teas each day.

I've never felt bored by drinking the same tea over and over again, mostly because these teas are a part of my life, and I just 'drink' them instead of 'tasting' them. I try to pick between a few usual teas based on how I feel on any given day.

I usually need to make a deliberate decision to spend more time with some samples of other teas that I'm just trying out, and even then, I tend to go through the whole of each sample before forming concluded opinions about the new teas.

That usually means that I buy teas rarely, but in large quantities, so that I can go through large amounts without constantly worrying about trying a new tea each day, vendors running out, and constantly placing new orders.

Of course, it is easier to dump a large bag of old loose leaf pu er into a big jar than to keep small packets of green tea or high mountain tea fresh.

Andrew
User avatar
belewfripp
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2021 8:10 am
Location: Pennsylvania

Thu Jun 03, 2021 5:36 pm

For those of you who try to embrace drinking the same tea many days in a row (and not for reasons of freshness, but as a completely voluntary thing), at least some of the time, is this something that has always been your approach to drinking tea or did this come much later, after earlier periods of trying many different things over shorter periods of time?
User avatar
Victoria
Admin
Posts: 3043
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2017 3:33 pm
Location: Santa Monica, CA
Contact:

Thu Jun 03, 2021 6:03 pm

belewfripp wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 5:36 pm
For those of you who try to embrace drinking the same tea many days in a row (and not for reasons of freshness, but as a completely voluntary thing), at least some of the time, is this something that has always been your approach to drinking tea or did this come much later, after earlier periods of trying many different things over shorter periods of time?
My morning repertoire has been pretty consistent since the beginning. I prefer sticking to known, tried-and-true teas that I really like a lot after I wake up, while enjoying variety in the afternoon, evening, or during our tastings here. HY Chen’s roasted (light/medium/heavy) DongDing most mornings, sometimes rotated with an open seasonal pack of Sencha or a High Mountain oolong. Similarly, I pair teaware with each tea, so some pots get used quite a bit, in which case I’ll have a few very similar pots that I use in rotation. Basically, I don’t like being surprise right after I wake up, this has lead to my intimately knowing each tea, and noticing subtle changes in relative humid, local water, my own body, and changes in the tea itself.
Post Reply