My sisters arranged a brunch for last Sunday for them & me. My younger sister & I were speaking about it some days before it & did not want it to be concentrated on food. Our mother was a fantastic cook who prepared a very wide variety of dishes & our father was a glutton, & their children are somewhat like both of them.
When I arrived at the apartment of the hosting sister, I saw that there were 2 varieties of tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, fancy cream cheese, other cheeses, 4 excellent breads, smoked salmon, a homemade fish salad spread that had fresh cod, etc. (This was for a casual brunch.) Of course, cookies, nuts, seeds, fruits....
I had brought my best black tea which I prepared for everyone. My family had always started the day with coffee, even youngsters, but everyone was only allowed one cup. Father's cup held 16 ounces, my mother & two oldest siblings' held 12 ounces, etc. (I don't remember my younger sister & I working our way past 6-ounce cups officially. (By the time we were getting up to large sizes, the family did not pay attention to each other much because my father was tied up by too many things including holding local public office & late in adult life my mother got college degrees & a career.)
Anyway, the children like mugs of at least 12-ounce size & most of the six still only drink one cup of anything at a meal etc. So, tired of hearing that my tea is good & seeing second rounds go untouched. I prepared tea in my the host's large teapot, almost 2 quarts & served it in 12-ounce mugs. The tea was a success w/ all 3 sisters drinking all of each mug (for the only time I can remember); so, I poured them more. (Stupidly, I should say, because the serving of 2nds went untouched by them.)
Anyway, I stayed loyal to the plan my younger sister & I had made, to keep from concentrating on the food. However, she & my other sisters made a thing out of mix & matching breads, cream cheeses, etc. & hardly could stay on topics of conversation. I ate nothing for over an hour, but still could not get us to a deeper level of conversation which I had craved since being alone w/ the 3 of them w/o others around was rare.
But damn the tea was good. I drank my first cup, my second cup, & the 2nd cups of my sisters. This made me think. This tea is tops for flavor & not bad for durability, but the 3rd infusions is not so close the best infusion, the 1st, & a full step down from the 2nd: so, the 3rd is good, better than the best infusion of most teas; however, why did I ever bother to make a 3rd. I enjoyed a huge amount of the tea at its best infusions very much.
Last night & today I kept to preparing greater amounts of tea only for the better infusions. It was the best tea-drinking. Also, I did not think about preparing food or eating it, until I was finished being pleased by tea. (I stopped having a cup or 2 before a meal & 1 or 2 cups after the meal. I completed sessions, sat a while feeling the effects of satiation....)
Also, I should note that I have been drinking 3 or 4 different teas daily for some years, & some days even 5 or 6. I think it will be 2 or 3 teas a day ... at least for a while.
Cheers
Thinking about how to get your tea to please you the most it can
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Ethan Kurland
- Vendor
- Posts: 1032
- Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:01 am
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I have no problem with drinking teas past their peak of flavour; I see it as a farewell.
However, time constraints can force me to be more efficient or demanding, and social constraints can force me to serve only the best parts.
Additionally, sometimes I need to focus less on 'testing' the tea, and more on actually enjoying it and making the most of it (for example, drinking some teas with fewer leaves and longer brews, contrary to my usual practice).
(separately, I find that a tea with a powerful 'qi' is often the best way to force people to abandon trivial pursuits and to focus more on each other's company, but with the important qualification that they need to be comfortable doing so)
Andrew
However, time constraints can force me to be more efficient or demanding, and social constraints can force me to serve only the best parts.
Additionally, sometimes I need to focus less on 'testing' the tea, and more on actually enjoying it and making the most of it (for example, drinking some teas with fewer leaves and longer brews, contrary to my usual practice).
(separately, I find that a tea with a powerful 'qi' is often the best way to force people to abandon trivial pursuits and to focus more on each other's company, but with the important qualification that they need to be comfortable doing so)
Andrew
I agree with this. As a vendor, Ethan probably has an enviable supply of good tea, so opting to drink only the best infusions seems reasonable. However, I like to get the most out of my leaves, both because I'm thrifty (or maybe just cheap) and because the later infusions of high-quality tea are usually still decent. The last few steeps also show me something about the quality of the tea, with lower-quality tea fading into bitter veggies/grass/malt and good tea fading into mildly flavoured water.
I don't usually get to serve tea to guests, but I wouldn't make them drink those last few infusions. However, I might finish out the session after they go home.
I'm with leave the party when it's at its best – same as I tend to eat the part I like most last of a given meal. I'd like to keep the best taste in mouth, ideally lingering there for a while. If I go past that, chances are it gets washed away and dulled.