When a session goes wrong for no logical reason

[swordofmytriumph]

So I got home, looking forward to my Li Shan in my new Nosaka pot. I brewed the tea, licked my lips and sipped...and it tasted like my leaves were cooked to death. None of the lovely flowers and citrus, just cooked tea leaves. At first, I thought it was because when I tested the pot I did so at half capacity, so the leaves steeped for less time than this time which was at full capacity. So I did a control in a porcelain gaiwan. Same taste (though to a slightly lesser extent). I reduced my temp from 200F to 190F. Cooked leaves. Tried another HM oolong and same thing. So I gave up on the HM oolong, and got out Floating Leaves heavy roast house oolong and steeped it like always (porcelain gaiwan). It doesn’t taste cooked, but it tastes like its soul has been sucked out. This tea usually has a big body and a lesser aftertaste, just the way I like it. But now it has a huge aftertaste and the body is reduced drastically, and a quarter of the toasty flavors are gone. It’s all flat.



Has this happened to anyone else before? The only thing I can think of is that I had a lot of sugary food today and I’ve been staying away from sugar entirely for months. Maybe that’s affecting my palate?

[Bok]

Sounds like the issues is with your body, not the tea.

I had that recently when I had a cold.
Or an issue related to the humidity in your environment. Less humidity, less perception of flavours.

When I go back home from Asia to Europe most of my teas taste a lot flatter.

[swordofmytriumph]

Huh. Well, that's weird. I'll give it a couple days and see what happens. Mighta just been all the sugar I had messing with my flavor perceptions....Still, it's crazy when that happens. That there could be such variation of flavor.

[Victoria]

Has you water source changed? Happens to me now and then, and I think the culprit may be that my usually great filtered city water is being sourced from a different reservoir, leading to some fluctuations water profile ph/tds/calcium/mag....

[Baisao]

Has you water source changed? Happens to me now and then, and I think the culprit may be that my usually great filtered city water is being sourced from a different reservoir, leading to some fluctuations water profile ph/tds/calcium/mag....

Water source, and if it is city water the water quality could have changed too. I've experienced water locking up flavors, muting them, as we say.

Anyway, water and biology can all be factors at play. When I lost my sense of smell tea tasted more like soup than tea since only the savory flavors came could be sensed.

[Ethan Kurland]

So I got home,

If coming home was on an airplane, it is likely you would not be tasting things as usual for at least a few days. Unless you take some steambaths or spend a lot of time breathing through a wet cloth to return your crucial areas involving tasting to normalcy, that is just a fact of life. Drink your cheapest teas or something besides tea, no sense in wasting..... Cheers

[swordofmytriumph]

So my water source is the same, my water comes from an aquifer, it's my tap water, they don't treat it in any way. I live in a small town outside of Seattle, it's only the one source. It rains regularly here so it's not like there's been a sudden influx of water. Also, I only was getting home from work, not out of town.

So I got home from work today, and it was better. Not up to my usual standards, but everything had actual flavor and didn't taste cooked. I was so relieved! Hopefully it will be up to my usual standards tomorrow.

[plamarca000]

I notice when I eat something sugary the taste of tea changes and gets more muted and subdued. Also within an hour of brushing my teeth I wont drink tea. Makes it taste awful.

[swordofmytriumph]

I notice when I eat something sugary the taste of tea changes and gets more muted and subdued. Also within an hour of brushing my teeth I wont drink tea. Makes it taste awful.

Yeah, really muted. I've tried over the last few days eating no sugar one day, and sugary things the next to test. Similar results with the sugar. Seems that sugar is bad for my palate. I foresee becoming much more healthy in the future. I can either have a lame doughnut at work, or I have have fabulous tea when I get home. No contest there.

[Rickpatbrown]

This is one of the cool things about tea ... it reflects who we are in the moment. We are always changing biologically and psychologically. Glad that your perception is returning.