I recently placed an order from a local supplier who at this time of year has a 50% off sale, and I selected small quantities of many teas I’ve never tried (like two white teas and several Chinese greens).
Not sure if it will heighten my tea experience or be a nuisance, but I was going to make notes in a book when trying them for the first few times. I’ve been a tea enthusiast for years though I’ve never been one to take notes.
For those of you who sometimes or always take notes, what goes into your book (or electronic equivalent)?
Taking Notes
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I wrote who sold me the tea & its price & parameters of preparations, especially noting what characteristics might be brought out by varying temperature or timing. It was smart to do when I had many more teas than I do now. Now I don't have tea that will be horrible if prepared somewhat away from ideally, nor quite as much to learn; so, I don't take notes about parameters.
Since I began taking notes I’ve used Evernote app. It was free then, works across all my devises. I have a tea stack (folders/sub folders) broken down into categories, tea types, companies I use most frequently etc. Inside a specific note I’ll include anything I can find about the tea, my steeping parameters until I get it right, and any post I share with others about the tea.
I always take notes on the first time I taste a pu'er tea I have bought. Because I am a sad old man I use a fountain pen and a paper block rather than a very nice and more interesting electronic tablet. If a tea requires further ageing I do write notes during subsequent tastings. The paper I use is a Tomoe River block a friend got me from the US for its property to allow fountain pen use.
Details:
Name of the tea and year
Seller name
Quantity of leafs
Capacity of the teapot used
Temperature(s) of the water
Details of the dry leaf and after the initial rinse
For the first 3 or 4 steepings: aroma, taste (front, middle mouth and back of the mouth), colour, viscosity, aftertaste and other facts like cha qi, etc.
A 'one liner' with my opinion of the tea.
Details:
Name of the tea and year
Seller name
Quantity of leafs
Capacity of the teapot used
Temperature(s) of the water
Details of the dry leaf and after the initial rinse
For the first 3 or 4 steepings: aroma, taste (front, middle mouth and back of the mouth), colour, viscosity, aftertaste and other facts like cha qi, etc.
A 'one liner' with my opinion of the tea.
A template for maintaining details of your teas:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Abd_o ... t3no_p8Vn8
Edit: added Pivot Table by Brand (in addition to the existing one by Vendor).
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Abd_o ... t3no_p8Vn8
Edit: added Pivot Table by Brand (in addition to the existing one by Vendor).
Last edited by Psyck on Sun Jan 07, 2018 9:56 am, edited 3 times in total.
Wow that’s intense. Snoopy to the rescuePsyck wrote: ↑Wed Dec 27, 2017 2:05 pmA template for maintaining details of your teas:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Fl3_R ... UIRuu5giYh
What’s the original source for template?
Airing out my messy notes laundry, and organized categories...
I created it based on the things I saw people in tea forums tended to keep track of. Creating is the easy part - maintaining it on the other hand - well I've only just begun inputting details of my stash into it...Victoria wrote: ↑Wed Dec 27, 2017 3:01 pmWow that’s intense. Snoopy to the rescuePsyck wrote: ↑Wed Dec 27, 2017 2:05 pmA template for maintaining details of your teas:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Fl3_R ... UIRuu5giYh
What’s the original source for template?
I mostly keep track on how much I paid for what for my regular teas, as I know them inside out.
Helps me to compare teas as well and what to purchase.
If I drink new teas, or from unfamiliar sources/gifts, I do sketch a few notes on taste and how they fare compared to what I drink regularily, basically to see if they are worthy to be put into regular drinking rotation, or if they go into the been-there-tasted-it-basket
Helps me to compare teas as well and what to purchase.
If I drink new teas, or from unfamiliar sources/gifts, I do sketch a few notes on taste and how they fare compared to what I drink regularily, basically to see if they are worthy to be put into regular drinking rotation, or if they go into the been-there-tasted-it-basket