What Black Are You Drinking

Oxidized tea
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StoneLadle
Posts: 347
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2020 12:19 am
Location: Malaysia

Sun Nov 01, 2020 5:06 am

@faj you're a hoot hahahaha but I scrolled up and realised it was @gregcss that had a Hojo matter hahahahahahaa...
faj
Posts: 710
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 6:45 am
Location: Quebec

Sun Nov 01, 2020 5:14 am

StoneLadle wrote:
Sun Nov 01, 2020 5:06 am
faj you're a hoot hahahaha but I scrolled up and realised it was gregcss that had a Hojo matter hahahahahahaa...
Doesn't everyone, on this forum, have some matter with Hojo? :lol:
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OCTO
Posts: 1120
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:25 pm
Location: Penang, Malaysia

Fri Nov 06, 2020 7:59 am

faj wrote:
Sun Nov 01, 2020 5:14 am
StoneLadle wrote:
Sun Nov 01, 2020 5:06 am
faj you're a hoot hahahaha but I scrolled up and realised it was gregcss that had a Hojo matter hahahahahahaa...
Doesn't everyone, on this forum, have some matter with Hojo? :lol:
I think it's not really a big issue for both @StoneLadle and myself.. :D :D :D
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OCTO
Posts: 1120
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:25 pm
Location: Penang, Malaysia

Fri Nov 06, 2020 8:01 am

I'm having a 2 yearold TongMu Guan JinJunMei.... very nice and smooth, though not as fragrant when it was fresh. Nevertheless, still a nice tea to wind down the evening and kickstart the weekend!!

Cheers!!
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joelbct
Posts: 81
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:14 pm
Location: NY

Thu Nov 12, 2020 8:39 pm

Just opened a package of Castleton 2020 Second Flush Darjeeling.

If memory serves, this one is about as good as last time I had it, in 2018. Plenty of those fruity muscatel notes.

I have 3 other SF to try, hopefully one of the less expensive ones will be good, too.
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LeoFox
Posts: 1775
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 4:01 pm
Location: Washington DC

Fri Nov 20, 2020 1:18 pm

Afternoon pick me up with a Ceylon "royal" black tea from Elephant Chateau. This is a lower elevation tea harvested from the Sabaragamuwa region of Sri Lanka, Spring 2020. Brewed 2.5 grams in 85 mL gaiwan using Hojo's method: 30s, flash, flash, flash, 1 min, 5 min; stacking two infusions at a time into a mug.

The tea has a strong rose aroma and tastes like banana, yam and honey. For the final 2 infusions, i added a pinch of sri lankan cinnamon into the gaiwan. Delicious.
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debunix
Posts: 1811
Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2017 1:27 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Sat Nov 21, 2020 12:27 pm

Banana, yam, and honey with cinnamon sounds wonderful. Mmm.
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debunix
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

Sat Dec 12, 2020 1:52 pm

Spring 2012 Light roast Wild tree purple varietal black tea of Dehong from Yunnan Sourcing. I don’t remember when I first got this small sample, but I’m sure it sat in the back of the tea cupboard for a long time (neglected rather than aged deliberately!). Today, I am enjoying a session of plummy/fruity, caramel sweet, mellow infusions from an unglazed Petr Novak pot, infusions entirely missing any sharp or bitter notes. Fine stuff.
YatraTeaCo
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Mon Dec 28, 2020 1:35 pm

I wouldn't call myself a regular Assam drinker by any stretch, but I've been happily drinking a very tippy 2nd Flush produced by my childhood friend, Marangi Estate's owner. His uncle is the owner of the more renowned Halmari Estate. I sourced both teas a month or so back - the Marangi is a much softer Assam, though it still retains classic Assam properties. Extremely well balanced and an easy drinker without any additives.

I've been drawn to this tea much more as the weather continues to cool in Boston.
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debunix
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

Tue Dec 29, 2020 10:31 am

Beautiful!
Ethan Kurland
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Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:27 pm

Championship Black Tea: latest season from Taiwan:

The last high-altitude tea leaves harvested to be processed as black tea by the same award-winning farmer/producer family that has made the best balck tea for many years, give a greater amount of tart, fruit flavors than usual. I love it. I did not keep some of the previous season's leaves to make a side by side comparison but am sure of the difference.

I have been drinking this tea for at least several years & know that it has been consistently excellent & much the same from year to year besides what I have noted above & a couple of years ago, I felt it was slightly muted. (I chose to buy a Hehuan black in quantity that year because they were about = in quality & the Hehuan cost less.)

Using 1 gram of tea per 40 ml of 98C water, one can steep for 3 minutes for a very rich, full-bodied drink whose tart fruit flavors will be noticed less because of competing strength from the flavor typical of Taiwan black teas (strong without bitterness; only slightly sweet; & slightly astringent). (Some of my siblings add some milk when steeping this long.) Or, steeping for 30 - 60 seconds, the balance of flavors tilts toward the fruitiness.

Using 2 1/2 grams of tea per 40 ml of 98C water steeping for around 10 seconds, one gets the most fruitiness. The drink has much in common with dark oolong but still has mouthfeel of black tea. Drinking many infusions individually, one notices the drink changing at a slow, subtle pace. Combining all of the many infusions made via these parameters, one gets a wonderful unique, interesting, delicious, large quantity to enjoy for hours oneself or share with many. (This is my favorite preparation.)

I have been using common porcelain teapots.

Cheers
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debunix
Posts: 1811
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

Sun Jan 10, 2021 5:23 pm

I enjoyed that description enough to dig into the black tea stashes and I found this 'Light roast wild tree purple varietal black tea of Dehong' from Yunnan Sourcing. It's a bit flat, but otherwise very pleasant; I attribute the 'flat' to it being a 2012 harvest and having both sat unopened for a very long time and sat opened for a long time beween sessions.
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LeoFox
Posts: 1775
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Location: Washington DC

Fri Feb 05, 2021 4:40 pm

Enjoying a session of ceylon black with the m&L gaiwan bought from @Shine Magical.

Gaiwan works like a charm, presenting the rose and light banana notes clearly, even in high tds water. This is a 2020 spring harvest from the lowlands - a great casual sipper.
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jackramirez
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Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2021 1:58 am
Location: St. Louis, US

Mon Feb 15, 2021 3:19 am

This time we brought from the trip a lot of tea and coffee from the highlands of Ilam (Nepal), it's a pity, but the supplies are already running out, tea of extraordinary deliciousness is black, green, and white. In our city, you will hardly find such a thing.
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Ethan Kurland
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Mon Feb 15, 2021 12:15 pm

Welcome to teaforum, Jack. The photograph of a man alone in the expanse of land covered with tea makes me ponder how we benefit from such labor. I see you live in St. Louis. I lived there for 2 years & never went up the arch.
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