Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Hot Water’

When this tumbler first arrived, I was a bit surprised at how small it was. With the double-walled design, intended to keep your tea hot as long as possible, the interior volume is quite smaller than it appears. After several weeks of use, I have determined that there are three primary ways in which this tumbler can be utilised.

First, the strainer can be removed from the mouth of the container, the tea bag or leaves put inside, water poured into the tumbler, and the strainer replaced. This allows tea to be steeped indefinitely, and tea to be sipped while the leaves are still inside the tumbler. This works well if you are drinking a tea that is unaffected by long or indefinite steep times.

Second, the tumbler can be used as an on-the-go container for prepared tea. Simply remove the strainer and leave it at home, and the tumbler could be used for keeping tea, prepared in a pot or other vessel, hot on the way to another location.

Third, in the case of a lack of another brewing vessel, this tumbler can serve for that job too. Remove the strainer, put in the tea, put in the hot water, replace the strainer, wait for steeping to finish, and then simply pour from the tumbler into cups for serving.

My experience with these three methods was varied. With the first method, I found that, because the leaves or bag float loose inside the container and are not held back from the strainer, they would often float forward with the steeped tea and block/clog the strainer while I tried to drink. The second method worked out fairly well. My only complaint was that it seemed as though the tea still cooled off a bit fast, despite the double-walled design. But the double-walls did insulate one’s hand from the heat of the contents. In the third case, this worked only slightly better than the first method, running into the same issues, yet being a little more controlled for pouring, as I was attempting to pour into a mug that I could see rather than my mouth.

Overall, while I appreciate the design of this tumbler, I am not sure that the functionality is quite at the best point yet to make it worth a purchase. For overall usability, I would rate it a 6.5/10.

You can purchase the Tea Tumbler with Stainless Steel Tea Strainer directly from the Blue Q website.

Canton Tea recently asked if we could review their Special Puerh, produced for them a small artisan farm in Yunnan Province. They state that it is made from big leaf maocha is from the Big Tree, Arbor varietal, and consists of Grade 6 leaves and above, with some small buds.

I approached this in their suggested manner, using 4g of leaf, 95C water, doing multiple steeps, starting at 20 seconds per steep. The dry leaf appears to be tightly compressed, consisting of mostly dark leaves, with a smattering of light silver-needle like buds here and there. There seems to be a higher than usual proportion of leaf to stem ratio, favouring the leaf side.

The scent of the dry leaf is earthy, but raw. A definite scent of dried hay, or drying grass on the lawn. I can also detect a slight fruity sweetness, like ripening peaches.

1st steep – just a quick rinse.

2nd steep – 20 seconds. The scent of the leaf on the lid of the pot is wet hay, and the color of the liquor is a rich golden yellow – on the lighter side, not dark at all. The scent is raw, and already triggering a drooling response The taste is very light, and a bit flat. In the mouth it is cooling and fresh, sliding off the tongue, not coating it. The most interesting characteristic is the cooling sensation – telling me that it is a high-mountain Puerh.

3rd steep – 20 seconds. The scent is much sharper, with deeper tones. I think this is giving us a hint of what we will see in 3-4 years as it ages, with a sweetness coming out to play. The astringency is starting to show up – but still playing a background role.

4th steep – 20 seconds. The liquor is still the color of golden nectar, but starting to turn slightly cloudy. It seems to have a bit less flavour than the 3rd steep, but otherwise still the same characteristics.

5th steep – 1 minute. I decided to up the steeping time, as it seemed to be getting close to washed out. At 1 minute for the steep, the color is a bit lighter, but the astringency is starting to come out. I can feel it on the sides of the tongue, and a slight tingling in the middle of my tongue. The flavours are still sweet, slightly fruity, and cooling in the mouth. A very clean taste.

6th steep – 1 minute. Now this is what I was waiting for. All of a sudden, the flavour has become very complex, and strong, with a biting feeling in the back of the throat. My tongue is definitely tingling now, and the sweetness has reached an almost candy flavour. It is not as cooling, but there is more depth and character to it now. This is how I envision it in 7 to 8 years from now. This is the steep that I would like to freeze it on – really loving it right here!

7th steep – 1 minute. Back to about where the 5th was. Lighter flavour, sweetness, but definitely starting to feel a bit washed out.

You could probably continue on and easily get another 4-5 steeps out of this before you entirely lose the flavours. As a first year raw puerh – I would say that this is probably going to age very well, the flavours are beautiful and cool, like a high-mountain spring running through a peach orchard. As it ages and gains complexity, it will only get better, I am sure!

As always, Canton Tea never fails to impress. Whether you want to enjoy it young, or let it age and enjoy it later, this beeng cha will not disappoint!

You can purchase the 2011 Canton Tea Co Special Puerh directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.

East Pacific Tea Co. are an op out of Maryland that specializes in bringing high-quality tea to the consumer. Their emphasis is not on creating the best deal for the drinker, but providing the best beverage experience. They know they supply top-of-the-line stuff, and they’re willing to put their money where their cup is. Given what I’ve seen of their selection, I can believe it. How many vendors out there carry both a Chinese yellow tea and a Darjeeling white? Answer: Not many.

I was elated to have received a sample of their Gold Flake. It was actually one I was eyeing for some time once their name came to my attention. It’s no secret that any tea with the word “gold” in the title instantly makes my ears perk. (My ears shouldn’t be able to do that.) To date, my absolute favorite black tea is Yunnan Golden Needles – the younger, the better. While this didn’t look like a smattering of tippy gold buds, it wasn’t an ordinary Dian Hong (Yunnan black) either.  There was an almost-even distribution between dark, curled leaves and gold-tipped ones. That and the luscious smell – oh my! It was like freebasing honey off an oak tree covered in muscatel spice. I found no difference between its aroma and some Golden Needles I’ve tried.

Brewing instructions called for a five-minute steep in 212F water (basically boiling). I was at work when I tried this, so I didn’t adhere to a rigid preparation. Usually, with a finer black tea, I only steeped for three minutes. With “gold” varieties, I lowered the water temp to 190F-195F. The hot water I had access to was about what I preferred, but I had no way of properly eyeing the time. So, I guessed as best I could. It seemed like five-or-so minutes.

Unlike Yunnan Gold Bud (or Jin Cha) tea, this brewed up rather dark; I would almost say red-brown. The scent echoed the dry scent, though – a woody, earthy, smoky, somewhat malty, and honey-like aroma. While it smelled characteristically Yunnan, there was also a robust, Assam-like profile to it. This definitely showed in the taste. I expected the usual nectary excellence like Yunnans of yore, but I wasn’t anticipating the sheer kick to the tongue that came after. Malt was there in force followed by an astringent kick at the finish line. More often than not, I don’t care for dryness in black teas. I usually associate that sensation with lower-quality products. That wasn’t the case here. Like with a hearty Assam, the astringent trail added to its already-masculine character. And also like an Assam, it packed a caffeinated wallop that’d roust even the most stubborn of sleepers. This is a meaty, morning tea if ever there was one.

You can purchase the Gold Flake directly from the East Pacific Tea Co website.

Smell from the bag is sweet, ripe raspberries.

I followed the directions on the sample packet: empty entire contents of bag into 8 ounces of boiling water and steeped 5 minutes.

Ahh, isn’t that pretty? Pink tea with fruit notes. But where is the green tea? The raspberries seem to overpower the tea base.

This brew is tart and tangy. It makes me feel like I am drinking hot Kool Aid. I don’t understand how Rishi can call this green tea. I taste no tea at all.

I tried for a resteep and was forced to pour out the hot pink mess. All I could taste is hot water and even that was not very good.

This should have been tagged as an herbal tea, then I might have liked it better. But with the mention of green tea on the bag and then not being able to taste the green tea base, I am left to say that this tea is not very good.

You can purchase the Organic Fair Trade Raspberry directly from the Rishi Tea website.

The Darjeeling District of West Bengal, India has produced some of the most nuanced teas for well over 150 years.  Eighty-plus gardens in the district produce only 7% of India’s total tea. (Competing regions include Nilgiri and Assam.) The median flavor profile of Darjeeling teas has often been described as muscatel and light. Such a note earned these orange pekoes the designation, “The Champagne of Teas”.  Not sure I agree with the title, but it is apt enough in signifying their importance.

Tea Forté is a vendor with an unusual design for their teas. Instead of a normal net sachet for the illustrious leaves, they implement a…well…there’s no other way to describe it, really. It’s a fort, an actual “tea fort”. The netting is a tall pyramid, which is individually packaged. The” tea fort” string is green with a cute li’l leaf on the end.

I’ve only ever had one other tea from Tea Forté, and the delivery mechanism got a giggle out of me. What can I say? It was satisfyingly silly. For their Estate Darjeeling, they didn’t quite specify which estate it hailed from. (Note to future tea vendors: Always list the estate.) However, it smelled lovely – albeit missing the requisite spice in the fragrant finish.

Brewing instructions sort of echoed my thoughts on Darjeeling prep. They recommended a three-to-five-minute steep in water heated to 208F (basically boiling). Personally, I found that Darjeelings worked best with “under-a-boil” water and no more than a three-minute steep. That was the approach I used when test-driving this.

Since the leaf allocation of the “tea fort” looked to be about a tablespoon worth, I filled a transparent pint glass with about 12oz of hot water. To my surprise, the leaves expanded to take up the ENTIRE sachet. I started to think I underestimated the water needed.

Thankfully, the liquor brewed to the usual amber of Darjeelings past, if a little darker. This made me think that I was dealing with an autumn flush OP. The aroma could only be described as “cocoa-grape” – muscatel with a chocolaty underpinning.  The taste was boldly floral, slightly spicy, and very strong on the grapy give. I’d say it was even the most boldly muscatel of the Darjeelings I’ve tried in awhile, but part of that might also be due to the unexpected flowery profile.  Quite enjoyable.

You can purchase the Estate Darjeeling directly from the Tea Forte website.