Thread: Tea anyone ??!!

Yeah, it's mine.

I think it's about 13 years old now.

What the hell was I doing, anyway? Why do I look so concerned?

you look like your pondering what tea to have while the guy on the left has just been served his tea and scones

Well, it was nice and hot yesterday, so I decided to open my packet of 2013 Kagoshima shincha Kirishima Asatsuyu and cold-infuse it:




It must be said that the first thing to note about this tea is the amazing smell when you open the packet! Incredibly sweet and floral—I would recommend this tea for its fragrance alone!




So I put a scoop and a bit of leaf into my houhin...




...six ice cubes and some patience.




Ten minutes later...




Twenty minutes later...




I decided to pour what I had but it turned out to be less that I thought.

Nevertheless the tea was great with a lovely fresh sweetness, thought the colour was a little bolder than I expected.




I added another four cubes for a second steep and left it a little longer this time.




The flavour was similar but I got more tea and all was well!

Obviously it's quite time consuming making tea this way but definitely worth a go—the result is lovely but it's a shame that you don't get much in a cup.

I've also got pictures of preparing this hot, which gives a better impression of the tea itself and I'll post that one later in the week. Unfortunately the photos are a bit crap but never mind—I'm too lazy to take them again.

Last but not least, I have four new Japanese style tea cups that my dad bought for me in St Ives! I'll share those at some point, too.

2013 Kagoshima shincha Kirishima Asatsuyu, prepared hot:








First off, this is a very nice tea. It has quite a bold yellow colour and, when steeped for the second and subsequent times, it has a fairly deep, fukamushi-type murkiness (probably not the best word to choose here!)—though still retaining its yellowness—despite being a light-steamed tea.

I don't think that this tea tastes quite the same as it smells, unfortunately, but it has a light floral flavour that starts off fairly bitter and then becomes sweeter throughout the steeps.

I'll also note that it has been said that this tea can be quite hard to brew properly, so there is a high chance that, after only making it twice, I've yet to find the right combination of brewing variables. I'll keep playing around with it and see what I can get out of it.





Customary photos of leaves.

Today I opened a new tea cake, a Menghai Dayi 8363. I do not know what year it is from, unfortunately.

It is a ripe/cooked tea.

Tea cake:
The cake is small, (100 grams) fairly loosely packed and comes apart easily. The tea leaves in
the cake look great, seems like they tried to preserve whole/whole-ish leaves. The aroma is floral
forest undergrowth, a bit earthy and very pleasing.


Front of cake


Back of cake


Inner wrapper


The cake broke easily, the leaves look great


I rinsed the tea once, then brewed. I have 2 more yixing pots in the mail,
but for now this one serves the purpose. I still have to decide what tea I should dedicate it to.
I tried to get a picture of the steam from the hot pot rising, but it seems I did not really succeed


The tea served.

Aroma: Rich, earthy, a hint of floral, and I seem to pick out a touch of leather.
Color: Reddish brown
Taste: Rich, earthy, good mouthfeel, mouth-watering. Very pleasant.
Aftertaste: A growing, lingering aftertaste, with a hint of sweetness.

I posted after the first brewing, I am sure I will enjoy the rest throughout the day

Ok, here are the yunomi (tea cups) that I got from St Ives:





These first two cream/orange ones are made by German potter Susanne Lukacs-Ringel and are very nice to drink from:










The green cups are made by Chris Prindl—a German who has lived and studied in Japan, the UK and USA, and trained as a potter under Takao Okazaki in Yamagata Prefecture, before setting up his own studio in Pennsylvania.

I think they're very pleasing to look at, but they're much more delicate and, in my opinion, are not as nice to drink from as the others:

I just came across this website, which gives some very good, detailed info on every type of Japanese tea that you care to mention:

Types of Japanese Green Tea

Originally Posted by PigHog

Well, it was nice and hot yesterday, so I decided to open my packet of 2013 Kagoshima shincha Kirishima Asatsuyu and cold-infuse it:




It must be said that the first thing to note about this tea is the amazing smell when you open the packet! Incredibly sweet and floral—I would recommend this tea for its fragrance alone!




So I put a scoop and a bit of leaf into my houhin...




...six ice cubes and some patience.




Ten minutes later...




Twenty minutes later...




I decided to pour what I had but it turned out to be less that I thought.

Nevertheless the tea was great with a lovely fresh sweetness, thought the colour was a little bolder than I expected.




I added another four cubes for a second steep and left it a little longer this time.




The flavour was similar but I got more tea and all was well!

Obviously it's quite time consuming making tea this way but definitely worth a go—the result is lovely but it's a shame that you don't get much in a cup.

I've also got pictures of preparing this hot, which gives a better impression of the tea itself and I'll post that one later in the week. Unfortunately the photos are a bit crap but never mind—I'm too lazy to take them again.

Last but not least, I have four new Japanese style tea cups that my dad bought for me in St Ives! I'll share those at some point, too.

I don't reckon those ice cubes would have lasted two minutes in the middle of winter here, let alone over than 20mins!


Mick

Heyyyyy..........look who's here....that guy from that place where the seasons are backward. Good to see you !!

Running low on tea...Well sort of. Most people would say I stock too much, but they don't have the same sir of aristocracy that I have, common folk that they are... I'm down to my last tea bag of Russian Caravan and none whatsoever of my loose leaf of the same. Time for another trip to the tea shop to find that, and a few more different varieties to try I think. Something that acts like a kick in the Teath(sic).


Mick

P.S Told you I would front up for a brief time tonight Steph.