On Tap Today and Order Arrival

This morning I’m drinking Cranberry Autumn from Harney & Sons. My tea orders got here yesterday, just in the nick of time, since I’d almost run out of black tea (my staple for every day caffination). The Cranberry Autumn is delightful to start with this morning, though I think it would benefit from tap water (I used filtered this morning from the fridge, and it’s a bit astringent & thin).

Harney & Sons produces my favorite flavored teas of all time. I don’t know what it is, but their flavors are true, and the base tea is always very high quality. Florence is my absolute favorite flavored tea – black tea with chocolate and hazelnut. Very tasty, and that’s what the bigger black tin in the picture contains. The smaller black tin is Peaches & Ginger, and the red is Cranberry autumn, of course. They also included a sample teabag of their Darjeeling, but as I’m not a huge fan of Darjeeling or teabags, it will probably wait awhile. I’ll have to check and see if their bags are compostable or not.

From Adagio, I ordered large tins of Lapsang Souchong and Keemun Concerto (daily teas for me), and a smaller tin of Irish Breakfast (I wanted just a refill bag, since I already have both small and large IB tins, but alas, they were out of all but the 4oz quantity). My husband likes Irish Breakfast, so I try to keep some on hand for him (I’m quite fond of it myself). For some reason Irish Breakfast seems illusive right now – part of the reason Adagio got my order this time was simply that they had IB in stock, and other companies I like IB from didn’t.

I also ordered the sampler box of their new teas – and I have to say, that Yunnan Noir smells absolutely delish. Can’t wait to try it, but I will, because I want to brew it up properly in a teapot, rather than my rushed triniTea cups for work. This weekend though…

The other teas included were Emerald Needles, White Symphony, Keemun Rhapsody, Golden Spring (which smells almost fruity and rich – can’t wait to try it), and Fujian Baroque (that smells chocolate-y and sweet).

And as a bonus, I noted that *all* of my tea was packaged in tins, with mostly paper as box filler (though Adagio did include a couple plastic air pillows, to my disappointment). I’ve been trying to avoid unnecessary plastic lately, and it’s really quite wonderful to know that at least these two tea companies care enough to package their tea in environmentally friendly tins (even though Adagio’s lids are plastic, at least they are sturdy and reusable). It’s not that I didn’t know about the tins before, I just suddenly *noticed* it quite radically this particular time, if that makes any sense.

This afternoon I think I’ll break out the Peaches & Ginger…

On Tap:

Yesterday, it was Adagio's Chestnut black all day, which I actually prefer brewed with tap water. Filtered water makes it too astringent and bitter...the extra minerals and such in tap water make it naturally sweet and not so drying.

On tap today is Adagio's Yunnan Jig - which ironically, I also prefer with tap water.

Note that these are both brewed in plastic (my triniTea maker), and results are different when brewing in a glass or ceramic pot. Probably the chemicals leaching out of the plastic...

Yes, I still really, really want an automatic tea maker with a *glass* brewing chamber (hint?)...

On Tap Today...

Today I'm drinking Assam Melody from Adagio. It's nice and malty, with almost a chocolately aftertaste that makes me quite happy and mellow.

Spoke Too Soon...

Ah yes - the folly of thinking I can do everything. Especially in the busiest months of the year for me. I do apologize for promising new posts, and then dropping the ball. For a long, long, looooong time. Sheesh.

The truth is, I've tasted a lot of teas since I started this blog. I've spent a lot of money buying teas that I will never have the chance to actually drink up, my stash is so huge. And while I will always enjoy tasting a few teas here and there as they cross my path, my appetite for buying and tasting dozens of different teas per month has waned.

So I'm unsure at how to proceed with this blog. It would be boring to write about (and for you to read) what tea I'm drinking on a daily basis, because having refined my tastes, I stick to a few varieties that I always enjoy for my daily needs, with a few others for special occasions or purposes. I'm not really buying teaware at the moment, partly due to storage issues, partly because I have all I need, and partly just because I have other places my money needs to be going at the moment.

I guess what I'm saying is, I feel like I have nothing to say, at least for now. I do have a few new teas coming to me this month that I'll be happy to write about, but it could be awhile before I order again.

So there you have it. An apology, and more questions than answers. No need to stress out though...if you feel so inclined, I'd love to know what *you* are drinking today...

2006 Banzhang Ye Sheng – Revisited

The last time I sampled this tea was in May 2007. I had just barely begun to embark upon my experiment with puerh, and this particular cake was bitter and astringent, though a couple later infusions were almost palatable. You can read the full review here.

Last night, I wasn’t quite so scientific with my tasting. I used a small Yixing pot (dedicated to young puerh), and a 2oz tasting cup. I did count off the seconds for infusions, and ended up with two 5s, two 10s, and 1 20s infusions before giving up. I used enough leaf to fill the pot halfway when they expanded, and only filled the pot half-way with water as well (unfortunately, even a small Yixing pot is too much for me with multiple infusions…should have used a gaiwan, I guess).

So despite my learning curve after so long away, I was pleasantly surprised with this re-sampling. I’d honestly come to despair that my puerh wouldn’t age well here in Montana, where the air is dry and the environment isn’t anything close to optimal for aging tea. But I noticed some definite changes for the better with this tea last night, giving me hope that eventually it will indeed age into something tasty. I have them closed in a china hutch at the moment, perhaps that is helping things along.

The first infusions were definitely bitter, but barely astringent at all. It was more cooling in the mouth than drying, with a hint of camphor in the aftertaste. The third infusion was the best – more sweet with just a hint of that bitterness, and a strong, lovely floral note that was hinted at in ’07, but now seems much more developed. The astringency was back, but not in an unpleasant way, and the brew was very light in color (light golden brown – I apologize for the lack of pictures).

All in all, I feel like this cake has already improved just in the last year and a half, and I’m looking forward to increased sweet floral/fruity notes.

Revisiting Puerh & the Return of Reviews

Greetings once again, to anyone who may still be lurking around. It's amazing to me that even through my summer absence, I still have visits registering to this site every week. I do hope the reviews and information are still helpful, or at least entertaining.

Naturally I'm still drinking tea daily - how could I not? My TriniTea machine has been invaluable for making tea for work, though I use more traditional teaware in the evenings. My husband recently gifted me with a beautiful green tetsubin pot after a business trip, and I'll admit, it's my favorite at the moment. I'll certainly post pictures of that eventually.

After a nice long break, I think I'm ready to return to reviews. Probably not daily, as I think that's why I burned out before, but weekly or even bi-weekly instead. Perhaps a new tea one day, and a "revisited" tea another?

I opened my teaware cabinet the other day to get a teapot, and the rich scent of puerh hit me full in the face, as it always does (my puerh "collection" is stored there as well). And I thought, what better way to ease back into the analytical spirit than to revisit my puerh collection?

So on Monday, Sept. 15th, Tea on Tap will reopen with a review of one of my puerh cakes, to see if I can taste any differences or nuances since I last tried it. Now if I can just remember where my puerh knife went...

Tea Nirvana

Dear Readers, I think it’s time for me to face the fact that I seem to have reached a sort of “tea nirvana” in my life. After having tasted many different teas and types of teas, I’ve developed definite likes and dislikes. While I will continue to try new teas here and there, I find that I have less of a desire to analyze them, and more of a desire to just drink and enjoy them at this point (which I still do daily). I’ve also reached the saturation point with my teaware – I have a lot of nice pieces, and while there are pieces I’d still like to acquire, my quest to live a less “consuming” lifestyle these days is at odds with those “wants”.

So this will be my last post, at least for quite some time. Perhaps in the fall when the whether gets cold, I’ll feel more analytical about what I’m drinking, but for now, I’m just going to sip and enjoy my tea without worrying about tasting notes and such. The blog will remain as a reference for anyone who might find it useful, and of course feel free to contact me anytime through the comments.

Happy sipping...