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This is my cup of the evening, while I catalogue all my black friday teas.

I brewed this according to the package directions, 96C for 2 minutes, but I think for my next cup I’ll lower the temperature. There are lovely fruity, grape notes along with some malt, but also an ashy character that I’m not loving. Though as it cools, the ashyness mellows out and becomes much less noticeable.

This is turning out to be quite a lovely cup. I think I may have a love affair with Darjeelings, which is probably a good plan, as I have an absurd number of Darjeelings in my collection now.

Flavors: Ash, Fruity, Grapes, Malt

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
bcbryan

Hey, I noticed that you said you have a lot of experience with Darjeelings. Which would you recommend that aren’t too expensive? I noticed that What-Cha has quite a few that are around that $5-7 per ounce range that I like but can’t decide on one.

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bcbryan

Hey, I noticed that you said you have a lot of experience with Darjeelings. Which would you recommend that aren’t too expensive? I noticed that What-Cha has quite a few that are around that $5-7 per ounce range that I like but can’t decide on one.

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Bio

I grew up drinking jasmine green tea with meals, but really fell in love with tea on a trip to Britain in elementary school. My first great love was Earl Grey, and I still adore it and all its variants.

I discovered the beauty of loose leaf tea much later, when, on impulse, I picked up a few teas that were on clearance at a home store. My introduction to loose leaf teas were Masala Chai and Provence Rooibos by the Metropolitan Tea Co and an unknown brand of kukicha and gyokuro (little did I know what a precious treasure I’d stumbled onto with that.)

At the time I was lucky to live in a place with multiple tea shops and several places to have afternoon tea, which is a delight I still miss.

Tea is part of my daily ritual and a nice, affordable way to appease the collector in me.

I enjoy distinctive whites, greens and oolongs, flavoured blacks, and herbals that are heavy on the citrus, lavender or mint.

Rating rubric, to give myself some consistency:
0-15 Yuck, not even drinkable.
16-30 Disappointing, not really inclined to give it a second try.
31-45 Disappointing, but maybe there’s potential? Worth one more try, prepped differently.
46-60 Mediocre, not terrible but not memorable.
61-75 Not bad. I’ll definitely finish what I have and might buy again.
76-90 Very enjoyable. Tasty, complex, it’ll keep me coming back.
91-100 BEST! I love everything about it and I will drink it forever.

Beyond tea, I’m a sex educator, polyamory activist, and radical queer. I love backwoods camping, abstract painting, baking & cooking, nail polish, cats, ceramic sculpture, and home nesting.

Location

Winnipeg, MB, Canada

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