64
drank King of Fruits by Lupicia
2036 tasting notes

Sipdown no. 48 for the year 2014. A sample of loose tea in a single serving packet rather than a teabag. Guessing at water temp, and I also think I slightly oversteeped though I was shooting for 1.5 minutes.

Sometimes I wonder how I managed to live as long as I have on this planet, have been reasonably well-educated, etc. and not have knowingly eaten certain things. One of these is durian. I’ve heard of it, but never tried it. I looked it up and found a lot of references to “the world’s stinkiest fruit.”

The dry leaf smells like a forest—like pine or fir trees. Steeped, there’s more of a melon-y aroma, sort of like… mango? Not a lot of aroma attributable to the green tea base. The liquor is orangish-yellow.

The flavor is not tart so much as a tad bitter; to carry on with the tree description, it rather reminds me of the bitterness in the flavor of pine needles when I crunched them between my teeth as a kid. There’s a sort of mellowness underneath the bitterness, though that isn’t entirely unpleasant.

Not really for me, but I’m glad I got a chance to try it and I’d also now like to try an actual durian.

Preparation
1 min, 30 sec
Kirkoneill1988

i should try it someday :P about the pine needle taste, have you ever tried pine needle tea?

__Morgana__

Nope. Is it good?

Kirkoneill1988

i wouldn’t know either. :( but we should try it someday. :D the natives drank a lot of pine needle tea

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Kirkoneill1988

i should try it someday :P about the pine needle taste, have you ever tried pine needle tea?

__Morgana__

Nope. Is it good?

Kirkoneill1988

i wouldn’t know either. :( but we should try it someday. :D the natives drank a lot of pine needle tea

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I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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