Well … here I am about to try my first steep of this tea – thanks to Chado for getting me to rescue it from my cabinet! I often set aside by “better” teas as if I am afraid I may never get my hands on them again – which could be true in some cases!
The last two days have been a couple days of exploring a lot of my sequestered teas!
This tea smells sweet, floral, vegetal … still in the cup.
Oh please please cool some!
I have tried to stop myself from gulping my tea too hot, as I miss out on a lot of the flavor!
My cup literally almost runith over … I should have grabbed a larger cup.
I can’t even blow on it to cool it.
Anticipation ….
Hearing the old heinz ketchup commercial jingle in my head (dating myself)…
Oh noes … its bitter… :( What did I do wrong???
Steep time and temp were spot on and I used a scale to measure the leaves.
SIGH
Let it cool some more … just wait ….
Twangy bitter ish.
This can’t be!!!!
I am going to just NOT be too happy having to dump this … going to try a re-steep – something is not right.
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Okay lets see how the re-steep turns out. I hope it is better.
Nope – still bitter.
This is an official WTF file.
I do the same thing with my “preferred” teas!! hoarding them til the end of days when they are stale :/
Here’s hoping you figure out the mystery bitterness!
Thanks Indigobloom – I mean based on the other ratings and the fact that Verdant has good stuff … it has to be my palate … right?
I will try it again another day.
Its kind of giving me a headache right now.
Dumping this cup and the leaves – it feels horrible to do that especially if I do figure it out! Then I will look back and mourn these delicate lovely leaves. SIGH
LOL okay drama over.
Awww it could be just a bad batch. Who knows? besides the powers that be lol
Every tea tastes different to every palate.
Indeed. Do you think this could be it … usually I turn on my kettle and as soon as it gets to the right temp I turn the kettle off and pour the water.
This time I got distracted and it was too hot. So I let the water cool to the right temp and then poured on the leaves. Could THAT be an issue?
It could be. If you allowed the tea to reach a boiling point, and then allowed it to cool, that could be a factor, because once a tea reaches a boiling point, it can start to lose its oxygen more rapidly (which is why tea brewed with water that’s been over-boiled or boiled too long can taste flat).
It could also be that this particular tea just doesn’t tickle your palate’s fancy. Not every tea is for every person, that was a very difficult lesson for me to learn when I started out in the tea business (which was more years ago than I care to think about at the moment), because it would be difficult for me to blend a tea and have others be critical of it … I mean, that was my baby, and I thought it tasted amazing, why didn’t others love it the way I did? But, everyone is an individual with an individual palate, and every tea – even when brewed under the same parameters – will taste differently to each individual.
Shouldn’t be – I always let my water cool to the proper temperature, since I don’t have a variable temp kettle or anything. What were your exact parameters?? Perhaps try less leaf? I find that the recommended 5g is maybe a bit too much for me personally sometimes. Not that I’ve tried this particular tea, though – it’s en route :D
Boiling water TOO LONG might affect it, but not just boiling itself.My tea boiler boils tea water for 4 minutes before it considers itself “done”-apparently they think that’s necessary to remove chlorine from the water.
After I have my boiling water tea, I just let it cool to whatever temp I need for my next cup and it works fine. I have seen tea companies even say “boil water and let cool for X minutes before steeping” to brew their tea.Krystaleyn – I thought it seemed like a TON of tea myself! As I was scooping it out and weighing it I was like DANNNGGGG lol I will try that idea!
Scott – Yes I have seen that as well – boil then let cool 1 minute which is exactly what I ended up doing with this tea so yeah I doubt that was the issue.
It may be as Krystaleyn suggested so I will try less leaf next time.
Thank you both!
LiberTEAS – indeed I can totally understand how it must feel at times for people not to love your babies :) They ARE your creations that you “birthed” but alas yes we all do have different palates. I hope that reducing the leaves does help but if not I will have to chalk it up to my taste buds and pass this tea onto someone who will give it an adoring mouth :)
Sorry to get you excited Azzrian. I guess this tea just isn’t for you. Weird that I didn’t get any bitterness out of it. Possibly different batches? I’ll have to experiment a little more and see what happens.
Sorry to get you excited Azzrian. I guess this tea just isn’t for you. Weird that I didn’t get any bitterness out of it. Possibly different batches? I’ll have to experiment a little more and see what happens.
Oh its cool Chado … thanks :) I will experiment more too.
Azzrian, have you tried this one again yet? Based on my experiences with these dragonwells, I’m 100% convinced that too much leaf must be the problem. Steep a couple tsps full in 8oz. water at 175F for 1.5 minutes. If anything, that might end up too weak, but you should get the right flavours, and no bitterness. I really don’t think it’s your palate if you’re getting bitterness. If you dislike boiled veggies or rock sugar there might be a problem, but I don’t think that’s the case :)
No I never did …. and I love rock sugar and boiled (well steamed) veggies :)
I will take your advice here and give this another go tomorrow! Thank you Krystaleyn
Good luck :)
Okay lets see how the re-steep turns out. I hope it is better.
Nope – still bitter.
This is an official WTF file.
I do the same thing with my “preferred” teas!! hoarding them til the end of days when they are stale :/
Here’s hoping you figure out the mystery bitterness!
Thanks Indigobloom – I mean based on the other ratings and the fact that Verdant has good stuff … it has to be my palate … right?
I will try it again another day.
Its kind of giving me a headache right now.
Dumping this cup and the leaves – it feels horrible to do that especially if I do figure it out! Then I will look back and mourn these delicate lovely leaves. SIGH
LOL okay drama over.
Awww it could be just a bad batch. Who knows? besides the powers that be lol
Every tea tastes different to every palate.
Indeed. Do you think this could be it … usually I turn on my kettle and as soon as it gets to the right temp I turn the kettle off and pour the water.
This time I got distracted and it was too hot. So I let the water cool to the right temp and then poured on the leaves. Could THAT be an issue?
It could be. If you allowed the tea to reach a boiling point, and then allowed it to cool, that could be a factor, because once a tea reaches a boiling point, it can start to lose its oxygen more rapidly (which is why tea brewed with water that’s been over-boiled or boiled too long can taste flat).
It could also be that this particular tea just doesn’t tickle your palate’s fancy. Not every tea is for every person, that was a very difficult lesson for me to learn when I started out in the tea business (which was more years ago than I care to think about at the moment), because it would be difficult for me to blend a tea and have others be critical of it … I mean, that was my baby, and I thought it tasted amazing, why didn’t others love it the way I did? But, everyone is an individual with an individual palate, and every tea – even when brewed under the same parameters – will taste differently to each individual.
Shouldn’t be – I always let my water cool to the proper temperature, since I don’t have a variable temp kettle or anything. What were your exact parameters?? Perhaps try less leaf? I find that the recommended 5g is maybe a bit too much for me personally sometimes. Not that I’ve tried this particular tea, though – it’s en route :D
Boiling water TOO LONG might affect it, but not just boiling itself.My tea boiler boils tea water for 4 minutes before it considers itself “done”-apparently they think that’s necessary to remove chlorine from the water.
After I have my boiling water tea, I just let it cool to whatever temp I need for my next cup and it works fine. I have seen tea companies even say “boil water and let cool for X minutes before steeping” to brew their tea.Krystaleyn – I thought it seemed like a TON of tea myself! As I was scooping it out and weighing it I was like DANNNGGGG lol I will try that idea!
Scott – Yes I have seen that as well – boil then let cool 1 minute which is exactly what I ended up doing with this tea so yeah I doubt that was the issue.
It may be as Krystaleyn suggested so I will try less leaf next time.
Thank you both!
LiberTEAS – indeed I can totally understand how it must feel at times for people not to love your babies :) They ARE your creations that you “birthed” but alas yes we all do have different palates. I hope that reducing the leaves does help but if not I will have to chalk it up to my taste buds and pass this tea onto someone who will give it an adoring mouth :)
Sorry to get you excited Azzrian. I guess this tea just isn’t for you. Weird that I didn’t get any bitterness out of it. Possibly different batches? I’ll have to experiment a little more and see what happens.
Sorry to get you excited Azzrian. I guess this tea just isn’t for you. Weird that I didn’t get any bitterness out of it. Possibly different batches? I’ll have to experiment a little more and see what happens.
Oh its cool Chado … thanks :) I will experiment more too.
Azzrian, have you tried this one again yet? Based on my experiences with these dragonwells, I’m 100% convinced that too much leaf must be the problem. Steep a couple tsps full in 8oz. water at 175F for 1.5 minutes. If anything, that might end up too weak, but you should get the right flavours, and no bitterness. I really don’t think it’s your palate if you’re getting bitterness. If you dislike boiled veggies or rock sugar there might be a problem, but I don’t think that’s the case :)
No I never did …. and I love rock sugar and boiled (well steamed) veggies :)
I will take your advice here and give this another go tomorrow! Thank you Krystaleyn
Good luck :)