JMKauftheil Send Message

So, this is a drink from my college’s campus, the Freudian Sip. Whether there’s any actual tea in this stuff, I can’t tell ya for certain, but it tastes good and I always order it.
Very sweet and frothy. There are four cafes total on campus, but the one I go to seems to do it best. There’s not much to say about this one – a simple, extremely sweet pleasure, that makes you feel sick if you drink too much.
In any case, happy birthday to me! This latte is my birthday cake.
I get to go home today! For ten days! So excited.
My friend and i are planning on going out tonight, him with a video camera, and I’m going to ask random girls for sex. Let’s see how that adventure pans out!
In any case, it’s worth a CHAI. (Get it? Like “try”! It’s a pun. Because I’m drinking a chai latte.)

Had this on my balcony, because my dormmate went into the main room right before i decided to do tea, and… I don’t like being in the same room as him. Just one of those people where all the small things he does (like eating loudly, how he talks on the phone, the trivial things he tries to talk about) get on my nerves. So, tea on the balcony, in a jacket and beanie.
I figured that since I somehow got two new followers tonight, I might as well post a tea to level it out.

Not much to mention about the first two steeps. The first was kind of bitter, the second more as expected. While I waited for the water to cool, I kept up with the excitement on the new forums (woo!) Yes, I had my laptop outside with me while I did tea.
The third infusion was actually somewhat sweet. I think the water was a bit cooler than usual, and the first two steeps probably softened it up a bit. In any case, a pleasant surprise (much like the updates!)
Probably going to take this tea home with me on friday, so I can show some friends. I miss my teas back home… amongst other things. For now, though, this yellow tea is – in my cupboard ;)
/bad reference to new update.

Followed my Bi Lou Chun with this, after a hearty bike ride to get more purified water (I don’t trust the taps in the dorms, even after a run through my brita, for my finer teas.) It was a rough journey indeed – peddling uphill against a strong wind to get to the convenience store, it was like treading water. Ah, the things I do for a good cup of tea!
Well, it was worth it. I’ve had this tea for about two or three months, and I finally got to open it. While Darjeeling teas are splendid, I’ve always been more enchanted with Yunnan’s offerings. What a wonderful infusion!
The leaves, as the name implies, were abundant with golden tips, and the infusion… golden is the only word I can think of to describe the hue and chroma of my first decanter-full. While I rarely use a gaiwan tea set for a black tea, being prone more to a tetsubin tea press my sister gave me, this is a very exquisite leaf, and I wouldn’t think of brewing it in anything but small proportions. I didn’t count the infusions, but this tea held its own through them all.
It’s perhaps a bit expensive, at $16 for two ounces, but definitely worth it. While you can get 2-4 times as much tea for your dollar at some places, if I had just sixteen bucks, I’d go for this quality over quantity any day, even if I were tea-starved.

Well, this tea is especially exquisite, a first-place competition grade tea. Definitely one of, if not the finest green tea I’ve experienced. While I’m not too much of a green tea enthusiast, as my tastes lay more in the realm of the broad boldness of Oolongs rather than the more piquant flavor of its less oxidized cousin, there’s nothing I don’t adore about this tea. A very full flavor, while remaining light – airy rather than watery, if you get what I’m saying. Not astringent, very mellow, and… well, I have little more to say. It’s one of those teas you don’t just enjoy, you completely embrace it, and it affects you with tea’s intoxication. Simply, Elegance (with the capital ‘E’) in a cup.

Mixed with Oksusucha, as usual, I put this tasting under Mugicha, because I used a larger proportion of it – probably 3-1.
Some people try to find teas that work with meals… While that may work with alcohol, it’s my philosophy that tea should compliment your day, not your dinner.
While the day is relatively young, it’s only 10AM, I’ve been up for about four hours, and this was a nice mugga (as opposed to cuppa) to have on my balcony while playing solitaire and listening to light techno. Had a few cups of coffee with breakfast at a diner I’ve been visiting lately, and I guess I wanted something kind of similar, what with the roasted flavor. Diners are nice places, really. They’re friendly and talkative… and I stand out a bit, usually being the only person younger than 50. And to emphasize that, I have a facial piercing, now XD
( what do you guys think? http://imdead-goaway.deviantart.com/art/A-bit-high-brow-143080726 Got it monday :) )

Anyway, a splendid tea for complimenting those… lethargic moments. The ones where you just sit, think, and if you want, you can even get in tune with your own heart beating. I like waking up really early, having a few hours of solitude, and getting breakfast at the diner – maybe I’ll come across some roses to smell. The sky is blue now, with a nice mix of clouds, and the palm trees add a nice touch (oh, California…) Okusucha and Mugicha, left to freely steep, make a nice undertone for it all.
But, alas, I have class in less than an hour, and I should head down to campus soon so I can copy the homework from someone before the professor arrives.
I’m in a good mood, so I’ll wish splendid sippings to you all. May all the teas you encounter today steep well, and treat your taste buds kindly.

So, I went to the supermarket today with someone I know, because she doesn’t have a car, and she needs someone to push the cart back to the dorms for her. I didn’t have anything better to do anyway. She buys a lot of stuff at once, and I’m more prone to going to the market once or twice a week on bike, and getting small batches of food. So I got an issue of Newsweek, A bunch of bananas, and I noticed this tea, so I grabbed it to.

Initial thought upon sipping this – it tastes like Lipton’s. Perhaps I haven’t had a cup of Lipton’s in a while, but the taste seemed rather similar – better, though. I think what did it for me, is my memories with tea when I was younger, when my mother made it for me when i was sick. It was a bag of Lipton, with sugar and lemon. (A small note – she still drinks it that way, though I’ve tried to open her to good teas.)
So, I checked the ingredients, and – lo and behold: Evaporated Cane Juice, and Lemon Juice. I think it was those two ingredients, mixed in with the fact that this brew has such a light flavor – none of the peculiar, arguably unpleasant, tastes you get when you brew mate yourself. I’m assuming they don’t want to scare away a potential market that can’t handle weird, strong tastes.

In general, I like it. Not something I’d pick up when I was craving mate, but it’s a nice alternative to soda to keep around – well, it would be, if it weren’t five times as expensive. But, maybe for someone that’s an addict to getting grandesupermochafrappacappaccinoextrahotextrafoamwhippedcreamplease coffee at Starbucks or something, this would be a healthier outlet for the money.
It’s a tasty brew, and maybe worth picking up a bottle every time I go to the supermarket – five or ten bucks a week won’t kill me.

So, I tried this with good water now – the Goddess was in better spirits.
Though, admittedly, the liquor had less of a gorgeous hue… maybe there’s some balance in water hardness to be found, when I have the resources to experiment with that.
My first infusion was light… delicate. I think I understeeped it. Or, perhaps, I had the right steep time, but not enough leaf. The flavor just wasn’t strong enough.
The next time, I used a bit hotter water, and purposefully oversteeped it. It came out bitter – perfect. I’ve always been a fan of hard oolong. The first sip always kicks you, and the drink will be harsher, but it’s much… bolder experience.
And, eh, call me a cynic, but I like my oolong bitter for a reason.

I went digging through a collection of tea quotes, Tea Wisdom, to find this one, because I think it gives a good insight into my love of “ruining” darker oolongs. (I usually brew the Green ones properly.)
“There is no single recipe for making good tea, as there are no rules for producing a Titian or Session.” – Kakuzo Okakura
Perhaps I misconstrue that statement, or take it out of context. But those are the words, and I’ll infer them as I will. Oolong, of the four major types, is the only one, as I see it, that can handle harsh astringency. I think there’s a reason for that.

So, I said I’d drink it, and I did.
Not much to say though.
I enjoyed it, I really did, and it took me places. I moved the table in our living room – I needed a fresh spot to do tea, even if that meant just 5 feet away. I didn’t realize, until I got up to boil the water and looked out our glass balcony door, that it was light outside. It was weird, because I thought, for some odd reason, it would still be at least a deep blue.
I really like this yellow tea. It’s a shame they don’t produce more of it. Nice, soothing… I think I said this last time, but it has the best of both worlds, green and white. A fine tea, a fine morning. And on to some TKY.

Sweet lady Jasmine, with her pale smile, treated me well again tonight.
I’m thinking about moving into some Yellow tea in a moment, but this one was enjoyable in the mean time. Still can’t get over the scent – that alone might push me to buy a tin’s worth, and to keep an eye out for the same product from other brands.

A small note – the leaves are chewier and a bit less enjoyable than that of the Yellow tea. Comparing in my head those leaves to these, I can notice the quality differences. These leaves are just a bit more coarse, less refined. They’re not bad, necessarily – in my inexpert opinion, I’d put them at a 7 or, at a push, 8 out of 10.

I called my parents today. My mother wants me to post more things on facebook, because, strange as it is, that’s her way of making sure I’m alive and well. I told her, if she really wants to, she could check me out on here, because I post here more than on facebook. (I’m not much one for the trivialities of my generation…) When I told my parents what this site is, they laughed at me.
sigh Jasmine doesn’t laugh at me, no matter how lame I am. And onto Yellow tea!
…At 5:15 in the morning.

I don’t think I’ll have too much to say.
Drank this for breakfast. Yes, I got out of bed at 4:30 in the afternoon. Shush.

I made a sort of… I dunno, fort? alcove? tea room? I used the space under my desk, which is by the corner of the room, and I created a forth wall with the back of a chair, and a jacket. I wanted to be cut off from reality for a bit, and enjoy tea in peace. I used to do that kind of thing when I was kid, build forts… maybe I drink tea as an excuse to do the same thing as a young adult?

When I looked through my tea cupboard, this seemed like the only tea that wouldn’t bother my stomach – I have an oddly weak stomach when I wake up, and that lasts for an hour or two. The tea was good to me today, and I appreciate it.
It did me the favor of a pleasant tea time, so I did it the favor of a less scrutinizing tasting. When you’re not looking for an amazingly high quality leaf, this tea is pretty nice. I like it. None of a darker oolong’s harshness, and none of a superb tea’s temperament. Glad I bought the two ounces. I don’t get in the moods for these two often, but when I do… this will be a nice thing to have around.