So, as you may have noticed, I got a little excited about joining Steepster. I’m someone who keeps notes on things I try, and I may possibly have gotten a little carried away in going “oh! those notes will come in handy now! :D” yesterday…for which I apologize. Hee.
At any rate, in the process of rooting through my tea shelves, I found some teas I hadn’t thought about in awhile. Things I didn’t usually drink. You know how it is, you have a few go-to teas, and you have a cup of those, and then you go on about your business.
Steepster’s good for inciting extreme care and thoughtfulness as regards every sort of tea—-and in particular, ones I haven’t become overly familiar with. With that in mind, I brewed up a cup of this. I generally tend to have larger mugs of tea, particularly in the morning, so I let it go about a minute longer than Tea Source suggests.
The candied ginger is definitely there, which I love—-I’m a huge fan of it, but it’s not too overpowering here. Instead, it blends nicely with the yunnan. It’s a rich golden brown color, and the smell reminds me more of honey than anything. That part’s all in the smell, however; a taste of this by itself is slightly flat and unobtrusive, but that could also be because it’s a year old. (A friend sent it to me for Festivus last year; trouble with always buying new teas is that even with how much I drink, it’s hard to drink them all quickly enough.)
A tiny bit of sugar (and we’re talking tiny, not even a whole teaspoon) changes all that. Those golden notes hinted at by the honeyed ginger aromas wafting so invitingly from the cup come alive. Your whole mouth is wrapped in velvety smoothness—-or, at least, mine was. It’s well-rounded, and not overly strong. The most unique thing about it is that it just sort of fades away after each sip goes down. Not much of a lingering aftertaste at all.
I can see enjoying this primarily in the afternoon. It’s not got enough of a boost to it that I’ll probably drink it a lot first thing in the morning, despite having done so today.
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Glad you’re enjoying Steepster! It’s actually really helped me become more analytical about what I’m drinking. I’m the self-proclaimed tea-baby of the site (if you go back through my logs, you can clearly track when I started drinking loose leaf and when I’ve tried different types of tea for the first time), but I’ve found that really concentrating through every sip and losing yourself to it really helps bring out flavor notes and complexities! And it’s so much FUN too!
Glad to meet you! :) Yes, I’ve been enjoying your tealog. XD Tea has been an important part of my life since childhood, but it’s a bit like breathing…something you need to do, but not something you necessarily spend a lot of time thinking about. Unless, of course, you play a wind instrument, sing, or do yoga or martial arts. Then you begin to control your breathing, and life becomes a lot richer. Tea is totally in parallel. :)
Glad you’re enjoying Steepster! It’s actually really helped me become more analytical about what I’m drinking. I’m the self-proclaimed tea-baby of the site (if you go back through my logs, you can clearly track when I started drinking loose leaf and when I’ve tried different types of tea for the first time), but I’ve found that really concentrating through every sip and losing yourself to it really helps bring out flavor notes and complexities! And it’s so much FUN too!
Glad to meet you! :) Yes, I’ve been enjoying your tealog. XD Tea has been an important part of my life since childhood, but it’s a bit like breathing…something you need to do, but not something you necessarily spend a lot of time thinking about. Unless, of course, you play a wind instrument, sing, or do yoga or martial arts. Then you begin to control your breathing, and life becomes a lot richer. Tea is totally in parallel. :)