4646 Tasting Notes
I decided to make this as a tea pop and while prepping it, I wasn’t paying close attention and read the instructions for a different tea that steeped for only two minutes instead of three. I then either turned off the two minute timer without paying attention or never set the timer in the first place so I don’t actually know how long this steeped for and I couldn’t say if its oversteeped or understeeped. This is what happens when you make tea while distracted, I guess.
Based on the flavor, I would say perhaps slightly understeeped since a lot of the front end of the sip is just carbonated water. Then I get a bit of ginger cola amazingness and then I get back to carbonated water. I blame myself but also think this is better as a cold brew or regular tea than a teapop perhaps.
I’ve done similar things more often than I can count. Being distracted is a great way to make bad tea.
This is one of my all-time favorites. I’ve never had it as Teapop, but it is very good as a cold brew, and the regular brew is a weakness for me.
That said, I have a tendency to either overleaf or oversteep because I love the flavor that much, and I’m a sucker for a good ginger “punch-in-the-throat” LOL!
I used 2 grams of this for a gong fu session last night. I considered making notes but decided just to relax, watch the last couple of hours of Crisis on Infinite Earths and sip on tea. I got about 10 steeps and even though the liquid was almost clear, it still had a nice chocolate-y flavor that I probably could have pushed for another steep or two if the water hadn’t cooled. This was probably one of the better gong fu sessions I had with no tannins and a lot of chocolate and caramel and breadiness and yum.
Drinking this one with a spoon because the matcha keeps falling to the bottom of my cup. It definitely has a crisp gingerbread sort of vibe to it because I get the hit of ginger but it’s also sweet/cake-y. I just want more molasses. More flavour.
Sipdown (356)
This smelled really rich while steeping which was disappointing since there is flavour deterioration and so it is coming off a bit flat. There is a shadow of caramel and vanilla but it’s all pretty muted. No rancid coconut thankfully but this was a good time for a sipdown.
For some reason this wasn’t added to my cupboard but I’ve had it since December 2018. It’s a nice tea. Mostly similar to the plain marshmallow treat genmaicha, with a touch more sweetness. I’m pretty happy with it and love the cute sprinkles, even if the colour of them have filled with age.
Sipdown (353)
“Ice cream” always gets me. Even if there is bergamot, if the words “ice cream” comes first, I’m in. That’s why, I tried this last year when I was sick but saved a serving for when my tastebuds were better.
Alas, this is not my favorite. It is sort of creamy vanilla, as EGCs are but it’s not ice cream. That creamy vanilla doesn’t compensate for the sort of flat and slightly bitter earl grey component of this. It beats out the creamy vanilla which makes this cup less enjoyable and more soapy than I would like. It’s the last cup though so I can finish this and say good bye for good.
I brewed this as a latte and lately I find when I froth milk in my milk frother, it smells a little off. Not bad but off-somehow. I wonder why considering I clean it thoroughly after every use…
Anyways, I don’t know if it is the milk or the tea (steeped for 3 mins at 185F) that I am not enjoying. It’s not bad per se but I think cardamom is coming through more in the scent than anything and there is something floral about the latte in general I was not expecting. I am not a fan but I think this may be user error…maybe.
This was my second gong fu session yesterday. I used 7 grams of leaf in my older gaiwan. Both gaiwans are supposedly 100 mL and yet the new one seems much bigger so who knows.
This time around, I had a similarly minerally/astringent experience as I had with the oolong session earlier. Is that typical of gong fu brewing or is it my timings?
At least this time the drying was no so offensive and I was able to also get some flavor from the tea itself. The first few steeps had stonefruit and cocoa. Then I just kept steeping. I got about 10 steeps, the last few being the best as they no longer had the mineral/astringent quality despite the particularly long steeps (8+ minutes).
I’d really thought I had this before but there is no tasting note so I guess maybe not. That or Steepster is pulling another disappearing act. However, today I had it during a gong fu session before class. I used exactly 4 grams and as soon as the water hit the leaf, it gave off a very strong oolong scent. Unfortunately, the first few steeps were so strongly mineral flavored and drying that I dumped the first out and had to push to get through the rest. After the third steep, I gave up. I will try this western style or perhaps only use the recommended 2 grams because as it was, I was not a fan.
