Too Strong!

I think I've figured out my tea problem: I'm making all the teas too strong. So now I'll have to scale back, and hope for a better flavor when I have them.

That's teapot that I bought? I'm having mixed feelings about it. It holds two cups, and I'm surprised that the infuser that comes with the pot doesn't let all the tea leaves out. A major problem is that you don't know how much water is in the pot because the infuser is in the way, with the tea leaves in it. But then you will overfill the pot, because by the time you can tell how much water you have, it's overfull. And then, if you want to fill it up first, then settle the infuser in the water, some of the leaves are going to float on top. And you're going to have the issue of having the infuser push out some of the water. Can't win with this stuff! I do like the way that the lid fits into the infuser, though, and then that little assembly fits into the tea pot.

And the tea that I had was the Keemun Superior. I made it too strong, but not too too strong, but enough that I lost some of the flavor, and it just tasted like tea, bland and plain.

I was at the airport yesterday, and there was a young woman who was talking to someone on a cell phone, mentioned a tea room that just got started in Georgia somewhere. I asked her about it, and she was clueless, beyond just knowing that it was opening up. I told her about my blog, and she's like, "what is there to talk about with tea?" So I began a small lecture on different teas, why they're different, and so on. And other tea related topics. There's a lot to discuss when it comes to tea, actually. A whole culture. I'm sure I'm just scratching the surface.

What I'd like to get is a tea brick, which is compressed tea leaves, with a design on it, usually as part of a much larger set. Settlers used to take the bricks with them, and scrape off enough to make tea on their trips.

A busy tea weekend

To start with, I had some of the Darjeeling from Mighty Leaf, and it tasted like, like...cut grass. What is it with the grass? Or maybe it was more along the lines of just tasting like weak tea. Maybe I didn't make it strong enough? I don't know...

Saturday night I went to a community event in Dade City, FL, and there's a tea room there, and they're open! I actually went inside, and bought another teapot. And some kind of tea measuring device, but it measures by volume, rather than weight. I'll have to take a picture of it or find one like it on the internet. And I'll have to do a complete review of the place when I go back. It was very frou frou, though. They don't have a website, which is bad, IMO. I offered to help them with it, but I'm a limited amateur, so I'm not sure they'd want me to "help" them...The reason I didn't get a full impression of the place is because I was playing watchdog w/ my son, because there's so many breakables in there. But they had a nice selection of books with tea themes, and all aimed at little girls, it seems. At least, I think so. Hmmm...

And on Sunday I had the Assam Superior from Mighty Leaf. THAT was good tea. It had a deep, rich taste, I thought, similar to the English/Irish Breakfast teas...It went well with the slightly burned cookies I had. I don't normally burn cookies, but these didn't come out well. Anyway...