Darjeeling Okayti:Better than OK!

I had some great tea today! It was the darjeeling black this time, and it was wonderful. I think I made it a bit too strong, but the only "penalty" for doing this is that it isn't as cooling as weaker tea. Even so, it was cooling in a different way, and the liquor was darker, also a consequence of it being stronger. Sometimes I look at these teas and think that I always make it too strong, as compared to a lot of pictures/websites I see (even an occasional TV show) that have the teas much much lighter than what mine turns out to me. The variety I had was the Mighty Leaf Tea sample that they sent me a couple of weeks ago. I had two cups, and they were quite satisfying.

I wanted to use my amazon.com coupon I got from my sister for the mighty leaf, but the only way they sell it there is with the teabags, which I'm not a fan of, since the bags tend to 'inflate' and then stay on top of the water, not allowing for good steeping. I will still probably buy some tea directly from Mighty Leaf, though. I bought adagio tea instead, and I got their "IngenuiTea" teapot/kettle thingie, and I'll try it out later this week to see how it goes.

April 20, 2008

More oolong today. I surprised myself because I forgot that I was drinking the oolong, so that means I made it wrong: I didn't allow the water to cool to the appropriate temperature. Now I have none left! I'm sure that the Darjeeling black will be better, because I'll be more likely to make it right! Feeling dumb here..sigh.

Meanwhile, it occurs to me that even though it's probably correct, "Okayti" is not a good choice for a name, since it's likely to be mispronounced as "OK Tea" which is not what you want if you're selling premium, high quality tea.

Mighty Leaf Tea

Got some more tea from Mighty Leaf today! Yay! It's truly loose tea: oolong and black, "Okayti Darjeeling Autumn Flush" So this ought to be good. I can't wait! It will probably be a few days before I'm able to sit down and enjoy the teas properly though. :-)

March 21, 2008

Mighty Leaf Tea sent me three sample teas. One black (Orange Dulce), one green (Green Tea Tropical), one tisane (Chamomile Citrus). It's from their "Artisan's Choice" three-pack. I got the single three-pack last night.

This morning I tried the Orange Dulce. I'm not thrilled. It's not a "pure black" tea: it's a blend. It's got green tea, black tea, jasmine, citrus, and "natural flavors." I think the jasmine overpowered the flavor of the rest of the tea. It's almost like I could taste the flower as if I had pulled it the branch! Maybe it would do well with sugar? I like to drink my tea without adding anything in order to get the full flavor. I only got the one pouch, so maybe I'll try it next time.

And speaking of pouch, I didn't expect the teas to come in "silken pillow pouches." I thought I'd get loose tea...oh well...not a big deal. I imagine the pouch is nylon, though...it was "loose" tea, I suppose, since it had room to unfurl in the bag. I had hoped the tea would be loose in the pack sans bag...I had my diffuser all ready.

Another thing about the tea is that I don't know what kind of black tea or green tea is used in the blend. Not sure where it was grown, or any other details about it.

Lastly, the aroma was pretty powerful, but I don't think it added to the experience of the tea. It almost took away from it. :-( I'm being pretty hard on this one.