April 19, 2008

well, had more Darjeeling Oolong from Mighty Leaf Tea the other day. This time, I have enough for about 3 or 4 cups, depending on how strong I like it. The first cup was a bit of heaven. It was great! I love the aroma, and the flavor...but it wasn't so cooling to the mouth...not as much. Not sure if that's a function of the time of year the tea is picked...the Darjeeling is labeled as "autumn flush"... The second cup I had another day or two later, the tea tasted like the leaves. This is not altogether a bad thing, since that's where the flavor comes from, but it's not the best thing, either. I'm finding the oolong can be hit or miss...It may be my fault because I didn't keep the dried tea in a sealed container, and it's pretty humid in my neck of the woods. I'll have another cup tomorrow (Sunday morning), and we'll see what happens. It should be okay. Then I will be on to the Darjeeling Black. I've got to work out how to figure out the correct brewing temperature. I should experiment with just the boiling water, see how long it takes to reach the right temp for steeping the leaves. I had another of those oolong tea bags from the oriental food place, and it was much better. Not great by any stretch, just not completely terrible.

Meanwhile, I think I may purchase some tea from mighty leaf if they sell through Amazon. Otherwise, I'll get more from Adagio. I think they're great!

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 24, 2008

I tried the Green Tea Tropical, which was really good! The packaging didn't say how to brew the green tea, which, to my understanding, requires a lower temperature than black tea, but I don't know how to get the correct temp without a thermometer! Obviously for black tea, you boil the water and it's 212 degrees. But green tea? 190? And what about oolong and white? How do you tell? Do you wait until a certain amount of time has passed?

So this tea did benefit from the added ingredients, and yet wasn't overpowered by them. I'm looking forward to more tea like that!

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.

March 18, 2008

Today, I had some horrible oolong tea in a bag from some Chinese restaurant that's been sitting in my desk for way too long, it would seem, since the tea was so bad. It had no flavor, smelled bad...ultimately, I couldn't drink it. The brand is "Kari-Out Company" White Plains NY...ick!

I haven't had a lot of tea lately, and it is very depressing. Mightly Leaf Tea says they will send me some samples, and they think of this as 'a conversation'...which is cool with me. I didn't realize that I've become a tea reviewer, but that's kinda what's happened. "The only way to get to be an expert wine drinker is to drink a lot of wine," I've heard it said, so I imagine the same applies to tea.

I also don't like that I feel limited to the Assam Gold Rain. It's just too strong, or something. I have other moods and feelings about what tea to drink. Maybe I should have more of the Christmas tea...