Tea Tins

You know, Earth Day was a couple of Sundays ago, and it occurs to me that the little tins I get from Adagio would be great to recycle somehow. Maybe they should make the containers out of aluminum so we can recycle them easily. Maybe they could take them back? I wonder how much it would cost...It seems a shame to have to throw them away. I know I solicited feedback on Teachat.com (?) and people just said they use them for other things, but I think that's unsatisfying. The tea tin I have from Twinings is the same way: it's beautiful, and should be recyclable somehow.

ingenuiTea

I'm having Darjeeling from Mighty Leaf. The cool part is that I made it using the
IngenuiTEA
teapot/maker thing. I'm not sure if the tea tastes a bit soapy because I didn't wash it before I used it, though I did rinse it out a couple of times; or if the tea I made is a bit strong, or what. I really see the need to get some kind of scale or measuring device for the amount of tea that needs to go in the thing. It's got no measuring for an amount of water. I know it's 16 ounces because the box says so, but it's nowhere on the pot itself. It was cool to watch the leaves sit on the top then gently fall to the bottom. I also don't know how much water to put in the pot since there's no markings...I just filled up my cup and then put it in the pot, so I know how much water to use, but still...

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.

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!