TeaChat

ethan wrote:Taiwan Black, Ruby #18, from Floating Leaves Tea: Almost tasteless. Nothing more to say about it. I should have searched here or asked about it before I wasted $ on an ounce.

I've never found a Taiwan black tea tasteless. How are you brewing the tea you have?

Only 1 session: 3.5 grams w/ 7 ounces of boiling water. Took an ounce out after 2 minutes (no taste in that ounce), letting the rest of the liquid steep another 2 minutes. The 6 ounces that got a total of 4 minutes was tasteless. A second infusion was 5 ounces of water in the same 3.5 grams for 6 minutes = almost tasteless. Advice is welcome, thanks.

Definitely try increasing the leaf to water ratio!

Thanks, Chip. I'll try 1 1/2 grams per ounce. I know I have a problem (being cheap) & often use too little tea, but 1 gram for 2 ounces works for me for Simao buds & Dian Hong that I have from Yunnan Sourcing.

ethan wrote:Thanks, Chip. I'll try 1 1/2 grams per ounce. I know I have a problem (being cheap) & often use too little tea, but 1 gram for 2 ounces works for me for Simao buds & Dian Hong that I have from Yunnan Sourcing.

You can always decrease the amount of water you use, and use about the same amount of tea.

You were using .5 grams to 1 ounce ... maybe up up to 1:1 and see how it goes.

any decent sml with 3.5g in 210 ml water should still produce something far from tasteless within a minute of brewing.

I have had a dud sml before though, from t-oolong a couple years back, but wouldn't expect to find something like that from FLT. Perhaps change water and see if that helps.

Ruby 18 again. Not to dwell on disappointment, I'll be brief: I used a lot of tea & steeped long to get some flavor but not a flavor that I like. I can advise others that it is a flat tea. Of course, as to whether others would like the taste that one can get when really pushing, that's a matter of taste.
Thanks for the advice.

ethan wrote:Ruby 18 again. Not to dwell on disappointment, I'll be brief: I used a lot of tea & steeped long to get some flavor but not a flavor that I like. I can advise others that it is a flat tea. Of course, as to whether others would like the taste that one can get when really pushing, that's a matter of taste.
Thanks for the advice.

Maybe you should talk with the vendor. Sounds like the tea has gone flat somewhere along the line. Try putting 5g into a 100ml gaiwan and brew 15-30sec. If there is no flavor, it's the tea.

I'll do that Teadoff, just to be sure before contacting FLT. I don't think she is a black-tea drinker; so, it could go flat on her w/o her knowing.

Gave it one more chance, 5 grams in 90 ml (3 ounces of boiling water) in gaiwan.....

The Ruby 18 from FLT is definitely flat.

Sent an e-mail to her a minute ago. See what she says.

Autumn 2012 Feng Qing Black Tea Mini Bricks from Yunnan Sourcing. I thought these would be a convenient tea for the office, since they're already measured and everything. So far I'm finding the tea to be fairly thin and unimpressive. There's a bit of fruit to it, maybe some spice, but the other Yunnan blacks I've tried have had this really great, rich, deep flavor that I've loved, and this one seems kind of weak and watery.

It's possible a different brew could do better. Yesterday I used one mini brick (6.5 g) in my large infuser mug (about 13 oz) with 185 degree water, a 15-second rinse, and long infusions (6 minutes, 4 minutes, 4 minutes). Today I'm using 2 bricks in the same amount of water, with a 1-minute rinse and 1-minute infusions. So far it seems about the same as yesterday, just sort of boring.

Almost everybody uses boiling water for black tea. It is likely that 185 is much too low a temperature.

I did think of that. On the other hand, it hasn't been a problem for the other Yunnan black I've made at work, the Season's Pick Yunnan Black Snail from Upton.

House Black from Floating Leaves Tea: Common flavor of black tea (but better) w/ some special sweetness. I bought an ounce of this about a year ago & agreed w/ FLT's saying it tasted of dried longan. W/ the 2 oz. bought this Spring I can't recognize that particular taste (& unlike most people have eaten dried longan fruit). Also I seem to need to use a bit more tea making for a very strong (++caffeine) but not bitter cup. Good to have on hand to break up routine and for a wake-up.

Ying de hong from my local asian supermarket. 9 Aus dollars for 8oz! Agreeable, mild, smooth, easy to quaff. Not exactly inspiring but benign enough to become a daily thirst quencher. Every review of this tea mentions its cocoa like aroma and that comparison is bang on, sort of reminds me of a black tea with chocolate flavouring I once had. I found that backing off the leaf/water ratio somewhat (3gs/90ml) yielded a more subtle, palatable result.