Saturday shall be TeaDay 6/21/08

[olivierco]

Jasmine pearls right now. Perfect for a warm sunny afternoon.

[henley]

The fragrance is not important to me. There have been times that the tea smelled better than it tasted which only led to disappointment. There's another tea that I enjoy the taste but don't like the smell of it which makes it difficult to drink.

Enjoyed a cuppa Monk's Blend this morning w/bfast. Hope eveyone has a great day & can curl up their favorite cuppa!

[Victoria]

Fragrance is very important to me coming from the perfume world.
It is part of the whole experience.
Yet, taste is still the most important thing.

In my cup this morning - Spring Darjeeling

[geeber1]

Salsero, your hideous cup looks AWESOME with that flower! A plain 'ol cup wouldn't have done it. Your photos are beautiful!

This morning, iced ginger peach, same as yesterday.

[Chip]

i voted utmost importance. first thing i do when i hobble out of bed like a zombie is make my way to the kitchen. i open a canister of tea and inhale deeply. it is only then that i start to wake up. the aroma of tea is just so important to me, if i don't like the smell then i just won't like the taste. before purchasing a tea at a store i must smell it. though taste is the most important, smell is right up there.

this morning i had a cup of silver needle.

First perception for me is sight...important, though limited. The sight of the dry leaf is the first primary sense that is activated, moved by the tea. Later the sight of the liquor itself.

2nd sense is smell...to me of at least as much importance as taste. I place utmost importance upon the aroma of the dry leaf..an indication of taste. If I smell dry leaf enough I can discern the teas freshness, quality, and even taste. I am far from a professional taster, but if you watch professionals, they take time to smell the dry leaf.

Then to smell the brewing tea, I often am amazed how the aroma evolves from the first contact with how water. Often initially, a floral aroma is first released...or at least sweeter and lighter.

Then to finally smell the liquor as I lift the cup to my mouth...pausing...pausing...pausing to smell the wondrous bouquet as it fills my head. I often close my eyes so the world disappears and I can focus on just this moment.

...then finally taste, though still smelling as I sip as it gives the flavor even more depth and balance.

I am off to smell some more tea. Adagio Golden Monkey this morning so far...a faint chocolate aroma...not sure if it has chocolate taste. If I did not smell it, it would have been lost and never appreciated. A missed opportunity to smell chocolate aroma in a tea!!!

[RussianSoul]

Scent and aroma are very important, but second to taste. Many times I loved the smell and was disappointed by taste. If I don't like the aroma, I will provably dislike the taste as well. In some cases there wasn't any particularly wonderful scent, just some mild tea-ness, but the taste was grand. So I'd say the smell is a great first indicator of goodness, and I enjoy good smell very much, but I wouldn't drink tea for aroma alone.

Silver Needle was the first tea of the day - great smell too! Followed by Starbucks coffee ! I know, I know, I am amazed too - it's been months since I last had Starbucks coffee. And they didn't overroast or scald it for a change.

I think it is time for some sencha... Hashiri! Yes, that's it - Hashiri!

[joelbct]

<-- Ceylon Koslanda Organic. Not bad, but I meant to open the Ceylon Vithanakande FBOPF. Oh well, I'll try that tomorrow morning. If it's good enough for tough guys like Sal and Hop, it's good enough for me

As far as aroma, this is crucial because, as many of you know, aroma is more or less the same thing as what we perceive to be "flavor." What we think of as Taste is actually comprised more of smell than of taste.

The tongue's taste receptors can recognize only a few "tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, savory)" whereas our olfactory receptors recognize many thousands of distinct scents/aroma's.

Each time we eat or drink something, it is our olfactory sense that in tandem with our tongue's gustatory receptors that tells our brain what the food/beverage tastes like.

From wikipedia:

"Note that taste is not the same as flavor; flavor includes the smell of a food as well as its taste... Unlike taste, there are hundreds of olfactory receptors, each binding to a particular molecular feature. Odor molecules possess a variety of features and thus excite specific receptors more or less strongly."

To experiment with this, try eating something when you are highly congested. You won't be able to taste much at all...

And that about wraps up the pedagoguery for today

[neowolf]

I voted for high importance. At first I was going to just pick important, after all I most value taste I believe. However I can't deny that the first thing I do when I pour myself a fresh cup of tea is take the time to inhale it's scent deeply. I just find that part really relaxing and enjoyable before I begin drinking.

Edit!

And how could I forget to mention I'm drinking a gunpowder and spearmint blend.

[themadhatter444]

Aroma is not to important to me in tea. I'll give it a couple good sniffs, but never judge a tea by it's smell. I usually find that smells can be extremely misleading when it comes to tea.

Currently brewing Snowbud so I can review it. Video to be posted in the Announcements section in an hour or so. Love me some Snowbud!

[scruffmcgruff]

I said high importance. I love a good aroma, and I am often disappointed with "just" taste. Sometimes, a tea with all aroma and little flavor is alright, but unless its a dancong, I'm usually not too thrilled.

[auggy]

RussianSoul - I love the new avatar - Tarepanda is so cute!

I voted that smell is important. I can enjoy a tea with a so-so or even icky smell (dry leaves of Adagio's pineapple smells like watermelon that has been dehydraded - very musky and wild but I quite enjoy the tea inspite of this), but when the leaves smell good or I get a lovely whiff of orchid or honeysuckle as I sip, that just makes the tea that much better. The smells I enjoy, though, I tend to find the most in the dry leaves of green or brewed oolongs.

ETA: Forgot to mention... drinking Den's Shin-ryoku sencha this morning. It is especially good. Yum.

[britt]

Although scent, like color, etc can add to or detract from the overall positive perception of a cup of tea, I judge mainly by taste and figure every other quality of the tea is factored into this judgment. This years shincha dry leaf Midori and Hatsumi both smell awesome, but I care far more for the Midori that the Hatsumi.

I think tea cups are a means to insert tea into the mouth, not as a parking spot for our noses. I just received The Art of Tea # 4 magazine this morning, which has a section on this subject. I'll try to be open-minded when I read it but so far I don't find scent to be particularly important.

I'm drinking Hatsumi as I write this. It's getting better, but by the time I figure it out it will be gone. Then it will be on to the Midori, where the scent actually will reinforce the great color and taste. Midori IMO gets everything right, resulting in one of the best, and consistent, tea drinking experiences I have had.

[RussianSoul]

RussianSoul - I love the new avatar - Tarepanda is so cute!

This is so great! When I found him I thought to myself - auggy would love that! Guess, I was right

[auggy]

RussianSoul - I love the new avatar - Tarepanda is so cute!

This is so great! When I found him I thought to myself - auggy would love that! Guess, I was right

You are right! In fact, I have a tarepanda stuffed animal that I got my second to last visit to Japan. My little boy kitty that we lost in April enjoyed cuddling with him.

(Bad quality pic - sorry - was taken in low light).

[themadhatter444]

Snowbud Review posted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHl38htVI3w

Currently brewing some Dragonwell before I leave for the day.