Saturday 8/09/08 China's most famous tea, Long Jing

[Chip]

I am currently enjoying more steeps of the Aged Nan Tou that I started yesterday.

Is everyone drinking leftover tea from yesterday?

I am finishing my bag of SSP, sencha super premo. I will have open something new! Not sure I will reorder this light steamed sencha, good but pricy and the increased benefit to cost ratio doesn't ring true for me this time. Actually, it rarely does for sencha IMHO.

[henley]

Is everyone drinking leftover tea from yesterday?

Only the cool kids!

[hop_goblin]

I enjoy it but I must say that the Gu Zhu Zi Sun that I had tried is much more complex. I recommend it!

[laran7]

I've been cool steeping my Matcha Gen-Mai Cha and sipping it all day from a
Fuji water bottle. Living on the coast, I'm sure people think I'm drinking seawater and seaweed - the color is definately green, cloudy in this context and full of leaves and a few grains of rice.

I like it because I insist on liking it and I am not disuaded. It has a slightly sweet "finish".

Have a really great weekend everybody.

[Riene]

Just finished a second steep of a peach oolong. Not bad.

I'm trying my best to get over a sudden vicious summer cold. Green and oolong tea seems called for!

[Salsero]

I've been cool steeping my Matcha Gen-Mai Cha and sipping it all day from a Fuji water bottle.

That sounds like such good idea. How exactly do you do it? Is that the Hibiki-an Genmaicha Matcha IRI?

[Chip]

Busy TeaDay today. Well, a lot of tea! Gyokuro earlier.

And now some ToT Ali Shan from none other than the Oolong Queen. I will be resteeping and drinking this oolong all evening, but not the gyokuro leaves since I ate them warmed with soy sauce. YUM!

[Victoria]

Baozhong for me today, not sure I want a second steep.
I tried crushing the leaves and the taste was not as good
as before.

[Chip]

Baozhong for me today, not sure I want a second steep.
I tried crushing the leaves and the taste was not as good
as before.

Oh, like Stephane recommends? I wanted to try that but always forgot til it was too late.

What happened?

[Victoria]

Baozhong for me today, not sure I want a second steep.
I tried crushing the leaves and the taste was not as good
as before.

Oh, like Stephane recommends? I wanted to try that but always forgot til it was too late.

What happened?

Well it added a soapy taste I didn't notice before.
I would have to try again to be certain, and I'm not sure I want to risk it.

.

[Chip]

Baozhong for me today, not sure I want a second steep.
I tried crushing the leaves and the taste was not as good
as before.

Oh, like Stephane recommends? I wanted to try that but always forgot til it was too late.

What happened?

Well it added a soapy taste I didn't notice before.
I would have to try again to be certain, and I'm not sure I want to risk it.

.

WOW, really. Tea is so amazing sometimes. How can such a simple act completely change the tea? Hmmm, now I might not try that. Still, curiosiTEA is causing some uncertainty in this regard.

[Proinsias]

Good tea day. Some Georgian black/red, lapsang souchong, compressed wuyi, some sencha and an overnight brew of dan cong first thing.

Icing on the cake was a friend dropping by to ditch some sencha he picked up in Paris two weeks ago as he's expecting a batch of O-Cha goodness in the next few days. The sencha may not be up to the standard of O-Cha's finest but it's enough to put a smile on my face, a few years of donating tea to encourage his addiction is paying off as he's now in the money - helping other people fill their shiny new credit cards with tea purchases is fun, unfortunately the 1950's hong yin from hou de was met with a flat 'no'.

[laran7]

I've been cool steeping my Matcha Gen-Mai Cha and sipping it all day from a Fuji water bottle.

That sounds like such good idea. How exactly do you do it? Is that the Hibiki-an Genmaicha Matcha IRI?

Matcha Gen-mai Cha Kamakura. I got this tea from Upton - In their catalogue, it is listed under Japan Green Teas and says that "steeping with water under the boiling point is often recomended." ( I've got that covered!)

I put about a teaspoon of tea in the empty bottle and pour room temperature (Fugii or Evian) water over it. I leave it in the fridge overnight - today, I just took the whole bottle with me. That does not sound too appetizing. But the result is mildly flavored - murky looking - I could easily keep diluting it (sometimes I have). Yesterday I did the same thing and "re steeped" the same leaves. in the same manner. I liked it more the second time as far as the taste was concerned - it seemed fresh and pleasent). (Today, the first time around was a bit strong - still 1 1/2 tsp tea to 16 oz water - steeped since this morning - I thought it would be mild from the beginning).

I think I like it enough to keep drinking it. Best wishes.

[Salsero]

"steeping with water under the boiling point is often recomended."

That is too funny! Thanks, Laran7, for the recipe. I have really enjoyed Den's powdered sencha. Japanese teas just seem very happy cool.

[Beidao]

I have a Long Jing at home, the most expensive tea I've ever bought even if it was counted as a lesser quality in the shop. And. I. Cannot. Like. It. Whatever I do, it punishes me I have 70 g left and I guess I will not get it right until I have 7 left. That's the crual laws of life.