Monday TeaDay 11/03/08 Drat, my tea cooled?

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I am curious about preferred drinking temperatures. We hear mostly about hot or iced... I am curious about everything in between. I am just wondering if, as tea cools, people enjoy it more, enjoy it less, enjoy the changes in flavor.

enjoy it more
3
6%
enjoy it less
22
41%
enjoy the changes in flavor
18
33%
just ice it if it cools
1
2%
discard it instead of finishing it
6
11%
mic it to reheat
4
7%
 
Total votes: 54

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Nov 3rd, '08, 23:51
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by Chip » Nov 3rd, '08, 23:51

Janine wrote:Chip, yes I think this method works particularly well with "dust" types as you say. But I have also enjoyed the results with a good gyokuro. Maybe a good gyokuro would taste wonderful no matter what you did with it :)
Thanx for your interesting and new perspective posts. I will have to give it a go. I am thinking maybe a less full in the mouth feel will be the result, lighter, airier.
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!

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Nov 4th, '08, 00:48
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by Salsero » Nov 4th, '08, 00:48

Chip wrote: Thanx for your interesting and new perspective
Will people never stop finding new ways to put tea and water together?

I am eager to give this one a whirl. Thanks, Janine!

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Nov 4th, '08, 01:05
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by TaiPing Hou Kui » Nov 4th, '08, 01:05

Hello all! I am still awake so it still counts as Monday for me! I just got back from finishing some lab work in the geology department.....Anyway, to answer the poll question, I could not find an answer that suited me. I really feel that with temperature changes it is very subjective as to what type of tea we are talking about. Personally, I dont mind when a cup of TaiPing Hou Kui cools or if a cup of silver needles cools, but I really think that something like a aged Pu loses something when the heat goes away that cant be savored when it is cool. That is just my opinion! Today I have been drinking a home-made genmaicha.......I use only and small amount of toasted rice and use med. grade sencha........it makes a nice cup!

-Nick (TaiPing)

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Nov 4th, '08, 01:10
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by Salsero » Nov 4th, '08, 01:10

TaiPing Hou Kui wrote: Hello all!
It is wonderful to see you back, although your excuse about a geology expedition is a little far fetched. We need a note from your doctor. :lol:

Nov 4th, '08, 01:54
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by Pentox » Nov 4th, '08, 01:54

Janine wrote: Hi. I most frequently use a small fine-meshed sieve for the tea (a gyokuru for example) and I simply pour boiled water through the tea directly into my teacup this way. This makes a nice cup of tea (it is a method frequently used for brewing pots for serving in Japanese restaurants with an electric boiler/dispenser), and it allows you many brews with good Japanese green. I think the result most likely is similar, and at the same time I feel that the balance of tea/steeping seems nice - well-brewed and not a hint of overbrewing, very fresh. All I can do is describe the feel, anyway.
I used to do this fairly regularly. It was always a struggle for me to get it right though. Since the leaves are expanding and you want to use all of the leaf and not just bore right through the middle, you get this interesting pouring game going on. And then you have to control your pour rate so you don't overflow.

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Nov 4th, '08, 09:29
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by Janine » Nov 4th, '08, 09:29

Hi Pentox. Yes, you're right. If I think about it, I'm trying to judge and control the pour as I go - get the leaves well-soaked everywhere, adjust the flow so that there's at least a moment of brewing going on (as, I suppose, opposed to steeping). Pour slowly or fast, a little force or a lot, a small stream or a great big splash.

But, on the other hand, I do this when I use a gaiwan or a teapot anyway. It's always a matter of judging just what you get from the leaves every time you brew a tea. I enjoy the multiple steeps too - so it's really repeating the same process with leaves in a different condition than the last. A constant experiment, use of intuition, a kind of a dance that's got its own creativity. Which I enjoy. If I don't do a great job on a brew... so what? It's interesting.

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