TokyoB wrote:Drax - can you tell us more about the Essence of Tea 1980s hongcha?
Thanks!
I guess I should do a better job at checking old threads,
I appreciate everybody throwing in on it. I hope debunix is still alive, too.
In any case, somebody had asked me about this a couple months ago and I wrote up my tasting notes from the 1 session I had with it (on the plus side, since it's been around 20 years, I don't think I have to be in a rush to use it up...)
Drax's Notes wrote:
Anyway, Nada had said that "its chaqi and endurance give away its age..." and I suppose I could concur with that.
I brew my black teas possibly a bit differently... I have a small 4oz pot that I use, into which I put 4 grams of tea... but then I double brew it (I steep one pot, pour it out, immediately start another steep, then combine the two).
My sessions went like this:
1 (30s) + 2 (30s)
3 (60s) + 4 (60s)
5 (60s) + 6 (60s)
7 (2m) + 8 (3m)
9 (5m) + 10 (5m)
It certainly had endurance. On the first round, I noted the aroma and taste were a good, strong black tea with a deep golden amber soup.
But the second round.... suddenly my mouth was buzzing like with a mintiness, but it wasn't a normal mint (pepper or spear, etc).... a very neat cooling effect.
The following rounds were very similar with the coolness of the mintiness. The tea was noticeably lighter by the 3rd round, and it kept lightening to the end, but I enjoyed the whole series.