Why Does Very Good Yancha Have a Bad Bad Day?

[JRS22]

Assuming all other conditions were the same (including my mood, and not having ate anything very strongly flavored or drinking any alcohol before the tea session), I always attributed these bad tea days to weather and humidity. Dan cong seems very susceptible, with yancha a little less so. These teas tend to love rainy humid days, and not do as well on dry days. To me, indoor air conditioning usually kills a tea's potential regardless of varietal. It was always a tough call in my NYC apartment in the summer... sweat through a great tea session, or be comfortable through a mediocre one.

I often find it helps to "acclimate" a tea for 30 minutes or more before brewing- basically just leave it sitting out uncovered in the environment.

So maybe it's just as well there's no AC on the first floor of my house. I'll have to try drinking Yancha on those days that in the past have cried out for green tea.

[JRS22]

i had just written something on this..

its probably attributed to your sense of smell and the dryness of the air.

personally i find my sense of smell less acute when it goes down to 40-47% humidity, with the personal optimum at around 75% humidity.

and since the nose is important for complexity determination/sensing rather than taste buds, that could be the reason.


have you tried the tea again now to see if it will happen for the third time?

I'll have to try your experiment with holding my nose when there's a lull in my dental work. As of yesterday I have a medicated filling so I'm going to stick to strong inexpensive japanese greens.

I'm did try the tea in question a few times. It was always better than the day after began this thread, but never like the first few sessions. I was originally planning to order more but now I'm torn.

[wyardley]

I think all of the above.

Consistency does get easier with time and practice, but I'd say that a lot of those magic tea moments tend to be fleeting and hard to reproduce.

There have been some interesting discussions here in the past about atmospheric pressure etc.

[chrl42]

It happened to me quite a while before, and later I concluded it was water problem. Too soft water made it plain and too hard water made it dark and bubbles. Also the temperature (for me it's around 95c) should be fixed.

But your situation doesn't seem water problem..in my case then it's tea problem..some Yancha can have a harsh taste with later consumptions..as the leaves get broken and powder-y. Old drinkers had a wit mixing big leaves and powder leaves in a vessel...

Also newly made Yanchas can have a boring taste and not sensational with their fire not gone..1~2-year the taste is gonna be gentle...but that's my case

[JRS22]

It happened to me quite a while before, and later I concluded it was water problem. Too soft water made it plain and too hard water made it dark and bubbles. Also the temperature (for me it's around 95c) should be fixed.

But your situation doesn't seem water problem..in my case then it's tea problem..some Yancha can have a harsh taste with later consumptions..as the leaves get broken and powder-y. Old drinkers had a wit mixing big leaves and powder leaves in a vessel...

Also newly made Yanchas can have a boring taste and not sensational with their fire not gone..1~2-year the taste is gonna be gentle...but that's my case

The particular tea was/is 2014 tea so there is the issue of the tea benefitting from more aging. What I'm mulling over now, while drinking an ok session of the tea, is what to do next. I was originally planning to order a supply of the tea. Now I'm thinking I'd be better off with some of the less expensive EOT Yancha. I would pay more up front but have a more dependable supply of tea so less would be wasted.

I've also been drinking my way through my remaining 5 star samples and missing that vendor.

[Puerlife]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABdl2lt ... ubs_digest
How much does having exercised affect your senses? Denny raises this question in this video and I hope it's appropriate for this thread.

[Math]

The other day I saw these humidifiers (or what you call them) from Muji. Could perhaps be great for yancha and puerh sessions! They look good too!