Thurday's TeaDay, 3/20/08

[TimeforTea]

I really wanted to try matcha with all the talk about it. The description of it sounds like something I would enjoy the taste of. However, I am afraid it will be too high in caffeine.

The only matcha I've tried, is the starbuck's green tea latte. But like IL said, that's more sugar than matcha...

This morning I had sencha premier in my cup. It was good, but I over steeped it.

[olivierco]

However, I am afraid it will be too high in caffeine.

According to this source matcha contains 3.2% caffeine. As you use 2g of it, that is 64 mg caffeine per serving, less than is contained in two coca cola classic cans.

Sencha hatsumi this afternoon. Four good steeps

[Pentox]

So far today, it's been cold brewing Maeda-En Gyokuro teabags. I've finally used them all up.

[TaiPing Hou Kui]

When I got my first Tokonome Kyusu they sent me a sample of a few grams and I tried it. Of course I did not have any of the proper tools to prepare it with so I had to do my best job with a normal whisk and a normal bowl. I enjoyed it and Im sure it would have been much better with the proper equipment and perhaps a better matcha. I hope to pick it up one day, but I have enough tea on my hands now and enough expensive hobbies. I feel like matcha, kind of like Pu-Erh is almost a hobby in and of itself.

*Today I have only had some premium sencha in my cup!

-Nick (TaiPing)

[osadczuk]

Ive never had it, but with all the talk of it, I'm thinking I would love to try it.

No tea yet - tea after picking up new cat.

Heh, isn't your avatar a pile of matcha powder though?

Umm, yes... But it's just so pretty. And green. And pretty.

I achieved cat. He's maine coon-ish and very, very sweet. But I'm feeling more then a tingle of guilt over "replacing" my cat. I keep reminding my self I'm not really replacing, and it will be alright.

[Victoria]

Awww it's ok. No not replacing. A new friend to help you get through it.
:o)

Not to mention doing a good thing - adopting. He looks very sweet.


White Tipped oolong for me this afternoon. Best brew of the day.

[scruffmcgruff]

I like matcha, but only drink it occasionally...when I do, I wonder why I do not have it more often.

Agreed!

[Space Samurai]

It would seem that I love it more than everyone else. I think part of the fascination with matcha is that it has so much to offer, while being a very singular drink; there is nothing quite like it.

The specific utensils needed and higher price tag combined with its unique ties to Japan and the tea ceremony, make it something different, exotic even.

For pot heads, matcha provides an opportunity to collect a whole new range of toys.

The taste itself is like no other green tea. And for people attracted to the health aspects of tea, there's the idea that matcha is healthier because you consume the whole leaf.

There's just nothink like matcha.

Drinking a few bowls of the organi kaoru from o-cha.

[CynTEAa]

Hi TeaFolks,

Back from a trip and a day to catch up! Started today with Yunnan Gold, moved onto fir tips (herbal) and then some Wuyi Oolong.

I chose occasionally drink matcha! Yum!

[daughteroftheKing]

I've been in a Jasmine-with-mint fix all day. But the T@3-on-Thursday group enjoyed Peach Oolong...again. I gotta get these gals out of that rut.

Space - Nice new avi!

Osadczuk - Beautiful cat. How can you not take him? Echoing Victoria: not replacing, but a new friend. What we feel for each of our furr-babies is unique and we are created with an endless capacity to love them even if that sounds impossible. What I feel for Darjeeling is somehow different than what it was for Jasmine, yet there she is taking up residence in my heart. (Yes, you read correctly. I named my cocker spaniels Jasmine & Darjeeling. )

[Cinnamon Kitty]

I achieved cat. He's maine coon-ish and very, very sweet. But I'm feeling more then a tingle of guilt over "replacing" my cat. I keep reminding my self I'm not really replacing, and it will be alright.

He's so cute and fluffy! I wouldn't call it replacing, but more of finding a new friend. You can't replace the good memories of a past kitty, but you can make new ones with a new cat.

CK, you might like my blend better on the second steep. That is when the Assam mellows out and the peach oolong blooms. I'll turn you into an oolong lover yet!

Victoria, you were right. The second steep was more peachy and mellow while the first steep was pleasantly strong enough for a morning wake up tea. It reminded me of how the White Tip Oolong turned peachy during the second and third steeps. This sampling of oolongs and oolong blends is turning out to be a lot more enjoyable than the ones I have tried previously.

I ended up switching over to some Sencha Fuka-Midori this afternoon before I have to pack up my kyusu to bring home for spring break. I am just heating the water for the fourth steep of it now.

[Chip]

Congrats, osadczuk, on your new addition to your family.

Guricha was my second tea of the day...Lupicia...eh, whatever. I do not put Guricha anywhere close to sencha. I just do not crave it, period. But it is simply a nice change of pace Japanese tea.

Tea 3. Moved on to a new batch of home pan fired Daily Sencha. I almost ruined this batch by pan firing it a few seconds too long. Since the leaf is dry when I pan fire it, less than 10 seconds and keeping it moving in the pan is critical.

So, this batch requires a little care in brewing or it tastes a little "burnt" even though the leaf is still green, but it has just a tint of brownish to it. Last batch was more green after firing and more barley tasting...

I am rambling...

[Chip]

And speaking of Spring...today is the first day of Spring. Winter is over here in the frozen tundra.

Shincha cannot be far behind!

[Space Samurai]

Still at the top.

Finising the evening with some fukamushicha.