Tuesday TeaDay 4/21/09 Most difficult to brew?

[Katrina]

Japanese greens for me, primarily because I get distracted very easily around here. Not much room for error with those. Most of my blacks and oolongs (other than something like a pouchong) are a little more forgiving.

No tea yet, but it is a grey rainy day here so I see lots of tea in my future.

Grey rainy daysss here too (where is Spring? Have you seen it in last days?)

I must confess that we have actually had beautiful weather here of late. This past weekend it was sunny and in the 60's and 70's. (OK, beautiful for New England. No bragging all you folks from So. CA.) Yesterday was cooler but equally lovely. I think this gloomier weather is supposed to stick for a few days. Of course, it's school vacation week for the kids around here. Feb vacation was one big blizzard. Bad timing for them!

[Chip]

Interesting that my difficulTea is mention by name so much already, Dan Cong. Wuyi oolong can give me fits at times, but I have also concluded it is often the tea and not just my ineptness. To me, Dan Cong certainly seems to require a bit of a commitment, both time and financial, to find its groove consistantly.

Began my TeaDay with Fukamushi Supreme, broke open a tin containing the 2nd half of the bag. I did not quite nail this today. I will try harder next time. SweeTea found it to be just OK this time. Pyrit, Wulong, and the Lil Bit took the time to say good morning.

Currently sipping Roasted Barley tea that I bought already roasted for tea at a Korean market. I have to say, despite the convenience and cheapness of this, my home roast is better!

[brlarson]

Dancong are the finickiest teas that I have brewed. Brewing sencha, mostly chumushi so far, has been straightforward after I learned basic brewing technique and after I got better teaware. Gyokuro seems trickier than the sencha I have brewed, but I haven't had any dismal failures with gyo like I did when learning to brew dancong.

Divini-Tea's Organic Wuyi Oolong this morning. Will have Takumi with lunch today.

Bruce

[silvermage2000]

I would have to say green tea in general.

[leiche]

Japanese greens tend to be iffy for me, and I suspect this is largely because I have very little practice with them.

Drinking some of Adagio's Oolong #8 this morning as I begin a day of annotation writing.

[auggy]

Odd one out - I voted Indian blacks. Mostly because I have the hardest time brewing these to where I like them. Ultimately, I think it is that I just don't like them and not a problem with brewing, but I'm gonna blame the brewing.

I discovered a great reason why I shouldn't keep tea at work. Someone had gone through my desk and spilled my keemun rhapsody on my chair. So not only did they spill my tea, they didn't even clean it up. I really hate people sometimes.

Rose marzipan this morning.

[jazz88]

Voted other. Not that hard if you pay attention

Anyway check this out:

Steepster
The idea’s pretty simple: you keep a tealog—a quick daily journal of the teas you drink—and follow friends and other tea lovers on the site and see what they’re drinking.

read baout it
http://www.jackcheng.com/steepster

[TIM]

Dancong is the hardest.... Like a young lady which yes is no, no is maybe, maybe is I don't know.... Water quality, resting, weather, aging, vessels, timing, mood and temp. all makes a big difference in a good and a bad cup....

[Intuit]

Of the teas listed, Japanese greens require care to master optimal extraction. Most blacks and oolongs are relatively easy by comparison. Chinese greens offer so much variety that its not so difficult to find one that yields a suitable cup regardless of expertise - given the significant variation in soil chemistry/geology, cultivars and climate of China when comparing the tea growing geography to Japan.

Green tea this afternoon, if time permits.

[Victoria]

Japanese greens for me. Maybe I just don't have the patience. I'm not much on scales and using a thermometer and all that they require. But I work on them now and then, I'll find a groove eventually.

This morning the last of my Lupicia Nilgiri.

Have a nice day everyone!!

[gingkoseto]

To me, without a timer, Japanese green is the most challenging one. It's hard to maintain an infusion between 1 and 2 minutes by estimating. Other than that, most teas don't seem challenging. I am very blunt and easily satisfied by inexpensive teas. When it doesn't work out, I usually blame the tea instead of spending significant time figuring out what's wrong with me Well I know it's not a positive attitude

[chad]

Japanes green tea for me. Often taste like I'm sucking through grass clippings! I know it's my technique. Fortunately, I don't drink Japanese green tea often.

Today I'm enjoying Maharani Estate darjeeling.

[Pentox]

It was a toss up between Chinese greens and Dan Cong for me. To achieve Dan Cong nirvana is more of a challenge, but i'm content to not reach such heights yet. Chinese greens though give me grief on a regular basis, probably why I don't normally drink any.

This morning - Lupicia Sencha Serene Forest. (Yame sencha blend). Good stuff.

[ErikaM]

Several of these I've never tried (Dan Cong, for example), so I can't make an informed choice. Since I'm mostly a green gal, the hardest for me are Japanese greens.

When I first started drinking loose leaf, I stuck mostly to Chinese greens (which are far more forgiving of beginner mistakes). Now that I'm more confident in my brewing, I've been finding myself migrating to Japanese greens more and more.

Green kukicha this morning for me.

[Dizzwave]

Congrats dooble!

I said Japanese green, probably because I've had some darn good stuff brewed by other people, and can't seem to get close to that when I brew it. I also don't brew it myself very often.
Dan Cong seems easy to me, maybe because I've only ever had Dan Cong that I've brewed, and probably don't know how good it can get.

Today, a 2008 12 Gentlemen shu pu-erh, 2 cakes of which I just received from Andao. It's a yummy one.
-dave