WEDNESDAY TeaDay, 5/14/08

[Chip]

At the risk of being banned, anything green!!! {ducks} Sorry to all of you who are crazy about it but I can't get past the fishy smell & taste. I've tried apr 5 different ones & even a green oolong but they were all very unpleasant.

Made a pot of Organic Monk's Blend this morning. Need something a little strong as I didn't sleep well last night. Had a crazy dream about talking to a vampire...

This is shocking ...but I am not sure which revelation is more shocking...

In 9 years almost of drinking tea, I have been pretty fortunate (most of my teas that did not get brewed are do to early stages of evolving tea tastes). 3 really vile brews that actually helped chart my personal tea journey...

Lapsang Souchong (cannot believe this was not on anyone's list) I realized that I should not try EVERY tea I see early on with this one.

RoT their white tea jasmine in a white tin. This is FLAVORED with essesnce not traditionally scented. Bleh...never went back to RoT again. This turned me into a TeaLabel reader. I had assumed this was a scented tea until I took my first taste and had to spit it out.

Au Jasmine...jasmine tea commonly found in Vietnamese groceries. This was sooo vile that it actually changed my naive belief that all tea was safe and good for you. I just had to believe this one was bad for one's health.

Good news though, Kirameki shincha in my cup and it is marvelous!!!

Bad news, I have lost respect for my rural mail carriers. My regular guy is great, but Monday and Wednesday are sub days. 8 out of 10 of those days oddly I do not get mail. I believe a shincha package was supposed to arrive today since this vendor sent 2 packages out the same day. I received one of them yesterday. Today, being Wednesday, the carrier drove right by my house...again.

[scotty X]

i've had some vile brews, mostly blacks, but none stands out above the rest, except maybe lychee and jasmine blacks. and then there's the L-word. let's not even go there.

sal, you have a garden lady? what's up with that, dude?

[Katrina]

Bad tea - should be illegal I think.

I have had a few (luckily very few) really awful teas. Definitely more than a few that were disappointing but these were the worst:

I had a Lapsang Souchong once that I only managed one sip. I later found out that after I'd ordered it they'd put the leaf in and then forgotten it in the kitchen for about 10 minutes. UGH! (So hard to say if it was the tea that was bad or the brewing.)

A previously mentioned grapefruit flavored black tea. Yikes.

Good Earth Organic Seven Spice Chai.

A truly painful experience with Tea of Life English Breakfast with pomegranate (a gift, I assure you. Maybe the giver didn't like me very much.)

And, one that should not even be called tea anyway, Dunkin Donuts vanilla chai. I know, I know. My fault entirely. I could have predicted that it would be vile.

Today I'm sticking with a safe Assam.

[Victoria]

Ali Shan Oolong again for me this afternoon.
Seriously addicted to this one.
Yum.

[ThinkingOutLoud]

First cup of the fabled Orange Blossom Oolong for me this afternoon (thanks, Henley!). I think this will be a winter tea for me. I like it, but think I will super, duper like it (in the words of my four year old) in, say, December.

[fencerdenoctum]

Worst tea I've ever had was Tazo's Awake blend. I think I lost years of my life just for one sip.


PG tips iced tea today. Sorry to admit to using bags, but thats what bag teas is for. not bad for a first attempt, I don't think I'll ever get iced tea right. EVER.


The Tea Sipping Swordsman,
Fencerdenoctum
Seigi no tame

[henley]

The earth has officially quit spinning! I may have found a green tea that's not disgusting. Thanx to LP for the sakura sencha sample. The first steep (170/1.5 min) wasn't my favorite but the second steep (160/2 min) is pretty good. Am curious to see if it tastes better w/subsequent steeps. Green tea is a whole new world to me. Any pointers on temps & steep times?

[Victoria]

The earth has officially quit spinning! I may have found a green tea that's not disgusting. Thanx to LP for the sakura sencha sample. The first steep (170/1.5 min) wasn't my favorite but the second steep (160/2 min) is pretty good. Am curious to see if it tastes better w/subsequent steeps. Green tea is a whole new world to me. Any pointers on temps & steep times?

Is this the Den's? I thought it was one of the better I have tired too.

[RussianSoul]

Neat new avatar, Victoria! Very pretty!

[henley]

Is this the Den's? I thought it was one of the better I have tried too.

Yes, it is. Jury's still out on whether I order it next spring.

[LavenderPekoe]

Try a little warmer water and shorter steep on the first one, it should be less "green" that way according to the package.

[Ladytiger]

Anything Rooibos and some Japanese greens suck as Genmaicha.

[Ron Gilmour]

Let me be clear that I think very highly of Harney & Sons. They offer some truly excellent teas, but I'm afraid they also sell the single worst tea I ever tried: Elyse's Blend. It is described as "tippy Assam and Kenyan teas blended with smooth Kenilworth Ceylon, then this blend is slightly sweetened with honey flavors." Sounds good, right? Well, it had this weird chemical taste/smell that reminded me of new sneakers. Really vile. Luckily I'd only ordered a sample.

Currently drinking some Mirik Valley FF Darjeeling from Tao of Tea. Highly recommended.

[Chip]

I have been running for 5 hours and have not been able to try my new Hashira shincha. I got the gift set since doing it this way, the kyusu was only ten bucks when I took into account free shipping.

The package arrived on time as scheduled according to the UPS tracking (still sore about USPS today). The gift set was nicely wrapped...a nice present to myself.

The kyusu is heavy, low end, but fully functional I am sure.

8:55 PM...do I try this treasure or just wait til manana??? Stay tuned....

[Tea Master of VA]

The worst tea I have had is any kind of tea you can actually find in India (even from the one shop in Mumbai that actually claims to have export quality tea). All of the good tea gets exported.

(that is except if you visit one of the tea estates)