Sunday TeaDay 10/26/08 Flavor profile preference?

[Chip]

I am enjoying the interesting posts on this topic. I can agree it requires a lot of thought since tea enjoyment and tea itself can be very complex. I have to go with the vegetal character of greens, mainly Japanese greens. Grassiness is also very prominent in Japanese greens and is a close second.

There are many other flavor aspects I could have added to the poll, like honey, toastiness and others as mentioned by others today. I like the honey sweetness that I notice in a lot of oolong. Along with the floral, then fruitiness.

Xi Hu Long Jing in my cup. Japanese greens have caused this Long Jing to fade a bit. I have neglected my Chinese greens. Enjoyed this session with Sweetie. Pyrate and Wulong stopped by to check out the tea and left.

[caligatia]

I'm the ONLY smoky vote? Damn. Fruity is a very close second for me. Floral's okay in small doses. Vegetal can be nice. Grassy... eh.

Introduced Mom and Sis to golden monkey this afternoon. They liked it. I've made up a pitcher of iced raspberry black, but right now I'm relaxing with some Darjeeling #22. I know it's not the best Darjeeling, but it's still nice. I plan to order some of the really good stuff in a couple of weeks...

[Victoria]

This afternoon for me brings another new black tea I am trying from Stash,
Yellow Kuan Yin.

Very fruity, extremely mild. The main reason for my order was to try their both of Nilgiri. A couple interesting blacks sort of jumped into the cart.

[Chip]

In my cup Imperial Golden Monkey that I recently unearthed. 2-3 years old, but this stuff is still very good. Started an Adagio Alishan which I will return to this evening as a SLT. And now a Japanese Green!

Sounds very appealing, Victoria. I will have to check out their site unless some is miraculously coming my way.

[Maitre_Tea]

I'm the ONLY smoky vote? Damn. Fruity is a very close second for me. Floral's okay in small doses. Vegetal can be nice. Grassy... eh.

I think people think of lapsang souchang when they think of smoky, which is a tea that people either love or hate. For me smokiness is up there, and I had a tough time deciding between smoky or fruity. Luckily both come in most high roasted oolongs, so when I drink tea I usually don't have to choose between one or the other

[Victoria]

In my cup Imperial Golden Monkey that I recently unearthed. 2-3 years old, but this stuff is still very good. Started an Adagio Alishan which I will return to this evening as a SLT. And now a Japanese Green!

Sounds very appealing, Victoria. I will have to check out their site unless some is miraculously coming my way.

Not likely.

Moving on now to some TeaMasters Baozhong. Been open awhile now,
loosing some of it's luster, but still a great tea.

I'm the ONLY smoky vote? Damn. Fruity is a very close second for me. Floral's okay in small doses. Vegetal can be nice. Grassy... eh.

Caligatia, remind me to include a sample of the ToT Bohea in your package,
I think you will enjoy the subtle smokiness.
.

[daughteroftheKing]

Fruit & Floral are both flavors that I seek in a tea. Hard to choose, but I voted floral considering my fondness for jasmine, rosebuds, lavender, etc.

This morning's cup was a white with pineapple & peppercorns - kind of a funny tea with just enough leaves left for steeping 1 other day. This afternoon back to gyokuro and rosebuds. Upped the leaf a bit, so now it's more green than I like but next infusion should be more to my liking. Should go well with the roast chicken I just took out of the oven .

[laran7]

I voted for "grassy" because of how taken I was with TKY a couple of months ago it reminded me of a fresh green outdoor morning - like some perfumes do - I think Calyx (sp) was one - but unfortunately the perfume makes me sneeze (no matter how much I like it.)

There is something about tea that I can't define by taste alone - I wanted to say
"leafy" - but that refers to the tea leaves themselves - not tree leaves or autumn leaves - and makes no sense because the arguement is circular -

For some reason Darjeelings smell like tea to me - not definable in any other way to me right now - winey, floral, "citrus-y" - the blend of flavors is unique and that is what I like most. Other people have mentioned similiar impressions.

Assam Harmony is becoming another go to for me - it seems mild and pleasant rather than astringent or bitter in any way. But for some reason -
it is doesn't strike me as tea like as Darjeeling. Go figure!

[Drax]

Thanks everybody for describing what teas exhibit which flavor areas!

I had gunpowder with my split pea soup tonight. Mmmmm.

Hrm, when I eventually work my way to pu-erh, I suppose I could have pea AND pu for a meal.

Do the pu jokes ever get old? It doesn't seem like it...

[Selaphiel]

Combination of grassy, vegetal and marine would best describe my preference.

This sounds like the basic recipe for all Japanese green teas, just vary the proportions and you could make all the different Japanese greens that ever existed! Maybe for gyokuro you would have to add umami and some mouthfeel descriptors.

I am enjoying everyone's efforts to match characteristics with specific teas. I like to think of each tea type as representing a sliding scale:

• Sencha: ------ (grassy vs vegetal) +/- marine
  Gao Shan: --- vegetal vs floral
  Yan Cha: ----- fruity vs smokey

Not so sure about other teas.

Exactly, 90% of the tea I drink is Japanese green so that sounds very right

edkrueger: Already in the shelf

[Chip]

Finished the TeaDay with O-Cha Gyokuro from Sarah. Now maybe some Mugicha ... from Sarah.

[caligatia]

For me smokiness is up there, and I had a tough time deciding between smoky or fruity. Luckily both come in most high roasted oolongs, so when I drink tea I usually don't have to choose between one or the other

Sounds like I need to get my hands on some high-roasted oolongs. Thanks for mentioning that bit!

Victoria: I think I'm going to owe you one...

[Victoria]

For me smokiness is up there, and I had a tough time deciding between smoky or fruity. Luckily both come in most high roasted oolongs, so when I drink tea I usually don't have to choose between one or the other

Sounds like I need to get my hands on some high-roasted oolongs. Thanks for mentioning that bit!

Victoria: I think I'm going to owe you one...

I'll see if I can find a nice sample of one of those too while I'm at it.

Then you can owe me two. Hahaha!
Just kidding, I'm on sample overload!! You are doing me a favor by reducing my inventory!

[chad]

Hmmm...I didn't vote on Sunday, but looking at the question I voted vegetal though I normally look for balance...duh!

Sunday started with Irish Breakfast and then to Black Pearl.

[horsencl]

I voted for floral as I am a sucker for floral teas but I have a liking for most of the tastes in the poll. I was also surprised at how much I like vegetal teas. As someone who often neglects to eat her veggies because I hate the taste of them, I expected to hate tea that taste like spinach but it is actually quite good.