Tuesday TeaDay 4/5/11 Sweet in tea?

[Chip]

Greetings TeaFriends, welcome to a new TeaDay hopefully filled with great tea. Please stop in to TeaDay and share what is in your cup with us.

Yesterday we discussed bitteness in tea. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. How much SWEET is acceptable? How much is too much? Please answer as best you can.

We are as always looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with ... everyone. Bottoms up!

[Chip]

Remember, we are talking about sweet as detected by taste buds/receptors. Not added sweetener.

[Xell]

I have a sweet tooth, no matter how sweet it is i doubt it will be ever too sweet for me

[karmaplace]

I have a sweettooth too, as long as the sweetness is not from an added sweetener. Sweeteners are gross.

I enjoyed several infusions of okuyutaka sencha today, and now I've just got out some formosa oolong at work.

[Chasm]

The balance with the other flavors is what does it for me. Sweet+floral = me fleeing to the other side of the room and breathing through my sleeve.

Sweet+grassy = give me more!

[artmom]

Sweetness, yes. Not too much, though.

GD Samantha is on her way to Atlanta to catch her flight to Japan. She won't be back for at least a year.

As soon she gets her apartment and computer set up, we'll have tea "together" through SKYPE, though!

TGY today, again.

[tortoise]

I think it's about balance again and sweetness is a part of that. I particularly enjoy the secondary sweetness at the back of the throat that lingers and lubricates. Hui Gan?

Anyway, looks like I'll be voting for "balance" for a few more days as this series unfolds.

Still a bit under the weather, so I'm saving my "good" tea for the day I can experience it fully again. So I'm having a mug of irish breakfast with some additional "sweetness" piled on to balance the bitter -- while I am lustily eyeing some Select Grade TKY from Mandarin Tea Room.

[Trey Winston]

I like a little sweetness in the tea, but a good balance is ideal.

No tea so far today, and there likely won't be any. Tomorrow looks better, though.

[Chip]

Sweetness in tea can be ... odd or even suspect at times. If I am getting a weird vibe from the sweetness, I do not like it.

But a fine tea that is obviously naturally sweet and balanced ... well it can be exquisite! I do not want it to completely dominate, however.

Began the TD with Aoi from O-Cha with the Mrs. Subtle sweetness in the background, definitely not an assertive sweetness. But it gives the tea an overall roundness, very nice!

[Elovitz]

I tend to love tea on the sweeter side, but it cannot be overbearing. Okay, maybe a little...

Jin Xuan today. Tried another sample last night of the same, but it didn't cut it.

[LauraW]

Balance, definitely. There's something to be said for some sweetness, but too much is problematic.
Yunnan gold today.

[edkrueger]

IMO its only balanced if there is little sweetness.

[hopeofdawn]

Considering I cannot stand a bitter edge to my tea--sweet is definitely a plus. But not sickly-sweet, a la added sugar/honey/sweetener. There are a couple of oolongs--Xiu Xian's Sweet Jade or Floating Leaves' Lishan--that I definitely love when I want a sweet, rich tea ....

[JRS22]

This was a tough question to answer - as my perception of sweet could be different from others, as is my perception of bitter. I figure that I need a lot of sweet to balance out the bitter, especially in Japanese tea.

Started the day with the Tsuen Sencha Otusuusan that arrived yesterday from O-Cha. I lowered the temperature from the recommended 176 degrees down to 170, upped the time a few seconds, and enjoyed a delicious cup of tea. Well, 3 cups - maybe because of the stems this tea wears out after 3 steeps.

[debunix]

Haven't ever encountered a C sinensis tea that was too sweet by itself. But no sugar added, please!

I have occasionally gone overboard with sweet elements in preparing herbal tisanes, and licorice root can rapidly overwhelm an otherwise nice tea with cloying sweetness.

Started today with a particularly pleasing and sweet brewing of Zairai sencha from Norbu.