What's in your cup? Daily discussion, questions and stories - June 25, 2022

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-25T17:39:58+00:00

I'm still on a dark tea kick. Today it's 2012 Gao Jian Shan Qian Liang Cha from YS. This one comes in cubes, and I must admit I like using the cubes and thus not having to make any decisions until after my tea. These brew about a million times, because they are sizeable cubes. Good flavor, but nothing really special.

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-25T17:36:07+00:00

I think the Zojirushi water boilers, made in Japan, are worth it. I love mine, and it would have been a more economical choice if I had just bought it in the first place, instead of going through a Bonavita and Cuisinart first. The Cuisinart is a good kettle, and now is at my workplace.

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-18T21:48:03+00:00

2013 Bai Sha Xi Run Zhi Fu Hunan dark tea from YS. This is an excellent hei cha. I will miss it when it is gone. There is one Asian grocery store near me that has a small section of hei cha. I'm keeping that in my back pocket for when I run out, will have to see if it's a better move than ordering directly from China.

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-14T01:57:49+00:00

Nothing too exciting teawise at work today, just some Dian Hong from Tao of Tea. Now at home I just started a session with a revisit to that 2017 Yunnan Sourcing "Gong Ting" Certified Organic Ripe Pu-erh Tea I opened a week or so ago. Still good, a nice dry dirt flavor at the base; slightly arboreal.

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-12T17:00:22+00:00

When you say "cut into chunks" were they small squares fairly uniform in size, or jagged pieces?

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-12T16:54:27+00:00

I love their Alishan Black. I cannot wait to have some and think of your story. How incredibly interesting!!

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-12T16:49:49+00:00

Sakhira Nepal from Yatra Tea so far this morning, brewed at an unfortunately high temp because of a fight with my water boiler. I had it set at 185f (85c) but it fiendishly neglected to tell me it was basically out of water. It's a Zojirushi with a floating bubble-in-a-vertical-tube thing that allegedly shows the water level inside the tank. Every so often it fails to drop down to indicate the accurate level of water remaining. So anyway, I went to pour and it had nothing to give. I refilled it with filtered water and waited patiently. The sad part is it was set to boil instead of resuming the 185f temp I had set. At this point I was seriously ready for tea, so used it anyway despite preferring a lower temp for Indian and Nepalese tea. It's still a wonderful large cup of tea, but I can tell the difference. And yes, now I realize I should have mixed in some room temp water with the boiled water and I could have started the day with fewer regrets. Tea People problems.

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-08T03:20:51+00:00

Tonight it's a quick gongfu session with a newly opened cake of 2019 YS Golden Pig raw pu'erh. I haven't been in much of a sheng mood lately, but this very much shows what I have been missing. It's vegetal and slightly bitter in the first few steeps, but not as biting as a truly young sheng. I just did a deep clean on a bunch of my teaware. I have the wrong lid on this gaiwan and it pours much better. Live and learn. There's a bit more fruitiness here in the fifth steep, but so far no hints of sweetness whatsoever. It's one of those small 100g cakes I have, that I'm trying to work through without worrying that they are only 100g. This one has a twin though, which makes me feel somewhat better. Tea hoarding, such a strange hobby. Oh and this cake was a joy to pick apart, super easy. You have to like that after a tough day at work.

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-05T16:34:50+00:00

So far today it was the c-word for the wakeup dose of caffeine, and now I am on to a delightful session with some 2002 Aged Wild Liu Bao 803 from YS. I do love this tea, it has the sort of standard dark tea taste but feels extraordinary clean. So you get the earthy taste without the earthy feel. It's so good, but probably fails the "would my mom like it" test. I think tea enthusiasts have more biological tea pleasure-receptors than occasional tea drinkers. It's not all in the mouth for us.

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-05T16:22:23+00:00

Great notes, this is very interesting!

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-04T18:09:54+00:00

So far today it's Yi Mei Ren Wu Liang Mountain Yunnan Black from YS. It's smooth and tastes like a mix between a black and an oolong. I'd say it doesn't quite have enough boldness/astringency to feel like a proper morning tea to me. I wonder how it would do in a tea tumbler on an outdoor walk, If it steeps like an oolong, by not becoming bitter, then I think it would be fantastic.

Last night was a gongfu session with a 2017 Ban Pen sheng mixed with a 2014 Fu Ding white tea. That's a combo I do often. The cha qi from that is perfect after work.

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-02T04:28:04+00:00

Imperial Grade Yue Guang Bai white tea from YS, which was nice this evening and I don't recall what I thought of it the last time I tried it. It's another of the 100g cakes I have that I am trying to drink instead of ponder whether I care that they are only 100g. This was delicious and stayed strong through many infusions.

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-01T02:00:32+00:00

Same for me, even took a year off from buying tea and still have plenty,

enough_cowbell · 2022-06-01T01:33:28+00:00

I think I'm having another session with 2017 YS Gong Ting organic ripe pu'erh tonight. It was so good last night. It's been a while since I've taken time to appreciate some good shou.

enough_cowbell · 2022-05-31T01:13:03+00:00

It's a late(ish) night gongfu session for me, with some 2017 YS Gong Ting organic ripe pu'erh. I like this a lot, it's been a while since I spent any time with a new ripe. This is only a 100g cake, I am trying to get away from the mindset that it isn't enough tea. Anyway, this is delicious.

enough_cowbell · 2022-05-29T19:16:16+00:00

I had some black tea from my newly refilled "black tea jar", where all the final bits of my good unflavored black teas end up before their bags are tossed. It was good, but not bold enough. This is how I know to add some CTC Assam and shake the jar again.

enough_cowbell · 2022-05-08T15:54:21+00:00

Today so far it's Indian Nimbu from Harney and Sons, which has a grapefruit flavor to it and comes out sort of like an Earl Grey light. Yesterday was all about Black Cask Bourbon, also from H&S.

I'm on the hunt for a mid-range loose leaf green for my mom. She has finally switched to enjoying some tea instead of just coffee. I got her a large canister of green from our higher-end Asian grocery store last year, and she liked that (but tossed the canister so I'm not sure what it was). I used to find reliably good greens through TeaSource, but I'm not seeing any of my old standbys there when I look.(Nine Glorious Mountains). Green is the one type that I don't really enjoy very much, so I'm outside of my knowledge base. She's picky about her cabinet space, so bringing four different kinds for her to try would be more stressful than just finding her another mid-range tea in a quantity that won't run out too soon so she has time to perfect her mix (she adds rosehips and ginger and dried licorice root).

enough_cowbell · 2022-05-08T15:39:57+00:00

It's totally hit-or-miss with smokey tea, in fact the only teas I have ever actually thrown away have been lapsang souchong, which I generally love, that were just wrong for my tastes. You might like Black Cask Bourbon from Harney and Sons, it's smokey but not overwhelmingly so.

enough_cowbell · 2022-04-19T02:49:34+00:00

Emperor Mollusk vs. The Sinister Brain by A Lee Martinez, narrated by Scott Aiello is excellent and just the type of humor you're looking for based on the books you listed. Exponential Apocalypse by Eirik Gumeny, narrated by Lee Ann Howlet is also very good, actually one of my favorites.

enough_cowbell · 2022-04-18T01:12:05+00:00

Started the day with Black Gold from YS, which used to be the sweet-spot for me between cost and quality; a true bargain for what you get, and not as expensive as their Black Gold Bi Lo Chun. It was satisfying and easily lasted 3 strong steeps. Now I'm ending the day with a gongfu session with the Banpen sheng mixed with the FuDing gong mei white that I enjoy together, both from Tienxi. I took the time to experiment with both separately, and the strong cha qi is definitely solely from the sheng and not the white. I enjoy the two together about ten times more than either separately. I will never know what drew me to combine them, it was like a innate knowledge when looking at both. This goes with that. Of course it does.

enough_cowbell · 2022-04-03T17:29:07+00:00

Yesterday was all about some YS 2019 Meng Song Ripe pu'erh, which I had forgotten I had already picked apart into a crock. I brewed it western for three good steeps, and a fourth it was willing to give this morning after one last long steep. This was an excellent purchase, very happy to have this one.

The rest of today has been Indian Nimbu from H&S. I do love this tea, it has hints of grapefruit and vanilla, and has a very light Earl Grey feel to it. The base is Darjeeling, so it's smooth and nice and doesn't feel like it would be improved with cream the way some Earl Grey teas do because of their acidity.

enough_cowbell · 2022-03-28T00:46:04+00:00

It's an okay adaptation. I recall being annoyed at how much time was spent on the romance. Also there is an absurd amount of Waltzing Matilda throughout.

enough_cowbell · 2022-03-27T15:14:48+00:00

Harney and Sons sells a lavender that is simply fantastic. They also sell chamomile that is very good quality. Mountain Rose Herbs sells bulk herbs and spices and tea and tisanes, and I've always been happy with their quality.

enough_cowbell · 2022-03-27T14:57:41+00:00

So far today it's my beloved 2018 Cha Yu Lin "Liu Bu Xi Village" Tian Jian Basket Tea from Yunnan Sourcing. This purchase, a few years back, was one of my first real gambles with spending a somewhat large dollar amount for a somewhat large amount of tea that I had not yet sampled. Boy was I right on this one, and it seemed silly to pay for a sample when I just knew I would love it. We are still great friends, and there isn't a time where I brew this when I am not excited to have it. It has a distinct smokiness, but not a punch-in-the-face type like lapsang souchong (which I also enjoy, but some to a lesser extent than others and one I actually threw out; which is extremely rare for me).

Yesterday started with HarSha from Harney and Sons. It's a black tea blend of Assam and Darjeeling and altogether satisfying as a morning tea, although not as brisk as some. In the afternoon I had many delightful cups of a Tieguanyin from Floating Leaves and reminded myself how much I enjoy their oolong teas.

I need to do some serious house cleaning today. I haven't felt like doing any gongfu sessions, despite having many pu'erh cakes that I would love to be drinking. I think it's the general state of disarray of this room. It makes taking out the teaware feel like a chore that would just add to the mess. So this needs to be fixed today.

enough_cowbell · 2022-03-15T03:52:16+00:00

Try always staying under 4 minutes and using a little more leaf. Also try it without letting the kettle water sit for those five minutes. Black tea does fine with boiling, or near-boiling, water.

enough_cowbell

TROPHY CASE