Posted: March 07, 2008 12:16 AM

My Ippodo matcha starter kit came in the mail today by way of Dina aka Teasweetie who hangs out at a particular tea forum. I have never tasted it nor seen matcha in real life so I was in for a surprise. The kit came in a gift wrapped box featuring a chawan (tea bowl), a chasen (tea whisk), and a chashoku (fancy word for scooping stick). A 20g tin of matcha was also included inside the box.

I was expecting a boring white tea bowl but it has a cream crackled glaze with swirl texture on the bottom. The matcha came in a foil pouch with which its radioactive contents can be dumped in the enclosed tin.

Featured here is my affinity for tea plant life, a green thumb (har har). Also pictured is the Ooze the ordinary sewer turtles drank to become Ninja Turtles.

I liked the taste of it. It wasn't very sweet or astringent, but it was nourishing and savory. Vegetal and woody, the unsifted matcha I whisked gave the tea a very grainy texture. Some of the aroma and the texture really reminded me of hot chocolate made from a powder. I used 1.5 scoops with the amount of water they recommended but it wasn't quite as strong as I might like. I may wish to find some more astringent matcha to awaken the senses. Come spring time, I will bug Alex for recommendations.

Posted: March 06, 2008 12:42 AM

I got four yixing teapots from Yunnan Sourcing recently. Yesterday I seasoned one to make some light fire oolong with which I drank a sample of TeaSpring's Jade Tie Guan Yin. To season the pot, I put a bunch of old light oolong in the pot and submerged it in a pot of boiling water for about 30 minutes. I haven't tasted any tea in the pot before seasoning, so I don't know how it changed but the result was good. Today I seasoned the other three pots with the same old light oolong. No pictures of them yet, but I have them planned for dark oolong, sheng pu'er, and red tea. Like usual, I did some reading while I drank and today's literature was this week's issue of Detective Comics (the main Batman title).

Posted: March 02, 2008 6:23 PM

If we don't count the random mug tea at work, I have been drinking sencha exclusively for the past two weeks. I have been sitting on a bag of O-cha Kabusecha for a few months, given to me by Alex at Another Tea Blog. I know that green tea is prone to going stale once opened, so I wanted to get the right equipment first. Prior to this adventure, my tools included a 150mL gaiwan and a 700mL teapot. Neither of these seemed right for the job, so I picked up a kyuusu from Den's Tea. Now, ordering this Japanese tea pot is nice, but I just had to get some tea with it. I didn't want to get too much green tea before the new spring harvest so I ordered a bag of their Fukamushi Sencha Maki. Tea and tools were had, so there was nothing left to stop me from diving in.

As mentioned, I have been drinking sencha for the past two weeks. There are a few reasons for this:

1) Sencha will go stale quickly after opening, so I have been drinking a lot of it.
2) It is easy to brew. Simple to drink.
3) It tastes good, but I haven't been able to describe how it tastes to make a post about it.

The fukamushi and the kabuse are rather similar in taste. They are both very mellow, and very pleasing to drink. I really can't think of how to describe them, even after reading other people's descriptions. They're grassy, straw-y, mellow, smooth. I really like sencha, but it's not as complex as a Chinese oolong or pu'er. I wish I could write more on them, but I really can't. There are some posts by others out there. Fukamushi: A Tasty Beverage, Tea Nerd. Kabusecha: Green Tea Review.

PS. The pictures of the wet leaf aren't as appetizing as whole leaf tea. I have dubbed wet sencha as "tea sludge".

Posted: February 17, 2008 1:52 AM

Holy moley, it's been some time since I last posted. Those of you who chat at a particular tea site know I'm still around, but for those who only read this page, I'm still drinking tea (and beer...). Much of my tea has been consumed through an infuser and mug with 180°F water from an office-grade coffee maker. The tea I've had at home has been a little bit better with proper temperatures in an English teapot. This past week I've gotten back into gongfu but I've been drinking stuff I have already reviewed and am quite comfortable with. I have some new teas I haven't tasted yet, but I wanted to get back into my analytical mode before I try to pick out their flavors, mouthfeels and other random criteria.

I thought I would get back into critical drinking mode by revisiting the Shui Xians I discussed in a previous post. My feelings for them haven't changed since I last drank them so this post isn't going to be as novel and exciting as one might hope. I find them all to have a wonderful coffee and nut taste to it. Try to imagine a coffee with just a little hazelnut or almond cream to it, but take away the coffee's rough and acidic mouthfeel. Smooth, rich, roasty, nutty, woody, etc. Out of the three, I still seem to best like the 1997 batch.

I hope to do some coding on this site and also post more. I have a big stash of things that still need tasting.

Posted: January 06, 2008 2:05 PM

I got some more black tea from Adagio since I find their tea to have a good value for my morning cup. My morning today happens to have started in the afternoon but we won't discuss that. I picked up some more Yunnan Gold because as Alex says, it's 'dian hong or gtfo'. Peeking into the newly acquired tin (which is easy since the lid is clear), I noticed a lot more brown than gold hues. What was once a mostly gold buds tea is now tainted with about equal portions brown and gold. Now judging a tea by looks is nary a good thing, the proof lies in the cup. The new Yunnan Gold tastes similar, I can tell it's a dian hong. I had an old sample tin from long ago and brewed it up to see. Oh boy, when I take a sip I feel like I'm being wrapped in a velvet smoking jacket, some slippers are placed on my feet, and I'm being reclined back in a comfy chair. As my analogy hopefully conveys, it is a very sensual, warm drink. I have a larger portion of the new Yunnan Gold, so I've been going back and forth trying them. I gotta say, the pure buds just takes the cake and eats it too. I'm now drinking the second place winner in a competition of two, but it is a strong contender. Next time I purchase a Yunnan gold I will be sure to check if it's pure buds.