Recipe Tea: What are you steeping these days?

I know almost nothing about tea, and I almost never drink it. I like some sweet tea in the summer on occasion, and will drink some hot tea (typical Earl Grey or the like) if I'm sick.

However, I was at a restaurant over the weekend that had an aged tea list on their menu, including some stuff from 1949. My wife (who drinks a little more tea than I, but isn't an expert either) commented on it. Neither of us realized you aged tea.

Can anyone here comment on that, or enlighten us?

For reference, see the upper right of page two from this link:
http://www.jameshotels.com/downloads/menu/primehouse/James-Primehouse-dessert.pdf

 

Ahhh.. the aged Puerh tea.

Some tea people say that aging makes a difference. It mellows with age. Others say it doesn't matter can't tell the difference.

I don't know about if it is better older. I like a good puerh. It's right, very mouthy, like a nice brewed coffee. Dark liquor and full body.

Some of the Chinese just don't know what to do with the puerh even as a culture they don't know. So they did what they felt was right which was charge more for it. Really I don't think I could pay $20 for a cup of tea.

 

I know I wouldn't, let alone $120 for the really old one. But I didn't know if any of the tea lovers would go "wow, that's the Holy Grail of tea!" or something.

 

HOLY COW I didn't realize that the top was listed at $150. 1949 Vintage Private Reserve among the oldest vintage pu-erhs to enter u.s. soil 150. wow! the rest of the teas, actually are also pretty expensive too.

How was the rest of the food?

 

Yeah. 'Holy Cow' is what I thought at $150 tea too.

The food was awesome. For a full review, check out the bottom half of the first post here: http://www.thetfp.com/threads/do-we...icated-to-steak-until-now.3389/#axzz1oLkWrbkd

David Burke's has seriously become my favorite overall restaurant. Too expensive to be anything but a special occasion place, but they seriously blow me away every time I'm there. Not just the steak either, all the other stuff is top notch, and much of it is creative, which is a bit different than the traditional top Chicago steak houses.

 

Although it's technically a tisane, I'm currently steeping an herbal/floral blend called Mother's Little Helper. Meant to instill relaxation, it's a blend of peppermint, lemongrass, rosehips, hibiscus, chamomile, valerian root, and cornflowers. It's actually pretty tasty too.

 

I'm going off the Camellia sinensis for a bit to reset my "caffeine clock."

And because of this damned heat, I'm starting with a large batch of herbal iced tea. The first one I'm going with is a blend called Exotica, which includes:

• lemongrass,
• pink peppercorns,
• cloves,
• cinnamon,
• cardamom,
• pineapple,
• orange peel, and
• coconut.

 

No hibiscus?

 

OMG! Hibiscus is sooo overrated....

 

I like the color.

I need to pick up some Wild Berry Zinger, I think.

 

If you can find this at your local K-town market... OMFG it's the best ever.

Dongsuh T.I.O Ice Peach Tea(Stick) 18pcs products, buy Dongsuh T.I.O Ice Peach Tea(Stick) 18pcs products from alibaba.com

 

Noted. I'll have to take a look at the local Asian markets.

 

I talked to the manufacturer in Las Vegas World Tea Expo where they won an award. Sadly the packaging is only in Korean and won't be translated any time soon unless I have a shit ton of cash.

 

Eh, that's fine as long as I have a picture of it! I'm pretty sure there are some stores in Portland that would definitely carry it. Packaging that I can't read has never discouraged me, and I know there are people like me out there.

 

I love the Traditional Medicinals Seasonal Cold pack. It has Throat Coat, Gypsy Cold Care, Breathe Easy, and Echinacea all together to combat the various stages of a cold. They're all pretty fantastic herbal teas. I also really like their Raspberry Leaf tea. It tastes like a black tea with none of the caffeine.

 

I tried a pu-erh a while back and didn't like it. I found it too musty or something.

I recently read a bit more about pu-erh and was intrigued by how it's made and the fact it's a fermented tea. I wanted to try it again.

The problem was that the company I bought my first batch from suggests steeping it for 5 to 7 minutes. I read that there are quite different methods for steeping this tea, and that the 5-to-7 method is merely a Western thing.

The traditional method, ostensibly, uses shorter multiple steeping. For example:

1st steep: 10 to 20 seconds—discard, this removes impurities and unfurls the leaves
2nd steep: 30 seconds
3rd steep: 30 seconds
(etc.)

At first I thought, "Only thirty seconds? No way." But then I tried it. I was much better! It's more balanced and quite tasty. I like it.

Another strategy I read about did it something like this. I haven't tried it yet...

1st steep: 10 seconds—again, discard
2nd steep: 15 seconds
3rd steep: 30 seconds
4th steep: 45 seconds
(and so forth until you've gotten what you want out of the leaves)

What do you make of this, cynthetiq ?

I haven't tried just 3 minutes like you have, but I'm reluctant to. Thirty seconds seems plenty for what I'm getting, and I'm on the fourth steep!

This is what I'm drinking: Organic Golden Pu’erh - Pu'erh Tea From The Yunnan Province in China | DavidsTea