Hello, ladies and gentlemen, I have a tale to tell you all, and this relates to my repeated efforts to attempt to make tea and the attempts that all, have seemed to failed and only left me with tons of money wasted and still no results close to what is described by others.
Disclaimer: This description of my sad events are only to describe my failures, which, hopefully, you all can find a way to solve as I truly want to be a part of this experience, of being able to enjoy high-quality tea and, therefore, have other alternatives to drinks then what may be at the store. I want to be able to unite my friends around this joy and therefore spread this joy of tea to others who do have that interest but could even find more out of it. This is not to bash the community, tea, or other tea makers, as I would doubt people would just drink tea and act as if it was like drinking milk from the godliest cow even though it may taste like volcanic ash or taking black licorice and blending it so that it may be served as a part of heaven.
So, my experience first starts with a coffee/tea maker. If one does not know, I am speaking of Keurig, the godsend for coffee makers all across the world but possibly a curse word within the tea community.(No offense to those who happen to use Keurig) First, an order of mint teas, lemon ginger teas, and others that may already have people drawing their bows to take aim at my mistakes but I wish for just peace, as I know of my mistake and have already suffered after multiple attempts of plopping it in, having the tea pour out, the tea tasting extremely light, and the amount of heart-attack inducing sugar needed to be applied into the tea so that I can feel as though that I am not drinking some green or yellow colored refrigerator water. Eventually, this came to the point where, after many cups, I could distinguish the taste of sugar within the tea, with only small bits of mint or lemon ginger to make me feel that at least I am not just drinking sugar water. I would also try tea-bags but the same effect was produced. It still tasted barely like what the teabag said it would taste like, and only lamented as I generously thought of upon the idea that this is the only thing that tea can offer you. A feeling of a person who says that they are on a health regime when they are actually in constant cheat day. (Funny thing to say since I am chocolate, but do not judge me! I am in emotional turmoil and the sweet chocolate is the only thing keeping me calm in my time of distress.) So, I thought, "This could not be all there is to it. There has to be more." So I go online and do some research, and find that, Yes! There is more to the tea! Through the investment of loose-leaf tea, one will discover a wonder of flavors within their mouth, that of which will rival your cokes, pepsis, rcs', peppers, ales, waters, diets, and all other combinations of carbonated water with flavor.(Do not take that too seriously) I looked towards the Teavana website with hope, something of I which I know, you shall say, was possibly your second sin and yes, I even will have it marked upon my obituary and on my tomb that "Here lies Lper1, the one who, like others, had fallen into the endless zone of disappoint and low expectations of Teavana, may God forgive and bless him for such a sin." I know my sins and have more to tell you, father, so please, let a young, foolish man tell his tale. I ordered...some Tropical Green Tea along with an African mix tea as well. In addition, I believe I also ordered a Gongfu set, the first of two, as I also found that a Gongfu set is good for being able to produce good tea. (Note: this was also after I ordered a teapot with filter and a french press. Here, this was what I call the Tea Cloud, where I was unsure of what to get and this being the immediate things to be able to get, but only finding similar tea disappointment of boiling the water, brew, and just water that requires diabetic inducing levels of sugar.)
Here, was where the Tea Cloud ended, to a major but not complete degree, as I was able to find about gongfu brewing, temperature consideration, brew times, tea quantities, and more. The issue that I was still being consumed by the devil that was Teavana, and was drinking its juices, only to place my hands on my face and wonder how my life had come to this. THE TEA STILL TASTED LIGHT! I attempted multiple brews with the Gongfu set(which, also came in with some damage...sadly), but the tea always needed to make that intimate connection with sugar, along with forceful swirls with my spoon.
I researched more, found a better Gongfu set and decided to settle, and, in addition, I found Mei Leaf, one who spoke the gospel of tea from Taiwan, teas from China and sourcing, the proper tea texts and what one must do to reach enlightenment and a tea high. I did not even know that this stuff got as serious as drugs, but clearly my invests already were appearing to be similar to an addict, so I doubled down with care. I bought two teas which arrived after some months, and I brewed them with a care of temperature and brew times, not knowing of clay teapots, their effects on certain teas, and also how one needs to use specific tools for certain teas. I attempted, found bitter tea but was intrigued to get a taste that was not light but strong. It was disgusting but enough to push me on to figure out how to get a good tea with a strong, smooth and wonderful taste. Each attempt resulted in bitter tea, and eventually, I ran out of tea, ordered more, researched, tried different methods with eyeing tea quantities, but still got bitter tea. I fell into a passion depression, where everything is still good around you and you feel generally good, but are deep inside, struggling to continue the fight and each time you pass that effort you put in, it is always that sense of failure looming over. I pause for a moment to due, again, more research while also finding you lords and your methods of doing things, which varied and did not even require a gongfu brewing style. I was impressed, considering that my attempts outside of gongfu brewing only resulted in a color palette of water. (If this does not work out, at least I have the basics to start a passion in water art.) I was interested and this, along with videos from Mei Leaf calling me a Tea Head, others consuming and brewing tea, and just people generally having a good time with tea. Around this, Mei Leaf was expensive, so I thought it would be hard to continue this passion but, looking at your vendor's list, I found Yunnan sourcing and saw some of the cheapest teas I had thought were only found in a poor man's dream. I ordered and watched more videos, finding out about the importance of temperature, types of water, and more. I finally ordered a variable temperature kettle after another one did not work(it was a T-fal kettle that always brewed at boiling despite me setting temperatures for white and green teas. It seemed like a toy that someone would give their child if they wanted to start tea, but only had the option of boiling as they would understand the intricies of varying temperatures and how it affects the brewing brocess, tea condition....anyway it did not work the way I wanted it to, so I got a Cuisinart one, and it has always worked wonderfully on temperatures, so I had least that gurantee on me not being wrong.) So I order the tea, it comes in and I got three types, green, oolong, and black tea. The names were "Pine Needles" Green tea, High Mountain Ai Lao for Black tea, and Imperial Gin Juan Yin for Oolong tea..that is probably spelled wrong but I have stored in a space quite some distance from my computer, and I would not like to keep going back and forth for grammatical mistakes. I make the teas, and I get a bitter taste, same as before but come close with the Oolong, of which I got a herbal, strong taste that tickled my throat and pushed me back, making me question if I just poisoned myself and only had a few moments to live. (This was around the time I read of horror stories on improper tea storage and its bad effects, along with too much tea drinking. I was a little paranoid but not enough to stop me from tea drinking.) I was actually impressed, however, to get a different taste. (This time, instead of using the teapot, I actually started using the Gaiwan, although I still got hurt myself with the high temperatures and clay pottery.) The High Mountain Black tea started to taste also noticeably different as well, with a smooth taste on the first brew, but sadly, devolving into a bitter taste that made question my brew times or temperature. These moments of victory were only small and the multitude of defeats inflicted upon me on that tea set. Bitter tea after bitter tea reduced my supply and I found a video that, specifically, made one of the teas I had in gongfu style. I watched, carefully, and brewed and performed the same methods of the individuals, but still got bitter tea.
Here is the video if you want it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIagIs9f_MU
This was a catastrophic failure. I remembered somewhere in my research that water quality did play an importance but finding a water filter that was cheap seemed hard and I thought that it could not have much of a difference. However, I decided to crack down and actually found a cheap one. In addition, I got more tea and also found the importance of different types of pottery for your set, so I got a ceramic gaiwan to remove the disadvantages of my clay gaiwan. I also, before, got a book called,
"A Passage to Chinse Tea," recommended by you lovely lords, and had been using it in my training, prepping myself. Here I planned my strategy once the tea came in.
I would first hit it with a test run, and this time, I got the orders from the popularity section of the list in teas.(One Black tea, one green tea, and one oolong tea) If that did not work, I would perform test runs, then, finally, try the filter out.
The filter was a portable Brita filter, with a carbon filtration system, I believe. Only used once so far.
This day, was the day I tried out the filter. I decided to put in my first break through, my reliable man that I put into the fray and actually survived the test, all that I put my bets on, I put in the oolong tea. I put the water in the filter, then placed it into the kettle and set it with a baron's touch. I felt pumped, exhilarated at the possibility of making the breakthrough I needed to cast me into the world of delicious, fine teas. I took the kettle, brought it to my room, then brought my tea up from its cold, dark storage room which is just a corner in another room that just had some good conditions.
I first cleaned it with water, then made sure to pour the water into the gaiwan to get it to the proper temperature. Then I poured into the pitcher the water with the filter on top to get its temperature set. I also poured into the cups the water and then poured the water into the crucible. (It is easier for me to dispose of the tea leaves and water that way instead of using the thin bottom of my tea set that I have to perform a balancing act to just get to the sink, which is already far away now and often results in me spilling some tea on the carpet. Pouring the tea leaves and tea water into the sink just seemed like a greater mess than I already needed) I then put the oolong tea into the gaiwan with a little more then usual(I am eyeing this right now as I do not have a gram scale or even a tea receptacle to even eye it more properly. However, I heard that even though tea quantities are things to consider, they still seem to say that even though you may add more or less, you should be able to get the same tastes that one would with proper measurements, although with maybe more of a lighter or bitter taste. At the end, the taste and smells should be there to a degree, and not dramatically affect the experience. Plus, I am not putting in too much. I could even have you see my process to see if I was placing too much in or not but this attempt will involve two tests.) I pour the water in, remembering to move in circles to guarantee temperature is spread evenly throughout the tea(although I have seen some just pour directly and then use the gaiwan top to stir, which I also do as well.) and also remembering to do rising pours. I utilized Yunnan sourcing brewing guides for this, so I performed a 10s rinse then poured with filter into the pitcher and then tasted. A lightly herbal taste, but with an underlying bitter taste. This, I feared, would be a disaster. I poured out the rinse and then performed the first brew, which was 10s. I smelt the tea and it did not seem to greet me well with some of the wonderful smells that many others speak of.(This is not to say that it smelt bad, it just smelled kind of like burnt wood and bitter with some herbal hints as well. It seemed to repeat upon other smells I have smelt with other teas. It was not reflective of some of the notes that others get, which can be fruity, nutty, or chocolate. I know that smells can vary between teas but it just was not for me.) I brewed the tea, tasted, and...bitter. I performed a second brew and it was the same result. I concluded maybe I had put too much in, as I compared images to the one on Yunnan Sourcing which seemed to use few leaves while my opened cabbage of leaves made it hard to stir the leaves in the gaiwan, let alone let them move around with the circular pours.) I dump my experiment into the crucible and try again, this tine with less leaves, with only enough to cover the bottom.(The last one covered the bottom with its height being a little from the bottom of the gaiwan.) Rinse, taste, and it was like water with a smooth and kind of pancake mixture after taste within my neck. Yes, I have taste buds within my neck.( Not literally though.) Then the first brew, and it was...light...second brew, this time a hard brew for 20s....light....
All hope was lost. My oolong tea was being knocked out on the table so I called the match a loss and questioned whether to keep going in this effort. I had played all my cards, and everything fell apart...he stood no chance out there with my inexperience and I let him get massacred. My commands only made him choke and leave a bitter taste in my mouth. He was the best, and I failed him...
So this is where I am, coming out of my failure with a plea of assistance. I still have a lot of tea left from my order and have not touched my black tea. There is still a-lot from the oolong and green tea. My plan, as I see it currently, is just to brew them with the same precautions but a with a lack of care. I will let it run out, and then stop this madness...casting myself away until the time I run into a Tea Lord who shall steer me towards the right path again. But this time, it seems that I shall walk the dark path again of artificial flavors...and cranberry juice.
That is all.
Submitted June 26, 2017 at 03:11AM by Lper1 http://ift.tt/2taZdDh tea
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