Kashmiri Chai
I can't really make a proper judgement on Kashmiri Chai. The reason is simple. Chai should be made with milk. I don't have any milk. So I'm making it with water. And, frankly, I'm doing the tea a disservice.
That said, it tastes pretty darn good, even made in water. Chai is about warm spicy goodness, and this stuff has some warm spicy goodness.
But, like I said, you gotta make it with milk to really judge it, and I ain't got no milk. So I'm giving it a thumbs up, keeping in mind the limitations under which I'm working.
For a similar blast of warm spices, but in an herbal tea designed for water steeping, you can also try TeaSource's Margaret's Soother. It's good stuff.
French Breakfast
What is a French Breakfast? Some sort of kinky sexual technique? (The mind reels. Leave suggestions in the comments.)
Well, no, it's today tea. For some reason, my brain keeps expecting it to taste like French Toast. It doesn't.
What it is, is a nice robust tea, with caramel undertones. It's considerably stronger than the other teas in the sampler pack. That might be because I've reduced the amount of water to the best level. Might not.
In any case, it's smooth yet robust. It's very tasty. It's just straight-up tea. I'm trying to find another adjective to use, but I'm coming up short. Maybe a bit woody? Just think rich and robust.
This is my favorite, so far, and the only one I'd consider buying in large quantities. It's a winner.
I'm guessing that the French
in the title refers to the strong robust flavor of French Roast coffee.
And, for those that care, a real French breakfast is basically bread and coffee.
How to Drink Tea and Still Be a Man!
(This article was originally published in the Sangamon Star. Unfortunately, the paper now seems defunct. So I'm reprinting it here, for the sake of posterity.)
Tea is wonderful stuff. Properly prepared, it's delicious. And it's really good for you, too.
But there's a problem: Tea is a sissy drink! Or, at least, that's the perception that many have.
So, what can you do if you're a red-blooded American male but also want to enjoy tea? Well, here are some tips:
1) Know your history. The Founding Fathers drank tea, not coffee. After all, it wasn't the Boston Coffee Party, now was it. And if it was good enough for the Founding Fathers, it's good enough for any good American!
2) Avoid tea jargon. Tea jargon gets really pretentious really fast. (Tea snobs sound nearly as bad as wine snobs.) Spouting tea jargon will not make you sound manly. Want proof? The highest quality grade of tea is SFTGFOP.
It's means Super Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe.
No, really, that's what it means. No one can say that aloud and still sound like a man. So, drink tea, but don't talk about it.
3) Brew it strong. Tea doesn't have to be some weak cup of water faintly tinged with color. Tea can be ass-kicking strong. The key is to increase the amount of tea leaves you're using, rather than steeping the leaves longer. Also key is picking a good strong tea to start with. Lapsang Souchong smells like a campfire. Tastes like one, too. It's a fine pick for the manly tea drinker. An Irish or Scottish breakfast tea will also do the trick. If you're really manly, brew up some Pu-erh. The stuff tastes like mud. You can pronounce it poo-air,
which isn't exactly right, but is fun to say, if you're a guy.
4) Drink it out of something manly. You don't have to drink tea out of little porcelain cups with a doily on your lap. A big coffee mug will work just fine, as will the hollowed-out skulls of your enemies.
So, drink up! Tea is a great beverage and suitable for the manliest of men!
Madagascar Vanilla
Today we're trying Madagascar Vanilla. It's basically black tea with vanilla extract added, along with some actual chunks-o-vanilla-bean.
As with the previous teas, the flavor isn't very strong. I reduced the amount of water a little. But I think I need to go down a little further.
Basically, there really isn't enough tea in a sample to make 6 ounces. Really, there's only enough for about half a cup. I guess that's why it's called a sample, eh?
Still, this is pretty good stuff. The vanilla smoothes is out. It's not an overpowering mouthful of vanilla. Even at this lesser strength, you can tell it's well balanced.
The second steeping loses much of the vanilla flavor. I'm not all that surprised. Most of the extract in the leaves is gonna come out in that first steeping, leaving pretty much just the bits of actual vanilla to flavor subsequent ones.
Honey Pear
The tea for today is called Honey Pear. It's basically tea with pollen added. Smells like flowers.
That's actually going to make it tough for me to give an opinion on this one. I don't like the smell of flowers much. So I'm thinking this isn't the tea for me. But lots of folks love the smell.
There's neither pear nor honey in the tea. But the pollen does add the appropriate flavors. They're very subtle. This isn't a real strong tea.
Now that I've tasted two of their teas, neither of which was real strong, I'm wondering about my steeping methodology.
I'm steeping them in about 6 ounces of water, for the low end of the recommended steeping times. Certainly, if one had bought larger quantities, one could use more tea to boost the flavor. (Remember, for stronger tea, use more tea. Steeping longer will give you stronger tea as well, but at the cost of bitterness.)
As I continue through the cup, I'm warming to the flavor. The pollen smell is still there, but not objectionable. This would be a really great tea for a flower lover.
While I never drink tea cold, this seems like it would make a nice iced tea.
Second steeping is much like the first. So far, their teas seems to hold up well to a second steeping. Or it may just be that the first steeping isn't overpowering.
As I continue through the second cup, I'm noticing that the pollen taste is becoming more pronounced compared to the tea itself. It's becoming more pollen than pear and honey.
Again, this would probably be great for a flower lover. For me, not so much.
So, overall, it's a tasty tea, but more for people who love the smell of flowers than for me.
Irish Breakfast Special Reserve
Today's tea is Irish Breakfast Special Reserve. First steeping is very smooth. It's not powerfully strong, maybe even a bit on the weak side, but very smooth.
It avoids the thing I dislike most about breakfast teas, which is the pencil shavings
taste that some have. But not this one.
So, if you're looking for a hella strong breakfast tea to start your day with a jolt, this ain't it. But if you want the same flavor, just in a mellower form, this one would fit the bill.
Second steeping tastes just like the first.
A Month (and then some) of Tea
While I was out of town, I received my sampler pack from Golden Moon Tea. So each weekday, I'll be trying a different tea and reporting back on it.
So, stay tuned! Because I know you've been dying to know!
Interesting Take
Every now and then, I get email from someone who runs a tea store. Usually, they want me to try their tea. (And, of course, link to their site.) And I'm always glad to try out new tea.
A couple weeks back, the folks at Golden Moon Tea wrote. I just ordered some tea this past weekend, so I don't have any opinion on the tea itself, yet.
But I do like their online store, for two reasons.
First, they have a number of methods for helping you choose a tea. They can guide you based on the origin of the tea, by what you're eating with it, by the time of day, by the price (listed per cup), or even by your mood. It's a nice touch!
Second, they had the utterly brilliant idea to offer a sampler of all their teas. Like Baskin-Robbins, they offer 31 varieties of tea. And the sampler provides enough of each tea for a single cup. (Of course, you should always re-steep your leaves. So, you'll actually get two cups, or more, from each sample.) The 31 samples are twenty bucks.
Now, on a per cup basis, that's pretty expensive tea. But, in terms of trying out a large number of teas, it's an absolute bargain!
Pew Pew!
Just one more Gawker-related link: Space Invaders Water Kettle.
Oh, and if you're on Twitter, don't forget to follow the TeaSource feed.
Bing vs. Google
So, Microsoft has its new search engine thingie up. I say thingie
because it's billed as more a of a decision making tool. Anyway, I was curious as to which service was better. So I engaged in a rigorous test.
Testing Methodology:
- Provide each service with a decision question that has a clearly correct answer.
- Determine the rank at which the correct answer appears in the results.
- Whichever service puts the correct answer at a higher rank wins!
Test Decision Question: How do I make tea?
Correct Answer: How To Make Tea
Results:
Amazingly, Bing turns out to be the better service!
