The Difference Between Bitterness and Astringency
Two terms I see a lot of confusion about are bitterness and astringency. In this post, I'll explain what they are and give my tips for telling them apart.
An NYC Afternoon of Tea and Friendship
A wonderful afternoon of tea with friends in NYC; courtesy of La Colombe, Rishi Tea, and the International Culinary Center.
A Quadruple Shou Puerh Tasting with Jalam Teas
Having too much tea is a very nice problem to have. That being said, I do feel a bit bad when tea sits around without being enjoyed. I’ve started to taste them in groups for that very reason. That way I can dig through the “to drink” pile faster and no one gets left out. On a very chilly winter day, I did just that. For this tasting, the only thing the teas have in common is that they are all shou, or cooked, puerh from the same vendor. Each of these teas was brewed in a porcelain gaiwan (luckily, I have those laying around in spades) using 8g of leaf and boiling…
Comparing Matcha Cultivars with Yunomi
As most regular readers and social media followers will know, I love matcha…a lot. When I had some credits to use towards a purchase at Yunomi, I knew exactly what I would be picking up. A tasting set of matcha made from three different cultivars, all from the same producer in Uji? I’m in! I usually don’t write about a product if it is sold out but this experience was just cool to not to share. In case you didn’t know, their site has a neat feature where you can request to be notified if something you’re interested comes back in stock. I definitely suggest signing up for that as well as their…
How to Train Your Palate for Tea
Detecting complex aromas can be difficult when we first get into tea. I know this issue was something I struggled with and it is probably one of the things that I get asked about the most. So first things first, you are not alone! Although some people might be naturally better at tasting food and drinks the truth is that you absolutely can get better at it by training your palate. I don’t mean the board artists put their paint on or the wooden flats used for shipping. Your palate is located on the roof of your mouth where it separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. In most cases when we say…
A Tale of Two Nannuo
I have a veritable treasure trove of puerh in my possession thanks to +JalamTeas. When I realized that had two Nanuo sheng cakes I couldn’t resist doing a side by side comparison. The teas in question are Nan Nuo (Pa Sa) Unfermented Puerh and Nan Nuo Mountain (Zhu Ling Village) Sheng Puerh. While they are from the same mountain and the same year (2014), there are a few key differences. Tea A is from the Pa Sa area and was harvested in the spring. Tea B is from Zhu Ling village and was harvested in the summer. They were both produced by people of the Hani minority and they are both sheng (aka raw) puerh. I…
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