Alas, it has been farrr to long since I have made a tea post!!
It's only halfway through the week and I must admit, it's been a little tough. I won't go into too much detail, but we can start with Labor Day. For all of you who live in New York, this probably won't be news to you, but for those who haven't heard, the West Indian Labor Day Parade in Crown Heights ended in tragedy with gunfire, leaving several people dead and injured. I happen to live 2 blocks from here and if I had made the earlier train, would have been walking out right when the shooting occurred. I have heard a few similar situations from others who live in the area.
And then there is the rain...and rain and rain. It's been raining nonstop since Tuesday (it rained a little on Monday as well). I look forward to fall I think mainly because I remember (probably falsely) fondly when I lived in California and Maryland and cheerful blustery winds (back when I didn't have to carry art supplies and pieces that would be ripped out my hands, causing me to hate wind with a severe passion) and falling leaves with clear blue skies. Right now, however, I have rain, and lots of it. Hopefully it will go away soon but I think it is supposed to continue for the rest of the week. (I'm so glad I bought new, hole-less rain boots right before the "hurricane").
And so, I decided, that a dreary day like this would be perfect for tea! And now, time for my analysis!!
This is a tea that I got from The Mandarin's Tea Room and since I have played with it before, I do have a slightly better idea about it than when I did the first time.
The dry aroma smells almost like spiced roses and orange peels, while the wet aroma brings out more of an oily walnut scent. The tea takes heat well (near boiling doesn't seem to phase it), but is also good at being pushed, in fact, it doesn't seem to get overly astringent ever, really. I tried with extremely high heat, as well as a lower heat, for longer periods of time. I personally found the flavor to be fuller with the lower heat over a longer time (i.e. 5 minutes) It has a soothing effect, but the flavor is slightly tart/bitter, but only slightly. In some ways, while it is a young roasted tea, it reminds me of an un-roasted, aged pu-erh I had a while back...
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