This is one of my favorite greens right now. If I’m honest, I only bought it because it looked pretty in the pictures. I don’t think it smells great dry. But it’s light and floral and delicious when you use the right water temperature and amount. It smells like clover flowers to me. I think I’ve seen “orchid aroma” mentioned in various descriptions of this tea…I never really knew what was meant by “orchid aroma” because most of the orchids I’ve had (and killed :( it’s too dry here) haven’t had a whole lot of scent…but maybe it’s this clovery smell? This tea reminds me of running through fields during late spring or early summer, when the clover is blooming and before the grass gets all dry and pokey. It just smells fresh and springy. I like to drink it Grandpa style in a glass mug so I can watch the leaves float around. The clover type smell and taste are there for the first fill or two and then it starts tasting a little more beany to me. Someday I’ll figure out exactly how much leaf to use and a precise water temperature. I’ve been pretty lazy with my tea preparation lately. Most of the year, really. I’ve been just eyeballing the amount of leaf for nearly everything that isn’t a pre-measured single-serving ball/cake and filling a thermos with boiling water (the giant Stanley one holds heat the best!), then I dive back into my blanket nest with some Netflix or Audible. I’ve had some not great steeps caused by this level of laziness but for the most part it works for me. If I’m worried about the water being too hot, I just fill my mug or tea bottle before adding the leaves and wait until it seems cool enough. I feel like I should be more precise and keep track of times and temperatures and amounts but I haven’t had the energy for all that.
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Orchids don’t really have a smell. (I kill all mine, too!) I think it’s more an idea of a smell and I often affix it to a distinctive floral scent I pick up on in many Chinese teas that can’t be described by anything else I’m familiar with, such as various wildflowers and clover, violet, lavender, lilac, bulb flowers like narcissus, hyacinth, lily etc, I’m probably missing some.
It’s okay to be lazy with tea prep. Look at you eyeballing your leaf like a master brewer :)
Glad I’m not the only orchid murderer, Derk :)
I thought maybe there was some specific type of orchid that “orchid aroma” was supposed to smell like that I’ve never had a chance to sniff. I had a cattelya once that had some scent but I haven’t smelled anything like it in my tea. Mostly it’s just phalaenposis that are available here and they just smell like “plant” and dirt to me.
I’m far from a master brewer but I can pretend (I award myself Brewer of the Year for my household!). I suppose I’ve seen worse things done to tea than having a little too much leaf or steeping a few seconds too long.
Phalaen whatever is the only one I see here outside of Japanese florists/nurseries.
A benefit of being lazy is finding the both the limits of what you think is tolerable and the limits of the tea.
I’ve only had one Tai Ping Hou Kui. It had some awesome tropical fruit flavors but also a sulfurous smell which might indicate poor quality? Your note makes me want to pick some up this spring.
Brewer of the Year in this house is me since I’m the only one making tea ;)
Orchids don’t really have a smell. (I kill all mine, too!) I think it’s more an idea of a smell and I often affix it to a distinctive floral scent I pick up on in many Chinese teas that can’t be described by anything else I’m familiar with, such as various wildflowers and clover, violet, lavender, lilac, bulb flowers like narcissus, hyacinth, lily etc, I’m probably missing some.
It’s okay to be lazy with tea prep. Look at you eyeballing your leaf like a master brewer :)
Glad I’m not the only orchid murderer, Derk :)
I thought maybe there was some specific type of orchid that “orchid aroma” was supposed to smell like that I’ve never had a chance to sniff. I had a cattelya once that had some scent but I haven’t smelled anything like it in my tea. Mostly it’s just phalaenposis that are available here and they just smell like “plant” and dirt to me.
I’m far from a master brewer but I can pretend (I award myself Brewer of the Year for my household!). I suppose I’ve seen worse things done to tea than having a little too much leaf or steeping a few seconds too long.
Phalaen whatever is the only one I see here outside of Japanese florists/nurseries.
A benefit of being lazy is finding the both the limits of what you think is tolerable and the limits of the tea.
I’ve only had one Tai Ping Hou Kui. It had some awesome tropical fruit flavors but also a sulfurous smell which might indicate poor quality? Your note makes me want to pick some up this spring.
Brewer of the Year in this house is me since I’m the only one making tea ;)