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The July TeaLog Catchup !
(Formerly known as The Early July TeaLog Catchup !, but we have moved into teas I drank in mid to late July I think.)

So this was the last of my Boston Blend. I had a bit more than I needed to make the cup but I dumped it all in, and it was so good. I would definitely get more of this tea in the future as I like it very much.

2 steeps.

The Early July TeaLog Catchup !

So I wanted a plain green tea late at night and wasn’t sure I wanted multiple infusions. When, I don’t know why, I remembered these teabag samples included with the tin of Shincha I won from them. So I took them down, looked through them, and selected this one because two of the others were toasty roasty kinds and the third was sencha which I’ve had been before and are usually nice but not great to me. So I selected the Gyokuro, not knowing anything about it.

The teabag packet had no steeping instructions so I pulled up the Maeda-en website on my phone and easily got them off there. Plus I noted that they described gyokuro’s as rich, grassy, and savory. I opened the packet and omg did that teabag smell good! Rich! Savory! But most seaweedy / kelpy than grassy to me.

I steeped it in 8oz of water instead of the recommended 6oz. Both the first and second steeps were plenty strong. I sipped. OMG sushi restaurant tea!! Awesomesocks!! I drank it, I resteeped, I drank that. I resteeped again in the morning. But that steep was more water than tea. Maybe if I hadn’t let the bag sit overnight it wouldn’t have been.

I want more of this tea. Either in bagged form or loose leaf. It would be so good to drink with Asian takeout.

2nd steep: 3 mins, 165 F
3rd steep: left bag in cup

Rating: 60 (good bagged tea range)

The Early July TeaLog Catchup !

I tried this one with more leaf, normal non-increased steep time too. Not as much of a difference, I think. But the jury is still out.

2nd steep: 20+ mins.

The Early July TeaLog Catchup !

Made the same way as last time – more leaf, normal non-increased steep time. Very honeyed this time. So good!

2nd steep: 20+ mins.

The Early July TeaLog Catchup !

Hankering after a peach tea, I was wishing this was a better peach tea. I might have done something different but I liked it this time more than I remember liking it. Strong black tea, a kinda candied/faux peach rather than fresh peach. Good but not great.

2nd steep: approx 15 mins.

The Early July TeaLog Catchup !

I mentioned last time that I needed to add some additional black tea to this chai. I chose an assam because a ceylon didn’t feel strong enough for the spices and I wasn’t sure about using a black teas blend, though I might experiment in the future. I decreased the steep time to that recommended for the assam. And I was rewarded with a much better cup. This chai is still heavy on the ginger. Especially so in the second steep.

2nd steep: 20+ mins.

Rating: 67 (upper nice range)

The Early July TeaLog Catchup !

So this tea has some tasty honeyed notes but never really stood out to me. It’s just been good basic tea. But lately I’ve been using a bit more leaf instead of increasing the steeping time, which I usually do, if I like a tea stronger than the recommending steeping times.

When I tried that with this one for the first time I was rewarded with a delicious cup of honeyed hay. It was so good and the second steep was somehow just as good or better.

2nd steep: approx 15 mins.

The Early July TeaLog Catchup !

This is the last of this sample from the 52teas’ Valentine’s Day chocolate tea sampler. I had more than one cup’s worth, leaving about a scant half teaspoon left. So I thought what the hell and threw it all in.

It came out strong on the black tea part of it, but in a drying not astringent way. Odd, but I really liked it and it was so good. I’ve been trying the steeping times lower for 52teas black teas so that might have help. As the cup cooled some, the taste got better and better. Second steep was lovely in strength too and also more enjoyable as it cooled.

2nd steep: approx 15 mins.

The Early July TeaLog Catchup !

In for a nice strong black after the last one, and boy did this deliver.

2nd steep: approx 15 mins.

The Early July TeaLog Catchup !

So even though I haven’t logged this one before, I’ve drank it exactly once before. And what I remember was – light watery chai, needs black tea.

So even thought I remember this, it had been such a long time since I drank it before that I thought I’d try it again plain. I also could not remember how long I steeped it before but do remember thinking a longer steep might help.

So five minutes and plain with no additional black tea. This time I got chai – mostly ginger, some cardamon and black pepper – and some black tea. Definitely still needs an additional bit of black tea, but the chai is stronger than I remember. I have higher hopes for this one now with some tinkering.

The second steep was very light and gingery but I love me some ginger so warm gingery water is decently good to me.

2nd steep: 20+ mins.