Puripan

I chose this on a whim, when the salesgirl at Puripan opened a canister to give me a whiff. The aroma was the same as it is now – a strong pure scent with a touch of bitterness. It somehow smelled like the essence of tea, as if all others I had tried before were less concentrated versions of the same thing.

And that may well be – the leaves are rolled more tightly than any other tea I’ve seen before, and even the stems seem especially thin. After steeping, these open up into some beautifully full leaves, with very few fragments. In terms of the actual tea, I think of these as similar to Gyukuro in some ways – difficult to get right, often a bit on the bitter side, but occasionally very smooth and satisfying. I haven’t figured out the right combination yet, but I think the key is to allow the water to cool a bit after boiling. It’s good for several infusions too, with little reduction in color after two rounds of 16oz steeps.

I once left a mug of this tea sitting until it was quite cold. I expected the result to be overly bitter and undrinkable, but to my surprise, it was even smoother and better than the warm version. It’s worth experimenting with.

Also posted at http://4thflavor.tumblr.com/post/2151628138/

Replacing a can of soda for a pot of tea, for my breakfast. Seems like in all ways a good idea. I’m not sure how long I’ve had this tea in my cupboard, but I’m pretty sure it was less than a year, and it wasn’t opened.

I’m pretty sure this green is Korean – which, if you’re curious, is mighty close to Chinese in flavor. I do, however, prefer the appearance of Korean leaves after unfurling. Not sure if there’s a specific reason, I just tend to like them, they look pretty.
If you want a description of the taste just look at the company’s description. This tea is… good, but it doesn’t excite me, so I don’t feel like getting into an all-out explanation of the complexities of the flavor and so on.

What I will say, is that I probably purchased this tea because of the name.
Ha, Dong

I’ve noticed I’ve become more sensitive to water quality. Perhaps I’m not enjoying this tea so much because I used unfiltered tap water, and not the pure water I get at the store. It’s interesting, though – I’m beginning to distinguish the flavor of the water within the tea, and then judge how it affects the tea.

Yesterday the wind was against me during my entire bike ride. I had some ice cream to cool off afterwards. But..
It cooled me off too much. :P So I made a big stove pot of this and froze the extra in teacubes/iced tea. A very simple and cheap way to combat nausea and chill.
Granted, this isn’t the brand of bulk barley I get at the Korean grocery but I’ve had Puripan and it’s close in its subtle toasted cereal taste.

(Backlogging) The second tea served at my Murder Mystery Tea Party. It got a lot of compliments on its smokey flavor.

I got this when I went back home for spring break last week. It’s my first lapsang souchong and I love it. The smokey flavor is very soothing and I love how I only need a bit of leaves to make a decent 8oz cup of it. (Thus making it a very cost effective tea for this college student.)

Also for anyone in south bay area (San Jose), I highly recommend visiting Puripan in Santana Row. A few of the girls that work there are very sweet and helpful. <3

Mmm, my first time trying corn tea. It’s pretty good!
While brewing it smells almost as if you have popcorn cooking.
The taste is kind of toasty… reminds me of fall.

Made a few teas for work. Not hot, not iced – Room Temp tea. I guess a tiny bit on the colder side, because they were in my trunk for my commute, and it was cold in there. Got pretty shaken up on that ride… almost died on a slippery, winding road. (Raining on Highway 17, for you Californians.)

So, I mixed this stuff with Corn and Barley tea. A Korean mix!
Got it to the office, and everyone loved it. Yippieee.

Yeah, it was pretty good.

Second drink of the night – not an experiment, though.

I used this to clean my palate after the Australian black tea. I used my Lupicia tasting cup for this – haven’t used the set in a while. Nothing much to say about this – it’s always a nice herbal to keep around.
Infused it twice, had a bit of a break between them, though. My sister was in class, my five-month nephew was screaming, and my parents aren’t too good with quieting him. So, I took a break, and spent about ten minutes walking him in circles around my dark living room until he fell asleep. I guess I like the kid…

Back onto the tea – the nice thing about this herbal, as with most, is that it doesn’t really oversteep. Flavor was stronger, but still completely drinkable. Kind of an artichoke-y flavor. Like it a lot.

Having posted any tasting notes in a while…
Partly because I haven’t been drinking tea until recently, and also partly because I’m not sure what a lot of my teas are anymore, or where they come from. I would have to post them as things like “Indian(?) black tea” and “Some sort of Oolong… I’m pretty sure it’s on the greener side”.

Fire Jade, though, I know comes from Puripan.
Had this tea this morning. By morning, i mean at 4PM, which was like two hours after I woke up. It was really nice to drink. I listened to Van Morrison while i drink it. He’s good too.
Know what? Everything’s good lately.
Awesome things went down in my tea/bedroom yesterday.
I’m in too good of a mood to criticize a tea.
Everyone on Steepster: Look up Puripan, and order yourselves a package of this tea. Unless you live nearby, you’ll have to call them on the telephone. And only if you live in the US.
But it’s all good! /good/

I’ll try to post more serious reviews in the future.

Finally got water yesterday. Shwizam.
Was going to clean up and rearrange my tea room, but I ended up babysitting my 5-month nephew instead. Decided to turn him on to the Dark Side… (of the Moon). It’s pretty good babysitting music, actually – he fell asleep on my shoulder near the end of “Money”.

Onto the tea…
A Korean tea – I think it was relatively new when I bought it from the shop.
In taste, rather similar to Chinese tea. In scent, it’s identical. Kind of like a more refined Dragon Well, with a mild butteriness and a gentle flavor. Lasted well through four infusions.
Rather enjoyable. Nothing to fall in love with, but I could see a person having it as a daily tea. The flavor didn’t really jump out at me, but… wouldn’t mind having more on-hand.

So, to make up for my lack of description on the flavor, I’ll talk about the leaves – perhaps the best feature of this tea.
Dry, the leaves are tightly rolled, much like gunpowder, with a really… sexy glossiness. After steeping… I wish I had the equiptment to take a picture to show you guys. Maybe it wouldn’t excite you as much to see it, but it’s gorgeous. It’s this forest-green, twisty, seaweed, medusa hair, tangled mass of tea leaf beauty in my teapot.
If I met a woman with hair that looked like this, I would fall in love with her. She’d probably be a mermaid. A Korean one. Who lived in a sea of green tea.

Enough of my Pygmalion fantasies. Good tea. Buy it, if you get the chance. Though you probably won’t, unless you live near a Korean tea shop. Eh.

(Don’t swim away, Eun Jung… I’ll never oversteep your gentle locks…)

Summer tea project!

Hey, it’s been a while, and I know I say this from time to time, but I’m (again) trying to get back into tea. And this time, I have something in mind to keep me going.

So, it started earlier when I had myself a pot of Ginger Pu Erh. I figured I’d try the leaves for another steep, so I prepared another potful.
- oh, a quick distraction. Since I’m getting back into tea, I gave my two cast-iron pots a good cleaning (Baking soda and boiling water, overnight). I cannot tell you how much I love the sheen it gives to my pots’ enamel. They look as good as new (on the inside, at least.)
Back to the story…
By the time the water was ready, I didn’t feel like having any more. So, I figured, instead of wasting a good steep, I’d just throw it in the fridge for later.
It’s later now.
[I’ll throw this in for sake of making this a “Tasting Note”:
It was good. Ginger adds a nice sting.]
In any case, I still have half of the half-pitcher the pot made (a quarter pitcher is left, for those of you who had trouble with word-problems in math class), and I felt like having me some hot tea – and the idea hits me. What if I just throw all my leftover tea in the pitcher, and see how it turns out?
Second thought: Summer project!
Third Thought: I wonder how this will turn out!
Fourth thought: I wonder how how bad this will turn out…
Fifth thought: I might as well keep track of this on steepster.

Next ingredient, some white tea.
I’ll keep you beezies posted.

I’m hungry, and there’s nothing to eat in the house.
Very few places are open at 1AM, so I’m making tea, to curb my appetite.
This is probably the reason I’m so skinny.

A pleasant potful (consulted the dictionary, that actually IS a word), and it did what I needed it to do – make me not hungry.
So, cheap pu-erh is generally… kind of unpleasant. Weird smell, and the taste doesn’t really make up for it. The ginger and orange peel does a good job of making it more tolerable, though. Though the extra flavors are subtle, they do add a nice touch. I wouldn’t say this is a tea I’d use to impress guests, but for some reason I enjoy making a pot of this for myself.
I’d say, if you get the chance it’s worth a try. Probably one of those teas where you hate it, or you oddly like it.

I’ll probably have another tea tonight… I’m on a weird sleep cycle.
My hours are roughly 6PM – 10AM, and mostly for the sake of productivity as a writer.
For the past three days, I’ve been indulging in a small window of time at Peet’s Coffee and Tea, 5-7AM, when the atmosphere is just… perfect. Trying to get a certain poem written… Ah, as is the life, ya know?
Only real problem with this situation is that my 5:30-6AM “dinners” consist of a scone, a cappuccino, and a cigarette. (Yes, I’m aware of how unhealthy the entire thing is. Don’t need it to be reiterated, thanks.) But at five bucks, it’s hard for me to argue with – especially with my funds quickly waning.

So, enough rambling. I’ll try to get a serious review in soon.

Was rather wary about this tea at first, but the employee in the store brewed me a cup, and sold me on it.
While I usually don’t like things flavored, and pu-erh is something I’d usually have straight, it’s a pretty good tea.

Though I’m sure there’s no justification for this, I used this tea to cure a headache. I think it worked. Nice and mellow, and at the very least a good alternative to soda.
I made a pot of it. Glad I did.

Don’t have much to say… in a weird mood.

It’s a little late so I wanted something decaf — hooary for grain teas.

Made a mini pot of this for some afternoon neuroscience studying.