Jasmine Green and Darjeeling Red Milk Tea

I love milk tea. It is very unfortunate that I have not yet discovered a bubble tea shop in my area. Because of this quandary, I am left to my own devices when the craving hits I so decided to have a go at it and compare a jasmine tea with a red tea.



Red Tea: a blend of Assam and Darjeeling leaves of good quality from Teavana.

Jasmine Tea: Fujian tea import & export co. 100 g for $1.25 (yikes! Is this safe to consume?!)

Brewing Parameters:
-5 g dry leaf into a 60 ml preheated gaiwan. Add water just under boiling. First infusion - 60 s. Second infusion - 60 s. Combine first and second infusions.

Recipe:
- 120 ml tea
- 30 ml simple syrup (white sugar only)
- 30 ml 2% milk

Combine components in cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously for 45 s. Strain into tumbler and serve on the rocks.



The Darjeeling comes straight through the mixture boldly and lingers at the back of the tongue and further down the throat. The aftertaste is crystal clear with each successive breath and continues forever. The sugar, water, and milk make no attempt to weaken nuances of the tea but rather polish out its brash attitude into something a bit more polite and silky.

As for the jasmine tea purchased at my local oriental market, a miracle has occurred! This tea at its best, using the gentlest brewing parameters I can muster, is brutally bitter and so metallic that I sometimes wonder if the producer painted aluminum foil green and shredded it into a canister labeled Jasmine Tea. I was about to throw the whole tin out but decided to try one last thing with it. Am I glad I did! All of this tea’s obscene wrinkles have been smoothed out and the milk infused liquor gracefully coats the throat with an ethereal aroma all the while remaining chilling and refreshing.

Next time I find myself drinking milk tea, I hope I have found some boba to add to it.

-Dissonance

2008 Big Leaf Bingdao Sheng Pu-erh Tea Cake

I just received this cake in the mail today from PuerhShop.com. As always, the vendor’s packaging was excellent and shipping time very good (it only two days to arrive!).


I was met with the sent of young sheng the moment I opened the wrapper.

The cake was visually stunning, having hairy leaves with an oily gloss, and the compression very loose, just as I like. In fact, the compression was so loose that I could pull individual leaves from the cake with little effort.

The brew ranged from an attractive yellow-gold to a burnished orange-yellow in later infusions. Interestingly, the gaiwan lid smelled of vibrant young puerh with the essence of saw-grass and notes of cigarette in the background. The aroma cup carried a more straight forward puerh sent, leaving behind the pleasant scent of saw-grass that I had detected earlier.

The first five infusion I brewed for a very short amount of time. The tea yielded a sweet, mouth watering liquor tasting tropical with a lingering after taste void of any harsh bitterness. In later infusions the taste changed dramatically to sandal-wood and mushroom with plenty of pleasant sourness that left the tongue wanting more.

The wet leaves were huge; it is no wonder that they continued to give up cup after cup of liquor for over twenty infusions! They were bigger than those of any tea I currently own. Just look how tiny this quarter appears next to them!

-Dissonance