Review: The Dark Planet - Crimson Lotus Tea

Type: Pu'erh (Shou)
Producer: Crimson Lotus Tea
Origin: Menghai, Yunnan; 2013
Brewing Parameters: 6-9 g; 100°C; 5s up in Gongfu style
Appearance: Small, compressed ball with light to dark brown leaves
Rating: B | 83/100
# of Brews: 6

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
So, I was given Crimson Lotus Tea's Puerh Yunniverse tasting set for Christmas this year, which means that we're doing another set of themed reviews! Although I'm usually not a puerh drinker (and a shou puerh drinker at that), I love these little single serving tea balls. I don't know why– it's probably just the convenience or the fact that I never actually drink puerh that often. Anyway, I'm excited to try this. I'm following CLT's suggested brewing style, with a couple of rinses before to open the ball up.

Surprisingly, this tea didn't take that much work to open up. It kind of fell apart after the first wash. As a whole, the leaves are relatively small, but not broken up. The tea has a smell– sort of musty, fishy (shrimp or crab), and like old books. The color is a very nice dark amber, similar to unrefined apple juice.

For the first brew, the taste was relatively weak (probably because I only brewed for 5 seconds). It had an earthy and mineral sweetness, with a very light fruity/citrusy aftertaste. It's not bitter at all– something I didn't expect– and had very little astringency; in fact, the mouthfeel was generally smooth.

As it went on, the brew became more orange-red and clear. I increased the brewing time by 5 seconds each subsequent brew, and it worked out pretty well. The flavor became a bit more sour and the mineral flavor was much more pronounced (you know how water tastes when it has a bit too much calcium in it? yeah, that's how this tea is). Over the six brews, the flavor stayed relatively constant, which makes me think that I could keep drinking this throughout the day.

Overall, this is one of the better shou puerhs I've had. I'm still not a fan of shou puerhs in general (probably because I have so little experience with them), but this could be the occasional pick me up or something to change up your daily drink. I might change my mind on this tea by the end of the Puerh Yunniverse tastings, but I think it's just alright.


Other Notes

Today's album was De La Soul's And the Anonymous Nobody. I heard some bad things about this album from my friends, but I actually liked it quite a bit– there's a wide variety of featuring artists and the lyrics are pretty good (Here in After is my jam).

Hopefully, I'll be publishing a review or post almost every day for the rest of break. It's been too long since I last posted, and I actually now have a backlog of teas I need to go through and review (which is a first). Here's the plan for the Yunniverse teas, though:
Today: Dark Planet
12/31: Planet Bangwei
1/1: Planet Jingmai (no review since I've already done one, and I think that drinking the first sheng puerh I ever tasted is a good way to start the new year)
1/2: Planet Yiwu
1/3: Planet Baiying
1/4: Space Girl (I might hold off on this one because it's a small brick/cake instead of the usual tea-ball)
After that, I'll be reviewing some random teas in no particular order: Stormy Night by David's Tea, Earl Grey by Tea of Life, Soleil Levant by Lupicia, Peppermint Herbal Tea by Stash Premium, Soothing Chamomile by Ambiance, and Teh Halia by Lipton. (Most of these teas are actually just free teabags I got as samples or from hotels/law firms/etc.).

As for what's happening today– I'm going to finish writing my college applications and hopefully submit by the end of the day! I don't know where I'll go in the end, but we'll see and I'll update you guys when I get my acceptances.

What's Going On? (Life Update) 12/29/16

It's been a long time. Two or three months, it seems. Like I've always said, I'll try to get back on the daily tea grind whenever I have free time. And, it looks like now I do, with it being winter break and all.

So, how have I been in these three long months? Well, for the short version in no particular order:
1. Competition Civics has taken up most of my time.
2. College applications!
3. Meeting people?
4. District Attorney's Justice Academy!
5. End of first semester for senior year.
At least, that's what comes to mind. It's been so long since I've really written a blog post that I've forgotten why I really started in the first place– so I can save these memories. Looking back at old posts, I was going through a really bad time and it looks like stuff is looking up for me now.

Anyway, here's the long version.

First off: competition civics. In short, we're going to compete at state now! I'm in Unit 5, the Bill of Rights/legal unit, and I'm loving it. While my unit isn't necessarily perfect, I like to think we're a dysfunctional family. For the most part, it's mostly been me and another girl doing most of the work, and we've been carrying the third person, but in competition, we all end up pulling our weight pretty equally. The majority of our meetings go like this: we start writing the testimony (the prepared speech we have to do), and then something interesting comes up, and we end up arguing over random legal issues for the next hour or so. It works out pretty well, actually– we discuss many of the questions that come up in Q&A, so when they get asked, we know our stances and responses pretty well. At the first competition, districts, we were the only unit from my school to get first (by a measly 1 or 2 points); overall, as a school, we lost that one. However, at the second competition (the one that matters)– Regionals– my unit did miles better than the other schools, and we won by 13 points! A tiny margin, but hey, at least we got first.

Next: college applications. Oh man, they are stressful. These past few days, I've been writing and editing college essays from dawn till dusk. It's sort of my fault for waiting too long, but me being the indecisive person I am, I ended up dropping and adding a number of private colleges to my list. I'm now applying to Brown, Amherst, Cornell, Swarthmore, and Haverford. Back in November, I applied to UC Berkeley, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Davis too. My major is undecided– still have no idea if I want to go into the humanities (e.g. law or history) or STEM yet, so hopefully I can figure that out in college. I don't know what I'm going to do if I get multiple acceptances to the private schools, but hopefully, we'll see what happens.

What's this about meeting people? Don't you meet people every day? Well, yes. But yesterday, actually, I met up with a girl from the opposing team for comp civics and it was interesting, to say the least. I didn't really go in expecting much (apparently people said it was a date, which was not my original intention), but I think she's pretty cool. Crazy smart, too. We talked about comp civics, mainly, but also about college and movies and stuff like that. On an unrelated note, I noticed that I get pretty tense when I talk to someone who I don't know that well but am interested in.

I'll make these last two sections pretty quick. On a whim (and because of an extended deadline), I applied to the county district attorney's justice academy, and I got in! For the next few months, I'm going to be attending legal seminars and it looks like I finally have that summer internship (not in science, but in law now). As for senior year, it's gone pretty well. It's not necessarily that hard, but it's super interesting. I love African American Lit (I've warmed up to my classmates, who are pretty cool), and AP Chem, my "hard" class, has turned out to be a decent challenge. It looks like I'm ending with all As, too, so there's that.

There. I finally wrote a post, and it only took three months. I'll be posting some of my essays I've written (not college essays, but just creative pieces) and new reviews soon enough. Crimson Lotus Tea's Yunniverse collection came in the mail today, and I have a few other teas that I got as gifts from people (David's Tea, Tea of Life, and Lupicia samples).

Writing: Bee Movie

Note: So, I watched Bee Movie and I had no idea that there was a courtroom scene. For giggles, I decided to put my mock trial journalism skills to the test and write an article about Bee Movie.

SENSATIONAL TRIAL CAUSES BUZZ IN HUMAN AND HONEY BEE COMMUNITIES

November 2, 2007

NEW YORK CITY – Following a week-long trial at the Superior Court of New York, honeybees successfully sued humankind for the unlawful sale of honey and use of bee labor in the case Barry Bee Benson v. the Honey Industry.

Arguing the case for beekind was Attorney Barry Benson Bee, a recent college graduate. After visiting Honey Farms, Benson Bee was appalled at what he saw, citing the conditions at the farms as “man-made wooden slat work camps.”

In response, opposing attorney Layton T. Montgomery argued that mankind’s use of honey was justified as “man’s divine right” and “the bounty of nature God put before us.”

Key witnesses Klauss Vanderhayden, the owner of Honey Farms; a bear; Sting, the lead singer for the band The Police; and Ray Liotta, actor, were called to testify in front of the court. Calling attention to the appropriation of bee culture and exploitation of bee labor by these individuals, Benson stated that “by taking our honey, you not only take everything we have, but everything we are.”

A major point of contention was the use of bee smokers by honey farmers to sedate bees. Benson Bee stated that at the farms, honeybees were “forcibly addicted to smoke machines.” Montgomery, on the other hand, called the smokers a “harmless little contraption.”

The case reached a climax when Montgomery was stung by Adam Flayman, a member of bees’ legal team. Montgomery called attention to the fact that the “queen gives birth to all the bee children”, and therefore, Benson Bee must be “an illegitimate bee.” Flayman, angered by Montgomery’s argument, yelled “I’m going to pincushion this guy,” and stung Montgomery in the buttocks. Shortly after, Flayman was rushed to the hospital.

Despite the incident, both Flayman and Montgomery returned to court the day after. However, the bee’s legal team was not present, leading to calls to dismiss the case entirely. In the nick of time, Benson returned with a key piece of evidence: the Thomas 3000.

Quite literally, the smoking gun in the case was the Thomas 3000, a bee smoker in use at Honey Farms. When the function of the smoker was demonstrated by Montgomery, a large majority of bees in the audience were knocked out.

Presiding judge Bumbleton immediately ruled the case in favor of the honeybees, as the jury watched in horror at the smoker’s effects.

When questioned after the trial, Benson Bee only had one thing to say: “My sweater is Ralph Lauren, and I have no pants.”

Review: 2016 Kamairicha "Gokase" by Tea Master Yoichi Korogi - Lupicia

Type: Green (Kamairicha/pan-fried)
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: Gokase, Japan
Brewing Parameters: 3-4 g; 85-90­°C; 1-1.5 min.
Appearance: Dark green, medium-small curled leaves
Rating: A | 94/100
# of Brews: 4

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Well, here's the last tea that I bought in Hawaii. Apparently, this is a special tea– made by a tea master whose specialty is pan-fried tea (which I'm assuming is somewhat of a rarity within Japan). From just looking at and smelling the dried leaves, you could tell they're quality; the smell was surprisingly strong, like basil and mint, and the leaves were a dark, deep green.

As this tea is pan-fried, it is a bit more forgiving during brewing than other standard Japanese teas (i.e. sencha, gyokuro). My first brew used relatively hot water and only brewed for a short amount of time– thirty seconds. Despite this, it came out surprisingly well. The color was a very bright highlighter yellow-green, with an aroma very similar to most senchas: grassy, a bit like the sea, and very slightly fruity. Similarly, the flavor was tangy, starting off with grassy, slightly bitter notes, which slowly gave way to a light, fishy taste. It's very smooth, with little aftertaste

I decided to make the next brew a bit shorter, considering that the leaves had opened up, and the tea came out an even brighter green color. It tasted a bit sweeter than before and had lost the fishy aftertaste, leaving the grassy notes as the dominant taste. I ended up stopping at four brews since I ran out of water, but surprisingly the tea was still relatively bright and moderately flavorful.

Overall, this has been one of the better teas I've had lately. Sadly, since this is a green tea, it's not really amenable to storage for long periods of time (which sucks, since I'd want to make this last as long as possible).

Other Notes

I hope everyone's having a great labor day weekend! All I've done was binge watch The Get Down (which was amazing, by the way).

This week, Fencing Club is going to be selling stuff at Pigskin, which is the school's big club event. Like previously, I'll be cooking yakisoba, and we'll also be selling Arizona. To be honest, we're probably going to lose money on this event (we as in me), which sucks but at least I am/will be pulling in $54/week rather than my usual $20 (TA for a teacher + tutor for the school district). Apparently most clubs make little money, and the thing with our booth is that there's (somewhat) high overhead costs.

Also, for the college search, my Comp Civics teacher recommended to me a few liberal arts schools. A few I'm interested in (like Amherst) since they're small, so it'll feel more personal in each class. However, the thing is cost, moving to the East Coast, and a few other issues. I'll figure it out, and talk about it in the next update. 

Review: 2016 Sencha "Yakushima" - Lupicia

Type: Green (Sencha)
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: Yakushima, Japan
Brewing Parameters: 3-4 g; 75-80°C; 45s - 1 min.
Appearance: Medium to large emerald green leaves, the shape of blades of grass
Rating: B | 86/100
# of Brews: 3

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
As I was preparing to drink this tea, I came to think about a few things. First off, I don't actually know that much about the differences between regions for Japanese tea; I know I've tried a bit from a variety of areas, but I haven't paid that much attention to how it affects the tea. Second, I don't think I know that much about Japanese teas in general– it just feels like I've drank a lot more oolongs or Chinese teas than Japanese greens. Why this is, I don't know for sure. It might be because I feel that Japanese greens (especially senchas) all taste the same, which gets a bit boring, but then again that might fall back to my inexperience with them.

Anyway, onto the actual review. This is an interesting shincha (I'm guessing Spring 2016), grown in Yakushima, a World Heritage site. I think it's more of a fun fact than something that has an effect on the flavor of the tea, but who knows. The leaves are a decent size– somewhat broken up, but there are leaves about an inch in length– and a dark, emerald green color. I'll be brewing with four grams, but like most other reviews, an unknown temperature (just under 90°C for sure).

The first brew was one minute long, and seemed to brew a bit weak. The color was a weak highlighter yellow, with a smell of grass, broth, and vegetables (maybe basil?). As for the taste, I thought it was pretty good– not as sweet as, say, the Tanegashima sencha, but it still had a bit of natural sweetness. The main flavor was grassy, minty, slightly sour, and just a tiny bit fishy. It's surprisingly smooth, leaving somewhat of a thick, fruity flavor in my mouth (with no dryness).

As for the later brews, the color got darker and green, with the flavor becoming stronger. However, it was also became a bit bitter (but not as bitter as some other teas; it's not bad at all). All in all, I think this was one of the more enjoyable senchas I've had recently.

Other Notes

Now that the second week of school is winding to an end, let's talk about how its been. Overall, I think it has been alright; I started TAing for my Stats teacher, and for some reason I don't have that much homework (which is a blessing and a curse at the same time).

African American Lit is interesting, but it's the class that a bunch of slackers are taking (probably because they didn't want to take the default English class/knew that they would all be together, since there's 1 period) which makes discussion a pain. World Lit is super fun; we're watching Rashomon, and the teacher is a great guy. A lot of the writing is more personal/non-academic stuff, like narratives and reflective essays, which is a nice change of pace from the writing of AP classes. Ceramics, I look forward to since the teacher is always interesting and throwing on the wheel is fun to experiment with. AP Chem is still a bit of a challenge since I'm a bit behind on conceptual stuff, but then again, a bunch of the sophomores/juniors that are in the class don't study nearly as much, so I'm sort of near the same level. AP Gov is great; I'm doing pretty well in it, and the teacher is really good at lecturing. Comp Civics has just been listening to speeches, which is a bit boring, and a lot of it is self-study, but the class is small enough that it's a chill atmosphere. I think next week it'll start picking up and I'll have something to do.

I think I have my final list of colleges I'm applying to, too:
I'll be applying to the UCs– namely Berkeley, LA, Davis Santa Barbara, and San Diego– and a few private schools, like UPenn, Columbia, and Cornell. Unless I get significant financial aid (which is pretty unlikely, because the household income is actually a bit high; it's just that, being Filipino, the money doesn't stay in the family– it's usually spent on family out of country), it looks like I'll be going to a UC. To be honest, I've been having like brief periods of anxiety whenever admissions comes up because the thing is this year, my courseload feels nowhere near as heavy as last year. I just want to take classes I'm personally interested in, but these classes don't look good on a college app (according to people at my school); for example, to be similarly competitive, I'd need to drop African American Lit for AP Calc, and World Lit for AP English Lit.

However, the thing is, I don't want to take calc because I feel like it'd be too much work for me to handle (especially with competition civics), and there are so many people in AP Lit that people don't have desks. It's even worse since I'm planning to take a science/math major in college. I don't know, maybe I can push the fact that I'm taking 2 English classes as 1. that I'm interested in history/language arts (one of my potential majors), 2. me acknowledging the fact that while math skills are great, being able to communicate is better, and 3. me doing something that anyone could do, but no one does.

Review: Mahina - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Rooibos (Tisane)
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: South Africa
Brewing Parameters: 2.5-3g; 100­°C; 3-5 min.
Appearance: Very small, orange red leaves (since it's rooibos, it looks like red tanbark) with chunks of fruit, rose petals, and marigold petals
Rating: B | 86/100
# of Brews: 3

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
So, first, let me preface this with the note that, personally, I love bananas (which this tea is flavored like), but recently have been a bit sick of them. The reason why is that I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich in my backpack a couple of days ago; I thought I finished it, but it turns out I didn't, and the bananas essentially became the consistency of juice. Said banana juice spilled out of the bag it was in, into my bag, and onto a few of my books. As a result, my bag began to smell like a mix between rotting trash (the smell of foodwaste that has been sitting in a can for a while) and bananas. I ended up having to smell that for a full school day, so right now, I can't really stand the smell.

If you've been following my blog for a while (or look at the sidebar), you can tell that I barely drink rooibos tea. It's not really that I don't like rooibos, but rather that I don't purchase rooibos that often (I usually only get it in packs of different teas). As for this tea (or tisane, if you're anal like that), it appears to be of the red type; however, the leaves are much more broken up than the other teas I've seen. I'd compare it to, say, the size of tea fannings. As for the smell, it's a surprisingly accurate banana aroma (maybe a bit overripe, but still) with a tiny bit of the cough syrup/menthol smell found in most rooibos.

Again, I brewed the tea in a kyusu (I really need to get a western-style teapot, don't I) for five minutes. The liquid came out a very deep red-orange. According to the item description, the tea has actual chunks of mango with banana flavoring, and that is very obvious in both the taste and smell. The liquid smells exactly like the dried leaf, but maybe a bit more indiscriminately fruity and less like banana. The taste is actually a bit like bubble gum at first, followed by an unsweet (unripe, to an extent) banana flavor. It ends abruptly and dries the throat a lot, to the point where I felt like coughing after each drink. The aftertaste is a minty, cooling sensation, with a slight cough syrup taste of most rooibos. To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about this tea as a whole. It's obviously one of the better rooibos teas I've had, and does banana well (I don't think I've even seen a banana flavored tea), but it's not one of the better teas I've had. I'd try it cold brewed, but it's not too bad hot. (On a good note, I noticed that the tea didn't try my throat nearly as much in the second brew, and the flavor was only marginally weaker. However, the third brew didn't really have any flavor.)

Other Notes
And that's the end of the Hawaii-specific teas! I'll be getting to the other senchas when I'm up to it and have the time to. The one I'm most excited for is a sencha from Yakushima island; I loved the Tanegashima tea, and since Yakushima is near, I'm assuming the tea will be somewhat similar (that is, if the soil and everything else there are similar).

Along with the Hawaii-specific teas, I'm also done with my first week of school! I ended up sticking with my schedule because it turns out I'm actually pretty decent in ceramics, like working with my hands, and enjoy the teacher's stress-relief and life tips (and he's very, very big on them). I also won't be able to switch into AP English Lit because almost every class has forty students; in fact, some classes don't have enough desks for people to sit in since there are too many students. When I talked to my counselor about it, she pretty much said to not worry because I'm taking two English classes already and Competition Civics (so it doesn't look like I'm slacking off senior year). I love African American Lit since it's essentially a history class with a lot of reading, World Lit since the teacher's great and I have quite a few friends in the class, AP Chem since it's a nice challenge (and other than the first test, I have been doing it pretty decently and correctly), AP Gov/Macro since the teacher's great at lectures and the topic's interesting, and Comp Civics because, well, it's comp civics.

Today, though, I ended up going to San Francisco for the final comp civics workshop, and I thought it was interesting since the topic was the Bill of Rights. After the workshop, the team went to a Chinese restaurant, which was a great bonding experience in my opinion. Tomorrow, I'll be going to the Oakland Art and Soul Festival to volunteer with the Uhuru Africans again.

There's also one thing I want to mention, too. So, my best friend has liked this girl for a while, and she's leaving to do an international exchange program. The thing is, yesterday we were hanging out when she texted him, asking if we'd like to get dinner with her. When we went to eat, they were late, and got a table without us (because we didn't want to eat, they didn't invite us to sit with them, so we were stuck outside the restaurant for one or two hours, after waiting an hour). They finally wanted to meet with us at a Starbucks when they were done eating, but when they came in, they pretty much just bought drinks, got them, and left without really hanging out or talking at all. Needless to say, I', pretty pissed about it, and my friend is heartbroken since she didn't even hug him (they've been friends for years now) when she left, and that was the last time he'll see her. I can't tell if they noticed how rude they were being, but oh well. Hopefully he gets over it soon, because on the ride home, he was very upset. Relationships, man.

Review: Palekaiko - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Black
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: India, Indonesia
Brewing Parameters: 2-2.5g; 100­°C; 2-2.5 min.
Appearance: Crushed/rolled black and brown leaves with chunks of yellow, purple, and red flower petals
Rating: B | 84/100
# of Brews: 2

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
So, when I went to Hawaii, I bought a set of mini tins containing Lupicia's Hawaii selection. It had six teas– the ones I've reviewed for the past week– but, while I was looking through the store, I found a seventh, not in the set. I'll be reviewing that one next, which means I'll be done with the Hawaii teas very soon. After that, I just have two interesting Japanese greens, and a variety of random tea bags. As for the description of today's tea, it is said to be "a sweet-tart passion fruit flavored black tea... accented with spicy ginger." Interesting.

Just opening the foil bag containing the loose leaf could I tell that this tea was going to be different. The smell was outright weird; dry, it smelled exactly like fruity nail polish remover, but wet, it smelled like tonkatsu sauce (or worcestershire sauce). The liquid was a very bright golden color– I don't know why, considering its black tea base (I'd have expected it to be darker). Tasting it, I thought it was one of the better teas in the set. It didn't really have the spice of the ginger, but it definitely had the tart flavor of the passion fruit. The taste begins with the mellow taste of the passion fruit, with a tiny bit of chocolate. As you keep drinking, it gets slightly more and more sour until you stop; then, it gradually dies out on an aftertaste. It's relatively smooth and doesn't leave any waxy feeling in your mouth. The tea doesn't seem to have a long life, however, as the taste was pretty weak by the time of the second brew. All in all, not the worst tea, but not the best; I'd recommend it for people who aren't into very fruity teas, which make up the majority of Lupicia's Hawaii teas.

Other Notes

I took my first test in AP Chem! And.... I got a D+. To be honest, I'm not that surprised; although it's much, much less than what I aimed for, I'm not that upset (at all, really). I can't tell if its early onset senioritis or what. The thing is, I have had no formal teaching for chemistry– all I know was learned in a month out of a textbook and study guide. So, in my mind, I know jack about the subject, so I think this is a good learning experience and gives me a place to start figuring out what I need to learn to catch up. Once the tests are returned, I'm going to go to the teacher's office hours and go over what I missed, since I want to be at the same level as the rest of the class by first quarter. The funny thing, though, is that I actually got over the class average (albeit not by a large margin).

There's one thing I noticed though: my class is made up of mainly sophomores, and hearing them before the test makes me a bit disappointed. On my way to class, I passed by a group of guys who were doing some last minute study, and one of them said they'd better "pass this or pass out," which I think is just a stupid maxim. Sure, it might have been a joke, but the thing is that it's representative of a growing mindset at my school– a competitive and at many times toxic mindset in which grades and GPA come before actually learning a subject. Oh well; I'll let you guys know how my chem adventure goes.

One last thing: I turned in a new form for a schedule change, but it looks like I won't be able to switch into AP English Lit (Photography is up in the air right now, and I'm still 50/50 on leaving Ceramics). I'm not too upset since I have friends in World Lit, and the teacher's great, but just a little disappointed. I guess I've bought into the idea that I need to take as many APs as possible to get accepted into a decent college (peer pressure is great!). I'll just try and figure out a way to spin my passion for American history and ELA into my essays, even without taking AP Eng Lit; talk about my two English classes, maybe?

Review: Kuuipo - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Black
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: India, Kenya, Indonesia
Brewing Parameters: 2-2.5g; 100­°C; 2-2.5 min.
Appearance: Mix of CTC and broken up rolled dark brown/black leaves, with rose petals and chunks of fruit
Rating: B | 84/100
# of Brews: 3

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Two more teas left for the Hawaii set (barring any non-Hawaii specific teas– I got a few interesting senchas that I want to review)! Today's tea is "an alluring sweet-tart guava flavored black tea with red flower petals." I don't know specifically why they chose to say "red flower petals" instead of rose petals, especially when its pretty obvious what they are, but I guess it makes it sound fancier?

Anyway, smelling the tea, I thought it was very similar to fruit snacks (Welch's?). I thought it actually smelled a bit more like cherries instead of guava, which was a bit weird. This tea suffers from the same issue that a few of the Hawaii teas– that is, the fruit smell is a bit too artificial smelling, which makes it a bit hard to discern what the actual flavor is. Brewing it, the tea had a very dark, orange-amber (more towards amber) color. The liquid was a bit closer to smelling like juice than the leaves, but it still wasn't too pleasing or realistic.

As for the taste, it was surprisingly very similar to that of yesterday. Like Anela, the texture was smooth, with the fruit flavor being the main flavor, but mellow at the same time. In short, the guava flavor lasted the longest, ending on a sharp, but short, tangy note. It stayed as an aftertaste, leaving a slight waxy texture on the tongue. This was accented by the earthy flavors of the black tea base. The one issue I have with it is that, for some reason, it had a taste somewhat similar to soap after the second brew. Overall, it's one of the better teas, but I think Anela and Hoku are still the better teas.

Other Notes
Welp, apparently, the reason why my schedule hasn't been changed is because the school office lost my request forms. So, it looks like I have to fill out a new one to switch out of World Literature (to AP English Literature) and Ceramics (to Photography). I just have a few reservations, though– I like the speed of AP classes, but I don't like the people; I just find that its too competitive for no real reason (there's the mentality that to have an A, someone else has to get a lower grade– I feel like college admissions has to do a big part). Also, Ceramics is nice, but I'm not too passionate or interested in the subject. The teacher is a great person, but he doesn't necessarily seem to be good at teaching (and even if he is, I'd rather not force myself to try and like the subject). Hopefully I get switched in,  but we'll see by next week.

Other than that, it looks like I'm pretty prepared for the AP Chem test tomorrow; in the review session in class, much of the class (at least the vocal part) didn't know some of the concepts to the same level that I'm at, so now I'm not too worried about doing that badly. Again, my goal is a B- so I can figure out my weaknesses and work with the teacher on it afterwards. That aside, I'm going to start working as a TA for my stats teacher soon, and so far I like most of my classes bar ceramics. I'll give an update on how everything goes with my next review. See you!

Review: Anela - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Black
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: India
Brewing Parameters: 2-2.5g; 100­°C; 2-2.5 min.
Appearance: Medium-small, rolled brown and black leaves with whole flower buds and chunks of flower petals
Rating: B+ | 88/100
# of Brews: 3

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Quick review today since it's the first day of school. According to the brochure, this tea is "a sweetly aromatic strawberry and lychee flavored black tea." The strawberry is definitely noticeable just by smelling the dry leaf, and there's hints of tomato. I didn't really notice the lychee, on the other hand.

Interestingly, the brewed tea, darker than the others, left what appeared to be gold flakes in my teapot despite me not seeing it in the dried leaf. The color was more of a gold orange than the others, and all I could smell were the strawberries. I thought that, unlike the other teas, this wasn't too artificial; in fact, it even smelled a bit like fresh berries or an Italian soda. The taste was similar, too. The closest thing I can place it to is a strawberry Italian soda– a slight bit sour, with a touch of sweetness. There was some bitterness, probably from the tea base (which I'm guessing is a darjeeling, based on the slight green color of the leaves in the water.

All in all, I think this was one of the more enjoyable teas of the group. The fruit taste was mellow and enjoyable, and it went down pretty smooth.

Other Notes

First day of school went alright. I think my favorite classes are African American Lit, AP Gov/Macro, and Competition Civics so far. However, my schedule change didn't go through yet, so it looks like I'll be stuck in World Lit and Ceramics for a few more days (my counselor said I can get a schedule change into AP Eng Lit, but not ceramics, if I can have my entire schedule switched, so there's that. Hopefully it happens tomorrow? Ceramics to photography apparently is next week).

As for the AP Chem struggle right now, I'll be studying my ass off today and tomorrow to figure out types of chemical reactions, predicting products, and writing equations (which didn't seem too hard when I did it at home, but when we tried in class I was clueless). Stoichiometry is okay. So, I'll be working on that for the next few hours. To be honest, my goal is a B for this first test, figure out what I need to learn, go to the teacher's office hours, and then put as much effort as I can into the first quarter so I can get caught up. Wish me luck! 

Review: Hua Ki - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Black
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: India, Indonesia
Brewing Parameters: 2-2.5g; 100­°C; 2-2.5 min.
Appearance: Very small, broken-up, rolled black leaves with chunks of fruit and purple flower petals
Rating: B | 83/100
# of Brews: 2

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Number three of the Hawaiian teas! I think for the rest of the reviews, bar one, the tea will be a flavored black tea. This one is no exception. Like yesterday (and for the rest of the black teas), I'll be brewing in the kyusu according to the brewing parameters.

Again, like most of Lupicia's flavored black teas, this has that vaguely fruity smell that is very artificial. The description only states that Hua Ki is "a tropical fruits flavored black tea... luxuriously blended with mango–" except it doesn't smell like a mango. It has the smell of tropical fruit juice, but if you didn't tell me it was mango, I wouldn't be able to guess. For some reason, it reminds me a bit of barbeque sauce, actually. Compared to yesterday's tea, the leaves were actually quite a bit smaller, with even the flower petals broken up. Also, I think yesterday's tea smelled better in general.

While I did think it smelled worse (mainly because it was just too artificial), I think it tastes much better. After brewing, the liquid came out a dark orange, clear enough to see the bottom of my cup. The mango, too, definitely came out once it brewed; the wet leaves smelled exactly of unripe mango juice (a bit sour, but still fruity). As for its flavor, it is surprisingly mellow for a black tea. The main flavor is an earthy, slightly woody taste accented by the tangy mango. It ends on a very strong chocolate note, which ends abruptly. Nothing really lingers in the mouth, but a very faint mango note stays on the breath. It made me a bit thirsty after drinking; however, it wasn't really astringent or bitter. Overall, I think this tea is good, but like yesterday's, not knock your socks off good. It doesn't seem to need any milk or sweetener to make it taste any better– in fact, I think adding any would overpower its fruit flavor.

Other Notes

Last day of summer! I just made a checklist of what I should do, like cook certain meals (french toast and tonkatsu!), prepare for school, read and study, and so on. So far, I've cleaned the new room so there aren't random boxes lying everywhere, cooked french toast and my lunch for tomorrow, had a friend come over, and wrote this review. It's a bit of a lazy day. I don't know if I should do anything special, and if I should, what it should be. I'll write about it tomorrow or later this week if I do figure that out.

As for plans this school year, I guess I have quite a bit since it's senior year after all. To go on a tangent right now (because I just really want to talk about it– I can always write my plan for the year later, and these reviews are generally streams of consciousness), there's an issue I have with my school. The thing is, being from a suburban upper class school, it's come to feel like my life depends on college admissions. I don't want to worry as much as other people– mainly, the people that I go to AP classes with– but there's just so much pressure coming from my peers (and my parents, to an extent) to go to an Ivy league. Like, it seems that UCs, the schools I want to go to (and pretty selective, too), are terrible because they don't have a less than ten percent acceptance rate. Some people even have schools like Berkeley and LA as their safeties.

This mindset has put me at odds with both my classmates and myself. On one hand, there's the idea that I won't be able to get into a "good" college (by their standards) if I don't take AP Calculus, but on the other hand, I just want to take classes I'm interested in, like African American literature. The other issue too is that I want to take a STEM major in college, but my standardized tests and coursework points toward the humanities, like English and History. Classes like AP Calculus probably would help me in the long term, but the thing is I just want to enjoy my senior year. With college admissions, it's just like everything is a rich man's game. Not an average person's. It's not easy for me to have access to the opportunities that the people at my school have (namely through family connections or just money), and in order to be competitive academically, I can't do what I'm passionate in. Don't get me wrong, I love to do math and research, but I think at this point, seeing the current state of science is making me disillusioned.

I want to make a difference in the world. But the issue is that, at this point in my life, it looks like the only people that can do that are those with money to afford fancy internships at colleges, or those with family members in science. I've tried to do what I can on a budget: do science fair projects, research on my own, join free summer camps, and so on. However, for the things that do get you into the schools for the programs I want, this isn't enough. I guess we'll see.

Review: Lanikai - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Black
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: India, Kenya
Brewing Parameters: 2-2.5g; 100­°C; 2-2.5 min.
Appearance: Mix of CTC cut and broken-up, rolled dark brown leaves; there are also lavender/bluish colored flower petals, chunks of dried fruit (unsure what), and light blue rock sugar
Rating: B- | 82/100
# of Brews:  3

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Second Hawaii tea! According to the brochure, this tea is "a peach, orange and mango flavored black tea. Its sweet and fruit flavor goes well with milk." For the sake of keeping things the same during reviews, I won't be drinking with milk– but for the record, I usually drink my black teas with milk and honey. I'll also be brewing western style in a kyusu since I don't exactly own a teapot for single brewing, and the kyusu I do have has a pretty large volume.

Anyway, as this is a black tea, I don't expect this tea to last past one or two brews, especially since it is flavored and the leaves are pretty small. Brewed for two and a half minutes, the liquid came out a dark, orange-amber color– but not necessarily as dark as, say, English or Irish breakfast teas. The smell was fruity and sweet, but I couldn't really pin it down to a single smell. For some reason, all of Lupicia's fruit flavored teas have generally the same smell: a bit perfume-like with a bouquet of fruits. If I could guess, the strongest here is the mango, with some chocolate from the black tea base.

As for the flavor, it didn't taste as rough as I was expecting. Rough, as in terms of bitterness or astringency, which is the norm for many black teas. For Lanikai, it starts off with that indiscernible fruit flavor, then moves into the orange– a bit tangy and bitter, like bergamot oil– and ends with a mango aftertaste on the tongue lengthening the sour flavor. The tea leaves a sort of waxy texture on the tongue, but does not create any sort of drying sensation in the throat.

In the end, I got three brews, with the second losing most of the fruit flavor (but still having some of the black tea base), and the third having little to no taste. Lanikai is one of Lupicia's better flavored black teas– their teas seem to be either really good or really bad– but I'm not exactly crazy for it. I'd make it a daily drinker for breakfast or something or have people who are not into tea try it, but it's not really my cup of tea per se.

Other Notes

Recently, my brother came to live with us after graduating from college, and so, we ended up renovating the house. As of this review, I'm now in a new room, which is pretty nice; in this new setup, I have a big desk (not just a drawer now!), workspace underneath a bunk bed, and most of the stuff I had in my old room– just more compact. Sadly, I won't be able to sleep in this room this weekend since we're missing a mattress, but I think I'll be moving in early next week.

As for school stuff, I got my schedule, but it turns out my counselor last year messed up and didn't file my papers for changing classes. As a result, I'm taking African American Lit, World Lit, Ceramics, AP Chem, AP Gov/Macro, and Competition Civics (in that order). I've turned in the papers for a schedule change (to switch World Lit for AP English Lit and Ceramics for Photography), but it looks like I won't have the change until after the first day of school. Since this is the last weekend of summer, I have no idea what to do, either. Most of this week I've been renovating the house, and today I studied chem for most of the day. I'm excited for school, but at the same time, I'm dreading it. Here's to a successful senior year?

Expect a few more reviews coming soon. I might do multiple in a single day, but my issue is not being able to put anything in this section. Maybe I'll just write the actual reviews in one day, save it until I have something to write about in this section (e.g. on the next day), and then publish it. Who knows.

Review: Hoku - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Oolong
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: Taiwan
Brewing Parameters: 2.5-3g; 100°C; 1.5-2 min. (recommended)
Appearance: Dark green ball oolong with small stems, yellow and blue flower petals, and metallic colored rock sugar
Rating: A- | 90/100
# of Brews: 4

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Woah, it's been a while since my last review of Lupicia tea. While I do admit that Lupicia isn't always the best quality since their teas are generally flavored (this tea is no exception), it holds a special place in my heart as the company that helped pull me into the world of tea. Anyway, I picked this tea up during my trip in Hawaii, which I just got back from last night. This will be the first of a set of seven reviews, covering Lupicia's Hawaii exclusive teas. I also bought a few interesting shinchas while there too, so expect some more reviews coming soon.

I ended up choosing this tea in the Hawaii set to start with because it's a balled oolong, and to be honest, I haven't had a decent oolong in quite a bit. Looking at the tea before I brew it (gongfu style), the most interesting things are 1. the silvery, metallic sheen of the rock sugar and 2. the very pungent, flowery perfume smell of the dry leaf. In general, however, the tea looks to be a standard Lupicia tea with the choice of flowers and shape of sugar.

For brewing, I decided to stick with the recommended parameters despite brewing in a gaiwan. The liquid was a light, golden cream color with a scent very similar to the dry leaf– perhaps even more fruity and sweet. Immediately upon drinking, the first thing that came to mind is pina colada; the first and last thing I tasted was a creamy, pineapple flavor. After that was a bit of tanginess, like that of a mango, some cooling sensation, like mint, and then the return to the pina colada. As for the texture, I noticed that it was a bit irritating to the throat, but I chalk it up to there being a bit of dust in the drink (not sure if it was from my set or from the actual tea).

In the end, I was able to get 4 brews from three grams of leaf– double what was expected. Being that it was a flavored tea, it tasted the same throughout the whole session, just becoming weaker as time went on. All in all, I enjoyed this tea quite a bit, which is saying something, since I think Lupicia's tropical-flavored teas are usually they're worst.

Other Notes

Hawaii was actually pretty fun; we did quite a bit of hiking, shopping, and eating. I was surprised to see that there was such a large Japanese population there– both tourist and residential– and that the food was so good (ended up having quite a bit of udon and croquettes). Our hotel was in Waikiki, but we visited Pearl Harbor and the museums there, along with the Polynesian Cultural Center (Ha Breath of Life was amazing) and a few other places. Matsumoto shave ice was also one of the highlights of the trip.

Anyway, it's the last week of summer. I decided not to go to Freq.Fest.SF since I don't really have the money (spent it on the tea, heh) and it can be streamed from DNA Lounge's website. In fact, the whole time I've been writing this, I've been listening to the show. As for school, I missed registration so I don't know my schedule yet, but I'll be going to make up registration tomorrow; I'll update you all once I get it. To be honest, I'm not really sure how I feel. For one, I'll have something to do and will be able to see my friends and all, but then again, I have college apps and tests and so on.

If you don't remember, the classes I signed up for are African American Literature, AP English Literature, AP Government/Macroeconomics, AP Chemistry, Competition Civics, and Photography. Here's to hoping I get all of the classes I signed up for. 

Review: Organic Green Dragon - Mighty Leaf

Type: Green
Producer: Mighty Leaf
Origin: Longjing
Brewing Parameters: 1 tea bag, boiling water, 3 min. (recommended)
Appearance: Square, nylon tea bag with a mix of light and dark green broken leaves and a few stems
Rating: A | 93/100
# of Brews: 2

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Yet another tea bag review today– in all honesty, I think I only have tea bags left to review since I've done almost all of my loose leaf and most of my money is going to public transit and all. Unlike most of these other tea bag reviews lately, however, I haven't tried this specific tea (or any Longjing) before now. Also, I know that since this is a green tea, it should not be brewed with boiling water, but the pack doesn't really specify temperature and I can't really control specifics anyway. Just as a necessity, though, I let the water sit at room temperature to cool a bit.

Anyway, onto the review. One nice thing I've noticed about Mighty Leaf teas is that they use much higher quality leaves than most other tea bag producers– for them, the leaves are either whole or broken into large chunks, rather than fannings or dust. I ended up brewing for only 1 minute instead of the recommended 3 because of the higher temperatures, and I think it turned out pretty well.

The color was a dark yellowish green (not as dark as some sencha when brewed nicely can get), with a smell of freshly cut grass and the sea (I'm guessing seaweed or just salt water). Even with the heat, it was only a slight bit bitter, which is on par with other greens. As for the taste, it was surprisingly good– I haven't had a decent green tea in a while. Surprisingly, I thought it tasted more like a Japanese green rather than Chinese, even though it was produced (pan fired) like a standard Chinese tea. A vegetal taste, similar to green beans, gave way to a sweet herbal and nutty flavor. Along with a very light tart flavor which lasted long after drinking, I think the main sensation was a short and sweet taste. The texture was unusually smooth for a Chinese green, and the only dryness I felt was deep in the back of my throat for a short amount of time. I did notice that if you let it sit, it gradually becomes more bitter over time.

For a tea bag, this was actually really good; I enjoyed it quite a bit. Now, I think I'll need to try a loose leaf Long jing before I give my final decision, but all in all, Mighty Leaf did a pretty stellar job with this. I might actually try brewing the bag one or two more times just to see if I can get more to drink.

Other Notes

Today's album is Left to Our Own Devices by Le Cassette, a surprisingly very good synthwave album, probably because of the vocals (it's very similar to Phil Collins and David Bowie) and pop beats.

Here's an update on my work for this week. I'm done with maybe 3/5 of the Comp Civics journal, 3 essays for college applications, watched most of the DNC and parts of the RNC, and have memorized quite a bit of stuff for AP Chem with flashcards. Today, I plan to finish the Comp Civics journals and maybe write current events or the writeups for the DNC and RNC. I was planning on having more time, but it turns out I'm heading to SFMOMA and maybe De Young with my friends tomorrow, and Saturday I'm going to a Comp Civics workshop and visiting the Museum of the African Diaspora (to be honest, in these past few weeks, I've been to more museums than in the past few years).

I think that if I work my ass off today and next week, I should be good for the last few weeks. If I haven't mentioned it, here is the itinerary for the last 2-3 weeks of summer:
SFMOMA & De Young with friends; Comp Civics Workshop & MOAD; Visit Santa Barbara for college visits and to pick up my brother; see Mark Redito/Spazzkid play at the DNA Lounge; go to Hawaii with the family; and watch Freq.Fest.SF.
Looking at it, it probably doesn't seem like much, but hey it's a lot for me. See you tomorrow!

Review: Moroccan Mint - Numi

Type: Herbal
Producer: Numi
Origin: North Africa
Brewing Parameters: 1 tea bag, boiling water, for 5-6 min.
Appearance: Trapezoidal tea bag with  dark green/yellow fannings
Rating: B | 83/100
# of Brews: 1

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Since this is a tea bag review (and I have some work to do), I'll try to keep it short.

So, I've actually never had Moroccan mint before, despite it being a very popular tisane (or so I've heard). Having brewed it though, it does seem pretty good; the liquid is a lot darker and brown than most mint-based tisanes I've had. The smell is almost all mint– it's not too strong, but it's definitely noticeable. As for the taste, it was not what I expected. The main flavor is a slightly sour taste, which moves into the mint, and ends with chocolate. The chocolate lingers in the mouth, with a bit of a cooling sensation (from the mint). Because it is a tisane, the texture is very smooth and the tea makes the throat only a little bit dry. Overall, it's a decent tea, but I don't really understand the hype. I think I've had better mint-based teas.

Other Notes

Nothing really to say here. See you guys tomorrow!

Review: Gold Mushroom Tea - World Heritage

Type: Powdered/Instant Herbal
Producer: World Heritage (?)
Origin: Hiraizumi
Brewing Parameters: 2 g of powder, 8 oz of boiling water
Appearance: Very light brown/beige colored powder with chunks of dried mushroom and flakes of gold
Rating: D | 64/100
# of Brews: 1

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Very interesting tea today– apparently, a cultural tea from the area of Hiraizumi, Japan. I'm not really sure on the producer since my Japanese isn't that good (and the package is in all Japanese; really, the only things I could pull out were "use 2 grams of the powder" and "mushroom gold tea"). When I did brew this tea, however, I could tell that this was going to be a very different tea, to say the least.

Essentially, the dried powder smells like Funyuns or any other onion-flavored snack food with a bit of mushroom added. However, when it's added to water, the mushroom smell becomes overwhelmingly strong (to the point where I gag when I smell it)– and it lingers, too. When I got a bit of the powder on my hands, the smell wouldn't come off until I washed them very thoroughly twice. Oh, the packaging also had a cute little spoon that was measured for exactly 2 grams (if you only got powder), which was nice.

Now, to be honest, I'm not that much of a fan of mushrooms. This tea didn't help change my mind. While I'm writing this, it's hard for me to take even a second sip; I didn't like the first taste that much. It did get a little bit better when I kept drinking, though. The only thing I can compare it to is the broth of, say, tonkotsu ramen. It's a lot like drinking straight soup, with the mushroom taste lingering in your mouth and eventually permeating into your nose. The texture is very thick, and it leaves a slightly sweet, vegetal taste in your mouth very long after you drink. Now, I get that this is a historical tea and everything, but honestly, I can't stand it on its own. It might be good if you add it to food or use it in cooking, but it is not a tasty tea. You might like it if you enjoy mushrooms, but this is not for me.

Other Notes

Crunch time now! For the week, I'm going to rush through my summer homework so I can spend August relaxing (and studying) for the most part. I don't really have much to say here today since I did my updates yesterday. Come back later today or tomorrow for more reviews!

Today's album was Petal Port Music Vol. 2.
(I think I'll bring this back too, just because I thought it was a decent addition to the reviews)

Review: Earl Grey - Trader Joe's + Ambiance

Type: Flavored Black
Producer: Trader Joe's & Ambiance
Origin: Unknown
Brewing Parameters: 1 tea bag, 8 oz of boiling water, 3-5 min.
Appearance: Trapezoidal, paper tea bags with black fannings; the Ambiance bag has a slight yellow tint to it (lots of bergamot oil)
Rating: Trader Joe's: B | 86/100 & Ambiance: C+ | 78/100
# of Brews: 1

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Today's review is going to be a side-by-side comparison of two grocery store Earl Greys. Both of these have been brewed at the same temperature and time (3 minutes), with no additives, such as sugar or milk. For the past few months, each has been a daily drink, albeit at different times, so I'll try to be as unbiased as possible.

After brewing, both teas were a very deep red, amber color. I think the Ambiance Earl Grey had a much stronger fruity smell compared to the Trader Joe's– probably because it had more bergamot, as evidenced by the darker colored dry teabag. Both had the earthy smell of the black tea base, but the Trader Joe's had more of the sour, somewhat sweat-like smell that can come from the oil. In general, the Ambiance is much more sweet smelling, while the Trader Joe's is more deep. Note: If you've never tried Earl Grey, I'd say its smell is very similar to Froot Loops or other artificial fruit-flavored foods.

Anyway, as for the taste, both were a bit bitter (probably due to the amount of water and leaf; I'd recommend masking it by adding milk, or brewing for shorter time). For the Ambiance Earl Grey, the main taste is the nutty, earthy taste of the tea base, which is followed by the sharp, citrusy-sour notes of the bergamot. It's a bit bitter, but has a smooth texture– and also leaves a dry note in the throat which goes away fast. The Trader Joe's Earl Grey is a lot less intense; the main note is somewhat coffee-like, and is also followed up with a sour– but not as strong– flavor. Interestingly, it has an aftertaste much more fruity than the Ambiance, similar to orange peels. The textures are pretty similar.

Overall, I think I prefer the Trader Joe's Earl Grey more than the Ambiance. It's a lot more mellow, which can be good or bad, depending on the person. In my opinion, if you enjoy stronger teas or the taste of bergamot, go with the Ambiance, but if you don't, go with the Trader Joe's. Either way, both make for a good morning daily drink.

Other Notes

Welp, I finally finished my final big summer activity– that environmental sciences summer camp at CSU East Bay. All in all, it was enjoyable; while I didn't necessarily learn much about environmental sciences (it was introductory stuff/general), we got to network with industry professionals and learn how it is to work in water, energy, and so on. Probably the best part of the week was when we went to a regional park– Big Break– and spent the day doing water quality tests and getting rid of invasive species in the Delta. The funny thing is, since I don't have a business card, I ended up printing out my abstract and giving it to people instead.

Now that that's over, I have three weeks left in my last high school summer (weird to think about, right?). For my summer homework, I just need to study for week one tests in AP Chem and AP Gov/Macro, do writeups on the national conventions for AP Gov, make a lesson about Montesquieu (which is pretty interesting) for Comp Civics, and analyze quotes for the Comp Civics journal. It looks like a lot, but my goal is to finish it this week and spend the rest of August before school relaxing. I've also started on my application essays, the first drafts of which I think are pretty good; I've expanded on my beliefs on US History, talked about the science fair, and analyzed how my environment– with racial diversity, but not economic– has affected my academics. I'll keep up the reviews in the meantime as something to break up the tedium of writing school stuff, but that's what's been up with me the past few weeks. 

Review: Fushigi Sanpin Cha - Higa Tea

Type: Flavored Green
Producer: Higa Tea
Origin: Okinawa
Brewing Parameters: 1 2g tea bag; brewed 1 min. with boiling water (recommended time and temp. not specified)
Appearance: Rectangular nylon tea bag with dark green tea fannings; there may be some Jasmine flower petals
Rating: B | 87/100
# of Brews: 1

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Wow, it's been a while since I've done a teabag review. If you don't remember, the way I do these is just brewing the tea, and sipping on the cup until I get a decent flavor profile. In most cases, it's one cup, with no additives, like milk or sugar (even with teas like Earl Grey or English Breakfast, where I'd normally add something).

Anyway, here's the review. Now, I admit that brewing a green tea in boiling water isn't necessarily the best practice, but I'm surprised at how well it turned out. There was a very slight bitterness, which I believe isn't the result of mis-brewing, but rather the type of tea. From reading about it, Sanpin cha is a specialty of Okinawa; instead of being prepared like a traditional Japanese green (such as a sencha), it's prepared more like a Chinese green. I'm not necessarily sure on the processing techniques, but I'm going to guess that it's pan-heated rather than steamed. The taste is surprisingly similar to other Chinese green teas I've had– I can't put a name on it, but it's more easily brewed, tastier version of a Jasmine green from MK Teas (which I received from a tea exchange).

The profile goes like this: it starts out with the mellow, floral Jasmine notes, which quickly dissipate into a sharp tangy note with a hint of bitterness. As for the texture, it's smooth (bar that slight bitter taste) that leaves sort of a waxy taste in the mouth. The throat can get a bit dry if you drink this tea a bit fast, though. Overall, this is one of the better Jasmine teas I've had; I'd like to get my hands on some loose leaf of this tea, but for the convenience, the tea bags will have to do.

Other Notes

To be honest, the only reason I wrote today's review is so I could talk about this year's California Extreme, which was one of the best. Originally, I was going to go with two other friends, but one dropped out last minute (despite us planning this for a couple of months). We ended up replacing him, with it all working out since the friend that dropped out still had his info in the system (so the new guy got his name tag and everything). When we got there and had the whole missing friend-volunteer situation sorted out, we had a two hour shift of essentially just putting wristbands on people. During the shift, we made friends with one of our coworkers, who turned out to be a pretty stand up guy– friendly and entertaining (not in a bad way).

Afterwards, we picked up some free shirts, played a few games on the show floor, and walked to In N Out (which was a decent distance away) for lunch. Once we got back, we hung around a bit more on the floor playing more games; however, we felt like the games on the floor weren't all that great– mainly because they've been the same for the past few years and some of our favorite games were either gone or busy. We did play quite a bit of Ferrari simulator (time trial competition between the group), pinball, rhythm games, and Lupin the 3rd Typing (at least I did).

The highlight of the day comes from outside of the main floor, when we had an adventure around the hotel. Bored, we decided to take the elevator up to the 14th floor and then explored the stairwell. We eventually found our way to the Rockage SJ showcase, where we played a ton of Nidhogg and some sumo wrestler game on the arcade machine built by the Game Dev club at SJSU. The most memorable part of the night came when Super Soul Bros (the band playing at the time) told us to go onto Rainbow Road on Mario Kart 64. When we did, they began to play the theme of the course as a live soundtrack, even speeding up when we reached the final lap. After our race, they played one last song to close the concert, and we left.

Before going home, the three of us got onto our favorite game– The Grid. We played the last 20-30 minutes we had at CAX on those machines, went to have dinner, then went home. All in all, a pretty memorable night.

Review: Oriental Beauty - Ten Ren

Type: Oolong
Producer: Ten Ren Tea Co.
Origin: Northern Taiwan
Brewing Parameters: 3 g, brewing to taste
Appearance: Dark brown/black, thin, rolled leaves with a few twigs
Rating: A- | 91/100
# of Brews: 5

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
So, yesterday, I was in San Francisco with a friend and we went around town, visiting Japantown, Chinatown, and Pier 39. While there, I picked up two teas: some Sanpin cha (Okinawan Jasmine tea; expect a review later) at Japantown, and Oriental Beauty at Chinatown. I got stuck between choosing the Oriental Beauty and a small pu-erh cake at Ten Ren since they were the same price ($9), but finally decided on the Oriental Beauty since I haven't had it in a while– the last one I had was from Tea Ave, a sampler– and it came in a large bag.

Anyway, aside from Chinatown's ridiculous tea prices (really: the average price for some Jin Xuan was over $20), let's get to my first impressions and the review. Unlike the Tea Ave dry leaf, the Ten Ren leaves are a lot more darker and smell somewhat like urine. It's a bit disgusting, yes, I know, but it's comparable to a pu-erh; it's just less fishy-smelling.

As for the brewing, I started off with a rinse with boiling water. According to the Ten Ren site, this tea shouldn't be made with such hot water, so I let my water sit to cool afterwards and then began again. The first brew was pretty short– under 30 seconds– and the liquid came out a light, golden yellow, like a tie guan yin. It smelled a bit more better: honeyed, sweet, and like ginseng (I'm saying this because it's very similar to Blue People tea). The actual drink's flavor was pretty enjoyable, too– surprisingly. The first note I tasted was fruit, apricot, a little bit of lemon, which gave it a bit of a tanginess. Immediately after, it's followed by a slight moment of smokiness, and ends with the sweet honey that's in the smell. This sweet honey, combined with the fruit, lingers in the mouth for quite a while, and is generally clean. The texture, overall, seems to be very smooth, with little astringency or bite.

Overall, I thought this was a good tea especially considering the price. I got to 5 brews, with the tea eventually losing the honey and becoming a bit fruitier (but not very sour) in the later brews. In terms of taste, I think the Tea Ave Oriental Beauty was much better, but again, the price point of this tea makes it very appealing.

Other Notes
Well, I don't really have much to say here. I just finished reading Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut (for the second time, I think, but I can't remember when I read it the first time), and am about to start to work on summer homework. Mother Night is a lot more darker than I remember it to be, but I did find that it has a strong moral message and existentialist meaning, especially considering that it's a novel about an American spy who acted as Nazi during World War 2; for example, here is the main lesson of the story: "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be."

Other than that, I'll be going to San Francisco again for Competition Civics workshops on Saturday, California Extreme for volunteering and games on Sunday, and an environmental science summer camp all next week. My goal is to finish the main portion of my summer homework by next week, or the week after; I already have all of AP Chem done, almost all of AP Gov done (just need to watch the Republican/Democratic conventions), and quite a bit to do for Comp Civics, even though it looks like I'm ahead of most people. One thing, though, that I've noticed (which is unrelated) is that I've started to become disillusioned with the people at my school, and the competitive college admissions atmosphere. Honestly, it seems that everything academic that one can do isn't enough, and for those that could do enough by my school's standards are able to do it because it's all a money game. I might write a longer piece on why I'm starting to become disappointed with the people I have to associate with, but that depends on if I have the motivation to or not. We'll see.

For tea stuff, I have a few reviews coming up soon. I have that Okinawan Jasmine tea I bought at Japantown, along with a bunch of different tea bags, including: Ambiance's Earl Grey, Trader Joe's Earl Grey (might do a side-by-side review of these two), Numi's Moroccan Mint, Mighty Leaf's Organic Green Dragon and Organic Detox Infusion, Ambiance's Soothing Chamomile, and Twining's Lemon and Ginger. Since they're tea bags, I might experiment with a shorter, quick-review style since I won't be able to get an entire profile from just one bag (and I only have one bag of each).

Review: Pi Lo Chun - Red Blossom Tea Co.

Type: Green
Producer: Red Blossom Tea Co.
Origin: Jiangsu, China*
Brewing Parameters: 2 g, brewing to taste
Appearance: Small, white to light-green curled leaves
Rating: A | 93/100
# of Brews: 5

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
What is this? It looks like I've finally gotten around to reviewing this tea, after talking about it for one or two years now! At this point, though, I think the flavor of the tea might be significantly different because of improper storage and also because of a very small amount of leaf. Regardless, let's see how this goes.

Because I only stored about 2 grams of this tea, I'm brewing in a tasting set/cup to balance the water to leaf ratio. My first brew was only thirty seconds; the liquid was very light colored, with a tint of pastel green. I'm not entirely sure on the aroma, but I can best describe it as sweet, somewhat like soy sauce, with meat and vegetables. For some reason, it smelled a bit like a puerh– metallic.

The flavor stayed relatively the same through the drinking session. It was very fruity, with a hint of sweetness that gave way to some bitterness by the end. Like many others have said, apricot is its dominant taste, followed by grassy notes. There's a smooth texture– it just felt like drinking water, unlike some other teas– that left little to no aftertaste in my mouth and on my breath. While the flavor didn't change much, there is one issue: it didn't last that many brews. After the first or second brews, it was very weak and got even weaker with each subsequent brew. I'm not sure if it's just because of the tea itself, or because I've had it for a very long time, but I'm willing to wager that it's the latter.

Overall, I'd forgotten how much I like this tea. It's not necessarily a complex tea, but it's very enjoyable and I can see it as a daily drink. Oh, and it works very well in cooking, too. It's a shame that it looks like Red Blossom Tea Co. isn't selling this tea anymore.

Other Notes
I hope you all have had a great 4th of July! I spent mine in Santa Barbara with the family, since we had to drop off my sister for summer classes at UCSB. Interestingly, on our drive back, we got to watch fireworks explode at eye-level as we went past the beach.

As for today, it's been a lazy day. I think the only things I've done were play video games with friends, cook some twice baked potatoes and baked avocados, and go to the library. I made my final summer reading list too: Mother Night, by Kurt Vonnegut; The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton; Breakfast at Tiffany's, by Truman Capote; Complete Stories, by Zora Neale Hurston; The Confessions of Nat Turner, by William Styron; and Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw. I've already read Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut and Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, so I'm already two down.

Regarding my summer work, I've actually got a decent amount done. For AP Gov/Macro, all I need to do is watch and report on the Republican and Democratic Conventions, for AP Chem, read 3 more chapters and do their related problems, and for Competition Civics, write journals on all of the readings, read Ratification by Pauline Maier, and read and make a lesson on Spirit of Laws by Montesquieu. My plan is to finish it all before my environmental sciences summer camp at CSU EB in two weeks, so I've been working my ass off. In fact, since July 1st, I've been doing reading for Comp Civics each day, practicing my handwriting, and doing AP Chem chapters, and have gotten the majority of the work– the easy stuff, that is– out of the way.

Finally, here's some good news! Ended up with 5s on my AP Stats, English Lang, and US History exams, so there's that.

Review: Kawane-cha - Yamashiro

Type: Sencha
Producer: Yamashiro
Origin: Kawane, Shizuoka
Brewing Parameters: 5g; adjusting brewing params. to taste
Appearance: Thin, dark green rolled leaves of medium size (0.5 to 1 inch long)
Rating: B+ | 88/100
# of Brews: 3

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
So, I picked up this tea during a class trip in Japantown earlier this year. It was relatively cheap– about $10, if I remember correctly– for 70 g. Just as a note, I haven't been drinking tea that often lately; I have had Irish breakfast often, but nothing like sencha or oolong. It's probably a combination of the summer weather, lack of money, and no motivation, so please excuse me if this review is subpar.

Now that that's out of the way, the first few cups of this tea were a light green, which gradually got brighter over multiple brews. Interestingly, the most prominent smell I noticed was tuna; I couldn't really smell anything else, since most of it was overpowered by that fishy aroma. As for the taste, like most senchas, this one is a bit sour, with a grassy aftertaste. I can also a slight bitter, fruity taste, which I think is mostly similar to grapes– but not sweet, table grapes. It also left my throat feeling slightly dry, but not to the extent of other, harsher teas.

As the drinking session continued, the tea became even more bright, and started to lose its bitter taste. It mellowed out, with savory, seaweed notes becoming the main flavor. The fruity notes followed, lingering in the mouth with a sort of waxy texture on the cheeks and tongue. After that taste had gone, there was a vague sweet taste that came off of my breath and gradually became more intense.

Overall, I thought this was a decent sencha. While it is better in terms of brewing ability– it seemed hard to mess it up and make it very bitter, which is not the case with many other green teas– it lacked any characteristics that would set it apart. I ended up only having three brews since I ran out of water, but if I was drinking with others, I'd have more, and I'm sure that this tea could last for a while.

Other Notes
Now that my summer forensics program is finished, I can finally start that plan I mentioned in my previous post. So, for most of July, here's my plan with a few updates:
1. Read 50 pages of a required book OR 1 chapter/section from a textbook
2. Read at least 8 books of my choice before school starts
3. Write 1 personal thing, like this review or an application essay
4. Write 1 thing for homework, like a journal passage
5. Do some other school-related thing like editing the APUSH study guide I wrote, or making flashcards

Other than that, I'll just be going to another science summer camp for a week and hanging out with friends.

What's Going On? (Life Update) 6/24/16

Holy shit, it's been a long time since my last update on my life. Exactly three months since the last full update! So much has happened since then, I can't even remember all of it. I'll try my best, though.

First off, let's talk about school. Overall, it ended on a pretty good note. I ended up passing all of my finals and finished junior year with all As, which puts me in a nice position for senior year. I also led a research project regarding SAT enrollments at my school for the math department, which was a nice way to apply the stuff I learned in AP Stats, one of my favorite classes and possible future major, this year. Only bad thing was that my graphic calculator stolen during a lab final, which sucks because of its price and the fact that I had a ton of programs I wrote on there. However, my sister did give me hers and a friend gave me a TI-92 he got for free, so that makes up for it.

Next is what I've done my senior-year summer. On the day school ended, I hung out with my ex just around town and at a party. We're great friends, and I still love her, but she's going to move out of state and I just don't know how everything will be once she's gone– especially since she's the one who introduced me to all of these great clubs and people that I've had so much fun in. After that, I ended up taking the ACT and going to Santa Barbara to see my sister's graduation, and spent the rest of the week relaxing. In the weeks following that, I've done some volunteering at the county fair, went to forensics camp/class, and hung out with a few people.

As to my summer science internship situation, it looks like that I've been rejected from every program I've applied to this year– which is more than I can count, or care to remember at this point. The only science-y related things I did get accepted to were a summer extension program for my biotechnology class, an environmental science summer camp, and volunteering in science booths at the fair. I guess I'm not too broken up about it; I'm not wealthy enough to afford those $5000+ summer programs on the other side of the nation, and I don't have the skills or experience to get accepted into the <10% acceptance-rate internships– the majority of which are the programs I applied to.

I have learned quite a few things from these rejections, and from the people I've met so far. First thing is that while I can write a college-level research report, I cannot write an essay about myself, which are the types of essays required for internship and college apps. I've been told that I write too casually, which I'm sure you can tell if you're reading this right now.

The second thing is that even without these internships, I'll be just fine. I'm not as rich or privileged as the people I know who are going to Yale or Stanford for pre-college programs, but I still have more than I thought. Talking to the people at my forensics class taught me that; the things that people at my school scoff at– like community colleges and CSUs– are the Harvards and UC Berkeleys of other schools. Now, while I admit that seeing my friends get accepted into prestigious programs and get the internships I wish I had makes me feel a bit jealous and disappointed of myself, meeting these other students makes me grateful for what I have.

Thirdly, teaching people at the county fair has made me see that everyone is capable of learning and accepting new ideas; they just have different ways of understanding it, and you have to be able to accommodate for that. Even though someone doesn't look or sound intelligent, they can still have a deep appreciation for the work others do and the knowledge they can offer. Oh, and also, it's not too hard to meet people and make friends. All you have to do is just talk and listen.

Finally, from my bus driver to the forensics class, Michael, who I met only a week before he had to transfer routes: just be happy, because every day is a blessing. What he said is a bit cliched, I admit, but he's right. Sure, some days are bad, and that's a given, but there's something new every day and that's the beauty in life– you just have to look for it. His words mainly, by the way.

So, what's in store for the future? Well, tomorrow, I'm going to have my last shift volunteering at a science booth at the county fair, and the day after that, I'll be volunteering with the Uhuru/African socialist movement at SF pride. I don't necessarily agree with their beliefs, but it'll be interesting and a nice experience to prepare for African American Literature and another possible major, African American Studies. Then, I continue with my last week of forensics class, and I'll have to figure out what to do in July. Probably more volunteering, along with that summer camp and other classes.

I also have a bit of summer homework to get through, in order to prepare for AP Chem, Comp Civics, and AP Gov/Macro. I think my plan to get through those and improve my own skills is to read 25 pages of any novel, 25 pages of a required book and/or 1 chapter from a textbook, and write 1 thing, either school-related or just one of these posts each day. I'll try to do a lot of the writing by hand so my handwriting is at least legible. My goal is to finish everything before August, so I can spend the few weeks before school studying for tests. Senior year is going to be a pain in terms of amount of work, but who knows? Hopefully it'll be super fun.

Also, since I haven't updated on this yet, here's my almost-finalized schedule for this year. It's not yet sure because I'll need to wait until Registration, but here it is, after 3 revisions:
AP Chemistry, AP Government/Macroeconomics, AP English Literature, Competition Civics, Photography 1, and African American Literature.

It might be a while before my next tea review since I'm a bit poor; all of my money is going to BART and the buses, I'm out of work for now, and I've had a few large expenses recently, so I think I'll be saving for a while. I might have some tea I haven't reviewed yet, but I'll check into that. If not, I'll probably be posting some other filler posts, like recipes or analyses of stuff or creative writing. Thanks for reading.

An Attempt at Fermenting Tea/Making Puerh

It's been a month since my last post, and since I can't seem to get the motivation to work today (a combination of being tired, a headache, and a long day), writing seemed like a good idea. 

Anyway, in short, here's what I did; I know it's probably a long shot compared to real puerh tea processing, but I thought it was interesting. I got the idea after leaving tea leaves out for a few days because I had a short drinking session.

First, I put a tea base– Nepal First Flush Oolong from What-Cha– into a gaiwan and added cold water. I let it sit for near an hour, so the leaves soaked up the water, and then drained it.

Next, I placed the gaiwan containing the leaves by a drafty window, where they would get sunlight and air to dry off. For the first day, I turned the leaves every few hours, and then for the second day, I left it alone for the most part.

I ended up leaving the gaiwan by the windowsill 3-4 days, until the leaves were completely dried. After, I simply left the gaiwan with the dried tea leaves in my room for a week. Something interesting to note was that the leaves became more darker/brown; while some were still greenish-white, many more were brownish (and when brewing, all of them were brown compared to the original's dark green & brown color). 

So, now, here I am– drinking the tea at half-past 9 PM. To brew, I did a tea wash first with boiling water (because I'm scared of dangerous window bacteria!), and then did each brew after for 10-30 seconds. 

Surprisingly, the results were pretty tasty. Compared to the original tea base, the flavor of this tea was much more mellow. Like any other puerh (shengs, mainly), the first brews were a bit metallic with a roasty, coffee-like flavor; it wasn't fishy or composty, however. It had a bit of fruitiness like the tea base, but it was less sour/biting. The color, too, was a darker, orange-yellow compared to the bright yellow of the original. As for the aroma, it definitely had that fermented smell you can find in puerhs, with a fruity, vinegar scent. 

It got even better as time went on, losing that metallic flavor for a sweeter, melon-like taste with a little bit of chocolate. However, it did have a slightly bitter aftertaste. I also got that feeling in my throat– a bit dry, like you have something stuck– that you also have with some other fermented teas.

Overall, it was a pretty interesting experience. I'd like to test it out with other teas since I've only really tried it with this Nepal oolong, and also see how it tastes when aged for a long period of time. Try it out sometime!

The Paradox of American History and Why It's Important

Just a note: this has nothing to do with tea, but I thought it would be good writing practice and a way to put my thoughts into words, which is admittedly a skill I need to really work on. Again, like most of my writing, this hasn't been proofread so don't hold it against me.

First, let me preface this with the fact that this whole passage is from the perspective of a high schooler, and at this point in my life, I don't really have the experiences to back it up. However, these ideas come from my own interest in the history of the United States and experience being a first generation American.

This year, I took AP United States History: a class with a varied reputation, from being extremely easy to almost impossible. Keep in mind, I go to an upper-middle class, suburban high school, so for most, the grade– the venerable A– is the main thing that matters. For my grade, or the Class of 2017, this seems to be the prevalent way of thinking, creating an environment of competition based solely on test scores and performance.

Personally, I believe that this mentality isn't necessarily conducive to success. Sure, it might get the grade and the 5 on the AP exam, but it can come at a cost; because of the class and a few bad test scores, I've seen some of the smartest students I know begin to doubt their ability and lose interest in the subject. This isn't restricted to only APUSH, but I'm using it as an example because this is where I've seen it the most due to the difficulty.

I know that it might not be my place to criticize other people's mentalities since I'm not them nor am I doing badly in the class. However, I believe that my own success in the class comes from a passion for the subject and a strong belief that failure is okay and working harder is the best solution to problems. That's why I wrote a 100 page study guide for my class and have spent a ridiculous amount of time studying for the class.

Now, what does this have to do with history? Well, here's what I think: America was founded in part based on the ideas of rugged individualism and social mobility. The existence of free land, especially in the West, and the ability for all to exchange their current position in society for a better one has been at the basis of American motivations in expansion, competition, and more– as seen in Manifest Destiny, Social Darwinism, and all in all the American Dream.

As a result, Americans have an optimism and work ethic usually not found in other nations as a whole. Since the 1780's to now, there has been a belief that life sucks now, but that's okay– it will get better later if I just work a bit harder. Such optimism has been shared by all Americans; it motivated African Americans to move north in the Great Migration, farmers west during the Dust Bowl, and immigrants to the east since the 1840s. It's also why my parents moved here from Philippines, in order to obtain the economic opportunities not found abroad.

However, there's an issue: time has shown that the American Dream doesn't actually exist; especially after the Frontier closed in 1890, it's become obvious that the idea that you, too, can become rich by working hard is only true for a small minority– that minority being wealthy, male Caucasians. For the Chinese, getting rich from the Gold Rush or obtaining a job in America was no longer a reality after anti-Chinese riots in the 1880s and the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act. For African Americans, freedom meant nothing when the institution of Jim Crow and racism prevented integration and equality. For women, it took close to 80 years to gain the vote– and even then, they were only given suffrage based on the sexist ideal of separate spheres. Time, and time again, the American Dream only proves true for a minority composed of the majority.

Despite this, there is still a thriving belief in the American Dream, especially by the minorities that America has discriminated against for so long. The optimism is based on a false hope, and many even realize that it's false. But that doesn't stop them; they try anyways, in an attempt to prove the system wrong. They fight for a lost cause which time has proved is truly lost. They try to break the cycle of history, and for the smallest group of people, it works, which motivates the rest to continue the fight.

I'm sure many know that it's true, and that continuing to fight is counterintuitive. Nevertheless, here's the thing: the smallest effort can make all the difference. I know that as a minority, the system isn't designed so that I succeed. It's designed to stop me.

But I don't let it stop me. Nor has it stopped others. It all falls back on the idea that if we work just a little bit harder, it can get better. Change occurs as the result of many individuals working together to achieve just a tiny difference, and success occurs when an individual realizes that he or she can make that difference through a belief in their own ability.

That's why I like American history so much. It's founded on a contradictory hope. I know that I'll probably end like the masses of Americans forced into subservience by an oppressive society. But maybe, just maybe, if I work hard enough, I can break free and prevent history from repeating. I'm not the only one.

Recipe: Strawberry Iced Tea Syrup

It's been a while since my last post! The reason why is because of finals last week, and AP exams this week. I'll post more when I get a chance, but it looks like I'll be busy for just a bit longer. Anyway, this recipe is one I adapted from Foodwishes– it's a strawberry-tea syrup you can use in drinks, since Summer is on its way. I tried it yesterday, and it actually tastes pretty good as a soda or juice.

Ingredients:

Ripe strawberries, 3 lb

Honey, 1/2 cup – you want a light tasting honey for this; I've made it with stronger tasting honey and it overpowers the strawberry flavor a little bit

Water, 3 cups

Tea, 5 grams – your call what kind of tea (I'd suggest green or black); experiment with the ratio of water to tea and brewing parameters to get the best flavor

Instructions:

1. Rinse your strawberries with cold water.

2. Hull and chop the strawberries into 1/4ths (depending on the size, you might want smaller pieces).

3. Heat the water, and brew the tea. Remove the leaves by straining and let cool.

4. Once the liquid is cooled, add the strawberries. Bring the water to a boil.

5. Stir once, and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

6. Strain out the strawberry pulp (you can do this by pouring the liquid into a strainer with a new pot underneath). 

7. Add the honey to the liquid. There are two ways to do this: either pour the honey straight into the pot (might need to microwave it to make it easier) or add some liquid to the honey, stir it together, and pour it into the main pot.

8. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and heat for 5 minutes.

9. Take it off of the heat and let sit for 15-30 minutes (or until cold).

10. Pour the liquid into a container/bottle (optional: strain again to get rid of any other material).

11. Serve by mixing together with water and ice in a 1:3 ratio. To make fizzy, just add sparkling water or club soda. 

Recipe: Royal Milk Tea

If you don't know what Royal Milk Tea is, it's pretty much the Japanese version of milk tea. Most recipes call for a mix of two types of black teas– usually from Ceylon, Assam, or Sri Lanka– with quite a bit of sugar and milk. It's like chai without the spices. Experiment to your liking!

Ingredients:
Black tea, 7.5 g - I'm using a 3:2 mix of Sri Lankan black tea to Azores black tea.
Sugar, 70g - White sugar here, I'd imagine you can also use honey or brown sugar (but in the case of honey, it would be harder to control sweetness
Milk, 750 ml - Any type is OK
Water, 250 ml - Go for a 1:3 ratio with the milk; it's milk tea, so you want more milk than water

Instructions:
1. Boil your water in a large saucepan and brew the tea for about 5 minutes.
2. Add your milk to the tea until it boils. Stir constantly.
3. Like with chai, let the mixture boil up and take it off the heat. Once the bubbles fall back down, place it back on the heat. You want to do this about 3-5 times (look at the color of the tea to decide strength) while stirring.
4. In a heatproof container, pour in the tea (you might want to let it cool down first) and strain off the leaves.
5. Add your sugar and stir it in to dissolve.
6. Chill and serve cold.

Review: Milk Tea - Ito En

Tea Info
Type: Sweetened, Canned, Black Milk Tea
Producer: Ito En
Origin/Base: Hawaii
Brewing Parameters: N/A
Appearance: N/A
Rating: B | 86/100
# of Brews: N/A

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Oh hey, first time reviewing tea in a can. I've actually had this before, and I think it's one of the better ones. Interestingly, it's a "Hawaii Exclusive" and I've only been able to find it in the Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Jose (the place where I get all of my Lupicia tea). I think I actually based a milk tea recipe I made on the flavor of this, but I don't know where I actually put it– in fact, I'll try experimenting again and post it on here today since I have nothing else to do.

Anyway, I don't really think there is much to say about this. It's not too sweet, with the earthy flavors of the black tea first and a creamy flavor afterwards. It's slightly fruity, too, probably because of the tea base. Compared to other canned milk teas I've had, this doesn't taste too watery or deathly sweet. Oh, and in all of the cans I've drank (which I admit is quite a bit), the milk isn't curdled or anything, which is nice. Overall, best milk tea in a can I've had so far.

Other Notes
First weekday of spring break! Started off with getting a diagnosis of Temporomandibular Joint Disorder, which is always fun. Apparently I'll have to start taking painkillers for a week or two.

Other than that, today I'll just be making a recipe for Royal Milk Tea, reading/finishing A Confederacy of Dunces, and studying for AP classes (also maybe the SAT Bio/Math/USH tests and the ACT). I don't really have much to do over spring break.

Recipe: London Fog French Toast

First day of spring break! Not really feeling up to reviewing a tea today, so here's what I made for breakfast. Pretty easy recipe overall, and it can easily be adjusted if it's too sweet or not sweet enough, cooked too much or not enough, and so on.

Ingredients:

Earl Grey Black Tea, 1 teabag or 3g of loose leaf - I used Trader Joe's brand tea bags

Honey, 1.5 tablespoons - Local wildflower honey here

Milk, 0.5 cups - Doesn't really matter what type, I used 2%

Bread, 5-6 pieces - Same as the milk, white or whole grain, doesn't matter

Salt, 1 pinch - Sea salt

Vanilla Extract, 0.5 teaspoons
Eggs, 2

Butter, 1 stick - Can be replaced with oil

Makes 5 pieces of french toast; recipe is adapted from Alton Brown's french toast

Instructions:

1. Microwave/heat your milk to boiling before it boils over. Add your tea and let it brew for 5 minutes.

2. Remove the tea by straining or throwing away the tea bag. Add the vanilla extract and honey.

3. Whisk in 2 eggs, one at a time. 

4. Pour the mixture into a bowl or a container that will allow you to cover the bread.

5. Take a slice of bread, and cover both sides by dipping it in the mixture. Let it sit on each side for about 30 seconds so it absorbs the liquid. Place on a wire rack and let sit for about 10-15 minutes. Repeat for all of the slices.

6. Once the bread has rested for a while, heat a pan. Cover the surface of the pan in butter so the bread won't stick.

7. Brown both sides of each slice of bread. Return to the wire rack.

8. Preheat oven to 375°F. 

9. Place the wire rack/bread into the oven for 5-10 minutes.

10. Serve warm, adding syrup/fruit/cream to taste.