Review: English Breakfast - Organa

Type: Black
Producer: Organa
Origin: Tanzania
Brewing Parameters: 90-100°C, one 4.8 g bag, 3-5 min., 12 oz. water
Appearance: A circular, paper/cloth tea bag ("pod") with small CTC black leaves
Rating: C+| 78/100
# of Brews: 1

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Now that I'm done with my loose leaf tea backlog, I can finally get to all of the tea bags I've been meaning to review. As with my previous teabag reviews, these are going to be a bit shorter because they usually can only be brewed once in small amounts; there isn't enough leaf most of the time. Before I end this blog around August 14 (Berkeley move-in date), I want to reach 200 total reviews and I think this last round of teas will bring me there. If not, well, I can always buy more tea.

The story behind this tea is a simple one. I think we were practicing in San Francisco for the national competition for We the People at some law firm, and while we were waiting to begin, they let us use their coffee and tea. Since the packaging of this tea looks very fancy, I took one bag home to review, and three or four months later, here we are. Surprisingly, there is a large amount of leaf in these pods, as they are advertised, which are similar in shape to Trader Joe's Irish Breakfast tea. One thing I thought was cool was that the bag had "This Side Down" printed on its side, which helped keep the bag submerged while brewing (pod-style teabags tend to float because of air trapped inside).

I brewed it for three minutes or so, and the liquid came out a very dark, opaque brown. It had the standard smell of English breakfast, with its brown sugar, earthy, and slightly musty aroma. It was much more coffee-like than other brands I've tried; it tasted bitter, with some sour notes and what I could best compare to soy sauce. It's not astringent, but it did leave a waxy texture on the tongue and I could taste the bitter flavor long after. It's been a while since I've drank English Breakfast, but I think I've had better than this. Bonus points for its packaging (and for being organic, if you're into that), but the verdict is that it's an average blend. I recommend drinking it with milk to mask those coffee flavors if you don't like them.

Other Notes
Today's album is the Hamilton: An American Musical soundtrack by Lin-Manuel Miranda. I know it's late, but a friend finally made me listen to it in its entirety (especially since one of the themes this year at Berkeley is Hamilton) and it's pretty good. I usually prefer to watch the actual musical, either in movie form or in a theatre, before I listen to the soundtrack; however, this stands on its own as an interesting drama on its own. It also helps to have a strong background in American history to appreciate it.

Work at the District Attorney's office isn't great. I don't think I'm cut out for an administrative office job; a lot of the work is pretty mind-numbing and repetitive. As for everything else, I've watched a few movies lately– Young Frankenstein and Moana, to name two. I'm not getting shifts at the ice cream shop, which is a pain since I'd like the extra money. I've been hanging out with people more, particularly my We the People unit, one of my best friends going to Berkeley too, and an old friend. I also went to the grad party of someone in the unit of that girl I like from the other team, which went a lot better. I met a few people and it was fun (wasn't awkward either), but for future reference, I need to remember these two things: don't sweat the small things, and confidence is not the same as having no filter. I should work on that.

Lastly, I started that online class for Berkeley. It's interesting enough, with the assigned readings and all, and gives me practice for my writing. But, as I read the responses of my peers there, I wonder; why was I chosen for the Regent's scholarship? Everyone there is amazing at writing and very intelligent, sometimes much more than I think I am. I wonder if I come off as smart as everyone else there; I also wonder if I'll be cut out for Berkeley. I guess it's a bit frightening (for lack of a better term) to think about how everyone is as hard-working, motivated, and smart as I am, but also exciting at the same time. Maybe I'll finally be average there at Berkeley, and it's a weird feeling since I've talked with friends about how I never wanted to be as distinguished as I ended up being in high school. We'll see once school starts, but if I do write about it, it'll probably be on a new blog. Thanks for reading.