Showing posts with label Week 7. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Week 7. Show all posts

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Day 49: Mountain Grape Oolong

Brand: Lupicia
Type: Flavored Oolong
Brew Time & Temperature: 2 minutes, boiling
Leaf Appearance: Small, dark green rolled oolong leaves; a lot of them are broken up, and there are rose petals (?) added
Color: Light yellow; clear
Smell: Still sick, so I can't really tell
Recommended with/as: As is, iced
Rating: 8/10

Tasting notes and thoughts:
Alright, so I'm feeling sort of better now, BUT something tastes wrong with the tea. I'm pretty sure it's not the actual tea leaves because I've tried this tea before and as of yet, I've had no fruit tea that tastes this bad. I'm guessing its either my sick or the water (my boiler is full of calcium and falling apart, and I've been using tap water), but I can't know for sure until I'm done being sick. Overall, it just tastes not very pleasant (like that taste in your mouth when you wake up after not brushing!).

As for what I could taste, I only noticed a very light sour note (which was probably the grapes). There was little astringency with a bit of a chewy (?) texture, but that was mostly it. I'll just rate it what I thought the last time I had it, which was a couple months ago. If I remember correctly, it's a decent flavored oolong, but not Lupicia's best.

Other notes:
Today, I mostly just worked on science fair stuff. I bought a project board, construction paper, glue (all that jazz), and medicine. The abstract of the project was due today and I ended up having to wait half of the day for my lab partners to edit it (I turned it in just before writing this). Other than that though, there wasn't much. My throat and nose aren't as bad as yesterday, and I did more homework, but that's it. I'm going to start a project for history soon (gonna build a model of the Battle of Kursk!), and since that's going to take a lot of woodwork and planning, I'll give updates on it. Hopefully tomorrow's tea doesn't taste as bad.

Next on the 100 Days of Tea: La Belle Epoque

Friday, March 13, 2015

Day 48: Keemun Special Grade

Brand: Lupicia
Type: Black
Brew Time & Temperature: 3 minutes, boiling
Leaf Appearance: Small (not fannings), black leaves; they are curled and thin, and look somewhat like pan-fried green tea leaves
Color: Light amber; clear with a light oily film on top
Smell: I cannot smell at all today- see other notes
Recommended with/as: As is, sweetener
Rating: 8.5/10

Tasting notes and thoughts:
So, I'm sick again (see below for details) so this review will probably be sub-par. I also tried Vanilla again- I don't know if it was the milk or water I used, but it did not taste good at all. There was a very strong sour taste which did not mix well with the vanilla smell and semi-sweet taste. Like I said before, if you like vanilla, go for it, but I just can't get over how strong the smell is.

As for today's tea, I tried using less water than I usually do, and I think it worked. The tea has a strong tart aftertaste, with a bit of earthiness. There is a bit of a floral taste, but I don't feel the sweetness or fruitiness that some other people say they notice. There is a tiny bit of a raisin taste, however. Surprisingly, there isn't the astringency/dryness that I've been tasting in the past few days, and it's actually very smooth. It's a nice, mellow black tea without the strength that I expected. For my first unflavored keemun, I think it's a pretty good tea.

Other notes:
Damn, it turns out I am sick for sure now. My nose is either stuffy or runny all day, and I have a pretty bad sore throat. It's not as bad as my sick last time, but it's not fun either. I think this is the first time I've been sick twice in less than 3 months in a few years, actually. I'm guessing its either because of my lack of sleep lately (only 5 hours than my usual 7?) or my diet (been skipping breakfast/lunch and eating a ton of random snacks instead of actually cooking because of no time). Man, I was looking forward to tomorrow's tea too.

In other news, the science fair abstract is due tomorrow. Since it's only 250 words and a summary of everything, I'm going to start it today and spend most of tomorrow revising it. I'm hoping that my lab group will help me, but I'm doubting it.

Next on the 100 Days of Tea: Mountain Grape Oolong

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Day 47: Ume Vert

Brand: Lupicia
Type: Flavored Green
Brew Time & Temperature: 2 minutes 30 seconds, boiling
Leaf Appearance: Broken up, dark green leaves; they're small, but the larger leaves look like blades of grass. There are also large white tea leaves and very small pieces of dried apricot added
Color: Bright yellow-green; clear
Smell: Fruit - somewhat similar to the other cherry tea I had earlier
Recommended with/as: As is, iced
Rating: 7/10

Tasting notes and thoughts:
I can't tell if it's just because I'm more used to stronger tea now (because of the gaiwan), I'm just brewing the tea wrong, or I'm still sick (allergies, ugh). For the past few days, including today, the tea just tastes very plain and the smell is very weak. I tried to brew it longer to try and fix this, but it only made the tea bitter very quickly.

Anyway, despite the weak taste of the tea, I could definitely feel a fruit taste. I wouldn't be able to tell it was plum if you let me try this tea, but I could feel a tart aftertaste in my mouth. There's little astringency and its actually quite smooth and sweet. There are some notes of green apple, but as I said before, it's too weak for me to tell. Overall, it's okay, but I might need to do another tasting again.

If I keep getting a weak taste for the next few teas, I'll try using less water while brewing and see if that fixes it.

Other notes:
I feel a little bit weird saying this, but I like to believe that everyone has the potential to succeed in school (gradewise, and probably otherwise too) if they have the motivation or try to put effort into their work. However, I feel like I'm slowly losing faith in that belief. This isn't only because I see people in school every day that just don't give a shit any more, but because I feel that despite my best efforts, I'm slowly getting worse. I stay up late, have terrible sleep, and stress constantly because I want to learn or at least get better at what I'm doing. Then, when I wake up and go to school, I see and hear about people who have much more work than me but are still very well-off. Most days in math class, I spend an hour or more on the homework, but it only takes the people at my table only 15 or 20 minutes. On some tests, I do much worse than I hope even though I spend hours studying, and then one of my friends spends barely any time studying and does much better.

I just don't know. I guess life's unfair like that sometimes, but I guess I just have to go with it. One of my life rules illustrates this very well:
Despite your best efforts, you will never be the best at what you do. There will always be someone better than you, and you just have to accept that.

It sounds kind of depressing, but for me, I see it as motivating in a way. Sure, there will be someone (or even a ton of people!) better than me, but if I work hard enough, I'll eventually be able to be good enough at what I do to be better than most, and I can get closer to that person ahead of me.

Next on the 100 Days of Tea: Keemun Special Grade

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Day 46: Kikeriki!

Brand: Lupicia
Type: Herbal (Lemongrass and peppermint)
Brew Time & Temperature: 4 minutes, boiling
Leaf Appearance: Large light green leaves (grass-shaped; it's the lemongrass) and broken up regular leaves (probably the peppermint); there are some pieces of dried fruit added
Color: Very bright yellow (closer to arylide yellow from what I can see); clear
Smell: Mainly citrus; to be honest, there isn't really any smell at all, or at least it isn't very strong
Recommended with/as: As is, iced
Rating: 7/10

Tasting notes and thoughts:
Well, it's almost midnight so I'll rush through this review (11:40 is when I'm starting).

It may have been the tea or the way I brewed it (the latter is more likely), but I found it to be a bit weak. The taste is citrus, mainly lemons, with a light mint taste. I guess it tastes like the herbs its made out of, but there isn't much else. I don't think there's flavoring added either (which may be a positive or a negative depending on how you see it). It's not astringent (probably because its a tisane), but makes the throat a tiny bit dry and is a little bit bitter. I can see this as a good iced tea because of its citrus taste, but there isn't much that sets this tea apart from others. You could actually probably make this on your own for much cheaper (because man, $7.50 for 50g of some garden herbs is actually kind of a rip off).

Other notes:
So, today was interesting, to say the least. I went to bed at 1 AM, woke up at 3 because somehow a bowl of water spilled all over my bed + papers, stayed up until 4 drying them with a blow dryer, went back to sleep, and then woke up at 7. The school day for the most part was uneventful, but I think I did okay on my history test and English speech. On the test, there were a surprising amount of questions on Fascist Italy (which I spent the least amount of time studying) and I couldn't focus because I was stressing out for my speech the next period. However, I do think I did relatively decently- I'm only hoping for a B this time since the timing of the test/speech/everything was terrible. In English, the speech went worse than I hoped since my partner wanted to change a bunch of stuff last minute and I stuttered more than I wanted to, but on the rubric we got a mix of 3s and 4s (which is decent, but I think we didn't deserve it). It's only 50 points so I'm not too worried, since I think the collaborative essay, which is 300 points, was actually pretty good.

Anyway, I think I'm finally done with sleeping at 1 or 2 AM since almost all of the big things are done now (AP Bio tests, history unit test, english speech, etc.); however, the science fair is still next week and the report is still going slower than expected because my partners aren't helping me with writing, and we still have a project board to make. But, I'm still relieved all of the big things for school are done for now, and when I got home today, I took a huge nap for 4 hours. Hopefully my grades don't drop down too much after this though, because the quarter ends right after (?) spring break in 2-3 weeks.

Next on the 100 Days of Tea: Ume Vert

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Day 45: Blueberry

Brand: Lupicia
Type: Flavored Black
Brew Time & Temperature: 3 minutes, boiling
Leaf Appearance: Small, broken up black leaves with a small amount of drab green leaves added
Color: Dark, reddish brown/orange; it's clear
Smell: Sweet blueberry smell (very realistic) with some floral notes
Recommended with/as: As is, iced, sweetener
Rating: 7.5/10

Tasting notes and thoughts:
Well, this doesn't taste as sweet as it smells. The blueberry taste is definitely there and stays in your mouth long after drinking; while it isn't as sweet as real blueberries, it still tastes very realistic. It's very mellow (no astringency) with a bit of an earthy taste, and the flavor doesn't really have any kick to it. However, it goes down very smooth. There's also a little bit of a tart taste, but it's not that noticeable.

It might have just been the amount of tea/water I used, but I feel like this tea is very, very weak (and adding milk would lose all of the flavor). Overall, it's decent (if you like blueberry, go for it), but there just isn't enough flavor for me to enjoy.

Other notes:
Oh man I am stressing out. I have a speech on FDR tomorrow and a history test- the test I'm not so worried about, but I don't think I'm ready for the speech. Not gonna write much about that since I'm going to practice and study all night, but hopefully it goes well!

Next on the 100 Days of Tea: Kikeriki!

Monday, March 9, 2015

Day 44: Paradise Green

Brand: Lupicia
Type: Flavored Green
Brew Time & Temperature: 2 minutes, boiling
Leaf Appearance: Medium-small dark green leaves with colorful flower petals added (red, pink, yellow, purple) and dried fruit
Color: Bright yellow-green; clear
Smell: Fruity, sweet, and floral; there's a large mix of fruits here, so I'll just say it smells very tropical
Recommended with/as: As is, iced, honey
Rating: 7/10

Tasting notes and thoughts:
I'd suggest this tea iced, rather than hot. Hot, it has a bit of a citrus and fruit flavor, but is actually a bit sweet. There's a bit of astringency that doesn't make the tea bitter, but gives it a dry mouthfeel. However, its taste is not that strong (and I feel like brewing it longer would make it bitter, so use more leaf) and more light. I've had this tea before and I think it's decent, but now that I've tried more teas this isn't that good anymore.

Other notes:
Short review today, since I have an AP Bio test, science fair (finished experimenting, spent today compiling all of the data) stuff, and a speech to prepare for in English. Also, it's 11:30 and I have priorities over this.

Anyway, nothing much happening other than the stuff above, but it looks like I'm kind of screwed for the speech since the first group that went was really good (they did a skit). My partner doesn't want to do anything else other than a regular speech, so I have to hope that our presentation is good enough.

Next on the 100 Days of Tea: Blueberry

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Day 43: Darjeeling the Second Flush

Brand: Lupicia
Type: Black
Brew Time & Temperature: 3 minutes, boiling
Leaf Appearance: Dark brown and green leaves, rolled and a good size
Color: Copper (orange-brown) with a light oily film on top
Smell: Roasted with notes of wood, smoke; there's also a strong muscatel smell
Recommended with/as: As is
Rating: 8.5/10

Tasting notes and thoughts:
This is going to be a short review since I got a bunch of Milk Oolong from Vital Tea Leaf in SF (go there! the owner is super nice and gives free tastings along with lessons on how to properly brew tea. It's a little pricey, but it's worth it for the experience), and my parents want me to brew it for them.

I'm surprised that this tastes extremely different from the Darjeeling I had earlier (Autumnal Darjeeling I believe). It's much less floral and more full-bodied; rather, it has a strong smoky and earthy taste. The muscatel gives the tea a nice undertone, while also giving it a bit of a tangy aftertaste. It's not bitter, though the astringency in the tea gives it a different mouthfeel and keeps your throat dry.

Overall, I like it; it's probably one of the only unflavored black teas I've had so far that I can drink on its own. I think it's better that way than with anything added (which is surprising, since I usually add milk/honey).

Other notes:
Holy jeebus that Milk Oolong was amazing. It's a bit pricey at $40 for 4 oz, but it's worth it (I think you can get it cheaper in SF Chinatown at Red Blossom Tea Co. for $30, but I couldn't check because Chinese New Year). Once I'm done with this project (57 more days to go!), I think the teas I will review for sure are Sencha Tanegashima and this Milk Oolong.

Other than that, today I pretty much just went to the SF Conservatory of Flowers (good way to study for my AP Bio test tuesday) and to Chinatown. I'm working on that essay that's due tomorrow right now, and I think I'm gonna stay up late to write an outline for a history essay and study for other classes.

Also, spring forward/daylight savings time sucks.

Next on the 100 Days of Tea: Paradise Green