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!