Ok, honest opinions please.

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I have had Bai Hao twice. The first time it was wonderful and aromatic, but the second batch I got (from a different vendor) wasn't as good for me for some reason. There's a fine line for me between tannic and astringent, to me astringent is more acidic, it doesn't have as much of that sort of gritty mouthfeel (like for instance black coffee does. I'm not saying black coffee isn't acidic in general though). Astringent doesn't bother me as much (like say a green oolong, with hopefully lemony overtones) but the darker tannic isn't as pleasant by itself to me. Still, I don't add milk to high roasted oolongs because they still have more aroma than most red teas I've had. For me , Bai Hao has made the greatest impression on me from it's aroma, especially the aroma of the dried tea in the smelling cup, pure dried apricots. Wonderful.

I haven't noticed as much of a dry fruit aroma from my FF Dars though. I haven't noticed it that is, I may not have been paying attention. Next time I make some I'll pay attention.

As as aside...there are some green puers that I've had that have that overtone of dried fruit and remind me of oolongs. Baby green puers. But they don't taste exactly like oolongs, they're definitely puers. The leaves look partially oxidized too, similar to oolongs.

Melinda

Reply to
Melinda
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snip

Jim!! That's scandalous!! Isn't that a bit personal?? lol, just joking! :D

Melinda

Reply to
Melinda

ONCE people start putting MILK in their TEA, the TERRORISTS have WON.

More seriously, I think the issue is that if you're trying to learn to get a sense of how teas taste, you should try tasting them without milk or sugar because the milk and sugar tends to hide the natural taste of the tea.

I think if the original poster spends some time drinking various teas without these contaminants, he should get a better notion of how the teas differ. Then, should he later make the misguided decision to prefer these adjuncts he will still have benefitted from the experience and taste training.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

I am going to differ regarding the preparations to someone new to 'the game'. Take and drink what is natural to you and expand out from there (I am refering to greens- of which, I have only, humbly, been gathering knowledge). Your tastes will develop and you will shy from and be drawn in different directions which will help you narrow it down to something more pure. And eventually, you will be tasting the leaves and their processing individually--without sugar and milk (I still take my red/black teas with some/either sugar or milk)...happy exploring..This is like wine!

Reply to
taopants

Reply to
taopants

I hear iced tea is more popular than hot at the nature resorts.

Jim

Mel>

Reply to
Space Cowboy

for what it is worth my experience is that sugar changes the taste of tea beyond all belief and should never be used. Same goes for any sweetener

Green teas should never have milk or sugar added.

China teas - Oolongs; Yunnans; Keemuns and Lapsangs etc are best without milk or sugar.

The Indian / Ceylon types [whether from the sub-continent or the better gardens in Africa & South America are better to me with milk, particularly the strong flavoured Assams.

Darjeeling is probably better without milk but can stand a little, and the more delicate Ceylon style teas work with or without.

BUT, never forget that the best tea in the world is the one you enjoy drinking - whether it costs $2; $6 or $60 a pack

Roger C [30+ years in the trade]

Reply to
Roger

I'm not exactly adding to the global wisdom here, but can I just say how much I agree with everything in this post! Almost scarily so. I had actually written a very similar post, except that I didn't bother to list green and oolong as I assumed that no-one drinks those with milk -- please tell me that I'm right!

Joss

Reply to
Joss Wright

All tea is good with cream and sugar. Not milk, you're right on that!!!

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Reply to
BoobleyBoobley

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