Archive for the ‘The_Devotea’ Category

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International Devotea Day


2012
04.07

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Posted in Devotea, tea obsessive, The_Devotea | 13 Comments »

Robert Godden aka The Devotea

Boy do I have some good news for you today. Some of you might think that the religious holidays and their requisite traditions are the most important things going on these days. I can understand why you’d see things that way, and I’d never want to interfere with the way you mark the season.

But me personally, I’m celebrating something else entirely. It’s International Devotea Day and I’m here to tell you that this is arguably one of the best holidays you could ever imagine. What does International Devotea Day entail? I’m so pleased you asked.

Essentially, what we do on International Devotea Day is drink as much tea as humanly possible. If you’re one of those sort who doesn’t like to overdo things, this holiday might not be to your liking. There’s nothing measured or sensible about a day like today. Under the circumstances, we’re taking tea drinking where it’s never gone before.

Now, you’re most likely thinking to yourself, ‘Sure, I like tea ok. It’s a beverage that curiously both calms and enlivens me. But I have to be honest: I’m not one for going overboard.’

I hate to tell you this, but you really should consider locking yourself indoors and drawing the curtains. Keep your children and family pets away from any exterior windows. There’s going to be some excessive tea drinking and it might not be pretty.

In honour of the big day, I’ll leave you with one of my favourite Devotea videos. It’s George Orwell‘s Nice Cup of Tea (click on the link, you’ll be glad you did), and it still makes me smile whenever I watch it. I must leave you to it then. There’s so much to prepare before International Devotea Day begins in earnest (Happy Birthday Robert).

 

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charms of The Iron Goddess (Tie Guan Yin)


2011
07.24

Posted in Austin, hot brown liqueur, Iron Goddess Oolong, Oolong, Robert Godden, teablog, teanote, The_Devotea, Tie Guan Yin, Uncategorized, Upton Tea Imports, World Cup Final, Zhi Tea | 1 Comment »

For regular readers of my teablog, I’ll have to apologise at the outset. Normally I write about anything but tea. Sure I drag tea into it, but the topics I like most are tangentially related to that hot brown liqueur. I like to write about whatever film I happen to be watching or what I might serve footballers playing in the World Cup Final based upon the quality of each individual’s play. You get the idea.

It’s a teablog, but I rarely get bogged down in actually reviewing tea. Not in the traditional sense anyway. Robert (@The_Devotea on twitter) has assured me that there’s nothing more boring than, ‘I took the tea and I submerged it in the water and then I tasted it and it tasted like ______ and then I infused it again…’ It might be informative and clearly written, but it’s not the most exciting stuff. To each his own, eh?

But sometimes I feel I should just do a traditional review of a tea. It is still a teablog after all. And of course with the introduction I’ve built up, I’m almost daring myself to make it somehow more interesting than the typical teanote. I might have set myself up with unrealistic expectations in that case.

The tea I want to talk about is Tie Guan Yin (the notorious Iron Goddess). A while back I read someone disparaging comments about how everyone knows the sultry temptress that is the Iron Goddess.

As if this tea was somehow boring due to its popularity. I gave into her seduction when I visited Zhi Tea in Austin when I wrote An oasis on the Eastside.

Alex Zorach made a valid point, in the comments of that post, when he said, ‘It seems to be the “default” named Oolong, so there have been a few cases where I tried it and it wasn’t the best quality.’ He went on to write that finding a good Tie Guan Yin is an entirely different story. I think I know just such an exception. The one I’m talking about is from Upton Tea Imports.

Now according to them, this is a 2nd Grade tea. Their description actually states:

A classic Tie-Guan-Yin, with dark-golden, rolled leaves, producing a flavorful cup with the aroma of sweet raisins complemented with robust earthy tones. The fine flavor lingers on the palate with a toasty, sweet aftertaste. (source: Upton Tea Imports).

I can definitely taste the raisins by the second or third infusion. Although the earthy tones are evident immediately, they somehow get stronger the more times I brew the same tea. In my estimation, that’s the sign of a good, sturdy Oolong.

As I’ve heard so often when people talk about it, the thing to remember when brewing decent Oolong is to use more leaves and less water than you might be accustomed to. And almost as important are the incredibly short brewing times. Really.

Roughly twenty seconds to start. After many infusions, you might increase it to thirty or forty-five. But if you’re truly using more leaves and less water, steeping this tea for a long time is only going to result in something bitter. And in my experience, Oolong isn’t supposed to be bitter.

If you haven’t before been lured in by the Iron Goddess charms, will this review convince you to try her out? No idea. I’d like to think this tea is a perfect introduction to Oolong in general. And might this specifically encourage you to try multiple steepings? That would please me more than you might know. Well, now you know. I just told you.