12 years, 9 months ago-
Posts
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I’ve been thinking about this question recently, and in my case the answer is yes. It’s not that my tastes have fundamentally changed, black tea is still my preferred choice, Oolong my second. That has been like that “forever”. Well, since I was a teenager, anyway.
Even though I still like those teas, I do have a lot more in depth appreciation of Darjeeling estates than I did a year ago. Thanks to @lochantea and Upton Tea we got the chance to drink our way through more estates than we had done previously. I know I didn’t distinguish between estates the way I do now. So 2011 was a good year for Darjeeling in our house. I’ve also developed more interest in Chinese black teas. I knew I liked Yunnans and Keemuns, but I’m learning more about these teas now, and there are other Chinese teas I want to get to know in depth.
I would like to enjoy Puerh, I would. But I still can’t. Maybe I never will. I’ll keep an open mind, and since @peter likes Puerh we’ll have some in the house from time to time.
Finally; thanks to everyone on here, I’m more curious about trying new teas than I’ve ever been before. It seems like someone is always reviewing, or mentioning an amazing tea I haven’t yet had.
That’s me, what about you?
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For the most part, this has been one of my most consistent years of tea when it comes to my taste.
I’m still partial to high mountain Oolong and decent Darjeeling.
I drink quite a lot of the tea that Jackie mentioned, and I can’t imagine starting the day without a hearty Assam or Nilgiri.
Xavier actually brings up my bigger problem. I need to drink the tea I have before I go out looking for new tea. Easier said than done, eh?
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Mine have in a big way! I started out 2011 drinking a lot of flavored teas and not a whole lot of straight black or green teas. But fast forward to July 2011 and my tastes began to change to reach for/buying more straight teas. I’ve found I prefer them to the flavored ones. I still reach for a flavored tea now and again, but only when I’m in the mood for them. Typically I now go for Yunnans and straight greens. Odd how that works out.
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@I’m with both Xavier and Courtney actually. I haven’t been pursuing the wonders of tea for that very long though been drinking tea for 25+ years. My tastes have changed very much, or rather become more enlightened the last couple of years. I love flavoured and unflavoured both, but my knowledge and interest in unflavoured have grown alot. I think everything has to do with knowledge about steeping times and temperatures – it has opened a new world to me.
In 2011 and especially the last half of the year it was unflavoured black teas that interested me most. This year I’ve continued my interest for those, but at the same time moved onto green teas. My problem is to stay long enough on one tea before moving on to the next.
Right now I enjoy a flavoured one though – the white mango icecream which is a wonderful substitute for any soda or lemonade out there. If you can track it down then try it – the flavoured whites are very much forgotten.
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@Yes, but I am a creature driven by my moods. However, as of late I have been favoring orthodox teas or flavored tea but still do enjoy them. My tastes have also changed because I keep trying more and more new teas. Of course as it can be expected my mental ranking of tea changes with the addition of new data. Great question @Jackie
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This is fascincating because I’ve never really given this any thought.
Jackie has told me repeatedly how much she has enjoyed having this website because of the intense exposure we’ve received to different teas. More importantly, she admits how her palate has adjusted and changed. I admit that mine has too.
I think I’ve been become accustomed to higher quality teas. Of late, I’ve felt myself leaning away from flavored teas. Of those I mean those that have any kind of flavoring oil or scent added to them. Teas that are flavored by blending herbs, spices or other ingredients still hold my interest. I drank a flavored tea the other day and found it boring, which is the trouble with most flavored teas to begin with – the base tea is just boring. Adding some flavoring and calling it watermelon doesn’t really help.
We had some very nice teas in the house during the last few months of 2011, not many of them were flavored teas, but most were very good. We had a big order of Darjeeling from Boston Tea Campaign and some teas from Upton that I really enjoyed. Then again, I also only drink coffee black, never milk or sugar – I like it strong and black (and flavored coffee just sounds awful..). I think that purity of taste for me also carries over into tea – I like to taste the tea itself.
So, have my tastes changed? I have always preferred unadulterated teas, I think in the past year my tastes for that have cemented a bit and moved me toward desiring teas that have a more complex and richer taste to them.
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A funny thing is that today a colleague of mine offered me a cup of Troika (a Kusmi tea), which is a mix between black teas, bergamot, orange and mandarin orange (If I were in a bad mood, I would say that it is an Earl Grey with orange and mandarin orange 😛 ) and I found the flavour too strong.
Could it mean that my tastes have changed and that I didn’t notice it?
Should I worry? 😉 -
@For me 2011 started with a strong Oolong preference, and Darjeelings of course, they are always on my mind. But before the spring came it was all Sencha, especially a Sencha that was imported by Yuko Ono (sic) to Sweden. I couldn’t get enough of that stuff.
Then something odd happened, I didn’t have a cup of tea in almost 6 months! But in the autumn I found my former self again and drank Sencha, Cloud and Mist, Tie Guan Yin and Darjeeling. When it comes to strong black teas like Ceylon or Assam I now only drink them with milk, I sometimes try to drink them without, but It always ends up with milk. So my tea taste did definitely change in 2011!And I also need to drink up my old tea before buying new, I didn’t do much to reduce my stock during my long tea hiatus.
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