OK, so I ordered some of the spring long jing from Teaspring and got it in 6
days, very quick but I live on the West coast (US) so that may have been
helpful.On opening the box I noticed they do something that Imperial Tea
Court does also but that I wonder about...they vacuum seal their bags but
the bags aren't the resealable type (like for instance Upton uses) which
makes it a little tough for me since I don't have good canisters around for
lots of tea. However my lovely mother-in-law sent me a Gevalia gift box last
week (surprise!) and it included a really nice stainless steel canister that
has a seal...so I'm set at some level.

This morning then I opened the 50 grams of Emporor LJ that they sent me, and
smelled it. Now, I ordered green tea from Holy Mountain at Christmas and it
had this amazing sweet smell when I opened the bag...this LJ has that smell
only stronger. Really nice. When people talk about "chestnut" I wonder if
they include the sweet chestnut smell, because this smell reminds me of that
and also of pistachios. It's a very nutty rich sweet snell. The leaves are
flat when dry, and fluffy in the sense that they don't seem to cling
together the way, oh, say sencha does? I don't know if that makes sense, but
there you have it.

First brew about a tablespoon of leaves in about 12 ounces of Dannon spring
water at 170 for about 140 seconds. Not a strong brew, and the leaves all
float at the top. No sinking for the entire time. I wonder if when teas do
this I should stir, but this time I wanted to see what they did. The lliquid
is clear and not a deep color...but I know that depending on color to
indicate flavor is not a wise thing. The flavor is good...I have trouble
describing flavor, but the smell is the same at the dry leaf only more
subdued and the tea seems to make the back of my throat tighten a
little...it's not astringency, it's something else.It almost...dries the
back of my throat out? And well the taste is smooth and not nutty but not
sweet...it's refined though, more so than the other greens I've had.

Working on the second steep now...same as first only a little heartier, but
I didn't time it. The thing I noticed about the Holy Mountian tea I bought
at Christmas was that once air hit it it lost it's smell rather quickly (as
in, it still has a little left right now but it's really starting to wane in
the strength dept.) So I know I want to drink this tea pretty quick,
relatively speaking. I guess I'd better get busy,

Melinda
--
"The country has entered an era in which
questions are not asked, for questions are
daughters of disquiet or arrogance, both
fruits of temptation and the food of sacrilege." Djaout

Melinda,

Thanks for posting your comments about TS's Emperor LJ. I've been toying
with the idea of getting some for myself. When you say the leaves sit on
top, do you mean "in the water" or "on top of the water"? In the latter
case, a quick stir would be necessary, I think. Second, I find that the
second steep does not have to be longer than the first, and in many cases
can be shorter, because the leaves have been opened and readied in the first
steep. I would have said that 170 is too high a temperature, but you report
that the brew was quite mild, so I guess the temperature was adequate. Did
you also purchase the other TS LJ?

Michael


4/11/05

> OK, so I ordered some of the spring long jing from Teaspring and got it in 6
> days, very quick but I live on the West coast (US) so that may have been
> helpful.On opening the box I noticed they do something that Imperial Tea
> Court does also but that I wonder about...they vacuum seal their bags but
> the bags aren't the resealable type (like for instance Upton uses) which
> makes it a little tough for me since I don't have good canisters around for
> lots of tea. However my lovely mother-in-law sent me a Gevalia gift box last
> week (surprise!) and it included a really nice stainless steel canister that
> has a seal...so I'm set at some level.
>
> This morning then I opened the 50 grams of Emporor LJ that they sent me, and
> smelled it. Now, I ordered green tea from Holy Mountain at Christmas and it
> had this amazing sweet smell when I opened the bag...this LJ has that smell
> only stronger. Really nice. When people talk about "chestnut" I wonder if
> they include the sweet chestnut smell, because this smell reminds me of that
> and also of pistachios. It's a very nutty rich sweet snell. The leaves are
> flat when dry, and fluffy in the sense that they don't seem to cling
> together the way, oh, say sencha does? I don't know if that makes sense, but
> there you have it.
>
> First brew about a tablespoon of leaves in about 12 ounces of Dannon spring
> water at 170 for about 140 seconds. Not a strong brew, and the leaves all
> float at the top. No sinking for the entire time. I wonder if when teas do
> this I should stir, but this time I wanted to see what they did. The lliquid
> is clear and not a deep color...but I know that depending on color to
> indicate flavor is not a wise thing. The flavor is good...I have trouble
> describing flavor, but the smell is the same at the dry leaf only more
> subdued and the tea seems to make the back of my throat tighten a
> little...it's not astringency, it's something else.It almost...dries the
> back of my throat out? And well the taste is smooth and not nutty but not
> sweet...it's refined though, more so than the other greens I've had.
>
> Working on the second steep now...same as first only a little heartier, but
> I didn't time it. The thing I noticed about the Holy Mountian tea I bought
> at Christmas was that once air hit it it lost it's smell rather quickly (as
> in, it still has a little left right now but it's really starting to wane in
> the strength dept.) So I know I want to drink this tea pretty quick,
> relatively speaking. I guess I'd better get busy,
>
> Melinda

Michael Plant > writes:

>
> 4/11/05
>
> > [...]
> >
> > First brew about a tablespoon of leaves in about 12 ounces of
> > Dannon spring water at 170 for about 140 seconds. Not a strong
> > brew, and the leaves all float at the top. No sinking for the
> > entire time. I wonder if when teas do this I should stir, but this
> > time I wanted to see what they did. The lliquid is clear and not a
> > deep color...but I know that depending on color to indicate flavor
> > is not a wise thing. The flavor is good...I have trouble
> > describing flavor, but the smell is the same at the dry leaf only
> > more subdued and the tea seems to make the back of my throat
> > tighten a little...it's not astringency, it's something else.It
> > almost...dries the back of my throat out? And well the taste is
> > smooth and not nutty but not sweet...it's refined though, more so
> > than the other greens I've had.
> > [...]
>
> Thanks for posting your comments about TS's Emperor LJ. I've been toying
> with the idea of getting some for myself. When you say the leaves sit on
> top, do you mean "in the water" or "on top of the water"? In the latter
> case, a quick stir would be necessary, I think. Second, I find that the
> second steep does not have to be longer than the first, and in many cases
> can be shorter, because the leaves have been opened and readied in the first
> steep. I would have said that 170 is too high a temperature, but you report
> that the brew was quite mild, so I guess the temperature was
> adequate.

Or maybe it was mild because the leaves, floating on top of the water,
didn't really steep very much?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

Michael Plant > writes:

>
> 4/11/05
>
> > [...]
> >
> > First brew about a tablespoon of leaves in about 12 ounces of
> > Dannon spring water at 170 for about 140 seconds. Not a strong
> > brew, and the leaves all float at the top. No sinking for the
> > entire time. I wonder if when teas do this I should stir, but this
> > time I wanted to see what they did. The lliquid is clear and not a
> > deep color...but I know that depending on color to indicate flavor
> > is not a wise thing. The flavor is good...I have trouble
> > describing flavor, but the smell is the same at the dry leaf only
> > more subdued and the tea seems to make the back of my throat
> > tighten a little...it's not astringency, it's something else.It
> > almost...dries the back of my throat out? And well the taste is
> > smooth and not nutty but not sweet...it's refined though, more so
> > than the other greens I've had.
> > [...]
>
> Thanks for posting your comments about TS's Emperor LJ. I've been toying
> with the idea of getting some for myself. When you say the leaves sit on
> top, do you mean "in the water" or "on top of the water"? In the latter
> case, a quick stir would be necessary, I think. Second, I find that the
> second steep does not have to be longer than the first, and in many cases
> can be shorter, because the leaves have been opened and readied in the first
> steep. I would have said that 170 is too high a temperature, but you report
> that the brew was quite mild, so I guess the temperature was
> adequate.

Or maybe it was mild because the leaves, floating on top of the water,
didn't really steep very much?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

Hi Michael,

I meant that the tea leaves all cluster up near the top...all of the leaves
in this brewing. Not floating on top of the water. They didn't seem to want
to sink as quickly as some other green teas I've steeped. But the first
steep wasn't enough to get them to sink anyhow...when I came back for the
second steep, they mostly still floated near the top, but between the second
and third steep I paused for about an hour or two and when I did the third
they were sinking. The extra time being wet let them soak in the water I
guess. I was still getting good color in the third steep. I compared that
steep with a third steep of older (meaning I had done the first and second
steeps two days before...no, don't ask...I don't like to waste tea around
here and as long as it doesn't smell off or have something growing on it I
usually will redo it just to see if it has anything left) Huang Shan Mao
Feng, the Mao Feng had a slightly deeper color (deeper as in more golden)
while the LJ was lighter. Both looked like they could've been a good French
sauterne, that kind of color. The second and third steeps of the Emperor
were a little more..not earthy. A little more "with body"...I don't know how
else to say it. I am not doing this gung fu as I only got 50 grams of it and
I am sending half to my husband who is away...so I don't have a lot to work
with. However, the smell is still quite amazing, and it very much reminds me
(as I said before) of that Snow Monkey from Holy Mountain. It may be unusual
for LJ to smell like that, not sure. But there are other teas that smell
similar.

I did get some of the Meijiawu LJ as well, and it's smell is decidedly
more...well, really I don't want to turn anyone off here, but it smelled
slightly (to me, first impression) like garlic or something. The tea smell
is there of course, and I don't meant to say it smells exactly like garlic,
only that this was the first thing that came to mind...more of a savory
smell I guess would be best to say. Not as sweet nutty honey as the Emperor.
The steeps there were not as organized as the Emp. was, I will have to
report back on that later. Needless to say though it's better than other
more standard LJ's I've had, mostly because it doesn't seem nearly as harsh
and astringent. But I need some more time with that.

As far as the 170 being too hot...keep in mind that I am the person who
doesn't get a darn thing out of Yinzhen Silver Needle because it's too
subtle for me, and I am the person who can happily drink cheap China
Gunpowder green off the local shelf...so YMMV,

Melinda

--
"The country has entered an era in which
questions are not asked, for questions are
daughters of disquiet or arrogance, both
fruits of temptation and the food of sacrilege." Djaout
"Michael Plant" > wrote in message
...
> Melinda,
>
> Thanks for posting your comments about TS's Emperor LJ. I've been toying
> with the idea of getting some for myself. When you say the leaves sit on
> top, do you mean "in the water" or "on top of the water"? In the latter
> case, a quick stir would be necessary, I think. Second, I find that the
> second steep does not have to be longer than the first, and in many cases
> can be shorter, because the leaves have been opened and readied in the
> first
> steep. I would have said that 170 is too high a temperature, but you
> report
> that the brew was quite mild, so I guess the temperature was adequate. Did
> you also purchase the other TS LJ?
>
> Michael
>
>
> 4/11/05
>
>> OK, so I ordered some of the spring long jing from Teaspring and got it
>> in 6
>> days, very quick but I live on the West coast (US) so that may have been
>> helpful.On opening the box I noticed they do something that Imperial Tea
>> Court does also but that I wonder about...they vacuum seal their bags but
>> the bags aren't the resealable type (like for instance Upton uses) which
>> makes it a little tough for me since I don't have good canisters around
>> for
>> lots of tea. However my lovely mother-in-law sent me a Gevalia gift box
>> last
>> week (surprise!) and it included a really nice stainless steel canister
>> that
>> has a seal...so I'm set at some level.
>>
>> This morning then I opened the 50 grams of Emporor LJ that they sent me,
>> and
>> smelled it. Now, I ordered green tea from Holy Mountain at Christmas and
>> it
>> had this amazing sweet smell when I opened the bag...this LJ has that
>> smell
>> only stronger. Really nice. When people talk about "chestnut" I wonder if
>> they include the sweet chestnut smell, because this smell reminds me of
>> that
>> and also of pistachios. It's a very nutty rich sweet snell. The leaves
>> are
>> flat when dry, and fluffy in the sense that they don't seem to cling
>> together the way, oh, say sencha does? I don't know if that makes sense,
>> but
>> there you have it.
>>
>> First brew about a tablespoon of leaves in about 12 ounces of Dannon
>> spring
>> water at 170 for about 140 seconds. Not a strong brew, and the leaves all
>> float at the top. No sinking for the entire time. I wonder if when teas
>> do
>> this I should stir, but this time I wanted to see what they did. The
>> lliquid
>> is clear and not a deep color...but I know that depending on color to
>> indicate flavor is not a wise thing. The flavor is good...I have trouble
>> describing flavor, but the smell is the same at the dry leaf only more
>> subdued and the tea seems to make the back of my throat tighten a
>> little...it's not astringency, it's something else.It almost...dries the
>> back of my throat out? And well the taste is smooth and not nutty but not
>> sweet...it's refined though, more so than the other greens I've had.
>>
>> Working on the second steep now...same as first only a little heartier,
>> but
>> I didn't time it. The thing I noticed about the Holy Mountian tea I
>> bought
>> at Christmas was that once air hit it it lost it's smell rather quickly
>> (as
>> in, it still has a little left right now but it's really starting to wane
>> in
>> the strength dept.) So I know I want to drink this tea pretty quick,
>> relatively speaking. I guess I'd better get busy,
>>
>> Melinda
>

In article >,
"Melinda" > wrote:

>. I am not doing this gung fu as I only got 50 grams of it and
> I am sending half to my husband who is away...

Hi Melinda - am I to understand that you do greens
gongfu style? Not sure I ever tried that.

I may have used the wrong term...I don't use a yixing pot per se, what I was
referring to was using a relatively larger amount of leaf with a relatively
shorter steep time and multiple steeps. That's all. Sometimes I do it and
sometiems I don't, I'm still experimenting,

I put some pi lo chun (a lot relatively) in a glass of cold water and stuck
it in the fridge overnight last night. It does NOT taste good...:/

Melinda

--
"The country has entered an era in which
questions are not asked, for questions are
daughters of disquiet or arrogance, both
fruits of temptation and the food of sacrilege." Djaout
"pat marson" > wrote in message
news
> In article >,
> "Melinda" > wrote:
>
>>. I am not doing this gung fu as I only got 50 grams of it and
>> I am sending half to my husband who is away...
>
> Hi Melinda - am I to understand that you do greens
> gongfu style? Not sure I ever tried that.

"Melinda" > writes:

> [...]
>
> I put some pi lo chun (a lot relatively) in a glass of cold water and stuck
> it in the fridge overnight last night. It does NOT taste good...:/

Try brewing it at room temperature, steeping it for only 15 minutes
since it's a delicate tea. And, if you like it, steep it again, of
course.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html