I can't believe we're nearing the 1st anniversary of the blog. Time flies. Don't fret. There's plenty of tea left to try in the cabinet. Many, many tea regions to explore. (I recently received an e-mail from someone on the Tea Board in Rwanda....) There are also some books waiting for review on the bookshelf too. So even if the posts are occasionally slow to come, they will come eventually!
Completely unrelated - I'm sure many of you out there cope with food allergy/intolerance issues. In this house we have been seeking a dairy-free cheese that is edible. Not easy to find, I assure you. Most vegans and others who can't have dairy have told me to just give up. I am here to say that I have found one that is not just edible, it is a pretty good substitute. (It will NEVER replace real cheese, but it's not bad.) Last night we made a pizza using Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella Cheese Alternative (by Follow Your Heart). This is the same company that makes Vegenaise - an egg-free mayo replacement that is fantastic in tuna salad and chicken salad. No, I don't get any kickbacks from them (or even free product.) The cheese MELTS, has a nice texture, and tastes good on pizza. It even tasted good on the pizza that my son insisted we top with broccoli, peppers, black olives, and PEAS. Just consider this my good deed for the day.
Time for tea. Today's tea is an Assam SGFTGFOP1 CL from Sree Sibbari Estates. I purchased this sample from Upton Tea earlier this year. Let's start with all those letters. Remember, the letters are an indication of the grade. With black teas, grade is a reflection of leaf size, not necessarily quality. In many cases, though, the larger the leaf size, the more care and attention that has been put into the harvesting and production of the tea.SGFTGFOP1 - Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe. The 1 is used to indicate a particularly fine grade. I am unsure about the first G. I've never seen that in a grade before. A search online only brought up this particular tea. I'd love to hear from anyone who knows what that G indicates. Regardless, SFTGFOP is a lovely whole leaf grade with a large number of golden tips. CL indicates a "clonal variety." This is used by high end tea estates to show that the plant was bred for particular qualities. In Assam teas, this quality is frequently a large number of golden tips. (Source of information: Dragonwater Tea Co.)
This is a beautiful dry leaf. The golden tips are truly brilliant. The leaves are fine and wiry. I brewed this tea at 1 1/2 tsp per 6 ounces for 4 1/2 minutes. The scent was like a nice wine. The flavor had notes of grape and a nicely balanced maltiness. The tea was smooth with slightly tannic qualities. There was a little bite, but that just gave it a great bracing feel. I am a big fan of this Assam, although it's price does not make it an every day tea, by any means. (While many of Upton's Assam 12 grams samples are $1, this one is $5.60! I do not mind paying extra for a truly fine tea, however. I just drink it more sparingly.)
Tea: Sree Sibbari Estate Assam SGFTGFOP1 CL
Source: Upton Tea
Type: Black tea from India
Brewing details: 1 1/2 tsp for 4 1/2 minutes. Water was at about 212 degrees.
Comment: I'm going to try a 5 minute brew next time. (The maximum recommended brew time. Remember, to make a stronger cup, be careful of over-brewing. Usually adding more leaf is a better strategy, but since this one is recommended up to 5 minutes I'll give it a shot.) I want to see if I can bring out more of the boldness. I also think this is a prime tea for multiple infusions.
Taken from http://teapages.blogspot.com/
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