you don't really want to know how this tastes, do you?

autumnal background to go with my Karakorum Cha

Have been stewing about something for the last few days and rather than try to be clear and measured, I'm going to scrawl a bit.  

A few nights ago, I stayed up relatively late so I could do another Google+ Hangout with several tea people.  And something Michael J Coffey said got me thinking.  We were talking about the physical properties of tea.  Specifically about the way the chemicals in tea react in different people's bodies.  

And the next thing he said was something I'd considered but not heard anyone ever mention.  Similar to this variety of chemical reactions to tea, there's also the fact that what you taste might really be unique to you.  The example he used was that you read a tea review and it says that there's a taste of something (let's say peach) but no matter how much you try, you just can't taste any peach.

I can't tell you how many times I've read about a tea, whether it was a similar tea or the exact one I'm drinking, and the description was so wildly different from what I was tasting.

This isn't a complaint about the phenomenon.  I actually like the fact that two people drinking the same tea can have wildly different opinions of what they're tasting.  

I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm questioning the whole prospect of tea reviews in general.  I do understand that there are strong flavours that some tea has that everyone drinking that tea might agree on.  I also get it that if I'm excited about, or even disgusted by, a particular tea I've drunk, I want to write/talk about it as descriptively as possible. 

The idea of tea reviews in general makes sense to me.  But the actual practice is sometimes another matter.  I read a blog recently that questioned if people reading these reviews actually read other tea blogger's reviews.  I wish I could link to it but try as I might, I just can't find where I read it.  

So many teablogs.  Information overload.  

I can already hear some of you: I not only write tea reviews, I read them, as well.  Really?  Does it affect your future purchases?  Do you care about the way it's written, or do you just want the information?

And as long as I'm putting words in your mouth, here's what you say next:

Why is this irritating you so much?  You're getting hot and bothered about something that really isn't such a big deal.

Well, a few posts ago I mentioned that I'd be reviewing Karakorum Cha.  The truth is that I've been drinking it on and off for months.  It's a tea that can easily get quite bitter.  So I've been toying with it and finding the best way to get the most flavour without too much puckering.

Actually, that'd probably be an interesting thing to document.  How difficult it was at the outset to make this tea not too bitter.  But describing what it tastes like?  Do you really want to know?

I'm really wondering how useful that information is.

Karakorum Cha Cha Cha

I went a bit overboard with my praise for Greg Mortenson and his incredibly popular book Three Cups of Tea last year.  It appears the incredibility of the book's popularity was more incredible than at first suspected.  There was a huge scandal about Mr Mortensen and his questionable handling of his charity in general and his books inflated sales in particular.

Before all of that, I was rather taken with the ideas he espoused in the book (still am actually) and paraphrased his main ideas here: Tea Alchemy.

Once people find out you're into tea, they start bringing you tea samples.  That's exactly what happened when a friend went to see Greg Mortensen in person.  The Karakorum Cha pictured above was on sale after his presentation, and it was purchased and brought to me.

Although I'm always grateful to receive tea that I don't know yet, I wasn't particularly impressed with this tea.  It took a long while before I figured out the way to brew it that brought out its best qualities, but I'll save all of that for the tea review I'll be writing over at the Tea Review Blog.

But the bigger questions are: Can we still support Greg Mortensen's ideas without supporting deceptive method of collecting charity?  Can we still like the tea regardless of the bizarre circumstances that it came to us?

My answer to both is: Why yes, of course.  I still like the idea of our relationship going from stranger to friendship to family while drinking several cups of tea.  It continues to be a naive but powerful idea.

And as much as I love high quality Darjeeling tea, it's a pleasure to get to know other tea from the Himalayan regions.

So, I'll talk more about how it tastes in my tea review, but you want to see the leaves, don't you?  Here they are:

Karakorum Cha Cha Cha