Water Temp

Pardon me if this has been done to death but...

I use a coffee maker to heat the water in my office for tea. I'm
guessing that the output is somewhere in the 180 range. To this point,
it hasn't bothered me any, and I have steeped darjeeling (of unknown
origin), Lapsang Souchong, Pu-Erh, gunpowder (temple of heaven), and
assam, all with favorable results (these are all from a local co-op
that has a good selection of bulks). Today, I got an order from Upton
and the first two teas (almond flavored black and Melange Noelle) were
kind of disappointing. I know the water temp is below the reccomended
212, but this hasn't been a problem with other blends. Is it just that
these two blends "aren't my cup of tea" (bad pun,but real possibility)
or do they really need the higher temp? Would I get more enjoyment out
of everything if steeped hotter?

I'd just try a cup hot. That way you'll know for sure. Do you have a
microwave over there?

Dan

"Justin Holmes" <jwh999@> wrote in message
news:1134541634.455628.80320@g49g2000cwa. ...
> Pardon me if this has been done to death but...
>
> I use a coffee maker to heat the water in my office for tea. I'm
> guessing that the output is somewhere in the 180 range. To this point,
> it hasn't bothered me any, and I have steeped darjeeling (of unknown
> origin), Lapsang Souchong, Pu-Erh, gunpowder (temple of heaven), and
> assam, all with favorable results (these are all from a local co-op
> that has a good selection of bulks). Today, I got an order from Upton
> and the first two teas (almond flavored black and Melange Noelle) were
> kind of disappointing. I know the water temp is below the reccomended
> 212, but this hasn't been a problem with other blends. Is it just that
> these two blends "aren't my cup of tea" (bad pun,but real possibility)
> or do they really need the higher temp? Would I get more enjoyment out
> of everything if steeped hotter?
>

In article <1134541634.455628.80320@g49g2000cwa.. com>,
Justin Holmes <jwh999@> wrote:
>Pardon me if this has been done to death but...
>
>I use a coffee maker to heat the water in my office for tea. I'm
>guessing that the output is somewhere in the 180 range. To this point,
>it hasn't bothered me any, and I have steeped darjeeling (of unknown
>origin), Lapsang Souchong, Pu-Erh, gunpowder (temple of heaven), and
>assam, all with favorable results (these are all from a local co-op
>that has a good selection of bulks). Today, I got an order from Upton
>and the first two teas (almond flavored black and Melange Noelle) were
>kind of disappointing. I know the water temp is below the reccomended
>212, but this hasn't been a problem with other blends. Is it just that
>these two blends "aren't my cup of tea" (bad pun,but real possibility)
>or do they really need the higher temp? Would I get more enjoyment out
>of everything if steeped hotter?

For black teas, you will get considerably more enjoyment out of them
if steeped hotter. For the gunpowder tea, you will get less.

Try using the office microwave and seeing for yourself.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Fair enough, unfortunately, all my tea is at the office, and all my
ability to boil is at home, and it is such a hassle hauling 50 grams of
tea back and forth :-)

They are the little Tuo Cha balls (of the white paper wrapped variety)
that I got in bulk from the Co-Op. The bin may well say more about
where they are from, but offhand, I don't know. I do know that they
make a mighty fine cup. I also have some Special Grade Mini Tuo Cha
from upton, just a sample size, but I decided not to open them yet to
keep them fresh a little longer

Thanks to everybody for the responses. This is a big help!

They are the little Tuo Cha balls (of the white paper wrapped variety)
that I got in bulk from the Co-Op. The bin may well say more about
where they are from, but offhand, I don't know. I do know that they
make a mighty fine cup. I also have some Special Grade Mini Tuo Cha
from upton, just a sample size, but I decided not to open them yet to
keep them fresh a little longer

Thanks to everybody for the responses. This is a big help!