Erik Drews

SOS ComAlt

Tasting lab week 7

This week we had another tasting lab in which we tasted one type of black or red tea over the course of two different steepings. Although the tea tasted similar from one steeping to the next, there were subtle yet significant differences. The tea was an autumn harvested red tea. The first steeping produced a tea with a sort of cerealy type aroma, somewhat grainy. The appearance was yellower than I had anticipated with a hint of orange and quite translucent. The flavor had a somewhat fruity aftertaste however the body of the tea tasted almost creamy to me. It reminded me of tea that had milk mixed in with it despite having no cream or milk at all. Not very bitter at all. After the second steeping the tea actually had more of an orangish red appearance and the same grainy aroma but this time with slightly floral notes that were not present in the first steeping. What was most interesting to me regarding the difference between the first and second steeping was that this aforementioned creaminess seemed to develope into an almost caramelly creaminess that was more noticeable than it was in the first steeping. In the second steeping the creamy body was accompanied with a floral bitterness that had a drying effect on my mouth.