I've been making my teas stronger these days to coat the throat and
warm the stomach. I use to think that taste was limited to the nose
and mouth.

Jim

Draconus wrote:
> Been drinking Chinese tea, particularly Pu-erh and Fijian Oolong for just
> over 12 months now (and loving it!). I am now beginning to notice that I
> need to put more leaf into my pot or gaiwan than I did when I started to
> obtain the flavour I desire.
>
> Is this the natural development of one's palate or is my tea degrading due
> to storage ? My tea is stored in double-lidded stainless steel canisters
> in what is a relatively stable (temp and humidity wise) environment. Our
> consumption rate for our loose leaf Pu-erh, for example, is approx 750grams
> over the last 12 months. I buy my loose leaf Pu-erh in 500gram lots. My
> brewing times have stayed relatively consistent.
>
> Right now I am drinking a Royal Grade B loose leaf Pu-erh I got from James
> Banna and I am finding that I need to almost double the amount of leaf in my
> 200ml pot than I originally used to satisfy myself.
>
> If ones palate does acclimatise to frequent tea drinking then this would
> explain my experiences in Hong Kong recently. On our excursion around many
> tea shops we found almost always that the amount of leaf the hosts used seem
> overly excessive to us to the point where the teas (particularly Oolongs)
> had a nasty bitter taste to my wife and I. Once at home we brewed the same
> tea with what we felt was 'normal' amounts of leaf and found the teas to be
> very good indeed.
>
> Now I am beginning to wonder.
>
> Any thoughts ?
>
> Cheers
> Mal
> Oz