Tea blends

[telophase]

I was poking back at Adagio Teas, to see what they'd come up with since the last time I'd been there.* They offer custom blends of teas now - you can blend like mad and not be obligated to buy - and while I knew about it, I hadn't paid much attention to it.

But now ... I feel inspired to create a Sanzo-themed tea, and have done so. It's currently marked private, until I feel it's right (and dare to buy it). At the moment it's 80% gunpowder and 20% lapsang souchong. Gunpowder is a green tea whose leaves are rolled into little 'bullets,' described as producing a full-bodied cup with a hint of smokiness. Lapsang souchong is a tea formed by smoking the tea leaves over a fire, and when it's brewed it smells like wood smoke.** You either love it or hate it, and I love it. You can toss some into another kind of tea when brewing to produce a nice hint of smoke.

Whether I like the blend or not...? The teas I like seem to be described as "smoky" (although not to the literal extent that Lapsang Souchong is), so there's a possibility, although I tend not to like green teas. Hm.


Anyway ... ideas for tea blends for the rest of them? I'd think that Golden Monkey might be a large component of Goku's tea, while Hakkai might sip demurely on an oolong. If you wanted to be literal, Gojyo might be a rooibos (a.k.a. red tea), but ... I really don't like rooibos. :)




--
* chomiji, of the things off my wishlist you sent, I really love the Fujian Baroque. Yum!

** To the point where I don't brew it at work, because otherwise people from down the hall will be sticking their heads into the office, asking what's on fire. No joke.

Comments

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

I enjoy their tea blends a lot. I get an order of my blend each month.
https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=3282
It's not a particular character, but it makes me think of manga and fanfic and story kinks. Sort of wonderfully complex. (I can't have a lot of straight black tea, except for certain types. I can do the Yunnans just fine. I think Sanzo would be a Yunnan Noir kind of guy.)

slightly off-topic

[estara.livejournal.com]

If you love Lapsang Souchong and you haven't read it yet, you NEED to read this book by R.A. McAvoy: http://www.amazon.com/Tea-Black-Dragon-R-MacAvoy/dp/1585861979/
(and if you like it she wrote a second one: http://www.amazon.com/Twisting-Rope-Roberta-MacAvoy/dp/158586059X/ ).

[ninjoo.livejournal.com]

lol, Sanzo tea! I'd love to try it!

[celestriad.livejournal.com]

huh, that's pretty interesting to think about. XD i personally love a simple green tea, but i can see how that would fit sanzo.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, for a Gojyo tea I would go for something like a Russian Caravan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Caravan) blend -- strong, dark and more than a little smoky -- blended with rosebuds for a bit of sweetness at the core. (RED roses for EXTRA ANGST, of course!)

Hakkai I'd think would be a very fine green tea, with no fragrancing or added spices/florals to distract from the subtle astringent purity of it all...maybe Gyokoru (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyokuro) or other high-grade sencha.

Goku, given all the centuries in cold storage, could maybe be a very well-aged Pu-erh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pu-erh_tea)?

Mmmmm, tea.

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

I can't get my head around blending black and green teas--they brew best at different water temperatures and steeping times. It hurts me, it does.

In other news, I am 100% pro-Lapsang Souchong and Russian Caravan (which for the record is not the same!).

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I suspect Goku's tea would be something like a 'suicide' at the soda fountain.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

*laughs* and here I was thinking something earthy like pu-erh mixed with the sweetness of fruit and roses for Gojyo with just a hint of a smoky something as he smokes too.

Hakkai makes me think of chrysanthemum or, better yet, Osmanthus Flowers mixed with a mountain Wuyi oolong, sadly Adagio doesn't sell traditional Osmanthus.

I like your idea with Goku... Golden Monkey or Monkey-picked Iron Goddess of Mercy mixed (10%) with white peach.