My Corner Online

 

Tea Journaling

FREE TEA JOURNAL DOWNLOADS

Download my Tea Journaling Blue Kit As I used the below kit, which was the original kit, I discovered that I needed to change some of the categories, eliminate some, and add a lot more. I now exclusively use this new blue kit for my tea journaling in OneNote. However, the first kit could be used interchangeably if you like to mix and match colors.

Download my Tea Journaling kit which I created for myself because I found a need to do my tea journaling digitally. I use it in OneNote, but you can use it in any note taking program or even Word or Photoshop.

I have become so interested in tea that I want to inspire and encourage others to begin their own tea journaling to learn by personal experience about tea. We attended the 2019 Chicago Tea Festival (the very first one!) and one of the classes I took was Tea Cupping by Suzette Hammond of Being Tea. Her class, as well as other classes and the actual tea tasting, changed my perspective of tea. I had already advanced in my knowledge of tea since about 2017, but this broadened my horizon to specific types of tea. I love to learn and I have found something I can only learn about over a long period of time, as well as something I can do that is relaxing. Some of the elements of this tea journaling kit came from Sooz, as is her nickname, so I do want to give her credit.

TEA JOURNAL VIDEO PLAYLIST

I made a tea playlist for my tea tasting videos. I am not a professional! I would love to learn what your experiences are about these teas, so feel free to comment on the videos.

CATEGORIES AND TASTING PROCESS

Journal:

1. Tea Name

2. Tea Merchant

3. Date

4. Tea type: Dark, Pu-erh, Black, Oolong, White, Yellow, Green, Herbal, Flavored

5. Origin: Country, Tea Estate, other location; I often get a screen shot from google maps

6. Processing: How much oxidation, pan-fried, roasted, scented, dried, balled, (see download above for more processing words)

7. Notes: Copy notes from the package, website, or any study from the internet done prior to the tea tasting. This is where you can put any notes about what you learn about this tea.

8. Color: I have a color scale in the above download that I use for consistency. I also take photos of the dry leaves and the color of the liquor. I sometimes take photos of the wet leaves.

9. Steeping Session: Measure your tea. I measure it at 5 oz every time. Brew the tea for a short steep. Use a gaiwan or use just enough water to cover the leaves. Be consistent with all tea tastings. I usually start with 20 seconds (but with an Assam might do 10 seconds). Each steeping session I had to the time. Sometimes I had 10 second increments and sometimes I add more, depending on my experience with the first steep. THEN, note the following for each steeping session:

Aroma Flavor: See my tasting flavors list below. I choose from the Flavor category below.

Body: impression of viscosity (the state of being thick, sticky, and semi-fluid in consistency; the fluid's resistance to flow (think smooth orange juice to pulp orange juice; think non-fat milk to heavy cream; think syrupy to honey-consistency)

Light -> Medium -> Full (Delicate and Very Full are in the brown kit, but I found I only needed three categories)

Astringency: any puckering drying sensation caused by polyphosphate; polyphosphate react with saliva; makes you thirsty sensation; green and black teas have high polyphosphate; this is not bitterness

Smooth (Low) -> Bright (Light) -> Lively/Brisk -> Pungent (Bold)

Taste: See from my tasting flavors list below for some inspiration, but taste is not limited to these.

Finish: Feeling on the palette after swallowing, what comes after, final impression, final hug good-bye;

Airy/Soft -> Evaporating/Quick -> Juicy/Mouthwatering -> Lingering/Aromatic -> Drying/Tannic

Tannin tastes dry and astringent and you can feel it specifically on the middle of your tongue and the front part of your mouth. Astringency, bitterness, and tannic are confusing terms. Bitterness is a component of flavor; Astringency is a physical sensation.

10. Rating: I have a rating system in the download from 1 heart to 5 hearts.

FLAVORS

Here is my tasting flavors and aroma flavors as mentioned in the video. It is sure to grow as I taste teas. This matches the aroma flavor categories in the download.

1. Vegetal: grassy, sweet hay, wet straw, bamboo, vegetal (cooked), butternut, spinach, asparagus, alfalfa sprouts, green beans, seaweed, leafy greens, menthol, herbal, wintergreen, mint, basil, sage, thyme

2. Floral: Light floral, deep floral, jasmine, lilac, honeysuckle; lily, rose, gardenia, ocean air, eucalyptus,

3. Fruit: lemon, lychee (fig), date, raisin, honey, citrus fruit, apple, pear, pit fruit, berry, cherry, grape, muscatel (raisin) melon, tropical, banana, lime,

4. Wooded: Woody, pine, wet wood, cedar, oak,

5. Earthy: earthy, leather, tobacco, mushroom, roasted, smoky, musty, decaying bark, musk

6. Savory: umami (savory), meaty

7. Mineral |Element: salty, clay, stones, ocean, metal, flint, chalk,

8. Nutty: almond, chestnut, pecan, walnut,

9. Bakery |Spice: toasty, biscuit (yeast), buttery(creamy), pepper, cocoa powder, warmed sugar, caramel, toffee, maple, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, clove, cardamom, licorice, ginger, molasses

10. Grain |Starch: malty, brown rice, barley, winter squash, yam, taro root, legume, lentil

MY PROCESS

1. Study about the tea and make notes. Document the Tea Name, Tea Merchant, Date, Tea Type, Origin, Processing, and any other notes such as description of tea from the Tea Merchant, things learned from the internet, images of location (origin) from Google maps, factors about location that might affect the tea, such as an ocean or rocks that it might pick up flavor, or elevation, cultivar of tea plant, and so much more. Really take time to learn!

2. Smell the dry tea for aroma.

3. Brew for a short steep, about 20 seconds.

4. Smell the wet tea for aroma.

5. Note the body.

6. Note the astringency.

7. Note the taste.

8. Note the flavor.

9. Brew again for a longer steep. Repeat 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 adding to my notes for each of those sections.

10. Brew again for a longer steep. Repeat 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 adding to my notes for each of those sections.

11. Brew again for a longer steep. Repeat notes. Continue until you feel you know the tea well or the tea runs feels too weak, noting the number of brews you can get out of the leaves. Try a steep that is very long to see if the tea is forgiving. Don't forget to note how the tea makes you feel (relaxed, calm, excited, etc.) or other things such as mouth feel. The more time you spend pondering tea, the more you learn.

We have found this experience to leave us feeling as if we have had a mental break from our regular brain thoughts.

Helpful Tea Videos

Tea 101 - is a video I made in 2018 when I was first getting into learning about tea. It is also on YouTube, but the text is on the tea 1010 website page.

My tea project and the book I use - I am on a mission to try every tea in this book! (The New Tea Companion: A Guide to Teas Throughout the World by Jane Pettigrew and Bruce Richardson) That is how I am learning about tea. When my tea stash gets dangerously low, I choose my next teas from the book and find a store to purchase them from. My other videos in the tea playlist share where I have purchased each tea in the tasting notes.

How to Brew in a Gaiwan & Why - a video from my son & you! - Just a basic education video on how I hold it and why I use it.

Sharing my bad Gaiwan! Why to Spend Money on a Good Gaiwan - It's worth the money to buy a good one, although they are expensive.

Also, here is a basic guide for the tea to water ratios when using a gaiwan vs. the "western style" as they call it:

Green & Yellow Tea - 3-3.5 grams per 100 ml | 4.5-5.25 grams per 150 ml

White - 3.5-4 grams per 100 ml | 5.25-6 grams per 150 ml

Black - 4-4.5 grams per 100 ml | 6-6.75 grams per 150 ml

Oolong - 4.5-5 grams per 100 ml | 6.75-7.5 grams per 150 ml

Ball Oolong - 6-6.5 grams per 100 ml | 9-9.75 grams per 150 ml

Puerh - 5 grams per 100 ml | 7.5 grams per 150 ml

Sharing my tea supplies - I have a lot of things in my kitchen for tea! I was so surprised! But I share some other implements I use for traveling and camping and storing tea, as well as my bottles for cold brewing.

PLACES TO ORDER TEA ONLINE

There are SO many places to order tea online! Here are some places I have ordered tea from, or plan to order tea. I live in Missouri in the United States, but do order some from out of country as well. I am including notes on the store location. For those outside of the U.S. I am including shipping experience. Unless otherwise mentioned, I was well pleased with the service and the teas.

BROAD SELECTION

Camellia Sinesis (Canada, shipping was quick and reasonable, highly recommended)

Charleston Tea Garden (South Carolina grown and sold)

Golden Moon (Virginia)

David's Tea (Canada, will never buy from them again; took 2 weeks to process order, and 4 weeks to get order and not wow'd)

Elmwood Inn (Danville, Kentucky) (Bruce Richardson's store, one of the writers of the book I use)

Oliver Pluff (South Carolina)

Oregon Tea & Coffee (Oregon) (I was not wow'd by this tea and will probably not purchase again)

Master's Tea by Adagio (New Jersey)

TeaLula (Park Ridge, Illinois)

TeaGschwendner (Chicago)

Tea Source (Minneapolis, Minnesota, highly recommended)

The Republic of Tea (California) (I started my tea journey trying every tea they sold because it was the only quality loose leaf tea I could find at a local store, but now have moved to trying other companies)

The Tea Smith (Omaha, Nebraska)

Todd & Holland (Forest Park, Illinois)

AMERICAN GROWN TEA

Great Mississippi Tea Company (Mississippi)

CHINESE ARTESAN

Red Blossom Tea Company (San Francisco, California)

Seven Cups (Arizona)

Yunnan Sourcing US | Yunnan Sourcing China (I inadvertently ordered from the China website and it did take a while to arrive, but it was reasonable compared to other places I have ordered from in China. It does take longer than from Canada.)

JAPANESE ARTESAN

Den's Tea (California)

NEPAL ARTESAN

Nepal Tea (purchased at festival and was impressed)

 

PLACES THAT I WANT TO TRY YET (Alphabetical list)

Aiya (Torrance, California) (Japanese artisan and matcha)

Atlantic Spice Company (N. Truro, Maine) (individual ingredients)

Breakaway Matcha (San Anselmo, California) (All matcha)

Crimson Lotus (Seattle, Washington) (Pu'er Artisan)

Good Life Tea (Canandaigua, New York)

Hatvala Tea (Saigon) (Vietnamese Artisan)

Liliku Tea (Japan)

Mad Hat Tea Company (Tacoma, Washington)

Mizuba Tea (Portland, Oregon) (All matcha)

Mountain Tea (Buena Park, California) (Oolong Artisan)

Ohio Tea Company (Canton, Ohio)

Renegade Tea Farmers (Georgia, the country)

The Jasmine Pearl (Portland, Oregon)

Trail Lodge Tea (St. Louis, Missouri)

Silk Roads Tea (California)

Sugimoto (Seattle, Washington) (Japanese Artisan)

Teasenz (China) (China Artisan)

Taiwan Sourcing (Taiwan)

TeaVivre (China, now has US warehouse choices)

The Tea Crane (Kyoto, Japan) (Japanese Artisan)

The Tea House (Naperville, Illinois)

Verdant Tea (Minneapolis, MN) (Tea Club)

What-cha (UK, maybe?)

White2Tea (Beijing, China) (China and Pu'er Artisan)

Whispering Pines Tea (U.S. where?)

Young Mountain (Eugene, Oregon) (India Artisan)

 

Minto Island (Grown in Oregon)

Camillia Forest Nursery (Buy a tea plant) Tea Flower Gardens

Pearl River Tea (Grown in Mississippi)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright Cheryl Rutledge-Brennecke
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