Ginger Tasting Notes:

I am writing this from memory, at the furthest 2 days ago. It should be rather accurate and I’ll adjust if necessary.

My first attempt at brewing the ginger tea was using the recipe 5:330 2m RB
It was alright. It was weak, it wasn’t spicy as I hoped. It had a mild spice to it, more akin to black peppercorn. It was warm and somewhat soothing.

Next I tried 7:330 2m RB
The heat was more aggressive. It didn’t really have the bite of ginger, nor any strong lingering heat, but as I took any sip there was the pain of heat. Like my tongue became sensitive to the compounds in the ginger, and subsequent sips would pass over and inflame these sensitive areas. The effect didn’t last long.

Next I casually drank 6:330 a few times with a few friends, I had it a few times just to gauge their opinions. No one was really into it. Ginger is ginger, and ginger is unappealing (so they think… for now) – anyway, I didn’t get much interesting thoughts of my own, though I wasn’t in a proper headspace to be looking.

The following day I tried 4g vs 6g side by side, both with 5 minute steeps. The logic followed what I outlined earlier, more ginger meant more irritable heat. What I was able to notice now though, is that there is a green, fennel-esque, tarragon esque, licoricey herbal note, along with notes of lemongrass that exist in ginger beyond its spice. The main difference between 4g and 6g I felt the main difference was that 4g was more generic, it almost smelled like raw potatoes. 6g had more going on, it finally had a complexity that was appealing. More importantly, most importantly? The heat of the ginger was starting to reveal itself. So it’s a matter of having enough, and steeping long enough.

The next logical step was to do a 3 pot comparison, 6g:330 RB @ 4m 7m 10m
4m is enough time to get into the cooling notes and lemongrassy fragrances. It was a mild infusion but flavorful enough to not be a waste of time.

I was concerned that a 7m or 10m steeping would end at a temperature which is too low to be enjoyable. This was fortunately not the case. It was still quite warm at the end of the steep, and that was without making any attempt to save heat such as using a cozy, a candle, bath, or even preheating the tea pot.

7m had a fuller, more direct fragrance. The lemongrassy notes were still out in full force. The heat of the ginger lingered longer. This was a fine infusion that probably deserves more praise, but it was entirely eclipsed by the 10m version.

10m was what I was hoping for from this tea. The flavor manifested like what I saw in my imagination. Admittedly I didn’t expect the lemongrass notes to be so dominant in this tea, though I guess it goes to show why the world blends lemon and ginger so frequently. The richness, the fullness, the smoothness, the irritation, the sting, the lingering heat. I timed the reverberating burn of the ginger in my throat – after finishing a small cup, 2 minutes and 49 seconds until I felt it was no longer relevant.

The next steps would certainly be to pre-heat, use a bath or cozy, to see if it can be amplified further. I think the irritation is borderline too much, for me it’s what I want, but it could be a masochistic mentality.

The best recipe until further notice is 6g:330mL, Rolling Boil, 10 minutes to steep