Tea time!

Today's tea was Masu wild style black tea. 

Per Jade's notes, this is a Wuyi black tea harvested from wild tea trees (instead of cultivated tea plants). Since the suggested brewing temperature was 175 F (about 20 degrees cooler than the oolongs from previous days), and there was only enough for steeping in a single pot, I brewed in the glazed pot and served in one of my thicker walled tea bowls (courtesy of Mercy) to conserve the warmth of the tea.

This one smelled lovely out of the bag, but didn't taste like much. Good black tea color, improved slightly on the second steep, but didn't leave much impression by the third and longest steep. Not one I'd bother to try to hunt down again, even though I'm mildly curious as to whether it would be better in an unglazed clay pot. 

I've also found a Youtube channel hosted by a guy from a tea place in London, called Mei Leaf. This one shows how you can get into basic gongfu brewing without fancy tea utensils. It made me feel immediately better about that first brew in a Pyrex measuring cup. https://youtu.be/rPJtA1PQkPU

It made up for the exhaustive analysis of which unglazed teapots work best with which teas. I may revisit this in the event I decide I want a Chinese clay pot.