So I now have my new variable temperature kettle from Bosch to play with. (I finally found the one I wanted through an Italian vendor, so I didn’t have to produce any sort of documents at all to resolve the hostage situation that generally ensues when I receive a suspicious package from a foreign country.)
The Palais des Thés teas are among the greens I’ve been particularly curious about reevaluating. I’m very much against oversteeping greens, so I generally go for 1.5 minutes and boiling, or near-boiling water, as per the usual Lupicia instructions; I’ve found it works well for most flavoured greens, but some of the more delicate ones do deserve a somewhat lighter touch.
This is not one that really benefits from a longer steep at a lower temperature, however; the base still comes off fairly average, the vanilla still doesn’t pop. And still the utter weirdness of a melty caramel nose that’s entirely elusive in the cup.
Maybe if I very surreptitiously drop some kind of toffee bon-bon in and let it dissolve? Or is that cheating?
70 C, 3 min