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@debunix by strip oolong I mean unrolled oolongs such as baozhong and yancha. One exception to this is dan cong...this kind of tea works best gongfu.

I grandpa steep all the time, especially when I'm brewing tea on the go to take with me work in the morning. I find strip oolongs - in particular baozhong - and black tea seem best suited to this style. Some green tea like anji bai cha and long jing work although most become bitter or taste stewed.

faj Like you, I also have a few years of experience with loose leaf teas under my belt and I generally know what I like. For me, variety in tea is not so much about trying out new stuff but experiencing different terroirs from specific tea growing regions that I’m already familiar with. For example...

The unpredictability of harvests is why I buy gaoshan in sampler sizes (10g-25g). If the sample pleases you, do you rush to order a significant quantity of that tea? 10 - 25 grams is just a tease. Depends on what you mean by significant. Sure I may reorder a tea that I like but usually not more tha...

The unpredictability of harvests is why I buy gaoshan in sampler sizes (10g-25g). There's nothing worse than being stuck with a massive quantity of lousy tea. I just got my TTC order in last week. So far I've tried the winter Baozhong which was excellent and Shibi high mountain which was good though...

Earlier in the day I had Kirishima Saemidori Sencha from Thes Du Japon. A serviceable green but not as good as the ones I've had from O-Cha and Yuuki-Cha. This one wasn't packed oxygen-free and I could sense that the top notes were muted. Call me fussy, but I'm a stickler for nitrogen flushed/oxygen...

Winter Wenshan Bao Zhong from Taiwan Tea Crafts. Super floral and delicious. Competition grade Bao Zhong wasn't available this year, possibly due to the adverse weather conditions in Taiwan. But the winter harvest of this tea is quite stellar in its own right.

If the teapot ever gets tainted, soaking it overnight in baking soda and lukewarm water should help clean it. Don't be shy to use boiling water, lukewarm water is not enough. For a real re-set you might consider using sodium percarbonate instead and slow-boiling it for a couple of hours. But - slow...

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Cleaning the kyusu after each use with boiling water is a good idea. It seems brewing different green teas in the kyusu will have minimal affect on the taste. However I do like to be able to taste the individual nuances of every tea so for that reason, I'll continue...

Oops, I linked a picture in my post but it didn't show up for some reason. Below are a couple of IG pics. It's a ~150ml pot with a sasame filter. The black clay doesn't seem too porous. Same tea brewed in a glazed teapot is similar. The main difference is the clay seems to remove the sulfuric/bitter...

I have a small Gisui clay teapot that I've been using exclusively for sencha for the past year or so. I also drink kamairicha and Chinese greens but brew them in a different vessel. Would it be a good idea for me to brew all of my greens in the kyusu or would the taste get muddled from the clay abso...

I think you should be able to do this through any vendor who has a large Japanese green tea selection. Thes Du Japon is one store where you can browse teas based on different attributes and possibly find teas for comparison. Yuuki-Cha, Yunomi, and O-Cha are two others you could check out.

Miyazaki Minekaori Kamairicha from Yuuki-Cha. It's super fruity and sweet. Although sencha is my favorite green tea, I enjoyed the kamairicha more than all of the various senchas I had this year. IMO, it combines the best characteristics of both Japanese and Chinese greens. A shame how an extraordin...

Alishan Red Oolong from Mountain Stream Teas. It's closer to a black tea than an oolong but softer than a black and has a lovely floral rose flavor.

I don't think umami has ever been a dominant component in the matcha I've tasted. Chlorophyll and cruciferous vegetables are the flavor notes that I usually get