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I appreciate that tea is drunk in the "west" and its drinkers view themselves as having preferences. But tea as drunk in Japan and China is so rare in my neck of the (western) woods, I'd like a penny for every blank stare and befuddled question I get when drinking tea in an "asian" way. Many don't k...

. Similarly, homo sapiens and neandethal interbred and some of the offspring are still in politics to this day. Thanks for that. :lol: Bravo! I swear, for life's truely perplexing questions, teaforum.org should be everyone's resource of first resort. How else to cut through self-immolating mental c...

Love the fascination provided by these multiple perspectives. I identify with some and am interested in those I don't. The wealth of options to explore is exciting. But in the dialogue, whenever generalizations about "western" and "eastern" tea preferences are made, a couple things give pause. The f...

Wow, great tip! Not just tea related, but no less than woodworking hand tool guru himself, Christopher Schwarz (https://blog.lostartpress.com/2019/12/31/why-we-are-hermits/), has written an entire book about the very techniques seen in this video (https://lostartpress.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/rom...

I can't imagine sitting down and drinking from a 50-70ml cup. I'd be finished within 20 seconds. But if you are just after the flavor, and tasting the tea, I suppose I can see that. Still, it seems like a lot of leaves being used for such a small cup of tea. Variety of tea finds analogy in the rang...

I have owned two, both of which unfortunately broke due operator error. I have tried to wean myself off unglazed purple banko clay for fear of possible heavy handed effects on flavor. But every time, side by side tests have resulted in either neutral or positive results. So much so that if my brewin...

Great question. Having to brew tea wherever you find yourself rather than in you own kitchen is a big challenge. I see the virtue of an electric kettle with preset temperature settings. But not having one, I have relied on small, light, portable thermoses for preheated water. But even with that prob...

Bentz98125, You wrote: "So here it is: "spiritual" is any human endeavor that can sustain pleasure for people without harming themselves, others, or life on the planet. Easy in theory, not so in practice." That seems to be so earth bound that I don't see any spirit in your definition. Oddly, the mo...

In terms of Eastern philosophies, I suppose you can find making tea, etc. spiritual, as Chan Buddhist used to say that you could find enlightenment from even the most mundane tasks such as sweeping the floor everyday. Moreover, ritual could also be used to find the "way" in different philosophies s...

I too need to try red clay. I know a lot of people like the effect on flavor of Banko clay. I have read Banko clay reduces astringency. "Mellowing" or "muddying" the overall flavor are both words I've seen used to describe it. There are two senchas I drink that I distinctly prefer Banko clay for, wh...

I'm all for simplicity. In fact if I'm not mistaken there is at least one eastern philosophy that elevates it into a sublime, meditative, spiritual practice. Not that Japan is all of asia, but it is they themselves who refer to the preparation of matcha as a ceremony. And on the subject of mainland ...

Hate to over analize an interesting question but defining the word "spiritual" is as slippery as the imagination is infinite. Tea preparation inevitably contains ritualistic elements but ritual without theology or philosophy, usually doesn't qualify as "spiritual". Coffee barista routines have ritua...

Random thoughts on the subject. As I'm sure you see by now, the eternal quest for the perfect nectar can easily devolve into a deluge of variables and measurements. But the broader brewing trade offs are quite simple. For example, intensity of first steep draws from number and intensity of subsequen...

Of couse! Easier transport of black tea should have been obvious. England is only on the other side of the world from most tea production! Thanks for the Tillerman tip.

And thanks for cucumber toast. Never heard of such a thing, but lo and behold: apparently there are all kinds of variations of it! Sometimes the internet makes my day.