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Thanks for sharing. Interesting teas, and great photos. Love the underground and the amazing mosaic murals, and your 'scale model' is adorable.

Drinking some tasty Tongmu Black tea from Oldwaystea.

Every so often you have to forget you’ve become somewhat of a tea snob and go back to your cheap tea bag roots...

Large English Breakfast Tea, cream and one sugar care of Tim Hortons.

CWarren wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 05, 2018 12:58 pm

Every so often you have to forget you’ve become somewhat of a tea snob and go back to your cheap tea bag roots...

Large English Breakfast Tea, cream and one sugar care of Tim Hortons.

A26E45A8-1C44-4613-90D3-0AF223DE1BC6.jpeg

I hear you, repost of a /r/tea_irl
Although, today I'm having some Tongmu Masu zheng shan xiao zhong. It is quite nice, but starting to show it's age. I've had it two or three years now.

CWarren wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 05, 2018 12:58 pm

Every so often you have to forget you’ve become somewhat of a tea snob and go back to your cheap tea bag roots...
Large English Breakfast Tea, cream and one sugar care of Tim Hortons.
A26E45A8-1C44-4613-90D3-0AF223DE1BC6.jpeg

Oh wow stunning arrangement, so cool. This would make a great poster.

Enjoying a Black LiShan gifted to me by a tea buddy who just came back from Taiwan. High oxidation, twisted strip style leaves. Lots of sweet rock fruit and floral notes. Aroma is like a sweet ripe fruit. Nice sweet aftertaste too.

Keeping warm with some Assam 2nd flush from Yatra on this snowy day. Drinking more black tea in this weather.

Enjoying a Black LiShan .... from Taiwan. High oxidation, twisted strip style leaves. Lots of sweet rock fruit and floral notes. Aroma is like a sweet ripe fruit. Nice sweet aftertaste too.
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Victoria, That's a much more concise & accurate description than I have written though I drink this black tea daily. I have a few; &, your description covers all of them. Some are "better" than others (reflected in price) but all present what you describe.

Morning Hong Cha Taiwan Wild 'Shan Cha' from What-Cha
Yummy blackberry jam and slight malt notes.

_Soggy_ wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 09, 2018 8:56 am

Keeping warm with some Assam 2nd flush from Yatra on this snowy day. Drinking more black tea in this weather.

Oh awesome! Halmari or Khongea? Hope you're liking whatever you're drinking!

Finishing High Mountain Black Tea from TShop. I love TShop, it is my favorite tea shop in NYC but their teas are never 10/10's.
I liked drinking this initially but the flavors quickly became translucent and uninteresting by the 10th or 15th time making the tea because it didn't have multiple dimensions to it.

It's a good feeling to finally finish a tea you don't love, but then I realized I still have quite a few of those kinds of teas left.

Shine Magical wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 13, 2018 9:04 am

Finishing High Mountain Black Tea from TShop.
I liked drinking this initially but the flavors quickly became translucent and uninteresting by the 10th or 15th time making the tea because it didn't have multiple dimensions to it.

I may not understand what you mean by "translucent" but think I comprehend in general. I do think many of us find that we may like a tea w/o multiple dimensions until we drink it many times (especially if those sessions are not spread out). Sometimes a change in routine as simple as what time of day I drink a tea may revive enjoyment. Sometimes changing preparation allows me to appreciate a characteristic that was unnoticed previously.

For about 7 months now, I have enjoyed roasted oolong less & less. I had enjoyed roasted oolongs > black tea that I had believed less dimensional. Lately the black teas present much more dynamic flavors while roasted oolongs taste mostly (or on bad days, only) of the roasting. (This is true even as my supply of roasted oolongs have "rested" which many experienced tea people think tones down the power of roasting in a positive way.

YatraTeaCo wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 12, 2018 5:25 pm

_Soggy_ wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 09, 2018 8:56 am

Keeping warm with some Assam 2nd flush from Yatra on this snowy day. Drinking more black tea in this weather.

Oh awesome! Halmari or Khongea? Hope you're liking whatever you're drinking!

The Khongea. I do thank you. It has good flavor: slightly savory and malty with some dark fruit notes but without the sweetness.

_Soggy_ wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 14, 2018 8:54 am

YatraTeaCo wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 12, 2018 5:25 pm

_Soggy_ wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 09, 2018 8:56 am

Keeping warm with some Assam 2nd flush from Yatra on this snowy day. Drinking more black tea in this weather.

Oh awesome! Halmari or Khongea? Hope you're liking whatever you're drinking!

The Khongea. I do thank you. It has good flavor: slightly savory and malty with some dark fruit notes but without the sweetness.

Very nice, thanks for your selection! I was a bit skeptical at first about an August harvested Assam. I’ve tasted a few subpar ones. But this one stood out and has good value for the price. Glad you are enjoying it!

Malawi convention CTC plantation tea--I still prefer whole leaf tea, but this stuff is nice when I just want a quick and dirty caffeine hit at the office, and it's not nearly as bitter/bland as most bagged CTC teas I've encountered. Plus a friend of a friend sent it at great expense straight from Malawi, so I appreciate that as well. (As a side note, African honey? Is da bomb! It's too bad Malawi isn't set up to export theirs.)

So got me this tea while on holiday in Kyûshû: organic black tea from a farm outside of Fukuoka.

Packaging is pretty nice, which would normally make me suspicious, but in Japan people take pride in what they do no matter what and most things just look nicer than elsewhere, especially the packaging.

Tea is still disappointing... I didn’t expect much and I have yet to find nicer black teas than those from Taiwan. And that by a far stretch!

It wasn’t a bad tea, just one that leaves you a bit empty, like a tea session wasted. Some hints of nice aromas, but too delicate to give much reaction. Not acidic or bitter, but just not much else either.

Having a three stamp from Tealife now, to recover from the emptiness - I know not really a fair comparison, but then life’s too short for bad tea.