Introduce Yourself

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Victoria
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Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2017 3:33 pm
Location: Santa Monica, CA
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Sat Mar 07, 2020 12:01 am

What an exciting new group of international members, so glad to have you join our community. Welcome to TeaForum; Pietre @Tea Adventures in Belgium, Smote @teabooksart in North Carolina, David @Simniak in Czech Republic, @elysium in Sweden, @dyungim in USA, @LRLSurplus in Miami, @marciano999 in Dominican Republic.
McScooter
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2020 7:44 am
Location: NYC/NJ, USA

Mon Mar 09, 2020 8:11 am

Hey everyone, excited to become a member of the community and to learn from you all.

How long have you been drinking tea?
I live in the U.S., but my parents hail from central Europe. Accordingly, I grew up drinking black tea nearly every day in a European style (sugar + lemon). In the past 7-8 years, I developed a huge interest in coffee and whiskey, and that translated to tea within the past year or so as I've explored different types and brewing methods. Began with typical Japanese green teas before discovering the world of puerh and whole leaf oolongs.

What kind of tea do you drink?
A little bit of everything across the board, but most recently have been exploring the world of sheng puerh and oolongs.

How do you prepare your tea?
Typically gongfu style with a ~60ml gaiwan. I usually have solo sessions a couple of times a day (one of the benefits to working from home).

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
I'd like to explore sheng puerh and wuyi oolongs further, and also delve into the world of teapots and yixing teaware. Would probably like to build a collection across all three of those categories in the immediate future.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
Primarily a nice daily complement to the geeky world of whiskey and wine. It's easy to become interested in exploring the depth and breadth of a beverage category such as wine or scotch, but the positive benefits on health and well-being aren't there. Tea is an awesome healthy complement that incorporates elements of those two categories (aging, flavor profiles, terroir in wine, etc etc) and can be enjoyed multiple times daily. It's really just an awesome every day hobby. It can also be very meditative which is also great.

What is your location?
New Jersey, USA
hayseed
New user
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 11:22 am
Location: Vancouver, Canada

Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:59 pm

I think it all began when I decided to give up coffee.

I thought back to a tea sampler I had tried years ago, the memory wrapped in the warm and nutty dimensions of genmaicha. The name was all I knew, so I ordered it in bulk, organic. I read more, learned more, heard more: of gyokuro, kukicha, premium sencha; of Tokoname, Hagi, Banko, Bizen.

I ordered some organic gyokuro from Japan. I ordered a Tokoname shiboridashi. Despite reading of "nori" and "seaweed" and "umami", I was surprised and thrilled by the intensity of the oceany flavour of the gyokuro. I don't eat animal products anymore, but I grew up in a maritime province where seafood was celebrated. The similarity of flavour between brothy gyokuro and shrimp or lobster tail was not lost on me. The pleasure of experiencing such flavours again without the use of animals was joyous. It still is.

Now I am tasting sencha, building a list of favorites for daily use, and discovering a new interest in herbal teas (for evenings) that goes beyond my longstanding affinity for ginger, peppermint, and chamomile.

I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I'm happy to be here; happy to have found this place. I just wanted to say hello.
Last edited by hayseed on Thu Mar 12, 2020 5:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Victoria
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Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2017 3:33 pm
Location: Santa Monica, CA
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Thu Mar 12, 2020 4:53 pm

Welcome to TeaForum @hayseed and @McScooter. Nice to have you join us here 🍃.
Mark62
New user
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2020 12:49 pm

Fri Mar 13, 2020 1:01 pm

I have just started drinking green tea, so I'm here to learn from the members. I'm broke down 62 years old man. I don't get around well but I try to stay busy. Not much to tell.
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pedant
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Posts: 1516
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 4:35 am
Location: Chicago
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Fri Mar 13, 2020 4:37 pm

right on, welcome @Mark62!
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mrmopu
Posts: 269
Joined: Wed Dec 06, 2017 5:48 am
Location: Blacksburg Va.
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Sat Mar 14, 2020 9:05 pm

Mark, Hayseed and McScooter , nice to see you found this forum. I am pretty good on puerh if you delve into that mysterious tea.. :)
Sleeping
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 12:58 pm
Location: Bay Area, California

Sun Mar 29, 2020 1:20 pm

How long have you been drinking tea?

I taught English in Beijing for six months around seven years ago. One of my students bought me a tea set that included a pu'er brick. I don't think I actually tried the tea until several months later... but that was the beginning.

What kind of tea do you drink?

Mostly green. I'm extremely ignorant when it comes to kinds of tea, but there are times when I prefer a Chinese and other times when I prefer a Japanese. I'm very interested in exploration and learning about all kinds of tea, but as a daily beverage, I drink green tea.

How do you prepare your tea?

Trying to get better at this. I just purchased a candy thermometer so I can measure the water temp. I have a Japanese tea set, though not sure if the material is ceramic or porcelain (or something else).

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?

I would like to be able to associate the different kinds of tea with their taste, as well as get a sense of what makes one tea higher quality than another. I would also like to better understand the correlation between cost and value.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?

I very much enjoy the feeling that arises upon drinking that third, fourth, fifth cup of tea, but I'm also becoming more and more interested in the ceremonial aspect. I've started a tea journal to keep track of my methods, thoughts, and impressions and to more clearly frame the experience.

What is your location?

I'm in the Bay Area, California.
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pedant
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Location: Chicago
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Sun Mar 29, 2020 2:00 pm

welcome, @Sleeping!
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Victoria
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Location: Santa Monica, CA
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Sun Mar 29, 2020 2:22 pm

Welcome to TeaForum @Sleeping, looking forward to your sharing your steeping journey 🍃
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James Edward
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Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:13 pm
Location: Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
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Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:37 pm

Hello everyone,

My name is James. I'm quite thrilled to have found this website.
I am living in Shizuoka of Japan, tea central of the country.
I'd like to go ahead and answer the sample questions as they are:

--How long have you been drinking tea?
Since my teenage years. Never huge into tea as a youngster although I thought green tea was very zen and interesting. Until I came to Japan, which is how I discovered the allure of green tea and love for it.

--What kind of tea do you drink?
I drink a kind that is prevalent in western Shizuoka prefecture called Fukamushisencha. I drink this everyday at work and weekends

--How do you prepare your tea?
I prepare my tea with a traditional Japanese teapot called a Kyusu in Japanese. I enjoy this very much ever Sat and Sun morning
Even with the same leaf you brew different ways- I find that to be fun!

--What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
I am currently studying for a test called the Japanese Tea Instructor test--quite a difficult qualification to attain even among Japanese people but I am going for it.

--What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
Honestly, I'm in my 6th year now in Japan, and as of the past year I am have entered a major tea company and have found a love for tea at the same time.

--What is your location?
Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

Thank you!
James
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Victoria
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Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2017 3:33 pm
Location: Santa Monica, CA
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Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:47 pm

Welcome to TeaForum @James Edward. Nice to have a member join us who is knowledgable about Japanese tea and living in Japan. You might enjoy reviewing an experiment @faj is currently engaged in.
Fisheyes
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 30, 2020 6:51 am
Location: Berlin

Mon Mar 30, 2020 7:17 am

During a lengthy stay in China 25 years ago I became hooked on gongfucha. As a good friend from Taiwan taught me, me first steps were mainly Ali Shan, Li Shan and Dongding gaoshan oolongs. That`s why I´m not only looking for the (after)taste of the infusion but also the smell from the aroma cup is one of the things I enjoy in good tea.

I also got addicted to good yixing ware, I love best some simple classic forms like e.g. the shuiping pot. So seals and marks as well as clay qualities, workmanship and firing are topics I always want to learn more about.

A few years back I started with wuyi oolongs, but due to lack of personal connections to Anhui it is a try and error-approach...
I also like some japanese green tees and other teas, but I run best on good oolong ;)

All in all I´m a pretty normal gongfucha tea drinker, based near Berlin.
I´m looking forward to meet you online and exchange ideas and information!
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James Edward
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Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:13 pm
Location: Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
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Tue Mar 31, 2020 3:13 am

Victoria wrote:
Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:47 pm
Welcome to TeaForum James Edward. Nice to have a member join us who is knowledgable about Japanese tea and living in Japan. You might enjoy reviewing an experiment faj is currently engaged in.
Thank you for letting me know!
jaredell
New user
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2020 5:44 pm
Location: Seattle

Sat Apr 04, 2020 9:04 pm

How long have you been drinking tea?
It probably started with the sun tea that my mom made growing up (Lipton tea bags in a large glass jug left out in the sun). In the early 2000's I dabbled in rooibos, sencha and matcha. I then switched completely to coffee. About two years ago I started drinking tea again, more seriously this time. I really wanted to stop drinking coffee, but needed something to replace it. I found that matcha provided that same strong morning pick me up but without the acidity and with a more regulated caffeine effect.

What kind of tea do you drink?
The only tea I drink every day is matcha, and it's always with breakfast. I've tried lots of other types of tea to drink throughout the day. I've settled on a handful of types that I tend to stick to like aged white, some raw puerh, some Japanese/Chinese black, sencha, gyokuro, GABA oolong. I also really enjoy some tisanes, especially in the afternoon to limit caffeine, such as ironwort, rooibos and sobacha.

How do you prepare your tea?
My matcha preparation is kind of a frankenstein approach. I make a single batch for my wife and I each morning. I measure out 7 g and sift into a chawan. Then I add enough cold water so that when I whisk with a standard chasen none of the matcha clings to the chasen. I don't want to waste any matcha particles. I whisk well to get a nice froth. I then pour into two glasses, scrape everything out with a spatula and add more cold water to taste, depending on how strong I want it that day. Looks like a green beer! I probably use about 12-16 oz water for the 7 g of matcha. I have found that I prefer the added smoothness of cold matcha.

For other teas I use a small (100 mL-ish) kyusu that I picked up at Thes du Japon in Yanaka, Japan. I love using well-crafted kyusu with built-in clay filters, not stainless.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
I guess I mostly want to hear about other people's experiences and recommendations because I know there's a lot more out there than what I've come across and experienced so far. I also want to explore tea shops (online and physical) that don't necessarily cater to Western customers because I feel there's a huge world out there that those who aren't literate in Chinese, Japanese, etc aren't aware of or can't navigate. My wife is Japanese so she helps me research Japanese sites.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
As mentioned above, initially as an alternative to coffee, but once I started I got more and more interested in the wide world of tea and the amazing variety there is.

What is your location?
In the Seattle area.
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