Introduce Yourself

Nongfutea
New user
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 9:50 pm

Mon Dec 11, 2017 10:47 pm

Hi All.

How long have you been drinking tea?

Since I was a little kid. We drank pots of Orange Pekoe from classic brands like Lipton, Red Rose, and Tetley every day.

What kind of tea do you drink?

Oolong, Pu'er, and black tea account for most of my tea drinking, but I also enjoy jasmine-scented greens at least a couple times a week.

How do you prepare your tea?

I have a bunch of little teapots--both clay and glazed porcelain--so that's what I use. If I'm drinking alone, I dispense with the fairness jug and pour straight into a cup that holds everything in the pot. If the whole family is drinking, it's gongfu style.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?

I suppose I'm mostly interested in exploring oolong and Pu'er regions in China, though I know little about the teas of Africa and Sri Lanka. I should probably rectify that.

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

I've been a tea drinker since I can remember. But my interest in exploring diverse regions, styles, and preparations started when I first visited China about 12 years ago. Now, I spend a few months each year in China. Many of the people I deal with when I am there are avid tea lovers and almost every meeting I have seems to take place around a tea desk.

What is your location?

I think I'm legally homeless, but I spend part of each year in China, part in USA, and part usually in Canada.
chofmann
Vendor
Posts: 195
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 4:47 pm
Location: Rhode Island, USA
Contact:

Mon Dec 11, 2017 11:27 pm

Hi all,

I'm Chris and I'm new to TeaChat / TeaForum. Looking forward to learning from and sharing with everybody here! If you have any questions for me, let me know :)

How long have you been drinking tea?
Lightly for most of my life (typically bad quality teas), but it has picked up significantly in the past couple years and especially in the past 6 months. Now I mostly drink very high quality teas, mostly green.

What kind of tea do you drink?
I'm always open to trying new teas, but my staples are Jasmine Pearl, Hou Kui, and Dongding Oolong. I prefer Chinese teas to Japanese, but occasionally have some Matcha as well.

How do you prepare your tea?
Clay teapots at home, but at work I'm lazy and just throw the leaves right in the mug and add water. #NoFilter #GrandpaStyle

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Always looking to find new, high-quality teas. My wife (and indirectly me) owns and operates a tea company that imports premium loose leaf teas from Asia and sells them in the US. We are always looking for new varieties of real tea (not cheap blends) and quality, sustainable farms from which to source them. Shameless self-promotion, her company can be found at www.leafygreentea.com

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
My wife and her family are definitely the cause of my increased interest in tea, and the aforementioned tea company is keeping me there. They are from China originally and used to bring back suitcases full of tea when they visited family still living there. That was the genesis of my wife turning her hobby into a full time job, but really... what's not to like about tea? A delicious warm beverage that is relatively easy / inexpensive to prepare that contains health benefits and a bit of caffeine to keep you going to boot!

What is your location?
USA - Rhode Island
Last edited by chofmann on Tue Dec 12, 2017 7:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
rachel
New user
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 11:27 pm
Location: U.S.

Mon Dec 11, 2017 11:42 pm

How long have you been drinking tea?
I've been drinking stuff like Lipton since I was a kid, but I didn't start exploring loose leaf teas until 2009-2010 or so.

What kind of tea do you drink?
I'm a big oolong fan. Other than that I drink a large variety of stuff, but I do prefer more earthy flavors.

How do you prepare your tea?
I use either a teapot or an infuser.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
I'd love to try more flavors. When I started I bought a bunch of samplers and then just kind of stuck with teas that I liked from that bunch.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
Just curiosity. I ended up loving it.

What is your location?
U.S.
User avatar
Killy
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:34 pm
Location: Barcelona
Contact:

Tue Dec 12, 2017 3:16 am

Hi everybody! I'm glad to join this beautiful community :D

How long have you been drinking tea?
Good tea only a couple of years ago,. Tired of drinking the same "meh" stuff, and unable to find something of good quality easy locally, I started to research and discover a new world that passionate me. After reading a lot and finding the only local store with real tea knowledge in my city, I started my tea education, that's the path that I'm walking right now.

What kind of tea do you drink?
I'm in love with puerh (sheng & shou), but followed nearly by yancha. Despite of my preferences, I'm glad to drink taiwanese high mountain oolongs, hongcha, baicha and almost every variety of good tea.

How do you prepare your tea?
Gongfu style, with my wife or solo, sharing our small yixing teapots or gaiwan

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Learn deeper about puerh and yancha, about another kind of chinese teas, know about vendor recomendations between community, about teaware... I want to learn and share! ^.^

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
Its depth, the lovely way you can learn at your own pace, how through enjoing every cup or new thing learned you can feel it improving yourself. I'm a traditional chinese martial arts practitioner (since 10 years ago) and the tea path fits very well with this knowledge.

What is your location?
I'm from Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain)
User avatar
Succetus
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2017 3:13 am
Location: Slovenia

Tue Dec 12, 2017 4:18 am

Hi everyone! I'm a guy in my 20s, working towards my degree in architecture and training to become a potter in my free time. Tea goes very well with both pursuits.

How long have you been drinking tea?
It's been around three years since I found out there are other kinds of tea besides bagged black and green. That discovery led me to trying almost every tea from a local shop and eventually branching out.

What kind of tea do you drink?
I started out with drinking a lot of greens, but these days I lean towards highly oxidated or fermented teas.

How do you prepare your tea?
If I have time to sit down with my tea, I'll use my gaiwan. Otherwise, a pinch of leaves in a mug of boiling water works just fine.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Oolongs look like an incredibly diverse family of teas which I haven't explored a lot so far.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
It was mostly curiosity at first - trying to understand what all the fuss is about. It had turned into a rewarding hobby with elements of exploration, socializing and collecting.

What is your location?
Slovenia
User avatar
Wizzx
New user
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2017 4:42 am
Location: Germany

Tue Dec 12, 2017 4:55 am

Hi TeaForum.org my name is itsfuckingteatime.de.
Some of you may know me from Reddit, Instagram, Steepster or my Blog.

How long have you been drinking tea?
My whole life :D

What kind of tea do you drink?
All kinds but mostly Pu' er

How do you prepare your tea?
Western style for classics like: Assam, Darjeeling, Ceylon etc.
All others : Gongfu

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Suprise me.

What factors do you think brought you to delve into the world of tea?
I would ... Rather three days without food than a day without tea :lol:

What is your location?
Germany

Have a cuppa

Daniel
User avatar
Brent D
Posts: 288
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 1:33 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:39 am

Ive been enjoying loose leaf tea for about 3 years, but really got into it about a year ago.

I drink any oolong. Gaoshans are my favorite. Yancha, TGY, Dong Ding and Dan Cong. Any Oolong can go in my pot. I always keep a stash of Long Jing. I drink a good amount of Sheng, and Shou from time to time.

I have 6 Yixing pots. Dedicated as: Yancha, Green oolong, roast oolong, sheng, shou, and other, and I have 2 porcelain pots. one small for gung fu and one large for my morning hydration.

Ive been studying a lot on Dan Cong lately. Taiwanese oolong is always high on my list as well as Yancha. Id like to get more into Shou.

I was huge coffee drinker. One day when I was ill, I made some of my friends gunpowder. That was the first time I had loose leaf tea. I have not had coffee since..

I live in Wisconsin, near Milwaukee. (USA)
Kashyap
New user
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 8:37 pm
Location: Ohio

Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:47 am

Tea nerd and specialist in Central Ohio, founder of Tea Around Town a charity linked, educational and tea community support page, charity athlete, with a job as the lone ranger in the 4th wave coffee movement working out of a coffee roasters as the program developer, blender, packer, ordering and inventory cat. Survivor of a cardiac death, full contact stick fighter and decorated Kali/Silat player and instructor, father of 4, and year around cyclist.

How long have you been drinking tea?
Exposed to tea my whole life but dedicated to the art, exploration, and industry for 20 years

What kind of tea do you drink?
I drink everything, though I'm a pu-erh collector, love white, oolongs, dan congs, and feel that black teas often are the most distinctive in educating people to the concept of terroir.

How do you prepare your tea?
Love to experiment with alternative brewing tools, but my go to's are gaiwan and old man style.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Always open to learn more from every direction.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
A desire to link the charitable heart of tea cultures with our modern culture, progress the human rights issues that sadly continue to dog the industry, and attempt to grow the passion to a level that matches the US devotion to coffee.

What is your location?
Ohio
User avatar
_Soggy_
Posts: 63
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:11 pm
Location: Chicago

Tue Dec 12, 2017 9:40 am

How long have you been drinking tea?

3 years? I've been drinking tea my whole life but I started drinking more regularly and better quality three years ago.

What kind of tea do you drink?

I generally drink everything, but depends on what teas I have and the weather. I generally 'drink with the seasons'. I generally have more white /green/green Oolong in the spring or summer. I drink more darker oolong/black/shu/aged sheng in the autumn or winter. I always have an abundance of sheng so I drink that regularly all year long.

How do you prepare your tea?

It depends on the tea and the weather. I will generally default to a loaded gaiwan with short steeps for most. I do a more western style generally with longjing, black, white, and sometimes aged sheng. I also drink western style more in colder weather. I'll sometimes ice tea during the summer as well.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?

I just did some blind tasting recently so I'm interested in honing my senses and exploring more variety of more teas.

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

I started drinking more tea instead of coffee in the morning. I then started exploring other teas and it snowballed from there. It is part of my routine to sit down and relax with some tasty tea.

What is your location?

Chicago
Pleasantweather
New user
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2017 9:30 am
Location: Huntington Beach, California

Tue Dec 12, 2017 10:04 am

Howdy, yall. I'm Ethan, I live in Huntington Beach, California. This is my first time being involved in a tea community, and I'm pretty interested to see what this will develop into.


How long have you been drinking tea?
I've only started drinking real tea for about a year! I was enjoying a cup of Twinings English Breakfast and decided that I'd explore the world of loose leaf tea, and got sucked in super fast. Hundreds of dollars and who knows how many cups later, here I am.

What kind of tea do you drink?
I'm partial to Kenyan white teas, and lightly roasted oolongs. Still haven't gone super deep into any specific type of tea, but I'm eager to learn. I also want to get into the worlds of Japanese and Korean green teas.

How do you prepare your tea?
I'll do an initial gongfu brew of any tea I try to check out the characteristics of it, but after I do that I usually just end up drinking it all from a teapot. From 170 F to just below 200 F degrees, depending on the tea, and ~1g of tea per 100 ml of water. I'm a huge fan of cold brew though, especially for whites, greens, and light oolongs. A Kenyan Silver Needle white tea, cold brewed and over ice is my absolute favorite drink on the planet.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Lots! I'm very interested in Japanese Tea Ceremony, and would love to explore that world. From what I understand, there are different schools which practice in different ways, and I'm very interested in discovering the nuances and intricacies of them.
I want to delve into specific kinds of tea to understand how little changes like harvesting season, terroir, cultivar, etc make a difference in the tea.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
I enjoy getting /really/ /really/ into hobbies, and tea is rewarding, intricate, and has a storied history as the worlds most popular beverage, so there is literally no way I can ever learn everything about it. I think at this point, it's more about the ceremony and sharing the culture of tea that I enjoy the most, although flavor plays no small part.

What is your location?
Lovely Huntington Beach, California, close-ish to L.A
User avatar
Kira
New user
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 9:43 pm
Location: United States

Tue Dec 12, 2017 10:08 am

Hello! Happy to be here.

How long have you been drinking tea?

Since I was very small. My mom would put Lavender tea in my bottle when I was a toddler and I'd watch The Little Mermaid.

What kind of tea do you drink?

I usually have green, peppermint, and ginger teas in my pantry but I'm up for trying anything and everything.

How do you prepare your tea?

I've always used a kettle but other options sound neat.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?

Learning the differences in teas and brewing methods.

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

Tea really helps my mood and gives me an overwhelming sensation of calmness.

What is your location?

I'm from the United States.
TheartofMat
New user
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2017 10:05 am
Location: Houston Tx

Tue Dec 12, 2017 10:32 am

How long have you been drinking tea?

I am 28 and started drinking tea more than usual around 23. At 25 I really started diving in and dedicating my time to it and haven't looked back.

What kind of tea do you drink?

When I started I really liked Taiwanese oolongs then moved to Dancong and red teas along with green varietals sprinkled in as well. Then puerh....now I'm stuck on sampling new and old sheng/shou and collecting cakes here and there.

How do you prepare your tea?

Gaiwan mostly but I have more than a few favorite pots as well. Who doesn't?

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?

Storing puerh, collecting, general tea information and just talking about tea is always welcome.

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

I wish I knew. I've always been fascinated by eastern culture/philosophy and at some point I took notice of tea. Tried it a little here and there as most do. Then one day teavana opened up in the local mall....you can see where this is going. I bought some dragon well green and some high mtn oolong then sat down with my phone and started digging. Few years later I was in California at red blossom tea company buying a yixing pot and much better tea. I love tea and all that it seems to bring that's why I stay.

What is your location?

Houston Tx.
User avatar
tealifehk
Vendor
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:58 am
Location: Hong Kong
Contact:

Tue Dec 12, 2017 10:34 am

Killy wrote:
Tue Dec 12, 2017 3:16 am
Hi everybody! I'm glad to join this beautiful community :D

How long have you been drinking tea?
Good tea only a couple of years ago,. Tired of drinking the same "meh" stuff, and unable to find something of good quality easy locally, I started to research and discover a new world that passionate me. After reading a lot and finding the only local store with real tea knowledge in my city, I started my tea education, that's the path that I'm walking right now.

What kind of tea do you drink?
I'm in love with puerh (sheng & shou), but followed nearly by yancha. Despite of my preferences, I'm glad to drink taiwanese high mountain oolongs, hongcha, baicha and almost every variety of good tea.

How do you prepare your tea?
Gongfu style, with my wife or solo, sharing our small yixing teapots or gaiwan

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Learn deeper about puerh and yancha, about another kind of chinese teas, know about vendor recomendations between community, about teaware... I want to learn and share! ^.^

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
Its depth, the lovely way you can learn at your own pace, how through enjoing every cup or new thing learned you can feel it improving yourself. I'm a traditional chinese martial arts practitioner (since 10 years ago) and the tea path fits very well with this knowledge.

What is your location?
I'm from Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain)
Benvinguda! I was just in BCN, and was there on the day when independence was declared! Which Chinese martial arts do you practice?
century
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2017 10:51 am
Location: Toronto

Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:07 am

Hey Guys !
Just registered and thought I would post a Hello !

How long have you been drinking tea?
Been drinking Yorkshire for a loooong time. But have VERY recently started being interested in Chinese tea and GongFu style brewing.
Really love the tradition and purity of the teas and look forward to trying a lot more in the future.

What kind of tea do you drink?
As a recent convert to Chinese style teas, I have some Oolongs and Pu'er coming in the mail right now.
im literally brand new to this side of the tea world.

How do you prepare your tea?
Teapot to GongFu...everything has its place.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Chinese teas ! So much variety and information to learn but its fun.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
Mei Leaf youtube videos really piqued my interest and I have dove down the rabbit hole ever since.

What is your location?
Greater Toronto Area

Emil
teabythesea
New user
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:40 pm
Location: Greater Seattle area

Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:45 am

Hi Everyone! Happy to be a part of this new(rebooted) community!

How long have you been drinking tea?
I've been drinking loose leaf tea for 10 years. I'd only tried Lipton tea bags prior to then.

What kind of tea do you drink?
I drink most teas but I'm particularly fond of oolongs and pu'erhs. I particularly like how flavors progress between infusions and how you can make such a rich, dark beverage from pu'erh.

How do you prepare your tea?
I usually keep it really simple, strainer or pot with straining basket. I use a temperature kettle so I don't burn my teas. I love gongfu style, but my desk doesn't really accommodate that setup too well at the moment.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Really anything and everything about tea. I'm grossly under educated while trying to invest into a future career in the world of tea. Everything from growing locations, processing methods, history, tasting, storing, and more - I really am just seeking out a broad education at the moment.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
Tea as an alternative to coffee, with its touted health benefits is what initially interested me. I've never been a fan of sweetness so I've always been drawn to more complex flavors (explains the Red win and IPA addictions as well...). I'm fascinated that tea is the most consumed beverage in the world, and yet America has some cultural resistance against it. I have a long term goal of opening a brick and mortar tea/food lounge with some unique features which is leading me down a more deliberate path of exploring tea. I really want to get to a point where the experience of the lounge draws people in, and the tea brings them back. It's a 10+ year goal, but I'm determined to get there!

What is your location?
Greater Seattle area.
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