Introduce Yourself

caj
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2022 6:23 pm
Location: OC, So Cal

Mon Oct 31, 2022 7:17 pm

Hi!

I am considering returning to tea after about a 10-year hiatus.

During the first 2k decade I was looking for a mild, early afternoon break, to part from work stress. Western style brewing at the office with a water kettle and my mug with infuser basket - minimal work and fuss - was perfect. Most of my favorite teas at the time were white, green, and herbal, with occasional drift to blacks from India (all purchased through one of the earlier online big vendors that has a musical name, I still have all the tins they used to ship in).

Then coffee invaded, took over for several years (easily went off the deep end), but I quit that in 2018 with one helluvan awful caffeine withdrawal, and recently have found myself missing that midday break from years past. A bit of research revealed there was more to tea than soft notes and now I'm eager to learn more, but will have some reservations to overcome first, hence why I'm here :)

Wish I could find a shop locally here in Orange County southern California where I could sit down and let me dip my toes before full committment, I think I found a place in San Diego that I might try visiting soon.

For now I'm just enjoying an occasional chamomile or other herbal until I figure things out. Thanks for reading, see you all in the forums soon :)
tea-licious
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2022 6:07 am
Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands

Tue Nov 01, 2022 6:14 am

Hi everyone!

How long have you been drinking tea?
about 20 years

What kind of tea do you drink?
black teas mostly, but starting to discover all sorts now.

How do you prepare your tea?
reading this question makes me aware im a newbie. What are the possible ways? :)

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
everything!

What factors do you think brought you to delve into the world of tea?
as a hobby I make websites, and my latest gain is on tea kettles. I discovered this tea community and am really interested to learn more about the ritual of tea making and all that comes with it.

What is your location?
Rotterdam, Netherlands
polezaivsani
Posts: 191
Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2019 4:43 pm
Location: Kaliningrad, RU

Wed Nov 02, 2022 8:36 am

Welcome @tea-licious and @caj!
Now with both @faj and his brother (unlikely) @caj finally here, can we get this party rolling, steeping, brewing and all the other ways of having fun? :).

@caj, you probably know it, but I'd advise still that the tea (inc. teaware) has plenty potential for abuse, be wary. Might not cause as much twitching and you'd certainly would want to curb it around the wares sections, but overdoing it can easily spoil the fun bits.
caj
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2022 6:23 pm
Location: OC, So Cal

Wed Nov 02, 2022 10:53 am

polezaivsani wrote:
Wed Nov 02, 2022 8:36 am
caj, you probably know it, but I'd advise still that the tea (inc. teaware) has plenty potential for abuse, be wary. Might not cause as much twitching and you'd certainly would want to curb it around the wares sections, but overdoing it can easily spoil the fun bits.
Thank you for the warning! I did get a little sticker shock when I saw tiny little clay teapots selling for $200-300+, but I think coffee has taught me how to curb these things :)
@polezaivsaniI'm surprised "caj" wasn't taken heehee. To non-european speakers, "caj" is actually supposed to be čaj (if it doesn't show up properly, the c has , a little v over it, a caron), and pronounced like chai. I've seen a couple czechs here, I'm slovak decendent so hello! :)
nightowl
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 6:44 pm
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Wed Nov 02, 2022 3:43 pm

Victoria wrote:
Sun Oct 30, 2022 3:15 pm
Welcome to TeaForum mnplesu. and nightowl 🍃

Thank you! :)
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debunix
Posts: 1811
Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2017 1:27 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Wed Nov 02, 2022 7:56 pm

caj wrote:
Wed Nov 02, 2022 10:53 am
tiny little clay teapots selling for $200-300+
Keep your eyes open, and you’ll see plenty of lovely, delicious tea being brewed in vessels that cost 1/10th of that or 1/100th if that…

[no joke, I just paid $1.99 for a perfectly functional gaiwan in a Chinatown brick and mortar store two months ago]
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Patjulian80
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2022 4:38 am
Location: Switzerland
Contact:

Sun Nov 13, 2022 4:46 am

Hi teaheads

I thought I'd introduce myself as I'm new to the group...

I've been drinking tea since boyhood. Back then it was only black tea with milk—or masala chai, as I was born and raised in Kenya. I started learning more about tea when I moved to Switzerland to work in hospitality—mostly Indian teas such as Assam and Darjeeling. Part of my apprenticeship focused on tea and tea production. But my curiosity didn't stop there and my tea chest is now filled with teas such as puer, gyokuro, matcha, and dian hong. I still love drinking milk teas but I make them differently now (accept for Kenyan-style masala chai)—I find that dian hong with milk is excellent—it's strong, malty taste marries well with milk. I also like Tibetan butter tea (made with Zang Cha).

I have a keen interest in fermented/post-fermented and pickled teas as I really enjoy the different tastes and properties. I'm also very health conscious and like to explore their health benefits. This has inevitably led me to doing some research on caffeine/theine as I think it's quite a significant area—especially as I've noticed some health issues. After one day reading a blog post warning about the dangers of caffeine, I decided to do some research as I wanted to be able to consume my tea while mitigating any negative effects of caffeine. I made a few interesting discoveries and have decided to publish a short e-book on the subject. I suppose this was bound to happen as I'm an English teacher and a writer...

At the end of the day, tea has an important place in my life — it's an extension of my well-being and it complements my daily practices such as meditation, yoga and the Wim Hof Method.
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Victoria
Admin
Posts: 3041
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2017 3:33 pm
Location: Santa Monica, CA
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Sun Nov 13, 2022 1:51 pm

Welcome to TeaForum @Patjulian80. Nice to have a Swiss member 🍃
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Bok
Vendor
Posts: 5779
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:55 am
Location: Taiwan

Sun Nov 13, 2022 6:11 pm

Patjulian80 wrote:
Sun Nov 13, 2022 4:46 am
Switzerland to work in hospitality—mostly Indian teas such as Assam and Darjeeling. Part of my apprenticeship focused on tea and tea production.
Welcome!

Looks like you might bring an interesting background in regards to tea to the table, looking forward to read your contributions!
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TracieJoy
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2022 2:39 pm

Mon Nov 14, 2022 3:04 pm

Hello, I'm a newbie here. Just starting drinking tea for my health. I love fruit & berry teas so far! Thanks for having me! 😁
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Patjulian80
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2022 4:38 am
Location: Switzerland
Contact:

Wed Nov 16, 2022 3:40 am

Thanks, @Bok — I look forward to some interesting discussions...
tolean
Posts: 82
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:13 am

Wed Nov 16, 2022 4:48 pm

TracieJoy wrote:
Mon Nov 14, 2022 3:04 pm
Hello, I'm a newbie here. Just starting drinking tea for my health. I love fruit & berry teas so far! Thanks for having me! 😁
Welcome!!
KrazyAssKatzen
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 12:08 am
Location: Portland, Oregon

Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:37 pm

Hello, my real name is Rollin and I live in Portland, Oregon. We have some good tea available here, mainly at Fly Awake and Enthea, the latter of which is owned by the guy that really helped me dive deeply into tea and with whom I traveled to China in 2019 on a tea exploration adventure.

I've known about various kinds of Chinese tea for many, many years but didn't really get seriously into learning about it until early 2019, and then as I mentioned I went to Yunnan, Sichaun, and Guangxi, as mentioned. Had amazing adventures there and bought a lot of tea and a fair amount of teaware, without really knowing much about what to choose. I've collected quite a bit more tea since then, mostly online, but have realized that it's such a gamble buying anything without being able to either taste it (tea) or inspect it (teaware), so I've slowed down on the buying quite a bit. Also having room to store and manage has some impact.

I went to Japan at the end of 2019 and did get a chance to go to a tea shop in Kyoto and buy some green tea. It was an edifying experience, being able to compare and contrast the two different tea varieties and cultures. I like Japanese tea as well but don't drink it anywhere near as often as Chinese tea varieties.

I tend to gravitate toward shengs (young and well-aged, when I can get that), but I love all kinds and have some good examples of all the major styles (never enough though ;)). I'm currently trying to expand my oolong selection, as that's the aged tea that I have the least of. The money aspect is definitely a limiter on what I can get, particularly with puerh, but fortunately I've managed to get some good stuff anyway. I'm now finding the same is true with teapots...

I got a few teapots in Chengdu at the tea market there, and while they're all modern and possibly of dubious origin, I've have made good use of them and not found them to exhibit any indicators of being low quality. I also have one that was handmade in Xishuangbanna (Jinghong) from a person whose shop we visited and I got to meet and one that I bought online that appears to be a 90's shui ping in a grayish-green clay that was clearly handmade (and not well). I'm currently delving deep into learning about clay and other aspects of pots to get a better understanding of what to look for when hunting for vintage ones before I buy more pots. At this time that's more of a priority than obtaining more tea, but I won't pass up an opportunity for another investment in leaf if a good one shows up. I expect eventually I'll have a combination of pots that I like and that cover the bases for the different types of tea I have, after which I will focus on just adding more tea rather than collecting pots.

Recently I've started traveling to Vancouver, B.C. and patronizing a shop there called The Chinese Tea Shop. The owner Daniel is friendly and knowledgeable and has a good selection of teas and teaware at reasonable prices. That's made it easier to acquire some new things without the gambling aspect that online purchases seem to be.

So that's a little about me and where I come from. I go through phases with how involved I am with my tea interest. Right now it's more of a fall/winter thing because I'm home more often than in the warmer months.
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Bok
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Posts: 5779
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:55 am
Location: Taiwan

Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:54 pm

Welcome! If haven't lurked here before, you'll find plenty of info to browse through on your quest.
KrazyAssKatzen wrote:
Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:37 pm
90's shui ping in a grayish-green clay that was clearly handmade (and not well).
More likely half-handmade, as was usually for the period.

Seeing stuff in person is invaluable. But still thread carefully, lots of shops are full of the same fakes you also see online ;)
KrazyAssKatzen
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 12:08 am
Location: Portland, Oregon

Thu Nov 17, 2022 11:17 pm

Bok wrote:
Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:54 pm
KrazyAssKatzen wrote:
Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:37 pm
90's shui ping in a grayish-green clay that was clearly handmade (and not well).
More likely half-handmade, as was usually for the period.

Seeing stuff in person is invaluable. But still thread carefully, lots of shops are full of the same fakes you also see online ;)
Nice to meet you!

Makes sense about it being half-handmade. I bet you are correct on that. I'm currently wading through the entire "show off your teapots" thread and someone mentioned a pot warping during firing. The green one's spout is angled in relation to the body, rather than in-line with it and the handle, which makes me think something similar happened to it.
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