Introduce Yourself

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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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Thu Oct 24, 2019 4:13 am

welcome, @lucylove. yes, chai is very special. i like it, too.

hey, @MichaelT. nice to have you onboard. i drink mate sometimes but don't know too much about it.

welcome, @twt_reddit! enjoy the journey. i hope you find this site helpful. :mrgreen:

@powersnacks, i am enjoying your cooking topic. looking forward to updates. you've inspired me! i hope to start experimenting as well.
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Inner Prop
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2019 3:13 pm
Location: Chicago

Fri Oct 25, 2019 6:21 pm

Hello everyone. My user name is the closest thing I've ever had to a nickname. It refers to a position I often play in Rugby (prop forward) and the idea that I can call upon my inner prop whenever I put in maximum effort. It's like an inner child only more violent.

How long have you been drinking tea?
This strikes me as a strange question. It's kind of like asking how long have I been eating ice cream or how long have I been drinking milk. It just seems funny.

I remember my Polish grandmother would give us hot Lipton's tea with lemon. I hated it, but that was because I don't like lemon in my tea. I know I must have drunk Lipton's as a kid at home with honey on my own. We weren't allowed to drink soda and my parents only drank instant coffee so it was too terrible to drink that.

As kids we drank water, milk, or koolaid. We never had iced tea (I grew up in Chicago (not big ice tea country like the US South) and my Dad hated it (there is a story there I may share later))

My wife loves coffee and it was from her that I learned that what I didn't like about coffee was instant. I like fresh ground quality coffee with sweetener and cream.

I don't know when I learned about loose leaf tea and there was something different than Lipton's. I do remember taking my daughters to our local tea shop (sadly shuttered now) and picking out tea.

When I was deployed to Afghanistan I had tea with the locals sometimes. It was okay. I remember getting a care package that included a box of Earl Gray and just the smell made my blood pressure go down. Also in Afghanistan, I had my first chai latte and I loved it.

Now I'm trying to drink less coffee and I decided it was time to explore the health benefits of tea and tisanes.

What kind of tea do you drink?
I know I'm like Diane from Cheers if I say Earl Gray, but I do really like it. I also like chai latte. We have chamomile at home, but I don't drink that much because it's a bit too light for me. We also have a thing we call Greek Tea. I don't know what it is exactly but my mother in law gives us some every now and then in a Tupperware.

How do you prepare your tea?
Mostly with bags now for convenience. One bag earl gray, honey and boiling water. Steep and add some milk sometimes.

For chai latte, honey, two bags of tea and half a cup milk into the microwave to warm while the other half cup of water boils.

I try to drink it at work, but I haven't settled on a way I like.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Tisanes and other "healthy" tea. I'm also thinking it might be fun to experiment mixing my own tisane. I want to try a subscription to figure out which other black (or green or white or oolong) tea I might like so I can order loose leaf online.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
Health and I kind of want it to be "my thing." I've dabbled in cigars, wine and tequila. I realized tea is probably the healthiest of these things so I should double down on this.

What is your location?
Far northern suburb of Chicago called Mundelein. I've lived here since 1992 with my wife and eventually three daughters and a dog.

I'm retired from the Illinois Army National Guard. I'm a volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America. I play Rugby and I enjoy writing fiction.
Last edited by Victoria on Fri Oct 25, 2019 6:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Mod edit: corrected bold highlights
plate_element
New user
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2019 6:35 pm

Fri Oct 25, 2019 6:44 pm

How long have you been drinking tea?
I believe around 4-5 years now.

What kind of tea do you drink?

My favorites tend to be puerh and Japanese greens. YQH Qizhong and O-cha's Tsurujirushi are probably about the best I've had.

How do you prepare your tea?

For Chinese tea, generic 60mL Gaiwan from Yunnan Sourcing usually. I have a small kyusu from Gyokko (around 180mL) that I use for most Japanese greens. I don't have a purpose-built vessel for gyokuro, but my kyusu's small enough it seems to work well, usually. I'm not much for fancy teaware, but I do always use a thermometer (RT600C) and gram scale.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?

Wider sampling of Japanese greens, especially from new vendors. Possibly more aged puerh if cost isn't prohibitive -- I guess I'm also open to good dancong and wuyi oolong, as well as Korean green tea.
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pedant
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Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 4:35 am
Location: Chicago
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Fri Oct 25, 2019 7:19 pm

hey, @Inner Prop! nice to see another chicago guy. :mrgreen:

@plate_element, you've been in the chat since like day 1, but i never noticed you didn't have an account on the forum :lol:
mycoleptodiscus
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Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Nov 01, 2019 3:02 pm

Fri Nov 01, 2019 3:19 pm

I have been drinking tea since college; about 20 years. In the beginning I drank Darjeeling, because I didn't like coffee and needed some hot caffeinated beverage for the cold Minnesota winters. About 10 years ago I started going to China and the tea word opened up for me. I use a squat Kyusu for green and yellow, Shi Piao for Oolong and a cheap glazed kyusu for Pu Erh. I'm learning more about matcha right now. I get tea regularly from China as I have friends who are always traveling back and forth from there to the US.
Slurp
Posts: 35
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:20 pm

Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:37 pm

Hello World :)

How long have you been drinking tea?
Longer than I can remember, which doesn't say much, really.

What kind of tea do you drink?
Mostly Japanese.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Teas from the world outside Japan, particularly China & Taiwan. And how Lipton manages to get that great taste year after year. OK, kidding on that last bit.
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pedant
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Location: Chicago
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Mon Nov 11, 2019 2:33 pm

welcome! :mrgreen:
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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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Sat Nov 16, 2019 11:39 pm

Hello Teaforum members, my name is James.

I live in Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan and my job is working in Japanese tea.

I am currently studying about tea on the job as well as a personal goal. In Japanese there is a qualification called the Japanese Tea Instructor 日本茶インストラクター which includes a pretty tricky test but I am enjoying my studies.

My favorite tea is the Fukamushi Sencha (deep steamed) type for all of the health constituents contained in it and the mellow yet sweet flavor. I have a tea pot I use everyday to prepare fukamushi tea but of course I like just about all teas.

In Shizuoka Pref I live in Kakegawa City. I'd like to share my experiences here as well of anything I go out and do related to tea.

Thank you!
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pedant
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Location: Chicago
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Sun Nov 17, 2019 7:28 pm

hi, @JamesEdward! welcome to the forum!

if you ever feel like writing about your experience with preparing for the qualification, i for one would eagerly read it. sounds interesting.
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Victoria
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Location: Santa Monica, CA
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Sun Nov 17, 2019 7:57 pm

Welcome to TeaForum @Inner Prop, @plate_element, @mycoleptodiscus, @Slurp, and @JamesEdward :) Nice to see you here.
chamomilegardener
New user
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2019 8:23 pm
Location: Miami

Mon Nov 18, 2019 8:39 pm

Hi my name is Robert S.

On the subject of which kind of tea I drink,
I drink mostly chamomile tea, though I also keep green and black tea in supply.

I've recently decided to start growing my own chamomile tea from two tea bags, and so I was hoping to ask some of the knowledgeable people here some questions.

I live in Miami, Florida, and I am currently a student studying computer science. I work part time as a teaching assistant for pre-calculus at a local university.

I hope to eventually start a tea garden where I will grow the traditional teas(black, green, oolong) and herbal teas.

Im glad to be here.
thommes
Posts: 170
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2019 12:11 pm
Location: Central Ohio

Wed Nov 20, 2019 12:19 pm

Hi. My name is Thommes and I'm a tea drinker.

How long have you been drinking tea?
Longer than I can remember. A long long time.

What kind of tea do you drink?
Mostly black, but also green, white, yellow, and will likely only drink Pu-er eventually.

How do you prepare your tea?
Unsophisticatedly

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
pu-erh, pu-er, pu'er however you want to spell it, and I'd like to get a nice chinese tea pot

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
Cause it's kewl.

What is your location?
Central Ohio
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Victoria
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Wed Nov 20, 2019 4:03 pm

Welcome to TeaForum @chamomilegardener and @thommes. Starting your own tea garden sounds exciting :) and lots of pu’erh drinkers and Chinese teaware collector members here 🍃
rdl
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2018 3:43 am

Sun Nov 24, 2019 10:32 am

My grandmother drank tea Eastern European style. My parents, American tea. Tea was cultural. Many years ago there was a Japanese store that had a tiny cooler that contained bags imported  from Japan yearly, as the new sencha was released. Customers weren't allowed to open it, reach in, nor touch. It was for the initiated. I once dared.
Tea was for drinking, neither a quest nor meditation. Good tea was appreciated for being good, average tea appreciated with the people, the time and place. There was never any disappointment.
I never drank Gunpowder tea, although the tin is memorable to this day, because I couldn't reconcile the name with a tea, but the "Yunnan Tuocha" packages that were so easy to find were my beginner's novelty.
From black teas and Japanese green, later, oolongs too were to my liking. Then came internet commerce and the world of tea opened up like never before.
I have added nicer pu'er to my tea cabinet, and am happily preparing for my taste at the moment.
I drink tea as a beverage, and as part of my leisure time, but a greater interest may be tea ware. The visual, as well as tactical, is of sublime enjoyment.
It's safe to say that I enjoy learning from the ground up; terroir, locations, farmers, producers, the history, botony, pairings and traditions. All that derived from a leaf in hot water.
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Victoria
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Sun Nov 24, 2019 4:56 pm

@rdl you are a poet. Thanks for sharing your thoughtful intro with us 🍃
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