Your day in tea

[Andrew S]

@belewfripp: I started out by trying various different teas years ago, but I quickly came to learn that young and dry-stored pu er is poisonous to me, and I came to focus on old tea and roasted wulong (though I've always admired high mountain tea as well). I think they sit better with my constitution, and, incidentally, they're better-suited to buying in large quantities and enjoying over and over again.

So I think that after an initial period of exploration, I fell into a routine which suited brewing the same teas for long periods of time.

I don't think I've ever made conscious decisions to drink the same old pu er every day (that's just always been habitual since I started building up a little stockpile), but I have done so consciously with yancha by getting a large supply of two or three or so, and then having them as my morning tea each day for weeks.

I think it can do at least two things: it can force you to pay attention to the significance of small differences in how you brew it and learning how best to brew it (and it is very rewarding to work through a 'difficult' or 'challenging' tea and then learn how best to brew it), and conversely (but not inconsistently, I think) it can also help you to relax and avoid thinking too much about the details (by going into a routine in terms of brewing, and it becoming something natural that you don't worry about as much as when you're drinking a tiny sample that will be gone after a brew or two).

Andrew

[Andrew S]

@Victoria: I think that it's interesting that we both tend to have our daily 'routine' teas in the morning; it seems to make sense instinctively as a matter of routine and comfort.

Andrew

[faj]

For those of you who try to embrace drinking the same tea many days in a row (and not for reasons of freshness, but as a completely voluntary thing), at least some of the time, is this something that has always been your approach to drinking tea or did this come much later, after earlier periods of trying many different things over shorter periods of time?

When I started with loose leaf tea, I often ordered many different teas (mostly green or greener oolongs) and went from bag to bag over a long period of time. When I realized the teas changed a lot (and not for the better) by the time I was finishing the bags, I started changing strategy. Purchasing a few clay teapots and trying to see which pot fit best with which tea also led me toward drinking the same tea each day until done with the bag. Aged teas, or those that are not as sensitive to the passage of time, help bring a bit of variety.

I have written this a few times : I hope with time I identify teas I like enough that I can drink them all the time without getting bored. Hopefully I evolve toward purchasing fewer new teas, improving what I call the "average enjoyment" by dedicating a higher proportion of my sessions to teas I truly appreciate.

[Victoria]

Victoria: I think that it's interesting that we both tend to have our daily 'routine' teas in the morning; it seems to make sense instinctively as a matter of routine and comfort.

Andrew

Yes, we have that in common. The idea of being disappointed in a new tea, or having to tweak how it should be steeped, right after I wake up is something I try and avoid

[Ackernym]

Victoria: I think that it's interesting that we both tend to have our daily 'routine' teas in the morning; it seems to make sense instinctively as a matter of routine and comfort.

Andrew

You know, it's rather interesting because I do something similar as well. I don't have specific teas that a drink daily beyond whatever I hsve currently in stock, I always drink my tea around the exact same time daily. I usually use the time where the water is boiling and the first couple infusions to review my japanese flashcards, or really whatever I'm studying at the moment. I think for me the tea session kind of acts like a comfort mechanism that prepares me for the rest of the day.

[debunix]

I love variety in my tea, but in the morning I want consistency and a small hit of caffeine, easy brewing when I’m not 100% alert, and , until recent sad events, to enjoy a certain Petr-Yaki to start my day. So Japanese sencha or gyokuro (only one or another open at a time, but Obubu has been sending smaller packets of my sencha so more opportunities out to mix it up. And sometimes it’s just matcha that calls to me.

It’s after waking with greens that I mix it up.

[bentz98125]

Guess I'm not alone because sencha is my first steep of the day too. If subsequent events go well, it's due to the positive inertia inducing power of sencha fueled umami. If they don't, well, it had nothing to do with the tea!

[GaoShan]

I tend to drink black tea in the morning, either a Darjeeling or a full gongfu session of a Chinese or Taiwanese tea, and then a green oolong in the afternoon. However, two gongfu sessions in a day is a lot of caffeine, so sometimes a session will go over into the next morning.

Also, what do you guys drink during a heatwave? Cold steeping always seems like a waste of leaf to me, but hot tea is sometimes just too hot.

[debunix]

In hot weather, when I want the tea to be physically cooler, I prep it for cool drinking plain or with carbonation (link to sparkling tea topic).

When I want cool but not chilled/sparkling, I usually do pretty much the same thing: hit some leaf with a bit of hot water, in a gaiwan or a water bottle, let it sit a few minutes, then transfer to bottle (if started in gaiwan, poured through a funnel into the bottle), fill with cool water, wait a while, and drink.

I find light roast oolongs most consistently pleasing this way, but sometimes enjoy greens, fruitier darker oolongs (balhyocha!), and occasionally shu puerh cool-brewed.

[GaoShan]

In hot weather, when I want the tea to be physically cooler, I prep it for cool drinking plain or with carbonation (link to sparkling tea topic).

When I want cool but not chilled/sparkling, I usually do pretty much the same thing: hit some leaf with a bit of hot water, in a gaiwan or a water bottle, let it sit a few minutes, then transfer to bottle (if started in gaiwan, poured through a funnel into the bottle), fill with cool water, wait a while, and drink.

I find light roast oolongs most consistently pleasing this way, but sometimes enjoy greens, fruitier darker oolongs (balhyocha!), and occasionally shu puerh cool-brewed.

Thanks for your suggestion. This sounds like a good way of using up older teas. How many grams would you use for a one-litre pitcher?

[debunix]

You’ll need to do the math yourself for how you like your tea. For example, for a tea where you like 5 grams in a 150 ml pot, and you do five infusions before the liquor gets too boring, you’re flavoring 5 infusions x150 ml/infusion=750 ml total from that five grams.

1 liter =1000 ml
So for 1000 ml you might start with
1000 ml /750 ml x 5 gram
1.33 x 5 gm = 6.7 grams

I’d use your hot-infused numbers as a starting point, do the math, and go up or down from there guided by your preferences.

[GaoShan]

You’ll need to do the math yourself for how you like your tea. For example, for a tea where you like 5 grams in a 150 ml pot, and you do five infusions before the liquor gets too boring, you’re flavoring 5 infusions x150 ml/infusion=750 ml total from that five grams.

1 liter =1000 ml
So for 1000 ml you might start with
1000 ml /750 ml x 5 gram
1.33 x 5 gm = 6.7 grams

I’d use your hot-infused numbers as a starting point, do the math, and go up or down from there guided by your preferences.

Thanks! This is a great starting point. I'll try 6 g per litre since I tend to steep my leaves many times.

[Victoria]

A few of us had a tasting yesterday that went on for +7 hours. Was so special to be able to share tea again and have friends over after more than a year. We went from fresh shincha to increasingly darker aged teas. Some of my tasting notes are pretty thin, enjoying the moment more;

• Shincha from O-Cha, lightly steamed Tsuyu Hikari Sencha from Shizuoka, savory umami rich, more like Gyokuro

• Hojo’s Wuyi Yancha Ban Tian Yao, is fresh clear fruity floral, more like a DanCong

• Red Alishan from Norbu, medium high oxidation with complex spicy, fruity, sweet notes, a brandy oolong

• 2005 CNNP Yunnan Green Label, notes of pencil shavings in first few steeps, steeps forever

• 2006 Xi Zi Hao, Huang Shan Lin Youle, woody flowery aroma, complex, somewhat bitter and fruity

• 2000 CNNP Bulang from Varat Phong, deep balanced leather, medicinal, oak, wood, camphor notes

• Early 80s DongDing backroom from Wistaria, rich, complex, spicy, silky smooth and aromatic, empty cup is thick.

2005 CNNP Yunnan Green Label, Chi Tse Beeng Cha

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[debunix]

that last Dong Ding was so fine that I found myself putting some mints I was grabbing back in their tin as I was driving home, because I got a pleasing moment of aftertaste, and decided the mints could wait. Mmm.

[LeoFox]

@debunix, when you get a chance, please post about that hawaiian tea


Woke up at 5:30 AM this morning and decided to bowl brew the bottom bit of this amazing bao zhong
viewtopic.php?p=36491#p36491

Used a spoon that has traveled with me all my life - one of the few surviving items that accompanied me from China to the US in the late 80s. Nothing fancy of course, but does carry some sentimental value.

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