Your day in tea

Andrew S
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Mon Sep 27, 2021 7:37 pm

After waking up with some strong yancha, I'm spending the rest of another lazy locked-down day by calming back down with some old liu bao, using up the bottom of the jar before trying to figure out what to fill this jar up with now that it's sadly empty.

I'm abusing Bok's lovely hongni pot with this dark old tea, trying to see what this pot might pair best with, and how it changes the way that this tea presents compared to my usual, and bigger, qing shui ni pot.

The more I play with different teapots, the more it becomes apparent that generalisations in the world of Yixing have significant limitations, and that makes it difficult to dive into this complex world over the internet.

But it's fun to keep learning.

Andrew
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Bok
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Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:03 pm

Andrew S wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 7:37 pm
The more I play with different teapots, the more it becomes apparent that generalisations in the world of Yixing have significant limitations, and that makes it difficult to dive into this complex world over the internet.
It is indeed. The most true and also probably most hated reply to many Yixing questions is usually: it depends :lol:
Andrew S wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 7:37 pm
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I find it fascinating how a pot I know intimately is expressing itself in a unknown way, it' s looking lovely under your lense!
Ethan Kurland
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Mon Sep 27, 2021 9:41 pm

Andrew, I commiserate although I don't own any yixing pots right now. Even with a simpler Taiwanese pot that is not glazed inside, I need to remember to increase steeping times before concluding how it works with a tea. Since my other teaware is glazed inside, it does not smooth out flavors. The Taiwanese pot might keep a heavily roasted tea from being harsh but dull it too much unless I steep a little longer.

With yixing I imagine not only comparing pots but then comparing them after parameters are adjusted. Have fun!
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wave_code
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Wed Sep 29, 2021 3:39 am

@Andrew S nice to know someone else out there is also experimenting with liu bao in different clays. Just as maddeningly inconsistent and flexible as yixing itself can be, I think liu bao can be too. While a very forgiving and flexible tea, I think often it has more to give than it gets credit for but that each tea can require something radically different to bring that out- some I've had that were very disappointing gong fu style were delicious and totally different doing big pot brewing, some seemed to show no significant difference while others tasted very different depending on the pot, some seem very particular about the hardness of the water while for others it makes almost no difference in the overall profile. I guess a lot of that comes from the range too of processing/fermentation styles, leaf size, storage...

Today will probably involve some unorthodox experimentation of my own here trying to decide what to use this vintage chaozhou pot for... The pour on this one isn't exactly fast with the tiny single rough spout hole - so no good for something fast and picky like sheng. I drink oolong so seldom, though maybe that would change. My original intention was liu an to see if it brings out more of the fragrance so maybe I'll see how that goes. Maybe could work well for lighter fermented shu too.
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GaoShan
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Sat Oct 02, 2021 11:28 am

I'm drinking Ethan's Shanlinxi oolong from my new 150 ml Zhuni-Hongni blend pot from Bok. I'm being very careful to prevent it from cracking like my late lamented Taiwanese wood-fired pot, filling it half full of lukewarm water and then completely full of boiling water and letting it stand for five minutes. I'm also trying to keep it from cooling down between steeps, which means I've consumed more than a litre of fairly potent tea in less than an hour. :O My gongfu sessions typically last several hours as I drink tea while working, but I see this isn't a possibility with this pot.

As for the tea, it's full of lovely gardenia and orchid florals with very few vegetal notes. I don't notice much variation between steeps, though the earlier ones are sweeter.

Edited to add that drinking 7 g of oolong in around two hours was hard on my system, and I felt a bit woozy for a while afterwards. I typically drink 10-12 g of tea over the course of the day. However, my method ensured that my pot survived the session intact.

How cool do you let your clay pots get between steeps, and is there any way to warm them up again? I have no desire to crack my nice new teapot, but don't see myself drinking tea so fast and in such high concentrations every day.
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LeoFox
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Sun Oct 03, 2021 6:49 am

I had a very strange tea experience last night, while drinking a young sheng: 2019 man zhuang - I think a sample from YS. Brewed it quite light at 3g/85 mL- flash infusions.

The tea seemed very gentle - almost no bitterness or astringency. The early infusions were sweet and floral and "soft". As the infusions progressed, the tea became deeply floral and aromatic; I felt more and more light headed and dizzy. Then, just as the intensity increased slightly, the aromatic profile shifted just a little bit and -

I suddenly had the impression I was in a funeral parlor filled with flowers for the dead. Before me was the body, surrounded by the flowers - and I realized the flowers were not only meant to honor but to deodorize that smell of putretrification - that sickly sweet odor enrobed in wilting flowers and bathed in preservatives.

Oddly enough, after some time, it felt like I was that body.
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Baisao
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Sun Oct 03, 2021 1:36 pm

@LeoFox - I think this is a typical reaction to YS teas.
Ethan Kurland
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Sun Oct 03, 2021 2:01 pm

LeoFox wrote:
Sun Oct 03, 2021 6:49 am
...

Oddly enough, after some time, it felt like I was that body.
Leo, Post something. Let us know that you are alive.
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klepto
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Sun Oct 03, 2021 4:13 pm

Ethan Kurland wrote:
Sun Oct 03, 2021 2:01 pm
LeoFox wrote:
Sun Oct 03, 2021 6:49 am
...

Oddly enough, after some time, it felt like I was that body.
Leo, Post something. Let us know that you are alive.
:shock:
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LeoFox
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Sun Oct 03, 2021 4:21 pm

Ethan Kurland wrote:
Sun Oct 03, 2021 2:01 pm
LeoFox wrote:
Sun Oct 03, 2021 6:49 am
...

Oddly enough, after some time, it felt like I was that body.
Leo, Post something. Let us know that you are alive.
👌
Must have been a bad trip.

Feeling better after feeding these pots
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Baisao
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Sun Oct 03, 2021 5:45 pm

I am genuinely surprised that more people don’t post or comment on “qi poisoning”, for lack of a better phrase. I’ve had teas that positively wrecked me, making me feel I’ll for days.

This isn’t always about whether the tea is organic or not. Some teas have phyto chemicals that don’t work with our body chemistry and make us feel badly. Some of these teas can leave us feeling poisoned.

I wonder if most people are oblivious to how tea makes them feel. I’ve read reviews and testimonials about teas that have been problematic and it’s all sunshine and lollipops.

I haven’t had alcohol, nicotine, etc. in 20 years. I meditate frequently. Maybe that is why?
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mbanu
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Sun Oct 03, 2021 6:29 pm

Not sure if this should go in the vendor promo instead, but I ended up buying a few teas from Yee On several months ago due to their reputation for good traditionally-stored pu'er, but then didn't drink any pu'er! I found that their shoumei blend was really pleasant, as was their "nice liu'an". I've been telling myself I should wait until I've finished up the Nor Sun before breaking up the "Taste of Hong Kong" pu'er, but I'll probably buy from them again just based on the strength of their non-pu'er blends. I just leave the tea in a gaiwan, though -- I hear that people who gongfu everything don't feel the same way about their teas.
Andrew S
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Sun Oct 03, 2021 6:44 pm

@Baisao: I also wonder about the extent to which different people 'feel' teas. I've heard that teas can have more obvious effects on people who are vegetarians, or who avoid spicy or heavy foods, and perhaps your meditation might make you more sensitive to such things as well.

Perhaps the spiritual connotation of the concept of a tea's 'qi' (which is actively emphasised by some) dissuades people from mentioning it, which is unfortunate, but I've fed old tea to people who don't drink such things and who don't meditate, and saw that they were strongly affected by the calming sensations that such tea can provide, so I don't think that people need to train themselves in any way to notice how a tea makes them feel.

@LeoFox: I recall a cooked puer early on in my tea adventures that I blame for making me wake up in the middle of the night, convinced that I was going to be killed by a village of peasants in ancient times who were dissatisfied with my tetsubin-making skills for some reason... But I'm glad to see that you've been saved by some lovely pots.

Some old liu bao yesterday and some old puer today, on the other hand, have given me nothing but relaxation.

Andrew
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Baisao
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Sun Oct 03, 2021 8:06 pm

@Andrew S - I tend to agree with you. I’ve noticed it among various people but they are generally young (12-18) and/or vegetarian. There are some outliers, of course.

FWIW, I think that chaqi (at least in this context) is an entirely chemical phenomenon and more than water intoxication. I have to believe there are more compounds than caffeine, l-theanine, and polyphenols at play. And those compounds create complex reactions when interacting with the various compounds in our bodies.
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Balthazar
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Mon Oct 04, 2021 4:48 am

Baisao wrote:
Sun Oct 03, 2021 5:45 pm
I wonder if most people are oblivious to how tea makes them feel. I’ve read reviews and testimonials about teas that have been problematic and it’s all sunshine and lollipops.

I haven’t had alcohol, nicotine, etc. in 20 years. I meditate frequently. Maybe that is why?
I think this is a big factor. Leading a similar lifestyle has led me to notice more of these previously hidden negative effects of some teas. I think cutting out coffee made the single biggest difference for me. The jitteriness, stomach issues and sometimes slight nausea that came along with heavy coffee consumption masked whatever negative effects tea could have on me.
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