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@Balthazar Wow, is that pot in bottom right the Duanni you got from me? I can’t believe how seasoned it’s become! looks like you’ve gotten some good use out if it

A high of 14 degrees counts as 'freezing' for Sydney, so it's a hongcha day for me down here.

Andrew

ferg wrote: ↑

Sat May 06, 2023 6:21 pm

Balthazar Wow, is that pot in bottom right the Duanni you got from me? I can’t believe how seasoned it’s become! looks like you’ve gotten some good use out if it

That would indeed have been a shocker .

But no, yours is the one in the foreground here

Drinking some Simpson & Vail's "Fancy Darjeeling", a blend that was worked up (as far as I can tell) to taste like old-style Darjeeling. Not bad, although I don't have any old-style Darjeeling to compare it to.

It took me a little while to understand Simpson & Vail as most of their teas I have tried have been a little flat. (I would never recommend any tea meant for milk from them, for instance, or any green teas.) I've noticed however that they are very good at coaxing their teas into that "winey" flavor-window well-stored older black teas can get before they fade away. Maybe winey-lovers are their target tea-drinkers?

Since they rarely sell teas by date, they can be a little inconsistent flavor-wise, though. A fresh batch of their Morgan's Blend Earl Grey Lapsang Souchong is strong enough to be kind of unpleasant, for example. I had another batch recently where the smoke and bergamot flavors had faded away so thoroughly I would have been surprised if you'd told me that the tea contained either, yet it somehow hadn't reached the "tastes like the packaging" phase of flatness.

I'm guessing there must be something about the storage... On the other hand, I've also had a few that tasted suspiciously like they'd been stored too closely to flavored tea, without being able to pinpoint a particular flavor-taint. This may be a side-effect of the vintage-American-teashop smell that seems to get into all of their packaging, (sort of a Constant Comment undernote, maybe, not quite sure how to describe it) or maybe just surprise old-tea notes caused by the same procedure that makes so many of their teas winey.

Revisiting an old friend, my trusty 60s Biandeng. Still performing reliably with any tea I have thrown at it over the years, weathered skin and the humble calmness of experience… happy Sunday everyone.

Bok wrote: ↑

Sat May 27, 2023 10:35 pm

Revisiting an old friend, my trusty 60s Biandeng. Still performing reliably with any tea I have thrown at it over the years, weathered skin and the humble calmness of experience… happy Sunday everyone.

I've had similar thoughts about mine - always reliable, never fussy, and probably a pot that I will never give away or sell, since it was one of my first old pots (and since it always gives me nice results).

Anyway, happy Sunday likewise. Today has involved some green tea for me, which is rare, but I'm happy to make exceptions when there's wild bushes, a fresh mouthfeel, and a cool lingering aftertaste involved.

I think that good tea is the best way to break down tea prejudices (and I've got plenty of tea prejudices to break, but I will admit that young raw puer will almost certainly be the last one that I'll even try to break...).

Andrew

I feel like maybe my unglazed teapot needs a tea-bath to clean up from all the tea-baths. The lid is now a distinctly different color than the body, and the bottom half is darker than the top half, only with more of a high-water-mark-from-the-flood effect than a cool fade, I'm guessing because I never brushed the pot -- I am neither a painter nor a calligrapher, so had no brushes handy. Does a good job with oolongs that need it, though, in my opinion, and it's always nice to have the right tool available.

I suppose related to this, my guess several months ago that the Pek Sin Choon "Unknown Fragrance" tea needed some time to start going flat before it would brew up well in that pot in the package size they wrap their portions in turned out to be exactly right. It is still serving its original purpose of being the "I feel like an oolong... Oh, but I haven't got any oolong-" backup tea, as I keep forgetting I have it until just that scenario arises.

Starting off with morning sencha in the Touju houhin....such a pleasant way to start the day with something that offers so much tactile and visual pleasure in use.....while performing beautifully. More Wind sencha from Obubu.

And now it’s the most difficult moments of the tea day: disciplining myself to NOT rip open all of the packages of light post to Long’s. I just received from Floating Leaves. I still have a little bit left of another batch from a previous order, and I need to finish that one first before I can dig in to something new. I think it will take a little bit of Ancient Heights from Wistaria to quiet that urge to rip ‘em all on a tasting frenzy….

Edited to correct spellcheck error from ‘tonight’ to ‘to NOT’!

Reviewing old prejudices… trying Dongding in an old Jozan pot - it’s very good! I had only used it with greener teas before, but it turns out it makes a lovely cup of roasted. Nice.

Today I had some 2022 Da Yu Ling in my new Chaozhou pot from Ferg. I bought this pot for Dancong, but wanted to try some Gaoshan in it first to see how it would perform. (All of my pots become Gaoshan pots at some point. )

Based on only one session, the pot increases the body a bit while muting the aroma slightly, though I didn't notice too much difference. I think my Zhuni-Hongni pot from Bok is a better fit.

GaoShan wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 8:34 pm

Today I had some 2022 Da Yu Ling in my new Chaozhou pot from Ferg. I bought this pot for Dancong, but wanted to try some Gaoshan in it first to see how it would perform. (All of my pots become Gaoshan pots at some point. )

Based on only one session, the pot increases the body a bit while muting the aroma slightly, though I didn't notice too much difference. I think my Zhuni-Hongni pot from Bok is a better fit.

Seems that you are testing your memory > you are testing the pots ! When was the last time that you drank that DYL in the pot from Bok? Anyway it is fun to play. Enjoy!

Ethan Kurland wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 11:12 pm

GaoShan wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 8:34 pm

Today I had some 2022 Da Yu Ling in my new Chaozhou pot from Ferg. I bought this pot for Dancong, but wanted to try some Gaoshan in it first to see how it would perform. (All of my pots become Gaoshan pots at some point. )

Based on only one session, the pot increases the body a bit while muting the aroma slightly, though I didn't notice too much difference. I think my Zhuni-Hongni pot from Bok is a better fit.

Seems that you are testing your memory > you are testing the pots ! When was the last time that you drank that DYL in the pot from Bok? Anyway it is fun to play. Enjoy!

I actually had it in the Zhuni-Hongni pot yesterday, but of course, there were other factors involved. Bok's pot is 150 ml, while this one is 80 ml, and I used 6 and 4.5 g, respectively, so today's session was heavier. It's always hard to tell what the clay is contributing to differences like these, but you're right, it's fun to play!

Hello. I found forgotten Gyokuro Okumidori Haruto 2022 (fortunately vacuum packed).

Still smooth and sweet gyo

It’s still spring here in NJ, USA, and I’m enjoying my favorite new harvest Chinese greens. I try to open only one bag at a time because I believe that they’re best if drunk soon after opening. Today I’m enjoying TPHK (tai ping houkui from Seven Cups). I have this pot that I bought back when Tead Off was selling Seong-Il tea ware on Teachat. He called it a gaiwan, which seems weird to me, but by any name it’s the perfect pot for TPHK.