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Re: Aroma vs body vs balance vs cha qi

Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 7:13 am
by faj
oeroe wrote:
Sat May 01, 2021 6:39 am
I haven't really had teas which would make me say "The Qi here is fantastic, but the body is a bit lacking" or "this has such a nice body, but it's imbalanced".
To me, the balance between body and aroma is a bit like the balance between wealth and strength. If a person is poor, is that person better off being weak too to avoid being out of balance? X and Y can both be things you pay attention to, without "the balance between X and Y" being a relevant concept to the experience.

What is a balanced tea? Should the balance concept even be approached as some kind of "ratio" between two or more specific aspects? That is not how I experience it. To me, balance is not in the identification of components and subsequent weighing of each against the others to determine their right proportions, a kind of "reasoning from the inputs" kind of thing. To me, balance is about experiencing the whole, and figuring out if it is (subjectively) integrated and in harmony, or if on the opposite that whole tends to break down into nothing more than the sum of its components.

Re: Aroma vs body vs balance vs cha qi

Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 8:19 am
by LeoFox
As I drink more tea, I am actually brewing less leaf per volume for shorter periods of time. This seems to be the opposite direction of most people here. It generally presents a more refreshing and minimal profile allowing me to deeply focus on a less cluttered flavorscape. This also puts a spotlight on the aftertaste which is increasingly important to me.

Of course, this approach is not good for yancha but for most other teas of good quality, it seems to work well and conducive to peaceful contemplation.

Re: Aroma vs body vs balance vs cha qi

Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 1:10 pm
by debunix
oeroe wrote:
Sat May 01, 2021 6:39 am
Often I find that many of these qualities go together
Yes. My favorites make me feel good, have great aroma, flavor, body, and after taste.

Re: Aroma vs body vs balance vs cha qi

Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 1:11 am
by Andrew S
Bok wrote:
Fri Apr 30, 2021 6:42 am
pedant wrote:
Thu Apr 29, 2021 1:28 pm
i was expecting to see some people favoring qi above all else.
I suspect those people hang out in different places - or dimensions :lol:
We're too buzzed-out on the qi to bother replying to such corporeal concerns. I've now cast my vote in favour of Team Qi, but I need reinforcements...

I do wonder if old pu er, old liu an and old liu bao tend to attract the qi-chasers among us. There are some old teas that taste quite similar to me, but which seem to affect me in different ways. I couldn't really be bothered to try to analyse their flavours, but they feel different to me when I drink them in terms of whether they tend to make me feel calm, or energetic, or contemplative, etc, and whether they feel like they want to persuade me gently to relax, or force me to relax despite my will.

So, in response to @oeroe, my experience to the contrary in the world of old pu er and friends has been that there are some teas which might have a thin flavour, or a roughness, or a lack of complexity, but which make up for it by having a calming but potent feeling to them. Guang yun gong cakes (or later, generic, guang dong cakes) might be a good example of that; they can feel nice to me if they haven't been mistreated, but I wouldn't suggest that anyone try them just for their flavour or mouthfeel.

In terms of teas more generally, I think that there is much to be said for balance over pure strength. A thick, rich yan cha can't really compete side-by-side with a delicate, fresh high mountain tea, but each of them can be unbalanced and unpleasant, or balanced perfectly. And something that I admire in teas generally is a feeling of freshness, or refreshment (not in terms of qi or such, but rather just the feeling of drinking something that might be light or heavy, simple or complex, but which makes me want to keep drinking more of it; like an energetic and vibrant high mountain tea which might not have a rich mouthfeel, or a yan cha with a freshness that cuts through the richness of a heavy roast).

Andrew

Re: Aroma vs body vs balance vs cha qi

Posted: Mon May 17, 2021 8:35 am
by LeoFox
Looks like this survey is coming along :mrgreen: