Trusting Oneself & One's Tea

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Ethan Kurland
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Fri Feb 16, 2018 5:47 am

Searching for more & more pleasure by finding new teas, teaware, & water is interesting & rewarding; yet, for the last six months, I am realizing more & more that a few excellent teas; a smalll amount of teaware that provides some variety (in porosity, thickness of its walls, etc.); & good water, is enough to enjoy tea thoroughly.

When I have changed, e.g., finding roasted oolong one dimensional, my usual response would be to drop that tea from my routine, & look for a replacement. Now I look to myself to find a way to enjoy that same tea which I know is excellent, full of the potential to please. Lately, the solution for getting what I like from leaves, is the use of cooler water & very quick steeping. A bit of variety in flavor & feel comes from the difference between the porous interior of one teapot & the glazed porcelain of another.

If we know that we have what we need & that we can prepare well; then, why not use our resources fully?

I am not saying to stop trying new teas etc. Just that it should not always be the focus or first option when we get a bit bored with our tea-drinking.

Cheers
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Bok
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Fri Feb 16, 2018 7:08 am

I would partially second that.

I only rarely ever venture out of my preferred range of teas: Lishan in its greener and roasted or aged versions.

Sometimes another mountain range and rarely a black Taiwan Oolong.

Almost never I abandon Oolong in general, when trying some from The mainland. Always Oolong.

If I drink other teas it is because of a gift or opportunity presented not because of boredom. Sometimes just simple curiosity to confirm that what I currently drink really is what I like best - and is also most affordable and economical.

But I mostly stick to my guns and try to know them inside out. There is a certain deeper quality to staying with one kind or family of teas.

I go even further and mostly buy from the same supplier. To a point that I do not necessarily need to try the teas anymore. I know the quality price relation of their offer and they know what I drink, so room for disappointment is little.
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d.manuk
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Fri Feb 16, 2018 7:50 am

@Bok: Is Da Yu Ling too mainstream for you? :D
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d.manuk
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Fri Feb 16, 2018 7:53 am

When I feel bored with some teas, I take them to work where they will never be fully enjoyed anyway. That way they will still serve a purpose and make my day better.
If I get bored of a tea that I've taken to work, well... maybe it's not the best tea for me then. In that case I save it for the summer and cold brew it.
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Bok
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Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:26 am

Shine Magical wrote:
Fri Feb 16, 2018 7:50 am
@Bok: Is Da Yu Ling too mainstream for you? :D
Well, technically it is still the same mountain area, just the highest point of it.

Apart from that, most farms are shut down and destroyed now, so real DYL is rare these days. Easier and better to spend money on real Lishan than a probably fake DYL at a price too high.
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OldWaysTea
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Fri Feb 16, 2018 4:20 pm

Ethan Kurland wrote:
Fri Feb 16, 2018 5:47 am
Searching for more & more pleasure by finding new teas, teaware, & water is interesting & rewarding; yet, for the last six months, I am realizing more & more that a few excellent teas; a smalll amount of teaware that provides some variety (in porosity, thickness of its walls, etc.); & good water, is enough to enjoy tea thoroughly.

I am not saying to stop trying new teas etc. Just that it should not always be the focus or first option when we get a bit bored with our tea-drinking.
A good sentiment indeed. In all activities that are practiced it is easy to get lost and loose the beginners perspective. What was it like when you first started? I think your title has an answer. We know that the few teas we keep drinking are excellent. We have to have trust in the tea, and trust in our appreciation of it.

I must say that when I saw the title of this thread, I expected a vendor's perspective rather than the general reminder and discussion. Running a tea shop I think puts yourself deeply into the issue at hand. You must trust yourself and trust your tea. When trying tea you must have the experience to tell if it is any good, but you also must have the openness to taste it fresh and understand how others will taste it.
Noonie
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Sat Feb 17, 2018 3:00 pm

This is an interesting topic. Thanks for challenging us!

Before Christmas I decided I was going to buy a large variety of tea from a local tea shop that has an annual sale around this time. I have a yixing so decided I needed yancha, and I wanted to try white tea, and I added some Chinese greens to the order.

But all I want to drink are my two favourites: Sencha and high mountain Oolong (greener varieties).

Sometimes when you have something good, you don’t realize it.
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Bok
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Sun Feb 18, 2018 2:42 am

A crossover from what I posted in the black tea thread: got myself a black tea in Japan which left me wanting... so I guess, stay open and try things from time to time, but don’t worry about the teas you don’t know if what you have already is very enjoyable!
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leth
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Mon Feb 19, 2018 7:17 am

I drink many different kind of teas, I guess i could say that I enjoy all the categories. But I tend to prefere different kinds of tea depending on various variables in my life and surroundings.

But I think there is a contrast and a balance between appreciating the tea as it is, and trying to get as much out of it as possible.

There are sort of two different mindsets to drinking the tea, one is just to appreciate and accept as it is, and i think it's possible to drink almost any tea like this, though of course a better tea is more enjoyable even in this mindframe.

But then there is the inquisitive and analytical mindset, one where you taste and distinguish various aspects of the tea from previous experiences. This is also the frameset when I try to brew as good as I possible can, and where I tweak the brewing to find the perfect result for the specific tea and session. Doing this with a low quality tea is a waste of time and effort in my opinion. But one must also really appreciate the specific tea, and it helps to use teas that one is inclined to really appreciate when doing this. I do it with all the categories of tea, but the brewing differs, and some categories are far harder to find an acceptable tea for this practice in my experience.

I've also found that keeping a balance between the two mindsets have allowed me to more greatly appreciate teas that I might not have favoured as much before and that it has broadened my horizon greatly when it comes to the appreciation of the different categories of teas.
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chamekke
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Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:09 pm

I really love this post and discussion.

I used to obsessively collect teas of all kinds. At the beginning it was purely exploratory. Later it became a quest to find "the best" tea: the best matcha, the best gyokuro, the best sencha, yadda yadda.

And then (as others have observed above), I discovered that in reality I just kept returning to the same few teas. And maybe they're not even The Best. But they're delicious, and that's good enough. It's like revisiting a good friend.

There's a lot to be said for contentment.

I'm still curious about teas, but nowadays I'm more keen to enjoy the ones I already have before they go stale. One thing about green teas, they keep you on your toes!
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