Share your Tea Journey

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Noonie
Posts: 360
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:30 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada

Thu Apr 02, 2020 2:49 pm

I love reading about tea, so thought it would be great to read about all of your tea journeys (i.e., how you got into tea, and how you've explored tea and tea culture up to now, and even plans into the future). Also, given all this time at home I want to change my journey somewhat and I'm looking for inspiration.

Below isn't a suggested format, but to those who post soon after me please feel free and make the layout better. I may come back and edit for things I've missed after reading your journeys and getting other ideas.

How did you get into tea?
I was a coffee/espresso drinker until around 10+ years ago. I went as far as roasting my own green coffee beans, making espresso and using other devices to dabble in coffee. I can't recall why, but at some point I decided I wanted to try tea. I had some tea shops around my office where I worked in Toronto and would pass them frequently, and thought I would go in and get more information and try some 'quality' tea. In hindsight it was low-medium quality, but I enjoyed those early teas (even though some had flowers in them!).

Once I discovered I liked tea, I started researching online, finding Teachat, online vendors, etc. Back then I liked darjeeling, and anxi oolong. A friend at work shared some anxi oolong she brought back from China. It was really good. I used a glass mug with strainer from David's tea.

Those were the early days...

When did you dive into the deep end?
The more I read online about different types of tea the more I wanted to try. Some greener, some darker and lots in between. Some of the teas I didn't initially enjoy (sencha) I now love. There are very few teas I don't like, it's just a matter of time and how much I can consume in a day, so I focus on what I really enjoy and want to drink at the present time.

Teaware fanatic, or just a vessel?
I like teaware, but I'm not a fanatic. I'm too cheap. I've explored yixing, kyusu's, hohins, shibos, tea trays, celadon, porcelain to name a few. I've never owned more than a couple of each. Some do not get used very much at all. For a year or so I was into Matcha and had the required teaware, but I no longer drink Matcha so those items collect dust (for now).

In addition to tea and teaware...
I like reading about tea and have about a dozen books on tea, though only a few of them are quite good. I like tea forums (this being the main one I follow), and follow a few other tea sites/blogs. And lastly I follow some YouTubers from some shops, or tasters.

What's next
This is where I'm unsure, but given this current pandemic I have more time, love tea and want to delve a little deeper. While I don't see myself working in the tea industry at least until I retire, I want to take this hobby a bit further.
Vanenbw
Posts: 176
Joined: Mon Dec 16, 2019 10:14 pm
Location: NJ, USA

Sun Apr 05, 2020 3:12 pm

I shared my journey in my introduction: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=100&p=18632#p18632

I never thought of tea as a hobby until I discovered the forums. Tea was always a pleasurable past time for me. Even though I have been drinking loose green green tea from Japan for many years, it wasn't until late last year when I purchased my first kyusu pot and shifted from buying store-bought loose leaf green tea, to purchasing from vendors in Japan that I truly began to discover the wide range of green teas. I'm still amazed by all of the different tasting green teas out there. Learning how to properly brew green tea has been a game changer for me.

I also drink some Chinese teas, but I find that I drink it much less frequently than green tea. I like some of it, but I'm much more partial to Japanese green teas. That said, I did purchase a gaiwan and a bunch of tea from Verdant which I am still working through.
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