Introduce Yourself

[MatchaMatchaMan]

Hello everyone!

My name is TJ and I live in Brooklyn. Im excited to learn more about tea. I love drinking and cooking with matcha and lived in Japan 20 years ago for my junior year in college for my Japanese degree which is where I started to developing my interests.

-How long have you been drinking tea?
Ive been driving tea my entire life and have always had a very strong aversion to coffee.

-What kind of tea do you drink?
At home I like Earl Gray and making matcha-based drinks. Im also a huge fan of anything Mariage Freres and their amazing blends.

-What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Id like to learn more about tea ceremonies and different kinds of tea.

-What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
I really love the flavor and odor profiles of tea. Its also very gentle and comforting plus there are tremendous health benefits (antioxidants etc) that I appreciate.

=TJ

[thomas.vankeulen]

Welcome to TeaForum @thomas.vankeulen, nice to have you join us here.

welcome, thomas!

Thank you everyone!!
Nice to be here.
I'll have a browse see what suggestions there are on tea kettles as I'm also looking to upgrade mine.

[LeoFox]

Hi everyone,

I've been drinking tea for all my life however, just over a year ago have I discovered Gong Fu style brewing during my time living in Shanghai. I made a good friend there who is an artisan. He was the one who guided me initially.
I've since come to London, where I currently reside.
I still carry a lot from my experience in Shanghai and my encounter with this particular person. Because of that I am quite fond of Sehng PuErh teas as it was his favourite and from my own individual experience I adquired a liking for Wulongs and white teas as well as Anji Bai Cha as one of my favourite greens.

I am still developing my palate as I am fairly new in the tea world. I am looking to purchase tea samples from several vendors and experiment. I have a yixing zisha clay pot. Brought it back from Shanghai, it's supposedly fairly old about 50yo. I am also exploring the effects of clay on tea and am looking to buy a Chao Zhou pot once money is more readily available.
I can see some of you have a vast experience and guidance is welcome.

Pleasure to meet you all, cheers!

Welcome to teaforum!
Can we see some pictures of your teapot?

[thomas.vankeulen]

Hi everyone,

I've been drinking tea for all my life however, just over a year ago have I discovered Gong Fu style brewing during my time living in Shanghai. I made a good friend there who is an artisan. He was the one who guided me initially.
I've since come to London, where I currently reside.
I still carry a lot from my experience in Shanghai and my encounter with this particular person. Because of that I am quite fond of Sehng PuErh teas as it was his favourite and from my own individual experience I adquired a liking for Wulongs and white teas as well as Anji Bai Cha as one of my favourite greens.

I am still developing my palate as I am fairly new in the tea world. I am looking to purchase tea samples from several vendors and experiment. I have a yixing zisha clay pot. Brought it back from Shanghai, it's supposedly fairly old about 50yo. I am also exploring the effects of clay on tea and am looking to buy a Chao Zhou pot once money is more readily available.
I can see some of you have a vast experience and guidance is welcome.

Pleasure to meet you all, cheers!

Welcome to teaforum!
Can we see some pictures of your teapot?

Here's the requested photos!
My favourite detail has to be to inprint in the bottom, it's some sort of antilope, instead of the artisan's name or something of the sort.
What would your suggestions be @LeoFox for the best teas to brew in this sort of teapots?

[LeoFox]

Hi everyone,

I've been drinking tea for all my life however, just over a year ago have I discovered Gong Fu style brewing during my time living in Shanghai. I made a good friend there who is an artisan. He was the one who guided me initially.
I've since come to London, where I currently reside.
I still carry a lot from my experience in Shanghai and my encounter with this particular person. Because of that I am quite fond of Sehng PuErh teas as it was his favourite and from my own individual experience I adquired a liking for Wulongs and white teas as well as Anji Bai Cha as one of my favourite greens.

I am still developing my palate as I am fairly new in the tea world. I am looking to purchase tea samples from several vendors and experiment. I have a yixing zisha clay pot. Brought it back from Shanghai, it's supposedly fairly old about 50yo. I am also exploring the effects of clay on tea and am looking to buy a Chao Zhou pot once money is more readily available.
I can see some of you have a vast experience and guidance is welcome.

Pleasure to meet you all, cheers!

Welcome to teaforum!
Can we see some pictures of your teapot?

Here's the requested photos!
My favourite detail has to be to inprint in the bottom, it's some sort of antilope, instead of the artisan's name or something of the sort.
What would your suggestions be LeoFox for the best teas to brew in this sort of teapots?

Im not an expert, but this looks like a modern hong ni. If it is thin, i would try brewing yancha in it

[Bok]

@thomas.vankeulen welcome! Shanghai is a very nice city to be in - although on the expensive side for what concerns tea.

Your pot looks like a modern one indeed. That kind of seal is a repro of seal chops used during the Qing dynasty.

In terms of tea it’s hard to recommend as the modern pots can be a range of clays, real yixing, a blend of Yixing, outside clay, and so on. So I’d just try as many teas as possible and let the pot decide.

[tea_noob]

Hello all,

My name is Peter, as far as drinking tea experience, I'm limited to Turkish Caj daily (3-4 cups). My parents health issues have raised my interest in herbal teas. So here I am, trying to learn more so I can help my parents, and also myself.


If you want to ask my anything, please go ahead!

[thomas.vankeulen]

thomas.vankeulen welcome! Shanghai is a very nice city to be in - although on the expensive side for what concerns tea.

Your pot looks like a modern one indeed. That kind of seal is a repro of seal chops used during the Qing dynasty.

In terms of tea it’s hard to recommend as the modern pots can be a range of clays, real yixing, a blend of Yixing, outside clay, and so on. So I’d just try as many teas as possible and let the pot decide.

Thank you @Bok for the suggestions. I'll do that!

[phier]

thank you all for such a great place and happy tea drinking

[BriarOcelot]

Hi forum people. Here goes the obligatory intro

• How long have you been drinking tea?


Every day (or close to it) for around 30 years. I grew up in the Nilgiri region (Ooty) at a young age and later lived in West Sikkim and on to Hong Kong in the 90's. I now live in Canada (but I was born in the UK) So I've been steeped in various tea since childhood. In the UK I always enjoyed the standard British daily cuppa as well as fancier brews.

• What kind of tea do you drink?

I drink a lot of Chinese tea. I mostly drink Pu'ehr tea these days (both shou and sheng). I tend to always keep some aged white tea around, good hei-cha (I have a big Liu Bao stash) as well as decent Darjeelings and hong-cha (preferably sun-dried). The occasional Oolong too.

• How do you prepare your tea?


That really depends on the tea. I like my Puehr on the strong side and have a dedicated 'shu' pot that gets a lot of use (short steeps, lots of leaf). I enjoy 'grandpa brewing' on some of the more aged sheng and heicha but half the joy is experimenting. Discovering things like boiled leftover white tea or making salted boiled butter tea for those winter days (I have a sizeable stash of Tibetan Flame just for that). It's such a versatile drink.

• What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?


I don't drink a lot of Japanese or Korean teas (apart from the occasional 'high mountain' Oolongs and genmaicha) and that's definitely a region I'd like to explore. Exploring Puerh tea regions and various processings has been an expensive journey.

• What is your location?

I'm based in Montreal in Canada at the moment, and we have a few nice tea stores, but people here seem to mainly go for floral of flavoured stuff which has really never been my taste. I end up buying a lot of tea online these days and I really miss traditional little tea shops of Asia.

Glad to be here and happy drinking to you all.

[pedant]

welcome, @BriarOcelot! i enjoyed that intro. thanks.

[T_D]

Should've done this earlier...

Hello, my name is Taylor, and I am pleased to be here!

How long have you been drinking tea?
About five years total, but have been delving more seriously into tea for around two years now.

What kind of tea do you drink?
Mostly puerh, but I also enjoy yancha and Dong Ding on occasion.

How do you prepare your tea?
Gongfu style, both in porcelain and Yixing.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Always interested in learning more about Zisha, it's quite the rabbit hole and centralized resources seem to be fairly sparse.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
My dad went on a business trip to Hong Kong back around 2005 and brought back some traditional Tieguanyin. It was nothing like I had ever tried before, and the experience stuck in the back of my mind for years. Once I finally had some more disposable income as an adult was I able to pursue drinking quality tea.

What is your location?
I live in Michigan, USA.

[Victoria]

Welcome to TeaForum @T_D and @BriarOcelot. Nice to have you join us here.

[Alexifen]

How long have you been drinking tea?
I started drinking tea like 2 years ago.

What kind of tea do you drink?
Darjeeling, Assam, white tea, black tea and occasionally matcha

How do you prepare your tea?
Normally I prepare my tea western style, but recently i started trying out gong fu style


What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Teas from india

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
The experience of preparing a cup of tea and the flavor

What is your location?
Mexico City, Mexico

[Victoria]

Welcome to TeaForum @Alexifen. Nice to have another member from Mexico here. Co-founder of Los Angeles Tea Society also has a shop in Tijuana Sinensis, that sells high quality tea.