Introduce Yourself

[Olympia]

Hi!

I'm very much a newbie, but I'll give this a try (and then maybe you'll be patient with me and my questions )

How long have you been drinking tea?

I've been drinking tea for four years or so, but I've only been serious about it in the last few months. I started with teabags and moved to loose leaf teas about three years ago, then went back to coffee, and now it's back to tea.

What kind of tea do you drink?

In the morning I have matcha or some type of English breakfast blend (sometimes scented, sometimes plain), or Lapsang Souchong (when I don't have coffee). After that I switch to Japanese or Chinese green tea (as a newbie, i bought all sorts of things and I'm still exploring flavours so it really varies), until around 4 pm. In the afternoon I switch to herbal infusions (these days it's mostly a hibiscus and apple tea blend) and at night I have chamomile and/or linden and/or chrysanthemum tea (sometimes blended with spices like cinammon or saffron etc).

How do you prepare your tea?

Simply... I've just bought a gaiwan so I'm enjoying exploring how best to do multiple infusions with that. Otherwise, I have a teapot for my herbal infusions and one for the other teas and I try to follow the instructions given to me at the teashop (for example, 1-3 minutes for green teas at 70-80 degrees C, depending on the tea, etc.). As said, I'm a newbie and I'm learning (i.e. experimenting).

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?

EVERYTHING!! (Sorry, I get easily excited! especially when it comes to tea)

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?

I like coffee, but, compared to tea, it feels very.... one-dimensional is the wrong word. It's like with coffee there are variations of flavour, but with tea, there are many, different flavours to enjoy. It's exciting to try something new every time - and especially when I consider the different ways of making tea, and the difference of taste one can get out of different infusions.... tea does feel like a more interesting and surprising drink! That's also what's keeping me here! The quest for more flavours and more knowledge!

What is your location?
Aarhus, Denmark (but I am from Greece and most of my herbs also come from Greece, either from the areas around my hometown, or from my father's village).

[Philip]

Hi I'm Philip, new member here......

How long have you been drinking tea?
Tea has been in my life for over 40 years now. As a youngster did not like coffee, soda’s, alcohol so stuck to tea.
At that time tea was quite good available in supermarkets in The Netherlands (Even Loose Leaf, which I used then already) only restricted to Black Tea, Earl Grey, Orange Pekoe, Ceylon and Darjeeling. Got stuck to those and did not yet delve into other kinds of tea.
Subsequently (due to profession) tea was become a bit of a problem and I started drinking coffee (Milk/sugar for starter but soon already only pure coffee). Tea however never left my drinking habits.
Past decade I was getting into tea more and more.
Nowadays Tea is the main beverage for me and every once in a while a cup of good coffee is enjoyed as wel a good gass of wine or crafted beer…

What kind of tea do you drink?
I could say all of them…. Different kinds, different origins.
Heavily interested in the Oolong variations, Pu Err and white tea.
Green tea I only try to go for Japanese ones. Gyokuru is my favorite!

How do you prepare your tea?
Preparation of tea in various ways:
Easy and simple (most of the times the black tea, single steep) with a double wall glass mug with a strainer. usually starting the day with it.
Subsequently Gaiwan or Gong Fu for Oolongs, Pu Err, whites and greens. And I love the “Be Bop” (https://www.paperandtea.com/be-bop-travel-set-white/)
Some western tea ware (mostly for show in the living room….)
Looking for other tea ware like a Houhin, Kyusu (for the Japanese Greens)

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Well I always have been hungry for knowledge on the things i’m enthusiast about. Thinking of going for a course learning still more about tea.
And investigate into Oolong and Pu Err as well as tea and food pairing.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
The lead has been described already, what’s keeping me there is the fascination for one single plant with all the variations of tastes and fragrances you can have/make with it!

What is your location?
In the beautiful centre of The Netherlands, between Utrecht and Amsterdam……

[chamekke]

Hello all! My name is chamekke and I have a tea addiction. I used to be active on TeaChat a few years back, and only just discovered that Chip and some other folks became active here in January.

So, lovely to make your acquaintance -- or to see you again, as the case may be

How long have you been drinking tea?
I'm Canadian, so I've been drinking tea since forever, especially bagged tea in my youth. For the last 15 years I've also been studying Japanese tea ceremony, a.k.a. the Way of Tea (Chado, Chanoyu). Naturally, its emphasis is on drinking matcha, powdered green tea. But in my civilian, non-tea-ceremony life I drink all sorts of other teas too

What kind of tea do you drink?
Lots of matcha (both usucha and koicha), Japanese and Chinese green teas (my mainstay), a smattering of white/yellow/red/black teas, plus various rooiboses (rooibosi?) and tisanes. Ask me about my osmanthus habit!

How do you prepare your tea?
Matcha: old-school style, with the usual Japanese gear.
Japanese greens: mostly kyuusu.
Chinese greens: mostly gaiwan.
Others: mostly porcelain tea pots.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Getting back to basics! I fell into the trap of collecting so many beautiful tea things that I could hardly enjoy what I have. So right now I'm trying to simplify things and recapture the delight I used to take in all things tea.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
There's something convivial about tea that you just don't find with any other beverage. If you talk about sharing a "cuppa" with someone, it has a very different vibe from taking coffee together. It's more relaxed, companionable. I think it's that feeling, as much as the deliciousness of tea itself, that keeps me interested. Well, that and the endlessly pretty tea things.

What is your location?
What I call Canada's Pacific Southwest (the southern coast of British Columbia).

[Chip]

Hello all! My name is chamekke and I have a tea addiction. I used to be active on TeaChat a few years back, and only just discovered that Chip and some other folks became active here in January.

So, lovely to make your acquaintance -- or to see you again, as the case may be

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
There's something convivial about tea that you just don't find with any other beverage. If you talk about sharing a "cuppa" with someone, it has a very different vibe from taking coffee together. It's more relaxed, companionable. I think it's that feeling, as much as the deliciousness of tea itself, that keeps me interested. Well, that and the endlessly pretty tea things.

More than a few years ago.
So very nice to see you once again!

And I could not agree more about your above assessment. Tea not only seems to lend itself to a more quiet and relaxed moment during our otherwise busy day ... it commands it ... lest we miss its beauty.

[Manttea]

Hello everyone, thanks for approving me on teaforum. I look forward to reading and participating here.

• How long have you been drinking tea?

Been drinking gongfu style on and off for 5 years now

• What kind of tea do you drink?

Chinese and Japanese greens are a favorite, Taiwanese oolongs, currently craving mostly puer.

• How do you prepare your tea?

Gongfu style,

• What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?

Got into it through sheer curiosity and good tasting tea, was blown away by the knowledge and kindness of the tea community.

• What is your location?

North America

[Mountain Stream Teas]

Hi!

• How long have you been drinking tea?

Professionally about 3 years, for fun about 5.

• What kind of tea do you drink?

Taiwanese and Chinese teas that I source myself. I am a lucky guy!

• How do you prepare your tea?

Gongfu and some grandpa

• What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?

I discovered the world of chemical free, handpicked, small batch, family run farm Taiwanese tea a couple years ago and fell in love with it. Now I run Mountain Stream Teas, a startup that sells it! I will be int he tea industry for years to come sourcing and selling tea and doing tea adventures into the mountains of Taiwan and China.

• What is your location?

Hualien, Taiwan

[chamekke]

More than a few years ago.
So very nice to see you once again!

And I could not agree more about your above assessment. Tea not only seems to lend itself to a more quiet and relaxed moment during our otherwise busy day ... it commands it ... lest we miss its beauty.

Thank you for the kind welcome (back)

The fragmenting effect of multiple platforms and forums sometimes leaves me forgetful of where I've posted... but I will try to take part a little more than I did on TeaChat, those last few years.

I suppose one thing that's held me back is that I'm not really collecting new tea goodies -- and teas -- any more. I'm pretty contented with what I have, and I've stabilized my tea consumption to a small selection of teas that I revisit over and over again. So, lacking "new stuff" as I do, it is less clear what I would actually post about. I could share pics of what I've already got, but TBH most of my dougu were acquired long ago, when forum tastes were more free-wheeling. (For example, remember how excited people got about chataku? ) So, yeah... any ideas of how a boring oldster like me might participate?

[Balthazar]

Long-time member of The Other Forum here, only (coincidentally) discovered this forum a few days ago. Have to say it looks really good.

How long have you been drinking tea?

I'm going to assume we are excluding bagged English teas from our definition of "tea" here. In that case: Since around 2007. Loose-leaf Dong Ding and Long Jing was what got me hooked.

What kind of tea do you drink?

These days it's mostly black teas from Yunnan (occasionally Lapsang or Jin Jun Mei). 90% of the tea I drink is consumed at the office, and I find black tea to be the best fit in terms of caffeine, ease of brewing (both gongfu and grandpa style) and being mild on the stomach. Occasionally I'll drink Wuyi teas at work too. In the weekends I mostly drink sencha.

Before I graduated and found a job, I was mostly interested in puer and oolongs.

How do you prepare your tea?

At work: Depending on here I am working (currently working at one location four days of the week, another one day of the week) it's either gongfu (with an Yixing pot) or grandpa style (either with a large Yixing cup or a moderately large porcelain cup).

The sencha I prepare in a kyusu or shiboridash, most commonly in a kyusu.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?

Nothing in particular. I'm mostly interested in keeping up to date on what's going on in the tea world.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?

I was introduced to the world of tea (beyond the Lipton bags) through a member of a Norwegian gaming forum. I remember very well the curiosity his post sparked in me, and this was what originally led me to picking up some Dong Ding and Long Jing. At the time I was 18 years old and already drank pots of coffee daily (I already had a coffee machine in my own, tiny, bedroom, even though I had access to a better one in the kitchen), and I think there was something in what I perceived to the spirit/philosophy of tea that intrigued me too - something about slowing down in a hyperintensive world - although this may have come later.

I guess this latter part also goes a long way to explain what keeps me here. Aside from that, I generally feel that tea has a whole lot more pleasant effect on my body than coffee does (I still consume 2-3 cups of coffee per week).

What is your location?

Oslo, Norway. Spent one year in Hong Kong while doing my Master's. Still keep beating myself up about not having picked up more teas when I lived there.

[Victoria]

Long-time member of The Other Forum here, only (coincidentally) discovered this forum a few days ago. Have to say it looks really good.

What is your location?
Oslo, Norway. Spent one year in Hong Kong while doing my Master's. Still keep beating myself up about not having picked up more teas when I lived there.

Good to see you here and welcome to our migrated group.

[steanze]

I'm pretty contented with what I have, and I've stabilized my tea consumption to a small selection of teas that I revisit over and over again. So, lacking "new stuff" as I do, it is less clear what I would actually post about.

You can post about the new things you learn and think about retrying the old teas over time. Drinking a same tea often is a great experience to discover new things about it.

[Sean zheung]

Hi, I'm Sean from Shenzhen, China

It's great to meet you all here, a forum only for tea lovers.
How long have you been drinking tea?
Starting to drink and learn since my campus time. the autumn of 2008.

What kind of tea do you drink?
Mostly Puerh Raw Tea, and Every year from April to August, I constantly drink several kinds of New Green tea, such as Maofeng, Longjing, Biluochun,Guapian.I do not drink aged Green tea. In a rainy day of winter, I'd prefer Yunnan black tea.

How do you prepare your tea?
Gaiwan is mostly used for Puerh. Teapot is prepared for aged tea.Green tea always with glass.

1\ Using Boiling water wash all the tools, cups to increase the temperature of them once, maybe twice.
2\ If it is the first time for me to taste a kind of tea, or I didn't satisfy the taste of last time, I use a mini scale to control the weight of tea I shall brew.
3\ Drop the first two brews and use it wash the tools again. OR, keep them in a cup used for fragrance-smelling for seconds, then drop. Smelling the aroma left in the cup.


What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
My Father is a deep drinker of Green tea, I tried the taste very young. Then the benefits of tea are the most important factor drives me to a daily drinker since my campus time.
After graduated I worked in Shenzhen, a city filled with Gongfu tea because of Cantonese. and next to Shenzhen, the city of Dongguan storages biggest amount of Aged puerh tea. then I started to seek the source of tea, and searching high-end product and taste, and met Vice chairman of Shenzhen.Tea Association Mr Yi, a master who provides tea quality control guide when nobody could make a conclusion.

What is your location?
Shenzhen, China

[debunix]

Welcome! Sounds like a very interesting tea journey. Looking forward to what you share here.

[There is no self]

How long have you been drinking tea?
I first discovered loose leaf tea when I found out Twining's wasn't just tea bags of English breakfast but Gunpowder as well. I drank my first "real" tea in 2013 when I discovered Grnpung (forum name hidden with rot13 in case it's a tough subject) and the wonders of Japanese teas.

What kind of tea do you drink?
Right now I lean towards wulongs, especially lightly oxidised and Wuyi, and pu'erhs. But I'm still learning, so I drink any new tea that I get my hands on.

How do you prepare your tea?
I use a yixing teapot for wulongs, a kyusu for the occasional Bancha, and a gaiwan for virtually everything else.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
EVERYTHING! As I said, I still have much to learn. I think once I know enough about wulongs I can move on to other teas.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
As someone else said, tea has a way of bringing people together that few other passions have. I like this sense of community, the idea of being connected with people from all over the world.

What is your location?
I live in Northwestern Italy.

[Proinsias]

Hi all,

Happy to have stumbled upon this new and shiny forum.

How long have you been drinking tea?
Since I was 7 or 8, so coming on 30yrs.

What kind of tea do you drink?
A little of everything. From cheap teabags to high end stuff when I can manage.

How do you prepare your tea?
Gaiwan probably wins for most used, a little ~80ml plain white ceramic from a cheap tea set is my current go to. I have a variety teapots and widgets in action.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
I like pretty pictures.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
I've loved tea for as long as I can remember. I wandered into a Chinese tea shop around 2005 with 20 or so varieties of long jing and realised just how much better the best drink in the world could be, I have not recovered from that visit and will forever be indebted to the wonderful lady that ran the shop and answered endless questions. When the shop shut I ventured online and was very happy to find Chip at the helm of TeaChat.

What is your location?
Scotland. Home of great water, which is nice.

[Chip]

Hi all,

Happy to have stumbled upon this new and shiny forum.

So nice to see you once again, old friend!

What's in your cup these days?