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Victoria
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Mon Nov 12, 2018 1:45 pm

Welcome @brewlintea. Glad to hear our new @TeaForum Instagram account brought you here. You are in good company, there are many Japanese tea drinkers and teaware collectors here :) .
sqt
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Location: Paris / Oslo
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Tue Nov 13, 2018 11:40 am

There is no self wrote:
Sun Nov 11, 2018 1:03 pm
Bok wrote:
Thu Nov 08, 2018 7:39 pm
sqt wrote:
Thu Nov 08, 2018 10:01 am
And since my teas are stored at about 68% humidity it seems to be more an issue of the humidity in my drinking environment rather than the storage. Firing up a humidifier today to try and confirm.
Imagine what your teas could taste like in Asia! :mrgreen:
No need for that. Northern Italy is closer and equally humid. We have no access to the sea, and the Alps block off all those dry northern winds.

Welcome aboard, sqt! If you don't feel like moving to Italy, I can keep some of your pu'erh in storage for you! :mrgreen:
But you're omitting the crazy cold winter temperatures in northern Italy ;) But good wine and food is a plus.

Bok: I've had the experience of buying sheng in Singapore and finding that it tastes signficantly different once I get home. I try not to think about that. :|
heinza1983
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2018 11:39 am
Location: Italy

Thu Nov 15, 2018 12:14 pm

Hi, I'm new to the forum.
I'm a long time tea drinker, can't remember how long! I like to drink all kinds of tea and I prepare them in different ways depending on the type of tea. I'm always on the hunt for trying new teas and acquiring new knowledge. There are many aspects I love about tea: its history, the variety and complexity of flavours, the ritual, the peaceful moments...
I'm back in Italy after living in Australia for many years.
Great to be here among other fellow tea enthusiasts :)
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Victoria
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Thu Nov 15, 2018 12:32 pm

Welcome to TeaForum heinza. There a several Italian members on the forum, one in northwest Italy another in the south, where are you located?
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There is no self
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Location: I think you say, convenience store?

Mon Nov 19, 2018 8:57 am

sqt wrote:
Tue Nov 13, 2018 11:40 am
There is no self wrote:
Sun Nov 11, 2018 1:03 pm

Welcome aboard, sqt! If you don't feel like moving to Italy, I can keep some of your pu'erh in storage for you! :mrgreen:
But you're omitting the crazy cold winter temperatures in northern Italy ;)
Now now, no need to worry about details.))

E benvenut* anche a Heinza!
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AllAboutTheBohea
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Location: Indiana, USA

Tue Nov 20, 2018 2:41 am

How long have you been drinking tea?

In total, ever since I was a kid. I started off drinking Twinings Earl Grey with lots of sugar, and I drank that for years and years until this past winter/spring, when I took a philosophy course. My professor, who was from China, was gracious enough to give me a tea tin full of green tea (biluochun). I loved it, and soon procured an electric kettle, and soon I was researching different teas and tea cultures over on r/tea and in a Discord server (where some of you know me as Lord_Tennyson's_Pipe) and ordering samples. And now here I am. :)

What kind of tea do you drink?

At present, mainly roasted Wuyi oolongs. I'm especially partial to shui xian, which has a lovely chocolate scent and taste. Roasted oolongs are an ideal tea for this time of year, when it slowly gets colder, and the best companion after a day out in the bluster and frost is a warm pot of roasted oolong.

In addition, I've finished off some dian hong, as well as some sencha I got at my local Kroger supermarket of all places. I've started drinking some Xiaguan shou pu'er, a tuo cha that has such a lovely dark sweet flavor that I'm thinking of ordering some more just to keep myself stocked.

How do you prepare your tea?

Mostly in my gaiwan. My method is: gaiwan ----> empty pot ----> cup. Works for me at present, though a proper tea tray and gongdaobei wouldn't come amiss.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?

I'm really interested in the history of tea, especially the history of tea in the West. I want to explore how different Western tea cultures are now from how they were when tea first began to be imported, what particular kinds of teas were drunk, etc. It fascinates me to no end, honestly.

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

In part, it's the sheer variety. There's just so much to explore and try, honestly. There's also so much in the various tea cultures around the world: how the tea is prepared, how exactly it's drunk, tea literature, tea philosophy, tea etiquette, and the influence of tea on various countries and people.

What is your location?

Indiana, USA
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wave_code
Posts: 575
Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2018 2:10 pm
Location: Germany

Thu Nov 29, 2018 10:57 am

Saying hello here as it seems to be the thing to do...

How long have you been drinking tea?
For a long time, but just to get going in the morning. Really starting to learn about tea and getting deeper into it started about 4 years ago.

What kind of tea do you drink?
These days mostly red tea, shu, some oolong, and have been getting very into other post-fermented teas, mainly Liu Bao and Liu An. Japanese for green teas but not quite so much lately

How do you prepare your tea?
Every which way depending on the tea and situation from leaves in a bowl to gong fu to grandpa style.

What tea knowledge are you interested in exploring right now?
Learning more about hei cha, and also am very interested in exploring Japanese oolongs.

What factors lead you to delve into the world of tea, and what is keeping you there?
I stopped drinking coffee and a friend of mine who is a serious tea head introduced me to good quality tea around the same time. I have always had an interested in beer and other fermented beverages/foods so learning about fermented tea was very interesting as well as being able to taste the result of various processing methods, regions, styles, so on is very interesting for me. Also giving myself something to slow down and enjoy.

What is your location?
Vienna
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Bok
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Fri Nov 30, 2018 3:35 am

@wave_code willkommen!

Curious, why Japanese Oolongs? I am asking because in my experience, Oolongs from Japan pale in comparison to their Chinese and Taiwanese counterparts, in terms of variety, depth, fragrance and basically all aspects. Japanese are exotic because of the unusual terroir, but that’s about it.
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wave_code
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Fri Nov 30, 2018 6:07 am

Hi Bok,

To be honest I'm not totally sure and this is maybe part of what I am trying to figure out haha. The fact that they aren't exactly what the Japanese are known for but the fact that there are producers who go through the effort to make them despite there probably being very limited interest/market compared to Chinese/Taiwanese oolong says something to me. Whether they are just experimenting for personal curiosity or feel they have something unique to add or are making oolongs that meet what their personal preferences are for that production style is intriguing to me, also to see how that may develop over the long term. I've also been looking into Japanese blacks too in a similar way.

I know most drinkers consider them inferior or lacking, so I'm trying to look at them rather as just being something very different and what they might have to offer on their own terms. While if you were to brew them gong fu and expect 10 amazing steeps like you would of a quality Chinese oolong of course they fall short, but I'm curious to see if I give them the same attention and care brewing them in a different way what they might yield. Its also a less expensive area to do some interesting exploring since the prices of Japanese oolongs typically are lower in comparison with those of say a good legit Da Hong Pao. Price per volume of brews of course changes things if you have a session where the tea costs a lot but can brew all day plus be boiled at the end, but I also am sometimes in the position where an endless gong fu session is also not necessary or is too time consuming and I would be happy with just 3 brews of something very nice and then be done. Also maybe with a bit more astringency than one would find in a good Taiwanese/Chinese tea, which can be refreshing.

Maybe its not the most accurate comparison but I am thinking of it almost like sheng and shu - you have something where the demand was very much outstripping the supply given the production process/time required and an attempt to imitate/speed up the natural process initially results in what would be considered inferior or a cheap copy of a copy to the other, but taken on its own terms and developed further as something very different it fulfills its own potential and can be fantastic (full disclosure of my bias here- I find myself much more interested in shu). Similarly I really enjoy kyobancha but compared to any other Chinese post-fermented teas it is something very different and I would never expect even a very nice kyobancha to necessarily brew well gong fu style or be comparable to any Chinese tea, and seeing all the different directions that one country might take tea compared to another is pretty interesting too for me.
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Bok
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Fri Nov 30, 2018 6:34 am

@wave_code respect! Pretty interesting line of thought, please share your learning curve when it comes to it!
oolongfan
Posts: 156
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2018 9:40 am
Location: Indiana, USA

Wed Dec 05, 2018 10:18 am

I used to post over at Tea Chat a long time ago. I recently came back to Tea Chat after a 6 year hiatus due to health reasons (kidney disease and hypothyroidism). Upon my return I noticed that the forum was nor as active a when I had left it.

FBee kindly contacted me about this forum, catching me up on had happened at Tea Chat.

I got the OK to return to occasional tea drinking by my kidney doctor. For now i will be drinking only a few times a month...until we make sure my kidneys can handle tea.

I love oolong - hence my fan name. I love anything from green to medium roasted TGY, charcoal roasted anything. I once had a fabelous Lao Cong Shan Cha Wild Tea from Norbu that inspires me to try more wild tea (from a good source like Norbu or Mandarin's Tea Room).

Speaking of haunting, I had a Tikwan Yin Select Grade (light roast/oxidation felt light too) from the Mandarin's Tea Room that just blew me away. A hint of cream/vanilla over soft orchids and a very fresh quality lively on the palate.

I am still learning and exploring. Dan Cong and Yancha still need more exploring on my part. That will soon be remedied in part as TingJunkie kindly gifted me some 2016 Bei Dou Yancha with a pot thatI bought from him.

During my first year or so of Serious Tea Drinking - before being diagnosed with kidney disease - I just got a taste for tea...in no way would I consider myself anything but a complete amateur or gourmond (as opposed to a gourmet). I am still at te threshold of my tea journey.

Pots. I have several Jian Shui Purple clay pots, ranging from 130-200ml. I have one gorgous 40 mlYixing Hong Ni Shui Ping obtained from the Mandarin's Tea Room...it is the finest crafted pot that I have ever seen. I am getting another 40ml Hong Ni Shui Ping from TingJunkie which I look forward to using. At this point in my very short history, my pots are only starting to choose their teas. My 40 ml Hong Ni from Mandarin's showed well wih anything from medium roasted TGY to light roast/light oxidized TGY. I am trying a roasted Ding Dong in it next.

I remember reading somewhere on TeaChat that the owner of Houde Fine Art & Teas felt that lighter oxidized teas did wll in smaller flatter brewing vessels...and after having tasted the light roasted/light oxidized TGY, I am thinking that he might be right..or else our taste buds are in alignment ;) What I really want is an excuse be surrounded by tiny Shui Ping in assorted clays ;)

Non tea interest: coffee roasting (I love light roasts), horses (my Spanish Arabians are trained in the Portuguse Art of Marakialva), gardening (put all that horse manure to work), painting (realist-mostly oils), speaking French and looking for another langauge to learn..yeah rght, in Indiana....well thats all I can think of at the moment.

Thank you to FBee for the kind invitation. Look forward to learning from your collective wisdom and advice.

Mary
oolongfan
Posts: 156
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Location: Indiana, USA

Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:02 am

AllAboutTheBohea - Welcome from one newbie to another. I too, love the chocolaty notes in shui xian. I get mine from Norbu and it has those wonderful dark chocolate coco notes.

I live in south central Indiana - nice to see another tea drinker from Indiana.

I still need to introduce myself...somehow lost my War & Peace length post earlier...probably for the good of everyone here since it was rather verbose ;)

Mary
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S_B
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Wed Dec 05, 2018 12:51 pm

howdy, all. This is Oolong_Nug. To be perfectly honest, I wanted a username change, and a chance to start fresh! Good to see everyone, look forward to seeing more great posts :D
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pedant
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Wed Dec 05, 2018 2:12 pm

welcome. great to see you!
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Bok
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Wed Dec 05, 2018 7:08 pm

oolongfan wrote:
Wed Dec 05, 2018 10:18 am
Thank you to FBee for the kind invitation. Look forward to learning from your collective wisdom and advice.
You are welcome! (had to create another account due to the troubles, mine had been frozen). :mrgreen:
Welcome to the other side!
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