TeaChat

Any other students/gradstudents out there tackling finals?

Whats your favorite tea or tea hobby to get you through exams?

Lots of easy to brew tea, being brewed and consumed while reading and reading and reading, and occasionally working some problems.

A big(!) teacup, and lots of tea....

My very first recollection of tea, from a vending machine studying for finals. Loose leaf had not yet been invented.

I don't like to drink anything expensive or that takes a lot of concentration. I drink cheap Chinese greens or Wuyi grandpa style. I brew a big pot of Shupu sometimes, too.

In reality, though, I don't drink tea while studying very often. Usually, I'm at the library where I'll just buy a coffee or a sugar-free Red Bull. I just need the caffeine.

Do not get a big cup (eg. mug). Brew numerous small (~120ml) cups. Tea is then always hot/warm. Also, making small breaks is good when studying. Brew tea with an empty mind. Get back to the context. Bi luo chun, if you like bitter, can be brewed to a kick-potent state.

Tea can bring kick and clearness of mind. Coffee can bring kick and mudiness of mind.

If you're at the library, bring a thermos of some potent tea (eg. Bi luo chun brewed on the heavy side) and a small cup.

A big mug is a ticket to sleepiness and lack of concentration.

Actually I´ve been brewing puerh and roasted oolongs in my gaiwan and gongfu pot while studying. The little breaks help me concentrate and stay relaxed.

Absolutely. Little breaks are nice for getting things seeped in.

Having tried both, the monolthic 'big mug' (!) approach and the one with little breaks, I can see the difference.

Sheng puerh are certainly one nice tea to have in those times. For some reason I focused on green bi luo chun in my reply although just about any sheng puerh would be fine. oolongs in general, I'm not so sure.

I usually go with a black brewed western style while studying. Nothing I have to pay close attention to.

I used to do a lot of dark roast Ti Guan Yin, but that was pretty much the only tea I drank back then. And for exams, Morning Thunder from Celestial Seasonings--would take a bottle of hot water, drop in a few teabags, and head off to take the tests.

A high quality sencha or kukicha mixed in with a little sage

So you get that calm alertness and some memory enhancement too

during the exam today I took some sencha in a glass bottle...going outside iced it pretty well

Easy-to-brew, non-finicky black tea, most of the time. It was either Earl Grey, chai or black jasmine. Or mate if I wasn't planning on sleeping.

My grandma would prepare me a Oolong Tea which is useful for treatment of digestive disorders I tend to get that when I'm stress or pressured.

I'm long finished with school/finals but I wanted to thank everyone for the suggestion to make several small cups instead of one large mug/pot. In the evening I had been making a 16oz Laurel Birch coffee mug worth, but it would always get cold, etc. This weekend I got 2 8oz Boudin 2 layer glass tea cups and it makes my tea experience in the evenings much more enjoyable. I make just one cup at a time and it stays warm enough so I can finish.

So again, thank you for all the shared knowlege.
Nancy