a little bit about me

Please introduce yourself here to our membership


User avatar
Jun 19th, '09, 18:29
Posts: 375
Joined: Jun 15th, '09, 07:05
Location: Lat: N 59º 37' 3.79" Long: E 17º 49' 35.49" or thereabouts

a little bit about me

by sriracha » Jun 19th, '09, 18:29

Ok, so tonight there's absolutely nothing going on here at work(I monitor data networks) so I'll sneak in a post here to tell you about my journey here-.=)

I began drinking tea when I became friends with the new girl in class when I was 11. Her family were drinking tea all day long, all of them. I don't remember the tea any more but I distinctly remember their HUGE handmade cups, and their steeping style of more or less just dunking a tea ball a couple of times in hot water. Very weak tea in other words, but it suited a first-timer like me.

I added both milk and sugar the first few times they made me tea, but quickly dropped the sugar. I still don't like sweet tea, not even iced. For most of my school years I kept on drinking tea, mostly Earl Grey since that was what my family bought, along with the occasional tin of jasmine. One cup before going to school, one or two when I came back. Sometimes later at night.

In my late teens and early twenties I started frequenting a certain tea shop in Stockholm and I became obsessed with flavoured teas, the weirder the better. This was the first of my tea crazes, which may have begun with a family trip to England where I bought tins of stuff like lychee tea at F&M.

I experimented with these for a number of years, until I realized most of them consisted of the same low grade teas with artificial flavourings added.

Around this time I developed a preference for pure black teas and I found a liking for Yunnan and Keemun, later Assam. Darjeelings have yet to wow me. It's not that I hate them, but given a choice I'd rather have something else.

Greens and oolongs I had only fleeting experiences with until quite recently.

I still remember what must have been my first oolong though, which must have been cheap 'Formosa oolong' a friend and I purchased from her local tea vendor. I remember the large leaves and long steeping times(something like 7 minutes done western style). The taste made me think of how an old, unpainted wooden park bench would smell in the rain.

In recent years I didn't pay much attention to tea, I kept to a small number of tried and tested favourites both flavoured and 'pure' and was ok with that. Greens crept in from time to time but failed to make an impression on me, in part due to me being unfamiliar with good brewing procedures...i e I basically cooked the lot of them :D
I do think however that having been a tea drinker for so long(I'm 38 ) has given me an understanding of quality and that I am able to distinguish between good and bad tea to an extent(Madeira greens...don't go there).
I'm no snob though, I happily drink what's available at any given time and try to make the best cup possible with what I have.

Recent developments have been finding a number of tea blogs...which led me here where I've lurked without signing up, for about four months.
These blogs introduced me to oolongs and the gong fu brewing method and I began buying my tea from the shops and Internet vendors they recommended.

Still greens didn't grab me until very recently after reading here and making a trip to my favourite Japanese food shop. This was two or three weeks ago and I'd been sort of curious about houji- and kukicha. That shop had both types on sale, marked down due to the packages having expired but they were ridiculously cheap so I though 'what the heck', got both plus some genmaicha for less than $1/100 g. I usually have it with food, very delicious.
But the kukicha....wow! The package said deep-steamed and the aroma is just...like no tea I 've come across before. Sort of savoury and strong...umami?
I had four 400 ml pots that first night.
And don't start me on teaware...
:D

So here I am! Tea level +1 :wink:

real name: Helen
lives: Sweden
occupation: IT "professional" :oops: Most days I feel far from a pro...
family: nope...five cats though

Right ,this is probably the longest post I've ever written...if you've made it all the way through i just wanted to say hi, and please take care of me... :o

User avatar
Jun 19th, '09, 18:36
Posts: 8065
Joined: Jan 8th, '08, 06:00
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Southern CA
Been thanked: 2 times
Contact: Victoria

by Victoria » Jun 19th, '09, 18:36

Hi Helen, well some premium oolongs are on the way to you soon!
Welcome to our forum, glad you decided to join us!

User avatar
Jun 19th, '09, 19:28
Posts: 465
Joined: Jun 19th, '08, 23:03
Location: Midwestern USA

by Riene » Jun 19th, '09, 19:28


Hi, Helen, and welcome to the board!
Although my neighbors are all barbarians,
And you, you are a thousand miles away,
There are always two cups on my table.
--Tang Dynasty

User avatar
Jun 19th, '09, 19:41
Posts: 1628
Joined: Jun 17th, '08, 14:11
Location: Oregon

by geeber1 » Jun 19th, '09, 19:41

Hi Helen,
Glad to see you here, welcome!

User avatar
Jun 19th, '09, 23:01
Posts: 16
Joined: Jun 19th, '09, 01:03

by Elarya » Jun 19th, '09, 23:01

Hi Helen!

How sweet you are in Sweden. My son wants to visit there.. well there and numerous other countries :)

Jun 19th, '09, 23:05
Posts: 495
Joined: Jan 31st, '09, 12:41
Location: midwest, Sanibel wannabe
Contact: Dreamer

by Dreamer » Jun 19th, '09, 23:05

Hi Helen,

If you've been lurking here for 4 months you already know you've found a great tea community! Glad you decided to join!

Have fun,
Dreamer

User avatar
Jun 20th, '09, 01:17
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Been thanked: 2 times

by Chip » Jun 20th, '09, 01:17

Glad you finally decided to join us, Helen!

Välkommen!
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!

User avatar
Jun 20th, '09, 02:43
Posts: 3348
Joined: Feb 8th, '08, 02:10
Location: France

by olivierco » Jun 20th, '09, 02:43

Bienvenue!

User avatar
Jun 20th, '09, 11:43
Posts: 1289
Joined: May 10th, '08, 19:22
Location: Kentucky

by kymidwife » Jun 20th, '09, 11:43

Welcome Helen! I loved the "take care of me"... this bunch takes great care of your heart and your tea palate, but not so protective of the bank account. The teaware threads are quite hazardous! :D

So glad to have you here...

Sarah
***This organic blend is earthy & spicy, with a fragrant aroma & smooth flavor to captivate the senses. Naturally sweetened in the Kentucky sunshine & infused with natural energy. Equally delicious when served piping hot or crisply chilled.***

User avatar
Jun 20th, '09, 12:39
Posts: 857
Joined: Oct 13th, '07, 10:12
Location: Nørwåy

by Trey Winston » Jun 20th, '09, 12:39

More Scandinavians, excellent. Today TeaChat, tomorrow the world! :D
Welcome!

User avatar
Jun 20th, '09, 15:20
Posts: 375
Joined: Jun 15th, '09, 07:05
Location: Lat: N 59º 37' 3.79" Long: E 17º 49' 35.49" or thereabouts

by sriracha » Jun 20th, '09, 15:20

Thank you all for your warm welcome!

@kymidwife: Yeah...discovering all these teas and paraphernalia has been rather expensive...but then again I don't drink, smoke or have any other costly vices so, so be it! Tea is good for you, it's definitely worth my money. =)

Latest purchase has been a bag of O-Cha's Yutaka Midori since so many of you have been raving about it. I've yet to brew it up though, I'm waiting for my first kyusu to arrive...which should be any day now.

@Trey: We conquer the tea world, one forum at a time.. 8)

User avatar
Jun 22nd, '09, 13:16
Posts: 699
Joined: Apr 27th, '09, 02:20
Scrolling: scrolling

by Mrs. Chip » Jun 22nd, '09, 13:16

sriracha wrote:Thank you all for your warm welcome!
Latest purchase has been a bag of O-Cha's Yutaka Midori since so many of you have been raving about it. I've yet to brew it up though, I'm waiting for my first kyusu to arrive...which should be any day now.
Welcome to our great forum and enjoy your YM! Greens are definately my fave. 8)
Where did you get your kyusu? Shows us a picture when it arrives!

User avatar
Jun 22nd, '09, 13:21
Posts: 1953
Joined: Apr 6th, '08, 19:02
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Contact: chamekke

Re: a little bit about me

by chamekke » Jun 22nd, '09, 13:21

Welcome, Helen!
sriracha wrote:And don't start me on teaware...
:D
Heh, most of us here are teaware addicts anyway. Nothing we enjoy more than a spot of mutual enabling :wink:
______________________

"Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cosy, doesn't try it on."
- Billy Connolly

User avatar
Jun 22nd, '09, 13:33
Posts: 2625
Joined: May 31st, '08, 02:44
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Portland, OR
Contact: Geekgirl

Re: a little bit about me

by Geekgirl » Jun 22nd, '09, 13:33

chamekke wrote: Heh, most of us here are teaware addicts anyway. Nothing we enjoy more than a spot of mutual enabling :wink:
ROTFL!!! so true, so true...

Jun 29th, '09, 14:11
Posts: 965
Joined: Dec 17th, '08, 15:13
Scrolling: fixed

Danger Danger!!

by Intuit » Jun 29th, '09, 14:11

Warning Warning!

TeaChat membership may prove to be addictive to susceptible individuals.

Tea-mania: pursuit of new teas, technique angst and teaware lust, regardless of space and budgetary constraints.

And yes, we freely and unabashedly enable your addictive tendencies.

+ Post Reply