intro

Please introduce yourself here to our membership


Feb 2nd, '12, 12:02
Posts: 7
Joined: Jan 31st, '12, 16:08

intro

by nataly » Feb 2nd, '12, 12:02

Hi,

My name is Nataly. I have been drinking loose tea since I was child. I was born into Russian tea culture if you can call it that. In a somewhat barbaric way - my family's tea drinking habits were brewing a pot of black tea (no infuser basket) and leaving it on the counter for a couple of days for everyone to add boiling water and sugar as needed to drown out the bitterness. SInce I have low tolerance for bitteness, I've always added a lot of water - lol! When I was young, I also added a lot of sugar! No milk though. This is just my fmaily and most people I knew :) I wonder if there is more sophistication these days. Moving to US, I switched to mostly teabags and morning coffee. Green tea at Japanese restaurants has always been a treat (as well as the food).
Recently, I have accidentally reignited my interest in tea. My husband expressed an interest in a better tea, he was after some herbal and I decided to get some herbal loose tea and a teapot as a present for him. I ended up getting a tetsubin and some tea (I wish I hadn't now) from Teavana. Looking at some info there got me into more research and amazing findings: such as that strong tea doesn't have to be bitter etc.
Right now most of my tea is from Rishi as we try to buy organic and free trade is a bonus for me. My favorites so far are both Japanese and Chinese greens, jasmin green peal, genmaicha, and Rishi's China Breakfast in the morning. I also like flavored whites with some honey before going to bed, but I think this is changing since I am beginning to get bored with the flavoring, even the organic version... Haven't tried any woolong or pu-erh yet... So, looks like I am hooked. Interestingly, my husband, who was the initial reason I started looking into tea is kind of indifferent :)
He has already got me a tea present too though - a variable temp electric kettle, which I love.

Other than tea, I also like cooking. About 6 years ago I had a period of searching for a perfect cup of coffee, which left me with a nice espresso machine I still enjoy very much. Now it is the tea!

- Nataly

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Feb 2nd, '12, 12:26
Posts: 5896
Joined: Jan 10th, '10, 16:04
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Contact: debunix

Re: intro

by debunix » Feb 2nd, '12, 12:26

Welcome to TeaChat, and hope what you find here adds to your enjoyment of tea. There are more varieties and preparations of tea than of coffee, so you can spend a lifetime exploring. Rishi was my own 'gateway' back to tea, after a long time with only a few trusted teas: before the internet, I'd had a lot of poor experiences when I 'stepped out' of my tea comfort zone, and gave up on that exploration before I began. But one nice can from Rishi led to some trust, and two or three more cans from Rishi, and then a tentative trip to a chinatown tea shop or two.....

The variable temp kettle makes exploration of greens much more pleasant. Enjoy, but don't forget the oolongs! They're the most varied and forgiving of all.

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Feb 2nd, '12, 13:03
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
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Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
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Re: intro

by Chip » Feb 2nd, '12, 13:03

Welcome nataly to our forum! Thank you for your informative intro!

I am looking forward to seeing you around the forum as you continue with your TeaJourney! :mrgreen:

Please share your daily cuppa tea with us in TeaDay!

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