Thur 2/07/08 How many times do you start a tea each day?

[bearsbearsbears]

by bearsbearsbears » Feb 7th, '08, 13:34

Another Pig here.

Haven't started yet , but going to have tie luo han oolong shortly.

[mcmoogly]

by mcmoogly » Feb 7th, '08, 13:36

Year of the Tiger here. If I get 5 in that is pretty good. It normally means I didn't work that day or I was able to get 3 in during my work-day. Just going with the usual Sencha.

[Chip]

by Chip » Feb 7th, '08, 14:54

OK, I lied. I was going to go Chinese today, but I have been wondering if I have a cold brewing. So, sencha it is today, but maybe a Long Jing in a bit.

I am drinking my fav sencha Yutaka Midori from Kagoshima prefecture. I opened this and had it yesterday, but it seemed weak to me. I upped the temp a little and it is much better. Yutaka Midori is one of the more finnicky sencha. I am also convinced that this is a little bit of a down year for Kagoshima prefecture leaf. It is definately a great year for Shizuoka prefecture leaf though. I will get 5 steeps out of this.

I generally start a tea 3 times, would prefer 4, and feel a let down if I only have 2. 5 is a banner day. Since I have 3-5 steeps per tea (5 for virtually every Japanese tea) I drink a lot of tea. 3-4 liters is the norm.

[Wesli]

by Wesli » Feb 7th, '08, 15:20

I feel like I might be getting sick, so It's going to be all sencha, all day long.

Cruising on some top leaf tamaryokucha from Mellow Monk.

[skywarrior]

by skywarrior » Feb 7th, '08, 15:26

I think I might actually be on the cusp because if you take the western calendar, I'm in the Year of the Rabbit, but my personality is a Tiger. Go figure.

More than 7 cups, baby!

[tenuki]

by tenuki » Feb 7th, '08, 15:27

A whole family of dragons here, for some reason my wife and son are both dragon too. Guess I just like excitement.

usually 4-5 but today I haven't made tea at all yet. hmnn, maybe a day without tea just to be different.

[omegapd]

by omegapd » Feb 7th, '08, 15:48

Another Rabbit here...

Usually 4 cups of hot tea a day, with a couple of iced tea thrown in. Today's been a China Black day...

EW

[jogrebe]

by jogrebe » Feb 7th, '08, 16:22

Year of the Rooster

Its hard to say how many new teas I start as it depends upon what I'm drinking and how well it infuses and what I'm brewing it in. As a pot of Western brewed Golden Monkey yields more tea than an entire round of oolong in a gaiwan. Its a safe assumption that I go through 2-4 sets of ripe puerh leaves a day.

At the moment I'm enjoying some Formosa.

[Sam.]

by Sam. » Feb 7th, '08, 16:31

Year of the Rabbit, also!

I'll usually drink ~3 teas a day, infusing each 2 or 3 times.

[tenuki]

by tenuki » Feb 7th, '08, 16:44

usually 4-5 but today I haven't made tea at all yet. hmnn, maybe a day without tea just to be different.

Well, that idea didn't last long...

Ali Shan - "High Mountain Golden Lily" - green style
from teahome.

Today I'm brewing it in my fav green oolong YiXing, which seems to bring out the soupy mouth feel a bit more and mute the fragrance a bit, which I like. 'how to turn a alishan into a lishan'. hahahah. This Ali Shan is already less fragrant than most, but is a good quality tea IMHO and I'm digging this brew!

It seems like the last couple of Taiwanese High Mountain harvests have been greener than usual, wonder if the trend to greener Gao Shan's is real and will continue? I had a prize winning BaoZong from last harvest that was soooo green it was scary. Nice tea, but not sure I like the trend. I've been ordering and drinking a lot of the 'traditional style' lately for that reason, they seem to be more 'grounded' if that makes any sense.

[Chip]

by Chip » Feb 7th, '08, 16:55

usually 4-5 but today I haven't made tea at all yet. hmnn, maybe a day without tea just to be different.

Well, that idea didn't last long...

Ali Shan - "High Mountain Golden Lily" - green style
from teahome.

Today I'm brewing it in my fav green oolong YiXing, which seems to bring out the soupy mouth feel a bit more and mute the fragrance a bit, which I like. 'how to turn a alishan into a lishan'. hahahah. This Ali Shan is already less fragrant than most, but is a good quality tea IMHO and I'm digging this brew!

Tenuki, you crack me up at least once a day as of late. "how to turn alishan into lishan. hahahah."

That is deep tea humor. Your TeaWit is a riot.

[fencerdenoctum]

by fencerdenoctum » Feb 7th, '08, 17:36

I usually have tea 2-3 times a day. One in the morning when I get in the office (always a black), one at 3pm (usually Earl Grey, I have to be snooty at my afternoon tea), and then another black or Matcha between work and dinner. Yunnan Gold is my tea of choice for anytime however.

Seems like I'm the only Rat so far. Here is to a auspicious year...FOR ME (for everyone, I don't want to be selfish)! *raises cup*

The Tea Sipping Swordsman,
Fencerdenoctum

[Photiou]

by Photiou » Feb 7th, '08, 17:53

3 times on average (*n infusions) could be a good guess.

Today: Imperial Yunnan Gold for breakfast, Fancy TGY and Lapsang souchong at work.

[tenuki]

by tenuki » Feb 7th, '08, 18:15

TeaWit is a riot.

Shouldn't that be TeaWit™ .... ?

[Chip]

by Chip » Feb 7th, '08, 18:36

TeaWit is a riot.

Shouldn't that be TeaWit™ .... ?

Of course, my mistake, Tenuki.

I have moved on to Kabuse Cha from Uji prefecture. I struggled with this for almost the first 1/3 of the bag (as you may have read in past days' posts). Sometimes Japanese tea can be challenging.

Today, this blossomed for me, wow. I accidently brewed it for too long, a timer issue. So, I accidently vastly improved the brew. I think the leaf needed a longer 1st brew to wake up the leaf properly. I went with hibiki-an's directions that he emailed me, but it was clearly too short.

Amazingly, each successive steep was also vastly improved. So, wake up the kabuse cha leaf. By the way, for those wondering, what the heck is kabuse cha, it is sencha that was shaded for around a week before harvest. It falls somewhat between gyokuro and sencha.