How long have you been drinking tea?
Casually and sporadically since a teen - my mom liked Constant Comment, so I drank that growing up. Never liked cheap black iced tea like the rest of America.
Lived in Japan in my mid 20’s, so would drink iced greens but thought most were too bitter, but I liked Jasmine.
I started delving into the world of loose tea in my mid 30’s, but I’m sensitive to caffeine so didn’t drink a lot.
What was your first Tea?
The aforementioned Constant Comment.
What is your favorite Tea currently?
Greenhilltea’s decaf Jasmine.
What is your next purchase?
Perhaps a Harney fruit tea or continue my search for decaf mango and/or passion fruit.
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Not terribly picky where and I’m in a small apartment.
Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
AliceG wrote: How long have you been drinking tea?
For a while now, but recently I've started collecting tea pots and tea cups so I've been drinking tea nightly now. It's like a meditation for your mouth
What was your first Tea?
Green tea at a Chinese restaurant
What is your favorite Tea currently?
ginger peach tumeric
What is your next purchase?
something different...not sure yet
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
I like drinking tea while doing homework
Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
Got roped into this whole tea thing by my wife. Never really drank tea or much anything with caffeine. Recently the Mrs got into bowl tea ceremony and meditation and this piqued my interest enough to start drinking tea.
So far there aren't many teas that I don't like. I enjoy some roasty oolongs and like some darker Shou Puerh and Liu Bao.
I also very much gravitate towards gongfu tea practice teaware, as well as bowl tea teaware and pretty much anything to do with Chaxi - runners, trays, cups, bowls, etc. I'm sort of a gear addict in other endeavors, so I'm excited (and a little afraid) to see where this will lead me.
Thanks for reading,
MojoSlim
So far there aren't many teas that I don't like. I enjoy some roasty oolongs and like some darker Shou Puerh and Liu Bao.
I also very much gravitate towards gongfu tea practice teaware, as well as bowl tea teaware and pretty much anything to do with Chaxi - runners, trays, cups, bowls, etc. I'm sort of a gear addict in other endeavors, so I'm excited (and a little afraid) to see where this will lead me.
Thanks for reading,
MojoSlim
Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
Welcome, MojoSlim!
MojoSlim wrote: Got roped into this whole tea thing by my wife. Never really drank tea or much anything with caffeine. Recently the Mrs got into bowl tea ceremony and meditation and this piqued my interest enough to start drinking tea.
So far there aren't many teas that I don't like. I enjoy some roasty oolongs and like some darker Shou Puerh and Liu Bao.
I also very much gravitate towards gongfu tea practice teaware, as well as bowl tea teaware and pretty much anything to do with Chaxi - runners, trays, cups, bowls, etc. I'm sort of a gear addict in other endeavors, so I'm excited (and a little afraid) to see where this will lead me.
Thanks for reading,
MojoSlim
Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
Welcome, and sounds yummy! Whats your source for ginger peach turmeric?
LainMac wrote:AliceG wrote: How long have you been drinking tea?
For a while now, but recently I've started collecting tea pots and tea cups so I've been drinking tea nightly now. It's like a meditation for your mouth
What was your first Tea?
Green tea at a Chinese restaurant
What is your favorite Tea currently?
ginger peach tumeric
What is your next purchase?
something different...not sure yet
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
I like drinking tea while doing homework
Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
How long have you been drinking tea?
I've been drinking tea on and off for about 10 years (mostly bags and some loose leaf from a local shop), but only recently started delving a little deeper into it.
What was your first Tea?
The first tea I remember was a Yogi Tea's Green Tea Kombucha (I'm still unsure how they figured it was kombucha now that I brew the stuff).
What is your favorite Tea currently?
I'm currently enjoying Bao Zhong Oolong and Jade Oolong. We'll see where it goes from there.
What is your next purchase?
I'm looking at a few younger shengs and some white tea. I'm just getting really interested in all of it. Maybe try some Tie Guan Yin or Taiping Hou Kui
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Right now, my favorite spot is a Friday night at the local tea bar called Leaf tea bar. Tons of great people that are willing to indulge my endless questions.
I've been drinking tea on and off for about 10 years (mostly bags and some loose leaf from a local shop), but only recently started delving a little deeper into it.
What was your first Tea?
The first tea I remember was a Yogi Tea's Green Tea Kombucha (I'm still unsure how they figured it was kombucha now that I brew the stuff).
What is your favorite Tea currently?
I'm currently enjoying Bao Zhong Oolong and Jade Oolong. We'll see where it goes from there.
What is your next purchase?
I'm looking at a few younger shengs and some white tea. I'm just getting really interested in all of it. Maybe try some Tie Guan Yin or Taiping Hou Kui
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Right now, my favorite spot is a Friday night at the local tea bar called Leaf tea bar. Tons of great people that are willing to indulge my endless questions.
Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
How long have you been drinking tea? ...a handful of years. i'm from the southern united states and i dislike sweet tea so before i moved, it was tisane only for me.
What was your first tea? ...a very pretty, soft and tippy Chinese white served at a noisy, trendy shop in san francisco. the server was very gracious and taught me how to use the gaiwan, which i quite liked. i now have a slight gaiwan addiction.
What is your favorite tea currently? ...sencha, high mountain oolong and matcha. i also like young sheng and yancha, on occasion.
What is your next purchase? ...matcha from a few different vendors
Where is your favorite spot to brew up? ...in bed
What was your first tea? ...a very pretty, soft and tippy Chinese white served at a noisy, trendy shop in san francisco. the server was very gracious and taught me how to use the gaiwan, which i quite liked. i now have a slight gaiwan addiction.
What is your favorite tea currently? ...sencha, high mountain oolong and matcha. i also like young sheng and yancha, on occasion.
What is your next purchase? ...matcha from a few different vendors
Where is your favorite spot to brew up? ...in bed
Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
How long have you been drinking tea?
Gong Fu Cha since 2,5 years almost daily
At work in a Flip Brewer (130-150ml)
At home in different vessles (Gaiwan 50ml-100ml, teapots range from 30ml - 150ml)
What was your first Tea?
Japanase - Ceremonial grade matcha
Chinese - milk oolong (unfortunately scented)/Da Hong Pao
What is your favorite Tea currently?
All time favorite is Sheng (young), second place got to be Dan Congs (walnut/almond flavor)
What is your next purchase?
I guess Sheng PuErh and maybe again a new teapot
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Homesession and near at the danube river
Gong Fu Cha since 2,5 years almost daily
At work in a Flip Brewer (130-150ml)
At home in different vessles (Gaiwan 50ml-100ml, teapots range from 30ml - 150ml)
What was your first Tea?
Japanase - Ceremonial grade matcha
Chinese - milk oolong (unfortunately scented)/Da Hong Pao
What is your favorite Tea currently?
All time favorite is Sheng (young), second place got to be Dan Congs (walnut/almond flavor)
What is your next purchase?
I guess Sheng PuErh and maybe again a new teapot
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Homesession and near at the danube river
Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
How long have you been drinking tea?
tea bags : since birth (yes, still today when I don't want to hurt people's welcoming)
tea leaves : since 2008
What was your first Tea?
tea bags : lapsong souchong, twinnings
tea leaves : I forgot, but probably 正山小种 zhèngshān xiǎozhǒng
What is your favorite Tea currently?
Hard to say. I' would oscillate between a 云南野生晒红 yúnnán yěshēng shàihóng (sun dried Red tea of wild tea tree from Yunnan) in times where I need Yang teas,
and 云南勐库镇新白茶 yúnnán měngkùzhèn xīnbáichá (young white tea from Mengku in Yunnan) in times where I need Yin teas.
What is your next purchase?
Honestly don't know, but probably Yunnan tea again.
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
With people who like tea.
tea bags : since birth (yes, still today when I don't want to hurt people's welcoming)
tea leaves : since 2008
What was your first Tea?
tea bags : lapsong souchong, twinnings
tea leaves : I forgot, but probably 正山小种 zhèngshān xiǎozhǒng
What is your favorite Tea currently?
Hard to say. I' would oscillate between a 云南野生晒红 yúnnán yěshēng shàihóng (sun dried Red tea of wild tea tree from Yunnan) in times where I need Yang teas,
and 云南勐库镇新白茶 yúnnán měngkùzhèn xīnbáichá (young white tea from Mengku in Yunnan) in times where I need Yin teas.
What is your next purchase?
Honestly don't know, but probably Yunnan tea again.
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
With people who like tea.
Jan 23rd, '20, 01:10
Posts: 1
Joined: Jan 23rd, '20, 00:40
Location: New York City
Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
Being new here, let's do this...
How long have you been drinking tea?
Tea became a staple for me somewhere around a decade ago. Really only started getting into leaf tea maybe 5 years ago?
What was your first Tea?
Probably either Lipton or Tetley. My first loose-leaf was a Blackberry-Sage black tea.
What is your favorite Tea currently?
I've been super into Earl Grey and Darjeeling for some reason lately.
What is your next purchase?
A lot of varied tea. I have 2 yellow teas in the mail as I type this, and I'm looking into what to get after that. I just started studying for my tea somm. certification, so right now it's all about getting my hands on as much variance as I can.
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Home. There I can just relax and enjoy my tea, maybe some music, and my cat's company.
Past that, I'm stoked to be here.
How long have you been drinking tea?
Tea became a staple for me somewhere around a decade ago. Really only started getting into leaf tea maybe 5 years ago?
What was your first Tea?
Probably either Lipton or Tetley. My first loose-leaf was a Blackberry-Sage black tea.
What is your favorite Tea currently?
I've been super into Earl Grey and Darjeeling for some reason lately.
What is your next purchase?
A lot of varied tea. I have 2 yellow teas in the mail as I type this, and I'm looking into what to get after that. I just started studying for my tea somm. certification, so right now it's all about getting my hands on as much variance as I can.
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Home. There I can just relax and enjoy my tea, maybe some music, and my cat's company.
Past that, I'm stoked to be here.
Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
I am 53. Been drinking tea since childhood. My maternal grandfather came from British ancestry so I grew up drinking builders tea - English back tea with a lot of milk and sugar. I began drinking loose leaf teas in my 40’s and spent much time with Japanese greens/matcha, then Chinese oolongs - first greens, high mountain, milk silk, etc., and then amber oolongs. Over the last several years I have started to collect aged sheng puerhs. My current obsession is with Yixing clay teapots. I am in Cincinnati Ohio U.S.A. so all of my access to quality teas and teaware is over the internet and that can be difficult to learn from and to trust. I am looking to learn from other tea lovers where I can get authentic items for reasonable prices. Thanks!!
Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
I am 53. Been drinking tea since childhood. My maternal grandfather came from British ancestry so I grew up drinking builders tea - English back tea with a lot of milk and sugar. I began drinking loose leaf teas in my 40’s and spent much time with Japanese greens/matcha, then Chinese oolongs - first greens, high mountain, milk silk, etc., and then amber oolongs. Over the last several years I have started to collect aged sheng puerhs. My current obsession is with Yixing clay teapots. I am in Cincinnati Ohio U.S.A. so all of my access to quality teas and teaware is over the internet and that can be difficult to learn from and to trust. I am looking to learn from other tea lovers where I can get authentic items for reasonable prices. Thanks!!
Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
I'm 51, and just three weeks ago started drinking tea. I graduated from tea pyramids to loose leaf tea fairly quickly. I love oolongs and found a nice tea room in my neighborhood. It is packed to the rim with people but that's also nice. I sit around like a mad scientist writing notes about my tasting and smiling for no reason. I like sweeter oolongs but my palate is enjoying medium/dark oolongs as well. I've got a bunch of tea coming from taiwan and this virus outbreak has slowed shipping to a crawl 
.
.Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
Hi all - I'm new here - so I'll pop in some answers
How long have you been drinking tea?
Since childhood for sure. I'm a Brit and spent the first part of my life in India. The first few years were in Tamil Nadu (Ooty and the Nilgiri hills) and the last few years were in Darjeeling and Western Sikkim. Both areas with high-altitude tea estates. As such, I've had a strong connection to tea for a long while. I spent time in HK (back in the '90s) and learned to love Puerh there (mostly shou) as well as some other interesting black teas.
-
I only recently started focussing on tea as an enjoyable hobby. I realised how clueless I was. So I've been building a little experimental collection of sheng and shou puehr as well as some basket teas. It proves to be a pleasurable distraction from the crazy world we live in. It's doing some wallet damage.
What was your first Tea?
Most likely it was a local milky tea grown in the Nilgiri hills brewed up with jaggery or cardamom sugar (as a kid). I was a solid 'Twinings' drinker for a while - my mother's 'house brew' was a mix of good Earl Gray with no-brand indian black tea for a long time. That and a lot of single-estate Darjeeling.
What is your favorite Tea currently?
I found a local source for aged 'Lok On' and 'Liu Bao' which are both over 35 years old. The Jin Hua Liu Bao is spectacular. It smells like jujubes when brewed and has a delicate smooth sweetness. The Lok On smells and tastes like pinewood forests with an almost menthol hit in later steeps. Both teas are very hard to beat but I can't afford to make them a regular thing.
What is your next purchase?
I've just purchased a whole stack of V93 tuo and some CNNP 'old tea head' (Lao Cha Tou). Both are from 2007. I'll be buying some spring harvest silver-tip white tea as I'm nearly out. Also got a refill on some Xiaguan 2013 sheng tuo-cha... and I also got a 250g brick of 7962 from Dali (Menghai factory) which I'm looking forward to trying. I'm holding off on purchasing any more tea for a while.
Where is your favourite spot to brew up?
I prefer to brew up in a gaiwan at home and I do that for every tea now (white tea, oolong as well as puehr), but I also have a little yixing teapot at work (much to the constant curiosity of my colleagues, who think I'm a little eccentric by now I'm sure). I occasionally go make them sniff a fresh pot. The young sheng tea smells are never popular, it's quite fun to see what others think of some of the stranger tea aromas.
How long have you been drinking tea?
Since childhood for sure. I'm a Brit and spent the first part of my life in India. The first few years were in Tamil Nadu (Ooty and the Nilgiri hills) and the last few years were in Darjeeling and Western Sikkim. Both areas with high-altitude tea estates. As such, I've had a strong connection to tea for a long while. I spent time in HK (back in the '90s) and learned to love Puerh there (mostly shou) as well as some other interesting black teas.
-
I only recently started focussing on tea as an enjoyable hobby. I realised how clueless I was. So I've been building a little experimental collection of sheng and shou puehr as well as some basket teas. It proves to be a pleasurable distraction from the crazy world we live in. It's doing some wallet damage.
What was your first Tea?
Most likely it was a local milky tea grown in the Nilgiri hills brewed up with jaggery or cardamom sugar (as a kid). I was a solid 'Twinings' drinker for a while - my mother's 'house brew' was a mix of good Earl Gray with no-brand indian black tea for a long time. That and a lot of single-estate Darjeeling.
What is your favorite Tea currently?
I found a local source for aged 'Lok On' and 'Liu Bao' which are both over 35 years old. The Jin Hua Liu Bao is spectacular. It smells like jujubes when brewed and has a delicate smooth sweetness. The Lok On smells and tastes like pinewood forests with an almost menthol hit in later steeps. Both teas are very hard to beat but I can't afford to make them a regular thing.
What is your next purchase?
I've just purchased a whole stack of V93 tuo and some CNNP 'old tea head' (Lao Cha Tou). Both are from 2007. I'll be buying some spring harvest silver-tip white tea as I'm nearly out. Also got a refill on some Xiaguan 2013 sheng tuo-cha... and I also got a 250g brick of 7962 from Dali (Menghai factory) which I'm looking forward to trying. I'm holding off on purchasing any more tea for a while.
Where is your favourite spot to brew up?
I prefer to brew up in a gaiwan at home and I do that for every tea now (white tea, oolong as well as puehr), but I also have a little yixing teapot at work (much to the constant curiosity of my colleagues, who think I'm a little eccentric by now I'm sure). I occasionally go make them sniff a fresh pot. The young sheng tea smells are never popular, it's quite fun to see what others think of some of the stranger tea aromas.
Re: Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!
Hello. I'm Janny, 24 from New Zealand. I've been lurking around here for a while, finally introducing myself. Been drinking tea almost as long as I can remember, and started drinking the more refined loose leaf teas in 2014. I've been slowly building my collection and tastes ever since.
How long have you been drinking tea?
Since I could hold a mug. My mother and adopted aunts love tea, especially their loose leaf. Though they kept me on bagged until I was old enough to clean a teapot without breaking it.
What was your first Tea?
Dilmah Ceylon, teabag form. First loose leaf tea was a chai blend my mother made using real spices she bought with a black assam. No artificial flavors.
What is your favorite Tea currently?
It varies depending on the day and my mood. I love my Tie Guan Yin. And Dragon Pearls. And a steady favourite is Castleton darjeeling.
What is your next purchase?
Eight Immortals Phoenix Oolong, and some puerh. Not sure which puerh, still researching (I'm an utter newbie when it comes to that). But I'll place that when the mandatory quarantine is lifted and the postal system reboots.
Where is your favourite spot to brew up?
On the verandah, overlooking the native bush. Listening to the birds. Using my gongfu set, with a good book, and just relaxing while I enjoy the tea.
Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
How long have you been drinking tea?
Since I could hold a mug. My mother and adopted aunts love tea, especially their loose leaf. Though they kept me on bagged until I was old enough to clean a teapot without breaking it.
What was your first Tea?
Dilmah Ceylon, teabag form. First loose leaf tea was a chai blend my mother made using real spices she bought with a black assam. No artificial flavors.
What is your favorite Tea currently?
It varies depending on the day and my mood. I love my Tie Guan Yin. And Dragon Pearls. And a steady favourite is Castleton darjeeling.
What is your next purchase?
Eight Immortals Phoenix Oolong, and some puerh. Not sure which puerh, still researching (I'm an utter newbie when it comes to that). But I'll place that when the mandatory quarantine is lifted and the postal system reboots.
Where is your favourite spot to brew up?
On the verandah, overlooking the native bush. Listening to the birds. Using my gongfu set, with a good book, and just relaxing while I enjoy the tea.
Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk