Hello from Alabama

Please introduce yourself here to our membership


Feb 5th, '13, 11:03
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Joined: Feb 1st, '13, 20:05

Hello from Alabama

by Arshness » Feb 5th, '13, 11:03

I'm Arsh and I'm a new tea addict.

I have always loved a good cup of hot tea, but I can no longer call the stuff I used to drink "tea". I used to enjoy those flavorless bags because it felt nice to drink a hot liquid. Now I'm experiencing delicious tea and it's wonderful. Tea was my birthday gift to myself and now I'm on the lookout for the right tea hardware. I can't make myself leave Adagio's website alone for a full day. Hi everyone. Nice to meet you!

I'm also a freelance illustrator and illustration student. Is it just me, or do there really seem to be quite a lot of artists who enjoy tea. Hmm. :)

Arsh

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Feb 5th, '13, 12:42
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Re: Hello from Alabama

by Chip » Feb 5th, '13, 12:42

Arsh ... preparing tea can be an art, yes :idea: :?: :mrgreen: especially with the right ... instruments.

Welcome to TeaChat. Hope to see you around the place!

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Feb 5th, '13, 22:19
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Joined: Dec 12th, '12, 15:45

Re: Hello from Alabama

by amaranto » Feb 5th, '13, 22:19

Welcome to the forum from another native Alabamian! What part of the state are you from?

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Feb 5th, '13, 22:52
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Joined: Dec 29th, '09, 14:28
Location: Cazenovia, NY

Re: Hello from Alabama

by GreenwoodStudio » Feb 5th, '13, 22:52

Welcome.....to the Darkside :)

Feb 6th, '13, 07:19
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Joined: Feb 1st, '13, 20:05

Re: Hello from Alabama

by Arshness » Feb 6th, '13, 07:19

Thanks Chip!
Amaranto: A little corner of Jasper where I hide from the rednecks and bigots who can't stand eccentric blue-haired artists like me. (We hope to move out of state one day. We really just don't belong here.)

Greenwoodstudio: Oh cool. Are we having black tea then? I like my tea like I like my lightsaber wielders. (On the Dark side... haa... uh. yeh. I'm totally lame.)

So um.. hi everyone. Tea is yummy. :)

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Feb 6th, '13, 21:27
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Re: Hello from Alabama

by amaranto » Feb 6th, '13, 21:27

You may want to try a little further south if you don't get out of the state soon. There are some great people in Birmingham and Mobile, but you just have to find them :)

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Feb 6th, '13, 21:30
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Re: Hello from Alabama

by AdamMY » Feb 6th, '13, 21:30

Welcome Arsh!

I always wonder how some of our Southern US ( or really from other places known for warm climate) members drink tea year round. Up here in Yankee land the winters are great for tea drinking, the springs and falls are also very nice, but I find even the 80-85 degree days we have in summer horrible for drinking tea ( I often still do it though, but its no where near as nice).

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Feb 6th, '13, 21:39
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Re: Hello from Alabama

by amaranto » Feb 6th, '13, 21:39

After moving to Mexico City, where the weather is pretty much in the 70s all year around, I realized that southerners spend a LOT of money on air conditioning :D

Feb 8th, '13, 15:11
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Re: Hello from Alabama

by Arshness » Feb 8th, '13, 15:11

AdamMY,

Well, I usually drink tea cold in the summer. I only started drinking proper loose-leaf tea recently, so I haven't had a summer with good tea yet. Southern tea is usually just brewed like coffee (sometimes even in a coffee machine) and filled with sugar until it counters the bitters and then we add it to a full glass of ice and sometimes add a wedge of lemon, or squeeze lemon into it for flavor. That's Southern tea.

I'll drink Southern tea occasionally, but don't prefer it. To be frank, I'd rather have a Coke. (In the South, all sodas are called "a coke". You can say to a waiter, "Give me a coke." and they'll ask, "What kind?" because you could mean Dr. Pepper or Mountain Dew as easily as you could mean Coca-cola. It's just a funny slang around here.)

As of now, I'm enjoying coffee-like teas in the morning for breakfast and before breakfast. That is, I'm enjoying hazelnut and Aquarius tea which is based on hazelnut, and both have a rather "coffee-like" smell to me. I like the taste far better however! I suppose I should say I'm enjoying lattes for breakfast. I like my hazelnut or Aquarius tea with a bit of creamer and sugar. I also like my Masala chai that way.

I'll drink a warm cup of chamomile or Earl grey as the day goes on. I prefer some Chamomile before bed. I don't tend to add cream to Earl Grey or Chamomile. They are better without, in my opinion. Just a little teaspoon or two of sugar for those.

Interestingly, as I started drinking tea, I was using about 2-3 Tablespoons of sugar for a 16 ounce cup because I was used to doing so with store-bought bagged tea and it was undrinkably bland without sufficient sweetening. I don't normally like things too sweet. What is very interesting is that as I've begun drinking loose leaf tea or as I'm calling it "REAL tea", I'm enjoying less and less sugar in my cup. I've already reduced to 1-2 TEAspoons depending on the variety. Right now I have a cup of warm chamomile and I think the 2 less-than-level teaspoons I used were a touch too much. I think 1 teaspoon for chamomile is just right for me. I'll be trying that for the next cup.

To better answer your question, (and with apology for the tangents) I believe this Summer I will be steeping white, green and herbal varieties and refridgerating them for cold tea all day. I don't think I should enjoy hot tea when it is 90+ outside with 80%+ humidity! Perhaps for a breakfast tea, but I think throughout the day, I shall prefer a cold glass of iced tea.

I may make sun-tea and ice it as an idea.

I have just ordered raspberry green, decaf blueberry and wild strawberry herbal. I imagine that these blends would work well for Summertime iced-tea varieties. But I suppose I'll see.

Mar 25th, '13, 19:42
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Joined: Mar 24th, '13, 19:43

Re: Hello from Alabama

by h2oprnt » Mar 25th, '13, 19:42

I am too from Alabama, I am near Huntsville. I know nothing of teas right now, but am interested in finding more people close to me to drink with, and share knowledge.

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