Only about 2 years... My TEAquest only began about 4 years ago in my freshman year of college, but even then I was only making fancy sweet tea. In my junior year I had a slightly larger fun-budget and tea got the largest slice of it as I started discovering various online resources & vendors.
I'm topping my night off with my first sheng, the '04 Najian Phoenix Tuo. I swear (and someone will probably kill me for this) that it tastes 100% like the gunpowder greens that I tried back when I first started my 'serious' journey into tea.
A little late to post this but I forgot to post how I got into loose leaf 
It was about 4 years ago over the summer, when my older brother came home from college with some Republic of Tea lapsang souchong that he thought I would like. To say the least he was right.. After several cups of lapsang and tea talk I thought $12 was too much for tea so later I bought some twinnings and other bags over the next 4 years but I never forgot how amazing the lapsang souchong was so finally I bought some online. While awaiting its shippment I found a local tea shop and bought some earl grey cream. This is where teachat comes into the picture. I got home with no idea how to brew this great tea until I found teachat on a google search. From here it snowballs into lots of tea tasting, buying and dreaming tea.
White peony and ceylon gunpowder in my cup yesterday
It was about 4 years ago over the summer, when my older brother came home from college with some Republic of Tea lapsang souchong that he thought I would like. To say the least he was right.. After several cups of lapsang and tea talk I thought $12 was too much for tea so later I bought some twinnings and other bags over the next 4 years but I never forgot how amazing the lapsang souchong was so finally I bought some online. While awaiting its shippment I found a local tea shop and bought some earl grey cream. This is where teachat comes into the picture. I got home with no idea how to brew this great tea until I found teachat on a google search. From here it snowballs into lots of tea tasting, buying and dreaming tea.
White peony and ceylon gunpowder in my cup yesterday
May 14th, '09, 19:52
Posts: 508
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silvermage2000
May 14th, '09, 20:38
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Joined: Jan 31st, '09, 12:41
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Dreamer
Chiming in a bit late on this topic...less than two years for me.
DH's family drank Lipton and he got me started on that way back when.
I almost quit tea altogether several years ago due to adrenal issues (caffeine does
do a number on exhausted adrenals). Occasionally I would have a cup at breakfast on the weekend or a glass of iced tea.
I found out about matcha...yeah caffeine, but oh that sweet theanine...not so much
of a killer to the adrenals!!! Then sincha, sencha, gyoruko and now oolongs and back to blacks!
Mmmmmmm, tea!
Dreamer
Edited on 5/16...I didn't mean "not oolongs" I mean "now oolongs". One letter makes a big difference, huh?
DH's family drank Lipton and he got me started on that way back when.
I almost quit tea altogether several years ago due to adrenal issues (caffeine does
do a number on exhausted adrenals). Occasionally I would have a cup at breakfast on the weekend or a glass of iced tea.
I found out about matcha...yeah caffeine, but oh that sweet theanine...not so much
of a killer to the adrenals!!! Then sincha, sencha, gyoruko and now oolongs and back to blacks!
Mmmmmmm, tea!
Dreamer
Edited on 5/16...I didn't mean "not oolongs" I mean "now oolongs". One letter makes a big difference, huh?
Last edited by Dreamer on May 16th, '09, 13:11, edited 1 time in total.
May 14th, '09, 21:28
Posts: 43
Joined: Apr 24th, '09, 20:46
Location: California
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emeraldrobot
I've been drinking tea more or less seriously for ten years now. I used to be way into oolong tea, then moved more to green, then oolong again, then jasmine, now i'm back into green and getting into puerh. I like some flavored teas, but not very many of them. I'm really wanting to try ceylon again because its been so long that I can't remember anything about it!
I've started going to classes at teance, a tea store fairly close to where I live. Just the next step for me.
I've started going to classes at teance, a tea store fairly close to where I live. Just the next step for me.
I've been drinking tea since I was a teenager. My parents always had coffee, and I loved the aroma, but never could handle the harsh taste. I started making myself a cup of tea so I could sit at the table with the adults, on those Sunday afternoon family visits. It was much better than being sent to babysit the kids!
Although my neighbors are all barbarians,
And you, you are a thousand miles away,
There are always two cups on my table.
--Tang Dynasty
And you, you are a thousand miles away,
There are always two cups on my table.
--Tang Dynasty