Thursday TeaDay 1/21/10 TeaSession length?

[Victoria]

Currently drinking some FLT - First Place Baozhong from Winter 2008. Still tastes pretty good, but I'm trying to finish it up soon. Raining on and off today but not the big storm that was expected.

[Skippyandjif]

Whenever I make tea, it's definitely a time commitment-- this is because I drink two cups if I'm not having anything to eat, or I make one cup but accompany it with a snack (I'm a horribly slow eater). It takes anywhere from forty minutes for one cup to seventy or eighty minutes for two. This is factoring in the time it takes for me to get all my paraphernalia (cup, spoon, hot pot, tea ball, tea leaves) in order, heat the water, steep the tea, let the tea cool, and then sip it in a slow and relaxing manner.

Right now I'm drinking some lapsang souchong; earlier, I drank a couple cups of low-grade Chinatown pu erh. It's much better than having no pu erh though!!

[Chip]

Late visit to TD today. Average session is likely around 30 minutes, just depends on how many distractions or interruptions there are which can extend it hours I guess. But I like to go straight through with steep after steep ... til done.

Began the TD with a O-Cha Yutaka Midori and then Gyokuro from Maeda en with DW. Ran out of time for a third tea ...

[bsteele]

Having my first taste of Adagio's Foxtrot. It's tasty... maybe a little less mint would be nice? Either way, VERY refreshing.

[debunix]

Duration varies.

In the AM before work, I may be lucky enough to slip in a quick session with sencha or gyokuro--2-3 infusions only, from setting kettle on to rinsing pot & cup, about 10 minutes. (Did not have time for this today)

During the workday, I hope for 10-15 minutes to brew a quart thermos full of tea to take with me to meetings or clinic to share, and get us through the day. So is that session 10 minutes to brew it or the two to five hours it takes to finish off the quart? (Drank a quart of yunnan gold bud black tea with osmanthus)

At more relaxed sessions at home, tea may be going on through much of the day, perhaps a more thoughtful gongfu session with a puerh, perhaps a quicker green tea, perhaps a comparative tasting of a couple of teas--tending to longer sessions, 30-90 minutes, where the tea may be the focus of what I'm doing, or a side note to reading/cooking/chores. (Another 6-8 infusions of a ginger flower fragrance Dan Cong this evening).

[Seeker]

Hmmm. Haven't voted yet, gotta 'talk' it thru here first. Let's see, depends on whether I'm photographing my matcha. Also depends on the tea, and whether I include multiple infusions in the definition of 'session'. So for me a wide range depending on tea and life context. So I suppose anywhere from 15min to 2hours. Don't know how to vote. I'll consider what the average might be. Hmm, I guess 30 min or a little more?

[Symmetry]

I wish it could be longer, but on average about 25 minutes. That's from picking out my tea (I usually smell several, to see what my nose tells me) through brewing and drinking.