Monday TeaDay 7/5/10 Mid term conclusion?

[Chip]

Happy happy happy Teaday everyone. You are all welcome to TeaDay! Please drop in and sit a spell, share what is in your cup, and answer today's topic!

We discussed of all things "TeaChat" over the weekend. You can still vote and discuss the weekend's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Last of the Tea MidYearTerms. I think. Over the first half of the year, has your brewing improved, stayed about the same, or regressed? Please share.

Bonus, give your brewing a MidTerm grade.

I am looking forward to sharing this teaDay with everyone. Bottoms up.

[olivierco]

Stayed at about the same level. I however kill less teafairies than before.
Keemun this morning.

[debunix]

Brewing is a little better. Better tools helped--the Pino kettles really make things a lot easier. I am a little concerned, though, that my touch is off some with some of my teas--the darker oolongs and puerhs--in part because I've been spending so much time with the greens!

Case in point: Sunday started with a shincha fest, comparing several shinchas and while technical difficulties with the camera setup interfered with the first infusion, it was still delicious, all the way through the 4th, with four teas coming out so tasty that I had a hard time finding any significant differences between them! But my later infusions--first infusion of a sample of a new Dong Ding oolong from Norbu and first infusion in my new pot of a longtime favorite Dan Cong--were both off.

And we just won't talk about how much Bai Mu Dan I wasted in an attempt at iced tea, which I seem to need to try about once a year, and once again, this will not be a summer filled with iced tea. But this really doesn't count, because I expect it to fail.

[Marco]

Improved - at least I hope so.
And it has to improve further on.

Here at work I am just drinking a herbal that is called "inner peace" - man will I calm down - nearly falling asleep.

cheers
Marco

[ladybean]

I'm thinking I improved a little. Gave myself a C. I've only been at this about a month but with black teas I've managed to tweak things enough to get a decent pot of tea. I think having two pots helped a great deal, as previously I'd only had the one and was struggling with a cotton bag as a filter.

After learning it might be holding back some of the flavor I got a second pot(which had a built-in strainer, yay!)to let the tea float freely and started transfering the tea between pots. Much better, along with more careful timing and measuring of water. I've been enjoying making tea ever since.

Currently, I'm working on a blend of chocolate chai and honeybush chocolate. First cup is always without sweetener. Here goes!

[JBaymore]

Stayed at about the same level. I however kill less teafairies than before.

+1

[Skippyandjif]

I definitely got better, if only because I tried several new types of tea and now know how to brew them to my satisfaction.

Pu-erh in my cup this (HOT!! ) morning.

[JRS22]

I have definitely improved my ability to brew sencha. How did this happen? Buying better teas and researching brewing methods on Teachat.

Now on to gyokuro....so I'm ready for the final exam.

[artmom]

Definitely improved - gave myself a B.

GD Alex is visiting this morning w/grand dog Bella. Barclay and Bella are having a great time playing together - they are each about 15 months old. Bella is a beagle.

Alex and I had a pot of MF Marco Polo this morning. This girl has good taste.

[Chip]

OOOPS, fixed the poll for 2 votes!!! So vote again.

I think after a while it is hard to improve, and improvements become smaller and smaller. I would say about the same for this year so far. I cannot imagine improving on where I am currently. My tastebuds might explode! So, an A ... hoping for an A+ sometime down the road.

Began the TD with Moe shincha from the 3 Stooges Collection with the Mrs. OK, it was Moe from Zencha. A pretty inexpensive FF shincha that has good value.

This was a prelim tasting for OTTI Round 4, still some spots open BTW! Hope for a few more participants.

[nickE]

I think my brewing has improved. I've been slowly learning how to brew Japanese greens, so there's that. My Puerh skills have stayed much the same, and I'm happy with that.

Today I had a session with the '09 Douji "Dadou" mini-brick. Xiaguan-like compression made this a battle for leaves! Once enough were attained though this was a marvelous session.

This shengpu was pretty intense. I believe I got between 20-25 infusions with it before I got kinda bored, mostly because I was tired of refilling my kettle. Flavors such as sugar, leather, & roasted corn. Delicious! Very strong bitterness that never faded even during the 20th infusions. Steep time never went above 1 minute!

[entropyembrace]

Yutaka Midori Supreme and Taiwan Wuyi today

the oolong looks really dark after all the green stuff I´ve had lately!
The green stuff is good...but oolong I´ve missed you!

[LauraW]

I definitely got better, if only because I tried several new types of tea and now know how to brew them to my satisfaction.

+1! I'd give myself a B overall, as it sometimes takes a couple tries to get a tea right, but it's definitely improved, and so has the quality and variety of tea.

I'm just gonna post a little longer here instead of breaking it up (since I haven't had internet since Friday). Over the weekend, since I was visiting parents, I didn't end up with any tea on Friday (sad day), had a pot of a greenish oolong on Saturday at my favorite tea shop in town - and got a box of it to bring back, about which I'm very excited - and a bubble tea! Sunday: tea-less, Monday: got home about 6 and had some Yunnan Noir with some fresh ginger slices in it since my stomach hadn't yet calmed down from the turbulent flights today. It really helped and the flavors went together pretty well!!

[Victoria]

In my last cup of the day cup a Shan Lin Xi sample which was quite delicious but I don't know from which vendor it came. Crazy.

My brewing continues to improve I guess, and a new favorite gaiwan changes things up a bit.

[debunix]

Today was a better brew day: A-. A group tasting of the OTTI I shinchaaaas!, a more than nice Wuyi Shui Xian oolong, and now a light floral Dayu Shan oolong from a sample I got with a recent purchase at Wing Hop Fung: not a great brewing because I had to make it light in deference to the late hour.