Until I discovered loose leaf teas a few decades ago, thought I disliked tea. Lipton didn't cut it for me.

Had been an Assam or Darjeeling drinker for much of that time period but have discovered I prefer Chinese black teas-Keemun and Yunnan. While I like oolong, find I prefer something more robust. In fact, still need that espresso roast coffee in the morning.

Have developed a modest collection of modest tea sets over that time span-6 Asian and and 2 European styles. 4 of the 6 being Japanese, primarily ceramic with 1 tetsubin. Since 1 of my European sets was made in Japan, guess that makes it a Japanese set.

Just got into Yixing having picked up 2 in the past month. Prefer the figural styles. Not all that knowledgeable about tea and can see where hanging around here might prompt me to buy any number of teas but generally like to support a fine tea shop in Wichita, 110 miles from me, the Spice Merchant. So, not being that knowledgeable, probably won't have much to contribute, but like this place. Earl