I just thought I'd introduce myself and say hello from the Philippines.
I'm quite new to tea culture appreciation, though have been drinking tea since I was 3 years old, so please be patient and forgiving of this newbie.
Grabbed this from another topic and thought it would be use this as a guide:
How long have you been drinking tea?
What was your first Tea?
What is your favorite Tea currently?
What is your next purchase?
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
As I mentioned, I've been drinking tea since I was 3 years old... let's not say how long ago that was
. The first tea I ever had was the ubiquitous house Taiwan Oolong that they served in almost all Chinese restaurants back in the day but the tea that made me fall in love with tea as a whole was English Breakfast! It was sweet, smoky, floral, and easy for a young kid to appreciate and its clear deep amber liquor poured over a tall glass of ice made a yummy southern style iced tea! Then one day, I got handed a hand-painted gaiwan and a tiny pack of vacuum packed Tie Guan Yin to brew, which my mom got as a gift and according to her cost $$$. I looked at it and thought "how could something this small cost that much money? The person who gave it to you surely must've just been bragging. Nothing this little and this shriveled up could cost that much." And then I got a sip, I had never tasted anything that sublime in my life and never seen tea leaves so carefully processed you could literally see the veins. To this day Tie Guan Yin has got to be one of my favorites, if not my favorite.
I started researching teas and tea culture after that and was lucky enough to get some good quality Taiwan Teas that have been my staple till now, though there are more Chinese/Taiwan teas I'd like to try I'm now starting to get interested in Japanese Teas, hopefully I'll get my hands on some exceptional Gyokuro soon.
Just talking about tea gets me all excited to brew it. Nothing beats early mornings sitting at my little tea table looking out into the garden brewing and sipping on lovingly made tea
That introduction ended up being longer than I thought it would so thank you for reading my post and I hope to get to interact with you all in the forums!
Have a great day everyone!
-se7en8ight
