Tuesday TeaDay 9/16/08 Craving Asian Teaware?

BYOT! Enter TeaChat here, you never know what you may find!


CRAVE FACTOR for Asian-styled TeaWare, what is your personal crave factor?

10 I cannot resist the call of Asian teaware
18
35%
9 I realllly realllly crave Asian teaware
5
10%
8 I realllly crave Asian teaware
5
10%
7 I certainly crave Asian teaware
3
6%
6 Yep, cravin' Asian teaware
5
10%
5 Maybe, though crave might be too strong a word
4
8%
4 I like Asian teaware, maybe, but not craving it.
7
14%
3 No, I do not crave Asian teaware
2
4%
2 Don't really like Asian teaware.
2
4%
1 Hate Asian teaware.
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 51

User avatar
Sep 16th, '08, 12:58
Posts: 1046
Joined: Jan 15th, '08, 19:24
Location: Syracuse, NY

by Cinnamon Kitty » Sep 16th, '08, 12:58

I like Asian style teaware, but it is not something that I crave. There are definitely pieces that I would like to acquire at some point, but there are very few pieces that I have craved and absolutely needed to have.

Chamekke, that is an absolutely gorgeous cup!

My current tea for the day is some sort of greener oolong that I don't remember the name of and don't feel like going back to the tea cart to see what it is. I generally don't care for green oolongs, but I had been brewing them at lower temperatures so today I decided to try this sample with boiling water. It is actually drinkable, rather mild with a subtle green apple fruity flavor. It might be stale though.

User avatar
Sep 16th, '08, 13:00
Posts: 8065
Joined: Jan 8th, '08, 06:00
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Southern CA
Been thanked: 2 times
Contact: Victoria

by Victoria » Sep 16th, '08, 13:00

No tea this morning at home, I was up too late last night tea shopping!!!

Here at work now I'm enjoying some Sweet Flower Oolong
from TeaSource. Delicate and nice.

Have a nice day everyone!

User avatar
Sep 16th, '08, 16:03
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Been thanked: 2 times

by Chip » Sep 16th, '08, 16:03

Temomi-cha from Sugimoto, USA. Not actually available stateside, but Pentox pulled a coup! Thanks for making this available to me, Pentox.
Photos from Pentox's blog, "Me and my tea." Tea from Pentox, and can be viewed on his blog from this link.
ImageImage

This is probably the finest made sencha I have ever seen. My kyusu is almost full of these perfect and still very green WHOLE leaves, it is an amazing sight to behold. At roughly a buck a gram and using the recommended 10 grams per 2 ounce steep (a whopping 5 grams per 1 ounce of water on the TeaChat scale), this is also likely the most expensive tea I ever tried as well. $10 for this session (though it was compliments of the vendor and Pentox).

I am definitely buzzed right now.

User avatar
Sep 16th, '08, 16:26
Posts: 995
Joined: Feb 8th, '08, 14:22
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Contact: auggy

by auggy » Sep 16th, '08, 16:26

Wow, that's the loveliest sencha leaf I've seen.

User avatar
Sep 16th, '08, 17:29
Posts: 216
Joined: Aug 20th, '08, 16:08
Location: PA, USA

by Smari » Sep 16th, '08, 17:29

Chip wrote: ImageImage
Wow, that looks incredible! Would love to get me hands on that :twisted:

Sep 16th, '08, 17:57

by Photiou » Sep 16th, '08, 17:57

Smari wrote:
Chip wrote: ImageImage
Wow, that looks incredible! Would love to get me hands on that :twisted:
Yep, looks very nice. Something to crave in addition to new teaware...

User avatar
Sep 16th, '08, 18:05
Posts: 8065
Joined: Jan 8th, '08, 06:00
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Southern CA
Been thanked: 2 times
Contact: Victoria

by Victoria » Sep 16th, '08, 18:05

Switched now to some Black Dragon Oolong from Tao of Tea sent to me by GeekGirl -
I had tucked this one away at work and forgotten about it. It is
actually very good for an oxidized oolong.

User avatar
Sep 16th, '08, 19:33
Posts: 316
Joined: Jul 23rd, '09, 10:30
Location: Concord, New Hampshire

by leiche » Sep 16th, '08, 19:33

When I crave teaware, it's always Asian.

Chip, I wish those leaves were actually part of that cup, embedded in the glaze. I may have a thing for leaves... I so want Geek's leaf cup!

Assam Majulighur TGFOP this morning, Wuyi Amber via Red Blossom all afternoon.

User avatar
Sep 16th, '08, 19:33
Posts: 704
Joined: Aug 21st, '07, 15:53
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Connecticut
Contact: CynTEAa

by CynTEAa » Sep 16th, '08, 19:33

Before joining TeaChat, my teaware cravings were under control. Not so much anymore. I find myself viewing Japanese items with the most covetous eyes.... :shock:

Yunnan Gold to start and then some Spring Darjeeling. It's been a light TeaDay which explain my tiredness.

User avatar
Sep 16th, '08, 20:46
Posts: 2625
Joined: May 31st, '08, 02:44
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Portland, OR
Contact: Geekgirl

by Geekgirl » Sep 16th, '08, 20:46

leiche wrote: Chip, I wish those leaves were actually part of that cup, embedded in the glaze. I may have a thing for leaves... I so want Geek's leaf cup!
If you're talking about my little brown porcelain maple leaf cup, it was very reasonable, about $10-11 I think. The artist is really nice, I'm sure if you contacted her you could easily get one. :) Not to tempt you or anything. Ha!

So I had the Tao of Tea "limited edition" fire rings tea today. The jury is out on this one. It has a very strange tangy taste, it seems very astringent, but it's not quite astringency, more like the sour taste you get off a dish cooked with bamboo shoots. I'm not sure if I like it. I'll probably play with temperature/time/quantity a bit to see if I can get the "special tea" experience out of it. It's a beautiful tea, looks lovely at all stages, but the taste... I'm prepared to be disappointed. Tao of Tea can be so hit and miss, sometimes their regular teas are superior, and sometimes their "superior" teas are just crap.

It's the inconsistency that keeps them from being a top shop for me, which is a shame since they are local.

User avatar
Sep 16th, '08, 23:34
Posts: 109
Joined: Aug 12th, '08, 15:42
Location: Canada
Contact: Wosret

by Wosret » Sep 16th, '08, 23:34

Asian teaware = yes please!

I found some Taiwanese tea (I think it was) at the grocery store across from my office today. It's actually loose-leaf and was vacuum-packed! Made a little wooshing noise when I cut open the foil. Not bad, either. Jasmine. :)

User avatar
Sep 16th, '08, 23:47
Posts: 8065
Joined: Jan 8th, '08, 06:00
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Southern CA
Been thanked: 2 times
Contact: Victoria

by Victoria » Sep 16th, '08, 23:47

GeekgirlUnveiled wrote: So I had the Tao of Tea "limited edition" fire rings tea today. The jury is out on this one. It has a very strange tangy taste, it seems very astringent, but it's not quite astringency, more like the sour taste you get off a dish cooked with bamboo shoots. I'm not sure if I like it. I'll probably play with temperature/time/quantity a bit to see if I can get the "special tea" experience out of it. It's a beautiful tea, looks lovely at all stages, but the taste... I'm prepared to be disappointed. Tao of Tea can be so hit and miss, sometimes their regular teas are superior, and sometimes their "superior" teas are just crap.

It's the inconsistency that keeps them from being a top shop for me, which is a shame since they are local.
Ack! I subccomb to this one in the wee hours of the morning.
<---- tells herself $8.00 isn't bad for a decorative tin.

User avatar
Sep 16th, '08, 23:59
Posts: 2625
Joined: May 31st, '08, 02:44
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Portland, OR
Contact: Geekgirl

by Geekgirl » Sep 16th, '08, 23:59

You never know, you might like it. It might be that I brewed it at work where I don't have as much control over parameters.

User avatar
Sep 17th, '08, 00:26
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Been thanked: 2 times

by Chip » Sep 17th, '08, 00:26

Great bike ride, rolling back home minutes before total darkness. I celebrated by enjoying Ancient Tea Flowers O/FTC from Rishi. I liked the old Upton version I had more, but now this has grown on me. This stuff just keeps on brewing too.

Locked