One of my most enjoyable tea sessions yet

[bsteele]

Today, I was in the city doing some work and got a chance to hang out with some friends I went to school with/lived in same apt complex with and had a fun impromptu green tea session. One of the guys' roommates happened to have a gaiwan --which I don't think really gets much mileage, it had some old, dried up tea spots in it --and some loose leaf green tea (by the looks of the wet leaf I'm guessing bancha... I couldn't read the canister).

The tea didn't really taste that amazing... not bad just, you know...eh. Pretty cheap quality stuff. Not to mention the bottom of the can showed a date of Aug 2007, haha.

We gathered around the gaiwan in the kitchen, talked about whatever, and the tea just happened... I didn't have my trusty thermometer, I didn't measure out the leaf, I didn't time the infusions... I didn't do anything I normally do. I even made some hojicha for them.

It was an incredibly fun and memorable time. It was so good to get a chance to share the experience with friends... to catch up on life while drinking old, crusty tea

Edit: So what has been one of your favorite tea moments?

[JustinW]

It's amazing how seemingly outside factors such as your environment, your mood, or company can affect how much you enjoy your tea. Like what you did, when I 'just do it', as in not measure anything, and just make some tea, it usually turns out more enjoyable. Thanks for sharing!

[subdude1]

One of my most memorable cups of tea happened a few year ago during a solo camping/fishing trip. It started raining shortly after I set up my tent and didn't stop for three days. Every item of clothing I had with me was wet. I was miserable. At the end of the last day I arrived back at camp and decided to try to build a fire to warm up and maybe dry out a little. With a small fire smoldering and sputtering from the damp wood, I put a kettle of water over it to make some tea I found in the bottom of my pack. How long it had been there was anyones guess. When the water was steaming, I tossed a small handful of the leaf into the kettle. No luxury of a proper teapot here. That first sip soothed my soul unlike anything I'd experienced before. Sitting under a tarp sipping tea and listening to the rain fall through the trees in a forest in the middle of nowhere was the most unexpected enjoyable cup I've ever drank.

[Beidao]

sudude1 - that's such a good story! thanks!