Monday TeaDay 7/20/09 TEA related idiosyncrasies?

[depravitea]

My biggest tea idiosyncracy is that I go to the tea isle at any grocery or market I enter, even though I rarely buy anything. I go through the isle and survey what brands they have for sale,

I do that too! Even if we wind up going to a store two days in a row, if we forgot something, I'll still go down the isle! You never know, they might have gotten a shipment in of something AWESOME since the last time we checked...

My local Fred Meyer has TWO tea isles!
One is in the health/organic section and the other is the regular tea isle. So I get to check two places in one store BONUS.
Honestly, I just like looking at it all lol

[Jack_teachat]

My biggest tea idiosyncracy is that I go to the tea isle at any grocery or market I enter, even though I rarely buy anything. I go through the isle and survey what brands they have for sale,

I do that too! Even if we wind up going to a store two days in a row, if we forgot something, I'll still go down the isle! You never know, they might have gotten a shipment in of something AWESOME since the last time we checked...

+2

- I used to not like using a new teapot/brewing vessel if one of my other ones was dirty, but I have stopped doing this now and tend to wash them all together.

- If guests are coming round for tea, I like to have my wares arranged neatly on the "tea-shelf" and take them down as required.

Can't think of any others for now!

First tea today was Yame Sencha Kurogi Supreme from new vendor Umami-Chaya, see my first impressions on it in the Green Tea Forum!

Jack

[Chip]

I also do not like to use the same teapot twice in a row ... or the same day either really.

Similar to some others icluding Sal, I really LIMIT the Japanese teas that I have open because I am a freshness FREAK!!! But also a variety FREAK. Pretty hard to balance these 2 idiosyncrasies!!! So, I almost always have a light steamed and a dark steamed sencha open, one matcha, and one gyokuro, and one kukicha.

Began the TD with Takumi shincha from Zencha, very good sencha from Yame!!! Present and participating in the event was SweeTea while a pack of kitties circled the TeaTable.

[Intuit]

Not any really. I like variety in my tea and teaware, but I don't crave it nor require it. I can drink the same 'go-to' teas daily for a season, then find delight in switching tea types and vessels that suit. Within season, I use fresher teas for less frequent use, to experiment and broaden my palate. I'm still on my tea journey - it's all good!

It keeps tea drinking interesting enough for me. Fine TKY in my cup this morning.

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

Forty years ago, the first men landed and walked on the moon. Lifting my cup in honor of this spectacular achievement.

Cheers to NASA and the astronauts of Apollo 11!

[Victoria]

I'm not sure I have any tea idiosyncrasy. Can't think of any.

In my cup this morning some of my precious Glenburn Estate
Vintage Wiry 2008, of which soon there will be no more - EVER.

That is very sad when you consider there will always be Lipton's.

Have a nice day everyone!

[Maitre_Tea]

I think most of my tea idiosyncrasies have to do with tea ware. I tend to treat them as if they were alive. I try to rotate through all of them so none of them feel unloved. Some of my teapots have chips on the lid, and although they're still usable, I always get sad whenever I use them.

As I've mentioned before, I have an insatiable hunger for teapots. I don't think I've ever walked out of a tea store without buying something. I also don't like to drink the same tea twice, and also the same kind of tea twice, unless I'm comparing two teas.

Enjoying some Organic Ooigawa Fukumashi from O-Cha. I'm surprised by how "potent' the flavor is, even though it is organic. I've been using the same amount of leaf as always and it's turning out fine.

[sriracha]

I go to the tea isle at any grocery or market I enter

Yup I do that too. I want to see if something new has come in. It rarely happens.

Weirdly enough it seems like bagged tea is taking over, just a few years ago there was more loose tea on sale than now. Most supermarkets only offer a few varieties-Lipton's, Twinings' and perhaps one other. For every loose tea there's like 10 bagged ones. Bit sad, that.

[Maitre_Tea]

I go to the tea isle at any grocery or market I enter

Yup I do that too. I want to see if something new has come in. It rarely happens.

Weirdly enough it seems like bagged tea is taking over, just a few years ago there was more loose tea on sale than now. Most supermarkets only offer a few varieties-Lipton's, Twinings' and perhaps one other. For every loose tea there's like 10 bagged ones. Bit sad, that.

I also have a vendetta against bagged teas. I know that some bagged teas, especially the triangular pouch ones, can hold higher quality stuff, and there's a time and place for bagged teas...but not in my house. I remember one of my friends always drinks bagged Lipton. I've "threatened" to change the tea inside the teabag with dirt, and I also told him that he probably wouldn't notice a difference.

[Geekgirl]

I have tea (mostly "ware") obsessions, but nothing that's really idiosyncratic unless you are someone who doesn't drink tea. I don't generally use the same chawan 2 days in a row, but sometimes I do. If I had a good session with a tea, sometimes I'll do a second. I rarely re-purchase the same tea twice, but I do sometimes.

Generally, I prefer not to cross-brew (chinese tea in japanese teaware,) but I don't stick to that "rule" either.

About the only real quirk is that I do not like to have my teaware sitting with the face of the pot/bowl/cup turned away from me, and I prefer not to drink from the face. So it has been pointed out that I have a bit of a turning habit. I will pick up the cup, turn it 180deg, drink, then turn it back 180deg, and set it back down. But even that has its exception, because I ALWAYS drink from the face of the teacup with English wares.

Heh. I need a little clown hat.

[leiche]

I also have to check out the 2 tea isles in my local supermarket! Mine does sell some loose leaf in tins, actually, but nothing very good.

I like to have a variety of teas on hand, but will often drink the same 2-3 for days on end. I get anxious if I have fewer than 5 different teas in my cupboard. I tend to correct this by overbuying.

At the moment, I'm roasting some oolong using the rice cooker method suggested by Imen. Hopefully things will turn out well!

[sriracha]

@Riene: Yes, the pie was a success!

The recipe was rather simple, ingredients follow, metric system:

Crush 15 Digestive biscuits, mix with
125 g butter(I added a tiny bit of salt as well

Put the mix in a suitable pan

175°C oven, 8 minutes

Then mix 5 egg yolks
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1dl(100 ml) lime juice

and pour on top of the biscuit mix

bake for another 15 mins.

Let it cool a bit and then pour

45 mls of syrup/treacle(I'm not sure which is correct here :O ),
15 ml lime juice
the seeds from half a vanilla pod
the zest of 1 lime

on top. Then I put the whole thing in the fridge for a couple of hours. Served with whipped cream.

In other news this has been a fabulous tea day, had friends over and we had TGY, Dian Hong Xin Zhen, Shui Xian, Victoria's 1st flush Darjeeling and some Assam in an endless stream! How will I ever sleep...

[olivierco]

Karigane gyokuro this evening.

[geeber1]

G'morning all
This morning I'm just sipping on some iced Pina colada herbal. I'm not enjoying the limitations on my caffeine intake though, especially if it's going to be for a long 41wks

Have a great tea day!

Hmmmm, 41 weeks - as in the time it takes to grow a little person?

[Chip]

Asatsuyu chumushi shincha from Rishi. Quite good again. This is one of their new sencha line up.

[Geekgirl]

I wonder if tea photography would be regarded as idiosyncratic, as Sal suggested yesterday?

Well, I like it. I think I'm on the edge of another learning jump because my photos have gone all to crap again. (This happens to me when I'm experimenting with new lenses, angles, lighting, etc. I can't get a shot I'm happy with to save my life.)

This chawan particularly eludes my ability to capture its detail. I can get little pieces of it, but not a satisfying full shot. Loquat glaze chawan.