Friday TeaDay 7/31/09 Best tea of July?

[Mrs. Chip]

Japanese Greens all the way ... you mean there are other types of tea

Sal great shot today, those figurines are extremely beguiling as well as the tea in your photo today. Gyo runs a very close 2nd to YM for me, but I must admit that 'Sal's magic gyo blend' was the best ever tea I have had. (Guess I should have posted that in yesterday's topic!)

Great TeaDay so far, starting with 88 Nights and currently have Kukicha w/Matcha in my cup. I realize this is becoming a staple for me at work, it is such and easy brew and is quite delightful.

Have a TEArrific TeaDay everyone.

[twinofmunin]

I am definitely on a Japanese green kick. I think my current favourite is o-cha's Uji Miyabi... delicious. Smells absolutely astounding. Also have been trying various matchas and trying to develop a proper taste for them before the whole bowl is gone because it's too tasty.

[olivierco]

Just curious: Why is my post count static? It does not increase.

same for me, but it works on other parts of the forum.

I just did test posts in TD in my name and then in Olivier's, each time the post count increased. So, please retry I guess and let me know.

test

edit: not working

[Chip]

Odd ... mine just went up 1. OK, I will look into this.

[olivierco]

Odd ... mine just went up 1.

Odd indeed

[TIM]

Hmmm.... I had a few good tea this month. But the Anxi Xiping TGY kept me revisiting.

Trying it with a Gaiwan, a Zhuni pot and a zisha to see the differences. So far, the result of using a Gaiwan is the best.

[Chester Copperpot]

I'm gonna have to go with "other," since my best teas from July are actually tisanes, specifically rooibos. Not a big fan of black teas (I'll drink 'em, but I've yet to find one I'm ga-ga over), and the only green and white teas I've liked so far are flavored ones, so sometimes I feel a bit like the odd man out on the forums ("your favorite teas are tisanes? Then you're not a REAL tea lover. Shouldn't you be shopping at Teavana?"). Is this all in my head or is there real tea snobbery at work

[Mrs. Chip]

I'm gonna have to go with "other," since my best teas from July are actually tisanes, specifically rooibos. Is this all in my head or is there real tea snobbery at work

As our Mod says ... "Drink what you like and like what you drink!"
As you have had to notice, most of the TeaChatters here prefer loose leaf, and some premium teas, and a lot have a favorite type i.e. Japanese Greens. And then again, a lot of the members have been imbibing for years and their taste by their own admissions have changed over time!!!

It is fun to read about all the different tastes and preferences in tea. We do not all like the same teas and that's ok! Glad you are here with us, and BTW I love your avi.

[Chip]

I'm gonna have to go with "other," since my best teas from July are actually tisanes, specifically rooibos. Not a big fan of black teas (I'll drink 'em, but I've yet to find one I'm ga-ga over), and the only green and white teas I've liked so far are flavored ones, so sometimes I feel a bit like the odd man out on the forums ("your favorite teas are tisanes? Then you're not a REAL tea lover. Shouldn't you be shopping at Teavana?"). Is this all in my head or is there real tea snobbery at work

Well, perhaps a bit to that. I like the wine addage, "Like what you drink and drink what you like." I use this in posts actually and variations there of.

I have also seen the reverse, tisane drinkers acting snobbish towards tea drinkers. I think what is important is our own personal attitudes towards others' tastes and preference.

But of course, most of us think our personal fave is simply the best, period.

My fave for the month of July is Japanese, no surprise there I am sure. Actual specific fave tea for the month, I am thinking and cannot pick a clear #1 fave.

Began the TD with 88 Nights from Sugimota which is right up there on my list for the month. SweeTea seems to enjoy this one as well, although Fuji still stole the show.

Moved on to Takumi from Zencha as I have been trying to figure out the aforementioned by some of our European contingent TD glitch

[entropyembrace]

my favourite this month was a white tea I had at a local tea lounge...I think it was a kind of Bai Mu Dan. It had a fantastic summer fruit flavour...kind of like mango, apple and peaches and a cleansing dry finish.

[tea-guy]

Korean of course! A rich and delicious Gamnong from PuriPan Tea Garden.
http://www.puripanteagarden.com/


In my cup this day: Roasted Milk Tea by 3:15PM.
http://www.315pm.com/ProdForm.aspx?ProdID=4712134662226

[geeber1]

So far I seem to be the lone vote for 'Other Indian,' specifically Nilgiri. I absolutely love Nilgiri Glendale Handmade - and it's been a fave all month.

Honey Orchid Oolong this morning, but now iced Ceylon to help combat the 98 degree heat which makes me feel like:

[sriracha]

I voted other since I'm not really sure, partly because I don't know which teas were from this month...hm. Might have been Victoria's fab Darjeeling tough.

I have an unopened bag of something similar from the same estate sitting on my kitchen countertop but I really need to finish a few teas before tearing open yet another package

Today has seen no-name Yunnan, a bit of pu erh(which I let one of my colleagues smell and he said it "smelled both good and bad at the same time"), genmaicha and right now I'm having some Dian Hong. Good tea but I'm not sure I will re-order, it's a tad too much in yer face* for me, I think.


*=edit-especially since i forgot the last steeping in the pot and it's been there for at least fifteen minutes =_=

[Drax]

What does kombucha qualify as? I suppose it originally started as a Chinese tea... hrm. I spent most of the month with some oolongs and kombucha. Definitely in a TeaRut(R).

Speaking of which, I've been nursing this anxi oolong all week!

According to wikipedia, "The recorded history of kombucha began in Ukraine and Russia during the late 19th century."
Looks like you need to select OTHER lol

Ah, interesting! Well luckily I had picked 'other' out of uncertainty. That's a close one, the poll-ice might have been after me!

[Drax]

I tried a powerful tasty 2008 Rou Gui from Seven Cups. It wasn't exactly a refreshing summer beverage, but it was goooood. Very chocolatey, with an aroma that just flew up into my nose. Later infusions reminded me of sweet baked goods, along with some fruit notes I couldn't place.

Got it in a wuyi sampler. I love samplers.

Never heard of Seven Cups before, so I just checked them out. They have a HUGE selection.
Do you typically like what you get from them?

Seven Cups was one of the first places that I found when I started looking into tea. I bought my first yixing teapot there, a beautiful pot that I use for oolongs.

I also bought some of their mini-tuochas for puerh (because I didn't know any better at the time, heh), as well an oolong and a green tea or two. Good stuff. Not sure I can say it's any better than other sources, but whatever

Chip -- by the way, my last two posts here have not incremented by post count. Still 771. Not that that's a big deal, but just throwing in a couple extra data points on the discussion.