Durable teaware for mountain trip

[茶藝-TeaArt08]

Sounds like it is going to be an amazing trip!

Will you share some pictures of your tea sessions at the farm with us later? I'm very keen to see!

+1

茶藝-TeaArt08 wrote:
As far as gear goes, I noticed after numerous mountain pours, that a thicker walled vessel brews better outdoors due to wind convection heat loss (this is why I'd be concerned with a titanium gaiwan; titanium cools very quickly).

I'm a bit worried about that too, but I requested a price anyway -- it's so shiny! More likely going to get the celadon. Thanks for sharing your photos, setups are very beautiful, and with the surroundings it looks magical!

I don't know what the elevation and weather will be like at the farm, but when I brew outside in the mountains here, around 6,000 ft. elevation, the tea vessels cool quickly and it changes the brewing variables. I'm sure you'll find a way to get good tea going. For me, that green shib set in the pictures works the best in cooler weather. You can see that the cup walls are pretty thick and durable as well. Plus, it's a production set (like all three sets in the pictures) I bought in Taiwan last year so it's not irreplaceable if something happens to it. Though, with the shib and two cups placed in a tea tin with two tea cloths, I've hiked pretty far and not had any problems with bouncing around or breakage.

I have also just settled for the vaccum-sealed, metal-screened tea thermos and gotten by just fine. But there's something about having nice teaware in a beautiful setting. There are also bunch of inexpensive, mini travel sets that come with there own bag that can be bought fairly easily. I have one such set bought in the airport in Taiwan (the white shib set in the pictures by the stream) that comes in a padded case with six cups, a shib, and chahai, all tidily placed together. I paid $30 for the set and it's been durable and nice.

Blessings!

[teatre]

Will you share some pictures of your tea sessions at the farm with us later? I'm very keen to see!

Of course, I would love to! I know the nature is beautiful, hopefully my tea setup won't ruin it

What kind of farming do you do, or did, in such a remote place of Norway? Is the place abandoned and open for all or owned by someone you know/related to?

It was a wheat farm originally (maybe other grains), but there has been sheep and cattle later. The last to live there was a widow and her cow, together they survived there for I think a couple of decades.

It belongs to a friends family, but his parents/grandparents don't use it anymore. My friend and his younger brother love the place and go there several times a year, everyone who wants to join is welcome. Last summer, I think the youngest people there were about 20, and the oldest over 60!

I don't know what the elevation and weather will be like at the farm, but when I brew outside in the mountains here, around 6,000 ft. elevation, the tea vessels cool quickly and it changes the brewing variables. I'm sure you'll find a way to get good tea going.

I can't recall elevation exactly, I think it's slightly below 1000m/3000ft. As for good tea, I still struggle with brewing variables at zero elevation anyway

I have also just settled for the vaccum-sealed, metal-screened tea thermos and gotten by just fine. But there's something about having nice teaware in a beautiful setting.

That was my thought as well; it's so peaceful and quiet up there, and I find myself enjoying to brew already (not sure y'all would be impressed with my technique though:D). Heck, someone else there might be into Puer already, and we probably wouldn't have discovered that with tea bags. I'm going for it!

You can also make your own, efficient alcohol stove from a tin can that burns well. Just search the internet and there are many instructional videos on youtube

This reminds me of a story, didn't have time to write yesterday.

One of my biggest clients is a patent agency, I've been doing IT-related stuff for them for at least 10 years. These people really love their gadgetry - always some clever new stuff circulating.

One Friday, the boss himself showed up with a new type of alcohol-powered stove that was supposed to be very efficient. But when he tested it in the weekend, he discovered that it performed very poorly; couldn't bring water to a boil in wind-still conditions.

When he told this to his colleagues the following Monday, someone asked if he had read the manual before using it. Being an experienced outdoorsman, of course he hadn't even considered that. So he went to get it from his office, still wrapped in plastic. Once opened, the front page revealed "WARNING: DO NOT USE GASOLINE".

Immediately he proclaimed that it was his mistake to not have read the manual, and went off to a gas station.

The stove turned out to be VERY efficient, and so the joke still goes around there; always read the manual first

[茶藝-TeaArt08]

teatre,

Ha Funny about the gas instead of alcohol. I used to work at a mountaineering store here called R.E.I. Over the years I heard a lot of stories of people burning random fuels in their multi-fuel stoves. I heard of two climbers in Argentina using chicken fat grease when they ran out of fuel for their multi-fuel stove on a climbing trip. I also heard of someone successfully burning perfume in their multi-fuel stove when they had ran out of fuel...question is: why were they packing perfume?

One thing your trip and thinking about outdoor pours made me realize is that I have never taken teaware up a climb to brew on a ledge. I was imagining what an amazing pour that would be, sitting up on a big wall, on a nice sized rock ledge, pouring tea with a fellow climber. It got the wheels turning. It would make a great photo.

Blessings!

Blessings!

[Teaism]

teatre,

Ha Funny about the gas instead of alcohol. I used to work at a mountaineering store here called R.E.I.

Blessings!

Blessings!

Really small world. I used to order a lot of stuff from R.E.I.

[MEversbergII]

Uff da! Didn't pick up on you being in Norway. Can't imagine winter camping in Norway to be easy in the least.

M.

[teatre]

I used to work at a mountaineering store here called R.E.I.

Ah, that explains your in-depth knowledge of the stoves and all!

I also heard of someone successfully burning perfume in their multi-fuel stove when they had ran out of fuel...question is: why were they packing perfume?

Maybe they were expecting to meet someone special in the mountains?

I've seen a guy look at a perfume bottle, realize it contains alcohol and then drink it up By the look on his face, it didn't taste much different from fuel, so I'm not surprised it worked!

I was imagining what an amazing pour that would be, sitting up on a big wall, on a nice sized rock ledge, pouring tea with a fellow climber. It got the wheels turning. It would make a great photo.

A famous place nearby comes to mind - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preikestolen.. I don't think I'm going to be climbing up there anytime soon though:



Very tourist-heavy spot, haven't been there in years. But still a nice trip and the view is amazing on a clear day - I'll bring some tea to add to the experience next time, for sure!

Uff da!

Do you have some nordic genes there? or just Google-translating?

(it means something like "oh no!"/"ouch!", can't think of a better translation)

Can't imagine winter camping in Norway to be easy in the least.

Winter camping here is rough, for sure. Especially with the polar bears and meat eating penguins and all.

Spring thru autumn can be lovely, though!

Have a nice weekend

[MEversbergII]

I used to game with some Norwegians years back, and had dabbled in the language. I've also seen it rendered "I feel for you". I use the phrase pretty frequently. I do this for a variety of different languages (Yelling POR QUE! when something goes wrong hilariously, along with various other progressively more explicit things in German, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish, Estonian, etc.)

M.

[Hannah]

I had similar trip before and I brought along a MSR Whisperlite International stove, a MSR titanium kettle and a titanium cup. That is good enough to power up any Pu.

That is some nice gear for sure! I'm a bit confused, did you just brew in the cup then? Or boil water elsewhere and brew in the kettle?

Found some interesting titanium teaware at keith-ti.com (can't post links yet; product is in "drinkware" category)


Just over $300 for the lot, waaaay out of my range of course.. I think I will request a price for just the gaiwan, otherwise getting something sub-$20 and crossing my fingers.

Whatever you bring- stuff it with your socks

I may be new around here, but I'm NOT falling for that!!

I am fortunate enough to have grown up on a large farm (aussieland) which has a forrest shack in the hills which my Dad built. It's about 20km from any road and about 30km from any people. Has a lovely look-out view over the town 50km away. This looks PERFECT for that - it's a REALLY bumpy drive there!!
Am seriously considering saving up for this set to put out there... I'm moving back with my Dad soon (saving money for a house and rent is too much!) so I'll be spending a lot of time in that little shack I love it there!

I have 4 meters worth of titanium in my spine - sometimes I wish I could take it out, smelt it down into something more useful!! It's valuable stuff!!

[Chip]

I have 4 meters worth of titanium in my spine - sometimes I wish I could take it out, smelt it down into something more useful!! It's valuable stuff!!

Wow, but I think it is even more valuable right where it is now!

The shack and location sound awesome.

[teatre]

I am fortunate enough to have grown up on a large farm (aussieland) which has a forrest shack in the hills which my Dad built. It's about 20km from any road and about 30km from any people. Has a lovely look-out view over the town 50km away.

That sounds fantastic!! I went down under once in (oh god) 2001; fantastic travel experience. Didn't get to see much of the wilderness though; if I ever make it back, it will be on the top of my list.

I have 4 meters worth of titanium in my spine - sometimes I wish I could take it out, smelt it down into something more useful!! It's valuable stuff!!

Oh wow, 4 meters worth?! ... how'd that happen if you don't mind me asking?

Best of luck with your savings/purchase by the way! I hope you don't have to sell your spine to afford it -- over here, $500.000 gets you a 2-bedroom apartment in ok location, a very small/old house in a bad location, or a decent house in a horrible location.

[MEversbergII]

Hannah's spine is more valuable than my net worth

M.

[Hannah]

I am fortunate enough to have grown up on a large farm (aussieland) which has a forrest shack in the hills which my Dad built. It's about 20km from any road and about 30km from any people. Has a lovely look-out view over the town 50km away.

That sounds fantastic!! I went down under once in (oh god) 2001; fantastic travel experience. Didn't get to see much of the wilderness though; if I ever make it back, it will be on the top of my list.

I have 4 meters worth of titanium in my spine - sometimes I wish I could take it out, smelt it down into something more useful!! It's valuable stuff!!

Oh wow, 4 meters worth?! ... how'd that happen if you don't mind me asking?

Best of luck with your savings/purchase by the way! I hope you don't have to sell your spine to afford it -- over here, $500.000 gets you a 2-bedroom apartment in ok location, a very small/old house in a bad location, or a decent house in a horrible location.

Haha thank you!! housing is about the same here - more expensive in the city but luckily I'm not living there!

No real "injury" that caused it, I was born with pretty bad scoliosis in an S curve. Eventually got told at 19 that if I didn't do something about it, I wouldn't be walking in a few years due to compressed nerves - easy decision!!
Normally a fusion like mine only requires about 1 meter worth of titanium and screws (I have 23 screws) but my bone grafts didn't take properly as I was crushed against the railing at a Rammstein concert soon after... the concert was worth it so more bracing titanium was needed! I'm basically wolverine now LOL