Saturday TeaRoom 12/06/08 Personal or social tea drinker?

[auggy]

Riene, I love your sig line.

I voted absolutely personal, but then realized that I probably should have voted that it is mostly personal since I do share it with DH (though we typically are in different rooms IM'ing about our impressions of the tea) and have enjoyed sharing new teas with my parents. I also am looking forward to SIL's trip here as she has been asking to be introduced to the joys of loose leaf. But ultimately, I'm happiest when it is just me and my tea cup. Partly because I don't have to worry about pleasing anyone else with the tea, just myself.

Keemun in my cup this morning. My first sip of it ever. At first sip I didn't think I'd like it, but by the third sip, I had fallen just a little bit in love.

[Robertwolf1]

Almost always by myself but I would like to share with friends occasionally if I had any that drank tea.

[kymidwife]

As usual, my knee-jerk response to the tea poll is not exactly the same as my answer after reflecting a bit.

I answered definitely more personal... because while I make tea for friends and family, no one in my world is anywhere near as into it as I am... and I definitely drink more tea alone than socially.

But, I wasn't factoring in TeaChat. I always have tea when I'm reading the forums or chatting, and I definitely enjoy my tea more now than I did before I found Teachat.. it's nice to be among likeminded friends (tea junkies).

So, I still think tea is more personal for me, but Teachat gives me a social element that I would miss very much if it were not there.

In my cup this morning... some Sikkim Estate Darjeeling called Golden Delight. Pretty good.

Sarah

[olivierco]

Fujian Baroque (Adagio) this afternoon. A little too light to my taste. Not very expensive though.

[kongni]

I said that it is personal for me.

Last night I had a casual cup of herbal tea with a friend. There was nothing special about the tea and the topic of conversation was not tea. I also drink tea with dessert when visiting my parents. Again, the tea is not the focus of the social interaction we have. If anything it's the Grand Marnier shot before the tea that my dad gets all giddy over

Just had a kombucha after a nice massage. On to my newly acquired organic fukamushi!

Happy tea day everyone!

[Victoria]

In my cup this morning Bohea from Tao of Tea. This stuff
just blows me away. Love it.

Happy Saturday everyone!

.

[RussianSoul]

I often get together with my friends Junjai, Guoliang and his wife May Way to drink tea. Mostly on weekends, but sometimes after work, we gather in one of our homes and take out our current offerings. I humbly bring my TeaSpring or Floating Leaves purchases, my friends have teas they bought during their visit to the mainland when they went to visit their families. May Way’s father often sends her teas. Most of the time I don’t know what their teas are called. But it is not important, they taste great and the camaraderie around the process takes care of the fact that we don’t have much language in common. We drink tea from tiny cups, smile and show appreciation using gestures. We are friends in tea, that’s all that counts.

Pinch, pinch. Ouch! What a nice dream…

I mostly drink tea alone. Occasionally I bring tea to get-togethers with my friends, but I know their tastes by now and bring flavors and fruit blends. It’s nice, but not the same. My husband drinks matcha with me sometimes. But I don’t know anyone IRL who shares my tea tastes.

[Maitre_Tea]

For me, it depends. I think of tea as a social thing. Whether it's English ladies enjoying afternoon tea, or a group of grandpas sitting around at some park sipping Gong Fu Cha and smoking. However, right now tea is enjoyed more personally, because I'm forced into this position. Since no body around me really enjoys tea the way I do, I'm sort of forced to go it alone. But when I'm with the few friends I do drink tea with, we have a grand time making tea a social thing

[chad]

Mostly personal.

My wife will share some chamomile in the evening and an occassional weekend cup of tea. Co-workers know I drink tea and I'm always ready to share if any want to try the different teas I keep at my desk. So I guess I'd like it to be more social, but that's not the way it usually shapes up!

No tea yet today! Had a nice cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee on the way to a Habitat for Humanity meeting this morning. I'll probably go fix a mug of chai soon.

[Cinnamon Kitty]

Tea is definitely more personal for me. Though I drink tea with other people every so often, it tends to be a rare occurrence. When I am home, my father and I will have a pot of tea together in the evenings, but that is about it.

I started today with some Casablanca Twist and am now on the third steep of the Glendale Nilgiri Handmade.

[Chip]

A little bit of this, a little bit of that ...

I am a rather introverted IRL. So, I do cherish moments alone with a cup of tea by nature. But I also try to live dangerously and share tea socially ... and actually enjoy it very much.

It is a bit of a dream of mine to share tea with many people I have never met before, to share the wonders that can be revealed through much time also spent alone learning.

O-Cha Chiran YM this morning. I blended some Adagio Sencha Overture and Karigane for an interesting session. On the road, had a very good sencha bag.

[olivierco]

Darjeeling Risheehat SFTGFOP1 after dinner.

[sheila77551]

Terrasi wrote, "I'd love to share, but no one ever seems interested". That's exactly where my tea drinking is at.
But...., all alone with a nice cup of tea in a lovely English bone china a cup, a sterling silver spoon and holder, all on a hand embroidered, white on white antique, cotton organdy placemate with some beautiful music playing softly in the background.....sounds so nice and peaceful, that I think I am going to go make it happen.
Peacefully,
Sheila

[Victoria]

In my cup this afternoon Seven Cups 2008 AliShan oolong.
Not bad, not bad at all.

[ABx]

I first thought of the forum and friends, but I mostly drink alone and I had to ask myself: if I had nobody else to share or talk about tea with, would I still be as into it as I am? The answer is a definite yes, although I don't think that I would have the same kind of variety, because I wouldn't know about as many vendors.

With that said, however, I have a few people that I can share tea with on occassion. I am friends with a married couple that like to come over on occassion just to have tea. They're not into it as much on their own, but it seems to be more a matter of being afraid to make that leap (probably financially, but partially also making online purchases). I can also take some tea up to my local tea shop and have tea with the owner (who is from China). His English isn't the best but we find a way to communicate through gestures and I always learn quite a bit. Lately he hasn't been around the shop as much, though. At some point I just need to start taking my laptop out to a teashop with wifi and do my work there - maybe meet some local people there.

Of course then there is the chat and forums here

So I chose mostly personal, but I do enjoy the social aspects when possible. I honestly can't see not having any social aspect at all, because even if I don't talk about tea with anyone in my personal life, I still often end up talking to vendors, even if just to ask a question or two.