Wednesday TeaDay 4/29/09 TeaFortune?

[Janine]

Hmmm. Maybe I'd open up a tea drinking forum in NYC. But, nah, my Mom's Depression-era upbringing (coupled with my grandparents' survival stories) is still too strong - I'd feel guilty throwing away money without trying to make a profit somehow.

Hmmm. Partners... heheh


Today - don't shoot me but I'm drinking iced coffee this morning. After a slight hot weather spell in NYC I'm thinking of combining my love of black teas with a green infusion and I'm thinking perhaps a green darjeeling - although I don't have any.

Any suggestions for sources? Tea Gallery got me samples long ago and I wasn't that interested at the time, but maybe I'll ask again.

Whaddya know?... I found a green darjeeling topic on TeaChat.

[ErikaM]

Oh, absolutely. For one, I would have gone hog-wild ordering shincha instead of picking out 4-5 to try.

Lu Shan Yun Wu this morning.

[Cinnamon Kitty]

Definitely yes. My budget is very tight at the moment, I would be able to buy more tea as I want it, instead of analyzing if I can afford it compared to to the level of the want. I would definitely order more shincha than the two that I have pre-ordered and start exploring more gyokuro and even get into matcha. I would also be less afraid to buy more expensive oolongs, not the really expensive ones, but the ones that I would like to try that are out of my current price range. It would be nice to be able to replace some of the teas that I had gotten a while ago that are no longer something that I really enjoy, but for now, I don't want to waste them since my current tea stash is dwindling and would like to finish them off before justifying buying new teas.

Currently in my cup is Den's sencha fuka-midori, which is on my list of teas to finish off before my shincha order arrives.

[Intuit]

The majority of the changes in tea habit would be travel-related. I'd very much like to visit several international tea research centers. Visiting highly-regarded teashops and interacting with tea masters to answer questions on certain oolong and green tea cultivars and their processing would be quite informative, but not necessary for thoroughly enjoying tea in my future.

I would like to build an international genome database of tea cultivars, soil analysis, climate data and chemical analysis of infusions (using serial extractions) to improve general knowledge of factors influencing taste and odor character of more than a thousand teas and their preparation.

Scots Breakfast to start, Keemun later on.

[Victoria]

Very busy day at working trying to get caught up!

In my morning work cup: Rose Black Tea from ToT

[teashionista]

I voted yes! First, I would start buying my teas from the source: an annual trip to India for Darjeelings in late spring, and a summer trip to China for oolongs would do Then maybe a trip to Japan and Shri Lanka thrown in here and there...

I would also drink a lot more sheng pu-erh. I've tried 10-yr old stuff, and can definitely see myself drinking it on a very regular basis... would love to try some 20+ year Menghai, but afraid I'll get addicted If I had an unlimited budget, I'd start working on a collection for the future, and buy good aged pu for now.

In my cup today: Den's Sakura Sencha (what's new in this world?!) I've never gone through a package faster: 2 oz lasted me 5 days...

[entropyembrace]

Definitely! I'd open a tea shop! Painted warm colours with lots of cozy places to hang out with friends and sip tea, fresh pastries and sandwiches for when you get the munchies and of course nearly every kind of tea imaginable from single state Darjeelings and Ceylons to aged Oolongs and Pu-erh to Sincha and Matcha....and I'd have to learn the taste of everything in the shop!

I'll probably do it eventually, but if I was filthy rich I wouldn't have to worry about starting capital.

[Pentox]

Hm, I'd probably change a little bit, but not too much. I already have more tea than I can drink, and yet I still order more. I'd probably order some of the more unusual teaware like a sorapot and some molo velocity stuff. Maybe not care so much about shipping and order stuff as I felt like it more.

But I would still want to keep in search of different teas and try more and more out.

[Chip]

I would think I would try some more teas on a whim, and be able to share more teas with others.

I really do enjoy the teas I already have. I cannot imagine teas being that much better. And often more expensive or "higher quality" does not equate to better tasting.

The biggest change would be "direct from source" travel, most definitely!

Began the TD with Shincha Magokoro "YM" from Yuuki-Cha which was quite nice today. SweeTea joined in. Gandalf was the only spectator today.

[brad4419]

Yes, most definatly!

The main difference would be instead of buying bulk cheaper teas for everyday use and just a few more expensive ones to try I would reverse that. Bulk expensive teas(Xi Hu Long Jing) and sample cheaper ones.

I also would give my friends and family lots more good teas to try.

I probably would drink a different tea everyday until I tried them all and then start over again

[auggy]

No, most likely no real change in tea. Mostly because I have a pretty good disposable income and an understanding (even encouraging) hubby, so I have a generous amount at my disposal already - I just choose not to use all of it and I can't see that changing if the amount I was able to spend increased.

Vietnamese vanilla today. Working with all the lights off and the blinds closed. Yesterday I had a super-bad migraine and today I'm still light sensitive (but otherwise okay so I count it as a net positive).

[Victoria]

This afternoon I'm having a nice Oriental Beauty that my sister-in-law brought me back from the Cha No Ma Tea store in Hawaii.

A very nice tea, I'm quite enjoying it.

[Chip]

Spring Sprout CFT/O from Rishi, very much enjoyed sharing this with DW. I have been going to a small stash of this left over from a tasting last year. I swear it is better now than then which is unusual for a green.

[jazz88]

@auggy – sorry about the migraine. I know how it feels ...

For me it's not about buying. I would rather have a butler serving me high tea every afternoon. Then a japanese garden with a tea house. Perhaps a tea bowl collection ...

Anyway, had a few cups of Darjeeling #22

[Saifuddin]

I voted for maybe, but of course it would change it somewhat. I would just try to save as much of my fortune as I could, so now very much of it would go into tea.

Mao Feng grade white tea in my cup right now