I just don't get this about brewing

[teaisme]

[edkrueger]

Gingko, gang is correct. Religions are like gangs, you join up and begin to believe that you are living life correctly. Tea drinkers seem to fall into a similar trap.

For some people its even more major. Some even refer to the leader of their tea gang as a god.

[tingjunkie]

Gingko, gang is correct. Religions are like gangs, you join up and begin to believe that you are living life correctly. Tea drinkers seem to fall into a similar trap.

For some people its even more major. Some even refer to the leader of their tea gang as a god.

What chu talkin bout Willis?

[tortoise]

Looks like we scared off teageekah. Hopefully they are still brewing tea.

[David R.]

poof

I should have saved the beautiful photo when I had the chance !

[AdamMY]

Looks like we scared off teageekah. Hopefully they are still brewing tea.

To tell you the truth He (she) asked the exact same question in at least 2 other tea forums and I do not think they have been back to check on either one since. In fact only the one on Teachat received more than a reply or two, possibly due to the side bar discussion this one got into.

[bagua7]

there are many ways and one Clear way

I like that.

The Way. There are Buddhists, Daoists, Sufis, Vedanta followers, Kabbalahists, Mystic Christians, etc. and all follow their own practices trying to reach spiritual liberation...all seem valid (to me). Same can be said about Taijiquan, Baguazhang, Xingyi, Liuhebafa, Ziranmen practitioners, etc. each with their way of understanding the flow of Qi and the role of the mind during practice...all seem valid (to me).

Same can be said about Cha Dao...nothing should be written in absolute terms. I enjoyed glass of cold sheng puerh this morning after I left the the fridge last night's brew; it was hot and humid, as it usually is down here tropical Australia; not that it really cooled me down (a cup of green tea would have done the real job) but I enjoyed it.

Maybe the only absolute I know of is that to prepare tea you need H2O.

[tingjunkie]

Bagua7, in your opinion, is anyone who drinks tea a "Cha Dao practitioner?" Is drinking cold puerh from your fridge a form of Cha Dao? What about tea bags?

I would argue someone who brews tea bags, but really focuses, pays attention and continuously trys to push the tea bags to their meager limits is more of a practitioner of Cha Dao than the person who buys 50's Red Label and only pays attention to the flavor notes. Cha Dao is NOT a religion, buy it is a "way" which requires dedication and reverence for the leaf, the farmers, and nature itself. Everything else is just drinking tea. Nothing wrong with being a tea drinker, but calling all tea drinking a "way" is a little too touchy-feely, "I'm ok, you're ok" for my tastes.

[Tead Off]

Cha Dao is NOT a religion, buy it is a "way" which requires dedication and reverence for the leaf, the farmers, and nature itself.

So is life. One can single out bananas as 'a way'. One brings to the table an accumulation of ideas and beliefs, lots of information, garnered from reading books and talking to others. None of this has anything to do with simply drinking tea without looking for anything. This is something that cannot be practiced but discovered.

[bagua7]

Bagua7, in your opinion, is anyone who drinks tea a "Cha Dao practitioner?"...

Why not? If you drink from a tea bag and suddenly experience satori in your kitchen, wouldn't this be a cha dao experience? I would give a definite "yes."

Now define me religion, please? And don't use a conventional mind.

[gingkoseto]

Ho ho... I am sure op could get quite a headache by reading all the posts s/he induced

I took time to read page 1-3 again and am more confused. So Tingjunkie mentioned (on page 1) he wouldn't fully pack a pot except for some Yan cha. Tead Off mentioned he sometimes use 1/3 to 1/2 full pot for some oolong (on page 2). So basically I don't see what differences you two hold. The leaf/water ratio you guys use look quite similar to me. Also I think what wyardley said about leaf ratio not equal to leaf mass (on page 3) is very important. Besides 1/2 full in a 50ml pot is not the same as 1/2 full in a 100ml pot. So isn't it very possible that 1/2 full of Tead Off's pot is pretty much the same or similar enough to, say, 2/3 full of Tingjunkie's pot, or the other way around? Isn't it very possible that Tead Off and Tingjunkie often drink tea in a very similar way anyway?

Now we are talking about using more tea or less tea in a brewing, but I haven't yet seen a clear definition line about what's "more" and what's "less". It would be clearer for everybody if there is a line drawn, for example, (x+_0.5) grams of #%! tea in a y ml pot. Then we can start from there and find out whether all the people are talking about the same thing.

[tingjunkie]

Bagua7, in your opinion, is anyone who drinks tea a "Cha Dao practitioner?"...

Why not? If you drink from a tea bag and suddenly experience satori in your kitchen, wouldn't this be a cha dao experience?

Oh, good. We're discussing reality now. I think I'll take a pass on defining religion though thanks. That's harder than defining "art."

[Tead Off]

Ho ho... I am sure op could get quite a headache by reading all the posts s/he induced

I took time to read page 1-3 again and am more confused. So Tingjunkie mentioned (on page 1) he wouldn't fully pack a pot except for some Yan cha. Tead Off mentioned he sometimes use 1/3 to 1/2 full pot for some oolong (on page 2). So basically I don't see what differences you two hold. The leaf/water ratio you guys use look quite similar to me. Also I think what wyardley said about leaf ratio not equal to leaf mass (on page 3) is very important. Besides 1/2 full in a 50ml pot is not the same as 1/2 full in a 100ml pot. So isn't it very possible that 1/2 full of Tead Off's pot is pretty much the same or similar enough to, say, 2/3 full of Tingjunkie's pot, or the other way around? Isn't it very possible that Tead Off and Tingjunkie often drink tea in a very similar way anyway?

Now we are talking about using more tea or less tea in a brewing, but I haven't yet seen a clear definition line about what's "more" and what's "less". It would be clearer for everybody if there is a line drawn, for example, (x+_0.5) grams of #%! tea in a y ml pot. Then we can start from there and find out whether all the people are talking about the same thing.

Gingko, to me, packing the pot means packing the pot. I take the term literally as opposed to using 1/2 the pot full of tea leaves. I'm sure Tingjunkie enjoys drinking tea as much as I do no matter how he prepares it. When we look into our cups full of tea, we not only see the color, we see ourselves reflected back to us.

[wyardley]

Also I think what wyardley said about leaf ratio not equal to leaf mass (on page 3) is very important. Besides 1/2 full in a 50ml pot is not the same as 1/2 full in a 100ml pot.

Also, when eyeballing by volume, the shape of the brewing vessel and how much you tap it after adding the tea (or how you build up the tea leaves) makes a big difference.

[TIM]

Bagua7, in your opinion, is anyone who drinks tea a "Cha Dao practitioner?"...

Why not? If you drink from a tea bag and suddenly experience satori in your kitchen, wouldn't this be a cha dao experience?

Oh, good. We're discussing reality now. I think I'll take a pass on defining religion though thanks. That's harder than defining "art."

‎"Great Spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediorcre minds"- Albert Einstein