Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!

[AfrikanParadox]

Good Morning,
my account just got activated lol so im going to intro now

How long have you been drinking tea?
I have been drinking tea regularly a little over 2 months now. I started with Teavana and immediately started looking for an alternative.

What was your first Tea?
Unfortunatley for me, my first taste of loose tea was Silver Needle, which with that being said you could imagine my face when i went up to the counter to get a few ounces of it.

What is your favorite Tea currently?
I'm torn between Oolong tea for pleasure and Black ( Golden Monkey but i am waiting on samples of Yunnan Noir and Black Dragon) in the morning. Both are extremely important in their own way

What is your next purchase?
Hopefully its going to be a few ounces of Black mentioned earlier; i also tried a flavored Oolong which i was reluctant about but im goin to trust the critics and hope for the best. But yea, Black and Oolong will be purchased


Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
So im a noob and i usually brew up in my perfect Teamate or whatever that thing is called. im sure i will be schooled in the forumn so im open to change everything im currently doing wrong

[wych-alder]

Hi everyone. I just registered for an account so I thought it would be nice to introduce myself.

How long have you been drinking tea?
For as long as I can remember... I started learning how to make tea about a few months or so ago though, starting with Japanese sencha.

What was your first Tea?
This is a hard question as I was probably a very young kid when I first drank tea... The first one I can remember is Lipton black tea, which my grandmother was fond of making in a huge pot with lots of sugar.

What is your favorite Tea currently?
Kabusecha.

What is your next purchase?
Probably a nice yixing teapot, or some taiwanese oolong.

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Home.

Very grateful to the tea vendor guides. They helped me buy tea online confidently. Looking forward to being a part of this forum!

[Tsubo]

Hi all tea chatters ! I’ve been here for almost 3 years now, essentially reading the archives.
I also run a tea blog since some years : http://www.the-et-ceramique.blogspot.fr/

time to make a little presentation ! So ...

How long have you been drinking tea?

Like many people here, I’ve been drinking tea for nearly the last 20 years ( gosh, it's not really an upgrade) and seriously dived in for about 10 years ago now

What was your first Tea?

A flavored tea ... in a "bag" my first real tea was a white tea made of nothing else than buds ... and it change my mind about tea ...

What is your favorite Tea currently?

Oolongs and especially Tie Guan Yin but i change my mind frequently and, perhaps, it will be puerh tomorrow

What is your next purchase?

Some stoneware from Hagi, of course there is always room for Hagi

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?

Home !

[skindeepfx]

How long have you been drinking tea?
Ahhh , just about 10 years or so, learning every day
What was your first Tea?
some high mountain Alishan in Taipei, street vendor
What is your favorite Tea currently?
Pu-erh, or however you want to pronounce it

What is your next purchase?
whatever i can afford , and get my fingers on it

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Check it out

[daowei]

How long have you been drinking tea?
I suppose I got somewhat serious about it about 14 years ago, but I've been drinking tea basically all my life. I worked for Teavana for two years during high school (about 13 years ago) and while the experience gave me a strong distaste for the tea industry in the US, it led me to seek out and find good tea on my own. I moved to China 10 years ago with the initial plan of sourcing tea and starting my own brand, but ended up staying. I currently work in Shanghai in an unrelated field, but still have the dream of one day owning my own tea company.

What was your first Tea?
I'm Mexican, so I basically grew up on Chamomile (I know, technically not tea) both as a folk medicine and for enjoyment, but the tea that really got me serious was probably an Anji Bai Cha (安吉白茶) that my Chinese teacher gave me when I was 14. It basically changed my life.

What is your favorite Tea currently?
My current favorite is probably a somewhat obscure tea called Enshi Yulu (恩施玉露) which is essentially a Chinese version of Gyokuro (you'll note that Gyokuro is called yulu in Chinese).

What is your next purchase?
Now is a good season to get Putuo Fo (Buddha) tea, so that's probably next on my list.

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Outside, anywhere near water and willow trees.

[oolongowl]

How long have you been drinking tea?
Official addict? Sometime in 2011 I started buying a lot from DavidsTea. Though around 2008 I was also buying lots from Adagio tea but I wasn't a complete spaz about bringing my own tea where ever I go.

What was your first Tea?
I couldn't tell you, as tea was part of my household. My mom always drank those weird slimming beauty tea concoctions as well as random oolongs. I remember as a kid drinking all sorts of weird teas with a vivid memory of drinking something with a giant bee floating in it at a Chinese restaurant. Yes, it was supposed to have a bee in it.

What is your favorite Tea currently?
Derp, only one? I like so many! Hmmm I'd say Mandala Tea's 2012 Heart of the Old Tree sheng pu'er. I could easily also say something from Bana Tea Company and White2Tea depending on my mood.

What is your next purchase?
Ask me 2 days ago it would of been "nothing! I have too much tea! I'm a tea blogger and I get way too much!" But as I write this it's memorial day weekend and there's sales, so my next purchase is Matcha from Aiya. I got a cart prepped, but figuring out amounts. I really really don't need tea, but I'm out of good matcha.

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
My kitchen island by the window. Natural sun light makes for great tea pics! On my corner of the island I have my tea table along with unrelated jars of homemade jam, my kitchenaid and bunch of succlents.

If you mean a tea house, then I don't have one. There's not much options for my tastes in my area, plus I have so much flipping tea that its best I just drink my own.

[debunix]

Welcome to another Southern California tea-aficionado!

I bring my own thermos full of tea when I'm working in the satellite office in Long Beach a couple of days a month--not a lot of options in the are for quality tea 'to go' unless I bring it with me....

[scott749]

Alright, just joined up today, and thought I'd introduce myself through this post!

How long have you been drinking tea?
I was a very occassional store-bought tea drinker for a few year and finally about 5 years ago or so I introduced myself to "real tea". Have to credit Adagio for what I think are good prices and love the descriptions and reviews people post. It allowed me to research a little bit and then dive in. That tasting that first order I immediately set off on the path toward tea-snobbery. My snobbery has even rubbed off on some people I work with!

What was your first Tea?
I think I remember trying Irish breakfast tea, and gunpowder green tea first.
What is your favorite Tea currently?
Have discovered I love the Yunnan blacks. Also like dragonwell and a good shincha.
What is your next purchase?
Would like to try some pu erhs, maybe some peach oolong for summer iced tea, and also considering getting a Yixing teapot.
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Home, where I can control everything.

[Psyck]

Hi, I'm CK from India and I joined this forum recently.

How long have you been drinking tea?
I used to primarily drink coffee until a couple of years ago when I completely switched to tea.

What was your first Tea?
Indian chai - which is like yuck now (I cannot contemplate adding milk or sugar to teas anymore).

What is your favorite Tea currently?
Darjeeling blacks (1st flush looseleaf from Rohini / Margaret Hope /...), this will likely change as I get more into Chinese & other teas.

What is your next purchase?
It is a huge to-buy list as I'm just entering the world of teas, I intend to experiment with Puerh in the immediate future & maybe Japanese teas later on. I just ordered some samples from ebay & will buy full sized ones of those I prefer. It is easy to get lost in the ocean of puerhs & clay teapots etc. and I hope I will learn enough from you forum members to make the right choices.

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Home

Cheers, CK
There is a chasm / of carbon and silicon / the software can't bridge

[Hokdor]

Hello,
A lot of my background is relatively new, let's see what we have though.

How long have you been drinking tea?
Off and on since the teen years. Only tea bags though. Started my journey into loose leaf about two years ago.

What was your first Tea?
I imagine a green tea of some kind, like I said, in bag form.
First loose was a black, flavored with cinnamon and orange.

What is your favorite Tea currently?
A Taiwanese green. Mellow in flavor, smooth, and if brewed just right has a creamy/buttery texture (still can't reproduce it consistently, but when it happens it's something to behold).

What is your next purchase?
Had a sample of Gui Fei Oolong recently from a single source vendor, trying to get some more to enjoy and play with the brewing.

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Home. Only a couple tea shops near by, I like those if there's time so I can try something new.

[Thallassa]

Good evening everyone! Figured I should probably introduce myself.

How long have you been drinking tea?

Since I was 13 (ten years). Actually got into it after a trip to England with my Mom. She got all excited about British-style tea on the trip. Got into the "hard stuff" (loose leaf) junior year of college, 3-4 years ago, after a friend bade I try it, and my boyfriend (he's a keeper!) bought me a bunch of loose leaf samples.

I average about two 1 kg orders a year, so I'm not a huge consumer (although it's all I drink besides water and the occasional beer or liquor) nor super experienced (that's not a lot of tea) but I love to read about it

What was your first Tea?

Something British? The first I remember is Stash, primarily Irish Breakfast and Chai. In high school that's all I drank. My first loose-leaf was a (probably fairly low quality) longjing.

What is your favorite Tea currently?

I have to pick? D: Well, my favorite is always something that is in stash, so I would have to say a Golden Needle Dian Hong from Yunnan Sourcing. Although the un-smoked 正山小種 (lapsang/zhèng shān xiǎo zhǒng) is very good.

What is your next purchase?

Probably TwoDog's puerh sampler. I really want to find out what this "puerh" thing is all about. So far I have tried one shu and one young sheng.

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?

Probably at my computer desk. That's certainly where I drink tea the most. Sometimes the focus is on the tea and the computer is just a backdrop or a provider of music, other times I just want to drink tea while I focus on some intense video gaming or reading papers.

[kstolz3419]

Hello Tea Chat Peoples,

These are my replies to the questions:

1. I started really appreciating tea when I moved to Asia in 2009. (compared to some here I know I'm a bit of a noob)

2. My first tea in my home country (the U.S.) would have probably been sun tea that my mom used to make when I was a kid. The Asian teas that really opened my eyes were probably the ones I sampled on my first trip to Kunming in 2010. I tried many but really loved their yunnan gold... and that was the first time I had truly high quality tea that was properly prepared.

3. Yunnan Gold black tea will always be one of my favorites, but I also really like moonlight tea, which is a white tea variety also from Yunnan province.

4. Next purchase will probably be some moonlight tea.

5. I'm more of a home-body, so home is best.

[the_winding_path]

Hi everybody!

I'm new to TeaChat so I'm here for the introduction:



How long have you been drinking tea?
honestly longer than I can remember but when I moved to Boulder, CO in 2001 I used to go to The Dushanbe Tea House and get whites, greens and oolongs all the time. They sourced great teas and my favorite back then was White Monkey Paw. After a few years they changed their source and the quality dropped enough that I stopped going there altogether. I have been a light roast, single origin, unadulterated coffee coffee nerd since '93 and refocused on coffee. In 2010 I was laid off from my job and decided to follow my dream of having a coffee business. I got an aroma and taste training kit, studied brewing parameters, roasted and cupped coffee relentlessly and became a certified coffee brewing technician. Forward to Dec '14 and I decided to give away/sell everything I own except for my backpack full of clothes and travel through Asia. As brewing coffee is a lot more gear intensive I abandoned my coffee gear and left for Japan. In mid-June I decided to rekindle my geekdom and love of quality tea. I found Horaido Tea on Teramachi St in Kyoto, bought a small Jitsuzan shiboradashi and some Gyokuro and have become a Gyokuro freak!

What was your first Tea?
I wish I could remember!

What is your favorite Tea currently?
The second tier Gyokuro I purchased from Ryuouen (sorry, can't remember the name). I bought 50g of their first tier Gyokuro before I left and can't wait until I open that up)

What is your next purchase?
As I am in Taiwan I'm trying to find somewhere reputable here and get some great green or oolong. No idea what though!?!?
HELP?!?!

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Wherever the mood strikes me. I have my Gyokuro kit super dialed and completely portable. As I actually use room temp water to brew it I take it everywhere I brew and like to share it with random people. It has introduced me to great new people I may never have met before and opened up new future opportunities too!

[Nefarious]

How long have you been drinking tea?
About 35 years.

What was your first Tea?
Oolong Formosa, Darjeeling and Lapsang Souchong as a teen; couldn't say which was first.

What is your favorite Tea currently?
2002 Ta Lin "Anniversary of the Kunming Tea Market Opening" Raw Beeng Cha. Cost about £75 from Canton Teas in the UK.
And in terms of non-Puerh, Li Shan Oolong

What is your next purchase?
Another aged raw Peurh beeng cha - just waiting for a really good recommendation

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Home or work - wherever I happen to be!

[Ashleaf]

How long have you been drinking tea?
As long as I can remember- but loose leaf, probably about 5 years.

What was your first Tea?
The first I can remember, not in a tea bag, was pear flavored tea from Teavana called Pear Luna that they no longer sell.

What is your favorite Tea currently?
I am loving the Milk Oolongs, but always a Silver Needle fan as well.

What is your next purchase?
Who knows!? I'm constantly surfing the web looking for different teas/vendors.

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
Definitely at home after a long day at work. Perfect for relaxation!