Saturday Tearoom TeaDay 8/23/08 Sipping tea to music?

[Pentox]

My Glenburn Wiry Vintage Darjeeling in my new favorite cup, I've brewed this up twice today, a lovely tea.

must ... fight.. urge ... to buy ... cup....

[Victoria]

Must ... enable ... fellow ... teachatter ...

[Pentox]

oddly that pic makes me want one less. <shrug>

[Victoria]

Yikes.

Well I'm an amateur photographer, it's just a snapshot for me.

Finishing up the day with some white peony. Been awhile since
I had a nice white, it's a nice change

[MMaas]

i hope your explorations found you something cool today.

Definitely!

I ignored Pentox's warnings and ventured into Kamei... got kinda lost in there for a while and emerged with a few cups for black tea, though the damage could have easily been much worse :) Impressive store - great prices on Zojis as well

I also ventured over to the nearby Aroma Tea Shop "just to browse since I don't need any more tea"... yeah right :) Well, I wound up hanging out and drinking what must have been 15 cups of all kinds of tea with one of the owners, who grew up on a family-owned tea farm in China that produces Guang Xi green tea, which looks like loosely rolled gunpowder but smells/tastes like seaweed! She recommended washing ALL teas, even the loose greens like long jing, before drinking. I managed to escape with only a few ounces of tea. And some tea tools. And a small 8oz zisha yixing for black tea. And a parking ticket.

watch out for the "collections." Can you say "slippery slope?"

Tell me about it :) Nice diptych today!

-Mucho

[Pentox]

I ignored Pentox's warnings and ventured into Kamei... got kinda lost in there for a while and emerged with a few cups for black tea, though the damage could have easily been much worse Impressive store - great prices on Zojis as well

I love that store. I just picked up a new zoji there too.

[Geekgirl]

She recommended washing ALL teas, even the loose greens like long jing, before drinking.

Same advice from the people up at New Century Tea Gallery in Seattle. I've started giving a quick rinse to all my teas. I don't know if they're better, but the first steep is definitely more rounded.

[Chip]

So many interesting posts!

Music and tea go well together, but like the Chipster, I too enjoy silence and nature sounds. Though it would be cool (no pun intended) if he'd elaborate about hearing the temperature drop.

How was the sencha?

Listen to the temp drop. The record low where I live was 10 below zero F. This night, the temp dropped to almost 30 below, completely shattering the previous record. I was out with my dog very late, after 4 am. The sound is what I remember the most, complete dead quiet, eerie actually. No wind, no animals (I live in the country, there are always nature noises). No cars that I normally hear on the highway. Completely dead silence except my breath and my dog's claws on the hard ground.

That and the frequent sounds of of tree barks exploding like muffled gun shots. When trees are exposed to extreme temps beyond their normal hardiness, the bark literally can explode. It is rare to see this. But that night, it was happening all around me.

[Salsero]

I've started giving a quick rinse to all my teas.

I have considered this approach, but I don't require that my first infusion be fireworks. In fact, I rather like working my way into it and building up to the big ones. But then I will also continue to infuse longer than most on the downhill side too.

Listen to the temp drop.

Very evocative. Thanks.

[CynTEAa]

How was the sencha?

Listen to the temp drop. The record low where I live was 10 below zero F. This night, the temp dropped to almost 30 below, completely shattering the previous record. I was out with my dog very late, after 4 am. The sound is what I remember the most, complete dead quiet, eerie actually. No wind, no animals (I live in the country, there are always nature noises). No cars that I normally hear on the highway. Completely dead silence except my breath and my dog's claws on the hard ground.

That and the frequent sounds of of tree barks exploding like muffled gun shots. When trees are exposed to extreme temps beyond their normal hardiness, the bark literally can explode. It is rare to see this. But that night, it was happening all around me.

Never got to the sencha. The Nepal FF tin was handy...took the lazy way out. Still craving though!

Thank you for describing. I've heard the trees clicking in the woods on cold snowy nights, didn't know the bark could explode. This morning I'll be stepping into the woods behind our house to see if I can get a pic of what I think is a woodrat. He's cute as heck! If successful, shincha to celebrate. Wish me luck!

[Beidao]

Lycka till, good luck, Cyntea!

Bronzebed: Strange, I've never heard Phonenix used about TKY, thought it was only used about Dan Cong. Little did I now

[soapy]

... And so I got back from the shops and found me my first tea pot to start my collection

In the pot is Adagio's Sencha premier

Nice pot! and love the kitty in the cup

[Smari]

Nice pot! and love the kitty in the cup

Thanks soapy!

[bronzebed]

Bronzebed: Strange, I've never heard Phonenix used about TKY, thought it was only used about Dan Cong. Little did I now

its difficult to keep up with all these different names.