Thursday TeaDay 9/10/09 TeaJournal?

[Chip]

Hello everyone and welcome to TeaDay. Please come on in and share what is your cup with us.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Do you keep a tea journal of some kind? Please share with us.

I am looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with everyone. Bottoms up

BTW, the Hagi Offer #4 has been pretty amazing. You can visit the topic HERE!

[Salsero]

Of course! An Excel workbook, now over 10,000 kb.

Thanks to Pentox for recommending this fine Lupicia product at a very reasonable price.

The yunomi is from United Noodle.

[Victoria]

Sal that looks suspiciously like an oolong. Sencha you say? Interesting.

No I don't keep notes. Not sure I see the point if the tea is gone after a season. Maybe for puerh. I admit I have a few scattered notes on brew times for Japanese greens.

Wish I wasn't sensitive to caffeine. Some Spring DaYuLing would hit the sport right about now.

[brlarson]

I keep notes in the spreadsheet where I track and plan my teas. Mostly I keep notes about leaf ratios, temp, steep time, vessel, and general impression.

I plan to have Hou de's lao cong shui xian in a few hours.

[Maitre_Tea]

My blog began as a collection of my tasting notes, and it was a way for me to be a part of the tea community. In China or Taiwan you can go down to your favorite tea shop and they'll be fellow tea nerds there to chat with. Here in the states, it's a little harder to do that, so things like TeaChat and tea blogs are our attempt to be part of a tea community.

I've been shying away from just blogging reviews, and I think I'm more interested in interesting things I learn/experience/taste. I have a moleskine for tea tastings, and I've bought another one just for Wuyi Yencha...sort of my personal compendium of Wuyi.

Finished some '98 Hai Mei Zhan from Tea Habitat. Initial flavor is very plum-like and similar to Wuyi, but after a few infusions the typical DC flavors creep back in. It seems to me that DC is not only a doppelganger of aromas, but a doppelganger of tea varieties as well!

[Drax]

I started up a personal journal for tasting notes when I started drinking tea last year. For me, it's been useful for all teas (mostly because I can't keep them all straight), but it's definitely been the most useful for pu'erh. It will be especially interesting to see how things change over the course of decades.

In any case, this morning, I am still brewing a pot of American Hao 0903. It's now reminding me of a weaker version of the 0901, but perhaps that's due to the brewing parameters. Of course, the puerhshop called both 'peacock tributes'... hmmm.

[CynTEAa]

Like Salsero, I keep an Excel workbook of tastings. Looking forward to a cupping today of some miscellany if I get caught up enough.

As usual, I started off with some Yunnan Gold but today in a large bowl-like mug brought back from Salamanca, Spain by some dear friends. Their kind gift enhances the brew methinks.

Have a great TeaDay!

[Mrs. Chip]

I have a moleskine for tea tastings, and I've bought another one just for Wuyi Yencha...sort of my personal compendium of Wuyi.

I too have a moleskin(s) ... they are da bombe!... that I use for my personal tea journal where I keep a record of the teas that the 'Mod' and I share daily. It is very interesting to see the pattern that we tend to follow, not only with the tea selection, but with the teaware selection as well.

Yep, daily records of the brewing vessel to the cups!

No tea yet, late night due to all the 'Hagi' activity.
Have a TEArrific TeaDay everyone.
.

[Trey Winston]

I don't keep notes, but I would like to. Not happening soon, though. Too many projects to handle.

Having a nice day today, with sunshine and sencha and everything. To top it off, the plum tree is displaying a record harvest of sweet, juicy plums. I can only hope it doesn't overextend itself, because the cherry tree did the same thing last year, and this year it seems to be sick or dying or something. Time will show.



Meanwhile, sencha and plums go surprisingly well together.

[fweever]

Sencha and plums? Nice.

I kept a tea journal for a year. Originally it was to keep track of the different locations to buy tea (their selection, brewing method, etc.) but I ended up loving one place so much I rarely went anywhere else. So the journal became about what I drank and my thoughts on it.

Me being a lover of paper, have a beautiful hand-made paper journal, and I used a calligraphy pen to write. Not very practical, but it made my short breaks from life at the tea shop even more special.

[geeber1]

Nice photos Sal and Trey - those plums look plum yummy!

No, I don't keep a TeaJournal, usually it's all I can do just to get the tea made, never mind making notes on it.

Hunan black in my cup this morning.

[Victoria]

Very nice Trey, they look delicious!!

I had to be at work extra early today, I guess 10 hours just isn't enough. As Geeber says, Good Times. So, I'm having my first tea here, Japanese black. Soon I'm off to forage for food. I hope there is a bagel around here somewhere.

Have a nice day everyone!

[brad4419]

I found this big leaf in my da yu ling leaves yesterday and thought I would share its large size.

mmmm plums and sencha.

I keep a light journal with what teas I tried with a small review and mainly I compare it to other similar kinds to say which ones I liked the most so I have a better idea next season which ones to buy again. Perfect example is the past 2 days of drinking, yesterday I had da yu ling and today I have he huan shan both are very good high mt. oolongs from floatingleaves but I prefer the da yu ling. So next season when I go to buy oolongs I will have this writen down. Good for when you can't remember anything

He huan shan in my cup today

[depravitea]

Very light duty, I've saved every review I've written for Adagio, and any write-ups I've done for TeaChat, like the tea thermos, for instance.
This is making me think I should write about every tea I have though. Might be interesting through the years...

This morning - Adagio's Golden Monkey.

[depravitea]

Very nice photo!