Sunday TeaDay 9/26/09 Learning experience?

[Chip]

Greetings TeaFans, welcome to TeaDay. I hope you will drop in and share what is in your cup today.

Yesterday we discussed reasons why we first came to TeaChat. To learn romped! You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Yesterday learning ran away from other reasons. Today, what is THE MOST MEMORABLE TOPIC YOU LEARNED about on TeaChat, or most memorable learning experience on TeaChat.

PLEASE do share details!

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

[Maitre_Tea]

The most intense and controversial threads I can recall in my memory had to do with tea ware...specifically yixing. Everyone had their points and although I disagreed with some of them, they were still worth hearing.

I think I've slowly unlearned alot of the things I normally did when I first drinking tea. It was like Yoda getting Luke to unlearn what he had learned...and it's kinda been the same for me, without the part where my hand gets cut off. I've also become more intuitive in my brewing, and relying on my gut reaction, which has been right more times than not

Enjoying some loose-leaf 80s Wang Zi from Nada...very good cha-qi, as I'm feeling quite relaxed right now

[olivierco]

I guess it was about koicha.

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=5248

No tea today.

[Trey Winston]

Certain TeaChat members very subtly persuaded me to try oolong. It was memorable.

Sencha Sunday today.

[Drax]

The most important lesson that I've learned on TeaChat (and elsewhere) is that tastes vary. To most people, this will sound like a "duh" statement, but think about how much emphasis we put on recommendations and tasting notes. I've said it before, but when I first started TeaChat, such things were 90% of my purchasing motivation. Now it is more like 10%. I had too many incidents of tasting things differently than others, and too many examples of one person trying the same tea over the span of a month or two and getting different results (e.g. "I'm not as enamored as I was initially", etc). At this point, I think the only tasting notes that I will truly pay attention to are those from an in-person tea companion drinking the same tea brewed from the same shared cup.

Oh, and the Teavana thread. Mwhaha!

I was supposed to move on from the Golden Sail, but it's been so good. I went for one last cup this morning at an 8 minute infusion. Still so nice. I've got a small tuo on tap for later today

[Victoria]

Learning to use a gaiwan changed things for me. That was probably the the best learning experince. Next was making matcha.

In my cup this morning FF Darjeeling.

Have a nice day eveyone!

[Salsero]

On more than one occasion people have walked me through how to brew X tea in real time in the IM. Notably, Chip, EO, and Warden.

[Dreamer]

This is a great question and it is great how transparent everyone is with their answers!!!

I said "other". The biggest thing I've learned here is really a two sided coin. One one side I've learned that there is no "right way" with tea. If the tea I have and the equipment I have yields a cup of tea that pleases me, then that is "right". On the flip side, I've learned that while there isn't a right way, there may be a better way. And the difference can be amazing!

I don't drink soda, but I have in the past...and a cold glass of cola with lots of ice on a warm day is nice...it has a great color, a sweet flavor and a punch that is enjoyable to many. Now put a couple of ice cubes in a glass, pour in a little soda and let it sit for half an hour. This brew has all the same components as the first, but nearly no color, a metallic medicine flavor and no punch; it is virtually unrecognizable as the same drink. Same with tea...same components, different parameters, dramatically different brew.

(Add to all this, the fact that as the tea journey progresses, my tastes can change...flavors I didn't even recognize earlier can become sought after and others can become something to avoid.)

The posts I enjoy the most (besides the teaware porn, of course) are when a 'chatter shares his or her experiences related to any aspect of tea (tea, brewing, tea ware, and vendors).

You 'chatters are awesome!!!
- Dreamer

[Chip]

I thought of several, but number one was when I was a newb to TC around 3.5 years ago, I was one of the first members to unwittingly step on the "sugar peeps" toes by more or less condemning the use of sugar or sweeteners in tea lol, I have seen many others step into this one since as sweetening tea is worth fighting for in some circles).

Wowza, I did not see the wrath I would unleash by what seemed to me to be pretty obvious statements.

But "Dr. Phyll" came on` and posted a quote from his wine tasting alter ego that stuck with me. "Drink what you like, like what you drink," which I adopted as a personal motto, you may have read me paraphrasing this quote many times? This stuck with me more than any other comment in 3.5 years!

Funny too, the most vocal dissenter of my anti sweetening comments later posted about not sweetening tea anymore, I said nothing .....

A lesson in humility, and also of accepting others' tastes, and not judging. I literally teetered on the fence on whether to walk away from the forum or eat humble pie, which I did the latter.

[kymidwife]

My most memorable lesson has been all about green tea brewing. I thought I just didn't have the palate for greens because they always tasted just terrible. This was partly due to my lack of knowledge of time and temperature, and partly from buying cheap, poor quality tea. I learned my lessons on both counts, mostly due to Chip's patient tutoring, and have become a lover of Japanese greens as a result.

I also stopped sweetening tea over time after coming to TeaChat, and again this happened as a result of improving my brewing and choosing better leaf. It was a huge shift for me!

Shan Lin Xi 2009 from FLT in my cup all morning... a nice sample included in my recent order. Overall, I have been quite impressed with what I've tried from them so far. This one is very very delicate, almost too light for my preference, but a great aroma and nice staying power.

Happy Tea Day!

Sarah

[skywarrior]

I think I got on teachat because I figured that someone had to be addicted to tea as much as I was.

There isn't one thing that stands out in my mind on what I've learned. I've learned that the green tea drinkers are fanatics and that despite me trying puerh with various recommendations as to how to brew it, I've determined that you must simply like unwashed socks to drink it. I've also determined that there are people who are far more fanatical about tea than I am, and that is saying a lot!

I enjoy reading about other techniques for brewing and hearing other people's opinions on the subject.

[Chip]

Clearly the second most memorable topic, though not a specific one TC topic, is one that is probably most evident today for me, that is Hagi. 3.5 years ago, never heard of Hagi, 2 years ago, I thought, what is that and what is the point. Then I saw my first Yamane Seigan Blue piece on TC and it suddenly clicked for me. As more and more was posted, the fire was lit.

Now it is Hagi everyday. I am working with the likes of Seigan and Deishi in creating "special pieces" ironically ... or coincidentlally for TCers ... and loving the ride.

Began the TD with a tasting of Zencha Fuji Super Premium ... good name for this one! Served up in Hagi Loquat Guinomi by Deishi. SweeTea enjoyed the Fuji brew, while Fuji the feline observed along with a rare visit from Lili.

[chamekke]

I've learned so much here, it's hard to whittle it down to even one or two "most important" things. But... OK

I learned how to use a gaiwan thanks to the people on TeaChat, who also pointed me to some really fantastic Chinese greens and oolongs.

And while most of my tea pottery learning has been experiential and off-list, this place has certainly enabled me as a confirmed teawares addict!

[Chip]

Third most memorable, if I may be so bold to list 3. The ceremony of tea and matcha. Chamekke turned my head on this one as I was a virtually never drink matcha kinda guy.

I am still more casual than most in my approach to Matcha, but I am a regular, have more Chawan than I care to admit, and am much more enlightened on the subject than I was, but not as enlightened as I would like to be.

Raised a Cory Lum Chawan to Chamekke with another tasting, Zencha Yame Matcha Sansui, Koicha with DW.

[skywarrior]

I thought of several, but number one was when I was a newb to TC around 3.5 years ago, I was one of the first members to unwittingly step on the "sugar peeps" toes by more or less condemning the use of sugar or sweeteners in tea lol, I have seen many others step into this one since as sweetening tea is worth fighting for in some circles).

Wowza, I did not see the wrath I would unleash by what seemed to me to be pretty obvious statements.

But "Dr. Phyll" came on` and posted a quote from his wine tasting alter ego that stuck with me. "Drink what you like, like what you drink," which I adopted as a personal motto, you may have read me paraphrasing this quote many times? This stuck with me more than any other comment in 3.5 years!

Funny too, the most vocal dissenter of my anti sweetening comments later posted about not sweetening tea anymore, I said nothing .....

A lesson in humility, and also of accepting others' tastes, and not judging. I literally teetered on the fence on whether to walk away from the forum or eat humble pie, which I did the latter.

I stopped adding sugar to my tea long before I showed up on teachat. However, I figured out why I was adding sugar to my tea originally. I was drinking bagged tea that was albeit a higher grade than some, it still needed something to enhance flavor.

Sadly, I do drink bagged tea in a pinch -- the truly common stuff needs sugar to mellow out the flavor. Occasionally I like sugar in iced tea (not sweetened -- OMG, I made that mistake once). Most of the time iced tea comes from bags, or (shudder) tea crystals.

One of the local tea and coffee shops bagged their loose tea in pyramid-type bags after a while. I think they did this after I complained about the way their people made tea from loose tea -- they dumped about a half a cup of black tea leaves in a 20 oz cup and left it there and handed me the cup! Totally undrinkable.

Come to think of it, I don't use sugar in that tea either.