Thursday TeaDay 2/18/10 Casual or formal approach?

[Chip]

Good TeaDay one and all. Please do drop in and share what is in your cup throughout the day.

Yesterday we discussed current steep times for our fave teas. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Continuing on yesterday's theme, GENERALLY SPEAKING, how would you describe your approach to brewing? Casual, laid-back, unfussy, easygoing? Or are you more formal, precise, painstaking, serious? Please share. You can vote for up to 4 options ... and/or create your own.

I am looking forward to sharing TeaDay with everyone, bottoms up.

[Seeker]

voted motr on this one; there are times I will want to be more precise or painstaking or formal if these things feel right, but mostly I'm aiming for being in the moment, being at ease, relaxing, finding some flow, and without working hard.

[bsteele]

Casual, laid-back, unfussy, & easygoing

Working on some rooibos at the moment.

[Trey Winston]

I'm firmly in the slop- I mean casual group. I can rarely be bothered with timing and weighing and so on. And I'm easily distracted. The tea turns out OK most of the time. Or maybe I just have low standards.

WP galore today. Looking forward to tomorrow, which I have promised myself is a day of oolong.

[Victoria]

Casual, laid-back, unfussy, & easygoing for me too.

In my cup this morning Pedro Gardens from Imperial Teas UK.

[Aphroditea]

I chose middle of the road. My favorite tea to prepare is Alishan. I first had this tea at Formorsa Art Tea House and was instructed by Riva, the owner. She explained the amount of tea, the utensils and teaware, the water, but she said that if you get all concerned with perfection and stress out about every little detail then you have created an emotional atmosphere that prohibits you from really enjoying the tea experience - she said "twice the effort equals half the enjoyment." Words to live by!!

xoxox,
aphy

[cls46]

I am casual with my tea. I think that brewing the perfect cup of tea is just something to learn and experiment with. Different teas require different amounts of tea, different brewing time, different water temperatures and I think that two people might not even enjoy their teas the exact same way. So I just guesstimate everything and it usually turns out just right for me. Or I adjust my brewing styles for next time to try to improve. Pumpkin Spice this morning.

[brian]

I voted precise. As a tea newbie, I'm paying quite a bit of attention to my brewing parameters at this point, as I try to learn what works and what doesn't for me. I did pick up a scale and thermometer to help me get through this period. I expect as I settle on some favorite teas I'll be able to brew those in a more casual manner, without the tools. I'm already getting to the point where I can recognize 170-ish Fahrenheit water by the sound it makes on the way up to boil. But don't ask me (yet) to eyeball 6 grams of sencha vs. 6 grams of a Chinese green!

Starting the day today with a Da Fo Long Jing from my seven cups green sampler. Later infusions (3 and 4) are nice and soft, a bit sweeter flavor and a mild floral aroma. I'm enjoying this one.

[debunix]

Depends on my mood and which tea is currently my favorite.

With my sencha, my eyeballing is still quite imprecise, so I weigh the leaves. I don't fuss about getting it exactly the same every time, but do adjust to keep it between three and a quarter and three and three quarters grams. Most of my other favorites I'm pretty good at eyeballing.

I use my thermometer to tell me when the water is cooled to the right temperature for the greener/lighter teas, but after a few infusions I know the water in the kettle should be cool enough so stop checking. I count off the first few infusions to avoid oversteeping, but stop counting as the water cools and the steeps get longer.

So a mix of precise, serious, getting more easygoing and casual as the session goes on.

[Chip]

With my fave tea, sencha, I tend to be precise and serious, but I truly enjoy that style ... so it is all good. If I did not enjoy that style and felt compelled, that would be a different story altogether. At the same time, I can laugh at myself and my "rituals." Many TeaFaries have been dewinged or worse.

Other teas besides sencha, depending upon the tea, I can even approach casual and TeaFairies are not hurt in any way.

Began the TD with O-Cha Yutaka Midori, approached this venerable selection seriously and precisely. Scale, timer, measured water, thermometer, Kyusu, Hagi wan ... preheated of course.

[depravitea]

Just casual, it's not like I'm ever brewing for royalty...

[LauraW]

Casual to middle of the road, depending on type of tea and my current mood.

More Sagittarius this morning, I'm thinking some Caramel Delight this afternoon...

[artmom]

With my fave black teas in the morning - I'm casual. Any tea later in the day I am less casual, about middle of the road. (As I voted) I use my later tea times to ponder life, in my case mainly memories. I also like to think of all the people I have shared tea with over the years. Due to being alone a lot and pretty much confined, I become really introspective with tea.

[Victoria]

In my cup this afternoon more of my hoarded-now-a-little-on-the-old-side TGY from Jing Tea Shop. Delish. Even this year old slightly faded beauty beats most of the stuff out there, an amazing crop.

[Tazbell]

I'm very casual with my tea because most of the time I'm at work making it. When I'm at home I'm usually doing several other things at the same time. Although, I'm learning more and more about the serious side of tea and am looking forward to trying a more ritualistic approach.