Tuesday TeaDay 10/19/10 TeaSmarts?

[Chip]

Greetings TeaFriends t a new TeaDay, a great TeaDay. Please share what is in your cup throughout the day.
Yesterday we discussed our TeaStupids. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Yesterday it was about TeaStupid. Today it is about TeaSmarts. Do you have moments when "the light goes on" in your preparation, equipping, enjoyment of tea? Please share!

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

[Chip]

Either TCers are a modest bunch or TCers never have TeaSmart moments?

OK, I will start it off.

Sometimes it is just little moments of discovovery ...

The first TeaSmart moment was when I discovered you could not trust lable directions for brewing tea ... this happened as a newbie and read boiling water for green tea (RoT label) which of course turned out horrifically bitter. I tried cooler water in a TeaSmart moment and discovered I knew more than a RoT label on how to brew green tea.

The biggest TeaSmart moment was when I discovered I could use more leaf than the requisite 2 grams per 6 ounces water. And discovering a ratio system to quantify results somewhat. So went from .33 grams : 1 ounce water to .6 or higher : 1 ounce water. Talk about the light going on!!!

[Chip]

o_O

O_O

O_o

I am looking, and I see TeaPeople out there ...

A box arrived from Japan, Was not expecting it ... well I was, but not so fast!

Hagi is in the house!

So far, sencha and more sencha today!

[nickE]

To appease Chip.

Definitely some TeaSmart going off when I gongfu'd my first Shupu (Sheng came later). Also, the Sencha & TGY OTTIs have been quite eye-opening as well.

Then, when I was happy with my Shupu and factory Shengs, I tried Nada's '97 Henglichang Bulang. This was my first well-aged single-estate Puerh experience. Mind blowing!

Sat down with an 80s Hongcha from EoT today. Wonderful smells coming out of the gaiwan, the taste was somewhat of a letdown after that scent. However, the qi and aftertaste were lovely!

[entropyembrace]

Had a few major teasmart moments

When I first brewed loose leaf tea (with a teaball infuser) and realized how much better loose tea is. I went from drinking Twinings English Breakfast in teabag form to loose leaf form...I was really surprised at the difference in what was supposedly the same tea. From that point on I was hooked on loose leaf.

Next big one was when my teaball´s clasp rusted away and broke I tried brewing my tea in a measuring cup, using it as a teapot (which by then I was buying from a specialty tea shop...was mostly Republic of Tea and Metropolitan Tea) Was again a definite improvement over the teaball...even I was using the same tea...so I went and bought my first teapot.

Then I discovered online tea ordering...I placed my first order from Jing Tea Shop and was absolutely blown away by the oolongs and puerhs that I tried...it was really an order of magnitude above anything I was finding locally. Major teasmart ordering from the country of origin!

Then I found teachat...more teasmarts connecting with tea drinkers all over the world...suddenly I did not feel so alone...on an island of tea.

More recent one...a light really went on when I tried sencha for the first time in OTTI #1...it was buttery, sweet and soupy...very intense, warm comforting flavours! I´d always been put off by green tea because it was either very delicate and light or unpleasantly bitter (especially when I was pushing it to try and get more intense flavours)

[Seeker]

Whew - just rolling out of bed here.
Peeked here late last night, but wasn't sure how to respond. Thought I'd wait and see how 'tea smart' might be interpreted.
Now that I've slept on it, I think it has been tea smart of me to listen and pay attention and approach tea with a sense of humility and curiosity and patience as well as openness. In essence to learn and continue to learn to 'dance' with tea.
I have 'listened' on this forum and learned much. Also, asking questions and finding out about tea and teaware. Again, I have learned much here.
I think my chawan acquisitions have been for the most part tea smart as I am oh so very happy with all of them.
I am also very happy with my kyusu and hagi acquisitions, all a result of learning and sharing and with the hagi, particularly participating in the SO's on this forum.

As I read thru this, I find myself fondly wishing we could somehow gather in a 'TeaChat' teahouse, and then I would affectionately sip, enjoy...
'dance' with the tea, with all of you.

No tea yet - but matcha soon, then some new really, really good sencha I just received from Yamanien.

Cheers.

[Victoria]

Wow unusual weather here today in Southern CA. I drove in through a small hail and lightening storm, then rain gushing down in buckets! We so need the rain! Usually this is a very dry and still hot time for us, which is bad as the Santa Ana winds will soon come and usually with that, the fires. Now we all feel hopeful of less fire danger. Rain is good ... as long as it eases up now so we don't have mud and landslides.

Started the day with Black Dragon Pearls and now off to brew some OTTI oolong #4.

[tortoise]

My wife likes jasmine tea and I could take it or leave it really. I guess it's nice from time to time. Anyway, the smartest thing I've done recently is to start brewing jasmine gong fu style in a gaiwan. It's easier to make a really good cup!

Right now I'm having a very modest, but tasty, Dragonwell.

[debunix]

Best moments of tea insight.....sometimes they have to hit me over the head three or four times, like figuring out that cooler water really does bring out the best in some teas, which I quickly took to heart for my favorite Ti Kuan Yin, but had to relearn again years later to appreciate green teas as a whole; realizing the an over-brewed infusion can often be rescued by dilution if it just got a little too strong; discovering just how powerful very very short infusions can be in making the brilliance of strong young puerh tame enough for me to appreciate; and seeing how thinking in grams of tea per mL infusion gave more predictable results than teaspoons per cup.

This morning, no flashes of brilliance in preparation of my morning sencha, but the morning chocolate with osmanthus did seem to partake of genius.

[Chip]

WOWZA, flashes of brilliance!!!

See, I knew you guys were TeaSmart ... and not just TeaSmarties!

Playing with the new Hagi SO 12 ... this thing now needs a bath.

[rhondabee]

I think my teasmart moments were realizing that I needed to order my tea online to find the teas I enjoy and most importantly finding TeaChat - I've learned so much on here.

[Chip]

I think my teasmart moments were realizing that I needed to order my tea online to find the teas I enjoy and most importantly finding TeaChat - I've learned so much on here.

Yeah, I think many of us have earnestly tried to "buy local" but it just does not work with finer teas well unless you are very fortunate to have outstanding local vendors!

#1 on TeaChat!

[Leo_Blue]

My TeaSmarts are largely the same as others have wrote. I found that online vendors are worlds better than the local ones (especially considering I live in one of the most tea deprived states in the nation if not THE most tea deprived because of the local culture). Also finding that smaller teaware, cooler water (usually), and shorter steep times always results in better tasting tea.
Another idea I've had lately and something I hope ends up as a TeaSmart and not TeaStupid, is ordering an electric kettle (it gets here tomorrow most likely so I haven't found out yet).
Also much like Chip I have learned that the best tea comes from experimentation and NOT following the label. Even some of the more reputable vendors put steeping instructions that result in a not so great tea experience.

Had the last of my Jiu Hua Fo Cha from Teaspring today as I try to clear out my shelf of the old teas to make way for the new ones that are en route from China. Perhaps will have one of the last of my young sheng samples after work tonight as I don't feel much like sleeping lately.

[JRS22]

My latest TeaSmart was buying a small gaiwan from the Tea Gallery. It's so well designed that it's easy to use. By my second tea session with it I was holding the saucer and lid to avoid the hot cup, and comfortably drinking directly from the gaiwan.

The small one is fine for the puerh OTTIs but I "need" a larger one for green tea. The small Tea Gallery gaiwan is only $18, which seems reasonable, but the large one is $35, which seems steep to me.

In my gaiwan this morning - Essence of Tea Bangwai Village puerh, then Teaspring TPHK, then Seven Cups silver needles. One major advantage of brewing a gram at a time is that I can drink a variety of teas in one day.

[Skippyandjif]

I've had a few moments. One was, as a high school freshman (so this is like seven years ago already, gosh ), discovering that I wasn't supposed to boil green or white tea. Another moment was switching from bags to a little metal tea ball, and then switching recently from that to a mesh cup that fits in my teacups.

Rose congou this afternoon, currently drinking hibiscus tea.