Monday TeaDay 3/28/11 Forced exit?

[Chip]

Greetings everyone! Welcome to another TeaDay! Please stop in to TeaDay and share what is in your cup throughout the day.

Over the weekend we discussed fave teaware for this Spring. You can still vote and discuss the weekend's topic.

Today's teaPoll and discussion topic. Do you find that you have to "force yourself" out of your fave TeaZone/TeaComfort zone? In other words, would you otherwise just always brew up your faves that you are most comfortable? Please share.

We are looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with everyone, bottoms up.

[Nenugal]

Actually I really like the experimental zone, for trying new teas and sometimes also new brewing methods, so I think I got a relatively good balance between comfort and experiment.

[IPT]

I mix it up a lot, so I don't have to force myself out of habits. I never know what I'm going to drink from day to day. This morning it was the new 2011 Maofeng, and now it's 2010 Da Hong Pao.

[gargoylekitty]

I like variety too much to stick with any one. Sometimes I might brew the same or very similar teas over a few days, but in the end it's more a desire to move on to something else that has me mixing it up rather than forcing myself.

Having some tung ting right now.

[karmaplace]

I love to try new things, but when it comes to spending money I tend to go for the things I know I love.

I have an assam today...not something I love.

[Herb_Master]

Circumstances insist

When you order a batch of your favourites and the vendor tosses in some freebies of teas that you have never taken a shine too

Option A - Throw them in the Bin

Option B - Force yourself to try them

Option C - Put them to one side, so that you can choose between A and B sometime in the future.

Option D - Gift them to a friend, so that they can choose between A and B.

[Xell]

I prefer stability in everything. While i'm staying with favorites that i enjoy a lot, i will add something new too.

[Chasm]

I'll gladly try just about any good-quality tea, whether someone else prepares me some or whether I get a chance to try brewing it myself. The limiting factor is money and waste -- I can't afford to try as many as I'd like unless I can find a way to get small amounts, and I don't want to waste good leaf if the tea doesn't work for me or if I have too much to use before its shelf life is affected. A lot of work goes into making a good tea, and I prefer to treat all that labor and skill with respect by not wasting it.

Another limiting factor that drives me to stick to what I know for some of my tea consumption is that I use it to strengthen my somewhat delicate digestion. I can't handle a high-protein breakfast as promptly as is good for me without the right tea an hour before, and the right tea seems to come from the family of Japanese greens, as far as I can tell. That gives me a lot to choose from and experiment with, but there's always the chance that a new one won't have the same level of beneficial effect.

There's still nothing quite like the joy of trying a truly fine oolong, even if it's too overwhelming for my palate for regular consumption. It all comes down to being able to get good tea in small amounts to try. I've had the pleasure of working with a couple of those that go for two dozen infusions with something new every time, and it's quite the experience.

[tortoise]

I guess so?

I am eager to try new things, but very cautious -- especially when it comes to tea. My comfort zone is relatively broad, but what lies outside of it is far bigger than what lies inside of it. My reason for caution is strictly monetary. There is a lot of great tea in the world, but there is way more bad tea and I don't want to pay for it. The OTTIs are very helpful with slow progression.

No tea yet today and it's a small tragedy.

[David R.]

Always eager to try new ways, others brewing methods (thx Teachat), try extreme parameters, different teas, clays, etc. Sometime I wonder if "playing around" is not what I prefer the most.

Same tea than yesterday, Hojo's deep fermented dong ding, but using another teapot.

[Elovitz]

While I have my favourites I tend to get too enamoured and sometimes get a little bored. So I'll sneak in a new tea and hope the others aren't too offended

I've been trying out pu'erh and I bought a lot of japanese greens which I don't typically buy.

Jasmine in my cup today. I found out my tea table is lost in delivery somewhere

[hopeofdawn]

Right now, circumstances have me doing just the opposite--I have quite a few 'hand me down' teas from a friend, so I'm trying quite a few blends/rooibus types that I normally wouldn't try. For my own preference, however, I always like to taste new tea--I think I'm still in the 'exploration' phase of tea-drinking.

Today is a tie guan yin sample package--sadly, not the highest of quality, but good enough for work ...

[JRS22]

I was going to answer - no, of course not, I'm always ready to try new teas - but then I realized that I still have some puerh left from an OTTI.

So this morning I've been drinking and enjoying EOT 1997 Heng Li Chang Bulang from OTTI9. I'm certain that I have a lot left to learn about puerh but I've finally gotten to the point where I can get a good start with a new sample. I just needed to accept that I should begin with boiling water and find other ways to deal with the bitterness that is sometimes present.

[debunix]

Short infusions are usually the answer to bitter now for me with puerh. There are still a few times when I go for lower temps but usually I like the results better now with 'dilution'--less tea and/or shorter infusion times.

Today started outside my morning comfort zone, wanting a large infusion that I could drink at the table, not at the counter by the kettle, so I prepared some Yin Zhen silver needle from Jingteashop 'western' style in a glass infuser cup. Very nice. And now drinking Xiang Bi Luo from Wing Hop Fung.

[dokpm0]

I'm still sampling and figuring out what I like. For the moment I'm concentrating on the general types that I know I like, shu Pu-Erh and Chinese blacks(reds), and sampling a variety of teas from those categories.

My mug is empty at the moment. Before lunch it contained some of Upton's Finest Russian Caravan.