Thursday TeaDay 5/12/11 Your MVTS, most valuable Tea sense?

[Chip]

Welcome TeaFriends to TeaDay. Let's brew and share what is in our cups today...all day. I enjoy learning about our members by what teas they are drinking throughout their TeaDay.

We had a fun TeaDay yesterday discussing pronunciation of Tea names. You can reflect back on your TeaDay if you need to.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic is about our senses and how they relate to our enjoyment of teas, ... basically sight, smell, touch, and taste...(hearing too if you want to go for it). How do these senses interplay with your enjoyment of tea? Your MVTS, most valuable Tea sense?

I am as always looking forward to sharing TeaDay with everyone. So, bottoms up, refill, share with us and repeat often...

[Trey Winston]

I'll say smell, because I seem to recall reading that the smell receptors are very important for the sense of taste, especially for subtle flavors. And the teas I sip can be pretty subtle, to put it mildly.

Having a new tea (for me) today: Xiang Hua Tie Guan Yin from Jing Tea Shop. It's a oolong, and a very pleasant representative of its kind - pale of color, wonderfully understated and smooth on the tongue.

[brlarson]

The nose knows, followed by taste, and then sight and touch.

I always create a complete image in my mind of the flavor based on the smell, and this gives a firm basis for comparison when tasting. Taste then either adds new flavor elements, or enhances them, or sometimes provides stark contrast to what you were expecting.

The language sub-thread from yesterday is really interesting. I've been on the fence about learning several new languages, yesterday's topic may have pushed me off.

Seven Cups shui jin gui again this morning.

[Stentor]

The nose knows, followed by taste, and then sight and touch.

Yup, same!

Hearing...? I love the sound of clay on clay, for instance, when you put the lid on a Tokoname kyusu (or remove it) and the lid slightly scrapes the surface of the teapot. It's such a special and unique sound that, for me, is firmly connected with making tea.
The other day, I watched a YouTube video of someone making Japanese tea and hearing that sound put me in a tea mood right away.

[Drax]

Orchid aroma
intertwined with fresh hewn grass.
All senses revive.

[TIM]

Evoking a fond memories of granny's at home, telling stories from the past.
Best tea sense for me is not smell, sight, taste nor touch, they are not important anymore...

[jaderabbit]

Smell is definitely my first priority.
I just love it when that amazing indescribable aroma hits me as soon as I open the packaging.
Next is taste.
Third is flavor.
Although I am very fond of the sound of tea pouring into my cup.

[tortoise]

Hearing...? I love the sound of clay on clay, for instance, when you put the lid on a Tokoname kyusu (or remove it) and the lid slightly scrapes the surface of the teapot. It's such a special and unique sound that, for me, is firmly connected with making tea.
The other day, I watched a YouTube video of someone making Japanese tea and hearing that sound put me in a tea mood right away.

I very much agree. I will sometimes replace and remove the lid of my pot over and over again just to hear it. The kyusu-s I have sound very different than the yixing. I prefer the sound my modest yixings make. The kyusu-s are very high pitched and metallic. The yixings I own (admittedly not the best) are slightly duller and warmer sounding. I can hear it now!

Regarding the question at hand; I don't really know. Some kind of combination of the senses. I do not have a strict hierarchy of which sense is most important, but certainly, good tea will have a memorable effect on more than one of them.

[Chip]

While all the senses are pretty important and round out the entire tea experience, smell is likely the most important for me. With taste very close behind.

It is actually pretty amazing how all the senses come into play, especially the more you think about it.

It would be interesting to emphasize one sense per session, then do this for each sense. I imagine focusing on one sense only could get boring ... especially for sight, hearing, touch, but such an exercise would possibly heighten the overall experience of future sessions.

[Chip]

Oh, began the TD with 7132 Organic from O-Cha, 2010 with the Mrs. The aroma had hints of cinnamon and veggie. The cherry of previous bags of this tea has seemingly diminished. So other nuances are now the focus of attention.

[karmaplace]

For me taste may beat out smell (though that initial whiff of the dry leaves is always great), but I also really love the feeling of the warm cup between my fingers. It's very relaxing and is one of my favorite elements of tea time. My sense of sight comes into play if that cup between my fingers is a pretty one.

I was super sick today. I just wish I would get better and stay better already. While I do like honey and appreciate its medicinal effects, I'm tired of lacing it into all my teas (though never greens). So, today was copious amounts of both a Korean "honey ginger tea" (which is essentially a jar of a really runny honey with slices of ginger in it) with a little lemon juice mixed in, and an Assam with a teaspoon of honey per glass. With all the honey I've been downing I'm afraid that I may start associating the taste with feeling sick, but I hope not.

[Drax]

A bowl of matcha in the morning. A bowl of matcha in the afternoon. Kaoru Supreme.

Nothing like matcha to engage all the senses, especially hearing, with the sound of the whisk, and slurping up the tea (well, slurping in private ).

[Elovitz]

Nothing like matcha to engage all the senses

+1

Matcha always engages me in a way most teas can't come quite close to. I get a very direct and intense tea experience with matcha.

I voted smell, with taste being close.

[Alucard]

Taste for me. My nose has deceived me a couple times, plus there are teas that are smelly that taste good and vice versa....sorta like cheese? When i know it's going to be a good cup I do enjoy the scents while sipping though.

[tea-awed]

I chose option #1. The whole process appeals to the all my senses from the first wiff of the dry leaves in the bag to the cha qi that remains at the end.
Hearing? Oh yes! For me the first indication that the water is ready is the sound of it in the kettle. Later it's the sound of the gaiwan lid as I put it in to position to pour,the sound of the tea pouring into the cup and my noisy sipping of the tea(only when I'm alone ). Of course, the sounds say nothing about the quality of the tea although the sound of my sipping might .