Hello

[cwj]

Hello my friends.
I'm a new member from Colorado, USA.
I've been drinking tea for about...well 5 years for good tea, though even when young I preferred tea over coffee

This past November I received my first gaiwan and immediately took to gonf fu style brewing.
I suppose I average about 3-4 tea drinking sessions per day. Oolong is by far my favorite style of tea, I love the wide variety of flavors and styles available in oolong teas, and I doubt I could ever sample them all in my lifetime.
Lately though I've "rediscovered" black (red) tea...a style I never really explored much in the past and am really enjoying now.

I recently received my first "western style" tea pot (about 10oz capacity, with Chinese decor) and it's kinda funny having to relearn this style of brewing
I'll never abandon my gaiwans, but I think it's fun to experiment with different ways of brewing up a pot of fantastic tea

Anyway sorry for the long intro...I've learned a lot on the forums simply by reading older posts, and hopefully I'll be able to contribute by actually posting here myself

Take care!
-cwj

[victoria3]

Welcome we love having a new oolong drinker! Lots here...plus black, green, etc...

[debunix]

Welcome! It is very handy to have different styles,,,,,,mhbj of pots.....for guests, brewing up a lot of leaf at once and getting all from the leaf can leave you free to be more mobile.....or, as is often the case at work, to go up and down the hall dispensing enough for all my tea buddies in one trip. I really just need a larger pitcher to make this work best.

And while oolongs are very wonderful and easy to brew, there are so many other wonderful teas that deserve a little attention from time to time. Hang around here and you might find yourself getting drawn towards sencha, or puerh, or long jing....and we'll be happy to help you learn how to enjoy those too. I always come back to oolong, though.

[cwj]

Thank you Victoria and Debunix! I appreciate the welcome

When I first started to get into tea seriously, greens were my choice and I did get to sample quite a few over the years.
But unfortunately I've been neglecting them as of late. I'm not really sure why, as I still enjoy a nice green tea such as a sencha from time to time. And a friend recently sent me a bunch of tea samples of all types, including a very nice Long Jing.
For whatever reason I just tend to reach for an oolong when selecting a tea from my cabinet.

And black tea...I once looked down on it because I never had the good stuff But now I'm really enjoying ordering different red teas (usually from China) to try. I absolutely love the ones produced in Fujian province around Wuyi, for example. Warming and a little smokey, a little sweet...wonderful stuff

[cwj]

Decided to use a photo of my late, great cat Dragon as my avatar. She lives on in pics and memories

I love these forums by the way, lots of knowledge here...I'm mostly a reader, but will try to post now and again.

[debunix]

Cats and tea often go well together.....but sometimes not so well. Just last weekend one of the kitties tipped my tea platter and one of my Petr Novak yuzamashi got broken.

[cwj]

Cats and tea often go well together.....but sometimes not so well. Just last weekend one of the kitties tipped my tea platter and one of my Petr Novak yuzamashi got broken.

haha oh no! Yeah many of them have an unfortunate tendency to knock over teaware.
My current cat Sissy is terrified of the sound of the kettle though