Monday TeaDay 2/02/09 Which leaf, dry or wet?

[Chip]

Good TeaDay everyone. Please share what is in your cup today.

Yesterday, green tea was the top response for fave tea of January by a narrow margin. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic was suggested by Chamekke. As you look at your tea leaf, which do you find most intriguing, perhaps beautiful, dry leaf before brewing or wet after brewing? Please share why. We will likely follow this subject for a few days. Thanks Chamekke for the suggestion.

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

[Salsero]

Boy that's a tough question, but I guess I enjoy the wet leaves more for most of the tea I drink.

[Victoria]

For me it depends - some leaves are very beautiful to look at before,
some are much more interesting after. It depends on the tea.

I voted: toss up.

[Salsero]

Tai Ping Hou Kui Chinese green leaves dry before:


Douji Dadou puerh wet after:

[Vulture]

Definitely Dry. I am always looking to see how the tea was processed before I drink it.

Drinking more of this wonderful oolong I got from LA. Still an unknown type.

[Jack_teachat]

I think it's wet leaf just about for me. I adore the aroma of the dry leaf in the warmed pot but I love watching whole leaf teas slowly uncurl during brewing.

I'm sitting in my lounge right now contemplating walking to the library, problem is that we've had the heaviest snow in England for the past 18 years! Just finished some smoked lapsang and wondering if I really want to go in! Glad I've started brewing this tea much lighter as it really is delicious, especially if you go through all the appreciation stages with it, two cups, hot & cold aromas etc.

Have a great day everyone!

Jack

[Trey Winston]

For me it would be wet leaf while steeping, since I sometimes enjoy studying the SN buds standing vertically right under the surface when I brew in a glass vessel. It's kind of interesting and somewhat hypnotic when they slowly bob up and down.

Have a fine TeaDay, everyone!

[Drax]

Other = depends on the tea, which I take to be different from a toss-up. There are some teas that tend to be much more attractive dry than wet, and vice versa. Even within the same family...

Getting close to the end of my mega-sample purchase of pu-erh. I'm on a 2005 Xiaguan Ancient Wild Tree pu-erh today. I think the first infusion is coming across light, so the second one should bring some smokey green goodness with it...

[chad]

For most of my teas, wet is probably more "interesting".

Margaret's Hope estate darjeeling today.

[GT500Driver]

Voted toss-up because I love to look at the dry leaves before, and see just how different they often are from other leaves, then I always like to watch the leaves unfurl if I'm using glass, and afterwards I wantto see just how much the leaves unfurled, and how different they sometimes look.

Today I'll probably start with some Kukicha.

[cherylopal]

I voted toss up. Like Jack, Trey and GT500 have said- the transformation of the leaf is as fascinating as noticing the dry and then the wet.

I had some wuyi oolong this morning.

[Smari]

I voted wet leaf since I tend to find it very intriguing to see how a leaf opens up to be so beautiful. However, some dry leaf are pretty to look at, too. It's quite hard to answer this question because they're both interesting to look at.

This morning, masala chai for a change

[taitea]

Tai Ping Hou Kui Chinese green leaves dry before:

Those look delicious! Where are they from? I recently had a TPHK that was really good, but had lots of little bits in it.


As for leaves before and after, it totally depends on the tea.

[chamekke]

I've voted "it's a toss-up" since really I enjoy looking at teas both ways. As Victoria says, it depends on the tea. If I had to choose one or the other, however, on balance the wet teas are most pleasurable. (Special shoutout for certain teas looking especially attractive/interesting while they are steeping, e.g. Trey's Silver Needle example.)

Incidentally, my original poll idea was "What do you think is the most attractive tea to look at when it is still dry" (and, alternately, wet/steeped) ... but this is an interesting twist!

In my cup: coffee. Sorry: it's Monday

[Salsero]

Those look delicious! Where are they from? I recently had a TPHK that was really good, but had lots of little bits in it.

It is TeaSpring's Cha Wang Tai Ping Hou Kui. It seems to me they used to have a lower grade available on their site, but it looks like the Cha Wang is the only offering now.