Since the time of my original post, I have learned how to apply photos to the post so I am doing a slight edit. One thing that I'd like to clarify is about my handle. While I am a very spiritually minded person, I'm not "religious". I chose the name "Apostle" because, while I am continually learning all of the time...I don't mind telling people what I think I already know!
I've been a tea drinker all of my life (British grandparents) but it's only been since 2005 that I have become an advocate of high quality, loose-leaf teas.
My introduction to good tea was at a tea-house on the road to Ali Shan in central Taiwan. The owners of the teahouse were also tea producers and it was from them that I experienced my 1st amazing oolong.
A few days later, while on the same trip to Taiwan, I was in YingGe in TaoYuan county. Some of you may know of YingGe as Taiwan's answer to YiXing. It is a spectacular little pottery town where I bought my first tea set consisting of a Gong-Fu pot, six cups each of drinking and smelling, a warming bowl and a serving bowl; all for the rediculous price of $26. Canadian. Oh yes...the owner threw in a strainer too.
On that same day I was to have lunch with a retired Feng Shui master and his family. It was my first time to meet them and after a sumptuous meal of 11 different dishes, we sat down to tea. As I was telling them of my recent purchase of the tea set, I was handed my first cup of Wenshan Baozhong (Paochong). Well, it was as if I had died and gone to tea heaven. For those of you who haven't tried baozhong tea, it is lightly fermented past the stage of a green tea but not as much as an oolong. (even though it is classed as an oolong)
Well...that was it! I was hooked! I so raved about the wonderful flavor of this tea that when it was time to leave, Ching Guo, (my host) gifted me a 300 gram package of it. Needless to say, I was blown away by the generosity of this gift and tried to refuse it but Ching Guo was insistant. I knew it was a very expensive tea but had no real idea until I saw an oolong tea from the same producer at the duty free shop at the Taipei airport.
Since that time I have tried many Taiwan oolongs, ( I have yet to find a Chinese oolong that compares to the TW teas) a few different Tie Guan Yins from China and so many pu-erhs that I've lost count. I've also added to my tea-ware collection on a more recent trip to China where I bought a nice thick-walled pot in Shanghai which I use strictly for Guan Yin teas...a delicate, thin-walled pot that rings like a bell when tapped with the lid that I use only for baozhong tea, and a cha-pan (tea table) in ZhuHai...and since I've returned, I've bought two pots from Yunnan Sourcing for sheng and shu pu-erhs. I use a glass pot bought from Ten Ren's in Vancouver for my green teas and have a small YingGe pot that was a gift from a friend in Taiwan for personal (no guests) Tie Guan Yin use. The YingGe pot that came with my original tea set has been relegated to various oolongs. I bought a gawain from Yunnan Sourcing also but rarely use it as I'm always burning my fingers.
I buy the majority of my pu-erh teas and various tea utensils from Scott at Yunnan Sourcing. I have nothing but the highest praise for Scott and Yunnan as my deliverys have always been expediant and well priced. I have also bought from Generation Tea and Pu-erh Tea.com Both of which I find are getting too expensive, and I have purchased some lovely Dragonwell Longjing tea from Julian at Amazing Tea.com. Amazing Green Tea has a nice tea forum also and is excellent for educating tea people on all matters.
I use only glass kettles for preparing my water. I find that old pyrex coffee percolaters work like a charm and I have also found a nice pyrex, side-pour kettle at the local Value Villiage.
IMG]http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss97 ... edited.jpg[/IMG]
My thanks to Chip for assisting me in putting my pics on here. In the first pic, you will see my various tea pots...the second pic shows the same only from a different angle...and the third shows my entire serving area. In it you will see my water source, (water is the mother of tea) beside my water are my two glass kettles... and on my bookshelves you can see many of my pu-erh cakes and bricks.
There is also a pic of myself with Vivianne in a Beijing tea-house. I met Vivianne and her husband while travelling down the Yangtze River from Chongqing, through the three gorges, and on to YiChang, where the huge power dam was built. They were kind enough to extend an invitation to get together for tea if I ever made it to Beijing where they reside.
I also loaded a pic from the Taiwanese tea-house on the road to Ali-Shan.
My best to everyone at this time...
