Hi all! My names L and though I’ve been lurking your forums for a while, I finally decided to make an account so I can ask obscure questions when I have them, share what knowledge I have, and maybe score myself some quality yixing or cakes that old tea heads are getting rid of
How long have you been drinking tea?
Drinking? Since I was a preteen. So about 15 years.
Enjoying? May 2020. But I only started diving into quality, well-sourced tea and gong fu brewing in late-2020. I was using a borosilicate measuring cup and a fine strainer before I had a gaiwan and all the trappings
What was your first Tea?
Not sure, but likely some Japanese green with my grandmother when I was a child. She lived in Japan back in the Nixon administration and loved Japanese culture. But it’s low quality (likely inauthentic,) bulk Dragonwell and mass-produced, essential oil-sprayed Jasmine that ignited an interest in tea for me. I was and am a barista of specialty coffee that loves to drink fine beverages, but I needed to switch to something that wouldn’t tax my adrenal system so heavily
What is your favorite Tea currently?
Shu Pu Erhs and Dancong Oolongs, certainly. Anything that is pressed in a cake though, honestly. I found pressed teas brew better in the gong fu process
What is your next purchase?
I have a 100g cake of Shu Yabao (an uncaffeinated close relative of
Camellia sinensis) on the way from Verdant Tea based in Minneapolis
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?
At my kitchenette. That’s where my kettles are. I’d love to make a spot in my studio or bedroom but I’d need another kettle base and they aren’t exactly cheap!
)