Again this weekend, someone was excited to hear I had a blog, asked more about it, and then asked, 'A whole blog about tea? Only tea? Really?'
Well, yeah. Why not. I mean it's not about tea and only tea. Seems sometimes I even have to be reminded to reel it back in a bit and talk about tea again. I always find some connection from what I want to talk about to tea. Eventually.
One of the things that pleases me to no end is that several of the people who come here semi-regularly are avowed non-tea drinkers. I've been joking with one of the people on twitter, who meekly admitted she drank no tea, that I will slowly indoctrinate her. That through my powers of persuasion and suggestion, I would pull her over to the leaf-side.
I also like to be informative. There were so many questions I had when I first started drinking tea. The places I found the answers are more varied than you might think. Sometimes I'm having a conversation with someone about a completely unrelated topic, and I mention my tea problem. I don't say it like that. I say, 'I'm really into tea.' Or 'Tea's really big right now.' That's actually not quite true. Tea's always been big. We just haven't all noticed. The number of people drinking tea around the world dwarfs those swilling the java.
I also don't think it has to be an either/or sort of thing. A coffee now and then is actually a nice change of scenery.
To answer Sir Will's recent question: it was in fact a real Milky Oolong, and it's delicious. I went back the next day and tried to get more, but the line was even longer then. I decided I could order it if I didn't find it anywhere else. Will write about it in more detail soon. There's a tea review to look forward to.
Am still toying with running a list of tasting terms down the sidebar here, and modifying it as I go. Things like malty in relation to Assam and floral when it comes to good Darjeelings.
I guess I could ask now if anyone has a resource they've used to learn the accepted terms? I started a list several weeks ago, and felt it sorely lacking. Sorely.
Thank you for that answer! =]
ReplyDeleteI will be looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the tea!
They are quite excellent in my view!
Probably the most creamy tea one can buy, next to chai!
A resource? Dude, experience is the key. That, and reading other tea blogs. Basically, it's a bit of a guessing game. I used 'leathery' for the first time on Saturday, and I'm not even sure if I used it correctly.
ReplyDeleteWhatever. I'm sure the tea masters will understand. Zen teachers would probably think us quite silly, trying to quantify and describe tea. That's why I try not to feel too bad about my descriptions, because, really, when it all comes down to it, the most important thing is the enjoyment and the whole experience of the tea itself. Words can be awesome and beautiful, but they still lack tangibility. So, you've just got to drink and drink and think and think.
OH NO I'M RAMBLING. o_o
I'll stop now.
-Fox
You two are fantastic. The fact that you don't only lurk here, but comment really makes this place more of a dialogue than a monologue.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
For tasting terms, I think our own experiences are more than enough and should provide each of us with enough words.
ReplyDeleteTO TEA, OR NOT TO TEA, THAT IS THE QUESTION...
ReplyDeleteWould've been such a better monologue than Hamlet's.