Introduction
Oh my goodness, I am so happy to be here! :D I am a former craft beer taster, but my waist line did not agree so I have found a new passion in teas! Lo and behold, in my searches I have found Steepster. I am quite excited to be here. (My 16 year old son will surely facepalm once he finds out that I have found a sort of encouragement for my tea addiction.) I have added my little collection to my cupboard here. It isn’t what it used to be, as I had no idea this site existed! I look forward to any trades, advice, and conversation. (I am not sure if I am super excited, or had too much caffeine!)
Welcome Shan!
It’s cool to see someone whose enthusiastic and excited about tea as much as we are!
:)
No problem!!
One thing I love about here is that everyone (emphasis on ‘everyone’) is genuinely nice and helpful.
Welcome! What’s your favorite beer?
I like Asahi, used to sell it in my bar, on its own line and gas so perfect. was our leading brand. I love the stuff. crispy and dry and goes with food so well. and gets your drunk
lager though
My absolute favorite is Trappist Westvleteren XII, a quad brewed at a monastery in Belgium. (Never been, but they shipped ONCE to the US, and my brother grabbed me one for my birthday two years ago. It is a lot like St Bernardus abt 12 if you have ever had it. )
Outside of the ‘hard to gets’ there are a few good brewery’s local. For a good IPA, I like Cigar City’s Jai Alai, or a darker (also local)trippel, Coppertail brewery’s Unholy.
ok I just geeked out on beer. sorry ;)
Very cool, I’m also from the Tampa area and I’ve had quite a few Jai Alais and Unholys. I really like Cigar City’s Tocabaga red
oh yes yes! :) ( I also do like Cig. City’s white oak!) I know coppertail just did an 11 oak barrel tap.. oh wait. This is about TEA! (and not gaining another 50 lbs on good beer!) so what do you suggest for tea?
Lol, yes that is the downside of beer (or upside of tea?) I mostly drink black teas and sheng puerh. My favorite black is Yunnan Sourcing’s Ailao High Mountain Red. If you like IPAs you may like young sheng, they can have some of the same bitter/floral qualities. My favorites are Yunnan Sourcing’s 2012 Wuliang and White 2 Tea’s Poundcake
And welcome, Shan! :) My tea stash quality went through the roof when I met steepsterites. And has kept on getting better. Such a cool place for tea lovers
Its a good place. Although I had to curb my spending on tea a bit because it got out of hand, theres a lot of shared enthusiasm.
Join in Liquid prousts group buys when they pop up, they are well priced and really fun, gets you talking to other peeps here. We’ve just had a sheng one and theres a dark tea one coming up soon.
Whats your favourite teas? This is what everyone wants to know!
I really do not know yet. I feel like an infant in the world of teas! I love strong, bitter flavors. Floral can be nice. I love sweet tastes but only lightly so. It is all so fascinating. What do you suggest?
I like fenghuang Dan Cong Oolong for floral, which is phoenix single bush oolong. each single tree is bred for different floral aromas. Lots of kinds of aroma, almond ‘xing ren’, honey orchid ‘Mi Lan’, even duck shit ‘Ya Shi’ (dont worry its just a name, lovely stuff, in fact my favourite so far) are pretty special, but can be very expensive.
Taiwanese/Anxi Oolong, like ‘Tie Guan Yin’ (goddess of mercy) is pretty amazing if you havent tried it before, this is green oolong, like the bestest green hot drink ever made, has a floral aroma I cant place and makes me happy.
Milk Oolong ‘Jin Xuan’ is another good one. tastes like milk & cream with a thick mouth.
If you can take a bit of bitterness, ‘Sheng Puerh’ (raw puerh) can be bitter but is complex, full of amazing flavour & you can buy young cakes, aged cakes both taste different… turns into a hobby. You can also get a shou (ripe/fermented) version which tastes different. LP said he would send you some puerh, thats a great place to start :)
then theres white tea – ‘yin zhen’ silver needle is amazing type of floral, like a good white wine.
red or gold tea (black tea to us) Dian hong is really malty and comforting.
First flush darjeeling can be bitter but also amazing, lively. second flush has a muscatel grape aroma…
got a bit carried away, but those are lots that I love
I’m talking tea types here, as for which actual brands or vendor, follow people here, read their reviews, ask questions, nose around lots of vendors, then it all comes down to wallet.
The price range can be large (couple of pence/g to several pounds/g) so drinking sample sizes is a nice way to start. Lots of vendors do small 10/25g bags to give you a taste.
Dont buy loads of cheap tea from ebay until you know they vendor is a good one.
1. Hello
2. I send welcome packages of free tea to new people. Right now I have some puerh, oolong, green, and black of you would like some.
3. Capital Teas has a lineup of tea made to steep in wine and another lineup to steep in beer… In case you ever want to try that :)
4. I can’t end on an odd number: Excitment is the perfect reponse to joining! This is where addicts help other addicts feed their addictions :p
I would love some. Any kind really. I have a welcoming palate that is not incredibly picky, yet ;) . Its the experience of trying new teas that is so cool to me!
woah, steeping in wine or beer? now I am REALLY intrigued!
bouncing with excitement (and I am too old to bounce. gravity sucks!) :D
@TheOolongDrunk absolutely! I really like the concept of engaging with others via internet interaction and the shipping of letters and tea between one another. I generally have a huge supply of teas to provide for people to sample because it’s my hobby and I try to pay if forward for what has been done for me (many times over)
@Shan Denise I’ll send some pu’erh as well with instruction on how to make it… maybe plant a seed as others did for me :)
Liquid – That’s awesome! When you’re ready for me to take some tea samples off your hands let me know! I’ll definitely do my part to pay it forward. I love the community feel of this website and want to help keep it going :)
That would be amazing, Just tell me where I need to send my information. I am a neophyte in this world of teas, ready (and excited) to experience it all!
Hey Liquid Proust, am I new enough to score free samples? I joined last month. :)
Since tea is a passion for me and I would never second guess buying someone a drink while I’m out and about for a conversation and the chance of a new friend: Tea being a passion of mine and another being conversing with others who provide new perspective for me to learn from, it is my pleasure to provide new teas for those who have just jumped into the Steepster world. At first I was too intimidated to join Steepster because I saw others writing stuff that I had no idea could be explained by words let alone connecting with other teas that I never knew existed. Steepster is a place for all as I have learned and if we all come together it can become even better :)
Therefore: Sending portions of my tea in return for the chance to hear new stories on how someone came to tea, a new friend, fun conversations, or whatever, it is what was done for me when I started out and it has changed my experience with tasting tea as well as my comfort of participating here.
This is probably a lot of writing so I’ll end with, anyone else new?
:p
I guess it all comes back to the whole do unto others as you would want done to you
Besides Liquid Proust and the community here, there are some good “sample” deals out there in vendor land. This is a new one that What-Cha just started that looks really great to help folks get their mouths wet in the river or tea:
Intro to Tea Collection (Free Shipping!):
http://what-cha.com/intro-to-tea-collection/intro-to-tea-collection/
I’m sure others will chime in with other starter deals too :)
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