What have you learnt from Steepster?

The number one thing to learn about tea in general is there is always more to learn. No one knows everything, even someone who is considered a tea master. Anyone who wishes to become a tea master must be able to devote his life to tea. But me I need to work if I want to buy tea so I can’t devote my life to tea.

Don’t forget Crimson Lotus, Chawang , What Cha and the others. Some are in your backyard so to speak.
On puerh a couple of tricks I use. Always rest a tea after it arrives for a week or two in an environment that will allow it to breathe and take on moisture.
After you rinse a puerh give it time to rest afterwards. Many times it will absorb its own weight in water. The more that can get into the leaf will result in a better brew.

Glad to have you joining us.

I forgot another thing.. Gold needle and golden bud black tea. These were not on my tea radar at all. They are highly scored on YS range, so I have ordered myself a few different types.

Hi I just joined today so here to learn a lot about tea, I’m new to loose leaf tea so hoping to learn a lot from Steepster :)

Learned from being on here in general:

That I need to widdle down the amount of tea before getting more. That is one of the reasons why I’ve restricted myself to just 1 tea buy till I do another culling…(The other is lack of money.)

That while I do still really like tea, the frenzy has more or less taken off…Just as well, really.

That unless I am reviewing and/or in the mood to chat about tea or related topics…I don’t come on here much because then I always see a tea that I would like to try out…heh.

I joined steepster just as I was getting into loose tea, so more than half of all my tea knowledge comes from Steepster, including: Puerh, aged oolong, white tea, gong-fu method, gaiwans, travelling tea boxes, and nearly every vendor that I currently buy from. Most importantly, I learned that I’m just one member of an amazing community of like-minded tea addicts.

When I joined Steepster, I was a total tea newbie, having just discovered that loose leaf tea was actually a thing. I have learned SO MUCH from this site and the members here over the last couple of years! A few highlights:

1. There are lots of different ways of brewing tea and none of them are really “right” or “wrong”, but can give you totally different experiences with the exact same leaf.

2. Unflavored tea is far more interesting and delicious than I ever would have expected. While I still drink plenty of flavored blends, I reach for a good Ceylon, green oolong, or Chinese green tea virtually every day and absolutely love them…something I would have had no interest in when I first joined Steepster.

3. Tea people are the best! I received the warmest welcome here out of any online community I’ve ever belonged to. And over the past 2 1/2 years, I’ve found the majority of Steepster members to be courteous, friendly, and so willing to share their knowledge, expertise, and tea!

I have learned such a tremendous amount… can’t even write it within a paragraph, but here’s the main thing: Tea and the community around tea has significantly raised my quality of life. Whether it be the wonderful taste of such great drinks or a place to sleep for free in another state just because the person is too a tea addict, there’s very little negative things to say.

This gets a little personal, but coming from a Christian background in which is part of my past, it’s been such a relief to have a community to belong to that allows me to spread my generosity. I’ve always been one to give, but many people have taught me the lesson of being able to receive something and show thanks.

At first I thought it was odd to tell people that this is my ‘tea friend’, however I’ve come to realize that these people are really friends and don’t need the label ‘tea’ before that.

I’ve learned that people want to engage with other people. I’ve learned that people want unique experiences. I’ve learned that people do share. I’ve learned that tea has no boundaries. I’ve learned that tea can be as much as you put into it, a full time lifestyle or a casual drink.

+ a bunch more

Recently, someone reminded me, I learned that I have brought quite a few people together over tea whether it is at tea parties, connecting Reddit to Instagram to Steepster, my group buys, or sending messages for people to get in touch with one another. This is something I just do and never really look back on it, but it’s quite amazing because the online tea community is growing and those who have been around longer tend to become a bit more passive and let the newer people jump in full force and discuss stuff. It’s all quite enjoyable.

I just got off of work and I have no idea if any of that was coherent.

I have learn the market of cosumer, people all likes tea here talk about the tea.
We are a tea supplier in china, so now, I know what the market like tea, it’s good guide for us to prepare the good tea for customer and consumer.

www.organicteaschina.com

I finally registered for an account but have been a long time lurker. For me it’s really refreshing to see that people here are actively aware of the existence of questionable/fake teas here. This is a very wide known issue in China and it’s still extremely easy to get duped. Even easier in the West, so it’s great to know there’s a community that’s willing to share this knowledge.