Welcome to discussions, introduce yourself!

Blahhhh
Daniel.
J.M.Kauftheil for the penname .
My screenname on some sites is “i’m dead – go away”, which was what I changed my screenname to on a poetry site as a message to a girlfriend as our relationship was going up in flames… Didn’t bother changing it afterward, and I started to like the ring of it, so it’s stuck.
Some people still call me Jue (or Jew), as was my nickname through high school (long story, but I am a full-blooded Jew), or JM as is, I guess, a shortening of J.M.K – go figure.

Hardly 19, in college, but not for long. Dropping out of the university after this semester, because the city, Northridge, is a pit. Especially without a car. And I’m not a “school person”, though I can write great essays (as I’ve been told by my roommate, who is a grad student in English.) Also returning because I miss my hometown of San Jose (it’s near San Francisco). Bay Area is where I grew up… I can never be away for too long. Though I do need to get out every few months XD.

I’m extremely impulsive, though rather antisocial. I like meeting people, but I generally have a hard time tolerating groups of people – I honestly enjoy hanging out one-on-one more than anything. I’ve noticed that the people I tend to hang out with most are people that are really different from me in most ways, but share my obscure sense of humor. I like it – I get to see into different walks of life.

Been writing since my freshman year of high school, because a girlfriend convinced me to try it out. Found my niche in erotica, and once I gained confidence from the positive feedback I got online, I started to really take off with writing and pursue other topics, styles and ideas. I’m pretty prolific with my output – a lot of poetry, a lot of prose. Some serious stuff, some light-hearted stuff, some pieces based on wordplay, some emotional, some abstract…
If you want to check out my stuff (and I’d appreciate if you did),
or you want, basically, my life story told through hundreds of pieces of writing,
http://imdead-goaway.deviantart.com/

I sometimes feel like my personality is split between the sides of Daniel and J.M.K
I’ve been meaning to write about it a bit, but I haven’t gotten around to it. If you’re interested though, I do have this piece which I wrote as kind of a joke project with a friend.
http://imdead-goaway.deviantart.com/art/An-exploration-of-the-ego-133309826

Oh, and apparently I look like a dragon when I smoke hookah.

I am a 28 year old pc/tech/game enthusiast. I consider myself to be part Asian due to the way i look when I laugh and the fact that I love Asian cuisine and culture, but my real ethnicity is way more mixed. I am 25% Palestinian, 25% Hungarian, Irish and PA Dutch(German).

I remember always being fond of my mom making me a cup of lipton black bagged tea with milk and sugar in it. I have since graduated to drinking loose leaf after much reading up on the subject and realizing that the world of tea is very diverse.

My favorite type of tea is Oolong. I tend to like the less oxidized and more floral Oolongs(Jade Oolongs) better, but I also like the often nutty flavor of the more oxidized Oolongs as well(Da Hong Pao, Royal Red Robe, or Wuyi would be two examples of the kinds I like.

The first green teas I tried were Japanese style. You know, steamed and tasting like grass? I laugh at myself sometimes because, having a fascination with Japan I thought that Japanese green tea was superior to Chinese tea until I had sencha and realized that I don’t like drinking tea that tastes like grass.

Thank god for Rishi being relatively inexpensive enough for me to try out some Chinese made varieties of tea. I now realize that in most cases, in my opinion anyway, Chinese Tea’s have so much more to offer in the complexity and flavor department.

I like Chinese green and yellow teas as well, with black being my least favorite, although I have had some great black tea. Curly Golden Buds from Tea Trekker is a prime example of what a good black tea should taste like.

You will see me rate and talk about two sites mostly on Steepster, http://www.teatrekker.com, and http://www.rishi-tea.com/.

I started out drinking Rishi tea and my local supermarket Wegmans carries Rishi so I can get their tea if i ever run out of the better quality tea I buy from Tea Trekker.

You will hear me talk about Tea Trekker a lot because I have not had a bad tasting tea from them yet and their customer service is great. I live in Pennsylvania and if I order a tea on a sunday night its usually sent to me by Tuesday, if not Wednesday at the latest and they seem to know even their online customers due to the fact that they have given me samples of some of their best tea and even included post it notes on their samples telling me they know I will enjoy it. The tea they gave me a very small sample of was 20 dollars or more for just 2 oz. They know how to treat their loyal customers right. They source their teas themselves and have been in business for thirty years, writing a great book on tea called “The story of Tea”. I would recommend the book to anyone wanting to know the ins and outs of tea. It is very comprehensive.

If you want to know anything else about me or my boring life just ask.

One will come to know me thru what I share – my words are what define my thinking and progression of thought and being. Just like a first date…one doesn’t tell all the dark secrets…“Tea is more than a drink” as Carolyn so eloquently stated early in the string. I come to the alter of steaming water mixed with pure pleasure and joy hoping that we can just enjoy one another’s company and smile one cup at a time.

Alright, I’ll bite. I’m Bethany. I’m 23 and live on the far north side of Chicago. I’m originally from Pittsburgh, but I moved to Chicago for college five years ago and decided to stay for at least a few years after graduation. I have a Theatre Management degree, which basically means I’m equipped to do administrative/management work in nonprofit organizations. I’ve moved on from theatre, but I’m still working in the cultural realm – I work at a children’s museum, where I’m the grant writer in our fundraising department. I’ve always loved to write, and I’ve loved working in nonprofits, so it’s a perfect combo of those things.

Other than tea, I really enjoy beer (I’m not nearly as involved with that as I am with tea, but I freaking love a good brew), cooking and eating, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, reading Russian literature, and any and all forms of Internet humor.

Just learned about this place from someone on another forum, and have dipped toes in the water, rating a tea I was already discussing elsewhere, and already have some questions about this place. Is there a FAQ available?

Thanks for the welcome. I tried searching a bit but quickly got bogged down in pages of reviews and not really what I was looking for.

The first question came up in regards to a tea I posted about, one new to the board. I gave it an 85 rating, which obviously was the first one. The ‘steepster score’ was less than mine. Does the steepster score cut back from my rating because I am the first person rating it?

And then the steeping clock isn’t infinitely variable, but has set points—plenty flexible for ‘western style’ brewing, but not for gong fu cha. How do you handle it when you’re describing a gong fu cha session with steeping times that might be 10", 10", 20", 20", 30", 30", 45", 45"?

thanks for the tips

I suppose I’m supposed to introduce myself?
my name is Cory, I’m an art student just relocated to Baltimore from Chicago, though I’m planning on heading back to Chicago for the summer. I’m majoring in painting and minoring in gender studies. I’m a vegan, which makes it hard for me to take anything else with my tea besides sugar, (does anyone do stevia or agave nectar here, and is that recommended?) but I’m okay with that. :) I LOVE a good cup of tea, however, I don’t know very much about tea yet. (I’ve read a book on the subject and it seems really intense, and something that I would love to know all the information about.) I’m sure I’ll find all I need here. Until then, I’ll keep up with my 3+ cups of tea that I drink a day, which proves a welcome distraction from writing papers and burying myself in oil paint and solvents.
I hope you’re having as good a day as I am—just found a tea forum and tea log. :)