Tea doldrums

Ever so often you need a new reason to break old tea drinking habits. I had a Nietzsche moment. Im tired of dullwits telling me how great a tea taste. I want the worst. Im on a conquest to find the most vile I have in stock. I didnt drink Young Hyson for decades now I cant get enough. I know I have some Temple of Heaven somewhere. I want to drink teas that have no mercy and corrode my Pavina. I want to drink teas that leave dead spots in the grass. I want teas that manhandles me. I want teas that grow hair on my tongue. I want to know how bad it can get. I want to appreciate the yuck factor in tea. It struck me my methodology of using about the same amount of tea in the same volume of boiling water wasnt introducing any new taste.

Jim

PS I also applaud Nigel for my new approach to tea. We arbitrarily dismiss someth> I seem to be stuck in some sort of a rut right now where the only teas

Well, you've inspired me to finish up my sample packet of Xuan Yi. It has only a slight amount of the kitty litter flavor for which I dumped my Green Hairpoint , plus an aggressive amount of pine and fir taste in the middle cup. I'll refrigerate the used leaf and it should last me four more cups. I won't reorder it. Toci

Its too easy just to drink the teas we like. Im going to spend more time on the ones I dont drink more often. There are other reasons besides tasting good in the cup.

Jim

PS I'll have to hunt down my Green Hairpo> > > Ever so often you need a new reason to break old tea drinking habits.

...epiphanies deleted...

Green Hairpoint or Gunpowder are just never OK. I've had a few teas switch from hated to revered over the years though: Puerh, Kudingcha, Some green oolongs, and a super-highly double roasted Shui Xian which I would now give all of my tea and wares to have again but almost gave up on initially.

If/when I do break out of my ruts I tend to concentrate on a new area entirely rather than just hunt and peck between a bunch of disparate new teas.

- Dominic

am i really the only person who occasionally enjoys gunpowder?

The very first tea which - somehow - started my obsession with teas was Gunpowder, probably quite low quality. It was just undrinkable and still is, in my opinion. By chance i then discovered that a mixture with orange juice gave an acceptable drink even/especially cold. Some time after this i found my first 'real' tea, a Pai Mu Tan, i had longer need for the Gunpowder.

So enjoying gunpowder in its pure form? Never! On very few occasions i drink this gunpowder-orange mixture, but aside from the memory it is nothing special. Stefan

hehe you guys really must hate the stuff :) i have to confess that its not among my favourites of course, but every now and then it can be quite nice... if you was it first (with boiling water) its not as bad ;) and sometimes i just need some ugly green tea...

also there a rather nice mixture often sold as something like "la toureg", which is gunpowder mixed with nana mint... thats actually really quite good :)