Congratulations enablers, you got me again!
Up until yesterday I haven't ever bothered to look into The Cafe. Yesterday, I was content to drink my powdered bags of Chai with milk and sugar. Now, I have the irresistible urge to try pretty much every whole leaf tea!
Jumping in with both feet, I went ahead and ordered an electric kettle, mini-scale, gaiwan, and an inexpensive cake of pu'er. Probably a low quality one, but I figure I don't have the pallette (or wallet) to appreciate a $70 cake right now. The important part is that I can get started experimenting quickly with a consistent "sample".
I do have a few questions that I haven't found answers to yet, or the 2009 answers are a bit dated.
Am I missing anything critical? Teacups, I guess, but I figured that for my first foray into non-CTC teas a mug that's never been tainted with coffee should suffice.
Since I'm currently partial to sweetened Chai, are there any particular teas that I should be in a hurry to try?
Similarly, are there any specific "batches" (from any category) of tea that you would recommend for a novice? You know, good deals that aren't quite at the bottom of the barrel, etc.
And what about online stores? All of the suggestions I've found from the wiki are nearly a decade old. Some of them are probably still good, but I'd like to hear everyone's current picks.
Lastly, a pu'er question: for rinsing shu, (ripe) do you guys do two 30s rinses and then start with very short steepings? The cake I ordered is shu, yet most of the steeping advice I've seen is for the green. (sheng?)
Thanks!
Up until yesterday I haven't ever bothered to look into The Cafe. Yesterday, I was content to drink my powdered bags of Chai with milk and sugar. Now, I have the irresistible urge to try pretty much every whole leaf tea!
Jumping in with both feet, I went ahead and ordered an electric kettle, mini-scale, gaiwan, and an inexpensive cake of pu'er. Probably a low quality one, but I figure I don't have the pallette (or wallet) to appreciate a $70 cake right now. The important part is that I can get started experimenting quickly with a consistent "sample".
I do have a few questions that I haven't found answers to yet, or the 2009 answers are a bit dated.
Am I missing anything critical? Teacups, I guess, but I figured that for my first foray into non-CTC teas a mug that's never been tainted with coffee should suffice.
Since I'm currently partial to sweetened Chai, are there any particular teas that I should be in a hurry to try?
Similarly, are there any specific "batches" (from any category) of tea that you would recommend for a novice? You know, good deals that aren't quite at the bottom of the barrel, etc.
And what about online stores? All of the suggestions I've found from the wiki are nearly a decade old. Some of them are probably still good, but I'd like to hear everyone's current picks.
Lastly, a pu'er question: for rinsing shu, (ripe) do you guys do two 30s rinses and then start with very short steepings? The cake I ordered is shu, yet most of the steeping advice I've seen is for the green. (sheng?)
Thanks!