Water can sometimes be too good for a tea. Today was such a case — went to the Best Tea House to see Tiffany and drop off stuff, and had one of the baozhongs I brought there… wow, the tea tasted awful. Flat, thin, not aromatic, slightly rough — what happened? It’s that super water […]
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Water issues again
September 6, 2007 · 6 Comments
Before I get on to the topic of water… some unfinished business from yesterday. This is what yesterday’s tea looked like when I brewed it this morning This is what it looked like late afternoon The top cup is yesterday’s tea. The bottom is today’s Wuyi… And this is how the leaves look when I […]
Tags: Information · Old Xanga posts · Teas
Water preparation
August 30, 2007 · 4 Comments
One of the perculiarities of Taiwan that I’ve noticed is that it runs a dual voltage. While most household sockets deliver 110v, some deliver 220v. I’ve noticed that it’s not just my apartment either — the subway station has clearly marked “110v” and “220v” sockets. Why any country would run two systems is beyond me… […]
Tags: Misc · Old Xanga posts
Water troubles
August 22, 2007 · 1 Comment
Everybody knows that only two things go into making tea — the leaves, and the water. We talk about tea often enough. Despite the attention paid to it from time to time, however, water is still a rarely discussed subject. My drinking today is a good reminder of why we should always be mindful. I […]
Tags: Information · Old Xanga posts · Teas
A tale of two waters
February 1, 2007 · 7 Comments
I got an email early today from Toki, who’s been rather quiet lately (note: and as I just noticed right now on his blog, whose grandmother has just passed away…). He asked me if I have tried a water called 5100. I haven’t, so I prompted went out and got a bottle. This is a […]
Tags: Information · Old Xanga posts
Water
December 31, 2006 · Leave a Comment
Happy New Year! I went to the Best Tea House today before the New Year’s festivities. Among the things we tried was using the different water with an older tea (1980s). The result was astounding…. whereas the filtered tap water is a bit thin, bland, and boring, the tap water infused with mineral water was […]
Tags: Old Xanga posts · Teas
Good baseline tea
August 1, 2023 · 7 Comments
I just spent a month in Taiwan doing research and other things. It was spent almost entirely in Taipei, so there wasn’t much time to go to the tea farms or anything. I did do some tea shopping, revisiting old haunts and finding new ones. A shop ran by someone who’s been there since he […]
Tags: Teas
Housecleaning
March 11, 2023 · 5 Comments
So, it’s been a while. I have sort of neglected this place – partly because I have nothing really new to say, partly because, well, blogs are a bit of a dead genre. Either way, this place has languished. But I do have plans, at least, to try to change that. One impetus is that […]
Tags: Teas
Restaurant tea service
May 4, 2021 · 10 Comments
You are at a beautiful restaurant, the dinner was very good, and you’re satisfied. Dessert is coming, and the server comes around and asks you “coffee or tea?” Being a civilized person, of course you said tea. Then, they come right back and bring you what I call the box of doom And your heart […]
Tags: Teas
Staying at home
March 18, 2020 · 1 Comment
The world’s in a lockdown. Those of us in Hong Kong have gone through this phase already – the whole panic buying of food and toilet paper, the closing of schools (which are still closed, at least physically, and probably for the whole semester), and the avoidance of social contacts. It does work – I […]
Tags: Teas
Yeah whisky prices have been leaking too, as well as luxury watches. I wrote a post maybe a decade ago…