New members welcome thread.

235 Replies
Leafhopper said

That’s one of the main reasons I haven’t gotten into puerh; there are too many that are described as tasting like dank basement, barnyard, fish, mold, decomposing wood, etc. I’ll have to wait until one of the big vendors is offering a good sale and my tea cupboard is a little emptier.

I actually enjoy Darjeeling as well, and managed to snag some of this year’s second flush from Lochan Tea before the strike. Should be reviewing them shortly.

Rasseru said

That is probably shou (ripe) puerh from your descriptions. sheng (raw) puerh is greener & fruitier.

But yes, I do get what you are saying. If you are us-based you are lucky and can probably join in on a traveling tea box and get to sample lots of great tea!

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Leafhopper said

I might want to start with sheng then, as I tend to gravitate to fruity flavours. I’m Canadian, so my sampling options are more limited.

mrmopar said

There are a few that ship your way pretty easy I think.

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Death Sips said

Hi,
I’ve been lurking for about half a year now. I got into tea about 2 years ago and got obsessed with puerh at the beginning of this year.

I’m not a talky guy but discussing and reviewing tea seems fun.
I learned a few things (mostly about vendors) while being here and I’m looking forward to join and share my experience in any discussion I find interesting.

mrmopar said

Time to join in!

TnDave said

Welcome from Eastern Tennessee

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MrQuackers said

Welcome. You should start a new discussion thread so that we can answer these questions. ☺

TnDave said

Welcome Edward. Very helpful bunch here.

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Audrey said

New! Hi! have loved tea for a long time but pretty basic. My husband was turned on to Puerrh at work and bought a Breville automatic teapot and now It’s On. I ordered some from Rishi for him and we’ve been drinking it regularly. I’m learning a lot, the only thing I can say I’ve found out for sure so far is that I don’t seem to like flavored teas, only unadulterated and scented ones (is that a Thing?)…….but I’m always happy to keep an open mind. I"m happy it’s becoming fall here on the High Desert, nothing’s better than enjoying a cool fall day with a delicious cup. Nice to meet you all!

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Jaeloco said

Hello. I have used this site a lot to look up tea reviews and thought I might hop into some conversations as well. Cheers!

MrQuackers said

Welcome, Jaeloco. :))

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Hello! I’m a fairly new tea lover and enthusiast (or perhaps it is more appropriate to say addict? Hahaha!)

I used to be a heavy coffee drinker (and don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the taste of coffee!) but toward the end of 2016, when I realized I was going through the symptoms of Medication Overuse Headache with my chronic migraine condition and I needed to detox off my medications for a month, I had to also give up caffeine as it aggrevates the effects of the Medication Overuse Headache. I switched to tisanes during that period, and was shocked at the surprising diversity of flavors available. After my detox period, when I could reintroduce caffeine into my diet, I was interested in expanding from herbals to actual teas, and again found myself dazzled by all the varieties and blends available! Before I knew it, my kitchen was filled with looseleaf teas! I had fallen in love, fast and hard!

I now run a tea review blog on Wordpress, and my journey since starting to review teas has been one of discovery — trying different kinds of teas for the first time, learning different preparation techniques, and noticing my subtle palette changes over time. For me, tea is a journey, and I love continuing to try new things! I have found that I enjoy all types of tea, especially flavorful blends that provide different flavor profiles — sweet, decadent, fruity, floral, savory, spicy — but I’ve started to find myself drawn to pure teas as well, and enjoy slowly savoring them, and trying to distinguish the subtle flavor notes within them.

I used to love wine-tasting, but due to having intractable chronic migraine, I can no longer have alcohol as it is a migraine-trigger for me. When I discovered tea, I found the experience brought back the joy of the wine-tasting experience for me. Getting to sniff the leaves and enjoy the scents, sampling the tastes of the different varieties and slowly picking out the different flavor notes, discovering new favorites, and just getting to unwind while sharing a pot with a friend… it was very much like sniffing a wine cork, slowly swirling a bit of wine and savoring the subtle flavors, and having a chat with a friend while sipping a glass and relaxing. I never thought I’d have that experience again… and I certainly never thought I’d find it again from tea!

I’m looking forward to connecting with other tea enthusiasts. _

Woooohooo looking forward to your unique way of describe your taste journey : )

mrmopar said

Yeah, we will have her corrupted in no time….

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Breathing some new life into this thread! Hopefully we can keep it visible for anyone new to Steepster :)

derk said

Don’t mind me. Inserting comment here for the regular edit-bump since this discussion isn’t stickied.

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CJBaker said

Hello. New tea guy here. Hope I am not out of line reviving a dead thread or anything. Apologies if so.

I’m turning 50, live in Kansas, USA, and for whatever reason fell in love with tea this year…as in not simply, “I want something other than water”, but actually finding a great deal of pleasure from better quality teas.

Naturally, I found this site while searching teas beyond what is available in stores here. I was pleased to find the tea logging feature which will be very useful. My own “list” of teas was starting to be a bit of a pain.

While initially I was enjoying exploring various types of tea, it was a bit daunting and I decided to focus on just black teas, mostly unflavored, and do a bit of a deep dive there. I will broaden my horizons to other types for certain, but for now I am quite content sampling black teas and all that they have to offer.

Anyhow, I thought it best to introduce myself since I started following a few people based reviews they have posted. Not really sure how properly to dive into this place, but I am in the water at this point.

Hi, and welcome! o/ Looking forward to reading your notes! :)

Hello and welcome from Central Europe! I hope you won’t mind my spelling mistakes and/or bad sayings or grammar mistakes. I am pleased that you chose me to follow and I already follow you back.

You will found out later that exploring only black teas isn’t everything. You will never find all the depths as every tea is different. There is no end of knowledge of tea.

You will find your own way here. Reading other people notes, trying teas you never thought of, and so on. For example, I do use “like” button as “read”, but some are using it as true “like”. It’s your choice.

Welcome, and don’t be afaid of us. Maybe you feel that your reviews are boring or not so descriptive, but take a look on my first notes… they were boring back then too. Your palate will develop and you will taste more and more nuances.

Sorry, if I wrote too much. And don’t forget that many of us will gladly share/swap some tea! That’s fun as well!

mrmopar said

Morning CJ and welcome. Seems we are about the same age group enjoying our favorite beverage. For sure utilize the features and feel free to ask questions. We all learn and grow with each other.

Welcome! (Wow, I can’t believe not far up this page was my own “New to Steepster” post… and that was four years ago. Was it? Was it really?) We need more new blood around here, obviously. :-)

Jen vB said

Welcome! I joined about a year ago and only recently have been more active in posting and interacting. It’s a nice forum with friendly people.

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Hi all new member in NW UK but am overseas 9 weeks out of 12
Leaf tea drinker food decades
I invested in three or four EOT cakes six seven years ago- am ready to try them now
Thing is I am puerh clueless – anyone in my area care to share some and show me?
I’ll be back all of June

ashmanra said

Not in your area, but wishing you success in finding a tea buddy. May I suggest looking for Liquid Proust’s discord? That may have more reach into specifically the puerh topic and someone in your area may see you there!

Also, there may be some good youtube videos to get you started on the learning journey, like teahouseghost, although I don’t know if he has any puerh specific ones. But I feel sure a search will reveal at least some puerh specific sessions with someone in the know.

Happy tea-ing!

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