i love the stuff but i can't deal with the addictive effects. i only take it on special occasions now.

a few years ago i was drinking 8 double espressos per day, just to be normal.

it was like a coke habit.

hot water + honey + lemon

fucking crazy!

Damn...that's one hell of a addiction yo.

yes. the withdrawal is a bitch. had to do a fast/detox.

beastly headaches, but i felt great afterwards.

Yes. Hence in part why I'm going through a short-term coffee sabbatical, but I know what you mean!

I't's something that appeals to Americans. You want the exact measurements, the precise temperature, the resolute answer to make it taste always exactly the same.



Blindfolded like a mule, you love it.

It's limiting and just fucking boring. And it's not going to work anyway, good tea is not mcdonald's chemically engineered cheese, it's going to taste different.

you make too many assumptions, and believe them too much-- that's what's blindfolded.

anyway, came home w/ another large bag of sencha. gonna start w/ smaller pots.i've been drinking like a stressed-out sararyman.

ah, the french! champions of the utensil overkill. watch how many tools this guy uses for a single cup of tea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syxLls9n2do

All I used to have was a simple infuser but I do have some teaware now.

They use a lot of crap in the chinese style tea ceremony, but yeah, he could've done it all with the gaiwan that you see in the corner, didn't even need a cup. I have one in borosilicate glass (I like to see the leaves).


I also have a lidless teapot (I like to see the leaves) which is slightly different from the traditional kyusu.



I'd like to get a brewing tray but haven't really looked/found one that I like yet.

i have a $9 electric water boiler made of fine plastique (my flame-power kettle is stored at the moment)

brewing in a 1/2 liter french press

drinking out of camping cups





oh siiii....!

le luxe

i've been ogling some cast-iron pots though. w/ enameled insides (for brewing, not boiling).

i can't wait to finish setting up this fucking cabin. i've got piles of crap to sort. PILES AND PILES. (i'm aware that's also the british word for hemorrhoids. i find that meaningful and relevant.)

Haha NICE.

But you know, if you're drinking it all by yourself you can try to brew it directly in the cup.

The pots are not hard to find. The tetsubins you see for sale, they name them tetsubin, but they are usually teapots for brewing not the actual tetsubin kettles used for boiling.

yah, we brew for 2. hence the 1/2 liter press (2 cups @ a time). i prefer the flavor of a 3 minute brew.

before i was brewing in a 1.2 liter pyrex pitcher. and chugging it all furiously. too much liquid to rebrew so i wasted the stuff-- but it gets composted.

they have tetsubins at my tea store, and at nice prices, but you see, it's a matter of clutter and overload-- first, all junk must go. piles & piles. then and only i'll see about filling up the spaces-- but really carefully because i've come to HATE stuff.

I see. I think what you want is a Breville. One-in, two-out.


http://www.brevilleusa.com/the-tea-maker-onetouch.html

but... that's programmable! but... that adjusts temperatures! but... it does it the same way every time! but...

ha ha yeah that is a nice piece of electronic shit. but my problem with those is that when they for whatever reason blow up (they always do) you're shit out of luck trying to get it fixed and you're $250 poorer and stuck with a piece of trash ('merica does not do repairs!).

eh, i'm in no rush. the french press does the trick for now. and i'm really liking the tetsubins with a brewing basket for a future upgrade.

Don't forget the Japanese, I think they're in rivalry with the French for the Complicated Fucks award several years running..

It's the electric scooter of tea, except this even drives itself. Definitely not my thing.



My point about temperatures is of course, you should have a rough idea, but you don't have to be extremely anal about them.
Unless you're drinking very specific teas or doing some sort of scientific research, there's no need for thermometers or to learn how to read bubbles. With good tea I find that you can always control it with the brew.

They look great and I'm sure they're pretty good for insulating water but that stuff with baskets is really not ideal for brewing.

Damn, you're making me want to go get some tea.

i wouldn't mind the "electric scooter approach" at times-- say you're busy, working on a project, or have meetings, or whatever, then you let the machine take care of things. i like the ritual of making it myself (it offers a mental break and a moment of serenity) but there are times when one could use a robot.

my main objection to that comes from a different place. a few years ago i had to stay long-term in a hotel for a work project, and being forced away from my kitchen i bought a "nice" water boiler + brewing pitcher for about $100. that did the job pretty great for a time, then i took it back home, but eventually it ass-ploded after it was out of warranty. and nobody repairs things anymore (i actually tried opening it, it wasn't made for it, ha ha ha).

i kept the pitcher, it's the one i still use for large batches, but the electric junk wasn't easily recyclable due to its mixed composition. the pitcher is better than those english-style teapots because the spout doesn't dribble when you pour as those often do. but $100 for a pitcher is a bit much, no?

so now to go for a similar type of machine with a similar kind of potential outcome is highly unappealing, because even if it's a better quality machine, it's also more complicated (more points of failure), it has no salvageable parts, and it carries a much higher price. so i'll wait for self-repairing robots, terminator-style, before i consider purchasing one of those things.

(of course i could change my mind tomorrow. i do that a lot.)

--

and true on the baskets. they hinder the brew. my large pitcher has a stainless steel basket and it's semi-okay, leaves expand there better than in a bag (the bags for bulk tea, not tea sold in bags) but free-floating leaves are much better. so i'm thinking of getting two of those brewing cups, they are as simple as it gets. at least for green tea. or maybe a large version if i can find one. although when i think about it, the french press is functionally perfect (glass+stainless, free-floating leaves, pour to empty, strains great, easily re-brewable)-- just not very "traditional" or beautiful.

there's always problems, every method has its flaws, but the experimentation is part of the fun.

--

now go get yourself some tea. go get some smoked earl grey or a chunk of pu-erh or some good oolong or a really nice ceylon which is everything a good tea should be. or more of your favorite matcha.

you can hate me later!

Been rekindling my love for Fat Tire. Yeah,
its not Mendocino Brewery Red Tail Ale, but
its definitely the best pseudo-"craft-style"
beer from the conglomerate brewers. I
give it a solid 7.5,

a six pack of the red hook audible ale, six pack of abita purple haze, a few racehorses, and makers mark straight.

bottoms up to mondays

Damn dood...all to yourself?