hashivah- im back!

 

29 tishrei 5782 (new year now)  

oh, hey there! been a long time hasn’t it? i wasn’t kidding when i said i wouldn’t be posting here much during the summer. but the summer is now over and the season is changing. now the winds are getting windier, the rains rainier, the clouds cloudier, and sundown comes sooner and sooner each day. this is the time of year when i sit inside more and need my inside hobbies to occupy my time. all of which brings me back to this blog.

i have a good deal to write about since ive last been here. im sure youre just dyiiiiiing to know what ive been up to. well, here, ill tell you. i made use of all the good sunshine we got out here over the summer. i did not camp as much as i wanted to to but i did spend a lot of time outside. i went for walks, sat outside, watched trees, listened to birds, squinted at bugs, and drank lots of tea.

firstly, it is confirmed, i do not like drinking young sheng. i keep trying it and keep coming back to the same conclusion. it is hard on my bod and it is not what i crave. i am officially no longer putting energy into it (which i believe i have said a couple of times but i keep trying it). this is no shade against young sheng. heck, i want to like it (cheaper and less finicky than aged sehng). my plan was to drink young sheng during the summer, but that didn’t go accordingly, so what did i spend my time drinking? aged sheng. yes, im surprised too. i mostly avoided trad stored and usually stuck to the lighter stuff (trad stored tea is my winter thing). the naked yiwu was a good one for me this summer especially because it tended to be fairly calming. besides that, there really wasn’t much of a pattern to what i drank because i had been trading many tea trades via discord and kept on getting exciting samples i wanted to try augmented by some fancy samples from LP and OG xiaguans from KTM like 8653s and the classic tuos (jia ji, te ji, cang er). a lot of these teas i still haven’t gotten around too… but that just means ill have even more to write about this winter. so don’t think im desperate for content just yet (give me another year…).

this summer i also started to dip my toes into the world of fancy boutique Taiwanese puer like YQH and Wistaria. i tried a small selection of YQH and a couple wisteria samples from LP. but i will save those for their own write up.

separate from puer, i had a few dan congs, a past favorite of mine that i have let fall by the wayside because i have been putting all my time into sheng. unlike aged sheng, dan congs will be there year in and year out without fears of selling out or their price increasing due to aging. i know they will be there in the future for me to reacquaint myself with. all in due time.

the most impactful thing that has happened in my puer growth has been what i have learned from discord. i tried to not spend too much time on it because i don’t enjoy interacting with screens and because i was too busy soaking in those silky rays of sunshine, but i was on it enough to start to become a part of the community. on discord, there is a real solid group of experienced puer drinkers sharing their knowledge and experience and many of the discussions are very informative. as an added bonus, it is an international platform and it is really great to interact with people outside of amerika.what makes the conversations even more informative is drinking the same teas the people are talking about so i can put my own opinions and experience in context with others. traditionally, people would be sitting together in person, sharing tea and discussing it and comparing opinions or changing brewing styles and discussing that. because of western tea culture, and additionally covid, that cant/doesnt happen as much and discord does a good job of acting as a substitute for some of those lost experiences.

the other great thing about discord that i really like writing about on this blog, is that it has opened up a community for me to trade with (which was my main reason for joining the server). the best way to gain experience and knowledge about tea is by tasting it and i have been able to taste a lot more teas from all the trades ive done (plus the generous bonuses that people stick in extra!).

My Favorite Things About Discord Tea Trades

1. Community Building: It allows you to build relationships with people

2. Pricing: its tea lovers trading or selling to tea lovers. everyone ive traded with so far has been super nice and generous. (i also like to think it is us uniting against vendors. hehehe. but that’s probably just me…) 

3. A Good Source: i don’t have to buy blind. i can tell someone what i am looking for or what my tastes are and they can give me their thoughts without me being worried that they are going to spew a bunch of marketing propaganda like businesses do. plus, a lot of people tend to throw in some little extra gifts which i really appreciate. i try to always add a lil something extra too (you should trade with me, wink wink nudge nudge). ideally, you should always throw in some tea (according to me), and i also like to make what i send a lil crafty. some drawings here, some collage and overly verbose letter about the teas there…

my main mission going into the fall and winter this year will be trying to drink tea with some seattle people if i can get in touch with them (look out TeaDB and other internet randos…). yes, we are still in a pandemic, but i am triple vaccinated (got my booster because i am immune compromised) and i will only drink tea with other vaccinated people at this time (and if it is just 1-2 people, that isn’t so dangerous).

get excited tea drinkers. i am back and i am thirsty for content- i mean tea!

xoxo,

atzei besamim