teakkurim

6 shevet 5782 i don’t want to rub it in, but my water is really good. i am very fortunate and very grateful to pass by a delicious natural spring on my way to work every day. but this will not always be the case. one day i will move and then what? more importantly, i care about accessibility and want everyone to have access to great water. so what can you do if you don’t live by a natural spring? firstly, try to find out if there is one near you. it may be closer than you think. ask the hippies in your town or check out this website: https://findaspring.com/ also, if you cant get to a natural spring, there are things called ‘water recipes’ so you can make/enhance your water. yes, i am not joking. when i first saw this i thought that was the most ridiculous thing ive ever heard. it’s water, how can you have a recipe for water?! i now know it is a very valid thing. good water is more than H2O. spring water, the most esteemed for tea, is valued for a reason. there is something behin...

10 cheshvan 5782   since i mentioned it in my last post, i thought i would talk about the naked yiwu from teas we like. this is a well liked and well known tea in the western puer scene. it is made by a Taiwanese boutique brand called Xi Zi Hao (XZH) and it was my first Taiwanese boutique tea. like the love forever, i am not going to have any hot takes or new insights on this tea. off the bat i will say it is a very good tea but for $168/cake plus shipping, i am a touch let down. my one problem with it is that i don’t get many steeps out of it and i wish it had more stamina. i made this point on discord and some people also feel this way, but, the rumor is that the cake is blended rather unevenly and there are some real great spots and some just okay spots. i am still waiting to hit that sweet magic spot. one reason this tea is particularly liked is because the price is a good deal for something coming from XZH. their teas can be quite expensive. one reason it is more afforda...

22 adar 5781   i had another 7542 and it was worlds different than the last ones i had . it is all because of storage. the previous ones were aged in Kunming and stored in a very dry environment in the states. this one was ‘dry’ (aka: naturally) stored in hong kong. this one was bitter and had more bite, 2012 is fairly young, and although the PuerhShop 7542’s were lacking in flavor and texture, they were not as bitter because they were older.  the flavor i was getting from the 2012 was very different from the PS ones. this one was on the side of dark, plummy, some coffee tastes vs the PS one was grassier and very minerally.  the 2012 one was also a bit more stimulating. it didn’t give many quality infusions but that may also be a byproduct of its young age i am guessing. these statements are not groundbreaking or earth shattering for me. if you drink puer or read about it, these are some pretty standard statements. so why am i even writing about it? im one of th...