Disaster in Japan

First off, I received an email yesterday from Ilya at Adagio, in which he informed me of a support program they have going on:

Adagio Teas is donating 15% of its Japanese Tea sales to the American Red Cross and for every one of these sales we will post a paper crane to our site to mark all of our collective efforts.

Check it out: Adagio Teas - Japanese Relief

Secondly, I want to encourage you all to continue supporting the Japanese economy by buying Japanese tea products when the new harvest comes out. If Japanese teas aren't... (I'm so sorry for this) your cup of tea (groan), they also make some pretty nifty teapots, tea cups, tea canisters, etc. that you can use for whatever teas you like.

I know some of you may be concerned about radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant incident contaminating your Japanese tea, but fear not! While some crops in areas in the vicinity of the reactor have demonstrated unsafe levels of contamination, the tea-producing regions of Japan are quite far to the south and are extremely unlikely to be adversely affected.

I understand if you don't just take my word for it, though. Fortunately there is some excellent discussion on the issue going on over at TeaChat; I suspect this thread will be updated as more information becomes known.

Starting over.

It has been a long time since I had any sort of meaningful experience with tea. At some point I just... gave up. Looking back, I think one can see this in my last several entries; fearing that I would lose some important part of my life if I accepted my budding lack of interest, I desperately grasped at new ways to find meaning in the hobby I had spent so much time exploring. Sometimes it even worked, however briefly.

But sometimes we just have to let ourselves let go. Do I regret that I gave up on a beautiful thing, a creative outlet, and a means to meet interesting people and have stimulating discussion? Absolutely— I'd be stupid not to. But did dwelling on it accomplish anything?

Over the past year (probably even longer) I often had the thought, "I really should put together a new post..." I would look over at my tea stash and associate it with the burden of taking photos, looking up information, writing, formatting, etc.; it got to the point where I felt obligated to write about tea whenever I so much as looked at it. This obligation eventually turned into a weird guilty feeling I couldn't help but dwell on, and, well, it's no surprise that tea lost its magic.

Dwelling on guilt is an incredibly easy way of telling ourselves how much better we could be— how much better we should be. You know what? Screw that. You're just as shitty a person as you know you are; no more, no less.

"Quitters never win and winners never quit." A noble sentiment, but ultimately harmful. Does this mean we fail every time life takes us down a new road? Is one failure all it takes to permanently label us as failures? Where did we get this notion that we have to, or are even able to, win everything? Why do some of us give ourselves endless amounts of grief for not achieving the level of perfection we expect?

Take comfort in your revolting humanity, the piss-poor excuse of a god that you've become. Suffering from guilt is not righteous suffering, and freeing yourself from it is not a resignation to complacency but rather the first step in getting out of your own damn way.

All this to say, hopefully I can put this mode of thinking behind me and start (among other things) enjoying tea again. And who knows? Once that happens, maybe I'll start writing again, but forget about regular updates for the sake of regular updates.

Fortunately, my readers are used to waiting. :)

Tea and Weight Loss | IT'S ALIVE, kind of

Bwahaha, I'll bet I had you going for a minute there with this title. It's actually exactly the opposite of what you are thinking.

This is mostly a "look guys, this blog really isn't dead" post, but here's a fun fact: over the past few months, despite drinking almost zero tea, I have lost 20 pounds. Now, I could use this anecdote to launch into a satire about how dumb the customers of weight-loss tea companies are, but this has already been done to death so I'll spare you.

Anyway, look guys, this blog really isn't dead. ["Comatose" works, though.] Like I said, I just haven't been drinking much tea at all, for various reasons. I'll get back into it eventually, but I don't want to stuff this blog full of boring filler reviews about teas I'm really just not that interested in (no offense to the vendors whose teas I have stockpiled) right now.

I greatly appreciate that some of you still regularly check this site for updates, and I'm sorry that this post isn't more substantial! This blog isn't gone for good though, so keep checking back every couple weeks (or whenever); you never know when this fickle mind will want to write again. :)

New layout... again

Hey all, I finally gave in and updated to the newer Blogger layout system. Sure, it looks like every other blog out there now (I may tweak it to be a bit more unique later), but there are some nice features I couldn't use on the old system.

Let me know if anything looks weird or is broken!

And yes, I am still working on the fourth teaware guide. Sorry for the delay.

New Teaware, Teas

It was a good holiday season this year. Among other things, I got a lot of new teas and teawares. Much of the bounty is courtesy of ABx from TeaChat, including this lovely gaiwan (made famous by GeekGirlUnveiled, also from TeaChat) from Serenity Art in Portland.



Also in that photo are two new celadon cups from Dragon Tea House and a neat little plate from Daiso. There's plenty more en route (I wasn't smart enough to bring a big suitcase home with me), so stay tuned. Between the teaware and the samples ABx sent, I have a lot to write about.

Yes, yes, I'll take some color shots too. :P

A few (mostly) unimportant tidbits

***Actually important info:***
I will no longer be checking emails sent to admin@teanerd.com. It was a pain anyway (Booooo POP3), but then I started getting quite a bit of spam. If for some crazy reason you actually want to converse with me, you can find an email address on the About Me/Contact Info page (link is to the left). Sorry for the confusion.

***Entirely unimportant personal drivel:***
Given my penchant for obsession and preference for the totally impractical, it's really not surprising that I would eventually develop (oh yes, pun very much intended) an interest in film photography. I'm just getting started, but I am encouraged by the results of my first few rolls.


I think film has so much more character to it. Even aside from the medium itself, using film has indirect effects on the photographic process. Most importantly, it makes me slow down and actually think about composition and exposure, rather than just doing rapid-fire, hope-I-get-something-useable bracketing.


Fortunately, my TAD (teaware acquisition disorder) has gone into remission lately. I say it is fortunate because I now lust over lenses and cheap Soviet rangefinders (cheap is, of course, a relative term).


I had to include something tea related in this post, didn't I? :)

New search feature

You may or may not have noticed the new search box (powered by the folks at Lijit.com) here on Tea Nerd, but you will probably be a whole lot more interested when you hear about how awesome it is. This search box now searches not only this blog, but several others that I have selected.

This should make it easier for you to find what you are looking for, whether you want to get several opinions on a particular topic/tea/vendor/etc. or have forgotten which blogger wrote an article you remember.

In case you doubt my motives, I don't get any kickbacks from the company that sponsors this search. I just thought it might be useful. The rest of you bloggers might like it too, so check it out.

Meet _______, my new friend.

I just picked up my first houseplant today. It's a jade plant, and it's just a baby right now, but it should grow into that pot if I don't kill it first.


On that note, I thought I'd ask you all to help me name him (Yes, it's a him. My girlfriend and I decided to give it a male name so she doesn't get jealous of how much time I spend with it). I thought I'd go with the name of a mythological figure who is either prophesied to die or dies despite the best intentions/precautions/etc., as I expect this poor little plant to share the same fate.

The two names I am considering at the moment are Acrisius (thanks Mary), an ancient Greek king accidentally killed by a discus thrown by his grandson, and Baldr, a Norse god killed by an arrow made of mistletoe (the only thing that could harm him) that Loki, another god, tricked Baldr's brother Höðr into shooting him with.

Let me know if you like one or the other better, or if you have any other ideas because frankly, neither of these names is all that pleasing to the ear. Thanks!

[Edit: I found a couple others that could work. They don't strictly fit with the theme I was going for, but they are funny nonetheless. One is Mallory, which in old French apparently means "ill-omened." The other is Erysichthon, another ancient Greek king who, due to his insatiable hunger (thanks to Aethon, the god of famine), ate himself. Charming, eh?]

Mystery Yancha Revealed

Thanks to Rob, who reminded me that I had not yet revealed the secret identities of those two yancha.

Sample A was... 2002 Rou Gui from Teacuppa (now out of stock, sadly)
Sample B was... 2007 "Exquisite" Da Hong Pao from Teacuppa

On another note, I have now passed the 100 posts mark! Wooooooo!

Anyway, sorry for the delayed absence. I haven't been in much of a tea mood (or a writing mood) lately. :/ I'll pick up the pace soon enough.

A random photo, taken on a hike with the girlfriend last week:

Excuses, excuses | Tale of Two Senchas

Yes, I have been bad. No posts in 3 weeks! There are a number (three, actually; how appropriate and cliché!) of reasons:

1. Spring break.
2. I've been drinking mostly sencha, which I find hard to write about (unlike this guy).
3. Hell, I'm just lazy.

Anyway, in an attempt to appease you, here are two mini-reviews of two (enough with the numbers already!) senchas I've been enjoying lately.

---

2007 Shizuoka Sencha "Hatsumi"

Class: Green
Origin: Shizuoka prefecture, Japan
Year: 2007
Vendor: O-Cha.com (Product page)
Price: $24.95 (100g)

Great stuff. Bold, sweet, round flavor, and light on grassiness and astringency. If you like O-Cha's Yukata Midori, you will like this too. I would say it definitely has a stronger flavor than the Yukata Midori and its color is almost as rich, though it is not quite as sweet and lacks a certain something I can't put my finger on.

2007 Sencha Chiran Yukatamidori

Class: Green
Origin: Kagoshima prefecture, Japan
Year: 2007
Vendor: Lupicia (Product page)
Price: $7.00 (50g)

Though not as good as O-Cha's Hatsumi, I think this is a great performer for its price. Like the Hatsumi and Yukata Midori from O-Cha, this is a mellow sencha. It is not devoid of grassiness, but it is certainly downplayed in favor of the sweet "greenness" that I find so difficult to describe any better. (I should mention that when I say "mellow," I do not mean "light.") This is a full-bodied tea with good flavor, and would be a great daily sencha.

---

If you happen to have a Lupicia store nearby (there are not many, unfortunately), check it out. I visited the one in San Jose, CA, and was quite impressed. Not only did they have a huge selection of teas (mostly Japanese greens), but they also had helpful, friendly workers— a breath of fresh air, per se, for one who has sore memories of hubris-filled Teavana "teaologists."

Well, that's all, folks. Stay tuned though, especially you tea-newbies. I have something very special lined up that you won't want to miss!

wikiCHA!

Hey all, just wanted to let you know about a project I have been working on with a few other tea friends. It's called "wikiCHA," and as you may have already gathered, it is a wiki about tea.

It's still a fledgling wiki, and though much effort has been put into it, we are far from being a "complete" source for tea knowledge. Still, I invite you to take a look and see what's up already— you might learn something new (I know I have)!

If you see a missing article you feel you could help with, make an account and get to work! If you would like to be a more regular contributor, check out the community portal to see what we really need help with.

Check it out here: http://www.wikicha.com

Same nerdy goodness, new location!

Hey all, Tea Nerd can now be found at http://www.teanerd.com! Any old links to http://teanerd.blogspot.com (or any posts) will still work, so don't bother changing links or bookmarks. Enjoy the new, shorter, spiffier URL!

Update

Hey all, sorry for the lack of posting. Between school and medical school application essays, I've been swamped lately. I'll continue my Lochan reviews soon, no guarantee when though. Thanks for your enduring readership!

Drowning in samples

Alright, I am officially in over my head. Since receiving a package full (nearly bursting from the seams, in fact) of samples from Mr. Ankit Lochan today, and being fully aware that I will soon be receiving the Dragon Tea House samples (I don't know why it's taking so long... customs, maybe?), I have come to the realization that I will soon be completely addicted to and/or overdosed on caffeine.

I love it!

The enormity of the amount of tea I got from Lochan Teas is almost unbelievable. Even better, it's all small samples of pretty much everything grown under the Indian sun. Here is the full list:

Lochan Muscatel Delight - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Lochan Oolong Imperial - 2nd Flush 2007
Lochan White Imperial - 2nd Flush 2007
Margaret's Hope - Black - 2nd Flush 2006
Margaret's Hope - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Makaibari - Imperial Vintage - Organic - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Caselton Wiry Clonal Delight - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Giddapahar - White - 2nd Flush 2007
Glenburn - Green - 2nd Flush 2007
Goomtee - Muscatel Delight - Organic - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Jungpana - Muscatel Oriental - Organic - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Glenburn - Snow Oolong - 2nd Flush 2007
Goomtee - Oolong - 2nd Flush 2006
Hattialli - Golden Bud - Assam - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Khongea - Standard Assam - Black - 2nd Flush 2007

I will do my best to get through all of these and post about them, but I can't promise anything about how long that will take. Luckily school hasn't gotten too hectic yet, so I'll have some free time— for now. Wish me luck! :)

Back to School

I just moved back into my dorm today, and while unpacking I found that one of my Yixing pots had been broken. Luckily it was one of the relatively inexpensive ones, but it was still a disappointment. It was also the only thing broken in the move (so far), so I suppose things could be worse.

Though my teawares are all set up neatly on my desk and shelf, I am currently without any tea. Everything is stuck in the painfully inefficient and bureaucratic Vanderbilt post office. Anyway, I still have a few days before class starts, so I should have time to write one or two posts. After that... only time will tell.

(In case you are wondering, the top picture is my attempt to put Humpty Dumpty back together. If only I had all the king's men to help me, maybe I would have been successful. The horses would be nice to have as company, but I doubt hooves would be of much assistance.)

Tea Nerd Feed + Search Box

So I was fiddling around with my Blogger settings and I seem to have solved my feed problem. Basically, I couldn't figure out how to get images to look the same in the feed as they do on the web, and it turns out the solution was a lot simpler than I thought it was.

Anyway, you will now find a "Subscribe to Tea Nerd" link on the left, and you can keep up with new posts with a newsreader application (Such as Google Reader, or Firefox's built in reader). Enjoy!

Update: I've also added a Google search box to my sidebar, in case you mistakenly think I have any old posts worth taking a second look at.

Teacuppa Wrap-up

Although not much emphasis was put on identifying the teas in the tasting session, here are the results:

A: 2005 CNNP Shupu
B: 2005 Luxi Shupu
C: 2005 Tiandiren Shupu
D: 2005 CNNP “Big Blue Mark”
E: 2005 Jiangcheng Yesheng
F: 2005 Simao Yesheng

As you can see, I got 4/6 correct. I should have thought of that alphabetical order thing earlier, since it turned out to be right. :)

Anyway, thanks again to Teacuppa for providing the free tea, and to Hobbes over at The Half Dipper for organizing and directing the event.

Also, I have a few teas lined up to write reviews about, so stay tuned in the next week. I got a little tired of note-taking after the marathon six tea tasting event, so I took a little break from being critical and going back to actually enjoying tea!

News Flash!

A few updates about what's going on at the moment:

Bad News (for you readers):

I just got home from school, so I'm relaxing and not on the computer as much anymore. I also decided, stupidly, to ship my teaware home with some other stuff, instead of packing it in my suitcase. Also, I'm going on vacation for a week, and I haven't decided if I'm going to bring tea yet.

The combination of these three things means I am drinking less tea and I am less likely to post here. Don't worry though, I'll get back into the swing of things once my stuff gets here and once I get back from vacation.

Good News:

I have about a billion tons of tea here or in the mail, so I will have plenty of reviewing material. What am I getting? Well, since you asked...

Salsero's Second Best Teahouse Samples (thanks again Salsero!):
• Mokalbari SFTGFOP1 Assam
• Everyday Milan Dan Cong from Jing Tea Shop
• Premium Da Hong Pao from Yunnan Sourcing (ebay)
• Yiwu Mao Cha from Dragon Tea House (ebay)
• 2005 Haiwan "Long Tong Zhi" Te Ji Ripe Puerh from Yunnan Sourcing (ebay)
• 2006 Six Famous Tea Mountain Ripe Puerh from Yunnan Sourcing (ebay)
• 2000 Haiwan Gu Hua Puerh from Jing Tea Shop
• 2006 Menghai Dayi 7432 Premium Raw Puerh from China Gifts (ebay)
• 2005 Six Famous Tea Mountain Organic Raw Puerh (source unknown)

Others:
• 2007 Yukata Midori Kagoshima Shincha from O-Cha.com
• Feng Huang Milan Dancong from Jing Tea Shop
• Single Bush Xing Ren Dancong from Jing Tea Shop
• Single Bush Ba Xian Dancong from Jing Tea Shop
• Single Bush Yulan Dancong from Jing Tea Shop
• 2006 Menghai "Spring of Menghai" Raw Puerh from Yunnan Sourcing (ebay)
• Mystery Raw Puerh (will post pics soon) from Mountain View Tea Village and Gallery

As you can tell, I am pretty much rolling in tea (Luckily, most of these teas are coming as small samples). I also have a couple of cheapo yixing pots coming in the mail, in addition to the teapot, teacups, and fairness cup / sharing pitcher I bought today from a local tea shop (Mountain View Tea Village and Gallery). Unfortunately I underestimated just how small a 2-4oz teapot could be, and ended up getting a 5oz one by accident. Just paying my tuition, I guess!

Anyway, I think it's time I got back to lounging around. I'll be back soon!

Behind the scenes at Tea Nerd

Hey all, just wanted to keep you up-to-date. I haven't done any reviews lately, because I've just received a whole bunch of oolongs and I've been teaching myself how to properly taste them. I've improved my gaiwan-brewing skills a great deal, and I think I've found another favorite tea. Anyway, in a week or two I'll start putting up a series of wuyi oolong notes and reviews, so stay tuned.

Also, during my absence, I encourage you all to visit the other tea blogs I have listed on the left-hand side of this page-- there are some real gems in there, and some that put this little project to shame.

As always, brew, drink, and be nerdy.
-Brent

I might just be a little obsessed...

Yep, a new design-- again. Hopefully this should be a little easier on the eyes-- the green got to me after a while. Still, feedback is always appreciated, so let me know if you have any problems/suggestions/etc. Who knows... maybe this one will stay up for a while (doubtful)!

-Brent