How do you know if you’re making your tea right? What I mean is, how do you know that someone on the other side of the country or the world is not making the same leaves taste ten times as good? People’s steepster reviews can be so vivid; is this a reflection of their imaginations or do they have the perfect trinity of great water, great teaware and great tea just by luck?
The same goes for cha qi. When mgualt has waves of frisson going up his ribs and down his back, and I only feel a little loopy, and we are drinking the same tea just in different parts of the world, how do I know if it’s a difference in our selves vs. a difference in our resulting brewed tea?
It’s fairly clear this is a not-so-good way to look at things. Your tea is your tea, and you should enjoy it in that context. However, it is always in the back of my mind, the question, is this good tea?
Sometimes I look for the ten qualities of a fine tea (living tea/GTH) or Relaxation, Oil, Aroma, Liveliness, Finish (deadleaves.club) but I could have teas that should tick all the boxes that aren’t for some reason. The only way to know is to have tea with people all over the world, and I haven’t gotten the chance to do that yet. If anyone would invite me, please drop me a line.
For now, I’ll be playing with water to gain a better understanding of how vastly different tea can taste with seemingly subtle changes.
Tea Secrets 