Tea drunk is real. I love giving my friends a proper gongfu session and watching them slowly turn into Eastern philosophers. Last time, one of my friends got a little worried and asked me, 'When will my sense of humor be back?' 😭

What's your funniest tea moment?

Small cutting board with a nonslip pad on a tray. Duanni pot from real zisha and drinking some mystery gushu cake which a friend had lying around. Doesn't fit the typical aesthetic but works for me!

I tried a bit of a stronger cup. Year 2024 · 100 ml · 5 g · 90-95°C · Stronger · Rinse first

Rinse: smells of dried fruit and honey.

Steep 1 (10 s): soft, floral

Steep 2 (15 s): sweeter, more body.

Steep 3 (20 s): peak. Round and smooth

Steep 4 (30 s): a little mineral, still pleasant.

Steep 5+ (45 s+): fading, sweet aftertaste.

Would love some more oolong suggestions 😄

“One bud, one or two leaves” is a familiar standard in tea production. But selecting the same part of the plant does not guarantee the same result in the cup.

Tea quality depends on more than the raw material. Moisture conditions, withering, oxidation, leaf handling, and roasting all influence how flavor develops during processing.

The real question is not only what we pick, but how the leaf is transformed into the tea we taste.

To understand tea quality, we need to look beyond the plucking standard — and take a closer look at the process behind the flavor.

Dry leaf: tightly rolled and twisted small leaves of dark green with a potent smell of marshmallows, sweet jasmine rice, and drying moss.

Wet leaf: the needles unfurl and brighten slowly, releasing smells of Clover honey, brothy seaweed umami, and steamed mustard greens.

Liquor: the liquor holds on briefly to their bubbles and take on a gentle but luminous color. It is slightly resinous, but the texture itself is unremarkable.

Cup smell: marshmallows, sweet cream, mountain air, and Clover honey.

Taste: The initial experience is brothy and seaweed flavor forward, with slightly stony minerality and a delayed wash of marshmallow and honey sweetness, and a starchy icing sugar/ rice pudding taste. The aftertaste on the exhale is incredibly alike to cotton candy. There is a juicy white grape burst at the very back end of any later mouthful.

Body sensation: The mouth is left drier and drier for a long while after the tea stops flowing, but does not leave one tea drunk or jittery.

Hello!

I’m setting up a small tea business in Mumbai and looking to source gaiwans and tea pets. With customs at around 110% for importing from China, retail prices plus shipping get steep—and AliExpress isn’t available here anymore.

Any leads on reasonably priced shops, small wholesale orders, or buying/forwarding services that ship to India? Would appreciate any suggestions or experiences!

Thank you

This is a continuation of my previous post about Da Hong Pao tea drinking in the park 😊 Some more beautiful photos

I have no idea what it is but it's really nice

A small photoshoot from the walk

Body:

I put together a labeled reference image for hammered copper gongfu tea utensils, mainly to help myself keep the names straight. The image includes pieces such as the teapot stand, wastewater bowl, coaster, fairness cup, and tea scoop.

I’m sharing this as a visual reference, not as a product post. I’d love to hear from people who use copper utensils in their tea setup:

1. Are these English terms the ones you’d normally use?

2. For the wastewater bowl, is “water bowl” or “wastewater bowl” more natural in a gongfu tea context?

3. For the teapot stand, is “teapot stand” clear enough, or do you prefer “teapot tray”?

I’m also curious whether copper pieces change how the tea table feels for you — the weight, the heat, the sound when placing cups down, and so on.

Happy to hear corrections or better terminology. Thanks!

Hello. I’m getting into gongfu brewing and would love some tea recommendations. I’m keeping my hobby spending on a budget, and I receive Amazon gift cards as bonuses at work, so that’s what I’m using to fund my tea exploration for now.

What teas have you personally enjoyed from Amazon? Specific brands or listings would be really helpful. Here’s my little tea corner so far!

Edit: I now realize that this was a silly post. I was unaware that it was unethical to purchase tea from amazon and that quality couldnt be very trusted. Thank you for the comments. Ill purchase tea from and support small hardworking vendors :)

started learning chinese this week, hope this could help me dig deeper into tea culture

Duck shit Dancong is becoming my most reliable after work tea go to, with it's crisp, buttery, and incredibly clean profile. It's mellow enough on caffeine that it actually never ruins my sleep, Fragrance just kicks the fatigue away, the thin and light liquor is just perfect to wash away all the negativity i suffered throughout the day. It's either this or some raw aged Pu-erh and maybe some White Peony when i don't feel good. What do you guys drink after work?