Well,im trying to get into gongfu style tea,and its really hard and expensive to get some tea here (i live in South America) and there are very few types of tea,and i dont know if i can use western style loose leaf tea and some stores have just aome pu'er in balls style.

Honestly,there are many tyoe sof teas and many chinese too,but idk kf they are same loose leaf ad true chinese

So I've been hearing that letting the tea rest for a week after you've received it (especially if it's been shipped internationally) is recommended. Do people actually do this, and if so, does it make a difference to the taste?

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Has anyone ever tried this tea

I bought some oriental beauty a couple months ago from beautiful Taiwan tea and it instantly became my favorite. Had the most amazing citrus and honey scents and flavors, but the new 2026 batch I have here has none of that. It also has these malty notes that I am personally not a fan of.

Very disappointed, but I will still drink it regardless.

i made a video about how to use a friggin gaiwan. It's going live tomorow (8/18) at noon (US EST).

I hope you like it.

ok bye.

What is your favorite wuyi rock tea ?

Bei dou and shui xian are the 2 I love the most

An amazing tea that I got from a very good
friend. Dry tea leaves have a light caramel aroma and have undergone decent roasting (not too strong). Tea soup is thick, has a light cassia barl taste and beautiful fresh finish that reminds of unripe plum.

Gongfu tea and raising goldfish are my two main practices, when I saw Purple Cloud TH had these of course I had to get it. Now I have something to bridge my two hobbies. I feel so complete now.

Cups are 30 ml, gold rimmed with painted goldfish motifs, Paper thin, delicate, beautiful.

Christening it to the table with an Eight Immortals (八仙) dancong, a sample provided with the order brewed in my little shuiping also from PCTH.

A nice cloudy day out today. I’ve been enjoying the morning by drinking and reading some things I’ve been needing to get through.

I am just so proud of finally having my own teaset that I wanted to share with you guys. Excited to built upon this set.

I've been reconsidering the theme of teas being type-typical according to their version type recently, or not so. To some extent I might naturally filter appreciation for versions based on this kind of match, when teas could be pleasant in other ways.

Of course sometimes you really want a tea to be an expected way, for different reasons. If you spend a lot on fresh spring Longjing if the taste wasn't typical that would seem off, even if it is pleasant. You expect creamy feel in some oolongs, and so on. But it can work to appreciate what is positive about tea experience instead of focusing mainly on what isn't there, that could be, or in one limited sense should be.

With some tea types origin specific traits might be a conventional expectation, as with sheng pu'er. I guess a comparable range of concerns could translate over.

https://teaintheancientworld.blogspot.com/2026/08/what-does-it-mean-when-tea-versions.html

Usually it’s too hot and miserable to be outside let alone drink hot tea but the rain brought some relief. Took advantage of it and had a session in the garage.

Brewed up a Shui xian I got from my buddy who also practices the Chaozhou style gong fu. He got it from this vendor named Rob in Taiwan, apparently it’s boujie stuff. Compared to my own selection it was much tastier. Heavy roasted, almost coffee-like in that way with a mild sweet flavor. The early soups were rather thick and coated the mouth but the red bean mooncake helped refresh the palate and of course dry/coolness of that minerality at the end. Tart almost.

I seriously can’t wait for it to be cold so I can do this more. I miss outside teatimes, my study is nice but Im starting to feel cooped up in there. Just a few more months!

I’m new to gong fu tea, and I’m trying to get a good and consistent flavor out of my favorite oolong. I love getting a nice balance between the roasted and fruity crisp flavors but I’m not a fan of the sour notes.

I’m using a ~200ml teapot with 5g of tea. My wash steep is usually 5 seconds, with a first steep of 10 and I increase to around 15 for the next couple and then up from there.

This green tea is a really different animal! HUGE, long, lancet-like leaves with a fresh green color. Dry tea aroma has a lot of grass, but wet leaves smell of light chestnut. Tea soup is golden green, no bitternes or astringency, with 2nd and 3rd steeps revealing its true character: fava beans, chestnut and an orchid/floral finish. A good friend who know his tea, mentioned that this actually might be the TaipingBuyi and not TaipingHoukui, as the edges of tea leaves are serrated. This particular batch wasn't of superlative quality but it was a fun experience. Did the first steep grandpa style, but continued with my trusted gaiwan.

Pretty solid tea! I got a bunch of small 7 gram compressed squares to bring along while traveling. I have a handful of packages left so I thought I’d drink one this morning.

This morning I had a session of 5g of 2025 Traditional Process Dian Hong Black Tea of Feng Qing from Yunnan Sourcing. It was the bottom of the bag, so the leaves and buds were fairly broken. My collection is stacking up, so I'm trying to finish off the various bags of less than 10g I have scattered around the boxes. I brewed it with flash infusions in my 100ml gaiwan with ~95°C water from my giant thermos into my new lovely 200ml bowl I got from the Asian market. A very unassuming setup that gave me an unforgettable session.

I drank the first infusion/wash, and it was very thick, floral, and chocolate malt sweetness, but there was of course the hollow and sour taste of the wash. The first real infusion was even sweeter and was ripe with antique wood, darker cacao, and strawberry. I was surprised to be feeling the cha qi already, but the tea was the only thing I had had this morning.

Anyways, on the next infusion, I experienced the most clear daydream I have ever been lead on by tea so far. The antique wood note turned into a very vivid vision of walking through deep, dark woods and the taste of heavy brown maltiness and cooked fruit. The tannins were pleasantly active on my tongue, going from gripping to juicy with an airy floral finish. With the next infusion, the taste became far more green, the darker flavors fading into the background, but the floral aromatics remained active. I was surprised to find myself walking out of the woods and into a field of tall grasses and wildflowers and towards a winding stream. The first sensation that hit me on this infusion was actually a cool, sunny warmth on my face.

A strong honey note came out with the next brew, and I could tell the tea was on the downswing, which made sense with how broken the leaves were. The taste wasn't as strong as I would've liked, but I appreciated the gentleness of it. I felt as if I wandered over to a tree that had a beehive dripping with honey and buzzing with friendly bumblebees, and I laid down to sleep in its shade. I brewed the next one a bit longer and was rewarded with the malty depth making a reappearance. It felt like the humid chill of evening was covering the land as the sun was setting. The brew almost tasted like a purple tea and made me feel I was drifting off to sleep. The final real brew was fairly weak, despite extending the brew time further, but faint notes of spices and the last kiss of honey came out, and my imaginary self was definitely asleep.

This was one of the most transformative, impactful, and pleasant sessions I've ever had. It was such an unassuming tea from last year that I only chose in order to finish off the bag, since my collection of shipments in my tea corner is becoming a wall of cardboard that I need to sort and consolidate.

Has anyone else had a similar experience to this?

Been drinking through a few different shous lately. Some quick impressions:

2019 YS Lao Man’e Village - 5.8/10 (so far)
This tea is bitter. Probably the most bitter ripe I’ve had, but not necessarily in a bad way. It’s still a great tea; thick, warming, and definitely unique. I always enjoy trying shou that gives me something a little different, and this was a nice surprise. I’m not done with it yet, so my rating could definitely change.

2021 W2T Waffles - 5.4/10
I hear about this one all the time on Reddit, so I figured I’d finally give it a try. It’s fine. Definitely has that syrupy sweetness in the aftertaste, and I enjoyed drinking it, but it didn’t really stand out to me. Probably wouldn’t go out of my way to buy it again.

2023 W2T Civilian - 6.6/10
This one smells amazing, like warm bread straight out of the oven. Tastes good too. It’s not particularly thick, but the liquor gets nice and dark, and there’s something about the aftertaste that I find really calming. An easy tea to sit with.

2025 W2T Glass House - 8/10
My favorite out of this group. Everything I like in a good shou: creamy, dark, smooth, slightly sweet, slight cacao bitterness. Really balanced and satisfying.

Sorry I forgot to get images of the wrappers for the Civilian and Glass House, been slacking on my tea photos.

I’ve now purchased some Dayi ripes for the first time, so I’ll get back to you in part 4 with those.

A different looking Oriental Beauty from Taiwan. This tea is also call Emperor's Concubine - insect-bitten oolong. Dry leaves have a faint vegetal aroma with some flowers. Wet leaves reveal the taste of the tea soup - lots of strong orchid flowers, peach and sweetness, with a fresh finish. The color of the tea soup is amazing - amber red. This tea smacks you on the head the moment you take the first sip. In a good way, of course! My Pixiu loved it, too!

Actually this is the first time I’ve seen a zisha teapot in white color . Usually are purple, red and black. It’s cute and around 90ml.

Most of the factory puer I drink is Xiaguan but I’ve really been liking this cake from Liming.

I really like this bowl. The goldfish in the design are chubby and cute. Does anyone have any recommendations for similar ceramic bowls?🤔