Camellia sinensis

[freethinker]

My appreciation for this plant grows with every year of my life. What began as complete ignorance from anything but commercial bagged black, has grown to knowledge of green, then oolong, the flavored jasmines, then white, then the wonders of pu-ehr (wow!), and now in recent years growing my own. Exploring the regional and national varieties, tasting the Chinese, Indian, and Japanese rural countrysides in each sip.

Just wonderful.

I can't say enough about this fantastic plant ally. I'm not a caffeine fan on its own, and I give all respect to the coffee bean, but it doesn't hold a candle to the light of Camellia sinensis. The depth of the journey into this plant is truly without end. If you've only ever had a bad cup of Lipton's bagged black tea, start exploring high grade, loose leaf, organic green and see where it takes you.

 

[Ginkgo]

Yeah, I agree! The tea plant is absolutely wonderful. I especially love green and white tea, and I especially hate every tea Lipton have ever produced. Seriously, that perfume-infected shit should not be drunk by anyone! If you can't get premium quality in loose weight, buy some Twinings. Their teas are far superior to Lipton.

 

[Samadhi-Sukha-Upekkha]

I absolutely love good quality white tea. Silver Needle, as expensive as it is per cup and as subtle as the taste is, is my favorite. Actually, it doesn't have a great deal of taste, but the smell! Oh my god... For the olfactory sense, it's what an orgasm or a really good massage is for the touch sense. A touch of good honey makes it different. It isn't better, or worse, it's just amazing in a different way with honey versus without honey. But don't even think of using refined white sugar, or any simple sweetener. Adding refined sugar to quality white tea would be like "improving" the Mona Lisa by touching it up with Windows Paint.

I used to love black tea, but I don't drink much of it any more because it stains the living fuck out of my teeth.

 

[freethinker]

Agreed on the olfactory experience. Different plants from different regions bring all kinds of sensations to the senses. It really is a whole body experience. It's not just drinking a drink. My current favorite green is Longjing (or Dragon Well). There's this nuttiness to the aroma of a fresh cup that literally sends me off on a little journey through the Chinese countryside. It's a trip! I'm not a connoisseur by any stretch but I keep learning and exploring (the rabbit hole is so deep!). It's gone from a passing interest, to a little hobby, to almost a lifestyle for me.

A comment I heard recently really resonated with me. Someone was describing the harvesting technique and commenting that, since what is harvested is only the youngest of leaf shoots, in essence what you are tasting in a good cup of tea is the weather of the last 10 days that the plant experienced. I thought that was a cool way of looking at it.

I've begun exploring pu-ehr and I'm finding it mind boggling. Although post-fermented and aged, it's still classified as green. The process of aging and fermenting makes for a whole new range of flavor possibilities. It's fascinating. Pressed bricks of pu-ehr were actually used as currency at one time.

 

[arimane]

I also love tea, expecially some greens, chun mee and kukicha over all, and some blacks. Keemun is my favorite, also it tasted so good in doing chai and spiced teas, yummy!
Also, I like the effects of caffein in tea. The more diluited molecule, along with the presence of teanin and theobromin, can be absorbed much more, and in a much more sweet way than coffee (wich brings me tension, and anxiethy).

A lovely effect, a lovely taste, so nice smelling and testing different kind, and having many tea sets...
Still, I had difficult times in growing this plant. Someone has it?


Arimane