A Tea Addict's Journal

Outdoor tea

April 19, 2009 · 6 Comments

Or more exactly, semi-outdoor tea. It’s always nice to have a chance to sit outside and drink tea, rather than cooped up in my own little room facing a wall. The weather is nice and finally, warm enough for tea drinking outside, so onto the balcony I went.

A little traditionally stored, loose puerh.

I like drinking these things. They are easy to make and pleasant to drink, as long as it’s stored right. I also like drinking them out of bigger cups. Small cups, especially tiny ones, are not meant for puerh. Drink all the oolongs you want in the small cups, but puerh, in particular those of the traditional storage variety, belong to bigger cups.

I’ve also noticed a steady drift towards larger teaware once again, having eschewed it for a long time. For a while, smaller pots/cups was the rule of the day, maybe partly because I was under heavier influence from those whom I first learned about gongfu tea. However, as I drink more, I find myself prefering slightly larger wares. Perhaps it makes more sense for the lone tea drinker who has to consume it in isolation. Maybe if I always have friends to share it with, smaller cups will once again make their appearance.

This tea today revealed a new side to me as I was listening to the cardinals sing their songs, with my cats watching them rather intently (and perhaps menacingly). The tea tastes a lot more floral and, at the same time, spicy than when I brew them in a larger pot with a view of just gulping them down for general consumption. It’s just better. Maybe it’s the smaller (relatively) pot focusing the flavour of the tea better, or maybe the environment helped me concentrate, at least until I was chased away from the downstairs neighbour grilling their meat on their barbeque.

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6 responses so far ↓

  • trentk // April 19, 2009 at 7:26 pm | Reply

    “Small cups, especially tiny ones, are not meant for puerh”
    Is this b/c you think pu erh tastes better w/ a loweer leaf:water ratio? b/c cha qi isn’t felt w/ small infusions?

  • teagoober // April 19, 2009 at 8:06 pm | Reply

    Doesnt tea taste so much better outside on a beautiful day?

    I say, whatever size cup you like is the right one.

  • MarshalN // April 19, 2009 at 8:25 pm | Reply

    It’s not so much how big the pot is, but the size and shape of the cup. I prefer cups that are larger, with a large opening. Smaller cups with a very small amount of tea (and consequently, size) have trouble showing the full flavour of puerh like this, I believe.

    But yeah, tea taste better in this environment no matter what.

  • Anonymous // April 20, 2009 at 3:14 am | Reply

    Beautiful little setup there. I have a thing for low, wide cups. Almost every time I try to use ones with a narrower opening, I end up changing back mid-session.

  • MarshalN // April 20, 2009 at 3:38 pm | Reply

    This cup is not that low, but it’s pretty wide. I can’t do really narrow cups.

  • yunnancraft // October 6, 2017 at 7:38 am | Reply

    I agree with above : the cup u like is the best one. Some people say, u need to drink from deep cup, so can appreciate the “bei xiang” smell from the hot cup after first wash. So when I went to some tea shop in Kunming – Xiong Da or Kan Le, I purposely brought my very shallow cup 🙂 Telling them that deep cups are for beginners who can’t smell the scent from shallow cups 🙂 Anyway, I like this site, I will follow. good job!

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