Photos

Recent photos I’ve posted to Instagram.

chacrusade

Flashback to last week at the @topotea_weiwei stal

Flashback to last week at the @topotea_weiwei stall of the @sydneyteaexpo where Shane was brewing some Fuding red tea, apparently from the 90s. It's bud heavy in a similar style to jinjunmei. An absolute banger!

Things are just getting started at the @sydneyteae

Things are just getting started at the @sydneyteaexpo in the Civic Pavilion at @theconcoursechatswood se!
I paid a visit earlier today (Thursday Nov 23) and checked out a couple of dozen stalls featuring different local Chinese tea retailers, a clay pot master and China tourism groups.
It was great to chat and share tea with some familiar faces like @topotea_weiwei and @chinatea.au, as well as new (to me) shops like chaistea.com.au (@wuyistar). Probably the highlight was bumping into @the.mindful.cup for the first time in person!
The expo will be running today until 8pm and then from 10am to 6pm tomorrow and Saturday.

Waffles for breakfast this morning. #white2tea #ri

Waffles for breakfast this morning.
#white2tea #ripepuer

The last of my "Year of the Tiger" red tea from #b

The last of my "Year of the Tiger" red tea from #bitterleafteas.
I'd been sitting on this last serving for months because I didn't want to say goodbye, but alas.
I'll be sure to pick up a future production from their "Year of the <zodiac>" range next time I'm doing an order!

Enjoying more 金花香橼 (a dark tea with golden

Enjoying more 金花香橼 (a dark tea with golden flowers made from Foshou oolong material) from the @teaangle club.
I found it pretty much impossible to over-steep, delivering a consistent, comforting brew with very gentle energy. They recently put up a detailed video on their YouTube channel if you're curious for more details.

Finally managed to visit @chinatea.au today! It wa

Finally managed to visit @chinatea.au today! It was great to meet brothers Wen and Jason, browse the beautiful teaware, taste some teas (a loose #ripepuer with chenpi and a delicious Kunming-stored 2006 #rawpuer).
I'm hoping to come back soon!

Steeping back in time with "Infinite Regress" #raw

Steeping back in time with "Infinite Regress" #rawpuer (2014 material) from #kuuracorp.

First tea meet-up at work since the pandemic! Alth

First tea meet-up at work since the pandemic! Although time was short we managed to drink through:
- Cloud Mist Green 2023 from #white2tea (pictured),
- Phoenix Valley Shanlinxi from #mountainstreamteas,
- a GABA tea cake (not sure of the details but it was tasty and complex), and
- 2002 Yiwu Huangpian brick from #white2tea.
A good time was had by all.

Very grateful to have been able to attend this mon

Very grateful to have been able to attend this month's @sydneyteaclub at @ms.cattea tea bar!
This month was Wuyi rock oolong tasting and we tried:
- old tree "water narcissus" aka shuixian (2016),
- "Phantom of the mountainside" aka bantianyao (2020),
- "Golden water turtle" aka shuijingui (2017),
- "White cockscomb" aka baijiguan (2021),
- "Iron Monk" aka tieluohan (2021), and
- "Chinese cinnamon" aka rougui (2021).
I have found rock oolongs to be a tricky category of tea to develop an appreciation for – often tricky to brew, hard and expensive to find good quality ones, and strong roast levels that make the many different kinds hard to differentiate.
This was a great opportunity to dive deeper with good quality material and an expert guide (Cathy). Tasting so many back-to-back over two hours was pretty intense but it really helped me appreciate their differences, such as the sharpness of the rougui, the creaminess of the baijiguan, the floral notes of the shuijingui. Incredible aromas and aftertastes, I feel like I can still taste them hours later.
I hope I'm able to attend more of these in the future!

First session with this Foshou (Buddha's Palm) ool

First session with this Foshou (Buddha's Palm) oolong processed as a dark tea (with golden flowers) from the @teaangle club.
I really enjoyed this tea - bready and medicinal. Not dissimilar to Fuzhuan dark teas I've tried, but with an unmistakable similarity to a typical Foshou oolong (included in the same club box for comparison). It works really well. A shame it's out of production these days!
#teadiscoveryclub

Excited to receive the inaugural Tea Discovery Clu

Excited to receive the inaugural Tea Discovery Club box from @teaangle!
It features a beautiful cup and two unusual Foshou (Buddha's Palm) oolongs: one processed as a dark tea with golden flowers and the other more conventional but twisted instead of ball-rolled.
Can't wait to give them a try!
#teaangle #teadiscoveryclub

@gongcha_australia skywriting on a sunny (but wind

@gongcha_australia skywriting on a sunny (but windy) Sydney day. Effective marketing (Y/N)? 😂

Excited to see that @chinatea.au has recently open

Excited to see that @chinatea.au has recently opened, although it looks like I didn't quite catch them tonight. Next time!

Finally I've been able to post about the tea cup f

Finally I've been able to post about the tea cup from the first #kuuracorp #espiritdecorp tea club delivery.
Made by @tihskcufstudio, it's quite large (about 75ml usable / ~135ml total volume). It's glazed on the inside but unglazed on the outside, with an interesting irregular bumpy texture that reminds me of a basketball.
I wasn't sure I'd use such a large cup but it has quickly become my favourite for various reasons that I will dive into below.
The colour is primarily white (except for a nice pattern inside the base of the cup), which is my preference because it allows me to appreciate the colour of the tea easily and gives clues to whether I may have over/under steeped.
I generally like the inside of my cups to be glazed porcelain to avoid it altering the taste of the tea (such as what happens with silver, unglazed clay, etc.)
The thickness and weight of the cup is unexpectedly thin and light but it still feels very sturdy. The irregular shape is fun and it feels comfortable to hold in the hand. There are several 'regular' parts of the cup lip to drink from easily, so I'm not dribbling tea or having to turn it around to line up with my mouth all the time.
It has quite a broad flare at the top, making it OK to hold and drink from even when the tea is very hot. The unglazed bumpy pattern on the outside not only looks good but helps with grip, including holding the cup with wet fingers (accidents happen!) and when it's still quite hot, since the bumps seem to stay cooler than the smooth areas.
As someone who drinks a lot of tea throughout the day, I've appreciated the large size (more than I expected). I will probably not use this when drinking with others since it seems easier/more polite to be drinking from cups of similar capacity to my guests. Otherwise this has become my cup of choice for solo sessions.
It's clearly been thoughtfully designed for someone who drinks like me and executed exceptionally well. After so many years of drinking tea I didn't expect to still come across teaware that would have such a positive practical impact on my sessions.
I'm keen to hear what other #espiritdecorp club members think! Now I just hope I don't break it 😱

Happy 中秋节 to all who are celebrating! 🥮

Happy 中秋节 to all who are celebrating! 🥮

A welcome return to the shadows with this 2023 "La

A welcome return to the shadows with this 2023 "La Sombra" #rawpuer.
I'm not sure why I hardly posted about the 2020 version – I absolutely loved it and sped through the whole 200g cake in record time.
It was such a great work companion. It hit well in all the areas: thick texture, engaging bitterness, good complexity in the taste, prolonged aftertaste and good energy – easy to appreciate but without any one aspect being overpowering or arresting attention away from my work tasks. This made it my default choice many mornings in late 2020/early 2021 while we battled through lockdowns and all the other Covid fun.
My tea inventory is bursting but I couldn't resist putting in an order to reconnect with this comforting companion 🖤
Early indications are that this year's is just as good.

Very excited to receive this inaugural #kuuracorp

Very excited to receive this inaugural #kuuracorp tea club (aka #espritdecorp) delivery, plus a cake of Parataxis that I ordered separately.
I'm excited to explore all of this monochromatic loot and am looking forward to hearing what other club members think!

One of my "go to" #ripepuer teas is this "Gong" ca

One of my "go to" #ripepuer teas is this "Gong" cake from @longstea, made from 2008 Bulang material: grade 3 and 5 leaves pressed in 2011.
It has scents of Chinese medicine and incense, and has a rich earthy taste without being too woody. Pushed hard, there's some nice bitterness that can be found. It sweetens up considerably late in the session.
The "sample" size is 50g, which was a good amount to get familiar with it and prompt me to get a full cake.

Happy that a new production of "La Sombra" (2023)

Happy that a new production of "La Sombra" (2023) #rawpuer was made. The original from 2020 carried me through a bunch of Covid lockdowns and has probably been the fastest cake I've ever drunk through (on account of it being cheap and delicious).
I also grabbed some Waffles (2021) #ripepuer minis after finally reaching the end of my 2017 Flap Jacks, which have been excellent for taking to yum cha. (The Lumber Slut mini is a free sample.)
With the Australian dollar being so weak these days I was particular glad to be able to take advantage of #white2tea's "back2school" free shipping deal for this nostalgic order ❤️

"Crane Gang" 2021 #rawpuer from #crimsonlotustea.

"Crane Gang" 2021 #rawpuer from #crimsonlotustea.
Despite picking this up a couple of years ago, I only just tried it out today.
Pressed into a classic "tuo" shape, the compression thankfully isn't overly tight. It tastes like it has a bit of age on it already, and is generally very pleasant and sweet. Not super complex but good for its price, and I really like the artwork!

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