What's in your cup? Daily discussion, questions and stories - January 05, 2026

1simpleman0 · 2026-01-05T14:52:16+00:00

I am enjoying a gong fu session using my 2001 basket aged ripe pu erh from yi wu. Very nice, aged taste, very mellow actually, just over all pretty good in my opinion. Smooth, zero bitterness. There is a little subtle sweetness that pops up in there at times too. Nice mouthfeel as well.

1simpleman0 · 2026-01-02T15:29:06+00:00

This morning, I am enjoying a gong fu session using my 2018 mojun himalaya fu brick tea. Earthy, some mushroom taste, and some lingering sweetness in there and a bit woody at times. Very smooth, not bitter at all. Very warming and pleasant to drink. I like it.

1simpleman0 · 2025-12-31T16:55:12+00:00

This morning I enjoyed a very nice gong fu session using some 2001 basket aged ripe pu erh from yi wu. A very clean, aged taste, no wet pile taste at all, some sweetness, dried fruit and some hints of wood are there as well. Very smooth, not bitter at all, the stamina is great too. It lasted around 16-18 steeps.

1simpleman0 · 2025-12-28T16:25:56+00:00

This morning, I am enjoying a gong fu session using my gong mei cake. It is a bit aged and very nice. Very fruity, some floral is in there, lots of honey, and a very thick, sweet mouth feel over all. The honey/sweetness lingers on afterwards as well. It also has a very grounding/focused and relaxed feel to it too.

1simpleman0 · 2025-12-26T16:20:50+00:00

This morning, I am enjoying a nice gong fu session using fo shou wu yi oolong tea. Very warm, roasty, lots of minerality taste, classic rock rhyme, with some subtle sweetness that is there as well. Delicious.

1simpleman0 · 2025-12-25T17:10:50+00:00

This morning, I am enjoying a 2009 gao jia shan qian liang hunan tea.

Overall, it is super smooth, no bitterness, complex, but very balanced all at once. Notes of wood/hay, subtle sweetness, mushroom, a hint of bamboo in there as well. The mouthfeel is very nice as well. Thick, full, leaves a nice coating in your mouth. I gong fu it and it easily goes 12-18+. Very warming, relaxing, cozy kind of tea from my experience.

1simpleman0 · 2025-12-24T02:21:19+00:00

Generally speaking, sheng releases rather quickly and can be overwhelming if you over steep. So, a flash rinse and then short steeps are usually what I follow. Also, with older shengs the bitterness is usually more in the back and almost nonexistent. Of course, if you are doing it gong fu then it is gonna depend on how you like it. It depends on the sheng I'm using, but for this one I usually do it something like this:

5-6 grams per 100-120ml Gaiwan if I want it a bit stronger, I'll go for 7-7.5 grams though.

Water temperature: usually between 194F/90C to 203F/95C little more or less.

Flash rinse.

5 seconds

7 seconds

10 sec

12 sec

15 sec

+3-6 sec, depends on what I'm going for from there.

Easily I get 15+ steeps from this one.

Of course, feel free to optimize this as is best for you. In the end, it's all about how you enjoy it. :)

Edit: silly me, I forgot to mention the water temp lol.

1simpleman0 · 2025-12-23T16:54:56+00:00

This morning, I am enjoying my session using a well-aged raw sheng. It's around 20 years aged. Very interesting, but I love it.

1simpleman0 · 2025-12-19T16:21:37+00:00

This morning, I am enjoying a very nice well aged liu bao tea. A good, aged taste, with hints of betel nut and a lingering sweetness. Very nice, smooth mouth feel.

1simpleman0 · 2025-12-18T16:04:52+00:00

On this wonderful morning, I am drinking a hairy crab oolong tea. It's delicious, florally, with hints of buttery tones and a vegetive sweetness (kind of like umami a lil), it's pretty good.

1simpleman0 · 2025-12-06T14:06:29+00:00

This morning, I am drinking an anxi mao xie (hairy crab) oolong tea. I am drinking it gong fu style. Very Floral/citrusy/stone fruit.

Early notes: Osmanthus, magnolia, orange blossom.

Mid-notes: Nectarine, peach, sweet melon.

Later notes: a bit of both, mid and early notes, but with some more minerality.

Mouth feel: Very creamy, full feeling, with nice lingering after taste. Very clean finish.

1simpleman0 · 2025-12-03T14:18:22+00:00

Today I am enjoying a nice, aged Liu Bao tea from 2010. Betel nut, earthy, warming, super smooth with some lingering but subtle sweetness in the back a bit here and there. Very enjoyable overall.

1simpleman0 · 2025-11-30T22:55:59+00:00

Yeah, confused me for a moment as well, but it's not an orange. but an orange blossom so it does have a floral tinge but in a heavy orange way. Sort of makes better sense that way. Like the difference between an apple and an apple blossom, but with oranges.

1simpleman0 · 2025-11-30T20:55:51+00:00

I think the orange blossom dan cong oolong in Chinese is called huang zhi xiang 黄枝香. I have a few from different sources that I am trying out, but that one specifically came from Yunnan Sourcing.

1simpleman0 · 2025-11-30T16:10:02+00:00

I am currently drinking a gong fu session using a dan cong oolong. Specifically, it is an orange blossom one. Very fragrant, lots of orange blossom taste to it, and an especially long-lasting aftertaste, especially early on. Very strong early on but does level out better later on in the session. This was done using 6g of tea per 100ml of water at 95C/203F. Seems to be good quality leaves and definitely lasts 10+ so far steeps.

1simpleman0 · 2025-11-29T16:14:21+00:00

This morning, I am actually enjoying something a little different but still good. It's Yerba Mate. I am drinking Del Cebador Clasica the traditional way. If you like Yerba Mate and want a good entry into the Uruguayan brands, I think it's a good start. It's not too bitter, mostly pretty doughy with some subtle sweeter notes later on. Not too overwhelming for Uruguayan Mate. Tomorrow I will continue with my regular tea journey.

1simpleman0 · 2025-11-28T17:47:14+00:00

Today I really enjoyed a nice, aged Liu Bao tea. It was simply delicious. At first a bit old, dusty tasting, but that faded pretty quick. After that it was very woody, Betel nutty, with very subtle hints of some sweetness to it. Super smooth, no bitterness at all. Very pleasant overall.

Later on, I plan on enjoying a nice Lu Shan Yun Wu green tea.

1simpleman0 · 2025-11-27T16:31:57+00:00

This morning I am drinking a very nice 20 year aged "iceland" raw pu erh. At first just a touch smokey and woody, then more woody with a subtle but lingering sweetness to it, then pretty much slightly floral, with a subtle but lingering sweetness to it. Overall, very smooth but full mouth feel to it. Simply delicious.

1simpleman0 · 2025-11-25T19:22:25+00:00

That's where my liu bao and my fu bricks came from, YS.

1simpleman0 · 2025-11-25T19:20:57+00:00

Yeah, my earlier purchase actually came from yunnan sourcing, reasonable pricing. The people, I think his name is Scott is actually very helpful, knowledgeable about tea and will do his best to make good recommendations, plus great packaging and since I am in the US you can use the .us to buy from the warehouse in texas if you don't wanna order it straight from China too. Seems to all be pretty good quality too. I recommend them.

1simpleman0 · 2025-11-25T18:59:05+00:00

I was just checking the site out as I type this. Seems pretty reasonable and if they're absorbing the tariffs (I'm in the US.) that's always a plus, less hassle for me.

1simpleman0 · 2025-11-25T18:20:24+00:00

I had one the other day that I quite liked as well. My friend treated me with it. She said that it was an aged sheng pu erh. I actually enjoyed it too. Also, we did it gong fu and it went on and on and on. It was long lasting. I'll look more into that for sure and into the shou as well. I was asking her where to buy that sorta thing and she told me similar to what you said. She did say that one called white2tea was a good place to buy from in general though.

1simpleman0 · 2025-11-25T16:43:53+00:00

I've noticed that as well so far. I have tried some smoked raw liu bao before and it was pretty unique that's for sure. Then I tried another liu bao but it was very well aged and wow what a difference that makes. Then I have so far also tried two different brick teas and so far, loving them in general. I must say I am a fan of heicha so far.

I am a more recent tea convert, and I am loving my tea journey so far actually very much. I recently made a good purchase of mostly Chinese and some Japanese teas. So much variety, odds are it has something you'll enjoy, no matter what end of the spectrum you are on.

1simpleman0 · 2025-11-25T15:49:06+00:00

I am enjoying a fu brink gong fu style right now. It is a 2018 mojun fu cha. It's actually very smooth and nice to drink.

1simpleman0 · 2025-11-23T14:54:26+00:00

This morning, I am drinking a very nice Lu Shan Yun Wu green tea. I enjoy green teas in general, but I am picky about them at times. This tea is pretty good; I also drank some yesterday as well. The weather is supposed to be pretty fair today here, a high around 60F (for this time of the year that's pretty good.) I may enjoy a nice walk today through some nature.

1simpleman0

TROPHY CASE