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Over the last few years, I've become deeply obsessed with a tea hobby. Specifically, with specialty and high end teas such as puerh and oolong. With it, I've ob
by anononaut 3y ago
Over the last few years, I've become deeply obsessed with a tea hobby. Specifically, with specialty and high end teas such as puerh and oolong. With it, I've observed how tea is perceived around the world. In China, especially Yunnan, tea is so engrained with socializing. Anywhere people interact, tea is served. I've found if you can sit down with a friend or acquaintance and spend the few minutes to few hours one might over beer, tea can be an equally social action. It's similar, but has some notable differences in that all parties can stay sober, level headed, and even energetic.
At this point, I greatly prefer conversing over tea than over beer. It doesn't necessarily have to be about the tea, but people will naturally be curious. I couldn't recommend it more. It does require some knowledge of buying and serving high quality tea, both of which are pretty unknown in the West. I'm working on starting a importing/retailing business to share the love for that very reason.
- derbOac 3y agoI agree completely. I attended a conference one year, where for unusual reasons I have not seen replicated since, colleagues seemed to gravitate around coffeeshops and teahouses instead of bars and it was a revelation. I've been a long time tea drinker but had never thought about some alternate universe where everyone was up late in a different sort of setting. It was a small difference that turned out to not actually be small at all after all.
- moribvndvs 3y agoI’d love to get out of alcohol and into tea, but caffeine gives me heart palpitations, even low caffeine tea blends can mess me up after a couple of cups (and the low caffeine blends are usually pretty boring… anyone got a suggestion?)
- placatedmayhem 3y agoHave you tried any straight herbal teas? Some herbals are mixed with traditional tea leaves, so you have to read the contents to differentiate. I've run into this with mint teas -- some are straight peppermint leaves, others mix in black or green tea leaves.
- moribvndvs 3y agoI hadn’t thought of it. My mother used to drink a lot of herbal teas, I remember some smelling quite tempting. Thanks, I’ll look into it.