The Sip Tip Moves to Lansing!

Assuming the background check and what not passes, I will walk past this site multiple times a day, on my way in and out of where I will be working.  This is because I got offered a job working in Lansing Michigan, and I hope to move up there rather soon, as they want me to start as soon as possible. All that being said posts might be fewer and farther apart for  a bit until I get situated.

If there are any tea drinkers that read my blog in the Lansing area, I am more than willing to get together for a few meet ups and possibly into starting  a "tea club."  But for the next few days I am finishing things up in Kalamazoo along with an anagama Kiln firing for a Ceramics class at the Kalamazoo Institute of Art.



In fact my first shift starts at midnight and goes to 6 am.  It is going to be a long night, but I hope I get some beautiful pieces out of it.

Pouring a Kyusu to avoid clogging

This question comes up far more than I have expected, and I have myself struggled with this problem several times, but when pouring a kyusu it is not uncommon, for the filter to clog.  This happens most with kyusu with ceramic filters, which true teaware addicts seem to love because the entire piece is made by the ceramic artist and there is no additional metal filter.   Which ever way your mood leans, this tip for pouring can be very useful.  Here I walk through my interpretation of a description given by the Teachat Moderator Chips method for pouring a kyusu to help prevent clogging.

Enjoy watching me brew up two steeps, talking through and illustrating the pour.

The State of my Tea State!

While I sip on some very good sencha, realizing I am down to nearly 100grams of the Japanese goodness, I can not help but think that Shincha Season is in full force but due to life I am forcing myself to step to the sidelines for the most part this year.  Life happens, and because it happens I am stockpiling cash as much as I possibly can while I eagerly search for employment.

It is the uncertain future for employment, coupled with a few all too certain things, such as a move is inevitable, but to where remains unknown. This has me working extra hard to conserve cash, and make sure I move as little surplus stock as possible.  I have already begun the process of selling/ giving away teaware I rarely use to friends in the area that enjoy tea, and I am working diligently to finish off as much tea as possible, starting with the low hanging fruit of samples but trying to work my way up to other items I have had open for awhile.

Hopefully in a few weeks I have some good news, and I can catch the tail end of Shincha season.  But for now it is simply enjoy the spring as we head into summer, and wish for the best in my tea journey.  I hope all my readers are well, and enjoying any spring teas they decide to order.

So out of the box, the leaves don't fit in!

So any of us that have been around the block a few times realize we have our own preferred brewing styles for nearly every single tea we come across.  Having heard good things about Da Yu Ling, I picked some up from a newly started vendor.  Initial impressions were lack luster, they seemed to fall quite flat.  Turns out I brewed it incredibly too light.  Even though that is how I usually approach brewing Taiwanese oolongs. 

Through talking with the vendor, I pulled out the stops and brewed it his style, and cameras were rolling while I talked through my impressions for the first three infusions.  ( I am currently on infusion 10, and I've heard it can go for far far more).


So without much more ado,  I present to you this video.   (The title of this post will make sense when you see it).