JMGore

Yep... take a closer look at the first post in this thread, and you'll find the URL. There are also dozens of other shops selling similar teas, no doubt... they just don't have my photography - Matthew Gore

You're right... you definitely have to know what you're doing to get decent photos on a pure white background. If you use your camera's meter, it will generally be fooled by all of the white (or otherwise very light) area, and expose it towards a middle grey, which will in turn push the dark tones of the tea down into the zones that are too dark to show much detail. The trick is to over-expose, and allow the highlights to actually blow out where there isn't supposed to be any detail. I literally spent 3 or 4 years looking for a kyusu that I really liked before I spent the cash on this one. I e

Sorry... the shop is called "Everything Tea", in Snohomish, WA. Their website is http://www.everythingtea.net This is also the shop that sold me my favorite kyusu teapot about a year ago, which I'm sure I've posted here before... - Matt

Over the past few weeks, I've been working for a teashop in Snohomish, WA... doing some website work, but primarily taking product photos for their online catalog (I'm a photographer by trade). What fun! To this point, I've photographed over 400 types of tea, most of them loose. The great part is, of course, that I get to try any tea that I want. In fact, after each tea is photographed (only about 1tsp is used at a time), it would otherwise be thrown away. I couldn't just allow all of that tea to go to waste. Unfortunately, I was photographing large groups of teas at a time (50 teas per hour,

The fake stuff actually is pretty cheap... more along the $30-60 per lb. range. Still more than its worth, IMHO. - Matt

Since someone mentioned it... Keep your eye out for fake Milk Oolong! I got some last winter from a local teaseller, and have since found it at the two Teashops on either side of Pike Place Market in Seattle (one a block north, one a block south... same company). When I found it at the shop near Pike Place the first time, the owner (who was knowledgeable and friendly) came clean and said that it was flavored. The second time (at the other shop), the person working there checked the packaging which claimed that it was not flavored. Unfortunately, for Oolong to pick up the creamy flavor that th

That's a pretty great tray... where did you get it?

Thanks Diane, and I'll have you know that I went to college in Ohio! It wasn't anywhere near Cleveland (OU in Athens), but my roommate was from Hudson/Aurora. - Matt

I use the kyusu whenever I drink green tea, regardless of type... but I don't actually drink green tea very often anymore. I also use it for white teas (silver needle), I guess. My green tea drinking is pretty limited to what I can get in the ID (international district, aka Chinatown) in Seattle, and I usually buy sencha, kuki cha, and in the winter, genmai cha (if that's how it's spelled!). There's also an organic Chinese green tea that I buy on occasion. I'm a much bigger fan of high mountain oolongs! In any case, the pewter encased yixing teapot is just one of a pair that I have. This is t

I don't have photos of most of my teaware at the moment; I suppose that's something that I'd better change! I do have photos of a few of my favorite teapots, though. I own three kyusu teapots, one of them was a cheap mass produced model, another is hand-made earthenware, and finally, there's this one: I got this one at a small shop in Snohomish, WA, and it was expensive, but I've been very happy with it. It feels great in my hand, and the teapot itself works flawlessly. Here's one of my antique teapots, which is clay covered in pewter. I didn't know much about it until someone from England s