Will

Do they not sell bottled water (or decent water filters) where you live? I don't think the mineral content of your local water is the main limiting factor. This does bring up another point worth mentioning specifically, though: water is, as the Chinese say, the "mother of tea". If you don't use good water (preferably bottled spring with some mineral content, though not too much), you may not realize a good tea's full potential. And while some types of tea do need to be babied a bit as far as water temperature, not using hot enough water (for a given tea) may also limit how good a tea can get. Pre-heating your brewing vessel, tasting cup(s) etc. is another step that some people might skip, which may help improve your tea brewing. With many types of tea, a rinse before the first infusion is also a good idea (whether it's to rinse off dust / pesticide residue / etc, or to "awaken the leaves", or just a silly habit.) Take some time to enjoy the aroma of the moistened tea leaves, empty cup after drinking, etc.

Ugh. The people who cook with tea are a huge irritation; this is not a route I would go to learn about tea (and I don't think chefs tend to be interested in tea for non-culinary uses). Learn about tea from people who enjoy drinking tea.

I agree that there's no need to intentionally develop an interest into something you're not that interested in or particular about. If the teas you have make you happy, no problem. If you don't like tea, just drink something else. One more recommendation in NYC, since it looks like you're there - check out Tea Gallery and The Mandarin's Tearoom - in the same location, both appointment only (Tea Gallery used to have a shop in Soho). My suggestion is to try some (good) representative examples of various types and subtypes of tea, then explore the ones you seem to enjoy the most in more detail. I think oolong teas have a lot to offer - they occupy such a wide swath of taste possibilities (basically everything between green tea and red ("black") tea), both in terms of roasting and oxidation. Seek out some vendors and samples that people you respect really enjoy. Experiment with brewing technique - don't make it too scientific -- just have fun and see what tastes good to you. Every tea is different, and everyone's taste is different, so once-size-fits-all brewing instructions are pretty much useless.

Winter Li Shan tea from Floating Leaves in Seattle this morning - somehow I was craving something a little bit lighter than what I usually drink. I like her stuff because she tends to pick stuff that's got just a touch more oxidation than the really green gaoshan oolongs; if I just ever so slightly baby it in terms of water temperature, the lingering aftertaste has a nice fruitiness to it. And, with lunch, small paper packet of 90s Wuyi Tieluohan from an old HK shop. This is not a super expensive tea, but I enjoy it. Brewed in a big pot at my "default" weekday lunch spot.

Yeah - as pointed out above, I was totally wrong on that part.

I don't mind communal tables, and certainly in Chinese places, it's not uncommon to stick multiple small groups at one big table if that's what's available. Sometimes this works out better than others, but it's not usually that uncomfortable. However, recently, I did have a somewhat awkward experience. I was grabbing a bite at a trendy "mac and cheese" restaurant in Oakland, and the staff asked if they could seat me with another single diner. Since I was in a hurry and the place was mobbed, I decided to go for it. I was seated with the other party directly facing each other at a two-top. Even knowing that going in, it was a bit more awkward than I had bargained for, and I hadn't brought any reading material either. We made a little bit of conversation, but overall, it was a super weird experience.

Measuring tea by volume is difficult, because tea varies so much in terms of shape, leaf size, etc. Given that this is an oolong which is probably in a tight fist / ball shape, generic "one-size-fits-all" brewing instructions may not work that well. And with larger, more wire-shaped teas, using a heaping tsp will not give nearly enough leaf, even if brewing western style (less leaf, longer infusion times). If I had to guess, I would say that the instructions are probably for about 100 ml of water.

I wouldn't put too much stock in brewing directions of this sort, whether or not volume of water is included. Looks like this is a Jin Xuan style oolong. These amounts of tea are fairly small to do so many infusions. What size brewing vessel are you planning on using for this tea?

The non-chlorine bleach that we use at home is essentially a strong hydrogen peroxide. Isn't hydrogen peroxide essentially an oxygen bleach?

ps - If you don't want to use straight up bleach (dilute non chlorine or oxygen bleach solutions should be Ok), you can look for oxygen bleach based denture cleaner. Most store brand ones are mint flavored, but you can order unflavored 'sparkledent' powder (I think that's the name) online. You can clean some pretty funky pots with bleach of one sort or another, or just (very careful) alternating boiling and cool water treatments (don't shock the pot too quickly, and use a towel around it when you're boiling it).

I don't know if you can ever fully recover a stoneware / earthenware pot that's gotten moldy (if the leaves have mold, maybe, but if the pot has mold, probably not). Obviously, with porcelain, there's really no problem. My method for putting yixing pots away is: 1) Remove leaves 2) Rinse any remaining leaves with fairly hot water (I use filtered or spring water, even for cleaning) 3) Rinse out the pot (including putting the lid on) with full boiling water. The hotter the better, because if the water is really hot, it will mostly evaporate quickly 4) Let the pot (sitting upright, not upside-down) and lid (facing up) dry for 2-3 days, depending on how humid it is where you live. 5) Put the pot away.

I think the nut and coconut based ones do the best jobs of capturing the richness of ice cream. I've had some really incredible vegan ice creams, though I haven't ever tried to make my own.

We've got some San Marzanos and Amish paste growing. Finding good sauce / paste / canning tomatoes is a lot harder in the markets than finding the more popular varieties of heirlooms, which I also enjoy. To me, the paste tomatoes are great fresh on top of pasta without any pre-cooking. I really like Evans tomatoes when they're around at the market - I haven't been able to find much information about them, but I think they're a modern hybrid produced by a seed company, not an "heirloom".

Agree with everything gfweb said. Honestly, I'm surprised this thread even exists. I don't think it's appealing or attractive, but it's not just that. It's also that I have never had it (even during the time when foam actually was somewhat in vogue) add anything (visually or in terms of taste / texture) to a dish or really elevate it. What surprises me most is that people seem to keep using it, despite the fact that the trend has clearly run its course.

ps - back on topic... today, I had two Wuyi yancha, a lao cong shui xian that was re-roasted by an old HK shop, original year unknown, and a 2008 'yan zhong lan （岩中蘭)', a bit lower fire, but somewhat oxidized. This isn't a particularly famous varietal; I really liked the 2007 one from the same maker, but unfortunately, this one isn't quite as good. This particular shui xian is decent tea; good if brewed right, but I personally prefer the taste when brewed in a thin-walled gaiwan; brewing in a small red clay pot today, the tea was coming out a bit sharper than I like. One interesting thing about this tea is that the shop had kept some of the original tea that they roasted (still a roasted tea, but much lower level), so they gave me some to compare. Because some of the Chaozhou and Fujian people in Hong Kong still prefer the older style of tea, many of the old shops here still roast Wuyi yancha and Anxi tieguanyin according to traditional "recipes". The second is not particularly expensive, but I liked how it was coming out today - the roast has settled well, and it's got a nice guava-y note in the aftertaste. Yesterday, I had a puer brick I just acquired a couple pieces of - a 1998 'zhengshan daye （正山大葉)'. Its storage has been fairly clean (almost too clean), and compression is medium-tight, so while it's smooth and the tea broth is darker than a young sheng, the taste is still pretty young. It's a tea that I'd rather hang onto for a while than drink much of now.

Well of course it's all very subjective, but I feel kind of the opposite -- I think Fenghuang dancongs* can be good for new tea drinkers. Not all are difficult to brew, and the lychee / peach / orchid taste and aroma are pretty accessible, though some of the things that make them accessible can also make them a bit cloying at times. I think they're worth a try to see if you like the flavor profile - I'm always surprised by some of the things that new tea drinkers like (or don't like). I think it's always good to get some context as far as different styles of tea, and brewing-wise, a little beginner's luck can go a long way. I used to like them quite a bit more when I was newer to tea, whereas now, I almost never drink them. The commercial grade Fenghuang dancongs that Tea Habitat has like this Mi Lan Xiang (http://www.teahabitat.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=26_16&products_id=50) are not that expensive, and I think tend to be harder to screw up than "the good [read expensive] ones" you mention**. There are also other shops which stock decent and not hard to brew dancong at a reasonable price. I would, of course, not recommend that a new tea drinker buy a $50/oz tea to play around with. The commercial grade stuff on TH's site is quite good, and in fact, is probably better than some of the more expensive stuff sold by vendors who don't specialize in this particular style of tea. With dancong, I think getting the quantity of leaf right is the trickiest part - too much and the tea can get a bit astringent; too little, and the tea may be a little too watery in both flavor and texture, and it will be rough on the throat in later brews. With most, I would pour in a very thin stream from 6" or so up, preferably against the side of the brewing vessel rather than touching the tea - while the water should be just off the boil, it's a very fine line between sufficient heat and not "cooking" the tea. If done right, a surprisingly small quantity of tea can produce quite a bit of flavor and fragrance. Some interesting posts about brewing Chaoshan area teas at http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10870. Wuyi yancha are not a bad choice either, but, even though they are probably one of my favorite types of tea, I don't really know of many available online that I could recommend right now at any price. And anyway, this style of tea can be difficult to brew as well. * Note - the 'c' is a 'ts' sound, not a hard 'c'. tsong, not kong. Technically, dancong refers more to a grade and / or method of production, but in practical terms, vendors often use 'dancong' to refer to teas from a particular area in China. Teas referred to as "phoenix oolong" are more or less the same thing, though may be of different grades. For a bit more of a background on the name / meaning, you can read these two posts. Not everyone will agree exactly about the meaning / use of the name, but they should give a little context, at least. http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2007/09/phoenix-dan-cong-is-oolong-tea-has-long.html http://camelliasinensisblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/clearing-up-common-mistake-what-dan.html http://www.marshaln.com/2009/09/wednesday-september-30-2009/ ** I have not tried any of the recent batches of these teas, but my assumption is that the quality should be fairly consistent.

Lao cha tou is essentially the crap at the bottom of the pile when they make ripe puer. It's not a tea I'd recommend drinking, esp. if you're new to puer. Even the best young shu (ripe) puer is generally relatively inexpensive (you can often get a whole cake, almost a pound, for $8-20), so there's really no reason to buy the cheap stuff. Ripe tea is (mostly) not the most complex or exciting tea in the world, but it should not have a lot of "fishy" or "pond" type tastes. As a general rule, miniature sized puer of any kind (i.e., one piece per serving) should almost always be avoided, as should most novelty shapes (things other than cakes, bricks, and tuos). Loose is a better choice if you want to avoid having to deal with breaking up compressed tea. My friend Jason's got a few recommendations for decent shu that should be currently available in both sample and full quantities. He's also got some recommendations for samples of some at least somewhat aged sheng puer. http://puerh.blogspot.com/p/new-to-puer.html As far as greener style oolongs (which are not generally my "cup of tea"), I think Shiuwen at Floating Leaves in Seattle has good taste. http://www.floatingleaves.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=15 this past winter seems to have been good. A lot of her stuff is sold out, but she seems to still have the Shan Lin Xi, and looks like the Li Shan will be restocked soon. The "Farmer's Choice" and "Honorable Mention" baozhong are also not bad. Stephane from Teamasters (http://teamasters.blogspot.com/) has some good stuff at various price points. He sometimes gets some interesting aged baozhongs and other aged Taiwanese oolongs, and he's got a lot of greener style oolongs, as well as some good Oriental Beauty. He ships direct from Taiwan; ordering is a bit of a pain, since you have to get a price list. http://www.jingteashop.com/ has some good stuff from time to time, but most of their oolongs that I'd really recommend are out of stock right now. Their "gan de" tieguanyin was pretty good from the one sample I tried, again, not really my style, but it was surprisingly good. http://www.theteagallery.com tends to have good stuff overall. Their Wuyi yancha are a good introduction to the genre, and they've got some interesting teas that are fairly balanced (medium oxidation / roast). You could try this one: http://www.theteagallery.com/Elegant_Queen_p/of-eq.htm Their plain white porcelain gaiwans are also great, but unfortunately, they're out of stock right now. For dancong, I'd recommend a friend, if it's allowed. http://www.teahabitat.com Some of her teas are quite expensive, but the commercial grade dancong is excellent (and harder to mess up the brewing of), and is not horribly expensive at all. Another friend who's got great stuff, but not really in the budget category: http://www.themandarinstearoom.com/

Residual smells are where the flavor comes from!

While you'd be hard-pressed to get a specific definition from anyone, in my opinion, gongfu brewing will be used for oolong and puer and similar teas, and will usually, though not always, involve fairly large quantities of tea (once open, the leaves will probably fill the pot, give or take a little). To look at it from your "scientific" point of view, you'd be looking at probably at least 6g of tea in a 60-80 ml brewing vessel. I don't think about the timing of infusions, but the rinse(s) and early infusions will usually be almost instant. With green teas, I'd tend to use a bit more water and a bit less leaf, and somewhat different brewing techniques. Green teas don't tend to be as durable, nor do they tend to change much from one infusion to the other. I don't think it should matter how your leaf to water ratios sound to us. What matters is how the tea tastes to you. Over time, your tolerance of bitter and astringent tastes, and your ability to choose good teas, will probably improve. Don't worry about exact water temperature or quantity or the exact weight of the dry leaf. Some greens will be able to take much hotter water than others. You can always back off next time if you "cook" the tea a bit.

I would suggest trying puer from a different source than the one you mention, as well as trying both some young sheng and some small samples of some well aged sheng puer (if you can afford it). I do not personally recommend drinking young sheng all the time, but it's a useful data point to know what raw puer tastes like when it's young. As far as ripe puer, yes, the taste will generally be earthy, but quality does vary quite a bit. Ripe puer is trying to imitate the taste of well aged sheng. Most folks recommend sticking to the big, formerly state-owned factories for ripe (shu), simply because they've been doing it for a long time, and have the processes down, and some of the smaller factories are not necessarily sanitary. Shu tends not to benefit as much from long aging, however a few years for the wodui taste to go away is often also a good thing.

You could also check out the Old Pal - essentially the same. Rye, Campari, sweet vermouth, more or less in equal parts.

I like short grain, Japanese style ones. Kokohu Rose organic short grain is pretty good. Korean and Japanese markets often have some pretty nice ones. Also been eating the Tamaki "Haiga" recently, which is interesting. It's been specially milled so the germ is left on; you don't get all of the benefits of brown rice, but it's supposed to be more nutritious than ordinary white rice, and the taste is very similar.

I like this idea too - cookie "crumbles", granola, or some other crunchy bits can help give some of the starchy component you're missing in a gluten free dessert, but should be a lot tastier and easy to make than full on gluten free baked goods, which, let's face it, are generally kind of nasty.

Oh - also, maybe you could try some sort of sweet crêpe, maybe buckwheat, with a warm fruit topping? You could use this as a starting point, and use flaxseed or Ener-G Egg Replacer to replace the egg, and acidulated soy milk to replace the buttermilk. http://just-making-noise.blogspot.com/2009/09/sweet-buckwheat-crepes-w-mango-banana.html Some sort of spiced / poached pear might be an interesting way to go without being too much hassle.

First off, it's nice that you're trying to accommodate them and not take the easy way out, and I'm pretty sure they will appreciate this to no end. Assuming none of them is allergic to nuts, one way to go would be a raw nut based "cheesecake". I am not a fan of the whole "raw food" fad, but there are some incredibly delicious (and fairly bulletproof) vegan and raw "cheesecake" recipes which should also be gluten free. They can be incredibly rich and delicious, even if they don't taste exactly like a cheesecake (you can use a similar method for a banana cream pie, chocolate cream pie, etc.). The crust would probably also be nut based. Never made one myself, so I don't have a specific recipe in mind, but I have heard they're fairly easy to make. However, you will need to soak the raw cashews in advance, and you may need something heavy duty like a Vita-mix to get them smooth enough. You could also try a coconut milk based dessert -- there are some interesting SE Asian desserts that use coconut milk and tapioca, either warm or cold, maybe with some sort of fruit (like a nice ripe mango). Or you can cook mung beans, sweeten coconut milk with some rock sugar and a pinch of salt, add a tiny amount of agar to the coconut milk mixture, pour over the mung beans into a glass baking dish, and let it cool in the fridge. You could also just purchase some coconut milk or soy based "ice cream", making sure it's also gluten free, or sorbet, and then have a sundae bar, with various toppings (indicating any toppings which aren't vegan / gluten free). If you want to do a more traditional baked type thing, there are also some commercial gluten free baking mixes; I've had some success with this the one time I tried to make gluten free baked goods, but I'd be wary of going this route, especially when you're also trying to make something vegan at the same time. Most of these also suggest that you add xanthan gum, which is kind of weird.