http://www.stevendodd.com/journal/ 2008-03-07T00:21:48-06:00 Steven Dodd http://www.stevendodd.com/journal/index.php?entry=71 2008-03-07T00:16:28-06:00 2008-03-07T00:21:43-06:00 Steven Dodd

My Ippodo matcha starter kit came in the mail today by way of Dina aka Teasweetie who hangs out at a particular tea forum. I have never tasted it nor seen matcha in real life so I was in for a surprise. The kit came in a gift wrapped box featuring a chawan (tea bowl), a chasen (tea whisk), and a chashoku (fancy word for scooping stick). A 20g tin of matcha was also included inside the box.I was expecting a boring white tea bowl but it has a cream crackled glaze with swirl texture on the[...]

http://www.stevendodd.com/journal/index.php?entry=70 2008-03-06T00:42:52-06:00 2008-03-06T00:42:52-06:00 Steven Dodd

I got four yixing teapots from Yunnan Sourcing recently. Yesterday I seasoned one to make some light fire oolong with which I drank a sample of TeaSpring's Jade Tie Guan Yin. To season the pot, I put a bunch of old light oolong in the pot and submerged it in a pot of boiling water for about 30 minutes. I haven't tasted any tea in the pot before seasoning, so I don't know how it changed but the result was good. Today I seasoned the other three pots with the same old light oolong. No pi[...]

http://www.stevendodd.com/journal/index.php?entry=69 2008-03-02T18:23:11-06:00 2008-03-02T18:24:26-06:00 Steven Dodd

If we don't count the random mug tea at work, I have been drinking sencha exclusively for the past two weeks. I have been sitting on a bag of O-cha Kabusecha for a few months, given to me by Alex at Another Tea Blog. I know that green tea is prone to going stale once opened, so I wanted to get the right equipment first. Prior to this adventure, my tools included a 150mL gaiwan and a 700mL teapot. Neither of these seemed right for the job, so I picked up a kyuusu from Den's Tea. Now, o[...]

http://www.stevendodd.com/journal/index.php?entry=68 2008-02-17T01:52:42-06:00 2008-02-17T01:52:42-06:00 Steven Dodd

Holy moley, it's been some time since I last posted. Those of you who chat at a particular tea site know I'm still around, but for those who only read this page, I'm still drinking tea (and beer...). Much of my tea has been consumed through an infuser and mug with 180°F water from an office-grade coffee maker. The tea I've had at home has been a little bit better with proper temperatures in an English teapot. This past week I've gotten back into gongfu but I've been drinking stuff I ha[...]

http://www.stevendodd.com/journal/index.php?entry=67 2008-01-06T14:05:08-06:00 2008-01-06T14:05:08-06:00 Steven Dodd

I got some more black tea from Adagio since I find their tea to have a good value for my morning cup. My morning today happens to have started in the afternoon but we won't discuss that. I picked up some more Yunnan Gold because as Alex says, it's 'dian hong or gtfo'. Peeking into the newly acquired tin (which is easy since the lid is clear), I noticed a lot more brown than gold hues. What was once a mostly gold buds tea is now tainted with about equal portions brown and gold. Now jud[...]

http://www.stevendodd.com/journal/index.php?entry=66 2008-01-05T00:14:53-06:00 2008-01-05T00:14:53-06:00 Steven Dodd

I'm all moved up to Iowa with a few days left until I start work. Most of my things are unpacked, some groceries have been stocked, and some beer tasted. I asked the clerk at the local HyVee grocery store what the local beer is and he pointed me to the Millstream Brewing Company, located in Amana, Iowa. There's a number of choices and I went with what I thought I'd like best which is their "Windmill Wheat" lager. The beer is very light and thin, almost like a pilsner. I liked this, bu[...]

http://www.stevendodd.com/journal/index.php?entry=65 2007-12-23T16:09:10-06:00 2007-12-23T16:13:17-06:00 Steven Dodd

I recently listened to the audio book of The Island of Doctor Moreau, a classic by H. G. Wells. The story takes about 5.5 hours to "read" which worked out well for my 6+ hour drive. I will give some thoughts on the book which will assume you know the gist of the story. Man ventures onto an island controlled by Dr. Moreau, where he discovers created beastmen. It's hard to spoil the book since it is fairly straightforward in plot and it has been around for over a century. Nonetheless, I[...]

http://www.stevendodd.com/journal/index.php?entry=64 2007-11-27T06:30:46-06:00 2007-11-27T06:30:46-06:00 Steven Dodd

This is sort of from the archives. I drank up the smaller sample of the Feng Huang Dan Cong from TeaSpring some time ago, and have been finished off the larger sample of Dan Cong Classic recently. I wrote the notes I'm drawing from a few (many) months back. The DC Classic is a more traditional, higher fired version while the Feng Huang DC is lighter in its roasting. I believe they are about equal in their oxidation prior to its roasting.The Feng Huang has long, wiry leaves of about 4 c[...]

http://www.stevendodd.com/journal/index.php?entry=63 2007-11-10T20:39:14-06:00 2007-11-10T23:17:17-06:00 Steven Dodd

I feel like an idiot. When I originally posted this, I thought this was shu pu'er. Brent quickly corrected this falsity, pointing out Hobbes' review of the same tea.I didn't write any notes down for this tea, but I did try to remember some key points about it. I smelled the dry leaf but didn't find much. It might be from sitting around in a plastic baggy for some time. The leaf looks good. It has a variety of colors in it from dark chocolate to a sprinkling of tan pieces. Reminds me[...]

http://www.stevendodd.com/journal/index.php?entry=62 2007-11-04T03:46:25-06:00 2007-11-04T03:46:25-06:00 Steven Dodd

Driving With My Wife's Lover: "Tae-han(Park, Kwang-jung) runs a small stamp shop in a small town. One day finding out that his wife is having an affair, he decides to witness his wife's infidelity before his eyes. Knowing that his wife's lover, Joong-sik(Jeong, Bo-seok), is a taxi driver, he goes to Seoul, intentionally gets Joong-sik's cab and asks for a long-distance drive. They encounter various situations; sometimes fighting, sometimes sharing excitements."This was something interestin[...]