Every once in a while I like to do introduction posts on Instagram but I find myself sharing the same type of information so to shake things up I decided to let you all ask questions ! I got a bunch of great questions and I’m sharing the answers to them below. I’ve also included some silly photos that I took in my living room :)

If you missed out on it this time I will probably do this every month so you can wait until then or comment with your question and I will keep it for the next post!

Cupofmoregano: what was the first tea you fell in love with?

I’ll have to take you back to little Nazanin! I’ve been drinking tea ever since I can remember, it was something that I had with breakfast every morning and it was always a strong cup of ceylon that was sweetened a little. The ceylon I drink is tossed in bergamot oil but it really differs from your normal earl grey. I’m not sure what is is exactly but it’s a tea I don’t think I could ever part with !

j.m. Olivera: Any suggestion for tea cakes or sweets? What’s you POV on such?

Even though I grew up sweetening my tea and still add honey to my morning strong black tea like I did as a kid I always suggest trying a tea without anything. Pairing tea with sweets is always fun but I think once you really see what the tea has to offer you can find a better match for your tea. I find that chocolate of different varieties goes well with a lot of teas. I think my favorite pairing is a dark chocolate with either a roasted oolong or pu’er! Now, if you’re talking about putting tea INTO sweets I’m all for that and have a bunch of recipes you can see here!

Bluejeans_and_ leather: What have you noticed taste wise that separates an okay black tea from a great black tea.

I grew up drinking mostly one type of black tea, ceylon. It has a very particular flavor that is commonly associated with other types of tea that have either ceylong or assam like english and irish breakfast. For these I usually go with whatever has a nicer scent and I usually end up liking the flavor better. But if we’re talking about chinese black teas, that’s a whole new ball game. I found that in those black teas the ones that set themselves apart were those that had a dancing flavor. When I think of a dancing flavor I mean when we think of a darker tea we think heavy and strong but some of the most delicious black teas I’ve had are light and “dance” on your tongue! Instead of heavy they are refreshing!

Noelledrinkstea: favorite black tea, flavored tea & green tea

These are tough! I don’t really drink a lot of flavored tea so it would either have to be my everyday ceylon tea that is tossed with bergamot oil or a good masala chai blend! Favorite black tea is one I discovered recently from Old Ways Tea, it’s called wild style and it was one of the most refreshing black teas I’ve ever tried! It will definitely be featured in a future Tea Thoughts project :) I’ll be honest I don’t drink a ton of green tea, I drink mainly oolongs, pu’er and white teas BUT I have a soft spot for a few green teas including: hojicha, matcha and genmaicha!

Teabooksart: who or what got you into gong fu cha style tea?

The answer to this would be a what! Sticky rice pu’er. Back when I was receiving a lot of tea to review for my blog and still transitioning to recipes I was sent some sticky rice pu’er. At this point I really only had blends and a few high quality plain teas. I love rice and eat it almost every night so just taking one whiff of the sticky rice pu’er and I was in love. I’d never brewed a tuocha before so I looked up how to brew it. I saw gaiwan and gongfu were mentioned. I didn’t really know anything about it but I had seen other bloggers talk about it so naturally I went down a youtube rabbit hole of watching people brew! I was hooked! I brew gongfu style almost everyday. It first started out as an adventurous new thing I discovered but it’s become a beloved part of my daily ritual that keeps me grounded and grateful.

All.hail.amy: which tea did you have to learn to appreciate

Raw pu’er! I used to not like it because I either was drinking not great ones or ones that I wasn’t brewing correctly so the taste wasn’t something I went for. Last year I started tasting them again now I’m hooked! I did need to give it another chance before I truly appreciated it! I would also put most green teas into this category because I used to not drink any since I didn’t like the flavor but as I’ve become a better brewer I can find delicious notes in green teas when I couldn’t before.

Daniellegeva: When’s the last time a tea surprised you?

Not to sound corny but I feel like I’m always surprised by a new tea. I have a wide variety of tastes so I don’t often come across a tea that I don’t like but it’s still always nice to taste something and be like OH WOW!!! I think to give you a specific answer though, I recently have been drinking more white teas and I got one from denong tea. It’s funny because it kind of smells the same way the pu’er from that same shop but when I tasted it, it was like an explosion of sweet and floral flavors I didn’t expect!

Teaaholic: what’s one of the biggest things you learned about tea since starting Tea Thoughts?

I think the biggest thing I’ve learned about tea is that it is humbling. It’s humbling in many ways including how much there is to learn about tea. It’s humbling in a way to see what an incredible process it goes through to get into your cup. It’s humbling that such a simple leaf can have an enormous impact on our everyday lives- helping producers and shops make a living, helping drinkers feel good, helping us all learn to appreciate the smaller things in life that hold great value.