the path less taken
@path-less-taken.bsky.social
i make strange food
www.instagram.com/path_untaken
www.instagram.com/path_untaken
walking home, and the air smells like liubao
December 3, 2025 at 5:08 PM
walking home, and the air smells like liubao
drinking a taiwan natural stored XG tuocha. this feels very similar to anhua heicha? a lot rougher than anhua material a lot younger, though. last XG i had was just bad, guess I have to give factory puer a shot again...
December 1, 2025 at 3:44 PM
drinking a taiwan natural stored XG tuocha. this feels very similar to anhua heicha? a lot rougher than anhua material a lot younger, though. last XG i had was just bad, guess I have to give factory puer a shot again...
@onerivertea.bsky.social daily rougui
nice simple yancha. goes well western style and gongfu style. soft, sweet, no harshnesses even at high ratio (not here). roast feels correct. aroma fills the room
#tea #teasky #oolong
nice simple yancha. goes well western style and gongfu style. soft, sweet, no harshnesses even at high ratio (not here). roast feels correct. aroma fills the room
#tea #teasky #oolong
November 30, 2025 at 4:31 PM
@onerivertea.bsky.social daily rougui
nice simple yancha. goes well western style and gongfu style. soft, sweet, no harshnesses even at high ratio (not here). roast feels correct. aroma fills the room
#tea #teasky #oolong
nice simple yancha. goes well western style and gongfu style. soft, sweet, no harshnesses even at high ratio (not here). roast feels correct. aroma fills the room
#tea #teasky #oolong
@white2tea.bsky.social's 2016 Fade
haven't had it in forever. big mistake. if this isnt in your order you're making a big mistake. nice solid tea. ive said all i need to say about this tea before, so i won't say more
#tea #teasky #puer
haven't had it in forever. big mistake. if this isnt in your order you're making a big mistake. nice solid tea. ive said all i need to say about this tea before, so i won't say more
#tea #teasky #puer
November 29, 2025 at 1:50 PM
@white2tea.bsky.social's 2016 Fade
haven't had it in forever. big mistake. if this isnt in your order you're making a big mistake. nice solid tea. ive said all i need to say about this tea before, so i won't say more
#tea #teasky #puer
haven't had it in forever. big mistake. if this isnt in your order you're making a big mistake. nice solid tea. ive said all i need to say about this tea before, so i won't say more
#tea #teasky #puer
@onerivertea.bsky.social Roasted Zhangping Shuixian
nice creamy thick texture, sweet like a dancong, good aroma! tasty. however, the huge 10g format makes brewing it in any vessel kinda hard - standard gongfu didnt get good results either. quite strong astringency and roast harshness
#tea #teasky
nice creamy thick texture, sweet like a dancong, good aroma! tasty. however, the huge 10g format makes brewing it in any vessel kinda hard - standard gongfu didnt get good results either. quite strong astringency and roast harshness
#tea #teasky
November 27, 2025 at 8:37 PM
@onerivertea.bsky.social Roasted Zhangping Shuixian
nice creamy thick texture, sweet like a dancong, good aroma! tasty. however, the huge 10g format makes brewing it in any vessel kinda hard - standard gongfu didnt get good results either. quite strong astringency and roast harshness
#tea #teasky
nice creamy thick texture, sweet like a dancong, good aroma! tasty. however, the huge 10g format makes brewing it in any vessel kinda hard - standard gongfu didnt get good results either. quite strong astringency and roast harshness
#tea #teasky
the conditions for growing koji are roughly similar to the optimal conditions for heicha aging: ~30c, 60+ RH
i guess this makes sense, because aging heicha is basically the same thing as growing mold (sorry if this is how you found out)
i guess this makes sense, because aging heicha is basically the same thing as growing mold (sorry if this is how you found out)
November 27, 2025 at 10:28 AM
the conditions for growing koji are roughly similar to the optimal conditions for heicha aging: ~30c, 60+ RH
i guess this makes sense, because aging heicha is basically the same thing as growing mold (sorry if this is how you found out)
i guess this makes sense, because aging heicha is basically the same thing as growing mold (sorry if this is how you found out)
tried out an unrested Baishaxi 07 Qianliangcha. didnt intend to evaluate from this but it seems like a very solid tea. interesting chocolate and marzipan adjacent notes off to the side, nice full texture. sweet, but not very. dominant moss taste similar to other anhua heicha
#tea #teasky #heicha
#tea #teasky #heicha
November 25, 2025 at 8:56 PM
just got sent heicha with a desiccant in the bag....
November 22, 2025 at 2:16 PM
just got sent heicha with a desiccant in the bag....
set up for a side by side with 4/5 of @onerivertea.bsky.social's hankow bound sampler. lets see if i can make myself a qimen fan
#teasky #tea
#teasky #tea
November 22, 2025 at 12:16 PM
set up for a side by side with 4/5 of @onerivertea.bsky.social's hankow bound sampler. lets see if i can make myself a qimen fan
#teasky #tea
#teasky #tea
ORT's anhua heicha selection is overall great. Really love their 2019 wild, the 2022 isn't quite aged enough yet. I'm going to return to this notion once I've become a complete and utter qianliang freak and see how it holds up
November 21, 2025 at 11:20 PM
ORT's anhua heicha selection is overall great. Really love their 2019 wild, the 2022 isn't quite aged enough yet. I'm going to return to this notion once I've become a complete and utter qianliang freak and see how it holds up
www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/...
wow, a real elers piece up for auction! It's pretty interesting to see a classic mug take form so early into English tea drinking - drawing from beer mugs?
wow, a real elers piece up for auction! It's pretty interesting to see a classic mug take form so early into English tea drinking - drawing from beer mugs?
November 20, 2025 at 8:10 PM
www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/...
wow, a real elers piece up for auction! It's pretty interesting to see a classic mug take form so early into English tea drinking - drawing from beer mugs?
wow, a real elers piece up for auction! It's pretty interesting to see a classic mug take form so early into English tea drinking - drawing from beer mugs?
interesting blogpost from yunnancraft about sourcing yixing pots: www.pageoftea.com/yixing-teapo...
November 13, 2025 at 5:11 PM
interesting blogpost from yunnancraft about sourcing yixing pots: www.pageoftea.com/yixing-teapo...
low stakes conspiracy theory: the government of zhangping city has paid or otherwise incentivised western tea sellers to visit the city and thereby end up stocking the tea
November 13, 2025 at 9:24 AM
low stakes conspiracy theory: the government of zhangping city has paid or otherwise incentivised western tea sellers to visit the city and thereby end up stocking the tea
ORT's broom teas are definitely among the top 5 tea compression methods
November 12, 2025 at 5:13 PM
ORT's broom teas are definitely among the top 5 tea compression methods
Reposted by the path less taken
having fallen ill and lacking lu'an to cure my ails, I've made do with (EoT's 2016) aged hongcha. 've come to identify dianhong's "aged taste" (from my grand total of 3 samples) as a form of sweet root vegetable note. I need more of them, and from a variety of storages...
#tea #blacktea #teasky
#tea #blacktea #teasky
November 6, 2025 at 10:44 PM
winter has descended, which means overcast daylight that makes for poor tea photography. would you believe the liquor here is red? 00 kai yuan purple stamp from EoT. syrupy coating texture, warming in the head and neck but a little rough on the body. i liked it as a whole
#teasky #gongfucha #puer
#teasky #gongfucha #puer
November 4, 2025 at 8:20 PM
winter has descended, which means overcast daylight that makes for poor tea photography. would you believe the liquor here is red? 00 kai yuan purple stamp from EoT. syrupy coating texture, warming in the head and neck but a little rough on the body. i liked it as a whole
#teasky #gongfucha #puer
#teasky #gongfucha #puer
the problem with drinking yancha is that it's too good, and you end up running out. I'm down to my last 12g of yancha overall, and other oolongs, while nice, are certainly no substitute. pictured is Postcard Teas' Shuixian
#tea #gongfucha #teasky
#tea #gongfucha #teasky
November 2, 2025 at 10:55 PM
the problem with drinking yancha is that it's too good, and you end up running out. I'm down to my last 12g of yancha overall, and other oolongs, while nice, are certainly no substitute. pictured is Postcard Teas' Shuixian
#tea #gongfucha #teasky
#tea #gongfucha #teasky
06 Seadyke AT102 Shuixian, via EoT. Even at 8g, the character remains unchanged. Thick texture, but today with a puckering yet pleasant acidity, owing to the humidity that sneaks in when a bag is opened. "Aged taste". Not much longevity. Quite simple and quaffable.
#tea #teasky #oolong
#tea #teasky #oolong
October 28, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Reposted by the path less taken
hell yeah i’m a gamer
October 26, 2025 at 7:16 PM
hell yeah i’m a gamer
brewing liubao like a maniac at 11g/100ml. this tea, 05 duoteli first grade, is weak enough that it needs it. i dont reccomend putting yourself in the position that you need to brew a liubao at this ratio for it to be good. its thin and steeps out way too quickly otherwise
#tea #gongfucha #heicha
#tea #gongfucha #heicha
October 25, 2025 at 6:54 PM
brewing liubao like a maniac at 11g/100ml. this tea, 05 duoteli first grade, is weak enough that it needs it. i dont reccomend putting yourself in the position that you need to brew a liubao at this ratio for it to be good. its thin and steeps out way too quickly otherwise
#tea #gongfucha #heicha
#tea #gongfucha #heicha
twl 80s ripe feels very hard to extract. maybe i just need to brew it at as aggressively as possible for the start, my first steep is never more than 30s. tastes like it needs heat
#tea #gongfucha #heicha #teasky
#tea #gongfucha #heicha #teasky
October 21, 2025 at 10:14 PM
twl 80s ripe feels very hard to extract. maybe i just need to brew it at as aggressively as possible for the start, my first steep is never more than 30s. tastes like it needs heat
#tea #gongfucha #heicha #teasky
#tea #gongfucha #heicha #teasky
twl 4gc > eot 4gc > pcth 4gc
October 21, 2025 at 10:04 PM
twl 4gc > eot 4gc > pcth 4gc
smoke extraction appears to be very water dependent! same parameters today, different water, and the smoke is gentle, and more reminiscent of walking into a church that is burning incense. it had a bit of florality and no fruit character. i prefer the harder water for this tea...
i love the variability in what one considers to be light smoke, because the "lightly smoked" lapsang i have repulses most people from the mere aroma of having the bag open. what is your strongly smoked lapsang? would it kill a dragon, let alone a man?
October 16, 2025 at 3:06 PM
smoke extraction appears to be very water dependent! same parameters today, different water, and the smoke is gentle, and more reminiscent of walking into a church that is burning incense. it had a bit of florality and no fruit character. i prefer the harder water for this tea...