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Steepster! I have missed you so. I am still getting settled in my new home, but I’m starting to finally feel the pull to sit quietly for tea and contemplation. I’ve been so busy getting packed and then unpacked… I have taken a lot of distracted fly-by tea in the last month.

My very first session in the new place was Floating Leaves’ Lala Shan Hong Shui, which I don’t regret doing even though my unfiltered tap turned it evil. A good lesson in the power of water. I poured some out on the land and sat in gratitude anyway.

I want to do a big update on my cupboard here and really get tuned into my leaves as autumn settles on the mountain. I am looking forward to catching up on all of your musings over the last month. Here’s to new chapters, my friends.

I need a clapping emoji for this tea. I clap forking hella clap adore CLAP this clap clap clap clap stuff.

Toasty, with some high mountain delicacy and florals and green. Good centering in the chest and upper back, I think. I’ll be saving the rest of this and the Hongshui to savor in a quieter and more focused environment on down (up?) the road.

Solid JJM. Good malt and cocoa and toast — generally a nice warming profile for the morning. Bought this on a whim when all the blacks dropped in spring and will be happy to pour it for wake-up cups.

Peanut M&Ms: roasted peanuts, darkly toasted peanut skins, milk chocolate.

I’m perfectly content to drink this, but I’m a little shocked at how underwhelmed I am by it. It’s solid and feels good, just not my bullseye cuppa. I will, also, always have my heart’s eye trained squarely on FL’s Lala Shan Hongshui. Guh guh guh guh. Not all Hongshuis, turns out!

I blind-bought this cake on an impulse. It’s not a smart time for me to be splurging on tea, but here we are. This hasn’t been with me long, and I think it needs more time to adjust… but I did want to jot down first impressions so I can come back and have my mind blown later. No pressure, little cakey-poo.

Impressions are not much, honestly. I felt like the entire session had a straightjacket on it, the leaf being pleasant enough but not really offering up anything in the way of distinct or interesting tasting notes. Classic Bulang tobacco, if I may be so bold, but muted. I read over Tea_Ass’s 2yo note just now and it feels like we drank different teas. This one’s going in my crock, then up the mountain, then into a sunny window… and then I’ll pull it back out in a few months. Qi is nice enough; I do feel more grounded and relaxed than when I sat down with it (a function of the ritual or the molecules, hmm?).

I drove up the mountain and signed all my papers today. Keys in two days. Met some super cool neighbors next door, and one across the way who lives alone and reminds me of Eeyore and I love her. Met some other townsfolk, too, and feel like they’re my people. I’m excited and a little dreading how much work moving + prepping our current place to sell is going to be all at once. But. Excited.

Fun little dragonball. Quite green and planty, with a smoke profile approaching burning cigarette levels. More enjoyable than that sounds — it was a hoot observing the pings and bitters and ash darting around. Good body throughout, but especially in the last stages when steeps started taking 3-5 minutes — the body got very luscious, with a balanced flavor profile once the green and smoke had toned down.

Bowled 8g of this up for an easy sipper in a giant bowl tonight. More tannins have come out to play in this venue, but the sweet honey and old-sweater cuddles of this little yellow did not disappoint.

Eh. Tasty and comfortable, but perhaps not terribly exciting to this betel nut chaser.