Zarky Zork > wrote:
>I see a cup of tea as a blend of yin and yang energy. The water is yin and
>the tea infusion is yang. Understeeped, too much yin. Oversteeped, too
>much yang. The perfect cup is a proper balance.

It's more complicated than that, because it's a balance of more than two
different things. You have temperature, you have steeping time, and the
huge varieties of different kinds of tea. There are three major factors
that you can vary to produce a whole lot of different kinds of cups. Some
of them are perfect. Some aren't.

>I don't like the idea of using mechanical measuring devices to try to
>achieve the balance. Eg., thermometers, timers and measuring scoops. I do
>use a timer sometimes but prefer not to.. usually when I have other things
>I'm doing simultaneously. I think that a proper cup should be made through
>listening to the water come to (or near) a boil and knowledge of the
>different sounds of the water and how those sounds affect tea taste. And
>simply waiting while the tea steeps and finding a natural timing mechanism
>within one's mind to understand how time affects the taste.

That's fine, although I think a more systematic approach is worthwhile,
just because there are so many different factors to contend with. And
your notion of what constitutes a perfect cup is possibly different than
mine. That's what makes life interesting.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."