blowing more of the tea budget, and struggling with oolongs

I've got a couple of tea orders on the way.

From o-cha, I've ordered Uji Sencha Miyabi, which I vaguely expect to arrive early in the upcoming week. This was recommended by TeaPerv ED, although somehow fuka managed to get the referral credit. (Life's a mystery.)

And from Hou De, I'm gettin' my pu on with:

• 1996 Chung Cha "Orange-in-Orange" #7532, uncooked 20g Sample
• 2005 Ming-Yuan Hao Yi-Wu Wild Old Tree Cake, Uncooked 1 oz
• First-Step to Chinese Puerh Tea ** De Luxe Revised Version **

I've been spending my money on tea, and not on snooty pots & such (not that snooty pots & such aren't appealing).

Instead of a gaiwan, I dug up a few old 4 oz porcelain airline tea cups bought at a fire sale store untold years ago.

I've got a porcelain tea pot of indeterminate origin, made of glazed porcelain, with a capacity of 10 oz. "Made in Japan" is indicated on the bottom.

What I've found so far is that starting off with good tea and good advice can result in some fine tea, even if it is actually true that the fancy teaware does produce a meaningfully better tea experience.

However, I have really been more than spotty making a good oolong here lately. I've made some truly vile oolongs, and a few that were decent.

Gotta keep experimenting with those. Greens are a lot easier for me, and whites have been proving hard to just completely destroy.