Like one of the posters above, it is both a solitary and sociable event
in my life.

During my working day, I usually take around a half-litre of green tea,
it being highly condusive to a sharp brain. I have a porcelain teapot
for the office, which I use to brew green leaves (the pot half-filled
with water): one portion of leaves in the morning, and one portion in
the afternoon. With two robust brews per portion, I take four brews in
total. The smell of a good grade green leaf permeating the air is very
pleasurable, and often attracts colleagues to sit on my desk for
protracted conversations, and perhaps a small cup of the tea.

At home, I have the luxury of time sufficient for the preparation of
teas in the gongfu manner, usually pu'er or wulong. These are
typically taken either solo, or with my dear wife. Like many of the
posters in this thread, I have found that guests often enjoy a tea
session for the sake of curiousity and enjoyable atmosphere, but have
little inclination to pursue it of their own accord.

Our friends are divided approximately equally between being "Eastern"
and "Western", but, oddly enough, none of them could tell their YiWu
from their WuYi. Most appreciate the time, flavour, and feeling of
taking tea in the gongfu style, but I am genuinely surprised by the
lack of knowledge and palate-experience of our Mainland friends - who I
naturally (and unfairly) assume know everything about tea since birth,
simply because they are Chinese.

It is rare indeed to find a true tea-friend, and the relationships
initiated by shared Internet resources such as this group and its ilk
are invaluable to me (and thus also to my tastebuds).

Toodlepip,

Hobbes