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Hangon, hangon hangon... so puerh is not supposed to taste and smell sort of fishy?
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May 22, 2018 09:10
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Hmm, I've only tried puerhs a few times. Not been impressed so far. One of the times it tasted outright vile. Recently ordered some ripe Lincang 2012 from tedragen, to give puerh a new shot. It still has a slight fishy smell, but doesn't really taste fishy. Has a sort deep sweet taste to it. Btw, you might know, are there any other good tea shops in Norway? I reckon palais des thes might have some decent stuff, but unfortunately they don't do web sales... I live in "the districts" :'(
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May 22, 2018 12:15
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Thanks! I'm fairly new to teas so some sampler packs would probably be a great place to start. Some bundles with all kinds of tea and not just puerhs would be perfect. I'll look into the stores you posted! A mate introduced me to gong fu brewing a few years ago and I've been interested in trying it out since. Recently read Okakura Kakuzo's "The book of tea" (a great read btw) and figured it was a good time to take the plunge. Bought some basic brewing equipment + a small assortment of different teas to figure out what I actually like. Have been doing basic gong fu brewing sessions the last couple of weekends and have begun really taking a liking to this stuff 
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May 22, 2018 13:51
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Haha. I ordered a sampler off Yunnan sourcing just now. They have tons of stuff :0 Didn't check the shipping times on the cheapest option tho. 7-12 weeks haha. Trying to get the order cancelled so that I can shell out for slightly faster shipment...
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May 22, 2018 19:26
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Hmm, skandithread heavily represented here! Been looking around and the selection on yunnan sourcing seems massive... Customer service v nice, they helped me out with my snail mail order last night. Defo gonna order some more stuff when I dry up, perhaps check out some puerhs. Just had some excellent jasmine pearl. Blown away by the flowery aroma of this stuff!
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May 24, 2018 21:43
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I have some (most likely low grade) gunpowder tea. How are you supposed to steep this stuff? I find wildly different suggestions. I've tried different temps and brew times, but end up with a cloudy harsh goop regardless. What's a proper amount of gunpowder tea per 1dl? Caffeine amount in this stuff seems very high btw, got all headachy last time I gave it a go...
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Jun 2, 2018 10:20
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Reiterpallasch posted:"Gunpowder" is one of the fluffiest descriptions in the tea world, unfortunately--in the West, when unqualified, it generally refers to a middling-grade, tightly-rolled green tea from Mainland China. Cloudiness out of a cheap gunpowder generally means cheaply-produced, machine-rolled pellets. Try ~2 teaspoons in a 16-oz teapot at 90 Celsius and adjust the temperature upwards towards 95 if it's still weak? Don't expect more than 2 useful infusions out of it. Heh, thanks. It just says "Gunpowder China Green tea" on the packaging. Tiny black grain-sized balls of tea. Smells like ashtray. I'll give it another go and see if it's drinkable...
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Jun 4, 2018 10:56
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Recently received my 2018 early spring sampler from yunnansourcing. Haven't tried all the stuff yet, but the feng qing silver needles were great and I'm definitely going to order some more of the Dianhong Imperial Mojiang Golden Bud Black Tea. Very nice honey vibes and mouthfeel. The character of the tea changed completely in the later steeps. Great stuff. Thanks for the tip!
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Jun 15, 2018 08:46
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I've mostly been doing gong fu brewing with super short steep times myself, and I feel that I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'm a bit unsure what sort of teas are suited for what sort of brewing though... My greens and whites have a tendency to get incredibly sweet (too sweet for my liking). I guess the trick is to try different things every time you brew until you' find something that works. --- On the topic of gaiwans, I've been trying to find a white and blue Gaiwan (100-150ml), to match my white and blue flower pattern cups + some black/dark cups with a white/bright insides to match my black gaiwan... I've found a couple that I like in different shops, but nothing perfect so far. Anyone got any recommendations for teaware shops? Something like this. Size seems perfect, but I'm not completely sold on the print. https://www.teavivre.com/landscape-painting-porcelain-gaiwan.html#reviews same for this: https://teaware.house/collections/gaiwan/products/rose-pattern-petite-porcelain-gaiwan-110ml This one is gorgeous, but seems a tad too small :/ https://teaware.house/collections/gaiwan/products/high-heel-prussian-landscape-porcelain-gaiwan-85ml Also, got a new clay teaboat yesterday: 
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Jul 17, 2018 11:13
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ulvir posted:I was gonna recommend Yunnan Sourcing, but it seems most of their white and blue gaiwans are mostly too big (probably?) being over 150ml, for the most part, plus their stuff isn't quite as nice as Teaware.House's. This one is gorgeous, though. If I didn't have small hands or it was a tad smaller, I'd almost impulse buy this + some tea to balance shipping costs https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/gaiwans/products/jade-porcelain-koi-frolicking-gaiwan-for-gong-fu-tea-1 Yeah, I´ve been looking at yunnansourcing. Both the cups I like and my black gaiwan is from there. The Koi one is quite nice, but 170 seems a bit much for solo drinking, considering multiple steeps. Perhaps the tiny 80-90ml one from teaware.house is fine... On the other hand I just received an email from yunnansourcing that they have a 10% off on teawares this week. I found this one on verdanttea that I quite like, but it got a bit pricy with the shipping. https://verdanttea.com/teas/hand-painted-de-hua-porcelain-llandscape-gaiwan/ Would need to splurge a bit on more teas as well then
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Jul 17, 2018 20:56
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Bought a sort of tea flask so i can do some steeping at work. It works surprisingly well. Broke it in with some of tedragen's lapsang souchong. What a strange tea... It smells like a bbq sauce and has a very smoky(?) (but nice!) taste. Really unlike any other tea I've tried, unsure if I like this? I'm really weirded out by the meat aroma haha
Truck Stop Daddy fucked around with this message at 12:00 on Jul 30, 2018 |
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Jul 30, 2018 11:30
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Truck Stop Daddy posted:Bought a sort of tea flask so i can do some steeping at work. It works surprisingly well. Broke it in with some of tedragen's lapsang souchong. What a strange tea... It smells like a bbq sauce and has a very smoky(?) (but nice!) taste. Really unlike any other tea I've tried, unsure if I like this? I'm really weirded out by the meat aroma haha Cool, I’ve ordered a bunch of different stuff from them these past months. Everything has been great so far. Would be cool to meet them or some other teafreaks sometime... I ended up ordering a new gaiwan from verdant tea a while back (before I knew that they apparently are bad dudes:/ ), and ended up adding some tea to the order to balance shipping costs. Really curious about this 1985 oolong I ordered some of. Those leaves are older than me :0
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Jul 30, 2018 14:17
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Bees on Wheat posted:Looks neat, but mine seems to be broken. The wheel just spins forever and never stops, doesn't do anything when clicked, and never tells me if I won anything or not. I tried on Firefox and Chrome, but no dice. same here
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Jul 31, 2018 09:49
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Reiterpallasch posted:good taiwanese oolong vendors imo (incomplete list (from cheap to expensive)) Great list! Will have to check out some of these. Currently steeping the 1985 Oolong I picked up. Very distinct taste! Smells and tastes of raspberries or some other berry and baked goods, with a more spicy aftertaste. Possibly cloves. I really like this
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Aug 5, 2018 17:38
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Was in Prague a few weeks back and visited a tea house called tea mountain. Great shop! Bought with me some Taiwanese oolongs and Japanese black teas. Very nice and knowledgeable staff. Really worth the visit. Haven’t had the time to drink any of the stuff I bought back home yet though, but really looking forward to it. Also, stumbled upon some tea cups I really liked at this antiques market I went to yesterday. Picked up the pair for 5$... Probably mass produced stuff made somewhere between the 60-90s? I reckon. Really like how they sit in their saucers and the 50ml size is perfect.   
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Sep 2, 2018 21:32
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Replaced coffee with tea at work. Just finished the two tuos of this cheap ripe puerh I had - 2017 Menghai DaYi V93. Not particularly impressed with it, but it's been an ok replacement for my coffee chugging. Anyways, I'll have to order some more stuff, anyone got any recommendations for some cheaper puerh daily drinkers? Reckon I'll just order a bigger cake or two right away. Both ripe and raw are fine I seem to remember someone recommending this one: https://yunnansourcing.com/products/2012-yunnan-sourcing-impression-raw-pu-erh-tea-cake
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Sep 19, 2018 11:46
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Great! Ordered the yiwu. Bookmarked the others for my next YS order!
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Sep 19, 2018 12:30
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Got both my YS and bitterleaf orders. Seems Bitterleaf did a mixup and sent me their 2018 year of the dog yiwu, instead of the 2017 year of the rooster. It's probably same same. Big tea sesh coming up this evening, trying to figure out whether to take the YS Hui Run ripe or the year of the dog to work... Also, quite curious about this gold bi luo chun that I got from YS. The leaves look and smell amazing:  Tried some Japanese black tea yesterday (Koucha Koushun) I picked up a while ago. Disappointed, reminded me of a bland earl grey. Distinct orange notes. Will take me a while to get through the 100g of this that I bought...
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Oct 2, 2018 11:27
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Sent them an email. The only difference between the two teas is the vintage, so it probably doesn't matter much tho. Unless 2018 has been bad or something. Also, had another japanese black tea (Koucha Zairai) blended with yomogi (japanese mugwort or something) this weekend. Didn't really really pick out any particular flavors or notes just tasted "black tea I guess?". Will have to steep it some more times and see if I can figure out what the deal is with it.
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Oct 2, 2018 12:52
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Drinking the 2018 year of the dog yiwu now. Herbal vibe, nettle notes? Some bitterness in the back of the mouth/throat. Surprised by the color of the wash, not dark at all. it’s almost clear. Is that how young raw puers are?
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Oct 2, 2018 18:16
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ulvir posted:yes, they’re always light and green in colour, and usual taste profiles are floral, sweet, astringent and bitter. how floral or how bitter depends on region and blend; yiwu teas tends to be stronger in floral and sweeter notes with some slight bitterness. It sure looked like green tea, but didn't really taste like it. Almost no sweetness at all. Zero umami. It definitely more astringent than bitter (just read up on what "astringent" means haha). Quite nice tea, didn't really taste a whole lot like the other teas I've been drinking. Didn't have the time to check out the Ripe puer or the bi luo chun last night, but will give it an attempt today.
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Oct 3, 2018 10:56
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The bi luo chun is pretty nice. Just realized that it's a black tea... Currently gong fu brewing it. Dry leaves smell like a candy store, steeped leaves smell of honey. Nice golden color on the wash. First couple of steeps was surprisingly weak (10-15s each ish). Longer brew times fixed it. Watery mouth feel, slightly sweet. Notes of some sort of spice. Taste lingers in the mouth long after drinking it. Mouth watering. Very drinkable stuff! E: Bitterleaf refunded me half the cost of the cake :0 Will have to order some more stuff from them, possibly some teaware... Truck Stop Daddy fucked around with this message at 09:34 on Oct 5, 2018 |
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Oct 4, 2018 17:02
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Was it "Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties" by Kevin Gascoyne or "Tea: a user's guide" by Tony Gebely?
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Oct 31, 2018 11:42
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Agrinja posted:I've read that puerh has less caffeine than other styles, but after a session I find myself way more buzzing than with other sorts. Is this common? I think I read the opposite. Black and puerhs having the highest caffeine content of teas, with green teas containing the least. Water temperature seems to affect how much caffeine is released when steeping as well. Higher temps= more caffeine. Can't remember if lower brewing temperatures was the given reason for green teas have the lowest caffeine content... I think oxidation/fermentation also played a role here. Think I read this in Gebely's Tea - a users guide... Truck Stop Daddy fucked around with this message at 12:35 on Nov 27, 2018 |
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Nov 27, 2018 12:32
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Ordered a clay pot today! It looked gorgeous, matches my tea tray and YS had 10% off on teaware... 200ml so its a tad bigger than my gaiwans. Reckon I'll use it for oolongs, perhaps also blacks?
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Dec 14, 2018 17:00
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I have some puerhs, but find myself mostly returning to oolongs. Not sure how strict I need to be with the whole one tea type per pot. I sort of get it with the puerhs tho. Let’s see if this works:  Got a clay tea tray/boat off aliexpress in summer. Clay colour matches + it has a similar etched motive. Was fairly cheap and functions well, can post a pic of it later when I get back on a computer.
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Dec 14, 2018 18:56
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ulvir posted:that looks adorbs Good to know! I’m very curious if it has a noticeable effect on taste... Another question: picked up some taiping houkui a little while back, but haven’t figured out how to steep it yet (missed with tea amount both times I’ve tried it, my scale is out of batteries...). Stumbled upon a site suggesting you brew it “fire and ice style”, as in ice cubes in the brewing vessel + boiling water. I’m a bit skeptical. Anyone used this way of infusing tea before?
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Dec 15, 2018 10:48
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Yeah, what I hear is that is supposed to take sharper “edges” off the taste. Had a go at the ice-fire stuff. Got a very tasty brew, but it was not particularly warm at the end of the steeping. Guess I’ll use less ice next time. Here’s a pic of the tea bot I mentioned yesterday. Was looking for a nonwood tray, as my last one started leaking quite fast. Think it was around 50usd with shipping included 
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Dec 15, 2018 12:12
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Biomute posted:Where? Its probably some sort of garbage clay, but you're not supposed to drink from + it works + looks good Got the 10" one. Shipping took ages though...https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tea...2296033773.html
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Dec 15, 2018 16:13
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Pics imho. Brought one of my tea sets and a selection of teas back home with me for Christmas. Looking forward to trying out this 1985 aged oolong again...
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Dec 22, 2018 18:40
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Very Nice! Ruyao celadon or something?
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Dec 22, 2018 21:14
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Clay pot arrived today. Looks amazing, the etching is much nicer than in the photos on YS for some reason. I’ll post some pics later. So how do I season this? Marshaln seems to recommend just putting it in a bowl with some warm water for a while, while most shops and so on recommend boiling pots for hours... also, do you just dump the leaves in when you brew, or is there more to it? Seem to remember reading something convoluted about packing leaves into pots
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Jan 7, 2019 13:23
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Then I’ll just leave it in hot water for a while more and rinse it a bit. I’ll soak it in some tea if it still smells like mud and clay at the end of the bath E: bad photo.  Made some anxi Ben Shan oolong in it. Turned out good, pot size is nice too. Will have to make something in a gaiwan at the same time to compare taste the next time I use it. Truck Stop Daddy fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Jan 7, 2019 |
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Jan 7, 2019 16:49
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Hmm, I'm running out of oolongs, which is what I've realized I prefer to drink. Finished the last of my Anxi Ben Shan last night (which I've enjoyed quite a lot) and opened a new package of some charcoal roasted Dong Ding I picked up a few months back. The Dong Ding was very very nice (quite similar to the aged Anxi oolong I've had a few times). But now I only got the aged oolong, the dong ding and an OK Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong I got off YS left... (still got lots of black teas and puerhs, so I won't starve) With the rate I'm going now, the good oolongs I got left will be gone asap. Any suggestions? I'd like to try some Rou Gui or some other yan cha + a nice Mao Xie/hairy crab + possibly a TGY Another question: what do you store your teas in: ziplocks? caddies? tins? Got a couple of double lidded tins I like, and the rest I keep in the ziplocks they came in. Would love to move all of it to tins or caddies to please the eye a bit better tho.
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Jan 11, 2019 13:08
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I guess I'll get a bulk off YS again then. Prices are friendly and stuff only takes about a week to arrive from there. Their Oolong selection is not that massive though, what's the best oolong dealers you usually turn to? Was looking at spillthetea (got to support local poo poo!), but their prices is like 2x YS ://
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Jan 11, 2019 15:20
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I’ll look into them! I know Teamountain.cz has some nice stuff, but I have no idea if they ship out of the Czech Republic. Tried a varied selection when I visited and bought some stuff (the delicious dong ding I’m currently drinking is from there).
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Jan 11, 2019 16:46
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hope and vaseline posted:I use mason jars once the sealed bags are opened for my non puerhs, and keep them in a cupboard. For oolongs, if you're not looking to get into high end stuff, YS and Teavivre will do you fine. If you end up wanting to dip into specialized vendors, teadb has a good writeup on gaoshan and wuyi oolongs. Those teadb links look very useful! Thanks!
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Jan 11, 2019 17:25
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After having a look at those teadb links, YS didn´t seem like such a bad idea. Had a voucher there to ease the cost a bit too. Picked up some DHP, Roasted "AA Grade" Ben Shan (these grade names are very mysterious to me), Rou Gui and Tie Luo Han/Iron Arhat (pricier than the others). Testing some Taiwanese Oolongs next time!
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Jan 12, 2019 15:43
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Picked up a new tea bottle for work. The old plastic one was a bad design that got too hot to handle. New one is double walled glass, and works much better (nicer build too). Doesn’t make as much tea as the last one though. Steeped some mao feng black tea in it earlier:  Samadoyo brand bottle, purchased from tedragen
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Jan 21, 2019 19:08
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ulvir posted:I’ve been eyeballing that one for a while. how much less are we talking about? and how does it handle steeping compared to the old one? I always have to open the strainer to let all the steeped tea into the main bottle with the plastic one A single small/normalish sized teacup. I guess around 1.5-2dl. With the old one i usually could fill up one of those bodum thermo cups with a lid (3.5 dl according to the internet)
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Jan 21, 2019 21:56
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