iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 8h

Did some experimental sessions this weekend, found a technique in the tea discord I think I'll really like when going live, lets the fragrance fill the room and set the tone well!

A gongfu tea set sits on the table, warmed by hot water. The chunk of white tea to be brewed takes up the focus of the shot

The same tea table, now a few steeps into the process! Both cups are full of a delicious looking, amber colored, white tea!

Tasting notes:
2008 cave aged shoumei, and I'm doing it with a little bit of a twist! We're still at 5g/100ml/185f like usual, but in between steeps, I've got a vessel full of hot water to set the gaiwan on.

Picked this technique up in tea discord, though I've forgotten what it's called, and the intent is to keep the leaves hotter between steeps. (I most frequently see it with a puerh, tbh, but after the experiment with boiling it the other day I wanted to see what it'd do held at this lower temp)

It's a really interesting effect, actually! Keeping the leaves warm kinda smooths out the gradient between steeps even further, allowing that chocolate vibe to pervade the drink for longer than it usually does, revealing it blends fantastically with the medicine cabinet taste, all the while filling the room much more agressively with the scent of the tea, which, I gotta say, really makes for a fantastic experience. Might keep this in my back pocket, especially for when I'm streaming and have to rattle on between steeps for much longer, though the jar isn't quite optimal for that, size wise. Could do it with the mug full of guest cups, come to think 🤔

The gaiwan full of leaves balances on top of a jar full of water, to act as a "keep warm" function, if sorts

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 7h

(for those who saw this elsewhere, this isn't cow brewing! I misremembered! Cow brewing is not using a justice cup, but instead pouring directly into the drinking cup and leaving the excess that would have been in said justice cup in the brewing vessel) (similar but not the same effect)

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 8h

Did some experimental sessions this weekend, found a technique in the tea discord I think I'll really like when going live, lets the fragrance fill the room and set the tone well!

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 13h

Looks like those posts lost the zero sum game!

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Oh hey I do that! If the first half of the day is too early for you, do feel free to tune into my fiche-preserving stylings, 3:30 to midnight :)

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Berry 🍇 @nyamukoneko.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

now this is truly a namco museum...

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

👀that does look fantastic, what tea have we here?

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Feeligns suits the vibe of disability feelings, tbh

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

(I've also heard people get some success reading by way of pomodoro timer chunks? An On-together lobby would work great for that, actually 🤔)

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

This is gonna sound like I'm promoting my stuff, but I promise I'm earnest here, what if you put on these streams of reading at a muted/low volume to do a sort of group reading? youtube.com/playlist?lis... (I may or may not have done the second season to trick myself into getting back into reading)

youtube.com

Paper Cuts - YouTube

Like hearing me read, but just want actual books? Here's a playlist for Paper Cuts, all by itself! As a note, this show started out on SAU's internet-based c...

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Oh hey I do that! If the first half of the day is too early for you, do feel free to tune into my fiche-preserving stylings, 3:30 to midnight :)

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Reposted by Glacier Nester

Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Tried to boil just the chenpi for a while after finishing off the tea in this orange, which was just barely good enough to have me eyeing the orange peels I have aging and should let sit longer. Good pu'erh, either way!

A gongfu tea table, with the wash steep of a pu'erh in a chenpi orange. The lid's off the gaiwan, so you can see the orange, and the tea pet is still a little wet from getting its share.

Three steeps in, and the tea has darkened significantly, as you'd expect from a pu'erh. Still jumpscares me every time, though!

Tasting notes:
pu'erh in a chenpi orange! It's kinda unreasonably hot outside right now, but I figured if I'm going to have the ac running, I may as well make the best of it and have a tea I take particularly hot. The session is coming out pretty interesting, as I had the first few steeps between bites of some leftover pizza, so breaking up the grease made for a bit of a different experience. It does break through all the fat and cheese really well, but tamps down a lot of the nuances of the chenpi, leaving behind the tea itself, which normally isn't taking much of a lead early. (Though, it does concentrate on the lid just the same, which is why I'm pretty sure the grease is what's busting it) Once I finished off the 'za, it was like suddenly jumping backward a couple steeps in the normal order, being able to taste everything nicely combined, thick, and lingering, but not too aggressively. Might have to give something like this another spin when I've gotten hands on a pu'erh cake that's cheap enough to daily drive, see how it changes things around without the chenpi being an additional factor with the tea itself! (I've got some eyes on a little group of samples thanks to tea discord, we'll see them in future entries just as soon as I have budget)

Bonus notes of just the chenpi, unpictured:
After I used up the leaves, I scooped 'em outta the chenpi, and boiled the peel for a while, (maybe 5, 10 minutes?) apparently folks will do this with aged chenpi on its own for traditional Chinese medicine purposes, and I wanted to see how it'd go for squeezing the last little bit outta a somewhat extracted peel. Tastes a little thin, perhaps, but still really nice! Kinda herbal, almost minty or camphor-y? Can definitely see why this gets used, maybe those orange peels I've been aging in the closet can stand on their own!

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Did you know that before computing settled on binary, there were attempts to electrify a previous 5 state system, baudot?

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Can confirm! absolutely WRECKED my right knee trying to be a distance runner in high school despite previous leg-type nonsense

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Houseplants in Videogames @houseplantsinvg.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery (1995, PC) Nice plant.

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BrothaKyo Strikes Again @brothakyo.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Requested Banzai Pecan art dump (2017 - 2023)

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I'm gonna be subject to SO many license agreements by the time we're through these, it's gotta be a record

A "you're subject to the license agreement if you open the case" sticker from the collection I'm working on right now

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Shady Inference 🌫️ @blot.city · 07/10/2026

Something nice: a real-ass human-made archive dot org browser available as a flatpak with controls/UI optimised for the deck

reddit.com

From the SteamDeck community on Reddit: My Internet Archive browser is now available for Steam Deck!

Explore this post and more from the SteamDeck community

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United Wizards of the Coast - CWA @uwotc-official.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Curious how you can help? We ask that you sign our petition for Wizards to voluntarily recognize our union, share it with your communities, and keep an eye on this account for future updates! actionnetwork.org/forms/uwotcp...

actionnetwork.org

Stand with Dungeons & Dragons and Magic Workers Forming a Union!

The Dungeons & Dragons team and Studio X (Magic: The Gathering; Duel Masters) are forming a union! We are joining the ranks of United Wizards of the Coast - CWA (UWOTC-CWA) and following in the fo...

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

🐉 some great pulls in here but I GOTTA vote for the strongest wizard of all time

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

To my taste, scented teas do tend to handle better in a cold brew or teabag format, but I really can't help myself in seeing how they do in a gaiwan, just for fun. It's often pretty interesting, gives you a glimpse into the underlying tea!

A gongfu tea table, set up but before brewing has started. It features (left to right, top to bottom) a gaiwan, justice cup, and two drinking cups. The lid is off the gaiwan balanced atop one of the cups, so you can see the leaves!

The same tea table, but a few steeps in. One of the cups is out of frame being sipped from, along with the lid. The leaves look great wet, and the tea is a lively greenish yellow!

Tasting notes:

I've had this magnolia green cold brewed, but not hot before, it's interesting what notes prevail at different temperatures! The florality is less overbearing, more delicate and ephemeral, as you might expect, but the green tea beneath later in each sip brings out an umami like preserved lemons in lieu of the sweetened green sencha-like tang we get cold, which was a very pleasant surprie! The sweetness DOES prevail in later steeps, revealing itself about 800ml in, but only after the magnolia has mostly passed on and is largely a memory, gripped tight to the crumbling cliff that is the lid of the gaiwan.

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Explain your vtuber lore badly: Computer too cozy, now I'm stuck

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Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The original Google search algorithm that was wizard magic was machine learning. Same with videogame enemies learning flocking techniques and figuring out how to beat you based on your tendencies. LLM stans fucked this up just let the scam artists define what AI is now because they are dumb.

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🏎️ Shiro "Sugar!" Purrs 🐈 @shiropurrs.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

As I did before with the 1k video, here's what it sounded like before I muted the individual clips... [sound warning: discordant nonsense]

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Oh the cross-bottom spindles, they look neat!

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Been quite enjoying @thepoduniverse.com of late, they're spinning a full cinematic universe of original scifi movies!

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The slump immediately after stream is UNREAL

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

If you can get hold of some Ya Bao or another crassicolumna preparation like Qian Nian Ye Sheng, they produce so little caffeine as to be a practical decaf option!

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

oh she looks like such a sweetheart!

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Fhtagn Quil-ing over there, but you're not a porcupine at all!

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

"how did you get into ttrpgs?" Well they've been chasing me down for 10 years and I got slower after high school

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I'm gonna be subject to SO many license agreements by the time we're through these, it's gotta be a record

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Sometimes a pu'erh session takes long enough that I wind up bringing the leaves home for a session of just the second half! This old tree green pu'erh is one of those times, and now I'm tempted to hit up the teahouse before work again

A gongfu set at a teahouse. The lid of the steeping vessel is removed to show the leaves, and the tea in the cup has some bubbles wandering on top.

A second, distinct gongfu setup, this time at a desk. There's a gaiwan (also un-lidded to see the leaves), two cups, and a justice cup. The tea being made is a beautiful amber color!

The tail end of that home session! The cup on the right hand side is that same amber color (I didn't drink it, to use for reference), but the cup on the left is more of a thin yellowish brew, an almost sepia tone.
Tasting notes:
Part 1: even on the wash steep here, as leaves are struggling open, it has a strong, almost brothy character, underlaid by a sweetness like the nectar from clover flower! Menu suggests notes of grass, honeysuckle and umami, which tracks pretty strongly along the same lines I caught.
Part 2:
That clover flower has developed into a lingering sweetness of honey, and the dark green has lightened into a grassy taste. Maybe it's because they sat in a fridge overnight, maybe it's how my gaiwan is more crowded than the pot they gave me, but I'm certainly not complaining about the way it's changed, they opened up and trailed off beautifully!

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Oh that's at least 1 digit too many

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Glacier Nester @glaciernester.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I am SO so close to finishing a big project and tea helps that process immensely, like this Sakura kukicha!

A gongfu tea set is balanced on the edge of a desk, featuring the gaiwan on the bottom left, justice cup on the bottom right, and two cups on the top, with one having a much darker tea in it. The tea pet (a tiny cat) is nestled in the middle, covered in a thin sheen of tea dust.
Tasting notes: The cherry chocolate effect of the blossoms melds with a fantastic green umami out front, slowly giving way to a softer, lighter green like a bok choy, while the woody stems hold down the base note throughout really well. These Japanese cut green teas are admittedly kinda messy and fussy in a gaiwan, they're designed for larger filtered pot after all, but adapting my grip and adjusting for the longer pour time isn't as bad as I thought it'd be. Oh, and I've got this new blue guy from a local farmer's market to use as a justice cup, can finally give the travel set one a break! This tea really responds well to being taken while I've got my hands full, in the later steeps especially, enabling an approach of "well the kettle has cooled off some, let me just let it sit low and slow"(real major contrast from the hot second steep in the guest cup and the lower, slower one in mine on the right hand side)

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