/ck/ - Food & Cooking

THREADLY REMINDER
Yunnan Sourcing raises prices on all their aged teas, puer, etc in the spring by 20% or more,get your orders in before the end of February.

NO CHINA EDITION

Reminder that the world of tea goes beyond chinese puer and oolongs, these threads and sites like YS/W2T can give you tunnel vision

I am currently drinking my first darjeeling (first flush), and it is totally different from any black (or green) teas I've ever tried, super fruity in both smell and taste

Also recently had some semi-wild korean green tea, very nutty and sweet-creamy taste that is pretty different from any japanese/chinese green

>>15510770
Where did you get korean tea from?

Just started to get into decent loose leaf tea. Fucking love oolong.

Tried white the other day and....does anyone like this? it barely tastes of anything?

>>15510829
what-cha

I had this one
https://what-cha.com/collections/green-tea/products/korea-dong-cheon-daejak-semi-wild-green-tea

>>15510770
Honestly, I've always been surprised by the share of the niche market that China holds. If anyone's got some interesting meme leaves, I made a pretty penny off the stocks recently.

>>15510844
>it barely tastes of anything
It's subuttle. Maybe brush your teeth next time.

>>15510844
Some white tea is really bland, i have some random teabags i got as a gift and they don't taste like much. The white tea cake i tried was much more flavorful but still on the more mild end of the flavor spectrum.

>>15510851
Tea from the republic of Georgia and Russia
https://moychay.com/catalog/gruzinskij_chaj
https://moychay.com/catalog/Krasnodarskiy_chay
Some grown in Hawaii tea that is probably very overpriced
https://teahawaii.com/shop/hawaii-grown-tea-3/
It's not available yet but these guys sell a special first flush version of their tea, you might have to email them to ask about it. Grown in Charleston South Carolina
https://charlestonteagarden.com/

>>15510899
Also if you order from moychay you should get some of their ivan chai
https://moychay.com/catalog/travyanoy-chay/ivan-chai/ivan-chay-chyornyy-krupnolistovoy-zapovednik-russkiy-sever

had some chamomile and spearmint. it was good.

>>15510848
what do you like from What-cha?

The sticky rice oolong was good & the golden snail black tea

Should I have some Earl Grey or Rooibos this afternoon?

>>15511005
So far I've found some nice tasting (and fairly priced) daily drinkers, such as the korean green I already linked, a taiwanese jade oolong and a deep-steamed sencha.
I would order all those again next harvest.
https://what-cha.com/products/taiwan-four-seasons-oolong-tea
https://what-cha.com/products/japan-basic-fukamushi-sencha-green-tea

I want to try some of his more high-end stuff (such as high mountain oolong, higher grade korean green or malawi white) but Brexit has really messed up shipping to Europe, to a point where my last order took 2 months to arrive (plus customs are increasingly slapping on mad tariffs) and the owner even advised not to order anymore until the chaos clears up a bit

>>15510770
hahaha, imagine a tea thread without mentioning the birthplace of tea. I'm game, I'll shut up for the duration of this thread but I can't imagine other anons to obey.
Real No China Edition would fall off the 10th page quicker than the last thread.
Good luck.

>>15510770
I'm not gonna buy tea from india

>>15508274
Tea: 2004 Nanjian Tea Factory (its not labeled Tulin or Phoenix so I am unsure who made it)

Appearance: it looks to me like standard grade material with some moderate to tight compression and with some age on it but not yet dark brown. nothing too exciting about its appearance but I don't have the experience necessary to really judge puerh in depth by sight. I did however get a long presumably human hair in my tea proving once again puerh is better than any kinder surprise.

Brewing Parameters: brewed 11g/100ml porcelain gaiwan with 212f water. I probably brewed a bit too aggressively but its how i tend to make my tea. it is my first tuo so it took a while to figure out the best way to crack into it. I ended up making a bit more dust than I would have liked. Ultimately I punched a hole though the tuo with my pick and then could flake off chunks from the outside.

Taste: some savory vaguely meaty taste at first that fades out (similar to some other shengs I have had you may describe this note differently), strongly fruity something resembling tart apples and sour raspberries throughout, some pleasant mushroomy taste appears closer to the end, moderately harsh early on it still has some kick to it but it mellows out later, a modest amount of cooling and back of the mouth sweetness, no off flavors nor anything particularly out of the ordinary

Conclusion: it tastes like a perfectly decent conventional semi aged sheng. It probably tastes young for its age and has likely been dry stored. Its old enough to have lost its greener notes and have taken the edge off but not old enough yet to have fully mellowed out or have gained an old character yet (or at least I don't think so but I have not had a truly aged sheng yet). Its clean, fruity and perfectly drinkable now but it had nothing that surprised or amazed me either.

>>15511343
Yeah that seems like a fair evaluation. I don't have any around but i seem to remember getting some floral notes out of it was well, nothing quite into the realm of perfume but kind of a mildly flowery taste.
That's a really aggressive brew ratio, i would recommend cutting it down to 7 to 8 g per 100ml for something still on the strong end of the spectrum but slightly more reasonable.
Breaking up tuos can be an adventure, i usually push from the top down around the edges to pry those bits off. Sometimes i just smash it with a hammer and then use a pick to separate the larger chunks.

>>15510844
>Tried white the other day and....does anyone like this? it barely tastes of anything?
White teas my favorite, especially early in the morning because its easy on my stomach or on hot days because its light and refreshing. You probably just got a weak one, I've had white teas that are packed with sweet & spicy flavors.

>>15510735
Still lovin' me some Twinings Vanilla Chai, folks! It's got that spicy, and that sweet, that you just need after a long day. Who else knows what I'm talkin' about up in here!

Lil bitta milk, lil bitta honey, and brother you're set ;p

Alright you fellas have a nice night :)

>>15511028
if you're a pale european tranny you should be having earl grey while thinking about preparing it for a nice strong man, otherwise rooibos

>>15511389
>Yeah that seems like a fair evaluation.
its a good tea overall it just did not scream "buy more now" to my personal palate. i may get more at some point though i just don't have the cash to hoard things right now.

>i seem to remember getting some floral notes out of it was well
it may have some but nothing really leaped out at me on my first brew and it definitely was no yancha. i am bad at identifying exact floral notes anyways.

>That's a really aggressive brew ratio
oh, i am fully aware of that. its a habit i picked up from drinking shu. thanks for the advice though. 8ish grams per 100ml is my standard ratio for non heicha. i will fiddle around with different ratios at some point. i also don't like putting crumbs back so if i break off a bit extra i tend to brew it. honestly if i had flash brewed the first few steeps they would have likely come out better. i will do that next time.

>Breaking up tuos can be an adventure
i think that now that i got it started it should not be too hard to dismantle the rest of tit.

>i usually push from the top down around the edges to pry those bits off.
i will try that at some point.

>>15510844
just tried white tea and it seemed like the flavor came out more once I chilled it. drinking it warm resulted in nearly no taste.

Need new tea recommendations. Feel spoiled since I started drinking selections from Pursuit of Tea and Te Company because it's just so much better than everything else I've had. Does good single source tea always have to cost a small fortune?

>>15511668
>Pursuit of Te and Te Company
never heard of them, but I just did a quick browse of their site and they both seem horribly overpriced

What type/style of tea did you like most and do want recommendations on?

>>15511731
Yeah, very expensive. You get what you pay for, basically. They both have fantastic selections, single source, organic etc. and are like head and shoulders above most other tea I've had from online sources. Nantou oolong is what I drink the most regularly but I'm having an Assam from PoT at the moment. I'd love new oolongs and lighter blacks/reds as well as some good gyokuro.

tea novice here
is 50 dollar matcha worth the squeeze? Everything I'm looking at says price/quality caps out around 20-30

where can I order custom tea blends? I want a white or green blend with some herbals.

>>15511807
If you look at the sticky then most vendors in there will be selling single origin, except for puer blends

For light blacks Darjeeling is the obvious choice, but with both that and Gyokuro I'd wait a little bit as in March they'll start the fresh harvest

Buy Indian tea at What-cha and for gyokuro why not try this sampler bundle
https://yunomi.life/collections/dojo/products/kurihara-tea-05-gyokuro-tea-10g-sampler-set

For now, I'd recommend trying some Anxi oolong at Yunnan Sourcing. Harvested in November. This AAA stuff is really great, but they sell higher and lower quality versions if you want to pay more/less
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/anxi-oolong-tea-autumn-2020/products/imperial-jin-guan-yin-aaa-grade-anxi-oolong-tea

>>15511463
any you would recommend?

>>15511933
thanks!

I drink this french breakfast tea by Mariage Frères. I guiltily add a sugar cube, but its soooooo good.

>>15511817
>50 dollar matcha worth the squeeze?
Maybe...
If you are new to matcha probably not, since the things that are valued in a higher grade matcha might be subtle. I would strongly recommend getting matcha from on of the vendors in the pastebin that are in japan or if you dont want to deal with international shipping then
https://ippodotea.com/
Or
https://www.denstea.com/
Which are basically Japanese sellers with US warehouses.
I would suggest getting something affordable in the $20 to $30 at most range make sure you stay away from the culinary grade stuff.
Normally im not very anal about where people get tea but matcha became trendy recently and a lot of it on the market sucks. It needs to be freshly ground and properly stored out of good tea or it's just going to be bitter and gritty.

>>15512083
Have you tried their marco polo blend? That seems to be their signature tea. I was considering getting some to gift.

>>15510735
what's something you can add to your ordinary lipton most generic tasting brand teabag tea that can lift it into something a little more tasty? I have a lot of those but a little tired of that same taste

>>15512125
Yak butter and salt

>>15512096
I have not, but I believe my tea person keeps telling me to try it, so I'd say its probably pretty good. If I get it soon, i'll post about it in a thread here :)

>>15512125
Lemon juice

>>15512125
A slice of lemon, honey, maybe a raw style sugar or brown sugar instead of white suger

>>15510770
nah. Tea is from China you limey brit

>>15510770
>drinking poo tea
superpower yet pajeet?

>>15512125
brew it strong and add milk and sugar

>>15511966
The higher end silver needles on upton have all been fantastic so far, I also really liked the Vietnamese white tea they sell. If you aren't trying to spend so much try any white cake on ys, they're all good

Whats the point of getting darjeeling if most people are going to water it down with milk?

Pls recommend me some Irish breakfast tea

For me its Kericho Gold

>>15512530
>Pls recommend me some Irish breakfast tea
If you want the big boy stuff that needs milk and sugar
https://www.uptontea.com/breakfast-tea-blends/irish-breakfast-loose-leaf-black-tea/p/V00088/
If you want something hearty but not quite so strong than
https://www.uptontea.com/breakfast-tea-blends/irish-breakfast-loose-leaf-black-tea/p/V00407/

>>15512624
Also if you order from upton get a sample of this
https://www.uptontea.com/afternoon-tea/russian-caravan-loose-leaf-black-tea/p/V00093/

>>15512409
Just add a very tiny amount of milk so it's still translucent and the flavor will still be there

>>15512806
I will not add milk to tea, it's an abomination

Looking for a new stovetop teapot any suggestions? Previously had a shitty oxo one

>>15512991
it's a stove kettle, just get something made of iron or steel and it works just as good as any other

>>15513009
Okay thanks anon.

>>15512624
>>15512649
thanks, I might try both of those
>russian caravan
tasty stuff but I still have a bunch of lapsang

What's a decent teapot that's NOT like full $100+ yixing pot? I get that's ideal, but I'm just unable to afford to that level, and drink more than my single cups.

Any materials I should avoid or prefer?

>>15513393
Porcelain, stoneware
You can get perfectly fine porcelain pots for $10-$30 lots of them on Yunnan sourcing.
There is basically no practical difference between a cheap and expensive porcelain pot when it comes to how they brew tea. Porcelain is actually much more versatile since it works fine with any kind of tea

>>15512125
Sweet lemonade

Yunnan Sourcing isn't shipping until the 28th for Chinese New Years
It's not going to be until march when I get my white tea cakes, is it?

>>15513536
Probably, is it just me or did they push the Chinese new year celebration's back this year? I thought it was supposed to start at the beginning of February.

>>15513393
Yixing is definitely not ideal for all kinds of tea. Just get a small porcelain teapot for gongfu or a large one for western. Pic related is the pot i'm waiting for in the mail.

How long is too long between infusions? If I brew a cup of tea at night can I step the same leaves in the morning? I heard someone you shouldn’t infuse used leaves left out overnight because of some mold that may grow, but I have my doubts and think this is just a company’s way of making you buy more tea.

GWEEN TEA

>>15510735
Ah nice.

I made an iced tea thread a few weeks ago.

Anyone else like watery, under-steeped tea? It's more refreshing this way.

>>15513639
imagine tripfagging on the gayest cancer general anywhere on 4chan.

faggot

>>15513677
If I under steep or just don’t like a tea I’m drinking, I’ll typically dump it in a pitcher, and add lemonade for Arnold Palmers. Usually makes decent AP, except for one time recently I did it with a muscatel tea. Overpowered lemon flavor.

>>15513686
I feel terrible now.

>>15513686
this isn't /SUG/ or /GG/

>>15513615
>How long is too long between infusions?
24 hours or so is about the max you should keep the same batch of leaves for brewing
>If I brew a cup of tea at night can I step the same leaves in the morning?
Yes
>some mold that may grow
It takes a while, several days, trust me if your tea gets moldy you will notice, you will see it, smell it, and if you try and drink it it will taste awful

How do I force my gf to acquire a taste for puer? This is really holding our relationship back from fully blossoming.

>>15513977
shoo shoo lesbean, /tea/ is a faggot-free zone

>>15512624
>$25 flat rate shipping to canada

>>15513686
look at this rudeposter

>>15514063
why are all people who drink pu'erh gay women?

My sister drinks pu'er and I'm worried about her...

>>15514408
Does she bring a lot of girls over for "pu'erh tasting sessions"?

>>15513563
Oh, I really like that one, where'd you get it? I'm needing to add more teaware myself.

What is the worst non-bagged tea you anons ever drank?

>>15515262
Probably pic related, I don't even like roasted oolongs to begin with and this tasted really bad and cheaply made (which it is)

>>15515402
RIPPIN

>>15510770
Chinese tea is unironically superior though. Japanese tea is okay for novelty, but Chinese teas are the end game of teas.

>>15515463
best part is they cost nearly the same per gram as bagged tea

>Order from Verdant finally shipped yesterday.
>Have all of my noob teaware, 35g of free* samples, and a 100g 2014 Gong Ting shou pu'er cake waiting being sent to me as we speak.
>Tfw anons get to cuck me with their hot, steamy brews while I sit like a tealess punk and have no tea or teaware for 2-3 days.
Go ahead anons. Post pics of your brews while I sit here without a sip in sight! Oh woe!

whats a good starter tea pot?

>>15516024
I'm not drinking anything interesting, but im down to bully you.
Western style 2020 loose leaf jasmine tea steeped at 80C for 6ish minutes, 7g to a liter pot

>>15516026
https://cauldonceramics.com/collections/brown-betty
perfectly affordable and frankly the only pot you'll ever need. I have one of these and as well as a few more which I bought purely on looks. The brown betty is the only one I ever want to use.

>>15515463
India is the best for black teas

>>15516062
>only pot you'll ever need
If you want to restrict yourself to western style only, sure.
While I'm a big fan of gaiwans, if you want a pot you can do gong fu in, should preferably be under 200 mL

>>15516083
sorry didn't realise you were looking for weeb stuff

>>15516084
It's okay limey, I know it's hard for you brits to realize that tea comes from China sometimes.

>>15516059
Look at this bastard, with his pretty cup and tea liquor! He says it is not interesting, but he's still drinking it, so it must at least be of decent quality! You son of a bitch, I'll get you for this! Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!

>>15516155
I'm actually saving a gong fu brew white tea cake as a reward for myself when I finish my coursework, if you want to wait for a good tea

>>15516174
I'll be up for a little over an hour. If you brew around then, I'll stand by to witness it. Otherwise, I'll see it after I wake up. Which tea, by the way? I considered getting a white tea cake, but refrained since I had other stuff in my order. Regret not getting a cheap white cake instead of a goofy 250g variety mini tuo bag with my order. I won't see that for a fair while, though.

>>15516179
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/2018-fuding-gong-mei-white-tea-cake?_pos=2&_sid=76b976c03&_ss=r
It's free with a 75$ order on YS right now (if you use their discount code) Honestly big surprise free cake for me, tastes like honey with apple pie spices. I'm probably going to buy a few of these to age

what do you do with teas you bought but realized you dislike? relatedly, what's your least favorite tea in your possession right now?
mine's pic related. not only does it taste weird, it even smells weird. it's honestly kinda gross to drink. reminds me of linden flower/echinacea but worse, kinda sickly
I drink it super watered down now (basically just dunk the tea in hot water and go) because that's the only way I can tolerate it... still have half a tin left to go and I'm tempted to just get rid of it but it also seems wasteful

>>15516240
>teafags are so pathetically desperate to fit in with the other turbo autists they will drink shitty tea they dont even like

>>15516240
Life is too short to drink bad tea.
I have a brick of this really rough Chinese sark tea that i tried once and tastes like i was brewing oak leaves, i still have it around, i don't know why. I had a really gross ripe puer i got from a chinese market and i gave it to a friend to use to dye fabrics.

>>15516240
why are you forcing yourself to drink bad tea? It costs like 80 cents per liter for great tea and 15 cents per liter for good tea. Stuff costs about as much as soda.

>>15516240
Feed it to the dog

>>15516262
chinese market teas are often meh and sometimes questionable. you'd think they'll have good tea but unfortunately that's not the case. maybe they just get away with selling garbage tea to silly gweilo who don't know any better

>>15516298
it's not even about the money, it just feels wrong to throw out tea. that said, I did throw out pretty much a full tin of pic related a few years ago. that was also when I learned I really dont like perfumed french tea.

>>15516311
this kills the dog

>>15516342
>chinese market teas are often meh and sometimes questionable.
I have had decent luck with asian markets. I even got a very decent cheap genmatcha once, it's kibd of luck of the draw with what you market has. Sea Dyke stuff is usually decent.

>>15516196
Every time I see white tea cakes, their liquors, leaf colors, and flavor profile descriptions seem lovely. I'd go as far as to say that they'd probably match my preferences the most in general. I wonder if I will regret investing so much into pu'ers, especially on Fullchea instead of Yunnan (for the freebies). I like sweet flavors, but not so much sweetness itself (if that makes sense). So, I thought some pu'ers may match those preferences. Well, I suppose I'll know in a week or so.
>>15516262
People use tea to dye fabrics? I have never heard of this. Any notable examples?
>>15516262
I agree with this post, most Chinese market teas aren't great in my experience. Probably better to just go to an actual tea shop if you must buy local.

>>15516240
got a hot cinnamon from my local shop its the only tea i have ever seen from them that has "artificial flavoring" listed in the ingredients and you can damn well taste it it too
not a fan

>>15516424
People use tea to dye fabric and frequently paper to create an aged look.
I don't think it's done on an industrial scale at all but it's used for home projects.
Here is a brief article about the process.
https://pioneerthinking.com/how-to-tea-dye

Ordered this sampler of teas from a brand that makes oolong in yunnan. No idea what to expect but i figured it would be fun.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yunnan-gold-oolong-black-tea-sample-pack-five/303532472749

>>15516442
yeah unfortunately I've learned to avoid the teas with artificial flavorings. they're usually pretty bad

>>15516881
>Ordered this sampler of teas from a brand that makes oolong in yunnan. No idea what to expect but i figured it would be fun.
I would love to hear how they taste. i've been eyeballing that sampler myself. Yunnan sourcing also carries a Taiwan high mountain style oolong grown in Yunnan but i am pretty sure its made by a different company.

am i the only one who dislikes how everything MarshalN seems to be taken as gospel by a decent segment of the puerh "community". i respect his huge amount of experience and that fact he has shared it with the western community but he is only one person and he clearly has some biases (which is fine he has a right to his options) so it seems inappropriate to use him as the sole source of how things are "traditionally" done. I don't clam to know more or even more or even half as much as him about puerh I just don't like celebrity worship. the puerh community strikes me as extremely clicky where most of the notable individuals all know each other from back in the day and have had strong a founding effect on the community. again am not trying to say any of them are necessarily bad i just don't like it when people just take others word for things without critically thinking about it.

My shipment from Red Blossom has arrived.
Will try a first pot tonight, first reply picks from one of these 3:
Golden Monkey
Genmaicha
Formosa Red

>>15518173
last digit:
1-3:Golden Monkey
4-6:Genmaicha
7-9:Formosa Red
0:reroll

>>15518173
>>15518282
Golden Monkey

>>15518089
Where do the zoomers and lesbians discuss tea?

>>15518089
Yeah i agree, i think he has some quality posts but he is just one guy and thr biggest thing that sets him apart from dozens of other tea bloggers is living in hong kong and the fact that he started blogging about tea ages ago. He seems more humble then some of the people who takes his posts as gospel.

>>15518282
>>15518288
But first, a second cup of coffee cherry tea that I forgot to finish. It tastes a bit like a tart jam, which I should like but somehow I don't feel like ordering another one.

>>15511523
This post made my day anon

>>15519017
Dried cherries? I guess it's probably not fresh fruit i don't think cherries are in season.

>>15518483
Here. /tea/ is at least 50% lesbians. And you know what kind of tea they drink.

>>15519038
No, it's the outside of the coffee bean that usually gets tossed out.
https://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/02/what-does-a-coffee-cherry-tastes-like.html

>>15519038
the coffee cherry is the whole fruit coffee is made out of the seed inside.
>>15519017
is brewing the husks that surround the seeds.

>>15519053
Oh cool, i didn't know that was something people drank.

It's time.

>>15516424
I'm not the biggest fan of pu'erh (but I don't have it and understand why people love it), so I kind of avoided white tea cakes thinking it would be just different pu'erh. When I got sent a white tea sample, it completely changed my opinions of what tea cakes can be. I love YS's free samples for allowing me to try things I'd never try by myself. I'm incredibly shocked white tea cakes aren't popular.

The smell is a little richer than the ordinary black teas you can find.

>>15519572
YS is pushing white tea pretty hard and so are some other stores, apparently it's production has increased recently and it seems to be gaining some popularity.

>>15519604
that seems like a good thing, white tea is utterly niche in the west despite it being good

>>15519600
They weren't kidding, this actually smells almost like dark chocolate. The smell is the most interesting part of the tea; the taste is vaguely like the smell, but the aftertaste is sweet.

>>15519656
If its like dark chocolate, would it go with milk or that ruin it?

>>15519572
Are you a natal woman? Sorry for the personal question but I’m gathering data for a project on the demographics of tea drinkers in western nations.

>>15519667
I just tried it, the "dark chocolate" hides once you put milk in.

>>15519671
No. I'm a white anglo-saxon, straight, married male in my mid 20s.

>>15519683
Actually, I just put too much milk. It seems that you can still do milk tea and get the unique flavor, but you have to put less milk than you ordinarily might. It's actually not bad like this.

>>15519727
That's interesting. I haven't found a tea I like much with milk, but chocolate flavor profile might fix that

>>15519761
The ratio appears to be something like 1/8 and not like 30% for a normal hot milk tea or half or whatever for those bubble teas. Also, the smell is what's chocolate, not the taste itself. If you were to hold your nose it tastes almost like a normal black tea.

Second tea pot. It smells less chocolate and more butter? And it's not just because I had slightly milked tea.

>>15519826
Now I know a better way to describe the smell of the second pot. It's like putting butter in coffee. And a bit of "leaf".

The almost chocolate taste is stronger now, which is interesting. It's like a whiff of cocoa powder. The sweet aftertaste is getting weaker, but that always seems to happen.

>>15519572
I have around 1kg of tea to go through, so I don't know if I'll be comfortable investing in white cakes for a while, but do keep posting your experiences with them in the future. They always seem to have the prettiest leaves and liquors. I'm curious what their thickness levels tend to be like, though.
>>15519826
Butter chocolate sounds lovely right now. Is it more thick or thin? How do you feel after drinking it?

This is pretty good with oranges.

>>15519872
That's an interesting question. It has a throat feeling, if that's what you mean. All tea teas make me feel varying levels of more energetic. Two pots feels like half a cup of coffee.

>>15519656

Sorry, what tea is this? I may have missed it earlier.

>>15519937
Also, it doesn't feel too astringent. All black tea uses nearly boiling water, so not feeling too thirsty afterwards is good. I think this could go for a third pot and no more, but if I take a third pot now I'll be staying up all night pissing. I'll check in about that tommorrow.

>>15519946
Golden monkey. See
>>15518173
>>15519556

>>15519872
due to YS not shipping until march 1st, I probably won't be getting more white tea until then, but I'll probably get about a $170 haul, I'll document here

>>15519696
Natal male?

>>15520036
I have XY chromosomes, yes

>>15519937
>With oranges
Niiice. Ever tried freezing an orange? I like to do it sometimes, figure it could be a nice pairing with tea. I tend to peel off the skins with my teeth by biting off the stem area, and either tearing apart or eating off the skins manually. The inner segments end up so sweet and flavorful with a smooth texture. Quite tasty.
>All tea teas make me feel varying levels of more energetic.
I asked that open-ended question because I've been considering the potential that different teas may provide different psychological and physical effects. After all, different leaves will extract more or less tannins/minerals, amino acids, and so on. I've heard people say different alcohols affect them in different ways, and I wonder if that may be even more true with tea due to just how different preparation and cultivation can be, even season to season. It would be nice to document if a tea tips towards excitability or relaxation, I think. I personally have a profound relaxation response (nearing sleepy) when I drink my home-made coldbrew coffee, despite it of course being full of stimulants. Yet, I don't get that response from every coffee or tea. I'd certainly like to understand it more.

>>15520351
All caffeinated drinks are the same to me, only the dosage changes it. Then again, all alcoholic drinks are like that on me, too. Only herbal "teas" can have different effects on me. The most unusual thing I've experienced is catnip tea. Everyone says it calms you down, but it actually makes my body feel sensitive instead.

>>15516196
Just brewed some, good stuff

>>15520351
I'm told gyokuro has more L-theanine so it has a stronger calming effect. Personally, I never drank enough of it at once to notice anything different.

Can tea be naturally salty?

Got this for a Christmas gift and have been enjoying it very much lately

Recommend me some foods that go with milk & tea that aren't baked sweets

>>15521143
Some of the best raw pu'ers I have had (namely White Whale from W2T and Monocle Boss from Mei Leaf) had prominent marine profiles, including sea salt. But neither tea is readily available these days, and I don't think I have ever encountered that flavor in others.

After a fair wait, my gaiwans, miscellaneous teaware, and extra starter tea from Verdant are in transit to my home today. Not sure if I'll see it today or tomorrow, though today would be excellent, as I've just cleaned out my neet cave. Some tea would be truly excellent right now, tired. Pray for my package, lads. Will be nice to be brewing with you all soon.
>>15522037
Oranges, chocolate, very thick flavored Greek yoghurts or skyr, popcorn, raisins/dried cranberries, blueberries, and so on. I think easily-consumed, tart fruits in general are an easy option. Popcorn is pleasant and provides satisfying texture between sips. Chocolate is a comfort flavor with good chemical similarities to some components in tea. Yoghurt can provide a thicker (but less astringent and 'coating') flavor to balance off of warm drinks like tea. I know you said no baked sweets, but if you're health conscious, there are various brands of protein chips that would go excellently with tea. MyProtein's chips are puffy and more akin to rice cakes, whereas Quest's protein chips are generally more flavorful and crunchy. Recommend both, leaning Quest.

>>15521143
I have tasted something salty ish in a few teas over the years, i cant think of any specially but it's a thing. Not necessarily my favorite flavor buy not unpleasant.

>>15522133
Hmm, never thought of having chips with tea. I'll try that or some thin crackers, it seems like a good idea. Tea goes well with sweet potatoes if you can wait 3 hours to bake one. I want some variety mostly.

>>15522358
Yeah, the big reason so many people choose baked sweets is that they are tart and satisfy want for texture. A good break from many teas, like eating pickled ginger in between bites of sushi or sashimi. Same concept, I suppose.
>Tea goes well with sweet potatoes if you can wait 3 hours to bake one.
This is something I never considered. I've often eaten boiled sweet potatoes made with cinnamon and stevia. I imagine the flavor might be okay, but it seems like an odd pairing from a texture and density standpoint. Why do you like it?

Just got my YS order in
Not doing any drinking today but ill be sure to post something tomorrow

3rd pot. The taste and smell have definitely declined here, making it the 3rd the last for my (8oz?) pot.

>>15522037
Fruit, pretty much any greasy asian food, sandwiches?

>>15522576
Nice selections anon, i have a similar tea pick to that one and love it. I'm jealous you have all that oolong.

>>15522606
Can't believe I didn't consider sandwiches when recommending foods to him. I usually don't care for Subway, but I got a BLT+avocado within a wrap recently, and it was fairly decent. I can see eating a light yet meaty meal item like that with tea. Not so sure if I'd have a thick, dry sandwich or not, though. I think that might lead to soaking up tea.
>>15522576
Jealous, your selections look more well-rounded compared to mine. Cute packaging and piggy. What was the damage? Which will you drink first?

>>15522666
I will most likely start with the hairy crab oolong since its the one with the highest weight from the sampler.

The only damage was small rips in the wrapper of the tuo, everything else is in good condition

>>15522739
Interesting choice. Perhaps you could do the Honey Orchid or Duck Shit afterwards? Looking forward to your brew soon either way. I'm finally getting my tea stuff some time in a few hours while I'm asleep, so I will post my modest noob haul as well, and pick which tea I will brew then.

>>15522358
>sweet potatoes
you could pair it with a gaba oolong since they often taste a bit like sweet potatoes on their own.

>>15522739
>The only damage was small rips in the wrapper of the tuo,
tuo wrappers sometimes rip where they rub against the their box. one of mine did the same thing.

out of curiosity did YS ship your stuff in a bag or in a box? i prefer my loose leaf to be shipped in boxes for obvious reasons.

>>15516240
i usually give it to people who would like it, or if it is bad but still somewhat drinkable, like some types of cheaper bagged teas, then use them for ice teas, since you can just add cordial and other stuff to counter the taste. and for me, my least favourite tea is this weird strawberry one i got as a gift, i'm personally not into fruit teas and i do not like stawberries so. i don't know what yours tastes like, but if its just some dried fruit mix, maybe it could be nice if you added some to just plain darjeeling or something

>>15519937
eyy, i am also drinking tea with mandarins, they are very nice

>>15516240
>what do you do with teas you bought but realized you dislike? relatedly, what's your least favorite tea in your possession right now?
When I have company i'll push the teas I prefer less on guests, which so far has only been a couple. There was an oolong I tried that had a salty seaweed flavor and a sample of hojicha that I didn't care for and ended up giving away.

>>15523133
It was in a box with a lot of bubble wrap

>>15523804
.us or .com? what shipping method? last time i ordered from the .com site it came in a bubble mailer with no box. thankfully my tea was fine but i don't like having to trust the postal workers not to crunch my tea.

I saw someone is saying YS wont be shipping until March 1st. Does this apply to their US website too or is it both? Thanks.

>>15523866
That's just the .com website shipping from china
.us should be shipping as normal
If you order from them get a sample of
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/hunan-fu-brick-tea/products/2009-gao-jia-shan-wild-fu-zhuan-hunan-brick-tea
Or
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/guangxi-liu-bao-tea/products/three-cranes-2409-old-bush-liu-bao-hei-cha-in-basket?variant=36508492136607

>>15523821
I used the .com to northern europe with tge cheapest shipping option (took 1 month)
It might be about what you order considering i had both tea cakes and ceramics.

>>15523921
Don't see either of those being offered on the .us store as freebies. I'm kinda in a bind between ordering on .us and getting it in a week, or ordering on .com and getting it in a month, since I want some cakes that are only in stock on each of the 2 websites. If I order from .us I get my red monkey raw, but if I order from .com I get my silver needles cake.

>>15524142
>Don't see either of those being offered on the .us store as freebies.
No you have to pay for them
>since I want some cakes that are only in stock on each of the 2 websites.
I hate when that happens, i make lots of orders from china but i refuse to order from Chinese yunnan sourcing, no idea why i guess autism about their shipping costs compared to other vendors.

>>15524170
>No you have to pay for them
Ah, my mistake I misunderstood you. Those teas you linked are somewhat similar in character to a ripe, no? I'll be willing to try one (leaning towards brick) but from my experience I much prefer raw flavors to ripe flavors. I have no problems ordering off the chinese website, I'd just hate having to pay shipping twice to get what I want.

>>15524195
The brick is much closer to a raw puer flavor than a ripe. I got one a few years ago, It's tastes like old raw, has some vanilla type flavors, purple flavors and is also very creamy. The liu bao basket tea is probably pretty close to a ripe puer.
That said if you are going to order from .com get a sample of this instead
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/new-products/products/2003-mengku-golden-melon-raw-pu-erh-tea-tuo?variant=37396794081479
Or if you like serious meaty bbq smoke flavor get a sample of this
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/new-products/products/2006-dehong-ye-sheng-varietal-raw-pu-erh-tea-cake?variant=37396996128967
I Haven't tried either of them but lets say i have a feeling they are interesting.

Decided to brew some of this 2009 gao jia shan fu brick since i haven't had any recently. It's still as stemmy as ever. It's supposed to be made with spring wild harvested tea and i believe it. It's also supposed to have golden flowers but it doesn't. I think this is one of the very first productions made by this factory and they screwed something up that cause there to not be many golden flowers, probably pressed the material too dry or dried the bricks too quickly after pressing, luckily it tastes good anyway so i don't really mind. I think scott mentioned it in the listing too.

>>15524334
Lots of stems, tea is a bit Smokey, has that purple tea flavor, tons of cream, it tastes like the aftertaste in your mouth when you eat a spoonful of whipped cream, really coats the tongue. The woman said it was "too creamy" it does also have some dark tea flavor notes along with some tastes that remind me of aged raw. It's definitely no a daily drinker for me but i usually enjoy it when i reach for it.

>>15524334
that one doesn't have golden flowers, i dont think its meant to, a lot of thier other teas do, i really enjoy it, its a more intense Guan Gong. i wouldn't brew over 5g/100ml, i tried 7g the other day and it wasn't as nice, a lot harsher

>>15524526
Yeah i haven't gotten around to trying their other productions yet but i will eventually, i think they make really good stuff and I'm really glad that scott from YS is making all this premium hei cha available to the west. I know king tea mall has a bunch but a lot of the bricks they are selling look very rough and they really only have teas from one brand.

I didnt know there was a group of people on here who took tea so seriously. I just started drinking it recently because I wanted to replace coffee so I just bought some Bigelow green tea and other random 'flavored' teas I probably shouldn't. Maybe ill get into it.

>>15524935
Thats actually exactly how I got into tea, even down to the bigelow green tea bags. My workplace gives out free coffee and I would always come home twacked out of my gourd on caffeine, I literally couldn't relax. I exclusively drank those big 150 boxes of bigelow green tea for a while, then later when that became boring I eventually found /tea/ and the rest is history. No need to jump in deep head first, experiencing new things is half of the fun so don't ever feel pressure to rush to the deep end. Take baby steps, or none at all if thats what you want to do.

>>15524935
maybe you're surprised by the 4chan aspect but tea enthusiasts are autistic as fuck
you should see the shit Japan does

I'm still waiting on a couple teas from china, they didn't make it on a plane before Chinese new years so I'm not sure if i just have to wait two weeks or if they might get here sooner.

can someone recommend me teas with a honey-vanilla taste?

>>15525208

This is essentially too expensive to ever buy and I only got the chance to try it since it was a free sample with another order but it was an absolutely fantastic tea that tasted like honey and animal crackers.

https://www.kongmountaintea.com/puer-tea/2016-cang-jiang-yi-zhu-raw-puerh-b62dw

>>15525370
That's not THAT expensive when it comes to puer. More than i would spend but still cheap enough to be a shameful gift to give a CCP offical.

>>15525012
Its still somehow more accessible than the coffee community, and way less of a pissing contest.
>surprised to find it on 4chan
4chan is a Japanese hobbiest website for the English speaking audience, of course stuff Japanese autists like will end up being talked about. We have an origami board ffs. Whats mostly surprising is 4chan /tea/ cares more about Chinese tea than weeb crap.

>>15525370
I see puerh lesbians buy $80 cakes as their daily drinker, even seen them shill $300+ cakes. This cake is pretty standard cost for puerh dorks.

>>15525552
Yes, because the origami board is so active

>>15525552
i disagree, /coffee/ is very specialized but that's because there's a fuckton of coffee equipment for the various stages and the outcome will differ massively depending on what you use
all tea methods are fundamentally the same

I've been drinking this shit, pretty tasty. What's /ck/'s opinion of this stuff? I think it's the tea you get if you eat a dim sum place.

>>15525589
Tea is much less gearqueer, coffee is an endless gearfag pissing contest. Also tea doesn't have those autists who die in the Congo looking for some rare coffee bean
Besides "dont get teabags" i find tea autists generally are helpful.

>>15525564
>>15525513

It's obviously not the worst offender but 64 cents/gram for a 2016 cake is way up there. Most of the astronomically priced stuff is also well aged or a famous factory tea from a year that got memed.

>>15525611
if its tasty its tasty. Jasmine us pretty based.

>>15525628
>Also tea doesn't have those autists who die in the Congo looking for some rare coffee bean
is that a reference to something that actually happened?

>>15525628
>>15525688

Man, Leo did some fucking damage over there.

>>15525688
>is that a reference to something that actually happened?
God i hope so

Been looking for this in the US, from Zimbabwe. Thought there’d be some importer between Boston or NY but no luck. Same with the hard cider Savana Dry from South Africa. Figured I could write the consulate and ask if they could hook me up

>>15525370
thanks. i'd prefer something not that...expensive, though. maybe roughly 20 bucks for 100 grams, at most.

>>15525763
There are a few places that sell african tea, but i haven't seen those before. Asking the consulate is actually a good idea

>>15525688
There was a whole show about 10 years ago about some autist named Todd Carmichae that was just about him going deep into tribal jungle land just looking for coffee beans.

>>15525824
Did he died?

>>15525843
nah but he gets close sometimes

>>15525763
i was going to make a joke about how that tea would cost you $100,000,000 but it looks like Zimbabwe adopted a new currency so i cant.

>write the consulate
why do you think they would they help you? don't they have better things to do than hunt down teabags? even Zimbabwe has got to have more pressing matters to deal with. more power to you if you try though and i hope you find what you are looking for.

>>15525804
>There are a few places that sell african tea
got a list?

>>15525972
https://www.uptontea.com/teas/c/african-tea/
Is the big one i know,
African tea is petty popular in modern English blends so
https://www.teadog.com/
Should have a bunch of blends that use african teas

>>15525972
oops i forgot pic

>>15526071
Yeah i checked africa on that teadog site and half the teas are an African + indian blend, a few are just straight African teas like builders.

Got my noob tea stuff from Verdant in the mail lads, looks good. All in all, I got five-for-five 5g/5pc samples pack, an extra 5g sample of 2020 Spring Tieguanyin, a 100g 2014 Spring Gong Ting Shou pu'er cake, two gaiwans and two cups, a strainer, and a glass pitcher/fairness cup. This is basically everything besides what Fullchea is sending.

Overall, I think the haul looks quite nice for getting started on. Not sure which tea I want to try first, though. If anyone is interested, I'll brew whatever they pick in a reply to this post.

>>15525564
What the fuck is wrong with puer lesbians? Aside from the astronomical rates of domestic violence in lesbian relationships.

>>15526215
Wuyi oolong
That came super quickly didn't it?

Can you guys give me a rundown on the medicinal benefits of each teas or recommendations? I keep hearing green tea is the #1 for most things but I want more official sources on the matter. Especially for stuff like inflammation and digestion issues.

>>15526365
I ordered on Friday, so they didn't ship it out immediately, but they gave me priority mail 2-day. Took a bit longer as a result of shipping out later, but it was still quite fast. The 5-for-five set was maybe 3 days. Verdant seems like a good choice at least for getting teaware and some beginner teas. Wuyi oolong it is! I'll brew up in a bit.

Imagine drinking leaf water LOL

>>15526375
Heath benefits of tea might exist but i dont generally encourage people to drink tea for health benefits. I think that good quality black teas have all the same health benefits as black teas but a lot of research has been focused on green tea. I know fermented teas like ripe puer are high in polyphonic compounds. Matcha probably has a high amount of whatever good stuff is in green tea because you are eating and digesting the tea but lots of matcha is low quality, it can also be rough on thw stomach and 'ause nausea in some people, look for vendors in the pastebin for sources of good quality matcha. Overall I would recommended drinking tea for the flavor and if it does have health benefits just consider that a bonus.

>>15526375
tastes good
caffeine feels good
makes you warmer
etc.

>>15526365
>>15526423
Made about four infusions so far. This has been a surprisingly fragrant and unusual tea. I immediately smelled chocolate when I opened the bag and smelled the leaves. First infusion left some chocolate smell, firewood smell, and maybe a faint maple smell. Taste was modest with some smokiness. It wasn't sweet or bitter. Compared to pu'ers I've tried, I'd say medium thickness and modest astringency.

Second infusion was completely different. I will preface this by saying I don't and have never smoked weed, but the leaf had this striking cannabis smell. It was also somewhat vegetal in flavor. After infusing these leaves again, they started to give off a roasted sunflower seed smell. So far, it seems that the cannabis comes out on the lower temps/times, and the roasted sunflower seeds come out on the longer/harder brews. Either way, the cannabis can be smelled retronasally and perceived in the aftertaste for a surprising amount of time (or so I believe it to be cannabis taste). I rather like the cannabis scent/aftertaste, so I'll keep brewing at 200 or 205F to see if I can get more of it. Super nice scents in any case, hope I can pick up more flavors.

>>15526375
Actual tea leaf tea won't really help you with any of those things, at least not enough to be perceptible. Look into herbal teas, ginger tea works really well for digestion and upset stomach, and theres chamomile to help you sleep at night. If you have a headache you can brew tea from willow bark. The list goes on and on, just look up various herbs and see what they do.

>>15526591
Nice, yeah oolong really impresses me with the range of flavors and scents it can offer. Sometimes it gets too floral for me but i have had some dan cong oolongs that taste like fruit. Unfortunately the high end oolongs are around or over $1 per gram but there are some more affordable options like with most teas.

>>15526596
Tea has flavonoids that neutralize oxidation damage from free radicals. That will help alleviate nearly every chronic ailment.

>>15526609
>>15526591
Compounding on my previous notes, just smelled my glass gong dao bei, and that firewood smell was there (with some faint sweetness?). Lowering the temp to 200F made the tea lighter in color and definitely isolated those nice cannabis flavor notes, but I think I prefer it at 205F. It is a surprisingly relaxing taste and aroma combo either way.

This is exactly the kind of flavor experience I wanted to have for so long; something pleasant and cozy. I hope my pu'ers and other samplers will be as pleasant. Thank you for participating in this experience with me, Anon. I probably would have chosen something else for my first brew if it wasn't for you. Will definitely reconsider oolongs in the future.

>>15526626
Based, i recommended considering chawangshop when you get around to ordering some new tea, (after you finish off some of the stuff you have) he has a nice combination of some aged oolong, some fancy oolong, and some very affordable (but still liked by an oolong fan) oolong. If you want to go completely insane then essence of tea has a $100 oolong sampler with some of the nicest stuff you can buy on the open market.

>>15510735
Any recommendations for rooibos?

>>15526651
https://mountainroseherbs.com/red-rooibos-tea
https://mountainroseherbs.com/honeyroo-tea
https://mountainroseherbs.com/honeybush-tea
Honeybush is a sister plant to rooibos, i also recommended you try brewing the tea for exactly one minute and no longer especially with honeybush, it can get bitter if you let it brew too long

>>15526676
>>15526676
I'm also looking for recommendations for earthy herbal teas.

Any of you anons eat your tea leaves after brewing? I ate a few, and it doesn't seem bad. Wonder if it would be beneficial nutritionally, or cause any ailments, etc.

>>15526375
The actual health benefit of tea is just that you drink it in place of Dr Pepper or Coors Lite or something else bad for you.

>>15526886
It's bad enough to drink the pesticide leafs, let alone chew on it

>>15498042
Just got the package of this stuff and tried it out. Good shit. The leaves do smell really potent like dried or candied apricots. The other scent is leafy detritus that feels nostalgic to me from raking fallen leaves in the yard. I pre-rinsed it but see the website says that's not necessary. Very low astringency so I'll skip it next time.
Good recommendation, it's soothing and goes well with a meal. Have you tried anything else from Kong Mountain?

Does anyone here brew tisanes/herbals in their gaiwans? I'm quite enjoying my first experiences with gongfu and don't want to stop, but don't want to blast caffeine at night. Really interested in how herbal brewing may go, though not sure if it will make much of a difference compared to, say, western brewing in a large glass pot. I looked up what kind of brew temps/times and leaf quantity to go for, but found no relevant results.

>>15527333
My dad uses my old gaiwan for chamomile and loves it.

why is this welsh tea so expensive and why did I buy it anyway

>>15527333
I always do my herbals on the stove in a pot. I drink herbal teas at night to get sleepy moreso than for flavor, so I like to boil it and extract the most possible out.

>>15527357
Does he brew it gongfu style, though? I'm used to herbals taking longer in general, but that is more of a western style brewing habit. Maybe I should mimic green tea brewing standards as listed in the pastebin since it seems like light leaf? I'll try thay first.
>>15527398
That's fair, though I see fine flavor and aroma as therapeutic and soothing in its own way. I posted about it before last year with sub-par equipment, but this is the herbal tisane blend I'm considering testing again in my gaiwan:
https://www.organiteaaustralia.com.au/products/my-complexion-tea-60-grams-30-serves
They used to be called MyTTime, as labeled on my container. I am about to test it; I hope it turns out better, but I'm willing to experiment over time.

>>15527380
Hah I saw that listing as well, the labour costs and such are higher obviously, but the price is 100% inflated for the novelty aspect I reckon

>>15527380
Let us know if it's good. There's a Great Mississippi Tea Company in the US I ordered some tea from out of curiosity and it has the largest whole leaves I have ever seen. I sort of suspect the reason was to get more grams of leaf per hour of labor picking 'cause you can't just hire peasants to work in the fields for 50 cents a day like Asia.

>>15527438
I thought cannabis flavor was interesting from my oolong, but this herbal tisane blend is super weird lads. I brewed it for 20s or so at 180F the first time, and had a clean lemongrass flavor overall. I just made a second infusion of about 25s at 190F, and it legitimately smells and tastes like a grassy Fruity Pebbles cereal. I haven't even had that cereal in nearly a decade. I knew it was supposed to be good, but I cannot believe just how different and widely varied the depth of flavors can be with this style of brewing. Even with herbals, it is utterly fascinating.

Ive been trying everything i can get my hands on and early harvest stuff like Huangshan Maofeng and Longjing are easily my favorites. Would love some more suggestions for teas in this style.

Also is Puerh supposed to taste like leather and old furniture?

>>15527507
yeah people like to get on us for being autistic for using stuff like gaiwans and alternative brewing methods but if people ever actually try it they realize immediately how huge a difference it makes. It just is one of those things where you look at it and can't possibly picture changing temperature and concentration slightly can make a singular plant go from tasting like a bitter leaf to candy

>>15527543
Pu'erh isn't as good as lesbians hype it up to be but it can be okay. It can also be awful. One thing is it's such a memorable flavor that you start to crave it when you don't have it

>>15527543
>Also is Puerh supposed to taste like leather and old furniture?
Ripe pu'erh tastes like that sometimes, yeah. I have a cake of it that tastes like vanilla leather. Raw pu'er is greener and has a bitter dry sweet floral taste so if you like green tea that might be more up your alley.

>>15522576
Starting off with babbys first oolong, Hairy Crab
5g in 140ml, roughly following times from the pastebin

First steep was a bit weak, i guess it could be considered a rinse but i drank it anyways
Wet leaf smell is kind of compost-y with a hint of something i cant pinpoint

Second to Fourth steep tasted like how a freshly mowed lawn smells with hints of nettle

Fifth steep onwards got a bit weaker, i think it would be a nice drink to a meal at this stage

The overall experience was nice, tea was good and im looking forward to try out the other teas

>>15522576
Please post your observations about the benefits of aging in oolongs when you can.

>>15527221

I'm glad you like it! I'd definitely skip any rinse step. I'll also say that, because the astringency is so non-existent, you can push it really hard. 8g/ml with flash steeps brings out the really bright, high notes without immediately going bitter like a greener tea would. It can also go in the other direction, though, with grandpa style bringing out those deeper flavors that I've always picked up on as peanut skins.

As for trying anything else, I have teaware from them, but the only thing was a sample of a young sheng they sent me. >>15525370 It was really good but my next order is going to be a big swath of factory stuff from KTM, I think.

Mmm, ball of tea

tastes like a toasted marshmallow

>>15513639
what kind

>>15528065
8g/100ml*

>>15528065
Yeah I like the fruitier teas I guess. That was only 4g/100ml so that'll get increased next time to 7-8. Haven't eaten unshelled peanuts in a while so I can't conjure up the association easily. My supply is mostly Darjeeling so I wanted to try a good Chinese tea, something to gongfu. She sent a freebie sample of other black tea which is also quality stuff. Eventually I might order one of the green teas there, they're pricy though.

>>15528002
Nice to see your follow-up post. That tea does seem nice, and rather vegetal from appearance alone. I had Wuyi oolong as my first proper gong fu-brewed tea last night as well, and it was great. Which one do you have planned next? I think I'll dig into my 100g 2014 Gong Ting shou today, perhaps after I eat.
>>15528066
Which tea? I'd love to taste a marshmallow-like tea. Need to burn through my rapidly growing stash first, though.
>>15528222
Different anon, but:
>Peanuts
I didn't consider it before, but how are peanuts as a tea pairing? I imagine a nuts mix would be an excellent snack food to consume with some tea. Not sure if natural salts and fats would disrupt the tasting experience or not, though.

>>15528241
>but how are peanuts as a tea pairing?
They should be pretty good with any sweet tasting tea. You ever try peanuts in coke? I probably wouldn't put them in the tea directly but salty and sweet is a god tier combo.

>>15527333
jujube leaf brews nice gongfu.
https://verdanttea.com/spring-wild-laoshan-gan-zao-ye-ziziphus-jujube-leaf-herbal-tea
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/all/wild-jujube

verdant also carries a rotating selection of other herbal teas form laoshan.

>>15528583
>You ever try peanuts in coke?
I have not, but I hear Southerners do it in some states.
>salty and sweet is a god tier combo.
True. I will consider it if I find any of my pu'ers to be fairly sweet. That said, what of something like peanut butter, or peanut butter and crackers or toast? I wonder if it would be too much and distract from the flavor of the tea.

>>15528827
Some heavy teas might hold up to peanut butter. It really coats the tongue with fat so its probably going to have some strong muting effects on other flavors.

>>15527380
>>15527468
what store is that from?

>first they said it'd come in march
>now its april all of a sudden

>>15527507
i like your little glass mug/jug thing, where did you get it?

>>15510735
Has anyone here ever had yaupon tea? It's what native americans made their tea from before the euros arrived, and im thinking of ordering some

>>15512125
I tend to add a little bit of sugar and two spoons of Cornus mas murabba (or any jam if you aren't too picky)

blessed thread
coffeefags gtfo

>>15529229
We have talked about it a little bit but in not sure if anyone got some, if you decide to order it please post about your experience.

>>15525611
I'm a big fan, within jasmine tea it ranges vastly with taste since it's just green tea that has been infused with jasmine petals during processing so the quality and intensity is rarely consistent across the market. Like all things you get what you pay for but forking out on some good quality jasmine tea is well worth it. I often drink it with food or when I'm looking for something light and refreshing.

>>15529229
>>15529250
i had some a while back but unfortunately i don't have detailed notes but i will try to post some off memory. first off it shared some similarity with yerba mate which is not too surprising considering they are related. i had greener version of yaupon. it was very herbaceous, a bit grassy, some lemongrass, something resembling wintergreen, not very bitter or otherwise harsh. the liquor was a kind of green brown color unlike what is normally seen with camellia sinensis but not unlike some yerba mate.

here are what i think are the big vendors for it. if i the stuff i had was from yauponbrothers
https://www.yauponbrothers.com/
https://www.catspringtea.com/
https://lostpinesyaupontea.com/

>>15529283
Thanks!

>>15528002
nice, brought some last year, cant remember if it tastes like broccoli or Brussels sprouts. try it without a filter, you should get the fine white hairs in your tea

>>15529212
I bought it from Verdant. Nice size, and holds a strainer well if you want to use one. Seems they have it on sale for $5. Shame, since I just bought all of my teaware from them, and all their teaware is now 18% off. It is nice, though.

>>15529212
>>15529493
Forgot the link, here it is:
https://verdanttea.com/glass-pitcher

>>15529506
thanks, i think i'll buy

>>15529567
if you have never ordered from verdant before get this first:
https://verdanttea.com/five-teas-for-5
it comes with a $5 off coupon making it effectively free if you make a second order from them.
the teaware sale does not end for a while so you have time
https://verdanttea.com/chinese-new-year-spring-festival-holiday-sale

How do I get a chinese mistress like Scott? Do I need to know Mandarin or can I just take a quiz on Pu'erh or something?

>>15528241
Im trying out honey orchid when i wake up tomorrow
From what i have read it should be more floral and less grassy than the crab i had earlier

>>15529824
>From what i have read it should be more floral and less grassy than the crab i had earlier
correct they should taste very different. you new?

Time for genmaicha, also known as the poorfag's green tea. Don't expect anything magical. I wonder if people eat the rice in it afterwards?

>>15530480
Genmaicha is one of my favorite green teas. The roasted toasty notes just work so well.

>>15530480
It smells like a rice cracker. If anyone wanted to eat it it would have been before adding water, but then you'd just buy rice crackers.
>>15530581
And as this guy says, it has a regular green tea taste with the nuttiness of roasted rice.

I had a tea once that was cut with almonds, it's vaguely like that.

>>15530614
>I had a tea once that was cut with almonds,
That actually sounds pretty good, i would try that

I just want to find some rest

I mixed the end of a couple of raw samples for my afternoon tea, it was actually pretty good. But not really harmonious, i could taste the teas separately.

How big of a (western) city do you lads think you need to support a tea shop?
I kinda want to try my hand at it

>>15531717
The smallest I'd try is a "small town" near asians or filled with young and "hip" people, because I've never seen a tea shop, even a bubble tea shop or decent cafe, in flyoverville except right next to a university.

>>15531717
Rather than size, location and ethnic makeup is arguably more important. For reference, I have mostly seen regular tea houses in places dominated by Asian businesses and surrounded by Asian communities. There are some exceptions, but those houses are usually just on the outskirts of these communities. So, rather than looking into it because you want to do it, you should look into whether the local market is willing and interested in supporting you. In our current world climate, it may be difficult to get customers to sit down and drink tea, or shop for loose leaf and go. Online endeavors may be easier.
>>15529824
Nice, that sounds pleasant. I don't think many, if any of my teas will really reflect honey notes. I'll have little under 1kg of pu'er to burn through once my Fullchea order arrives, so we'll see if that changes. I imagine honey notes pop up often in white teas, though.

>>15531885
>online may be easier
saturated af and not what I would ant to do.
>ethnic makeup
Well, I'm a White Anglo-Saxon male, don't kno if asians would care about me
>local markets
Yeah I'd probably move if I did this, I live on an actual farm in the sticks. largest city within a 2 hour drive of me is 60,000 people
>>15531832
What is a small town in this context? When I think small town I think like 1,000-5,000 people but asians don't seem to live in those. There is a university a few miles from me though

>>15531717
Theres not a big market in the USA (which i'm assuming you meant by west) and doubly so considering asians would probably go to one of their own guys to drink tea and not some laowai's tea shop. Not to knock your dream in any way, i'm sure near colleges you could scratch out a living but you'd probably have better luck with just about any other enterprise in the US, especially if its online because then you don't have to worry about location anymore. Maybe you'd have better luck opening a nice restaurant thats known for its tea or something, but tea alone probably isn't enough to bring in enough people in america.

>>15531988
I mean fair enough. If I did it, I'd probably do it as a side thing at any rate. I'm mostly stuck around homeschooling kids, my wife makes all the money as an architect

This 2014 Gong Ting from Verdant seems a bit shit, to be blunt with you lads. Dry leaf smell was like walking in a salty fish market. Flavor profile is pretty nil, just bland and bitter. Smells like wet wood in the cup, but that is as interesting as it gets for me. I'm sticking to the recommend values in the Pastebin, and even tried lower temps, but it didn't let up. Not sure how I can improve this, I'm brewing by the book.

Here's a pic of the Gong Ting shou, if anyone is interested. It brews pretty dark, even with quick infusions. It is fairly thick (as shou pu'er probably should be), but I wouldn't describe it as 'savory' at all. More flat.

>>15532236
Gave it a little more attention. The flavor hasn't ceased being poor, but the aroma has improved. Mild maple wood smell that has slowly developed over infusions. I'm not ecstatic about the flavor, so I'm going to mix some herbal leaf with it to see if it improves. Will try the herbal from last night with potent lemongrass notes to see what happens. Other anons are welcome to join me in my noob autist brew session, by the way.

>>15532191
>>15532236
I didn't like ripe the first time I tried it either, I have odd cravings for it now though, especially in the evening/night. You could try airing some out and see if that helps with the fishy smell. Or if that fails, store it away for a year and maybe the flavor will have smoothed out by then.

>>15532191
>>15532236
>>15532312
I am sorry yours was bad I did not mean to give you a bad recommendation. I finished off the last of my cake right after making the recommendation to double check that it was good. I liked the one I had it was a very bready tasting tea with perhaps some soy sauce like flavor to it. I didn't notice anything fishy or off about mine nor was it bitter. It was not a super dynamic tea but it was still tasty. Perhaps they changed the batch or something? If its really bad I would complain and see if they will give you a refund or send you something else as a replacement. Again I am sorry if I gave bad advice I was genuinely trying to be helpful.

The weird combo infusion of herbal blend and the 2014 Gong Ting seems okay. In fact, it made the Fruity Pebbles flavor of the My Complexion Tea tisane from last night even more accurate and pronounced. To clarify, whereas it was just Fruity Pebbles before, now it is like Fruity Pebbles with milk. Even the aftertaste reflects that. Perhaps this is because of the astringency of the pu'er. Interesting regardless.

I am not sure if I'd care for drinking this particular pu'er by itself, but I think I could drink it with herbal blends to provide additional thickness and astringency. I'd prefer the cannabis Wuyi oolong over it, though.

>>15532321
I think you're right, and I'm sure I can air it out to clear the fish smell. However, I want to learn how to better appreciate teas like these. It is taking a lot of experimentation to get it even decent-tasting, so I think I must be missing something fundamental in my preparation process.
>>15532321
>Or if that fails, store it away for a year and maybe the flavor will have smoothed out by then.
I'm not so sure it will change too much. This is from 2014, so the initial aging phase has already taken place.
>>15532381
By all means, it is not your fault. We are all humans with differing taste receptors and preferences, and I truly appreciate the advice and feedback of all the helpful anons who have helped me get this far. I hope it is clear that the posts I am making aren't to complain, but make subjective notes about my brewing experiences and experiments that may interest or provide helpful notes to other anons. It is my way of interacting with and providing content for the community that has done the same for me.

I'm not so sure if they'll give me a refund or replacement though (and I'm not sure if I'd want another one either). They do seem open to it in their FAQ. I don't want to drop that on them if it is just brewer error, which as a novice, I'm likely inclined towards. Otherwise, perhaps I should?

>>15532449
Here is a pic of the Fruity Pebbles milky flavor blend, if anyone is curious. Slightly overbrewed (this is my second infusion), but the herbal blend/lemongass is so potent it cuts over the pu'er and leaves it in the background.

>>15532312

What parameters are you using for it? Over the last while of drinking tea I've come to a "more is more" philosophy towards shou and in most cases will settle around 7-8g/100ml for the best results.

>>15532507
Fruity Pebbles wtf? This isn’t DUDE WEED. Y’all need to chill with this ridiculousness.

>>15532533
I'm definitely considering a heftier brew. I did 5-5.1g at 210F, then 205F, then 190F, and back to 205F. The flavor and aroma profiles didn't change much in any infusion, but did weaken in general. I think it also has as a tendency for bitterness, because the leaves are a touch small/thin (to my eyes). I broke in from the side and took the parts I needed instead of splitting the whole cake outright. Pic related, the cake.
>>15532585
I'm 100% serious, not a single joke. The weird herbal blend I posted about last night has predominant lemongrass flavors, and something about it and the other components gives it that flavor (to my taste receptors). The pu'er doesn't have much flavor by itself, but when placed under that lemongrass-heavy "Fruity Pebbles" tisane, it seems to make it thicker and more astringent, which adds a richness that I perceive as milk. To clarify, I am not soaking Fruity Pebbles cereal, nor am I trying to shitpost or whatever. I made a big deal about it because it is just so strikingly similar, and ai find it very odd yet intriguing. Also,
>This isn't DUDE WEED.
Say that to my Wuyi oolong sample. That cannabis-like smell lingered for sure.

i'm drinking some room temp chun mee...tastes like scotch without the alcohol or the sweetness. what's some other tea that tastes like a damp cellar?

>>15532620
This is your brain on puer. Can you people stop imposing your homosexual agenda on fucking tea?

>>15532902
Most of the flavors I'm describing were from an herbal tisane and oolong, though. Also, hello Lesbian Pu'er poster.

Does tea effect your hormones? Can it make you gay?

>>15532944
It’s theorized that some kinds of puer can disrupt the endocrine system in a very small minority of women, leading them to exhibit typically aggressive male behaviors. No one knows why yet, but the long fermentation of the tea is the suspected cause.

why is pu'er linked to homosexual women

What's the most cis-het performative toxic masculinity type of tea?

>>15533237
The opposite of pu’erh?

Should i order some ivan chai / Willowherb? I know a few of you have gotten some at this point. I'm wondering if you still like it and how it tastes.

anyone have links to willowbark tea, hopefully in tea bags?

how many of you put condensed milk into your tea?
its pretty good

>>15529405
There are definitely some green veg in there. Im gonna go with no strainer next time i have it

>>15529925
Yeah this sampler is my first experience with oolong, so my only reference is the information on YS

>>15533300
don't do it. tea is super gay and only for consumption by huge faggots

For me, it's the highest quality tea in the land. Sometimes I forget that it's steeping and leave the bag in the water all day.

*shits in your thread*

I've tried to brew more of my 2014 Gong Ting shou at 8.1g/205F for 5-10s durations. I think it definitely improved the results, though only initially. The most delicious experience was my rinse/first infusion. I smelled some maple/syrup with my 5g brew, but it wasn't very prominent, nor could I detect it much retronasally. In the new first infusion at 8.1g/205F, this quality became more pronounced, and the tea was lighter. However, following infusions were too saturated and bitter. I did mess up the second one, as my hand got too hot due to overfilling my gaiwan with water. So, it infused for around double the time. Was just bitter and without fragrance, so I sipped half of it and dumped the rest. Following infusions have yielded similar results, even by dropping temperature or brew times.

I'm honestly not sure if the cake is bad or not. I did my best as an amateur to produce different results, but every method was short-lived. I could just be genetically predisposed to being a tastelet, too. In that case, my ~1kg of pu'er is going to be rough to manage. I'm tempted to try cold-brewing with it, but I think I'll send an email to Verdant and request some advice first.

>>15533299
that would be long jing

>>15533704
concentrated autism. its just tea you fucking loser. drink it and shut the hell up

>>15533554
>>15534147
can you leave

>>15534156
drink tea faggot