/ck/ - Food & Cooking

They are picking leaves just for you anon Edition.

Has anyone ordered any 2021 greens yet? I have seen a few very early harvests available here and there.

>>15625259
wtf no hard working chinese girl to marry and start a business selling tea to the foreign devils at highly inflated prices

So should i buy Chinese or Japanese green tea this spring? I was planning on Japanese but i have really been enjoying the nuttiness of Chinese greens lately.

>>15625234
I'm really digging oolongs cold brewed lately. The hairy crab from Yunnan is pretty good. Any y'all like?

>>15625234
8 days until YS starts shipping

Where all my puer lesbians at?

>>15625234
Tell me lads, is this a bad buy?
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/yixing-pottery/products/hei-jin-gang-clay-bian-xian-fang-gu-teapot-by-yan-li

>>15625532
I'm a big fan of the AA grade tieguanyin, the floral taste is xtremely powerful

>>15625532
I have been drinking through thia sample set on yunnan oolongs, i would recommended trying it if you like fragrant sweet oolongs, so far they have been super sweet and just taste like honey.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yunnan-gold-oolong-black-tea-sample-pack-five/303532472749

>>15625920
*sample set of Yunnan oolongs

Anyone here listen to any specific music when doing a tasting session? What are the best /tea/tunes to complete a gong fu ceremony?

>>15625957
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q692lHFaLVM

>>15625957
Mint Jams is the classic

Wu Liang Hong black tea (YS) from last year's harvest (2020)
Steeped at 94C (high altitude limitations) for 15s + 5s, 7g to 160 mL.

I'm really digging into the back of my cabinet now waiting for the spring harvest. I typically drink the wash of my teas to be a bit economical, but this tea had the most disgusting wash, made me actually gag a bit. The first proper steep, it lasts a bit weak, even though I added plenty of leaves. It almost reminds me of a generic bagged black tea quality that I used to enjoy before I got into loose leaf. Maybe it would go good with some orange zest to brighten it up?
2nd steep, it's still flat and without depth. Very one note bagged tea taste, perhaps the reason this tea was shelfed for nearly a year, or maybe the result of its age? I tend to like black tea, so I am thinking the former, this is only being drank as my last black tea in the cabinet. I am very highly debating to toss this tea and grab ol' faithful, jasmine. Besides jasmine, I have 2 purple tea varieties I'm not fond of either, and a very miniscule amount of mao feng green tea I am getting sick of. About 2 weeks until my shipment is due to come in, this time of year is suffering

>>15626468
Damn you are really cutting it close. Usually when i have a tea in the back of the cabinet that i haven't touched for a while it's for a reason. Every once and a while you get lucky and when you come back to it in a few months it's better than you remembered, but sometimes you just end up with a dud.
Which purple teas? Are they black teas? From YS? I still haven't decided if i like purple teas or not, they always have this vague citronella taste to me.

I’ve been heavy into green tea and Canadian mixed teas

Can anyone recommend a good black tea for beginners to get into?

>>15626302
If you like Casiopea you'll also like Trix.
Two of my favorite fusion groups and they both have HUGE discographys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7BSmKpkjgI

>>15626567
Are you in Canada?
Second flush Darjeeling is a fairly light and fruity black tea with some complex flavor notes.
https://www.capitaltea.com/gopaldhara-estate-2nd-flush-darjeeling-ftgfop1-ch-spl.html?category_id=12
Then pick which of these two sound better to you based on the descriptions in the listings
https://www.capitaltea.com/keemun-classic-2018-harvest.html
https://www.capitaltea.com/yunnan-black-fop.html

>>15626546
One is a purple black tea and the other is a purple green tea. Purple kinda feels to me to be the same as the organic gimmick, an excuse to sell lower quality product at a markup. Neither is very good

>>15626624
Yeah I’m in Canada

I’ll take a look at these two

>>15626546
>>15626755
Forgot to mention, the reason I am so down to the wire is I made the mistake of buying a bunch of 50 gram bags to try things out and only 2 100 gram bags. Spring harvest comes, I know what to avoid now. plan of getting 500 grams of honey ning'er black tea and 500 grams of long jing for daily drinkers, and then buying oolong and white tea cakes for when I feel like something nice. Probably get a puer cake or two and some of the other decent blacks, but I want to just stick with bulk daily drinkers this year since I went back to uni for my master's (might as well during covid) and want to save what little money I have

>>15625234
Im the anon who spent 100$ worth a couple threads ago, I just got my order today. So far ive tried the imperial grade white tea and really liked that, and the black gold tea was alright. I think the white is my favorite so far. I dont wanna taste a lot at once since I dont wanna waste the leaves.

>>15626845
>not drinking so much tea you end up on a Chubbyemu video
ngmi

>>15626468
switched to ol' reliable. Jasmine just never disappoints

puerh
YS

>>15627327
whats this

>>15626852
I had no idea what this was until I looked it up. Thanks anon, very cool!

>>15627358
My goal is to drink so much tea that he makes a video about what happened to my blood or something

>>15625273
where you finding the 2021 greens?

>>15626468
>maofeng
I once bought 1/2 kilo of that shit and stored it for around a year and now it tastes like absolute shit
can't store that more than a few months.
tasted fine in the beginning

>>15627855
Green tea is suffering, you get like 5 months to drink it before it starts going downhill rapidly

>>15627893
I roasted it.
It now has a slight nutty taste and the astringency is mostly gone. It is drinkable.
Would recommend instead of throwing it all away.

>>15627901
>>15627893
And I won't buy more than 100g at once in the future and also spend more money on better quality stuff, I guess

>>15627901
How did you roast it anon?

>>15627906
Just put it in a pan and fry until it gets slight reddish/brown color. Swipe the leafs around while roasting, so it gets equally roasted.
Temperature should be around 180 degree

tea anime

>>15627918
Eh, I don't trust myself enough to pan roast tea, I'd rather just buy tea that stores better. Stuff is cheap

>>15627938
better than throwing it all away

>>15627941
if you say so. Costs like $9 per 100 grams, green tea is about as cheap as soda. I can see if you have entire bags lying around, but if it's the bottom of the bag scraps that I didn't drink, it's not very worth it. Throw it in the compost heap and give the worms some homemade puer

>>15627960
>>15625259
feels bad throwing away their hard work? :(

>>15627971
Hey if you want to do it, more power to you.
I'd just rather not.

>>15626814
Nice, i love me some long jing, great choice for a daily drinker

>>15627835
I found a super early oolong
https://www.tea-masters.com/en/lightly-oxidized/1400-1387-2021-dong-pian-sijichun-oolong-from-mingjian.html#
And a few very early greens, they are honesty more a novelty than anything.
A very early longjing, not from the traditional region for it
https://www.ebay.com/itm/China-Zhejiang-green-tea-Wu-Niu-Early-Long-Jing-100g/303890781320
And this very early green from what sounds like somewhere in the south china sea.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2021-Chinese-green-tea-from-the-Hainan-island-Baisha-region-unique-tea-100g/303839874550

>>15628078
>And this very early green from what sounds like somewhere in the south china sea.
you could google it you know
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Baisha+Li+Autonomous+County,+Hainan,+China/
fun fact China only allows maps to be published with messed up data. this is why the streets on google maps in China are off in seemingly random directions. the satellite imaginary shows correctly though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_data_in_China

A tragedy has occured. Pancake gaiwan has been lost
I forgot to close my tea cabinet, and my cat snuck in and knocked my custom made set to the ground. I heard it shatter and saw the lil furry bastard flee the scene. Thankfully they weren't hurt, but my treasurer teaware did not survive. Pretty sure they leapt to the top shelf where I keep my wares (since the shelf I keep my tea on has no space for them to fit into) and landed on the set and panicked. Sucks ass but I don't blame the cat

Luckily, the potter still takes commissions, so I ordered up a new set (different glaze, same iron heavy clay + a chahai so I can use my silver pot as my glass one spontaneously explored a month ago). Gonna cost a bit more than quail egg/pancake set because of the chahai but that's fine

Gonna show it off when it arrives. Should be fired late March/early april.

Thankfully I had a spare gaiwan and cup so I can still gong fu, but still, I'ma miss my pancake

RIP gone but not forgotten

Last tea I brewed in it was some ripe puerh

>>15628355
looks unwashed and horribly stained. What's stopping you from just getting it mended with gold like a true tea autist?

>>15628355
RIP

>>15628365
That's just the glaze. It looked like that normally, I washed it thoroughly after every session with warm water and gently scrubbed it to ensure it was spotless

Dark spots are iron burning through the glaze, the darker colors on the cup are just how the glazed fire in that patch. the other side was pale as the gaiwan. I like the look, felt rustic and the iron blossoms had an interesting texture. So the new set will have a Shibo glaze that can get iron blossoms as well, (the darker parts of the white glaze will fire orange rather than darkening brown as seen in the pancake set)

And I just don't like the look of kintsugi, seems overly gaudy to me. Not to mention, anything but the laquer method wouldn't be safe for or withstand gong fu.
Cause resin would't be food safe and would melt and fall apart.

And the laquer method, to do it myself would cost just a little less than what it costs to get a new set including a chahai, not sure how much paying someone else to do it would cost.

But since I don't like the look of gold repair, I didn't bother checking.

>>15628374
I just wish I could've used one of my more expensive teas in it for its last session. But what's done is done

>>15628402
Shino not Shibo. Phone posting sucks

>>15628355
is that a local pottery that makes them?
what country?

>>15628365
lel

>>15628585
and how much?

>>15628585
>>15628598
Not local, I order them from the potter directly. She lives in belgium, but was trained in taiwan, and is danish.

Very nice lady, great customer service and amazing work.

For a three piece Gaiwan, the price is currently 88 euro or about 107 american dollars (Used to cost 85 Euro) A cup costs 32 Euro or 38 dollars (used to be 30).

Chahai costs 45 Euro or 54 american dollars, the one Im getting is 200ml

These are both at 100ml and with the iron heavy clay, of course. Different sizes and material would cost more or less I assume.

A full gaiwan (Lid cup saucer) costs more cause it takes up a lot of kiln space.

You can get the cup in different styles if you ask, but she will, if you just ask for a cup make one like in the picture so you can stack your Gaiwan in it.

She does everything, more or less and is very helpful through the commission process.


Here's her etsy and instagram, where you can contact her for a commission.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PotterybyIngeNielsen

https://www.instagram.com/i.n.clay/

>>15625234
My dad got me some kinda kambucha tea. Since it comes in teabags im not sure how that works with the tea bags generally there is supposed to be a live probiotic bacteria.

>>15628658
interesting. thank you

>>15628671
No worries.
If you get something, tell the thread so I can know

>>15628682
I might in the future when there are bigger gaiwans

>>15628663
Going off what you said and no other information, I can't tell you exactly, but I would assume you just put it in water and let it steep/ferment

>>15628685
Just request a bigger Gaiwan.

>>15628690
I've been brewing kambucha which takes a while and it was my understanding it takes days to ferment the bacteria needed
It's Bigelow green tea with ginger and doesnt say much else other than it does have probiotics in it.

>>15628690
>>15628714
okay i just realized Bigelow is not the kabucha tea i was drinking and we are out of it. I'm going to do some research and see what i find. The last stuff was the same concept-just steep the bag.

>>15628698
right. did you choose the design yourself?

>>15628748
Pretty much. Chose the clay, the glaze, the volume, and if I wanted I could've requested different shapes for the cup or gaiwan (didn't this time, since I enjoy the shape the potter makes by default to pair with a gaiwan) just ask if she can do it, and she'll tell you if she can.

She'll also warn you if the glaze you intend to use isn't safe for teaware, or if it'd have a different look on another type of clay, and show examples.

As I said, very friendly lady and if you say "hey I'd like a cup that has a drip glaze" she'll say which of her glaze can achieve that effect

>>15628779
Got this gaiwan for 15$ or something. Lid slips off easily. But still quite nice for the price.
Maybe I would request something similar, just bigger and stuff and with this bug bitten optics.

>>15628860

>>15628860
Should be easy to. I mean, before I settled on the "Standard" cup, I asked if she could make a few cups from a list of japanese tea cups

And she told me which one she couldn't, and which ones she would be able to fashion if I asked for them.

Hello /ck/

I’m feeling adventurous, does anyone have a good recipie for cooking with teas? My only requirements are it’s protein heavy and (hopefully) cheap, any suggestions? Have everything from loose, to bagged, to many herbals and a couple of greens

>>15629000
You can replace water with tea liquor if you really wanted to in baked dishes I guess. I've heard of people using tea as a rub for meats to add a bit of bitterness

>>15625532
i have some anxi oolong to mess around with, whats your usual method for cold brewing?

Having som tian jian this afternoon, eventually i want to try a couple different varietys of it. The one i have now is pretty good but i was hoping it would be more smokey. I might get one from YS next time he has one or two that he says are super smokey.

>>15628663
Thats the tea used for making kombucha, but just making tea out of the leaves probably wont be good. Its probably a green/black tea blend, that you mix with sugar and kombucha bacterials and ferment for a month

>>15627929
Watched this last year.
It's actually pretty fun, especially if you have any interest in that era of japan.
That said it's not really about tea itself, its more about tea aesthetics and the culture surrounding it at the time.

>>15625234
looking for some help identifying what kind of tea this is. I'm having trouble finding results on translator/Google. any help is appreciated

>>15630299
front and back views of individual packets

>>15630317
I can't read chinese, but high likelihood it's tieguanyin, because the chinese like to put them in small special packaging

>>15630317
It's some kind of wuyi oolong. Possibility Rou Gui. You can tell because there is a picture of a mountain on the packet. It should be some kind of rosted oolong in strip form, try it out it's probably very tasty. Assuming those are 8-10 gram packets half a packet should be good to brew one mug of tea, you can either rebrew the leaves several times for 2-4 minutes each brew or just dump them in a mug add boiling water and top it off with freshly boiled water everytime you drink it halfway down.

I miss serving a lot of people tea.

I miss drinking dancong on top of the Phoenix Mountains.

>>15630639
Damn, that's some serious tea production.
Have you ever just lined a personal brew up in all the little cups? The guy from yunnan sourcing does that in some of his videos. Helps the tea cool down faster and it's hilarious to drink in cup in one gulp like you are taking shots.

Oh I’m that watch anon who was summoned here by the tea anon.

>>15630657
Scott’s funny, I haven’t met him yet but he seems aight.

Nah I’m a single cup man myself. This was at an event, pretty unusual. These days it’s just tea for two around the house.

>>15630299
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Hong_Pao

>>15630669
Hey anon, what are you drinking? Your gaiwan + teaboat looks nice.

>>15630299
The real answer is it’s impossible to know. The tea may be big red robe, or it may be literally anything else, probably an oolong, but until you open it and taste it, it’s potentially anything. Those wrappers are sold and used liberally, often not containing the tea that’s on the wrapper. It’s like if someone handed you a Whopper in a Big Mac bag, would you know for sure it’s not a Big Mac? My guess is it’s a generic factory made yancha oolong.

>>15630800
Bao mu dan of uncertain provenance, but from Fuding, Fujian. This cake was given to us by the abbot of a Buddhist monastery in the area where we visited to make our obeisance to Guanyin. The gaiwan is Dai black sand pottery, unglazed and dedicated to white tea. The boat is from an artisan in Chaozhou. :)

>>15630814
Fun, i like the sort of nontraditional shape of the gaiwan. That wrapper looks familiar but i can't quite place it. Are you into green teas? Looking forward to picking up anything from the upcoming spring harvest?
Im drinking some 2006 puer from Feng Qing tf. This afternoon.

So every time I buy from YS, they send me some mystery tea on top of my order that I have no idea what it is until it gets to me.
I cant find any company policy that says they do this, I've even gotten random samples on like $15 orders. Are the chinese who process it messing up, or does Scott just do this?

>>15630908
Not that anon but from your opinion what are the best years for puer?

Looking to try Lapsong Souchong, normally just go for Tetley's Bold but feeling something different

>>15626852
"A man drank 500 liters of tea. This is how his toe fell off."

>>15631194
"K.C." is a 28 year old male, presenting to the emergency room, unconscious.
His roommate found him slumped over the coffee table, unresponsive. He had been acting a bit strange over the past few days.
You see, "K.C." was recently unemployed from government shutdowns. He had a good enough paying job one year ago and a fiancée, but his industry was deemed nonessential by his state governor. In 2020, the economy was in a nosedive, in an attempt to stop a global pandemic, and "K.C." got hit hard. As the quarantine continued, "K.C." stumbled upon an obscure Japanese enthusiasm website known as "4channel". It was on this website that he stumbled across a thread, dedicated to posting various specialty chinese teas. At first, he didn't understand how people could talk about tea all day. Sure, tea was good, but could it be that good? "K.C." decided to ask recommendations, and found himself with an order of 20 kilograms, or 45 pounds, worth of a specialty tea known as "sheng pu'er". Sheng meaning raw, referring to its naturally aged origins, and pu'er, meaning a type of compressed tea. At first, "K.C." took it slow, desiring to save his tea, maybe even age some. Afterall, he just blew his entire stimulus check on it, and he had enough to last decades. But overtime, he found himself in more and more dire straights, as his job didn't seem to be coming back, and unemployment checks ran dry. "K.C.", noticing he wasn't getting all the flavor out of his tea, began to go for more and more steeps, trying to be as economical with his tea as possible. He found himself restless, staying awake for days straight, but he assumed this was only "tea drunk", a fabled state some say you reach when you drink lots of high quality tea. Soon, his fiancée left him, unable to provide for her, and his spiraling tea addiction got worse. "K.C." began to supplement the previous social interactions he had with artificial ones, posting on 4channel day and night.

>>15625234
pic related is my current favorite tea, any recommendations based on that?
I'm new to the world. of tea, i like the ones that smell really good, have never been able to make green or black tea that taste good.

>>15631381
If you like herbal tisane, you can try looking at whats in the ingredients and drying out your own fresh herbs and making the same thing but higher quality?

>>15631104
Pre 2004, 2008-2012
The bubble from 2005-2007 made the quality from many factories go in the shitter, they were pressing any leaf they could get their hands on, in 2008 and 2009 sales were way down so they tried to improve quality. That is and incredibly general guideline and there were still lots of great cakes pressed in 05 and 06 if you look at one of the big tea sellers like king tea mall you can see prices for those years are still depressed even now. Everything pre 2004 is going to the moon, there isn't really anything worth buying that's less than $100 per cake. There was a second bubble in the 2010s and crash in 2012 which is another good place to look for deals.

>>15631127
>Lapsang
I i think Tetley does a teabag version if you are lucky and you shoppe caries it. Otherwise i suggest what-cha if you are in the uk or upton tea if you are in the us.

>>15630908
It looks like an Orcish gaiwan lol. Well like I said I imagine the wrapper is a generic one from Fuding that these monks used on their produced tea. Seems like everyone has some fields in that area. This wasn’t Fuding proper, mind, it was up the hills in a smaller village whose name escapes me. Some GPS data on my photos would likely reveal it.

I’m not a huge green tea guy if I’m being honest. I love sheng puer, which if we’re being technical is a green tea, but obviously its own beast. I like dragonwell alright, but not enough to pay what the good pickings cost. I have a buddy living in Huangshan who I send random amounts to and he hooks me up with a big box full of whatever trouble he’s been getting up to. Generally includes some mao feng, taiping houkui and other green teas, I always enjoy them but the nuances are slightly lost on me. I still have a big backlog of aged puer to get through as well that will take me a few years. I tend to restock on oolongs and white teas and the occasional red.

>>15631371
Based, thanks for this

>>15631099
Nah that’s pretty standard practice among cool tea people. They’re just excitable nerds who love sharing new teas with people. And of course they’re business people who hope that by sending you a sample, you end up craving it and ordering more. Or they have an excess and need to clear out some inventory. Probably a mix of all three.

>>15631381
For celestial seasonings tea, check out sleepytime, throat soother, ginger lemon and the 'zinger' series of teas, they usually sell a mixed pack with a couple different flavors of zinger.

>>15631104
1 year tea, 3 years medicine, 7 years treasure, as the saying goes. I think there’s no one answer, just like with wine, a bad wine aged 20 years is just a 20 year old bad wine. A poorly aged puer can effectively spoil with mold, fungus and rot. Dry vs wet storage is a thing. I’d focus more on the provenance of the tea over the age. Who grew it, according to what methods, who processed it, where was it stored? This is why it’s advisable to buy from trusted tea sellers who have done this difficult legwork of research and sourcing for you. Like I don’t think a 2004 Menghai factory tea is going to be substantially better than a 2012 biodynamic/wild/ancient unblended tea made by a tiny husband-wife operation, you know? It all depends, there’s no right answer. Drink what makes you feel good, not what people say is the best. Don’t buy the hype.

>>15631461
Yeah i also enjoy greens but never go out of my way to seek them out. Ive been on a puer bender for a few years and I'm just starting to get into oolongs, i have been feeling a strong urge to buy a ton of yancha and age it for a few years. Thanks for dropping by the thread, feel free to share some pics and some tasting notes when you feel like it.

>>15631503
Be advised, yancha (and all oolongs) does have a shelf life, without re-roasting it. Oolongs in general are good for about 2-3 years max before they need to be re-roasted to remove any moisture that has intruded. If you try “aging” a bunch of rou gui or da hong pao without the proper equipment and techniques, you’re just going to ruin a lot of tea.

Of course if you want to go all the way, get an electric kiln and try roasting yourself! It’s a much more interesting way to ruin tea than by leaving it on a shelf lol.

Best way to go IMO is buy what you can drink. Stockpiling tea only really works for puer and certain white teas. And it helps if you live in a dry, mold free environment. Pumidors are a thing.

>>15631524
>Pumidors are a thing
Oh yeah, ive got a cooler filled with cakes and random hei cha set up.
If i was going to age oolong i would get stuff that's factory packaged, lots of those little 8g vac packs have moisture absorbers in them these days, i figured stuff packed like that wouldn't pick up much moisture. I definitely wouldn't just try to age stuff in plastic bags with twist ties.

>>15631551
For aging you actually want some ventilation as I understand it. But I know next to nothing on the topic so I won’t hazard any suggestions. But all the tea aging I saw in China was just in a storeroom open to the air. The nicest one was built of cedar planks, smelled amazing and kept pests out. Fuck I miss China.

>>15631388
tisane, that's what they're called yeah.
Thanks, man.

>>15631593
Beautiful place, i don't think i would enjoy it after a month or two, too much hustle and bustle. But it would be fun to visit

>>15631670
Also mountain rose herbs if you live in the us, they have a ton of cool herbal blends and they are pretty well priced, they come looseleaf but they also sell boxes of fill your own teabags for a few dollars, they also sell some good quality chamomile if you want to buy a couple ounces of the whole flowers and brew those instead of the bagged stuff. I always keep a jar of their chamomile around.

>>15631674
It would be tough to adjust as a westerner, for sure. That and not speaking or reading/writing the language. But yeah, I really want to go back and visit for some long periods. Maybe I can acquire enough language to be conversational. Plus I miss a dear lover who moved back to Beijing, it would be great to hang out again.

>>15625234
Any advice for growing Camellia Sinensis?

>>15631593
>For aging you actually want some ventilation as I understand it.
for oolong? i though oolong could just be aged in a tightly sealed jar without humidity.

>>15631823
Dirt, water, light, time. You're probably not going to make any decent tea from your own bush. It's an art, and requires a certain terroir, soil drainage, cultivation technique, climate, etc. But it grows quite easily and has beautiful blossoms (which you can steep and drink, they make a nice tissane). Go for it!

>>15631838
The zitao jars you age teas in are unglazed and therefor slightly porous, there is some slight vapor exchange that occurs. You don't want a completely hermetic seal.

>>15631823
If you live in the us you can get live plants from
https://camforest.com/collections/tea-camellias
The sochi variety is the most cold hardy, i would just look at normal instructions for establishing shrubs or bushes, remember they can grow to 10x10 feet in a decade without trimming so give them plenty of room and thing long term about where you want to put them. Once they have been established as long as you have the right climate they should do fine with little maintenance except trimming if you want to keep them compact. Maybe the occasional top dressing with some compost depending on your soil.

>>15631858
I dunno, i think oolong can be sealed airtight, should be no problem, plenty of people store it in those double lidded metal canisters. The idea is that if it is sealed well enough it wont require re roasting.

>>15631847
>>15631870
Thanks guys you've given me allot to think about.

Need some white tea recc. so far I had bai mu dan and silver needle, liked both

>>15632177
Try a shou mei or gong mei. Yummy yum yums.

>>15632177
https://kingteamall.com/collections/white-tea/products/2016-xiaguan-yue-guang-moon-light-cake-360g-bai-cha-white-tea

>>15632177
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/white-tea/products/2014-chen-nian-shou-mei-aged-white-tea-cake-of-fuding

>>15625234
Brit here who loves loose leaf jasmine, can anyone rec some?

>>15632297
Damn that's a good deal. Would cop.

Here's a fuzzy boi, a Yunnan moonlight white.

>>15632412
Haven't tried em myself but what cha is in the UK. They have 3 different ones. All fresh 2020 harvests.
https://what-cha.com/products/taiwan-jin-xuan-jasmine-oolong-tea
https://what-cha.com/products/china-jasmine-dragon-pearls-green-tea
https://what-cha.com/products/china-fujian-jasmine-black-tea

>>15632586
I love the downy hairs on white teas. :-)

>>15632586
You tease me

>>15632669
Thank you, I appreciate it, I currently have 500 tabs from Yunnansourcing open right now having a 4am tea spiral

>>15632214
>>15632297
>>15632209
Thanks

>>15625234
Convince me to stop ordering tea from aliexpress

>>15632818
You're drinking pesticides.

>>15632825
like any non organic tea?

>>15632818
tea is for autistic faggots and chinks

>Buy tea
>it's chinese new year
>tea isn't here yet
>buy more tea because I want tea
>tea isn't here yet
rinse and repeat

>>15625234
I understood the past in until I got to the pot section
How the fuck the pot going to make a difference in how the boiled water comes out?

>>15631381
Ive found that green tea does not like boiling hot water. It needs an inbetweener with a short steep, just when the color is getting into it
Black tea loves long steep

>>15633065
tfw everyone i mention green tea to says they hate it and it tastes like pennies. UK here so everyone just pours rolling boil water on tea and leaves it to steep for >5 minutes

>>15633091
I made the same mistake when I first bought green tea
I tried to make it the same way I did black. It was at that moment i realized all tea isnt created equal
But you cant make me believe the pot material makes a difference

13 Years Aged Da Hong Pao
5g for 140ml

This is the last tea of my oolong sampler

First steep smelled like coffee and it tasted like it too, the floral notes from the other Wu Yi are mostly gone.

For my third steep i decided to add some milk to see if i could make it more palatable,
It went down a bit smoother and I could sense some of the dark chocolate some reviewers are talking about.

I stopped at five steeps, not a fan of this tea either


This sampler really showed me what different oolongs are like:

Dan Cong is good stuff, I will probably keep some at home at all times.
Anxi is not something i will drink often but i will most likely give in to a craving and order some more in the future.
Wu Yi is not for me, I will try it western style later on to see if its drinkable, else i will give away the bags. I can see the appeal but i dont enjoy it personally.

>>15633227
Recommend me a pot with a filter to start. What do you with your leaves after you steep them?

>>15632753
>I currently have 500 tabs from Yunnansourcing open right now having a 4am tea spiral
I know that feeling, it gets pretty bad when i can make whish lists on a site.

>>15632818
Keep ordering from aliexpress but order from these guys
https://m.aliexpress.com/store/v3/home.html?shopId=1269947&sellerId=221244937

>>15633356
Explain why so many are sold out?

>>15633261
I would just get a gaiwan with one of those fine mesh metal strainers you put over the cup.
The gaiwan takes care of the big leaves while the strainer blocks finer particles.
The size of the gaiwan is up to personal preference, i got a 140ml one only because it was the one i liked the look of the most and it has worked out well.

As for the leaves i steep them several times over a 1-2 hour session, once im done with the leaves i throw them away
I have not tried using the same leaves for more than one gong fu session, i often do that with western though.

Anyone try Kenyan?

>>15633039
>>>15625234 (OP)
A kettle is the thing you boil water in, a pot is the thing you brew tea in, i wouldn't worry about clay, just get a cheap porcelain gaiwan or small porcelain teapot. The teapot section is for people who want clay teapots, to help them find good ones, sice the clay will change the taste of the tea

>>15633368
Why is it more common to see tiny teapots rather than normal sized ones?
Are asians really wasting time making tiny batches

>>15633450
It taste different

>>15633261
>Recommend me a pot with a filter to start
This is a little bigger than ideal but cheap and will work well.
https://www.chawangshop.com/tea-hardware/jingdezhen-teapots/hand-painted-jingdezhen-tea-set-1-teapot-and-4-cups.html
If you end up ordering from them grab one of these as well.
https://www.chawangshop.com/pu-erh-tea/raw-sheng-puerh/2006-myanmar-kokang-mei-hua-bing-raw-puerh-tea-100g.html
And maybe some oolong if you like oolong
Some kind of gaiwan is probably better, you can get cheap ones from the site i linked already, king tea mall, yunnan sourcing etc.
If you want something even simpler to start out yoi can get one of these brew baskets and just use it to brew in a mug, its easy and you can use it for both western style brewing and gongfu brewing. Or search other websites, finum brew basket
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Finum-MADE-IN-GERMANY-Medium-Brewing-Basket-Tea-Filter-Stainless-Steel-Mesh/223927508819

>>15633486
>>15633485
My understanding is you use more tea leaves but steep them shorter time
Ive always done it the "western" style

>>15633450
It's a different style of brewing, you use a lot of tea in a small teapot and do very short (~20 second) brews, you can get 6-10 brews out of a single batch of tea and each brew makes a small amount of really concentrated strong tea, you have a session where you keep brewing the same leaves till they are spent. It's called gongfu brewing and explained in the pastebin.
You absolutely do not need to do it to enjoy any of the teas we drink here and they can all be brewed the normal western style.
If you want a normal western teapot.
A 2 cup pot is good for one person
The brown betty is a classic that will last a lifetime, it comes with a removable filter basket
https://www.english-teapots.com/england/TEA-GEM04N.htm
https://www.english-teapots.com/england/TEA-GEM04N-BL.htm
Or any of these 2 cup models
https://www.englishteastore.com/small-teapots-1-2c.html
Or just look for 2 cup teapots on your site of choice

>>15633531
I read the pastebin but unless you see it with your own eyes you cant really experience what youre reading
I had no idea tea went so deep. Ive lived my whole life under a rock or in a teabag

>>15633537
protip: what you read was pure autism. you are probably autistic and almost definitely an aspy if any of that frogshit is relatable

>>15633540
The ceremonial aspect? No
The taste? Probably

I'm thinking of growing some plants to make some homegrown tisanes.
Any tips?

Also what are some cool plants to grow / what are some tisanes you like

>>15633537
Yeah you can make it as complicated or as simple as you want, you can watch some videos from teadb or yunnan sourcing on YouTube if you want to see what gongfu brewing is like.

>>15633577
Mint is super easy to grow, just be careful where you plant it it will take over. I like spearmint personally, dont fall for the "chocolate mint" plant meme. Lemon balm / lemon verbina is also really easy to grow. If you want to get ambitious you can grow ginger, lemongrass and chamomile, but the ginger is kind of a just for fun project, you wont end up with a whole lot. You could also try lavender.

>>15633540
Gong fu cha is real tho.
It's water autists that go beyond even what we usually talk about here

>>15633634
Its time to change your water filter anon

>>15633657
probably? I got a reverse osmosis filter built into my sink, still comes out good though.

>>15633665
Add a remineralization cartridge in line between the filer and the sink, you really should not brew with RO water. It should be be easy to install and cost maybe 50, it will make the water you drink taste way better too.

I'm debating some orders for white tea on Fullchea. Would any anons mind providing their input? I already have two white cakes selected already, but unsure about these:
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/chinese-tea-2020-mini-yunnan-white-tea-bai-cha-tea-small-cake-4-pieces5g-bag-100g-p0721.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/white-tea-xiao-bai-tian-2020-yunnan-white-tea-bai-cha-alpine-old-tree-white-tea-100g-p0723.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/chinese-tea-2015-ancient-tree-shou-mei-white-tea-bai-cha-tea-leaf-cake-350g-p0587.html
If any of you are interested, these are the other ones I'm getting:
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/fuding-white-peony-white-chinese-tea-2016-peony-king-white-chinese-tea-bai-cha-cake-300g-p0722.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/fuding-2013-high-mountain-white-tea-gong-mei-tribute-eyebrow-350g-p0588.html
As I see it, the smaller $5-$6 whites are more of a gamble, but they seem interesting. Many of these are new offerings on the store, like the 2016 White Peony. That one looks really good to me. I'm still new to whites, but I've enjoyed what I have sipped (including another 2016 white I really love). Would greatly appreciate some feedback.

>>15625333
They ain't chinks, those are japs.

>>15632214
>xiaguan white tea
i have been interested in this stuff. has anyone here tried any of xiaguan's white tea?

>>15633486
>https://www.chawangshop.com/pu-erh-tea/raw-sheng-puerh/2006-myanmar-kokang-mei-hua-bing-raw-puerh-tea-100g.html
whats it taste like?

>>15633983
>fullchea white tea cakes
they have some Zhong Cha brand cakes that i am kind of interested in. i find it funny that even more expensive white tea cakes tend to look kind of rough. i think leafy white tea just does not lend itself to pressing attractive cakes.

>>15632968
Not necessarily. The organic certification often means they paid the money for the certification. Plenty of people don’t bother and use biological anti-pest solutions, farm biodynamically, and so on. But pesticides are common enough that it’s a good reason to never skip the rinsing step.

>>15632586
So cute

Yutaka Midori shincha almost a year later. Still decent, but noticeably less fresh.

>>15633365
I actually exclusively buy from them

>>15634517
>i find it funny that even more expensive white tea cakes tend to look kind of rough.
Well, white tea is more 'unaffected' than most other types due to the much fewer interruptive processes involved with its cultivation. I believe it makes sense for some of it, especially shou mei, to show more of a clumpy, wide texture. I really want to get into whites, as I have the most faith in their potential and nutritional values for me after trying a few shou meis. Wish I had more to go off of besides knowing I liked one aged tea. I can just buy all of the teas I listed if you think it is at all worth it.

>>15635072
>I can just buy all of the teas I listed if you think it is at all worth it.
you will have to wait for someone else with more experience on that front. i suspect the lower priced white tea cakes you listed are probably at least ok. they may or may not be exceptional or particularly complex but i would think it would be hard to make truly terrible tasting shou mei that still looks ok. i would recommend trying tea of different grades and vintages to see what you like best.

YS has a nice selection of white tea cakes as well (but not quite as cheap):
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/all/compressed-white-tea

they also have some sample packs:
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/white-tea-cakes-for-aging-sampler-set
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/white-tea-cakes-for-aging-sampler-set-part-2

>>15631371
change it to 33 years old and this is me, even my initials

>>15632818
please tell me you have a penis

>>15633227
>Da Hong Pao
yeah i've never like that stuff, really dont get the hype

>>15633365
what's the shop name? link ain't working for me

>>15633370
Most African teas are "commodity teas", low-quality products designed to act as filler for teabags when the Indian stuff is too high-end to justify. That being said, I had a Kenyan silver needle and a Malawi white from What-Cha about five years ago that were roughly on par with their Chinese counterparts; I think you just have to be a bit more careful, but you can absolutely get good products from there.

>>15634922
Then enjoy the pleasures of aliexpress anon, you could buy from other places but there is no real need

>>15635532
Lol whoops, it's just health tea house
https://m.aliexpress.com/store/v3/home.html?shopId=1269947&sellerId=221244937&spm=null&pagePath=index.htm&gclid=null&extParams=
>>15632818
Fixed the link

>>15632818
>tfw

>>15636108
nice

What tea is ok to put milk into and which ones are not?

>>15636591
You'll get different answers depending on who you ask, i personally hate milk in tea unless its a spiced chai. I guess black tea, something particularly malty like assam or an english breakfast would be ideal, not my thing though.

TFW your tea order is sitting in Wuhan International Airport waiting to get on a plane.

YS just shipped out my white tea cakes. I wasn't expecting them to ship for another week

>>15636652
did you order on the us or main website?

>>15636697
Main website

>>15636702
Oh shit that's cool, maybe mine will soon ship as well then.

r8/h8 teabros

>>15636748
Review those puer cakes and that purple when you get it, we got 2 guys who frequent this general who always bash ys puer and I want a different opinion.

>>15636748
Based, dunno about the yaobao, ive heard mixed things.
I have been eyeing that bulan mountain brick, i have high hopes for it, really looking forward to hear your thoughts.
I really liked that 2014 impression when i got one 4 or 5 years ago. It should be out of it's akward adolescent phase after finishing it's first 6 years of aging so it should be interesting to see how it's doing. I found it to be a well balanced tea with good leaf quality. Cozy ripe should be nice too, it should have enough age to have aired out most of it's fermentation funk by now but it might need another few months to fully finish airing out if it's still a little funky. The listing doesn't mentioned if he used aged material so im guessing it was freshly fermented before pressing. The da hong pao should be good if you like charcoal roasty flavor

>>15636748
nice, had a sample of cozy last November, very good ripe. wish i didn't have ~3kg of tea so i could buy a cake or 2

Springs starting to drop

>>15636782
Haters gonna hate. YS is great. W2T is great. Bitterleaf is great. Tea's awesome. Why hate? Appreciate.

>>15636782
>>15636823
>>15636891
During last end of year puer sale I bought about 10x 25g samplers, and of those these two cakes were my favourite (only had the money for 1raw and 1ripe cake, wanted to buy more but alas).

I feel like the 2014 impression has left its awkward 2-7 year phase and is starting to show some semi-aged characteristics, with bitterness present but in check and slightly smoky smell. I can really taste the resemblance to the 7542 that he mentioned (recently had a 2011 version that was rougher than this one).

As for the 2020 cozy, for me most ripe puer falls in one of two categories, either fungally woody or rich&creamy. Personally I really prefer the later one, and of all the ones I tasted the cozy was by far the fullest and creamiest. Very aptly named, quickly became a favourite to drink on these snowy mornings.

As for the other teas, the yaobao was a free gift, the bi luo chun I wanted to try because I really like malty chocolate stout beers and I hope this will be a tea equivalent of that, the da hong pao is one of the best sellers of the whole site so I want to see what that's all about, and finally the bulang because I wanna drink small samples of stuff that is way above my budget if I were buying full cakes.

>>15637042
Have you had nay of the wmd cakes from bitterleaf? I have been considering getting one for a year at this point but have a hard time spending $1/g on a cake.

Why doesn't the U.S Yunnan Sourcing website contain sampler boxes? The eff man.

>>15637217
Yeah I'm constantly annoyed at the limitations of his US stock. I get why he doesn't have more in the US, but it still sucks when you want something and it's either out of stock or not stocked at all at the US store. He did restock a bunch of hei cha recently which is pretty based.

My second brew on my "high quality sencha" always tastes stale. Am I doing something wrong? Do I have to do the brew immediately after the first one? I usually do it half an hour later, if not longer.

1st brew at 60 degrees
2nd brew at 70 degrees

>>15637277
Do you leave the teapot covered between brews? If you do try not doing that.

>>15626592
Any recommendation, anon? What should I snatch from what.cd? I like a bit of jazz fusion, but never heard of these groups.

>>15637573
Honestly you could probably grab Casiopea and Trix albums at random and have something great.
To get you started though, Casiopea albums Mint Jams, Active, and Eyes of the Mind are all great.
Trix Evolution, Mode, and Style.
But really It's way harder to name an album by those bands that I dislike.

Also recommend T-square if you want something a little smoother with prominent sax. The Casiopea + T-square collabs are awesome too.

>>15637573
>>15637742
> Casiopea albums Mint Jams, Active, and Eyes of the Mind are all great.
Self titled and sun sun are also really good

Also gonna rec yellowjackets first album. Go figure this place is the only place classy enough to talk about jazz, the threads on /mu/ get bumplocked after a few hours these days

tea

Tea pic to stay on topic

>>15637774
Sun sun is also one of my favorites for sure. Change gets stuck in my head for days every time I listen to it.
I'll have to check out yellowjackets.

>>15637573
>what.cd
Don't remind me of that heartbreak. AHD just went down. :(

I usually make two cups at once in a teapot, so after the water cools down a bit I add the leaves in and wait some time. My first cup turns out great, but I leave the leaves in the water until I'm done with my first cup which sometimes takes a while, leading the second cup to be rather bitter. Any idea how I can keep the second tasting good?

>>15638508
get a teacup that holds twice as much tea

>>15636637
meanwhile my order from Taiwan took only a few days from acceptance to clearing customs.

>>15625234
Are there any decent tea subscription services? I drink a fair amount of tea, but really feel like I'm lacking some variety in my tea habits and I just can't justify spending tons of money to buy containers of everything I just either wanna try or going through things and picking out new varieties to try. I don't really mind if it's herbal or flavored either, although better quality services are always better.

I used to order samplers off of Aliexpress and found that pretty successful actually kek. Found some of my favorites that way.

>>15638729
https://oldwaystea.com/tea-club

>>15625234
Greenpill me on Chai tea.
Does it have any health benefits? Should I just stick to regular green tea?

>>15638729
May or may not be for you, they explain what usually gets included.
https://essenceoftea.com/pages/tea-club

>>15638735
>Chai tea
>Does it have any health benefits?
Maybe, are you talking about making it yourself or buying teabags or those pre mixed jugs of concentrate?
It's biggest benefit is that it's tasty.
I generally don't recommended drinking tea for health benefits but with chai you are getting tea + spices and all those things may or may not have health benefits. If are also likey going to be adding milk to it which may or may not be a good thing depending on your current diet if you want to drink it daily you might have to cut something else out to maintain caloric balance.

>>15638734
This sounds pretty good, and I always like supporting local guys. Had it yourself? Seems like a nice little variety.

>>15638795
you had that one? Says they specialize in Puerh tea, which i'm not a huge fan of, but i could be persuaded

>>15638892
yep had it
OWT is a good vendor

>>15638892
It's a lot of puer, if that isint your thing then i wouldn't recommend it.

>>15638909
alright, I'll give it a whirl. Cheers lad.

>>15638963
no worries, thanks for the rec. Sure someone will get some mileage out of it

next week comes my white tea order, after that is my winter oolong order
Already done my chinese greens and blacks order tasting last year, so all that's left is hei cha and puer to know what types of chinese teas I enjoy, right?
I may move on the Japanese greens next year, but I don't think I want to explore India at all.

>>15639341
>I want to explore India at all.
You should at least try some second flush darjeeling. But I agree with not being in a huge rush to try other indian teas.
Puerh and hei cha is good shit, just about all i drink. Make sure to ask for some reccs when you decide to order some.

>>15639412
The few puer I had were samples, and I wasn't a massive fan (although it wasn't awful), so I been putting it off. I'm hoping after dealing with white tea cakes I'll just have more confidence when picking a cake apart so I don't feel like I'm screwing up my brews

>>15639446
You just have to let go and accept that there will bw breakage. I used to stress about carefully picking apart cakes, now half the time i just rip chunks off with my hands, or for a few of the really dense ones i just cut chunks off with pruning shears

protip:
Pre-heat the cup with hot water before pouring tea in, otherwise the cold ceramic will soak up the heat and your tea will become lukewarm quick.

>>15639526
I just use tiny cups so the tea isn't scalding hot but isn't too cool by the time I finish it

Cold brew is the best way to make tea, you're wrong if you think otherwise.

>>15638735
a homemade masala chai tastes awesome. those spices are probably good for you, too.

>>15639916
How into cold brew?

>>15639916
>not having a steaming hot cup of tea in front of a fire during winter

hot tea is peak comfy

Need a tea tray. Japanese since I hate chinese “people”
Any suggestions?

>>15640713
Yeah get one with a plastic tray underneath to hold the water instead of a lacquered bamboo box.

>>15640713
https://kingteamall.com/collections/tea-tray/products/rectangle-stainless-steel-tea-tray-with-water-tank-5-variations?variant=30588080980071

>>15640993
Excellent. Thank you. That is the least weeb style I’ve seen yet!

>>15640993
Nvm, I see this being sold on Ali express
NEXT

>>15641055
Tea boat!
https://purplecloudteahouse.com/collections/tea-boats/products/ceramic-soda-glaze-tea-boat
https://purplecloudteahouse.com/collections/tea-boats/products/chaozhou-hong-ni-tea-boat
https://purplecloudteahouse.com/collections/vintage-and-collectibles/products/vintage-chaozhou-red-clay-tea-set

>>15641091
Chink shill

>>15641111
The Japanese dont even use tea trays

>>15640713
you better stop drinking tea then, it's camellia *sinensis*

>>15640713
Use a piece of old wood and quit being racist.

Real talk though, can we talk about how sharing another culture's food and beverages is such an amazing bridge to understanding and empathizing with them? It's like... wow, this tea stuff is marvelous, maybe all of my views based on fear and irrational hatred stoked by nationalism, demagogues and corporate owned media with a financial incentive to wage psychic warfare against a competitor nation... maybe they were slightly unfair? We have so much more in common with the average person in China than with someone who sits on the board of a fortune 500 company, an Elon Musk or a Jack Ma. When are we going to realize we're being played by the ultra wealthy global oligarchy? Man I need a cup of tea after all that...

>>15640713
>>15641041
you want a japanese tea tray but also want the least weeb style? do you know what the word "weeb" even means?

>>15641578
>We have so much more in common with the average person in China than with someone who sits on the board of a fortune 500 company, an Elon Musk or a Jack Ma.

But there is a race that is predominantly featured on the boards of these companies. I just can't remember which one it was...

>>15641638
Sir this is a Wendy's. /pol/ is that way. Go back to your containment board.

>>15641652
wow wtf, I meant the white race. Cool it with the anti-Semitism bro.

>>15639916
I used to hate earl grey til I tried cold brewing it. That'll be my summer drink, it's so much better with the bitter edge taken off, and the bergamot is much better cold.

>>15640382
Google for each type of tea, but generally you just steep it in cold water for 2-12 hours.

>>15625234
Is it true that ginger tea at night have a negative effect on sleep?

>>15641797
I should do some more cold brew experiments, i dont usually bother because i like drinking really hot beverages even when it's sweltering hot outside.

>>15642003
I don't think so, what kind of sleep problems? Like bad dreams or just reducing the quality of sleep? I drink ginger tea at night all the time and i haven't noticed any issues.

>>15641656
It's really incredible to realize that /pol/fags are so brainwashed that they genuinely don't understand how unprompted comments about racial supremacy have anything to do with /pol/ unless they're also specifically about Jews.

>>15642234
Same here, I'm british, nothing will stop us from wanting tea even if we're sweltering.

But it is nice to have in a water bottle with tea steeping in the fridge overnight, ready to take to work. I have one of those infusion bottles so I just put it in my bag on my way out.

Jasmine tea is also really nice cold brewed, though that and earl grey are the only ones I've tried so far. Both about 12 hours in the fridge for me, but there are guides online.

Cold brewed fruity tea with some fresh cucumber/strawberries is nice too, but I feel like we're swerving away from tea there.

>>15642462
Please stop shitting up the thread with this crap, you can just ignore things you don't like. You don't need to call it out and give shitposters attention

Well it finally happened, I dropped another gawain and it shattered after using it for 3 weeks. Are there any decent gawains made of less breakable material? Porcelain doesn't seem to be working too well for me.

>>15642481
You sound like a teapot kinda guy

>>15642244
As in sleeplessness, keeping you awake for longer.

>>15642481
Why are you so rough with the tea equipment

>>15642481

>>15642481
You can get plastic gaiwans if you don't care about using plasitc, this is why i only buy $10 porcelain gaiwans, they weigh less so harder to drop, and a new one only costs $10 when i inevitability drop it.
https://kingteamall.com/collections/gaiwan/products/dehua-white-porcelain-gaiwan-150cc-175cc-ktm15
Here this one is only $5, buy three
https://kingteamall.com/collections/gaiwan/products/porcelain-gaiwan-70ml-blue-circle-white-body

>>15642679
This ones even cheaper @ $3.99 buy half a dozen.
https://kingteamall.com/collections/gaiwan/products/white-porcelain-gaiwan-using-capacity-70-100ml-for-chinese-gongfu-chadao

I stopped drinking Chinese teas since covid, but I do miss the variety. Does Japan do anything besides sencha/gyokuro/green?

>>15642881
barley tea also theres a small amount of black jap tea, might be hard to track down

>>15642881
do americans really?

Not my set.

I still demand an explanation for this assam shit
Tastes like whiskey, I fucking hate it

>>15643158
Blame brits

>>15643135
Looks too unstable

>>15643247
its not like the ground is gonna move or anything. not flat though thats for sure.

Explain how white tea can taste so sugary. Does tea naturally have sugars or is some chemical in it tricking my brain

>>15642481
glass? i usually prefer glass because you can see through it

>>15641797
i should probably try this, since the only tea that i tried and i do not like is earl gray

>>15642881
There is some black tea, also the various forms of roasted tea twigs.

>>15643071
Covid made you want to support Chinese industries?

>>15643399
Some tea is really fucking sweet, i don't think there is a meaningful amount of sugar in tea.

>>15638735
it tastes good especially with a bit of milk and if you have cheaper matcha you don't mind using, you can make some really good matcha chai lattes

Decided to take a chance on a new ebay seller, normally i would not recommend it but it was a pretty cheap product and he didn't have the same generic stock that all the crappy sellers that just use drop shipping services use. He also didn't have and obvious fakes and his prices were about what they should be, i will repot on it when it shows up.

>>15643632
Maybe i will learn how to type on my phone while I'm at it

>>15643632
this?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2019-CHINA-TEA-CNNP-COFCO-Ripe-Puerh-Tea-7581-Aged-Puer-250g-Commem-70yrs/324314182194

https://www.ebay.com/sch/Tea-Infusions/38181/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ssn=storeofvalue99

>He also didn't have and obvious fakes
if i am looking at the same vendor they look legit enough.

>his prices were about what they should be
if anything they are a bit on the high side

good luck!

>>15643861
Nah it was another guy, i just grabbed the picture from the store you linked because the one i bought is now sold out, the guy you linked seems fine but his prices are way too high.
I didn't want to link the shop i ordered from untill i actually get the tea and it's okay in case the store is sketchy.

How gearqueer are the ladies and gents in this thread?
I have a decent amount of gear in shipping and kinda want some more.

>>15644041
I've been trying to convince myself to buy a clay teapot for a year now.
I just have a cheap gaiwan and a big ceramic cup i bought from a local potter.

>>15644041
I got a gaiwan, matching cups, fairness cup, filter, tea table, presentation vessel, tea knife, puer presentation stand, and a tea picking table. I also got one of those utensil sets and a yixing teapot
Need a better scale and a gooseneck kettle. I want some tea pets and a tasting cup too

Is tea from China safe? I'm worried about all the heavy metals polluting their soil.

>>15644435
Some tea from china is fine, really most of the very low quality stuff ends up in cheap teabags.
The pastebin is full of sellers that sell good quality tea that you don't need to worry about drinking.

>>15644041
my queer gear is still in the pipes
should be coming sometime this year

>>15643560
the tea farmers and manufacturers didn't release the holocoof virus, I don't have any reason to punish them

>>15644435
Worry more about the radiation in Japanese teas

>>15628365
kintsugi is really expensive and might mean you can't use it as a cup in the future

Should i get this titanium "tea pick" from ebay?

>>15644941
Only if you don’t sip puer. Picks and puer aggression are a dangerous combo especially if you’re a natal woman.

>>15644941
Yes.

>>15644941
how much does it cost?

>>15645061
Its $30 i think.

>>15645118
you can probably get better for the price, unless you *really* want it in that style and those materials

>>15643399
>do plants contain sugars?

>>15644560
To pay them is to pay the Chinese government.

>>15645552
most leaves aren't sweet

>>15645575
Yeah I'm sure the small customs fee is really helping the chinese

>>15645599
Tea is one of the biggest industries in China. Yes it helps them.

>>15645633
Do you avoid buying American products because the American government's foreign policy is awful?

06 XZH Black Wrapper leaf

How do I replicate this tea?

just made some SPICY masala chai with a ton of black pepper, very cool.

>>15645633
>Tea is one of the biggest industries in China

shows what you know about china. the chinese tea industry is the largest in the world but compared to other sectors like industrial manufacturing it's a drop in the ocean for china's overall gdp. even within agriculture, china's major exports are food crops like rice, wheat, potatoes, etc.

you really think you're being so brave and stunning by boycotting chinese tea? better stop using any electronics and also avoid anything that's made with chinese steel or chinese cement. oh and your food, no matter where it's grown, is likely grown with chinese fertlizers. better to just stop eating.

is raw puer supposed to taste like extra astringent green tea? just tried a 2006 raw puer and I was... very unimpressed. had low expectations since it's part of a cheap sample pack from ebay, but I'm also starting to think raw puers are supposed to taste like garbage unless they've been aged for 40 years or something so I should just drink other teas.

>>15646964
yes
generalize based off your shit ebay samples
found a smart one over here

>>15644941
i prefer a wedge shape to a needle pick, feels like i get less broken leaf and makes the cake open up more

>>15646964
ahahahhahah

>>15646190
Hows it taste?

>>15646964
>is raw puer supposed to taste like extra astringent green tea?
I've had some that taste like that. I like it desu

>>15646964
>is raw puer supposed to taste like extra astringent green tea?
That's sort of how you might describe the younger ones.
One from 2006 should have mellowed out at least a decent amount.
It's tricky because the climate conditions of the areas where the tea is stored affect how fast it ages. If you aged the same batch of tea in kunming and Hong Kong after a decade you would have two very different teas, with the kunming tea not changing much, and the Hong Kong tea really transforming and mellowing quite a bit.

>>15646964
Nah, you bought dog shit. It's like eating a cold hot dog and going "WOW Do all sausages tastes so crap?"

trust me, my first ripe was shit tier. I enjoy ripes now that I've been able to try better ones.
Just spend a bit more on a sample of a decent raw and see how trash that sample was.

Also I prefer young raws, they ain't garbage, just tend to be more bitter than ones that have been aged longer. I like bitter

>>15647532
didn't have it, just wanted the measure it

Looks like the USPS exploded sometime last week. I have a few packages in the system that haven't moved in days. Hopefully they get it under control soon.

Yunnan sourcing US is doing their yearly housecleaning sale.
17% off on green black and white looseleaf teas.
https://yunnansourcing.us/pages/promo-code-sale-use-the-promo-code-at-checkout
This is probably also your last chance to get pressed and aged teas before their yearly 15% to 20% price hike on old inventory.

I drink water only

>>15645805
No, because I'm American and want to support my country

>>15647554
I think these are supposedly from yunnan

>>15647564
>just tend to be more bitter
that's what I figured. I hate bitter so I'll just avoid raws in future. probably a good thing I didn't spend more money on anything better because it'll just be wasted on me anyway.

>>15648290
All "puer" is from yunnan, it's one of those origin name things like french champagne. There are small amounts made in nearby regions like Burma. Do you know what brand it was or what region it was from?
Anyway don't give up on puer, the stuff that is well aged transforms into something completely different than bjtter green tea. Sweet, thick, sometimes still bitter and good ones have insane finishes where you still taste the sweetness on your tongue 10+ minutes after your last sip. Well made ripe puer tastes like you are drinking a creamy sweet chocolate beverage, the best ripe i had tasted exactly like a german black forest cake, with intense chocolate notes and flavors of cherry.

>>15625234
new thread
>>15648379
>>15648379
>>15648379

>>15648053
Shame I dont have a few hundred to spend on puer

>>15648381
It's always sad how these threads only last a few days. Such is the nature of impermanence. :-(