/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>16864724
Comfy pic

big iron edition

Today for me it's more xiaguan.

I think I'm going to do it lads, I'm going to buy at least 300g of roasted wuyi oolongs for this winter, i need cozy cold weather tea.

I'm considering another order from tuochatea, while having two other orders stuck in limbo. Talk me out of it.

>>16864774
Do eet. You should probably be drinking last years harvest now, because yancha like black tea tastes better after a year in your climate.
If you order now there's a chance that it gets to you before winter.

>>16864789
There is a half decent yancha shop in the us, that's half of why im considering it, because it will come sometime before February.
>tuochatea
Do it.
I can't believe that website exists, it's like its frozen in time from a decade ago. Never had any new inventory added but still ships orders, it's almost spooky
How big is your stash getting these days? You up to 3 or 4 kilos by now?

>>16864751
forgot to add, based bargain bin crane drinker. I almost reached for 2012 mushroom, but went with that farmerleaf naka again as an afternoon pick me up. winter's around the corner so I'm reaching for young shengs again.

>>16864802
no, I started hoarding before posting here or anywhere, three full bings to a kilo, so it's way more than that.

you guys should really get on that teaencounter fresh yiwu train, because it's running like mad and there are fucking great teas to be had for still somewhat reasonable prices.

>>16864829
>you guys should really get on that teaencounter fresh yiwu train
Welp, thanks for that, luckily for me I'm too dumb to appreciate yiwu, and i intended to keep it that way.

I was really exited for the xiaguan north American store (link in pastebin, it's in Canada)
And while it isint awful or anything it doesn't really do anything for me either, littpe of the 2008-2010 stuff that's good for buying right now, also little of the more recent cabbage cakes or single origin cakes that are a bit of a bargain when young. I still might order from them at some point but I'm not in a rush like i expected to be, and I'm probably the biggest xiaguan fanboy in the thread. It doesn't help that if you don't spend $100 for free shipping they charge a lot to ship to the US.

>>16864857
have it your way, but the tea on the left would sort you out.

also how much are you paying for 300g of yancha? less than 70 bucks? if yes then go full retard and stock up on sea dyke. seriously.
I'm not disrespecting but good tea has it's price be it puer or oolong or even liubao.
I bought red tin workers stadium liubao from chawangshop last year for $52. which seemed to be high price for 250g of heicha. after drinking it, I agreed that's a premium tea worth premium price. it's $92 today and I wouldn't buy it for this kind of money.

>>16864896
yeah, I broke the news here all giddy that they're opening western storefront. went there, saw the pricing and shipping to eu, the unique cakes were already bought up. yeah, I'll stick to ktm for my crane needs.

>>16864910
The yancha i was looking at ranges from 30¢ to $1/per gram.
Yiwu is actually good, and i like it the more that i drink it, i do think it has one of the more pronounced awkward phases where it has a few years where it is just incredibly bland, but after that it usually gets interesting again. Really irrelevant for a 2021 cake since i would be drinking it right away anyway. Don't mind me im a tight ass that keeps trying to convince myself i don't like yiwu so i don't get into the really expensive stuff from there.

>>16864930
haha, all righty then, post your yancha order here if you decide to go for it, I'm curious. have a good one.

turns out the naka wasn't what the doctor ordered today, sedated me more than uplifted. and the cottonmouth is very prominent today. I'll need a stiff nightcap. swings and roundabouts. cheers.

>>16864802
>tuochatea
the selection kind of sucks now though. most of what i would have wanted is long sold out.

>>16864829
>really get on that teaencounter fresh yiwu train
they look nice, but they are well out of my price bracket.

>>16864896
>xiaguan shop
i have a similar feeling about them. whenever i feel like stocking up on the crane (probably in a year or so) i will compare them to KTM and the other usuals and see who can do me better. with the way international shipping and KTM's prices are going it would not surprise me if the official XG store ends up being the way i go.

>>16864910
>I bought red tin workers stadium liubao from chawangshop last year for $52. which seemed to be high price for 250g of heicha.
it would be great if the bargain priced vendors step up their liu bao game at some point. most of them have a rather thin selection of stuff. also the shipping last time i ordered from chawangshop was pretty bad. it cost as much as DHL from YS would have but was much slower and my package got crushed (tea ended up being safe though.). still i will put in another order from them at some point. they do have some nice stuff you cant easily get elsewhere.

>>16865176
>with the way international shipping and KTM's prices are going it would not surprise me if the official XG store ends up being the way i go.
God this is depressing and also true. It's so weird how much the world has contracted in the last few years.

>>16864729
for big cup

RIP big cup anon

>>16865528
>RIP big cup anon
what happened to them?

>>16865758
Too much tea

can we not let this thread keep dying?

anyone here starting to think about what they want to get on black friday? I definitely intend to pick up another Snoozefest from W2T if they make them again. hopefully they do the free shipping again as well.

>>16866122
Black friday tea sales are a thing?
I only heard about the w2t one last year

>>16866142
>Black friday tea sales are a thing?
yeah, a pretty large number of tea vendors have some sort of sale going on. they aren't usually door busters or anything but more like extra free samples, small percent discounts (like 10-20%), or free shipping. still a good time to buy considering many of the vendors seldom have that good of a sale.

>>16866194
Huh i will have to take a look.
I wouldn't mind some savings.

>>16866273
here are some lists of some of the sales from last year.
https://steepster.com/discuss/42345-2020-black-friday-and-cyber-monday-tea-sales-thread
https://old.reddit.com/r/tea/comments/jx272f/black_friday_cyber_monday_megathread_2020/
presumably many of the same vendors will have similar sales again.

i probably brought up this topic a bit too early but i was having a hard time thinking of what to bump the tread with.

>>16866471
Haha no worries, i haven't got anything new all summer and fall so i haven't had much to post about
Thanks for the links

I find myself increasingly craving the umami flavour of green tea. Green tea used to be something I'd drink every once in awhile but now it's the bulk of what I drink. Though, I do like oolong a lot as well (more so) but that's more of a treat than a staple.

>>16866937
It's pretty addictive huh? I eat way too much soy sauce and put msg or Parmesan cheese on all my food.

>>16866985
I mostly eat fast food and ramen so adding more salt isn't a particularly good idea. I have some msg but I haven't cooked anything other than an instant meal in forever.

>>16867014
Msg is awesome on lots of things, as long as it's used sparingly, i like to use it on broccoli when i cook it to serve over rice.

but don't put msg in tea, i don't recommended it

name a better oolong than tie guyan yin
i dare you

Shuixian

Is there a guideline for finding a tea that I'd actually like? It's getting to winter and having something warm to drink in the evening sounds super cozy. The only tea that I've really tried is Chamomile which i didnt like the taste of and, after being told a million times to, adding sugar to it honestly made it worse. Cant do caffeine, half a can of carinated soda gives me the shakes and makes my heart pound out of my chest.

>>16867780
>Cant do caffeine, half a can of carinated soda gives me the shakes and makes my heart pound out of my chest.
Herbal teas, start out with the flavored stuff in the grocery store, celestial seasonings makes some good ones, i like ginger and bengal spice the most, but most of their flavors are pretty good.
If you want to get cheaper and fancier loose leaf herbal teas than check out mountain rose herbs if you are in the US.
They also sell fill your own teabags for easy brewing.

>>16867803
The chamomile i tried was from celestial seasonings. What is like a non-tea-drinker's introduction to tea? Just a flavored tea and hope theres something i'd like?

>>16867837
Well normally i would tell you to buy different kinds of teas, but you can't drink tea, since it has too much caffeine so instead i will tell you to buy different herbal teas and find out what you like. Once you have had a few herbal teas you will start to get the hang for different ingredients and what they taste like so you will have an idea fo what new ones you are looking at might taste like. Chamomile doesn't taste great so i can understand not liking in it. But look at some of the other herbal blends on offer and try and find some ones that sound good to you. Sleepytime from that same brand is pretty easy to drink, the zinger teas they make are good if you like tart citrus, if you want something spicy check out bengal spice

>>16867780
Unless you want to drink decaf tea (this is a taste difference), find a good herbal tea (peppermint for the season).

>>16868011
*there
(I don't drink decaf tea, so I really don't know the extent (if any) of taste difference)

>>16868017
>I don't drink decaf tea, so I really don't know the extent (if any) of taste difference
It sucks

For me, it's the soba or barley tisane

>>16868690
Barley tea sounds good, i need to grab some next time I'm at the Korean market

>>16867715
I much prefer dan cong, but they're wildly different teas

>>16867780
Have you tried rooibos? You may like tulsi, it has a pleasing spiciness that lends itself to winter sipping.
>>16867803
>check out mountain rose herbs if you are in the US
this anon speaks the truth

>>16867780
There's so many herbal teas with wildly different flavours that there's no place to begin. Everything from mint to roasted coffee-like flavours. You could go outside and gather your own herbal teas if you want.

>>16867780
>half a can of carinated soda gives me the shakes and makes my heart pound out of my chest.
wtf is wrong with you bubble boy? go see a doctor about it if you haven't already. it's not normal. and don't give me self diagnosed caffeine intolerance. i bet you're also intolerant to raw onion, olives and blue cheese.
now kiss the feet of those helpful anons who gave you comprehensive list of herbal teas to try out. i don't see any thankyous from you.

>>16867741
>Shuixian
Yeah Shuixian is pretty good

I really enjoy yorkshire gold in a French press.

>>16869219
Are you drinking it straight from the carafe? Don't forget to microwave the water for that extra pleb and proud touch.

Hello tea friends. Can water be too hot when brewing oolong?

>>16869577
Yeah, for lighter more green oolongs and oolongs that aren't roasted try 90°c

>>16869577
No. Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit and I don’t think it’s possible to heat water above 212 using home equipment. It would just instantly evaporate.

>>16869577
If the water is still bubbling, it's too hot. The bubbles mean the water is still turning into water vapor. Just wait until it stops bubbling and you should be good, buddy.

>>16869735
No. Wrong. Then it is no longer boiling. You need boiling water to extract the flavor from tea

>>16869780
I admire your spirit but unfortunately not all tea cooperates like it should.
I don't really drink anything that can't handle a full boil but that doesn't mean there aren't teas that cant take the heat.

What tea should I drink today

>>16869803
ripe puer or hei cha
Alternatively a nice malty black tea

>>16869786
It isn’t tea if boiling water ruins it. Simple as.

Is coffee a tisane?

>>16869850
Probably but there is a dedicated coffee thread if you wanna talk about beans

>>16865444
I used to drink from soup cups when I was younger, inevitably broke, like, 3 of them or more, the biggest one was 700 ml. and actually looked like a mug, was way too brittle as it broke after I dropped it on a carpet from like 1 meter.

I still think about that cup a lot as I sip gong fu-sized tea from my 120 ml bowl.

Today it's Xiao Zhong, which has "Lapsang souchong" in quotes, I don't think it's related to "Churchill's favourite tea", perhaps tea-savvy anons will enlighten me. It's really good, the smell is beyond words, I can finally feel the fabled "sweetness" in its taste. I do believe that the water was a mistake: way too soft. As soon as I finish this one and this autumn's tie guan yin, which I still have, I might try gaba, its description sounds very curious.

>>16870032
>Xiao Zhong, which has "Lapsang souchong" in quotes
It probably is lapsang, but not the heavily smoked kind that was traditionally made for export, the Chinese domestic market was never into it being that smokey.
>i might try gaba
It's a cool and interesting flavir profile just don't expect the gaba to have any kind of effect on your mind or body, there isn't really that much in the tea and it can't cross the blood brain barrier.
Still absolutely worth trying if the "sweet potato" flavor sound interesting to you.

>>16870143
Thanks for explaining that. All my life I believed that capital L lapsang should be hardcore as all hell, yet the one I am drinking as we speak is tremendous and enjoyable.
What kind of teas should I try out if I want to have the effect on my mind and body? I really want to try out baihao yinzhen, but it's way too pricey, heard a lot of good things about it though, I like the poetic name as well.

>>16869786
What's on the roster?
>>16869735
The only sane answer to the water temp. problem. simple as. boil the water. wait for a hot second till it stops bubbling/splattering, pour over the leaves. If it tastes shitty you've got some shitty tea. if your "tea" requires low temp brewing because in high temps the flaws show up - you've got some shitty tea and probably overpaid for it. red flag to look out for, the word organic on your bush league tier chopped leaves and stalks.
If all your tea tastes shitty with freshly boiled water it's time to invest in those water filtering jugs. estrogen filled city hard water is the silent killer of all teas and it's rarely spoken about. it's either "whatever, it's only water" or autismo "water recipes" copied from coffee fags. it boils down to another simple truth - if cold water from your sink tastes bad, your tea will taste bad.

>>16870162
Yeah really smokey lapsang is less common these days, ive read that the chines govt put an ban on pine smoking tea because too much Forest was getting cut for pine wood, not sure how accurate that is.
Yunnan sourcing has some fairly affordable silver needle tea, they have some small cakes of them that a few anons have really liked.
I dunno about tea drunk, i guess ive experienced it before but maybe it's just drinking too much tea too fast without eating enough. Usually with cheap strong factory puer like xiaguan tuos or number recipe cakes. Allegedly it more pronounced in some of the more expensive puers but i don't want to pay $1 per gram to find out. Bitterleaf teas has a mansa tea called WMD that supposedly has a strong effect like that.

Headsup that Bitterleaftea is having its annual sale from now until the 25th, if anyone cares

>>16870209
yeah I saw that, but who the fuck buys from those guys? they sit between w2t and ys in terms of marketing, but ultimately sell some uninteresting blends and bits and pieces that noone cares about. overpriced of course. do they have some hidden gems between those pastel coloured wrappers? seems pretty unlikely. very hard pass from me.

>>16870186
>What's on the roster?
Roasted oolongs, puer, other hei cha
teas that don't handle the heat well are green taiwan oolongs and some green teas.

>>16870238
how much overpriced? most of their stuff is like 0.1-0.2$ per gram, isn't that on par with most other western facing vendors?
ive only ordered from them once, but their young raws seems fine, i especially enjoyed the lincang. their dancong feels a bit underwhelming though.
I was thinking of getting some of their more funky blends to try them out, but would it be better to find that elsewhere?

>>16870254
>other hei cha
then it's liu an time my friend, have some snacks prepared.
>>16870265
lincang, $50 a 200g xiaobing of some kind of yesheng (the vendor doesn't know, it's what their chink associates told them to sell) vs $70 a 250g xiaobing guafengzhai young bush that they procured because they've reckoned some business is to be made selling some young trees from the famous grove. you be the judge. choose between two weevils. I'm buying the second one based on the pictures of the cakes only.

>>16869805
What is the difference between hei cha and fu cha

>>16870311
you drink one and go 'hei hei hei', the other one is just 'fu'

>>16870311
Hei cha is a broad category of dark chinese teas, fu cha is a specific subcategory of hei cha that consists of compressed bricks of tea, typically from Hunan province or thereabouts, that contains the golden fungus spores inside the brick. Hei cha zhuan is like fu cha but without the golden fungus

>>16870331
Hei cha literally translates to "dark tea" and usually refers to tea thst undergoes some kind of post fermentation process after it's initial picking and processing.

>>16870331
I will drink fu cha then, 2018 mojun fucha recommended here

>>16870349
Oh nice im interested to hear your thoughts on it

>>16870311
what my "theory before the practice" colleagues are trying to say is: hei cha is a dark tea, there are few types of them, fu cha is a hei cha with "golden flower" fungus inoculated to it. whats golden flower? https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=fuzhuan

When people talk about ratios of grams tea per grams water, are they referring to the listed capacity of the vessel (my gaiwan listed as 145 mL on its webpage) or the actual capacity of that vessel (my "145 mL" gaiwan holds 145 mL to the very brim which you would never actually use, holds 100 mL practically)

>>16870395
>or the actual capacity of that vessel
That one

>>16870305
>I'm buying the second one
from where?

>>16870395
functional volume, so 100ml in your case

>>16870395
If you're weighing your tea, you have a scale, just do it by weight.

>>16870411
I shilled them enough already and I don't get any free samples from Tiago doing that. read the thread you're posting in, you may encounter some answers.
have you heard The Clash? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er0GyqRI6sw

>>16870417
Anon....

>>16870360
Dry leaf smells like ripe puerh smell
Rinse (15s) and steep 1 (8s) smell like dashi or maybe mushroom broth up front, floral underneath
Rinse was clear golden color but steep 1 is orange and cloudy with lots of sediment
Soup has some thickness and smoothness but not super thick and syrupy like you can get on some puerh
Very sweet, fruity and floral flavor with a bit of malt, it has a sour-like sensation on the back and sides of my tongue at the finish
Steep 2 (10s) has more floral aroma now competing with the existing savory broth aroma
Soup orange, somewhat cloudy, with lots of sediment still
Conversely to the aroma, I now taste more of the savory broth and malt than I do the floral flavor, still slightly sour on the finish
I will keep going and update if anything changes. The main flavor is savory mushroom combined with this very sweet and familiar but hard to place sour floral flavor.

>>16870143
>GABA "sweet potato" flavor
that's how i would describe it as well.

>>16870162
>All my life I believed that capital L lapsang should be hardcore as all hell

the funny thing is back when i used to only drink the cheapest of bulk loose tea i really liked western style Lapsang souchong because even though it smelled like a pack a day the stuff i had did not get bitter like most most other black teas.

>baihao yinzhen
look around not all of it is expensive, you can get some rather affordable productions like this:
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/jinggu-sun-dried-silver-needles-white-pu-erh-tea-cake

>>16870238
>Bitterleaftea
>did not drink their tea, condemns them anyways.
i do think they look a bit overpriced and i don't like their wrappers but they really don't seem that bad.

>>16870311
>What is the difference between hei cha and fu cha
hei cha= "dark tea" a category of tea
fu cha aka fu zuan = a specific type of tea from Hunan or Sichuan province.

>>16870367
>whats golden flower?
scientific name Eurotium cristatum

>>16870411
they are probably suggesting this in a very opaque manner.
https://www.tea-encounter.com/product/tea-encounter-2021-guafengzhai/

>>16870571
>The main flavor is savory mushroom combined with this very sweet and familiar but hard to place sour floral flavor.
Nice, mushroom broth is a top tier flavor profile

Do you guys actually make your green tea with straight 100c boiling water?

>>16871369
Yes because as soon as it goes into the brewing vessel the temperature of the water drops rapidly to 75-80 degrees

>>16871385
In that case blacks and oolongs would be brewed at the exact same temperature as greens, even though the pot cools it down pouring in water at 80c has still been the tried and true method, meaning water in the pot should be 50-60c, also during subsequent infusions the pot will already be warmed

>>16871511
Retard

Will drinking this turn me into a smurf?

>>16871817
nah, mate. You want to get your smurf on, colloidal silver is what you're looking for. it'll get ya where you want to go.

>>16871854
Post blue people pls

>>16865444
WITNESSED.
Also your mouse is beat up to shit, what the fuck you do to it? Stab it with a pencil 9 times?

>>16872065
I guess anon didn't get his pu-erh on time.

>>16871817
No, but I’m wondering what color your piss or shit is gonna look like after drinking too much of that.

>>16871369
That’s what ISO 3103 calls for, Anon. You do make your tea according to ISO standards, right?

>>16871369
no, i use 175f water

>>16869585
>>16870254
Thanks. Is it only the Taiwan oolongs like dong ding or does all "ball" oolong counts as light. Can I tell from the color of the leaves more green = light, I figure that would be it. What about tie guyan yin? I Also just saw these aged oolong, wich I want to try. Many questions here but I'm new to this. I'm gotten into green teas and currently I'm feel very content I've managed to get the right technique for brewing a sencha fukamushi I got. Now I'm looking for a darker tea that is not black. Oolong will be perfect I tried a couple but didn't find the right technique for brewing, also they were too close to other green teas I got, want something darker

>>16864724
tea is for

>>16870162
>What kind of teas should I try out if I want to have the effect on my mind and body?
Japanese greens, especially gyokuro. The combination of high caffeine and high theanine makes it more psychoactive than any Chinese or Indian tea.
Some pu'er can put you in a weird headspace. Lots of people say that about the 2005 Naka on white2tea, but it's pricy and I can't speak from experience. If you don't mind bitterness, consider reaching for a Lao Man'E.

>>16872549
Tea is for keeping me warm and comfy during autumn/winter

>>16872594
Thanks Apu

>>16872594
How in the hell do you soften your forehead?

>>16872065
>Also your mouse is beat up to shit,
It's just a printed effect on the surface, they looked like that right out if the box

>>16872065
>>16873114
Do zoomers not know about the logitech G400? That was THE mouse back in the day, kiddo. We were fragging n00bs with that mouse when you were still in diapers.

>>16872512
Two things that make oolongs green, lower fermentation levels and lower roast levels. Most taiwan oolongs are pretty green these days especially the high altitude stuff. Tie gyuan yin is also usually pretty green these days, though you can find batches with a heavier roast and more dark processing which is a more traditional style for that tea.
Yeah more green = light
You should look into some chinese oolongs
Dan cong oolongs might be a good place to start, also wuyi oolongs if you want to get into that delicious deep roasted flavor. Wuyi oolongs are usually heavy on the charcoal roast but if you enjoy that they are something special.

>>16865444
Big cup for big numbers, also what the fuck is wrong with your mouse?

>>16872512
the other anon gave good advice but i would like to add don't be afraid to experiment a bit. not all teas brew the same and there is of course always some level of personal preference.

>>16873534
90% replies to this image is about "dented" mouse, I don't even, if they are legit or it's one autistic anon making same similar replies over the years.

>>16873865
I don't come on /ck/ often, this is the first I've seen of this image, is this a /tea/ meme?

I thought you guys were trollering, you've never seen this mouse?

>>16873903
WTF?
Do they just hit it with a hammer at the factory?

>>16873903
Damn, I still have one of those gathering dust.

>>16873903
i recognize it, though i have never seen one in person.

what's the most obscure black (red) tea i can still buy on the internet?

>>16874069
depends on how you define obscure. i am not aware of any historical types of black tea that are generally unavailable. there are however always atypical teas grown by single produces that are obscure by virtue of being single source but they tend to be more of a novelty. for example this is pretty obscure but i doubt its great for the price: https://zealong.com/shop/black-tea/

i would perhaps recommend looking at Japanese Black Tea (Wakocha) as it seems underappreciated but still has some history to it. fore example: https://yunomi.life/collections/black-oolong-dark-teas/products/japanese-black-tea-wakocha-sampler-set
Korean black tea is even more obscure (by virtue of Korean being hard to get in general) but is somewhat hard to get. LP has some in stock right now: https://www.liquidproust.com/shop/33318616/korean-tea

>>16874292
also if anyone here is interested in doing a hardcore deep dive into Korean tea check out:
https://teabuykorea.blogspot.com/2021/04/teabuy-korea-2021.html

>>16874292
seems like a good list, to add to it try georgian black tea and turkish grown cay blends. not rare, but obscure outside of their cultures.
that reminds me, did anyone ever did a deep dive on those granulated tea drinks? how is it produced? why there is not small batch(tm) ripe puer version produced? or roasty oolong or any of those japanese bottled ice tea flavours?

>>16874368
>georgian black tea
good suggestion, forgot to mention them. might as well mention Russian tea also.

>turkish grown
know of anywhere you can actuly get high quality tea from there?

>cay blend
???

also i will add that Indonesian tea is pretty hard to come by. I am still looking for good source. not sure if they make much black tea though.

>those granulated tea drinks
??? not sure what you are talking about.

>>16874069
there's also Welsh and Scottish teas as well, bloody expensive for what i imagine is probably low quality due to climate and tree age. probably hard to find stuff that isn't blended with 1% uk grown leaf

>>16874470
I think the only place i found that was selling the uncut Scottish tea was Mariage Freres of all places, it was comically expensive like $65 for 50g or something like that

>>16874448
>?
>??
sh

>>16874313
well we are on the topic of Korean tea has anyone else had Schisandra chinensis berry tea before? they drink it in Korea (Omija-cha). Korea has a number of other traditional herbal teas as well. i used to buy some at the local health food store and remember liking it but it has been too long for me to give detailed notes. i do remember it being kind of tart and sour like hibiscus.

>>16874686
>sh
⸮ ! ? ‽ ¡ ¿ ⸘ ?

>>16874697
I hate how anytime i search about an "exotic" protect like that i just get a bunch of blogs with nebulous health claims and sites trying to sell me extracts and tinctures.
Anyway ive never tried it but it sounds tasty

>>16874832
*product

Tea newb here. In the last year I’ve come to adore a hot cup of Chamomile. What should I try next?

>>16874908
Herbal blends from mountain rose herbs if you are in the us, they have a bunch of fairly natural blends that taste good and are safe to drink regularly
Roibos and or honeybush
Tulsi
Mint

I got some silver tip Ceylon.

>>16874935
how does it taste?

>>16874945
Probably like tea but I haven't drank any yet.

>>16874832
to be fair they are traditionally used in herbal medicine so its not surprising that health related stuff shows up. as a note it looks like mountain rose herbs sells them: https://mountainroseherbs.com/schisandra-berries

What's the sencha that's produced the greenest brightest, lime-jade liquor you've ever seen?

My Yunomi order came in today, a week after I placed the order! I got 200g of sencha, 100g of hojicha, and 100g of Japanese black tea.

what is the Japanese teapot size equivalent to a 100-120ml gaiwan (i also tend use more tea the typical for that size). i want to try Japanese tea at some point but not sure what size teaware to buy? currently i only drink Chinese and make all my tea in a gaiwan.

>>16874988
When you brew a cup of the sencha can you post a picture of the liquor as well as a picture of the leaves? Is it ichiban sencha? Steamed kukumishi or asamushi?

>>16874046
zoom zoom

My Chinese friend wants to try a cured ham because he never had one and can't find them in China. So I'm going to mail him a cured ham and I'm thinking about asking him to send me some tea. What tea should I ask for?

>>16875624
>What tea should I ask for?
i cant really pick that for you. it depends on what you like, what tea knowledge your friend has and where they are located. if they are from a region with tea i would probably ask for some local flavor or if they are an avid tea drinker perhaps some selections based off what they know and like.

I've got some rasins. Thinking about making tea out of them.

>>16875624
>he never had one and can't find them in China
he lies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuanwei_ham

>>16875004
Sorry, what do you mean by "size equivalent"? You can easily find japanese teapots, hohin or shiboridashi with a simillar volume. I use a 130 mL tokoname teapot for japanese greens.

I've gotten into mate over the past few months, and am enjoying it quite a bit. Can guayusa be prepared the same way, to be drunk from a gourd with a straw? Are there readily-available South American brands online, like pic related for mate? It seems a lot more obscure.

>>16877696
Based mate drinker
Sorry i don't know much about guayusa.
Have you tried other brands of matte yet? Can you describe the flavor profile you get from rosamonte? Any stories about drinking way too much mate?

>>16877360
>Sorry, what do you mean by "size equivalent"?
my understanding is that Japanese tea is normally brewed differently. they use lower tea/water ratios and fewer steeps than gongfu brewing. therefore a 120ml Kyusu would not produce the same total quantity of tea in one session as a 120ml gaiwan if both are used traditionally. 100-120ml gaiwans are also kind of the "standard" size if you want tea for one to a few people and i want to know what size in ml of Japanese teapot would fill the same role? i want a teapot that i can use to keep making the same amount of tea as i currently drink (from my gaiwan) but is more suitable for making Japanese style tea (and possibly brewing other teas western style).

>>16878401
Ah, i understand now what you mean. Yes, 2 or 3 resteeps is the usual for japanese greens. As for the leaf/water ratio, i don't know about it that much because i usually experiment and measure it by eye. Maybe a more knowledgeable anon can help you.

does anyone else find that black tea isn't astringent enough? it tastes like overly sweet cold brew tea to me

>>16878805
What kind of black tea do you drink?
I guess i can see where you are coming from, but i personally like this.

>>16878817
Ye Sheng Hong
It's a very pleasant flavor, I just can't help but miss the "bite"

>>16878805
>>16878842
You just gotta go full assam if you want that powerful black tea. Chinese black teas are usually very smooth and frequently sweet.

>>16878847
Thank you, I'll try it, strange that I've had some very darkly oxidized oolongs that still had good bite

found picrel on amazon.

>>16878931
>strange that I've had some very darkly oxidized oolongs that still had good bite
Yeah i can see that, oolongs have king of a twang

>>16879036
Weird

>>16879036
>Our Mission is to preach gospel to all people living in Yunnan mountain regions. All mushroom truffle and tea come from these regions, so when you buy it, you are supporting our preaching missionary, you are helping church mission, God remember your help, God bless you!
http://www.johnleemushroom.com/About%20us.html
So chinese christian tea merchants? Interesting

>>16879095
>christian tea merchants
thanks for actually looking that up. that is far more interesting than i though. i had figured it was just engrish or something. too bad the tea looks like rubbish.

>>16879095
kek pretty hilarious, thanks anon

What tea should I drink

Going to have 7g of this imperial grade laoshan green.
Dry leaf smells like roasted and salted cashews.

>>16879802
Something fermented or ginger

>>16879843
Cute leafs

>>16879802
What kind of question is that? Are you new into the tea, looking for recommendations?

5s rinse. Wet leaf smells like seaweed and spinach, very salty and savory vegetable.

>>16879802
Buy a sample pack and find out what you like. People's tastes vary wildly.

Nice greenish yellow Mt. Dew esque color on the soup.
Flavor on the liquor is pretty light after a first 10s steep. The liquor retains the roasted cashew aroma of the dry leaf and that saltiness and nuttiness is present in the finish and aftertaste.

>>16879882
I asked what I should DRINK, not what I should BUY, retard

>>16879855
Its a threat

>>16879890
Nice, how does that brewing pitcher pour? Is it easy to get most of the liquid out? i like the looks of it and ive been considering getting one since you posted it.

>>16878143
>Have you tried other brands of matte yet?
Yeah, I like Rosamonte and Cruz de Malta the best so far. Argie mate seems most up my alley; I have some one brand each from Paraguay and Brazil but I'm less wild about them.
>Can you describe the flavor profile you get from rosamonte?
Lots of people find it unusually bitter but I don't. To me it tastes... marine? Reminds me of childhoods on the Maine coast. A little salty, a little savory.

>>16880259
Thanks, mate is pretty cool stuff.

>>16880216
I really like it. Mine pours very nicely and I don't have issues with the leaves passing over the filter. I think it is around 250 mL to the bottom of the filter but I usually fill it with less. It's good for green and white tea because it doesn't retain heat very well.

>>16880413
Cool thanks

What actual, camelia sinensis tea has the least caffeine? not decaffeinated of course, just wondering if there is anything I can drink late

>>16880543
Probably organic green tea. Organic teas are weak.

>>16880543
Any tea that is stems only, the most common is the japanes hojicha

Who sells the best earl grey on the market

>>16880655
>>16880655
Probably these guys
https://www.mariagefreres.com/UK/welcome.html
Upton tea in the US also has an earl grey made with natural bergamot extract

>>16880655
>>16880673
Jesus they have about 40 different kinds of earl grey
https://www.mariagefreres.com/UK/1-earl_grey.html

What tea do the dim sum restaurants typically serve? Plain ole green?

>>16880692
Some kind of cheap roasted oolong i think, something like this
https://www.ebay.com/itm/363335131071

The pastebin doesn't seem to talk about it
Spoonfeed me on matcha tools. How much tea per water, what are the essential accessories?

>>16880794
https://www.o-cha.com/make-matcha.html
Please buy matcha from high quality vendors, especially those in Japan and preferably ones in the pastebin or if locally than from a place that specializes only in matcha, there is lots of cheap shitty ground up old stale green tea out there that is disgusting.

>>16880830
I was not asking what type of matcha or a vendor, I know that.
I want accessories

>>16880830
>volume measurements
>not weight measurements
Worthless

>>16880854
>I want accessories
Matcha bowl, sifter, meme whisk thing
>>16880861
>Worthless
My bad
https://global.ippodo-tea.co.jp/blogs/tea-recipe/basic-usucha-matcha
https://global.ippodo-tea.co.jp/blogs/tea-recipe/basic-koicha-matcha

Okay I added matcha brewing instructions and needed equipment to the pastebin, somebody tell me if it sucks or i need to add more

>>16875004
>>16878401
bumping my question.

>>16880953
I will look into it, gimme a few minutes

>>16880953
Okay so it looks like the standard is getting about 3 brews out of a pot of sencha where you use a smaller ratio of leaf to water and longer brew times, vs chinese teas in a gaiwan when you can get 5 or sometimes more depending on how short your infusions are. So with a 100ml gaiwan with 5 brews you get 500ml of tea, so I'm thinking the Japanese teapot equivalent would be in the range of 160-200ml or so
160 x 3 = 480ml of tea
200 x 3 = 600ml of tea

>>16880893
60 mls per 2 grams?
Sheesh this is expensive drinks

>>16881087
Yup
You can probably go to 100ml for 2g but that is about the max, i mean you are drinking the tea leaf so you are getting all the caffeine out of it but matcha is definitely not cheap. Then again there is lots of more expensive tea out there as well.
I don't think you would drink more than 100ml of matcha at a time.

Gween Tea

>>16881389
Nice tea table
hows it taste?

>>16881405
Tastes good, the long jing is surprisingly holding it's flavor late into fall. Maybe even a bit better, it doesn't seam to be burning as easily and I can really enjoy the nutty notes.
My go-to tea for study sessions

>>16881413
Long jing is great, one of my favorite greens, love the nutty aspect

>>16864724
I want a sunken hearth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AajwlEiDpyg

my hard drive died and i lost all the tea i planned to buy... eventually. from an ever expanding list of over 40 all i can remember is dian hong & dongfang meiren
TL;DR what teas are you eyeing up/everyone should try, either generic types or specific teas

Can anyone recomend some good teas sold on Amazon and Ebay I can get shipped internationaly. Ive grabbed puer teas from evayin the past but have no idea what the quality was.

>>16882344
>what teas are you eyeing up
i really look forward to doing a deep dive into the wuyi and dancong oolong families eventually. holding off until i am willing to spend enough to do them justice. still i will try and pick up some budget Shui Xian or similar to have something nice and toasty for the winter. the Iron Arhat i got as a free sample from W2T last year (https://white2tea.com/products/iron-arhat)) was fantastic but its rather pricey.

i did an order from both Bitterleaf and tea-encounter, thoughts? hope the brits wont shaft me with fees, once upon a time ill place and order with ys to see if they fuck me over too.

are there any eu folks that have ordered from meileaf after they shipping charge changes and would like to share their experience?

pic rel teaencounter ontop, bitterleaf on bottom

>>16870653
thanks, i got it after his clash-post

>>16883184
i like it that you ended up getting tea from both vendors. they both look like fun orders. as always please post tasting notes. if you are looking for more funky blends you should check out this https://white2tea.com/products/2019-hot-brandy and this https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/all/ripe-raw-blend.. teatrekker also had a couple neat loose leaf blends but they recently retired so you cant buy them anymore https://www.teatrekker.com/product/russian-wine.. i find the concept of non traditional tea blends fascinating and want to try some.

>>16881769
having an irori seems like it would be fun but i would not want all the indoor smoke. it would be nice in an old fashioned vacation cabin however.

>>16881389
greetings from currently rainy California fellow green tea gongfu anon

i wonder if W2T is going to do a "shulloween" sale again? last years sale was pretty good if affordable shu was what you wanted. https://white2tea.com/blogs/blog/shulloween-sale

>>16880692
Puer is traditionally drank with dim sum

>>16883953
God i love those wide flat teapots for some reason. That brewed tea looks like some serious broth as well

Years ago I drank mao feng from a tea bag, I actually loved the savory umami and spinach flavor, but I recently bought some cheap loose leaf mao feng and the savory taste isn't there, and after reading about mao feng it seems like many people expect it to taste very light and floral, did I buy the wrong green tea if I want a savory spinach taste? or did I just go too cheap? I went cheap because I just needed some tea to drink while my real tea was shipping overseas

>>16884790
When it comes to savory green teas japan is always the safest bet.im not super familiar with the deep cuts of green tea but in seems like that Japanese always go for that heavy rich umami seaweed broth situation and the Chinese teas, since they are fired instead of steamed, tend to have more of a slightly toasty nutty aspect too them. This is far from universal but i think is fairly representative.

>>16871369
No. Shrimp bubbles only for green. Too hot makes it bitter.

>>16885032
there are a few umami chinese teas, namely biluochun and laoshan. I'm personally not a fan of either though
>>16884790
biluochun would be perfect for you
>>16884643
it's like a hybrid of regular sencha and gyokuro so yes, i just ran out of it regardless

>>16885307
>it's like a hybrid of regular sencha and gyokuro
Kabusecha?

>>16864724
anybody shill me a mesh teapot about 100ml or so? Something so that I don't have to worry about broken tea leaves ending up in my cup

>>16885918
bonus for not being too expensive, since a lot of the hand crafted ones seem to be pricey. Maybe worth the effort though

Anyone drink Japanese black tea?
Where should i buy some? Any tips for brewing it or anything else i should know about it vs indian or Chinese black tea?

>>16885918
https://www.sazentea.com/en/products/p450-takasuke-shudei-kyusu-small.html
https://www.sazentea.com/en/products/p56-takasuke-ivory-kyusu-small.html
https://www.sazentea.com/en/products/p54-takasuke-kokuyo-kyusu-small.html

>>16885918
https://www.ebay.com/itm/393183705984
https://www.ebay.com/itm/174964170582

>>16885929
I was looking for a kyusu that uses metal mesh for a filter instead of ceramic mesh but i couldn't find any small enough, anyway those are pretty cool. If you want a more traditional western style teapot it is really hard to find ones that smll.

>>16885949
Yunomi has some Japanese black tea/wakoucha. It's very similar to Sri Lankan and Indian black tea. Very malty and strong. I personally enjoy it since I'm a black tea fanatic first and foremost.

I got this recently: https://yunomi.life/products/naturalitea-12-japanese-black-tea-setoya-momiji-100g

>>16886081
Nice, they have way more black tea than i remember

>>16864724
What’s a good rose tea? I was passing through Keene like 3 years ago and when to a middling sushi resteraunt that kinda looked like a pub run by Chinese or Vietnamese. I remember ordering either a rose tea with milk or a black teas with rose in it, and it was great and calming. Perfumey\, sure, but that’s rose. Anyone got any refs for good rose tea? Preferably something that doesn’t overpower the rose flavor with something else, I got some shitty box tea and it tasted all of citrus, none of rose.

>>16886163
Kind of related to your question but try rosehips, they have an awesome tart flavor that makes a good tea
https://mountainroseherbs.com/rosehips
You can buy some rosebuds and just brew them, but i suspect a rose tea would use some kind of flavoring, i will take a look around and see if i can find anything else
https://mountainroseherbs.com/rose-buds

>>16886291
Thanks for the rec! Though that
>tart
Comment Kinda has me having flashbacks to the shitty citrus flavor “rose” tea. I would prefer some other flavor to not overpower it. I think the tea I drank at Keene may have been a black tea base, but It obviously had recognizable notes of rose to it too. Though an out and out rose only tea might be the way to go, since I can always add black to it, It’s harder to take the black out of it.

>>16886319
As far as flavored teas then this is the /tea/ recommended house, it's not cheap but they do magic
https://www.mariagefreres.com/UK/2-rose-royale-scented-black-tea-T8363.html
https://www.mariagefreres.com/UK/2-rose-d-himalaya-cotton-muslin-tea-sachets-TB1260.html
Sorry i can't recommended something more local, flavored tea doesn't get discussed a lot here.
If you were really feeling brave you could buy some black tea and add a few drops of rosewater to you cup after you brew it, it should just work, but i have never tried it myself.

>>16886364
Thanks again teaanon. I might just try adding rose water to black and see if that works, if not, ill look into those two links you posted. And as for price, I don’t expect to be gulping it down like gatoraid after a workout, so I think I could justify it as a luxioury expanse if I go for.

>>16886401
https://yeeonteaco.com/collections/black-tea/products/rose-black-tea

>>16883953
I need a japanese setup
Maybe for my birthday next year, going to do a matcha set for christmas

I harvested the herbs in my garden, washed them, set them to dry and they're now ready
I'm going to do another batch today while it's still sunny

Speaking of, has anyone here ever tried making a rosemary infusion?
I've got a bush that's taller than me

>Drinking rosemary tea might potentially be helpful for people who are suffering from... anxiety, stress, depression
aw yiss

>>16864724
I'm trying to cut down on my caffine intake. What are some good herbal teas or otherwise hot tea/coffee substitutes that I can drink throughout the day? Bonus points if they have health benefits and are relatively inexpensive.

>>16888243
My man
https://mountainroseherbs.com/catalog/teas/herbal
Take you pick, good, tasty safe to drink regularly they also sell fill your own teabags for working with looseleaf, or you can get a finium infuser basket for all your herbal tea brewing needs.

>>16888123
Yes I just did like a week ago. I just boiled the fresh leaves for like 10 minutes, it smelled wonderful. It made a really bitter, piney, and mildly lemony drink.

>>16888800
Interesting, I'll try an evening infusion this week and I'll report back then.
I've been reading up a bit, it seems like you can both scrape the leaves or just use a twig as-is so you can remove it more easily but storing it like that would have taken a lot of space. It looks like the flavor gets bitter the more you infuse it, have you been keeping it on a rolling boil for the whole 10 minutes or just steeped them after reaching a boil? I remember reading that boiling makes the taste of your teas much flatter since you're basically removing the oxygen in the process, but at the same time extracting making herbal tisanes requires higher temperatures. Wonder if I could eyeball around 90/100 degrees and keep it steady around that making sure it doesn't boil but also doesn't get too low that it doesn't have enough strength to get all the good juices out of the herbs.

>>16888855
Not him, simmering the herbs on low heat is usually called a decoction you can read up about them by searching around a bit, it's usually used the the context of making more concentrated "medicinal" herbal liquids instead of more simple causal teas.

Are there any tea maps around? Like a list of gardens, their specialties, etc.? I care a lot about terroir, not because I have a developed palate, but because I have autism and I think it's really interesting.

>>16889305
I can't think of any, puerh usually lists the subregion or town or mountain it's from so you can pull up a map of yunnan on google maps and look that way.
As far as something finished and pretty looking none come to mind.

what are the best readily/commercially available teas. stuff easy to find at like kroger or something. i dont want caffiene and i hate the taste of green black and white tea leaves. so far all i've found is a really delicious hibiscus tisane from trader joes.

>>16889898
The caffeine free stuff from celestial seasonings, sleepy time mint, ginger + lemon, bengal spice, yogi teas also makes a kava tea if you really want to go hard.
If you want to get into herbal blends thst aren't full of artificial flavors than mountain rose herbs has a bunch of cheap high quality organic herbal tea blends

>>16888243
try some ginger tea (with lemon... or a little tumeric) or rooibos
research and try local plants if you feel adventurous

>>16889948
i meant to ask for readily available TISANES not available teas. I'm a tard. However if the thing you reccomended has no tea laves anyway thanks bro

WHICH ONE SHOULD I HAVE FIRST

can anyone that drinks matcha take a look at the matcha entry under brewing instructions in the pastebin?
Should i update the OP to try and better describe what is in the pastebin? Any tips or critiques appreciated

>>16889968
Yeah i recommended tisanes

>>16890000
Start with the cheapest, then the second cheapest then immediately jump up to the most expensive then from their go through in order the most expensive to the cheapest

Is there a reason Mei leaf isn't in the pastebin?

>>16890070
Yeah because the owner is a fucking liar trying to claim he is selling teas from 500 year old trees

>>16890127
But he's made entire documentaries showing him going to tea producers and showing the entire production process and terrior, I've never seen another tea vendor that actually makes me feel that comfortable with where the tea is coming from

>>16890070
how is your experience with mei leaf? any reccs?

regarding pastebin OP, you forgot cspuerh.com in "canadian" section. they were there before xg and I suspect they're connected.

>>16890169
check out moychay and farmer leaf regarding production and "terrior", even some white2tea shorts. it's one of his annoying qualities, he makes it all sound like he was there first and he gets exclusive tea. lurk moar my friend and you will find out that he's nothing more than talented huckster who knowingly mislabels teas he sells.

>>16890169
Well you are a sucker, unless he has a team of fuckers guarding the specific leaves he bought 24/7 while he is watching them get processed they just pull the old switcharoo while you are sleeping, or even more obvious bullshit when they say the cakes will take too long to make but they will send them along to you later on by mail.
Check out this video, it might help explain, but taking some dumbass westerner to some 500 year old tree and assuring them they will get the leaves later is a fucking classic Chinese scam they play on stupid tourists. When you understand that these teas from 500 year old tress are either illegal to harvest under penalty of death from the Chinese govt or they cost $5,000 or more per kilo it's obvious tht a guy selling 200g cakes from "500 year old trees" for $80 each is full of shit.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=kwvx3yrsyLU

>>16890186
I've had imperial green and da hong pao from Mei Leaf, the sweetness of the imperial green stood out a lot and tasted like there was actual sugar in the tea and there was a lot of flavor clarity, I loved the da hong pao's syrupy medicinal minerality and spices
I'll definitely try to get da hong pao from moychay and farmer leaf as well as ys to see if I have to go to Mei leaf for it to taste that good
>>16890194
I still find it hard to believe Don would intentionally sell scam tea considering his tea autism seems so genuine, but I know there is no getting around that I will just have to taste tea from a lot of vendors if I want to know which actually taste better

>>16890343
He is aware of the situation and the claims about his deception so he either allows himself to be deceived, or he is knowingly deceiving his customers, either way he is fulla shit.
If it makes you feel better outside of puer the criticism about him is that his prices are high not that his tea is necessarily bad.

>>16890343
imperial green is not a type of a tea, rather nickname, but to humour you I went on their website and it turns out is a long jing type of tea, suspiciously yellow looking, and it was sweet you say? nutty and beany is what one would suspect from a long jing, maybe there are really sugars added. very suspicious.
dahongpao as in modern oolong sold as dahongpao is a blend of yanchas, usually very cheap, because variety of material is used to hide shortcomings of ingredients.

let's make it easy for you, buy corresponding types of teas from ys with similar price per gram and report back.
or buy them from fullchea if it ships to you right now.

>>16890000
virgin monomaniac (waste of digits)
>>16883184
chad explorer

>>16890421
>nutty and beany is what one would suspect from a long jing,
It was a coconut sweetness and the taste of astringent green bean was very strong
What you said about da hong pao is mentioned on the listing
>Enter the marketeers. Knowing that the original Da Hong Pao bushes were commanding huge prices (around $1m per kg) and that there was a limited quantity of the Qi Dan clones, many sellers began blending other Wuyi varieties together to create an approximation of the pure Da Hong Pao. It is thought that around 80% of the Da Hong Pao being sold is blended tea usually with a combination of widely available Shui Xian and Rou Gui (sometimes mixed with a little Qi Dan). Therefore Da Hong Pao became a name associated with a style of tea rather than a strict variety.
Yes, I had it written down in my list as da hong pao mistakenly, still, I trust my taste buds and though this tea may be overpriced it tastes pretty good, I also tasted it before even reading the description but went back and read it after the fact because I was wondering what made it taste that way

>>16890601
>What you said about da hong pao is mentioned on the listing
see, he knows his teas and yet extorts you. it's not a secret knowledge. as I said, try similarly priced teas (if you can find them that expensive) from other vendors. and try maybe sounding less like a naive female next time you post.
>may be overpriced but it tastes good.
stupid fucking broads, I swear it's always some kind of stockholm syndrome with you.

>>16890636
I'm just saying you are overreacting if you think they are actually artificially sweetening their tea, I will definitely try bei dou from every vendor that sells it I just think acting like every tea from Mei leaf is some kind of fake mystery dust is a total overreaction

>>16890567
>>16890052
It was a sampler pack from Yunnan Sourcing, I'm in fact quite the explorative fellow.
I would naturally go from cheap to expensive but I don't know the prices of these samples so I'm going in rough order of how expensive the names sound. Up first I'm having the Pure Gold; it tastes and smells quite familiar but I can't put my finger on what. I think it's dried apples, like apple chips, but it also smells like the plum tree's flowers.

>>16890186
>"terrior"
one of the funny things about terroir is how it can become a self fulfilling prophecy. if people hear about a terroir and are told goods from there are supposed to taste like X and the highest quality goods tastes strongly of X it can create a scenario where the framers may prioritize producing goods that taste more like X in taste than what is traditional or even natural to the region in order to satisfy customers expectations thereby in turn causing a gradual warping in consumer expectations. people like to talk a bunch about how micro-climates and unique ecology make terroir but cant help but wonder if much of it is really anthropological in nature.

All I drink is tea, but I put in a lot less work than you guys

>>16890816
It's a pretty interesting subject, varietals vs soil vs climate vs altitude vs processing, and how much each plays a role. The Chinese deal with it in a sort of funny way by just identifying the flavor of a tea and then naming it as being from a terroir known for that flavor profile. Of course they don't alway do that but probably more often then not these days.

>>16890000
>Pure Gold Jin Jun Mei
Haha today I had that tea. I thought it tasted nasty previously but today I did it starting with 190 degree water and flash-steeps and it was good. When you have that one please do that. Also the wet leaves smell like fucking bbq sauce

>>16890896
Thank you for that insightful post, anon.

>>16873865
>kruiden ketchup
myn nikker

>>16890948
>Flash steeps
What do you mean?

>>16891288
You whip your dick out while the tea is steeping

>>16891288
Flash steeps means pour the tea out immediately. For the first few steeps of that tea it's ready as soon as the water hits it.

>>16873134
>logitech G400
yes, faggot. you're old. the shit you cared about only remains in memories now.

got a new gaiwan today
decided to try some YunnanSourcing certified organic black tea -- spring harvest 2020

>>16891611
first infusion

>>16891616
this shit is delicious
not super strong, but very meaty and savory, with a bit of sweetness at the end
on the 2nd infusion now and it tastes like the first with less intensity at the front and more sweetness at the end

>>16891629
3rd infusion now and it's sweet from the beginning now with the savory coming in stronger right after and lingering longer
very cozy

>>16891611
>>16891629
I've never really tried black tea, what would be a good place to start?

>>16891720
it's where i started after a dragon well green tea
if you think those flavor notes sound appealing then buy some and try it out

>>16891611
Sweet gaiwan, that's a really aggressive surface effect

>>16891757
yeah, i was surprised by it too but it's really grown on me after looking it over in-person
plus it's very comfortable to brew with

>>16867837
Actual chamomile flowers are way better, it's what I'm drinking right now.

Found a place near me that does like 2 day shipping that carries a fantastic Russian Caravan. The bag smelling like a campfire, it's delicious.

>>16891720
If you want a strong malty black tea, the kind that goes good with milk, get an english or irish breakfast from upton tea, if you want a softer more fruity or sometimes chocolaty black tea sample a few offerings from yunnan sourcing.
For ine kind of indian take on black tea get some second flush Darjeeling from Margaret's hope estate, i think upton tea has it and other sites do too if you search around some. It's a sort of mild somewhat fruity black tea known for is muscat notes a sort of wine grape flavor if you will.

>>16891787
any good recs on where to buy russian caravan online? i live in the midwest if it matters

>>16873934
It's the pattern in the surface, it's not actually dented.

>>16891779
Are you the anon that has ordered a few from that artist you like? Im quite fond of the look of this one

>>16891805
nah, i haven't posted in /tea/ in many months
i'm the one with the gourd-shaped gaiwan
i think i know who you're talking about and, if i'm right, then i ordered this one from the same etsy shop he got his from

>>16891795
Upton tea on their website, they have two grades russian caravan and finest russian caravan. Both seem good so look at the reviews to decide which to get.
https://www.uptontea.com/afternoon-tea/russian-caravan-loose-leaf-black-tea/p/V00411/
https://www.uptontea.com/afternoon-tea/russian-caravan-loose-leaf-black-tea/p/V00093/

>>16891816
ty lad, much appreciated

>>16891814
Ahh that makes sense, the style look familiar, good pickup anon

>>16891795
This is where I got it, they're out of Nordeast Minneapolis.
https://mrskellystea.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=131

>>16891834
hah, thanks for that
i actually just placed an order with >>16891816 's link, so i'll give yours a shot next time

>>16891823
ty lad, having a very nice night with it

>>16891858
Hope you like them
If you really get into Taiwan (formosa) oolongs there are some good Taiwanese vendors in the pastebin, tea-masters.com usually has a good price on a sample pack with a good variety of different oolongs.
https://www.tea-masters.com/en/samplers/1437-teamasters-sampler-for-beginners-april-2021.html

>>16886003
>>16886049
Ah nuts those all look good but I was looking for a kyusu that is glazed since this will be my only single serve. To be honest I always just prefer glazed anyways. Any ideas? Have some time to poke around now so gave me some ideas at least

>>16892493
I think Japanese clay is pretty inert but i understand wanting something glazed.
Its not a kyusu but these guys have a good selection of glazed pots in that range, they have 9 hole style filters instead of mesh but they might work for you.
https://www.taiwanteacrafts.com/shop/product-category/teaware-type/teapots/
Otherwise just dig around google looking for kyusu in that size, i looked through the Japanese vendors in the pastebin and if i saw a porcelain one i would have posted it.

>>16892515
These guys also have some nice porcelain pots
https://www.tea-masters.com/en/17-porcelain

>>16891611
bro your tea thingie's corroded

>>16892515
I've always read that it can absorb the flavoring of the tea so if you drink a variety it can pollute the other flavors. Maybe not a big deal?

>>16893952
I tried to do some reading about that. Seems there two factors. First would be as you said and second, different clays could affect different teas in different ways. After that it seemed that the rabbit hole went much deeper so i noped out. Honestly it was a little bit scary how dedicated some people were to this clay-tea pairing stuff.

>>16893952
It depends a lot on the clay, my (limited) knowledge is more around Chinese clays, but they tend to rane from very porous where they absorb flavor and change the taste of your tea significantly to very dense and nonporus where the clay is basically acting like porcelain.
Think Japanese clays, especially outside of niche artist stuff tends to be quite non porus and non reactive but again i understand someone mot wanting to take a change on a clay pot and feeling like they can never get the smell of ripe puerh out of it.
I use a semiporus chinese clay pot for just about all my tea, with the exception of ripe puer and other stinky post fermented teas and i have never had problems with flavor cross contamination, from deep roasted oolongs to young raw puers to old stinky hong kong storage puer it all seems to work fine.

The rosemary tea was ok, but I really should have kept it steeped further, it was sort of watery.

>only rooibos tea I can find is this shit
guess ill have to fork over some shekels to bister bezos for some real shit

>>16894883
Mountain rose herbs,
It is so much cheaper
https://mountainroseherbs.com/red-rooibos-tea
Also consider trying honeybush its a super sweet cousin to rooibos
https://mountainroseherbs.com/honeybush-tea
And some tea bags if you need them
https://mountainroseherbs.com/press-n-brew-tea-bags
Or get a brew basket from finum on ebay or amazon or something and use that for all your loose leaf brewing

Is she a reference to how "matcha" deserts are terrible?

>>16894908
thank you my fellow Aryan tea enjoyer.

>>16894924
I'm literally black

>>16895137
this isint the anon you replied to

How do those tea samplers on yunnan work, can i just buy one as a one off or will it end up a subscription, also would any of you even recommend trying it or am i better off just getting some stuff off top selling? I was going to get an oolong set

>>16890194
>When you understand that these teas from 500 year old tress are either illegal to harvest under penalty of death from the Chinese govt or they cost $5,000 or more per kilo
sauce for that claim?
I tend to lie more in the middle of the skepticism scale on this topic. i absolutely would be deeply incredulous at any "500+ year old tree" claim but i also don't believe all the farmers are out to scam you or the vendors are too dumb to spot switcheroos. trust should be earned but so too should distrust be. just like with other goods people will embellish the truth for marketing purposes so take all claims with a grain of salt. at the end of the day the proof is in the cup.

>>16890421
>dahongpao as in modern oolong sold as dahongpao is a blend of yanchas
not all "dahongpao" is made out of multiple varietals and nobody uses the strict definition the only the "mother bushes" are "real" dahongpao (not even the Chinese) unless they want to try to up sell their $1000/gram tea or brag about buying it. besides if we are going to be skeptical why would we believe the "mother bushes" really are the same as the originals or that they are in fact special in some way? and even if the variety is, there are many plants grown off the cuttings of the "originals". if dahongpao really was only a handful of bushes it would have never have gotten as popular as it did. you don't become and remain famous for hundreds of years by making a tea that next to no one actually drinks.

>>16894909
She cute.

>>16895585
>sauce
Did you watch the video in the post you replied to?

>>16895488
>How do those tea samplers on yunnan work, can i just buy one as a one off or will it end up a subscription
most of the samplers on yunnansourcing are just samplers. the ones that are listed as "Tea Club Box" you can straight up buy to get just this months box or chose to subscribe. i am not sure how they handle shipping on their Tea Club Boxes however. they have all this info right on their site: https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/tea-club-boxes

>also would any of you even recommend trying it or am i better off just getting some stuff off top selling?
depends on what you are looking for. most of YS's samplers are not sold at much of a discount so if a sampler does not have what you want you may as well just pick it out yourself. you should mostly end up with good tea either way. if oolongs are what you are looking for this does not look like a bad set: https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/samplers/products/introduction-to-chinese-oolong-tea-sampler

>>16895585
Anyway i cant be assed to find the website but the most obvious example of this was some small eruo online tea shop i saw in either germany or spain that was run by a young couple. They had their very first ever house tea pressed and there were pictures of them in a village with a famous huge old tree, pic related. Their story was that a nice old man from the village met with them and showed them the tree, he said it wasn't the rifht time yo harvest but he assured them that the villagers would pick the leaves and process the cakes, and once they were ready in a few months he would ship the finished tea cakes to Germany for them. They had all these wonderful pictures of them standing near the tree with a bunch of villagers. They were selling cakes from this extremely famous allegedly ancient tea tree for something like $60 for 200g.
I almost kind of felt sorry for them, except they were apparently unknowingly passing the scam on to their customers.

>>16895585
Sorry for triple replying but it's well known that villagers from famous tea areas like bingdao import leaves from the local area and then sell them as leaves from that village, and why wouldn't they these people live in mud and stick houses and suddenly the tea from their backyard is worth a few thousand a kilo. Only a fool wouldn't take advantage of that.

>>16895816
>Did you watch the video in the post you replied to?
i have in the past but it has been awhile.

>>16895843
oh, i do absolutely believe that scams happen and there are idiots or intentionally deceptive vendors. my point was that i automatically don't assume all tea is fake or mislabeled unless i get some serious red flags. I don't doubt that a lot of tea is embellished but i kind of just asume that to be the case and so long a the claim and price is within reason i tolerate it. claiming "real" tea should cost an arm and a leg can be just as much of a racket (because it drives up prices and profit margins) as selling cheap "fake" tea (and just paying a lot does not guaranty authenticity anyways). Puerh most definitely gets shipped around from place to place occasionally but there are limits with what you can get away with. if you sell wilted young plantation tea from the other side of Yunnan and try to claim it is Bingdao nobody is gong to believe you or be willing to pay a premium for it. some true suckers do exist but are rare enough to make it difficult to base your whole business model off of.

>small generalist tea shop
they tend to be the worst about this either intentionally or inadvertently. i have seen so many small shops online selling sketchy looking white label puerh productions as "gushu" or trying to sell cheap mini toucha as somehow being representative of puerh.

>>16895973
Not trying to be confrontational but i think that video iliked really helps explain the difference in mentality between china and the west, the economic factors and play and the sort of social interaction between tea buyer and seller.
Am i saying that every village farmer is a scammer? No hardly, many of them work their asses off and barley get buy. But some take advantage, and yes it usually involves foreigners or tourist types that don't look out for themselves.
A good more common example from the video, which i think the kind tea mall guy, or maybe bitter leaf mentioned before is villages where there is a grove of old trees and then a bunch of 20 year old bushes, the farmer pays pickers by the bag, they are gonna grab as many of those younger leaves as they can get away with. They get more money that way, the farmer is probably going to look the other way because people want to pay much more for leaves from the old trees, so the bigger the harvest the better. Again farmers feom super expensive areas may bring in tea from outside the village and sell it as their own. It's not always cutthroat and you can develop relationships, but as some random outsider coming to buy tea if you aren't watching it get processed and watching the factory press it, if you take eyes off it, you are taking a very real chance. So when it comes to people like the guy we started this discussion about, who is selling suspiciously cheap cakes from suspiciously old trees, i tend to be pretty skeptical, no matter how much pretty footage they got in some old village somewhere.

>>16895857
>bingdao import leaves from the local area and then sell them as leaves from that village
in that case its dishonest but is all that egregious so long as the tea is similar in quality, character and comes from the same general area. i don't really care about the legal village lines only the quality ans terroir associated with it.

>Only a fool wouldn't take advantage of that.
yes but you still have to be able to get away with it. if you overemphasize that real puerh is expensive and rare (therefore driving up the prices) you paradoxically create a market that favors widespread dishonesty.

as a side note i cant help but wounder how much the obsession with gushu is a modern trend? was classic era puerh actually made of "gushu" and not just whatever was available and easiest to pick? back when puerh was dirt cheap would the villagers really go out of their way to only pick the difficult to reach tall old trees instead of shorter younger ones? it seams likely to me that it was always a blend of what was on hand at the time.

again, i don't really disagree with you here. i guess i am just saying to interpret things with a level of moderation and don't be needlessly paranoid. be aware of the common scams, call out the $15 "LBZ" bings all you want and sure assume most tea is a bit embellished but i don't really see the point of screaming "its fake, its fake" about every single tea even the plausible stuff.

>>16895137
no one cares nigger you're still my aryan brother

>>16896114
>as a side note i cant help but wounder how much the obsession with gushu is a modern trend?
I completely agree that i think the entire concept of old trees = better is comically overblown. I think it has roots in ideas from traditional Chinese medicine where older and more rare ingredients = more powerful medicinal effects.
I'm extremely skeptical that more than a few tee tree that are over 100+ years old actually exist at all and suspect the level of age inflation going on at this point would be shocking to someone outside of the puer world. Ive had a few teas that relatively trustworthy vendors have assured me "taste like they are from old trees" and they were good but they certainly weren't some magical experience.
>i don't really see the point of screaming "its fake, its fake" about every single tea even the plausible stuff
Yeah i probably take it too far with my cynicism sometimes. It's tough to strike a good balance between trying to set myself realistic expectations and just assuming everyone is a liar. There are definitely degrees to this, i try not to begrudge vendors a little bit of wiggle room. But when i hear claims that really set offf my bullshit detector i tend to assume that specific vendor is dishonest more often then not, or too naive for the tea business.

new thread coming right up

>>16896087
>some random outsider coming to buy tea if you aren't watching it get processed and watching the factory press it, if you take eyes off it, you are taking a very real chance.
if you cant tell that the tea they sold you is radically different then advertised or lower quality then you suck as a sourcer and if the tea is still good and if the quality is as expected and the price is fair then wheres the problem? i guess it brings up the question of how much does it matter if a tea is sold as "gushu" that does not really come from "ancient trees" but tastes like what it "should" taste and is reasonably priced? i dislike the dishonesty and don't support it but at the end of the day care more for the taste of the tea in my cup then the exclusivity pissing contest the foodie stuff tends to turn into.

>So when it comes to people like the guy we started this discussion about, who is selling suspiciously cheap cakes from suspiciously old trees, i tend to be pretty skeptical, no matter how much pretty footage they got in some old village somewhere.
i am on board with that. i don't trust the ages given by Meileaf or Verdant.

>>16864724
new thread
>>16896218
>>16896218
>>16896218