/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>18050670
haha Thats my teanus wenus!
You know what you have in your hand there?
My teasus wenus of course!!! haha

Im out of smokey lapsang anons....
Time for another trip to the asian market.
This is my secind 200g tin in less than 2 moths.

>>18050670
i only drink twinings.

>>18050670
Oh so this is how you apply a tea enema. I see it really is an old Chinese medical secret!

>>18050733
Imagine the smell

>>18050670
It's a dildo, right ?

Is there a non-teabag version of this? It was discontinued a few years ago in Europe, and was the only teabag tea I still held onto like some kind of guilty pleasure because the full vanilla taste was just so good. I've been searching for a 'real' tea like it ever since it's discontinuation, but I never found anything. YS sometimes has teas with subtle vanilla notes alongside a bigger, more complex flavour profile, but i'm looking for something where the vanilla flavour is less to the background and more center stage.

>>18051054
Are you in europe?
Try this
https://www.mariagefreres.com/UK/2-vanille-des-iles-T871.html
Or look for other vanilla teas they sell, but that one seems to be just vanilla.
https://www.mariagefreres.com/UK/2-scented-black-tea-vanille-orchidee-noire-T8564.html
https://www.mariagefreres.com/UK/2-black-orchid-T976.html
Or just buy a sweet Chinese blacl tea with fruut or chocolate notes and a small bottle of decent quality vanilla extract and add somewhere between a few drops and 1/8 teaspoon to the cup after the tea is finished brewing

'tiss' bro, try searching for part of the pastebin line such as
4chan.org/ck/eex
Or
4chan.org/ck/xjv

>>18051354
I think just adding /tsg/
For tea sippers general is fine

>>18051508
Oh I thought it stood for tea spergs :/

Is iced tea a delight or a sacrilege?

>>18051544
I've seen videos of southerners making it and it's a sacrilege. Nothing wrong with iced tea inherently. Just don't make it by boiling teabags for 15 minutes with a pinch of baking soda.

>>18051544
It's fine,
But fuck sun tea

>>18051664
Moonlight tea > sun tea

>>18051707
Just put it in the damn fridge, you don't get anything out of leaving it on your windowsill all day

https://gorreana.pt/en/shop//encosta-de-bruma-loose-leaf-80g-25
This is tempting me. There's a premium tin of bud+tip green tea, then there's a paper box of the same tea that costs half the price. They finally restocked orange pekoe too. Must be recently picked.

>>18051099
Thank you anon! I'm gonna try those out.

do i get a new electric kettle or more tea with my monthly budget?

>>18052537
You can't drink a kettle. Unless your old one is broken (assuming you already have an electric), I'd get the new tea or save for another month.

>>18050677
7.5g a day is 225g a month. Nothing alarming here in my record.

I've been hooked on Mark's and Spencer's earl grey recently

I love this lil nigga like you wouldn't believe
Teafren for 5 years and counting

>>18053158
Forgot image like a retard

>>18053163
Nice anon, perfect size for brews

>>18053271
its a 750ml ish pot
>fill to about 3/4
>decant into soup mug
tea for the day

>>18052612
i was thinking of getting a temperature controllable gooseneck one, but im also tempted to get the new farmerleaf stuff too.

Anyone ever try dandelion tea? I recently saw some at the store for the first time and decided to give it a try. Definitely not what I expected (much tastier than anticipated). Its taste has more in common with coffee than with most herbal teas.

Anyone ever try dandelion root tea? I recently saw some at the store for the first time and decided to give it a try. Definitely not what I expected (much tastier than anticipated). Its taste has more in common with coffee than with most herbal teas.

>>18053377
Not much flavor imo, mildly bitter and a little nutty. It tastes like roots

>>18053364
I always go for more tea over gear. That's why years later i still way out my tea on a paper plate and don't have one of the cool tea tables that drains.

>>18053377
I heard that its roasted a lot of the time and it seems popular in those sort of herbal coffee substitute blends along with things like chicory

>>18053364
Nothing wrong with either choice. Personally, I've just used a huge electric adjustable Mr. Coffee kettle for a few years now. Maybe 1.8L capacity, so it is a bit large, but you'll find that being able to pour quickly and liberally enables you to do fine brew times more easily too. Though, I can see the benefit to space and comfort of using a smaller gooseneck kettle over multiple infusions too. I don't know how quickly Farmer Leaf ships or how much he'll stock, but maybe you can order his new leaf now and buy the kettle next month so you can enjoy both in a timely manner.
>>18053163
Looks comfortable for some light greens or maybe some shou. I haven't used a proper teapot in a long time, but I'd probably run long shou infusions if I did.

>>18051544
>Is iced tea a delight or a sacrilege?
It's sacrilicious!

>>18051576
>Just don't make it by boiling teabags for 15 minutes with a pinch of baking soda.
And 87 cups of sugar.

>>18051664
I had a roommate at uni in the US who was from... some southern state. Can't remember which. Anyway, he made suntea all the time. Just put a bunch of tea bags into a large glass jar and left it out from dawn to dusk. Wasn't terrible, but not my cup of tea, as it were. Where I'm from, we do something similar with wine and peaches instead of water and tea.
I brew my iced tea using 7g of tea in 375ml water at the right temperature for whatever tea I'm using, steep for 1-3 minutes depending on the tea, strain, press and cool for an hour in the fridge. Pour into my 1L bottle through paper filter to remove sediment and add fresh, cold water to fill the bottle. I generally don't sweeten it unless it's hibiscus too, to which I add a bit of sugar.
It's good.

busting in to some wuyi star brand charcoal roasted lapsang ive been aging for a few years in its original vac pack packaging. 2018 harvest, i liked the last bag i had a few years ago but was disappointed it was (lighty) charcoal roasted instead of smoked. I'm going to brew this western style the same way i brew my cheap smokey lapsangs.
Leaf looks massively different from the cheap stuff

>>18053887
The leaves both before and after brewing smell incredibly dense and chocolatey. The charcoal roated notes are mild, but it was never heavily roasted smelling or tasting.
The initial sips are deep chocolate ( the black tea kind more than the ripe puer kind) and it's balanced with some brighter lightly citrusy notes. Lingering flavors of hot chocolate.
Overall a very solid black tea

>>18053925
Sounds pleasantly smooth, and the leaves look decent as well. Isn't Wuyi Star a lower cost brand too? Not bad if so. Chocolate notes are at their nicest when you can clearly pick up some kind of berry/citrus/etc in between. How much did it run you, and where did you find it? I'd like to try more reds and oolongs down the line.

>>18054016
I got it on ebay i think, i didn't see any when i looked the other day, i got it a few years ago but i think it was $35 for two 50g bags in a box. It probably costs half that if you order off taobao.

>>18054016
It's definitely straddling the line between black tea and oolong. Overall ive been pretty happy with the wuyi star stuff i tried but the roasts on their nwuyi oolong aren't quite as dark as i like. You can look up their website and translate to get. apretty good description of all their teas including roast level.
Wuyistar-tea.com

>>18053925
Tossed the leave into the mug to brew them out grampa style, good still, not as strong but it's not getting malty or blasting me with tannins

>>18054033
I see. I wouldn't expect $35/100g without watching market trends, but they seem tasty anyway. Would be cool to see more anons posting about eBay, Taobao, and local Asian market finds like this. I still have a lot of varying-grade leaf from a local market I posted about some time back, and I've been trying to use lately, mostly for coldbrews. Can certainly be a mixed bag (floral-aromatized leaf is the worst), but there can be some good finds here and there.
>>18054050
I always thought of it as an oolong, but I guess it's usually considered a red. Perhaps this is kind of like how some people debate yue guang bai being a white or sheng. Nice packaging on the leaves either way. Wish the site had more pics of the actual leaves over said nice packaging, but it does make me want to try it either way.

What tea is best for rainbow steam? I want to get real stoned and look at droplets tonight.
https://youtu.be/R6iD1yf0mqc

>>18054222
For you? Cum tea

>>18054222
I get a much less dramatic version of that effect with many teas, it seems to mostly be based on the variables of water temperature and how you pour, you will just have to mess around untill you get the effect. I'm not sure if any tea is particularly better or worse

>>18054016
>Isn't Wuyi Star a lower cost brand too?
no, i think they are generally more mid-range as far as branded wuyi oolongs go. the one catch is that is that the big brands make products in multiple price/quality brackets so you don't want to just look at brand.

>>18054244
I figured "oily" viscous heicha might reflect a bit more off the surface or carry a little more in the droplets to create the effect. I wonder if a real shiny jianzhan cup would play into it.

Anyone use one of the glass teapots from Yunnan Sourcing? I'm getting the fabled black gold bi luo chun, some more red Ai Lao and maybe a teapot from them. I like the ones without the infuser so my leaves can really open up.

>>18054417
I havent used one buy they should work just fine, they are about as cheap as you will fin them anywhere. The ones with the litte metal spring in the neck to hold the leaves in mostly work well. But if you have a dusty or chopped up tea you will get a lot coming through, you also occasionally have to remove the spring and then reinstall it to get stuck bits of leaf out of it. The only concern i would have with those is that you want to pour all the liquid out after every brew, you don't want to leave half the water in there with the leaves continuing to brew. So think about finding a smaller one or a big mug to pair with it.

>>18054417
if you're importing from china you might have to pay import tax on teapots/accessories. in know for a fact you do when shipping into the uk(but not for tea itself). for me i like them for western brewing as they can usually how a few cups worth

What's the best British tea? Is Yorkshire any good?

What the fuck is with the smell of rooibos? Is green rooibos less gross smelling? Flavor otherwise, is, acceptable. Mildly vanilla like with some earthiness? The smell is so fucking awful though.

>>18055064
Brew for a shorter amount of time, around 90 seconds. Honeybush is similar but better in my opinion no idea about green roibos.

>>18055060
Its okay

>>18055127
So like, gong fu style? I'll try it I guess.

Someone gifted me this black tea that has little bits of dried mango and stuff in it, actually pretty good.

>>18055147
Smell is ok now, makes a fucking mess, flavor basically nothing now. I'll buy some other shit I guess, including green rooibos.

>>18055127
I'll try honeybush I guess. Thanks.

>>18055154
What brand/offering, exactly? How would you describe it?

>>18055301
It's tea

>>18055795
No shit

>>18054968
the guys in china sometimes seem to lower the price of the item on the package to reduce tax, love those bastards

grandpa brewing in a mug with leaves that float sucks lol

>>18057157
Usually leaves floating means the weater you used wasn't initially hot enough. If you use hot enough water you will occasionally get a leaf or two that floats, and no matter what stems without any leaf attached will frequently float but if lots of leaves are floating it's generally an issue with the brew. One of the old tea bloggers said if that happens to him he considers it a failed brew and starts over with new leaf. I think that's an tad excessive but obviously its not ideal. Also make sure you add the leaf to the mug first, then add hot water, not the other way around.

>>18051544
There is a Chinese restaurant by me that unironically makes the best ice tea I have ever had. They use the same type of tea they serve as hot tea. Ice tea made with quality tea is a whole other world compared to the lipton boiled for 10 minutes my parents made.

>>18057254
it was longjing green tea so thats why i used colder water, i think this tea floats anyways even with boiling water though but i havent tried it

>>18057276
Oh yeah it's been a few years but i think when i did longing grampa style i went for 90c and they eventually sank, but it might have been after the first time i refilled it

drinking a really nice young sheng and yaobao blended cake i got from a liquid proust a year or so ago.

its wonderfully floral, a bit pungent, with a juicy "watermelon rind" background, and a nice lingering aftertaste. the tea is bright and energizing but not overstimulating. this blend strikes a really good balance on having just enough kick to be interesting but at the same time never being harsh. this is some of the most easy drinking young sheng i have ever had.

Its one of my favorite teas and i wish i had bought more when it was still available. I have not had any other tea quite like it. it was cheap too, only around 10¢/g.

>>18057643
I keep hearing people say that yaobao has that watermelon/rind flavor, very interesting. That's purple sheng too right?

>>18057678
>I keep hearing people say that yaobao has that watermelon/rind flavor, very interesting.
probably depends on the yaobao as the others i have tried did not taste like that. the one thing i have found consistent with yaobao is that it tends to be quite floral. i had one that had pine sap flavor as well.

>That's purple sheng too right?
not as far as i can tell, though the sheng may be a touch darker than expected for its age (2019). perhaps its some of the new style sheng that's a bit more oxidized and has a stronger Sha Qing. it could just be the natural color of the tea though. I don't know but whatever it is its tasty.

>>18057760
Nice, cake looks pretty decent for 10c per g

>>18057765
>Nice, cake looks pretty decent for 10c per g
it is, though its not that hard to find decent plain sheng for that price if you are patient. I just really like this particular blend. some time i may try to hunt down the producer on taobao and see if they still make it.

>Recently considered delving into the coffee world.
>Didn't purchase any related tools before big sales ended, too late now.
>Anons suddenly start posting about tasty cakes and reds.
>Tfw the desire to find neat deals on Fullchea starts up again, and the site-wide sale just ended there too.
JUST
>>18057843
>some time i may try to hunt down the producer on taobao and see if they still make it.
If you do, by all means, consider posting about your experience in the thread. A few anons have mentioned interest in trying to go direct to Taobao for some nice deals. Don't know how favorable shipping will be, but even I'm quite intrigued by the prospect of treasure hunting like that. Don't know quite what I'd look for, but I bet it could be quite the neat haul if you play your cards right.

>>18058057
>If you do, by all means, consider posting about your experience in the thread.
i will eventually but you may be waiting for awhile. I have enough things i want to try from more easily accessible vendors to keep me occupied for some time. hunting down uncommon heicha will probably be what finally drives me to taobao. as an aside i really hate that you need an account to browse taobao.

>>18058057
>desire to find neat deals
You like ripe? These lil guys slap, clean and chocolate, maybe some slight bitterness but nothing outside of a standard chocolate context
2006 ripe for 8¢ per gram
https://www.puerhshop.com/new/index.php?route=product/product&path=9_24&product_id=382
You feeling lucky?
Haven't tasted this one but i feel good about it. Pesticide free means the material should be somewhat interesting. Probably a unlicensed snnp production made by someone in a random village without major tea farms. Stick it in your pumidor for a month before you even taste it.
https://www.puerhshop.com/new/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=599

>>18058057
>neat deals on Fullchea
if you want to try something new and reasonably cheap this is pretty good:
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/anhua-baishaxi-2017-yr-tribute-tianjian-dark-tea-loose-tea-200g-p0394.html
i would describe it as a bit like a fu zhuan that is lightly roasted, though realy it is still its own thing. i will try and type up some better notes sometime. though if you like fu and roasted teas i doubt you would dislike this. also the price of $17.76 is rather apropos right now.

>>18058099
I do like both shou and sheng. How is Puershop's shipping like for small-medium orders?
>Probably a unlicensed snnp production made by someone in a random village without major tea farms.
I welcome a good mystery. Some of my favorite teas so far have been modest-cost offerings from a minority village farmer's garden. I'm not trying to dive more deeply into bigger sheng offerings at the moment, but I will keep this shop in mind for the future. An aside, is any of their non-pu'er worth taking a look at sometime?
>>18058114
By coincidence, I was looking at that among a few others earlier. I had a sample portion of some 2013 Anhua Tian Jian once; it opened up my eyes to the potential of good heicha. I'll never forget how deeply it tasted so clearly of honey. It was because of that single sample that I got into some great liu bao later on. I'll wishlist this one and see if it and some others get another nice drop again. Have you tried any of the recent metal tin releases or red teas?

How do I into tea? I'm thinking about kicking the coffeejew

>>18058271
>How is Puershop's shipping like for small-medium orders?
Iirc its pretty good. I think both my orders shipped for $10

>>18058280
Check out the pastebin. Buy a cheap brew basket like the ones from finum. Brew tea in mugs. Enjoy.
If you want to mention what country your in and what tea types you want to try i can probably make some suggestions

Drinking some smoked Lapsang. Didn't like it when I first bought it, the smoke was way too powerful. After storing it for a few weeks in almost air tight containers it's really good.

>>18053364
I was never able to get the right temperature for green teas before getting a thermometer and later a temperature controlled kettle. For other tea types it's not as important.

For me its Tazo Earl Grey. I get it for free since I always take a couple from the hotel breakfast bar.

>>18058429
What do you think mellowed it out if it was nearly airtight? I've been thinking about and experimenting to negate the excessive potency of certain aromas recently too. I've become accustomed to thinking I didn't like teas with floral aromas or flowers added because they were too potent and grossly overpowering in general for my taste, especially when made hot.

Ended up coldbrewing and diluting some really cheap, old bulk jasmine greens (two types) and pouring off daily for about three days now. The resulting liquid (dilution), mixed with some stevia and a small amount of apple cider vinegar shifts the floral qualities to an undernote, and makes the tea flavor+acid go up, so it becomes not only brighter and snappy, but a touch less drying. Quite refreshing, very low kcals, and easy to make. I mixed it with goat milk and crushed mixed berries a few times now as well, and the resulting flavor was really unique and satisfying. Excellent, smooth texture.

>>18058318
Thanks, I appreciate it
US
Black tea, Green Tea, Chai Tea

>>18058271
>Have you tried any of the recent metal tin releases
no, i don't have any of fullchea's liu bao tins but i am pretty sure someone else here does. in any case i would expect them to be at least decent if you like liu bao. never heard anything bad about three cranes.

>red teas?
i have not had any from fullchea. i would look at the reviews or blind buy something that looks fun and isn't too expensive.

out of the one without reviews this one looks interesting to me:
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/yunnan-black-tea-with-honey-sweet-notes-fengqing-dianhong-tea-red-brick-250g-p0700.html
its cheap and comes from a recognizable if not particularly prestigious brand (puerh nerd).

this one is a well known brand but is more expensive and i am not sure how expensive this production is supposed to be:
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/2019-yunnan-old-tree-black-tea-dianhong-feng-qing-red-tea-cake-357g-p0593.html

otherwise the Russians seem to like these teas:
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/2018-fenghetang-yunnan-black-tea-dianhong-maofeng-500g-p0325.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/chinese-tea-black-tea-jin-jun-mei-teas-kim-chun-mei-cha-p0499.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/aaa-keemun-black-tea-top-quality-chinese-health-food-to-lose-weight-qimen-black-tea-250-g-honey-sweet-taste-kraft-package-premium-quality-tea-p0095.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/yingde-black-tea-yinghong-no9-tea-british-red-tea-chinese-organic-food-sweet-taste-te-for-weight-loss-lowering-blood-lipid-250g-premium-quality-tea-p0098.html

>>18058057
Do both. Pick up some coffee gear and tasty cakes and I'll trade you some homeroast.

>>18058495
Sure this is a good more mild black tea, doesn't have that strong malt notes of typical teabags, pretty sweet
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/black-tea-spring-2022/products/high-mountain-red-ai-lao-mountain-black-tea
This is a more traditional malty black tea, think teabags but much nicer.
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/black-tea-spring-2022/products/yunnan-black-gold-bi-luo-chun-black-tea
For green teas
This is my favorite kind of green, less savory than Japanese greens, has a nice flavor and a hint on nuttyness from the way its processed
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/green-tea-spring-2022/products/premium-grade-dragon-well-tea-from-hangzhou-long-jing-tea
Another green tea that might be fun, i haven't tried it
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/green-tea-spring-2022/products/laoshan-village-pine-needles-green-tea
For chai you gotta go to a whole different world.
These guys have tons of it, i would probably just go for the standard original type but feel free to get whatever sounds good.
https://www.vahdam.com/collections/chai-tea-loose-leaf
I think the easiest way to get started is to just get one of thesr finum brew baskets and brew in a mug. That's the simplest way to get started.
Don't be afriad to ask questions.
You can keep things as simple or make them as elaborate as you want but the easiest way to get started is to try some tea and see what you like. I switched from coffee and i find tea is much more relaxing even with a nice caffeine kick

>>18058530
Thanks anon they look great I'll post back once they're delivered

>>18058577
Cheers

>>18058474
I'm not sure, I think that little bit of air might be enough to mellow it out. I also have a few other teas that have lost some of their high aromas and taste worse after only a few weeks. There are probably better ways of storing tea than what I'm doing now but I haven't looked into it yet.

>>18058509
Nice selections, anon. That 'Shudaizi' brick is quite intriguing just from the appearance alone, though I don't know much about the brand beyond maybe hearing the name before. It was neat to blind buy white cakes from Fullchea before, so I think I'll wait a little while for another one of their common site sales and new inventory restocks to get a ~4 item blind buy haul. I'll see about picking the brick up, and posting in the future when I buy whatever looks good to me then.

>>18058519
Thank you for the generous offer, anon. I'll be direct, I'm a bit bothered I let all the sales go, but it shouldn't be much longer for the next ones, so I'll just wait it out for both and buy in next time. If you're open to it a little later on, it would be great to try your beans then.

Off-topic rant; I believe we discussed my coffee aroma tea experiments in the past, and you seemed interested in updates. I don't know if you remember it or were around for my follow-up posts in late May, but I did acquire some 'real' development in the leaves then. TLDR:
>The Haiwan shou had the most development over the dong ding oolong despite being in for much less time, probably due to better airflow for aroma adulteration.
>Muting of aggressive characteristics in general.
>Comes out a bit sweet and milky for first few infusions, then drops to being more (inoffensively) plain relatively quickly.
I used some old pumpkin spice grounds for the experiment, and they adopted some of those qualities too. Deeper infusions would exacerbate those spice qualities and let them linger some, too. I think it would have been more appealing and generally cleaner if I chose to use more natural grounds, though.These are the same grounds that affected my first bag of "accident tieguanyin" which I liked, so I figured the process would be similar. I don't think the tea came out especially good, perhaps plain rather than just bad. Still, it was a good learning experience.

I also have my homemade lemon chenpi (about ~72g worth) that has aged for around half a year now. I am unsure what to do with it yet, and keep deferring >>18058579
tasting it since there is so little, and it is still young, but the aroma is excellent. Continues to be rather sweet and increasingly concentrated, yet smooth. I don't intend to blogpost, but I thought these topics might tickle your fancy.

>>18058519
Thank you for the generous offer, anon. I'll be direct, I'm a bit bothered I let all the sales go, but it shouldn't be much longer for the next ones, so I'll just wait it out for both and buy in next time. If you're open to it a little later on, it would be great to try your beans then.

Off-topic rant; I believe we discussed my coffee aroma tea experiments in the past, and you seemed interested in updates. I don't know if you remember it or were around for my follow-up posts in late May, but I did acquire some 'real' development in the leaves then. TLDR:
>The Haiwan shou had the most development over the dong ding oolong despite being in for much less time, probably due to better airflow for aroma adulteration.
>Muting of aggressive characteristics in general.
>Comes out a bit sweet and milky for first few infusions, then drops to being more (inoffensively) plain relatively quickly.
I used some old pumpkin spice grounds for the experiment, and they adopted some of those qualities too. Deeper infusions would exacerbate those spice qualities and let them linger some, too. I think it would have been more appealing and generally cleaner if I chose to use more natural grounds, though.These are the same grounds that affected my first bag of "accident tieguanyin" which I liked, so I figured the process would be similar. I don't think the tea came out especially good, perhaps plain rather than just bad. Still, it was a good learning experience.

I also have my homemade lemon chenpi (about ~72g worth) that has aged for around half a year now. I am unsure what to do with it yet, and keep deferring tasting it since there is so little, and it is still young, but the aroma is excellent. Continues to be rather sweet and increasingly concentrated, yet smooth. I don't intend to blogpost, but I thought these topics might tickle your fancy.

I like how flavorful green tea is when it's over-extracted. There's nothing wrong with it being bitter, especially if it's iced.

>>18058770
I'm open any time at all, just lmk. We're rapidly approaching the point where you can taste some fresh roasted single origins and blend specifically for your aroma experiments. You can fucking order me single lbs of stuff off sweet marias and I'll roast it up if you want, as long as its supporting /tea/ fuckery. Not sure if I posted about it here but I've had a few great successes with ground tea in the spring valve portafilter. I actually just bought some of that shitty frozen instant boba to give me a frame of reference to develop my own little recipe. I just lack the tea vocabulary to actually make my bullshit experiments worth posting.

>>18058921
>Not sure if I posted about it here but I've had a few great successes with ground tea in the spring valve portafilter
I don't recall seeing a post like this. Tea terminology aside, how would you personally describe it? My initial reaction is to think it may be harsh, but I've never tried anything like that.
>blend specifically for your aroma experiments
Actually, I do have some (old) beans that I think could be really good for something like that. I have a chunk of a simple heicha brick that I don't drink often, and a bag of dark roast coffee seeds. I just hoarded them with the thought of potentially using them for coldbrew, since they'd be too dark and old for anything like a pourover in my (completely inexperienced) opinion. I haven't acquired a manual burr grinder yet, but I do have a cheap electric blade grinder that I can use on them simply to pulverize them for plain aroma transfer. Though, maybe I wouldn't need to, and could just pour the unground coffee straight in around the tea; I'm uncertain.

As for the tea itself, I'm thinking opening the leaves apart (to allow greater surface area for aroma adulteration from the coffee) in a sealed environment should work well.
>I just lack the tea vocabulary to actually make my bullshit experiments worth posting.
What are you struggling to describe? It has taken me a fair time through my journal entries to develop my own tea vocabulary to an acceptable level. By no means am I some wise sage of お茶、but a flavor wheel does help when you are really stumped on defining a specific note. Otherwise, I usually just address:
>Bitterness
>Thickness
>Astringency
>Texture
>Dry and wet leaf+liquor notes
>Minerality
>Huigan (y/n?) and/or aftertaste
I think this may have some overlap with coffee. We're all just Asian leaves and African seeds fiends exploring our senses in the end.

>>18058709
>Shudaizi
>I don't know much about the brand beyond maybe hearing the name before.
here are some comments on it from around the internet:
http://teanotes.net/blog/2016/8/9/2005-shu-daizi-bingdao
https://www.chenshi-chinatee.de/en/brands/shudaizi/
https://www.tealifehk.com/products/2020-nerd-molieshan-raw-pu-erh-cake-200g
same cake at fullchea: https://www.fullchea-tea.com/shudaizi-2020-mo-lie-yunnan-raw-puerh-tea-cake-spring-tea-shen-puer-200g-p0702.html
https://old.reddit.com/r/puer/comments/9sxco0/my_latest_haul_from_taobao_8/
https://old.reddit.com/r/tea/comments/3bh9l4/dr_tea_is_this_puerh/

my take is that Dr. puerh is a large but relatively new producer that mostly operates on in the "budget" section of the market. I suspect that with them you will likely get some decent tea that's probably not exceptional but at a reasonable price.

bonus section:
moon-rune power words: 书呆子普洱茶 and 昆明书呆子号茶业有限公司
https://mall.jd.com/index-761523.html?from=pc

i believe this is their sister company or OEM
http://wmjtea.com/
more moon-rune power words: 无墨记古茶 and 勐海无墨记茶业有限公司

https://youtu.be/iBE13fur30s?t=1086
How legit is this, actually? I've hardly heard anyone mention this besides that guy, but I have noticed that my pu'er tends to get kinda sour after the second infusion onwards.

Have any anons here been exploring laos tea? gotten kinda interested in them now cuz of farmerleaf desu. gonna get some samples of their laos stuff soon i think.
do you think you can even call their tea puerh? i mean its not like its in yunnan but its still close, not sure if anyone still cares about puerh = yunnan as much now though

>>18059153
i think i get what he is saying and i have seen it mentioned before but i don't really think it maters that much if it even works. the idea in theory is that if you don't pour water on the tea in the middle it will open up slower and lead to more consistent brew strength. that is to say the leaves on the outside will brew first and the ones on the inside later.

>get kinda sour after the second infusion onwards.
that's just the tea "opening up". the first steep is always going to be weaker unless you did a really long rinse. if later steeps are too strong you need to adjust your timing or tea/tater ratios.

>>18059192
>do you think you can even call their tea puerh?
i would, so long as its made the same way. its a very similar terroir in the countries surrounding yunnan. a lot of it likely gets smuggled over the border and sold as Yunnan puerh. that said its not puerh by China's legal definition.

>>18059125
Oh yeah doctor puer, i remember them, dragon tea house sells a ton of their stuff. They actually have a huge selection of stuff they buy and reship from taboo but last time i checked they also charged a 200% markup plus shipping so its not really worth it

>>18059192
I have had a few teas from Myanmar, one is quite good. They seem to have pertry nice treas in these border areas but lack the knowhow to do good processing without an outsider coming in to oversee things. Of course witht he huge rise it maocha prices in rescent years many Chinese have been heading across the border to get these teas. It's technically not puer, like how it's just sparkling wine unless it cones from the right part of france. But most of the tea gets used in blends and is absolutely just called and sold as puer once its in china

>>18059420
>dragon tea house
they would be such a great vendor if it weren't for their markup. i wonder how many people actually buy from them these days.

>>18059465
I havent since before covid at this point, i have no idea who is keeping them in business

>>18051544
>>18057274
Just cold-brew your tea. It's mild and refreshing, kind of like cucumber water or something.

>>18059470
they do at least have a few more reasonable things here and there. this looks fun:
https://dragonteahouse.biz/aged-cha-guo-ke-liu-bao-dark-tea-seed-shells-2008/

>>18059528
while not technically tea i'm making some cold brew hibiscus right now.

>>18050670
That teapot is specifically designed for making boo-tea.

>>18050675

>>18059648
Hmm, its interesting looking at DTH again, their prices haven't really gone up in years at least for the liubao i looked at last time. So they aren't as bad of a deal as they used to be, some stuff might even be a bit cheaper than it was.

>>18051054
cute dragon

She's looking at you anon!

茶 is such an elegant symbol
I never paid attention before

>>18061464
I agree, it is. One thing that is nice about acquiring Japanese is being able to infer some of the things I come across in Chinese due to some of the overlap in Kanji/Hanzi or even their radicals. It's made reading through wrappers and online web entries more entertaining, because I may be able to comprehend something about a tea without reading about it online in detail, or even knowing the CN readings. I've had this happen all the time with other goods like various vinegars and sauces as well. It's all quite fun and surprisingly useful for tea in a way I wouldn't have considered.

My tea pick met its first defeat today. I had to crack out the pliers to break into a fang cha.

2022 first flush Chiran Tea sencha. This stuff has a crazy bright green colour, and has a lovely dry leaf aroma.

>>18061815
Wild color on that

>>18061606
I frequently end up using pruning shears
One time there was a tuo so hard i had to use a hammer

>>18059688
I see you are a man of taste and dubs

>>18059528
Would 10g of tea work for 2L water overnight? How much do you use? I'm only used to hot brewing a mug/gaiwan worth at a time.

>>18058577
Yes, let us know anon. I also replaced coffee with tea last year and I'm not looking back. It gives me just as much energy, but in a more relaxing, less jittery way. If you enjoy your coffee, you will probably love the Bi Luo Chun. Both of those black teas are wonderful. I put 2.5g in the infuser and brew with boiling water 3 times for 2, 3 and 5mins respectively. The green teas are more tricky to get right, but if you like green tea you will figure it out (i personally do not.) Good luck. Your first cup will probably blow your mind if you have never had good tea before, it is completely different from tea bags.

>>18061935
Should be fine. I do 5g/L, but 2 days.

Ive been drinking tea brewed western style and in teabags (puer) all week. What's going on?

>>18050670
How good is raspberry leaf tea? I have got a lot of raspberries now so I thought of making some tea bags this year.

>>18062250
I tried making some last year and it was bland, but don't let me stop you. I saw some directions online telling you to push the fresh leaves in a closed jar and let them "ferment" for a month, i strongly recommend that you don't do something like that unlese you want to drink mold. Just pick them, maybe roll them and dry them

What are the differences between brewing styles? Are they specialized for specific types of tea? Coaxed for certain tastes?
Should I be concerned about filtering my water before brewing?
How much tea do you guys drink per day?

>>18062408
>What are the differences between brewing styles? Are they specialized for specific types of tea? Coaxed for certain tastes?
Adjust to taste
>Should I be concerned about filtering my water before brewing?
Hard water makes bland tea
>How much tea do you guys drink per day?
7.5-15g

>>18062437
How do you filter hard water?

>>18062455
I use Brita filters
There are other means

>>18062408
>What are the differences between brewing styles?
Western style is how westerners drink tea
Gongufu tastes pretty good especially for a lot of Chinese teas especially fermented ones, oolong, puer, other fermented teas etc.
Japanese tea is brewed somewhat like western style but tweaked a bit to be better for Japanese teas.
Grampa style is how the Chinese actually drink/used to drink hot tea most of the time. See also loading a watter bottle with a huge amout of leaves and adding water as needed.
Japanese tea ceremony is not really about the tea so much as Japanese customs and ritual, tea is very rarely seved eith that kind of ceremony outside of guests special occasions and Japanese heritage type holidays or events
Buying green tea in a bottle at the convince store is the #1 most popular way to drink tea in all of asia.
You can brew almost any tea with any one of these methods and have it taste good.

>>18062472
>Buying green tea in a bottle at the convince store is the #1 most popular way to drink tea in all of asia.
Are you sure this is true? Whenever I've spoken to Chinese people, they say they like to drink "bīnghóngchá" which are bottled black tea drinks, not green tea. Also, they all seem to say their parents / grandparents like to drink regular teas, which must be a significant portion of the population.

>>18062635
Sorry i should have just said bottled tea in general, not just green

>>18062469
I'm reading some reviews of the Brita filters. A few mention they work great and some others mention they don't work at all according to their testing kits. This is for both the pitcher and facet filter. One even posted a video of her test
>>18061966
I'm excited but I'm getting particular so I can try to get the first cup right when it arrives

>>18062663
I use pur filters but they are a bit of a hassle. You have to use the big stye filter with the tap on the side instead of one of the smaller pitchers.
you have to allways keep water in the top compartment, if the top of the filter drys out you have to remove it and soak it in water to get it going again. With those caveats it works well for my municpal aqufer water to get rid of enough hardness for the tea to shine through.I dont think britas are particularly good for softening hard water. It might work if your water is only slightly hard. Im not sure what you are looking for people testing, these pitchers soften water by exchanging one mineral for another so it wont really affect ppm at least in the case of softening water. you don't really want low ppm water for tea you want the right balance of minerals, for example those zero water pitchers are apparently good at making low ppm water but they wont make good tea
Eh its all kinds of fun

my local big box grocery store surprisingly had some decent looking culinary grade matcha on the shelf so i bought a packet out of curiosity. the brand is jade leaf and it is actually from japan. i think jade leaf started off as an amazon seller's brand so its kind of surprising to see them in store. they must be doing quite well. i am not a matcha person so i cant really review it properly but i will post some notes when i try it. i am probably just going to mix it in with some cold water as it likely would not make great tradition matcha because its almost certainly unshaded and i don't own a matcha set anyways.

here is what i got:
https://www.jadeleafmatcha.com/collections/pure-matcha/products/organic-culinary-matcha

Anything wrong with fake Yixing in terms of like,lead or whatever? I just want a basic small teapot and I found this cheap ass one for like 18 bucks on Amazon.

>>18063290
That’s not a good price. I could probably find one for a few bucks at Salvation Army

>>18063290
The worst outcome is it makes your tea taste bland for quite a while untill it gets dirty enough on the inside. More importantly all the pots like that ive seen on amazon are too big. You absolutely dont want a teapot that is more than 120ml, 100ml is ideal, no you don't need a bigger teapot because you might have guests. Assuming you are trying to brew gongfu and you get a pot in the 180-200 ml range which is what i typically see on amazon you need 14-20 grams of tea in the pot for a single gongfu session, and if you brew it out a reasonable number of times you will end up with about 4 - 5 total litres of strong tea.
If you can find once that's actually 100ml go for it i guess, porcelain or a gaiwan would be preferable but it's your money and it's a hassle to find small porcelain pots in the west

>>18063324
I got enough gaiwans, I want something more for single cuppa western style brewing. I'm guessing unglazed clay would be shit for that huh?

>>18063297
>That’s not a good price. I could probably find one for a few bucks at Salvation Army
pretty unlikely you would find something like that in most places.

>>18063346
if it were me i would stick with glazed, porcelain, or glass if i was buying cheap teaware. i don't think cheap unglazed tea ware has any advantages and it may possibly have drawbacks. i have no real evidence for that though.

>>18063261
>he drinks culinary matcha

>>18063346
>, I want something more for single cuppa western style brewing.
Something like this, search 2 cup teapot on amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Amoysanli-Porcelain-Removable-Stainless-Strainer/dp/B08RP1LC35/
At least that's what i use

>>18063380
sure why not. it can be enjoyable in its own right.

>>18063399
Oh and make sure it comes with some sort of removable basket for the tea, preferably nice and deep

am a poorfag, where can I find a good metal stove kettle?

>>18063405
Bake some cookies with it or something and tell us if they taste any good. Ive been interested in cooking with matcha but not enough to buy some and try it. It would be interesting to get some cooking with tea posts

>>18063408
Most important is make sure it doesn't have a crimped seam along the bottom. See how pic related has the rolled seam allong the bottom edge, you want to avoid that because it can leak or cause other issues.
The really cheap kettles are enameled steel and those will work fine untill the enamel eventually chips and rusts, but they will last for many years as long as you treat them well. The full stainless ones tend to get more expensive. Don't get cheap cast iron kettles they aren't made to be used with water you drink.
Just look online, amazon, ebay, wallmart, find something cheap that doesn't have terrible reviews.
Also the glass ones are pretry cheap but they tend to break after a few years and they are kind of a hassle to pour the water out precisely, but those are also an option, they look like big coffee pots

>>18063408
I don't know how poorfag is poorfag or where you are but this looks decent, it's basically a knockoof of an olf Japanese kettle design and it's stainless
https://www.amazon.com/Kettle-Stovetop-Whistling-Teakettle-Stainless/dp/B07DFF5WPQ/
It's got some generic name from one of those Chinese resellers so you can probably find it on aliexpress for cheaper if you care to dig, but it wont have the same name and shipping is taking a while these days.

>>18063411
Not him, but I have used such powders both for chilled drinks and some food works. Easy to mix and shake in a closed container with some almond milk, stevia, a bit of salt, and spices of your choice for a refreshing, quickly-made drink. I've also found it works quite well when mixed into plain or vanilla yoghurt (along with a sweetener), whether by itself or with other ingredients like berries or cacao powder. Once even made cookies using it, CBD extract, and L-theanine. They were okay, but finding the balance is difficult with baking (and the desired benefits were not especially profound in this method). The key takeaway is that it is fairly versatile, but because of its inherent bitterness, will usually require something to balance against it (probably a sweetener).

>>18063411
>Bake some cookies with it
i want to to make tea flavored confectioneries sometime but i am not up for it at the moment. it would be cool to see someone here make some liu bao mousse or something else fun and unorthodox.

as an aside these brands make really cool looking tea chocolate:
https://www.fuwanshop.com/
https://www.fossachocolate.com/

my plan for the culinary matcha was just to shake it up in cold water and drink it. i have done that with cheap matcha before and it was tasty enough.

>>18063495
Damn bancha chocolate

>>18059066
Lets try. 8g, 4 ~25s rounds of fairly coarsely ground(lab sweets, 700 rpm) 2021 lesser evils at 4 bar 207f water. Inky. Zero bitterness or astringency at all, slightly thick and slick body. Faint foresty/mossy ripe funk if I'm looking for it, otherwise its all almost clean limestoney minerality. Maybe a bit of dark florals that almost remind me of the yunnan sourcing snow chrysanthamum ripe. Surprisingly sweet for a dark tea and with how inky it is, my palate is clean 15 seconds after swallowing. Must be good because the cup is finished before I was able to type this out. I liked it before, now its growing on me.

>>18064254
What happens if you don't grind it?

>>18062663
>I'm reading some reviews of the Brita filters. A few mention they work great and some others mention they don't work at all according to their testing kits
Eh, in my experience I can tell by the taste of my tea when I have to replace the filter. Tea goes bland. To the point that last time I thought I got the covid.

>>18064254
>Faint foresty/mossy ripe funk if I'm looking for it, otherwise its all almost clean limestoney minerality
Sounds fantastic, good minerality is a top tier aspect of good tea

>>18063290
i heard they put toxic chemical into the clay to get them to look like yixing, since its unglazed and pourous it leeches into the tea. i havent researched it properly though so dont take my word for it, might also be psyop by the real yixing makers.

>>18064792
All the clay pots use chemical additions to halp break down organic matter and process the clay so it can be worked with. The issue with knockoff yixing is that they use a completely different kind if clay and method of manufacture. Yixing pots use a heavy dense clay and are hand thrown with the help of molds for shaping. Faux yixing uses a liquid clay slurry that is used to fill two half teapot molds, then he two halves are joined together and the handle and pout added. The easiest way to tell ouside of the specific characteristics of yixing clay is looking for a seam between the two halves around where the spout and handle are.
Beyond not really knowing where the mud slurry comes from or what its made out of from what ive heard the faux yixing pots tend to be incredibly muting for a long time and require a lot of seasoning before the stop making the tea bland.
If you want a cheap clay teapot the Japanese make lots of good ones that don't really interact with the flavor of the tea on such a high level. If yoi want a Chinese style one my understanding is the best thing to do is get pots made out of Jianshui clay instead, they are usually cheaper and they arent porus or highly reactive with the tea, so they preform much more like porcelain, they are also usually much cheaper than authentic yixing pots are.
With jianshi its probably fine to just buy one like this of of aliexpress, you can probably get them even cheaper with some digging.
https://aliexpress.com/item/3256801114302530.html

Actually i recognize this guys store, he is on ebay too and ive ordered tea from him several times.
https://aliexpress.com/item/2255799923927362.html
Again im sure there cheaper if youknow where to look but these are about 1/2 the price of a decent entry level yixing pot.

>>18064815
Anyway please do your own reading before buying anything

>>18064254
Thanks for sharing your findings, anon. Seems like quite the refreshing result; appealing color, notes and all. When you mentioned using tea in this way, I didn't think you meant particularly heicha/pu'er. If it can handle (non-pressurized) infusions at higher temps, it makes sense it would be fine here. Though, thinking about that further, maybe the enclosed and pressurized nature of your device's extraction method helped to retain more of the aromatics too?

This is just conjecture in any case. What might be especially interesting would be to compare the results with it to the same material in a gaiwan, mug, stove pot, or similar. I'd hypothesise that the texture might be thicker and more viscous, but perhaps less 'clear' compared to your portafilter. I think it might have a longer aftertaste when stewed or infused more typically, too. Always entertaining to experiment like this in any case.

Currently drinking: GABA oolong

Verdict: it's weird. Really weird. But I kinda like it.

>>18064369
Its bretty gud.
>>18064863
>What might be especially interesting would be to compare the results with it to the same material in a gaiwan, mug, stove pot, or similar.
Thats where my vocab falls short. I only brew teas I like, so its all bretty fucking good. I like it in a gaiwan, I like it in a mug, and I like it under pressure. My original thought with the pressurized brewer was to be able to "strip" any funk off cheap ripes like throwing out the heads of a distilling run. Just a minute of essentially pressure washing, pour it off, then fill a mug with choice opened up flavor. I just don't have anything funky enough to want to pour off the heads. Even that cheap 2006 xg ripe box isn't all that funky. I can't tell if I'm a blind buying savant, or if I just like tea.

I want to fall for the yancha meme, what should I buy

>>18066134
>High budget
A smattering of teas from eot https://essenceoftea.com/collections/wuyi-yancha
Mid budget
A smattering of tea from chawangshop
https://www.chawangshop.com/oolong-tea/wuyi-yancha.html
Low budget
Sea dyke
https://www.ebay.com/itm/363812002610
https://www.ebay.com/itm/353310029335
Wuyi star (wuyi star teas are lightly roasted compared to traditional yancha, still nice)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/133742237343
I havent tried this shop tier
https://www.threebearstea.com/ (usa)
https://oldwaystea.com/ (usa)
I think chawang shop has a pretty good price to performance ratio. But nothing has beat the ooling sample pacl i got from essence of tea

>>18066239
>I havent tried this shop tier
there is also https://www.wuyiorigin.com/

>>18064792
Cool cool. I just bought the one >>18063399 linked since it was about what I wanted. Tried looking around target and Bed Bath & Beyond and didn't find anything small at all. Even stopped at a William Sonoma. I don't get why westoids like I don't have a demand for small pots. I've seen restaurants serve bagged tea by giving you small porcelain teapots so I don't get it.

>>18066622
Yes it's very weird that you can only find massive tea pots for sale, it makes me think most people buy them as decorations and don't actually use them. Im guessing a two cup size is whet you would find in a lot of English homes, maybe 4 cup if they have a big family. I guess it's not that surprising since Americans mostly don't care about tea

I have decided on a pur faucet filter, they seem reliable. But I think my tea will arrive before then. In the mean time I'll probably use bottled water. Should I go for spring or purified?

>>18066737
Whateveris cheap, don't sweat it too much

>>18066737
I was over at my friend's farm and we were literally just using the tap water to make tea. I don't think it matters that much unless your water is REALLY gross.

>>18066965
It's not a huge deal but its absolutely a very noticeable difference for me with pretty hard water where i live

The "every day drinker" ripe puerh from Yunnan Sourcing really stuck to me. I didn't like it at first, but I'm a sucker for it now. Pretty good price too. 18 bucks for 250 grams.

Just getting into tea prep/making.
Can anyone recommend a individual tea set gaiwan thats simple but also made from ceramic?

>>18067014
Nice, good cheap ripe is a winning combo

>>18067027
Go for the ones in the range of 100-120ml
https://aliexpress.com/item/1005004148466243.html
And
https://aliexpress.com/item/4001296238309.html
And
https://aliexpress.com/item/3256803570885819.html
Bonus small teapot (the 125ml one)
https://aliexpress.com/item/3256804120664688.html

>>18050670
>171 posts
>no "buttplug teapot"

>>18067098
hol up

drink more tea

>>18067014
I don't like it but I see there's still hope. At least I'll have plenty of it when I have drunk everything else.

What's up /tea/, how many times can i reuse the puerh in my teaball?

>>18068539
until all the flavour is gone. it'll depend a lot on how much tea, water and steep time. also tea balls are bad as they dont give maximum room for the leaf and water to move, try a brew basket or a cheap gaiwan

I tried puerh for the first time today. Is it supposed to look black like coffee?

>>18069982
It's not uncommon to have a dark infusion, especially for shou pu'er. People may even outright stew it to produce a slick, thick texture and flavor balance. It may take a bit to get used to, and the quality of pu'er can very quite a fair bit at the low end, but it is pleasant. Refer to the Pastebin link in the OP for starting infusion parameters if something seems off.

>>18070010
Ah yeah, I forgot to check the pastebin before going into it. I believe I may have added too much tea for the volume of water I'm using. It's still quite pleasant nonetheless.

>>18070031
With ripe/dark puer you can get away with using to much, it should brew up a pretty dark color. Anyway if you liked it that's great. Some people really hate it, or they buy some that smells nasty and then assume that it is all like that

Mud and Leaves sale until July 10. 10% off all teaware with promo code JULY10. They have a good selection of Tianqingni clay and Jingdezhen porcelain at the moment. Not a lot of ruyao and no dahongpao zhuni unfortunately.

>>18069982
yes, ripe/shou puerh is composted for 2 months to rapidly age it. that gives it a really dark brew thats thick, smooth and usually tastes like earth and wood(but in a good way!).

>>18070160
Nice, thanks for that, god everytime i look at their cups i want to spend $200

>>18070185
Ahhhh im completely out of shu and my order is still on a boat somewhere. I might actually go to the asian market and buy some shu teabags

>>18070185
How is the chrysanthemum in this? I'm not a big fan of jasmine in my teas unless the infusions are heavily dilluted, but I've been curious about other florals. I have only had osthmanthus oolong once, but I'd like to try it again. Maybe it's also time to try Japanese teas since the yen exchange rate is so favorable right now. I hear sakura petal stuff can be interesting, if only in color.
>>18070031
A lot of people use plentiful shou to get a really thick texture, perhaps alongside the aforementioned stewing. Try making it with less material and lower infusion times to see how it changes overall to get a different perspective. A lot of shou fanatics go with strong infusions, but I personally like lighter ones. Same for sheng; I just like pu'er most when it is prepared in a mellow way.

>>18070290
>How is the chrysanthemum in this?
works really well with ripes, not a fan of it when its with blacks. too much perfume, smells like potpourri

my aunt gave me this, what is it going to taste like? and more importantly how much cocaine is going to be in it? i do NOT do drugs

>>18070530
Dont worry it won't do anything unless you sprikle some baking soda in the teabag and cram it in your lip like it's chew. And even that isn't anything like sniffing coke it very weak mild stimulation like caffine.
If you just brew it like tea its just going to taste green and the cocaine will mostly stay in the teabag.
Back in the day you could buy 5 LB bags of "coca flour" on amazon which was apparently enough to make some tiny amount of cocaine at home.

How do you make iced tea from something like oolong or something? Do you pour it into a cup and leave it in the fridge or something?

>>18070858
Yes, you make a pot of it, pour it into a pitcher, and throw it in the fridge for later serving. Sun tea is also an option.

Sun tea? In MY sea dyke thread? I don' think so.

>>18070858
You can also just through some tea leaves in a bottle, add cold water and stick it in the fridge. Even less work than brewing it first

>tfw 2L of tea daily and BP readings are 100/60@55bpm
Is caffeine a myth

>>18070530
These are usually "de-cocainated" especially if there's English language packaging on it. If it wasn't, proper coca tea definitely perks you up but its not going to fuck you up.

>>18072136
Everyone's physiological balance differs a bit. My BPM (before caffeine) was recorded as fairly low a bit ago, at but 47 BPM. I haven't had tea yet, but I had plenty yesterday, and it was anywhere between 50 and 55. I've always had a low resting heart rate, and caffeine doesn't affect it too much compared to, say, stress. Doesn't mean I don't get any typical psychoactive effects from it; caffeine is a psychoactive substance after all.

new farmer leaf video : ) i am happy

Mmm bug tea

>>18061464
very much so.
It looks like a tea kettle.

>>18061464
>>18073408
It's kind of cool when you learn Chinese characters that some of them have a logic behind their structure

>>18070692
KEK!
Was looking for this post.
Starwood?

>>18066239
https://oldwaystea.com/products/2021-oolong-sample
Does this look like a good deal?
Why are wuyi oolongs always sold in little bags of ~8g? For home aging?

>>18073410
yes. I used to read a very good translation of LaoTzu's-Tao Te Ching. The original characters were on the opposing page.
>How many pictograms/Ideograms is a picture worth?

>>18061082
Fucking tea tree wores

Been enjoying a green and a black from the same village in Qimen. This year's green is as good as ever, although the black isn't quite as good as it was a couple of years ago, where they picked the leaves when they had a lot of downy hairs still on them.

>>18073413
Never tried it myself, i juet read about it online and thought it was hilarious you could just buy it on amazon. The internet was different back then, people used by buy died poppy pods by the kilo on ebay

>>18073426
>Why are wuyi oolongs always sold in little bags of ~8g? For home aging?
Its supposed to be a the perfect dose for one teapot. It's also good for aging and storage at home yes.
>is this an okay deal?
I haven't tried old ways, it looks like a good selection of different varietys and the price doesn't seem too crazy. So assuming their tea is good its should be a good introduction.

猫
>>18073484
Just wondering... Someone brought a box in 2012, It was just as you say: Baking soda sprinkled on, tucked into lower lip like a Skoal Bandit. The lift was like slamming 4-6 espressos, without the shakes.
>The internet was different back then
Yeah, even before that, you could get catalogs like the JLF that was full of arcane herbs and flora. Syrian rue, Morning glory seeds, Hawaiian wood rose, Kava-Kava...
But yeah, it WAS kinda the wild west.

Do you feel guilty about dumping used leaf down the drain instead of the trash knowing caffeine gets fish fucked up?

>>18073575
i compost mine, same with all plant food waste

>>18073575
I try not to dump leaf down the drain, mostly because it will clog your drain traps or plumming if you live in shitty old houses like i do.

>>18073575
I make coldbrew of it, and then toss the leaves out into local brush or over some of my plants to promote growth. I don't let any leaf go to waste, no matter the cost. My snake plant became the size of an adult human when I gave it tea/coffee excess regularly. Like growth hormone for plants.
>>18073600
How do you arrange your compost? Just excess into a bag and planted in the ground, or do you mulch it all somehow? Mine is a bit lazy; more like tossing over and watering pre-existing plants.

recalcitrant organic matter

I thought y'all were just being autistic about drinking hot tea in hot weather, but it really is nice. It's almost hard to describe how nice it is, it does cool you down, but there's more to it then that.

>>18073619
>How do you arrange your compost?
big bins in the garden, the stuff at the bottom is nice and rotten by the time ii get round to using it

>>18074357
It's amazing, i think the feeling that you are about to start sweating is really uncomfortable, but when you drink hot tea you sweat, so you aren't stuck in that uncomfortable about to sweat feeling

>>18050675
teanus
e
a
n
u
s

>>18074623
weanus

buvez-vous plus de the

Thanks to the anon a few threads back who recommended tea master!
Brewed up some delicious qingxin oolong this morning; notes of broadbeans, snow peas and hay with a nice sweetness - delicious!

>>18073619
>compost
No garden so all food waste, including non veg, goes to bokashi in the appartement and then to a compost bin on the balcony. Too hot for worms so here so I counted on microorganisms but it got colonized by the black soldier fly. I have to make sure it's not too acidic for the plants.

Protip: 1:1 v:v waste:cellulose or your compost will smell like death.

>>18050670
Need some advice.

So I just went and bought the large hugo teapot from t2tea. Usually I use this 200ml glass hario teapot with a spring on the spout and make tea according to the instructions in the paste bin, but I wanted something that I could brew large amounts of tea in for multiple cups instead having to re-steep the leaves every cup, as well as something I could use for any type of tea and that would also retain heat.

So I made a pot of 1 litre of tea with 8 grams of mt. dianhong, and brewed for two minutes like I usually do, but when I poured a cup it tasted like water, despite having a decent hew.

I've made tea like this before without an infuser, (just pouring the tea straight from the teapot into a thermos with a small metal tea basket to catch the leaves), does the use of an infuser in a large pot affect the steeping process that mich or have I done something wrong? just want to be able to sit and read witha large pot of black tea desu.

>>18076600
8 grams might be too bulky for a small infuser. It does make a difference if the leaves can expand and float around a little. Convection currents have to move the extract away from the leaves, or else it favors brown-colored tannins which is flavorless "body."

Another important thing is thoroughly stirring or swirling the pot while the leaves are still in to diffuse the more concentrated liquid near the leaf. The leaf will absorb at least twice its dry weight - so 16g - of brewed tea, and if that's where it's most concentrated then that hurts. If you skipped this step loose steeping then it's less noticeable since the leaf is spread around the pot.

The way I use my pot is loose steeping then pour it through the infuser into a thermos.

Hohins are so underrated imo, theyre just teapots that you hold like a gaiwan, but the aesthetics of them is really separate from that of a teapot or gaiwan somehow.

>>18076665
hmm, I did swirl the pot each minute clockwise and counter clockwise three times, but I think you might be right about it just being bunched together.

I'm going to experiment with longer steep times, (using a higher tea to water ratio I feel would be a little wasteful), next pot I think i'll do 4 grams at 500ml, but if all else fails I think I'll go with the thermos method with loose steeping. Nothing nicer than being at work and having a nice hot thermos of tea. Nice to know i'm not the only one that does that.

>>18074818
Thank you for acknowledging my teanus weanus anon
Means a lot

Guy last thread who mentioned that Burmese smoked tea I had while at school.
It's jingpho phalap.

>>18059429
Where the hell were you last thread when I couldn't find out what the hell tea I was talking about?

>>18075460
Nice anon, glad it worked out for you,
Nice setup too

>>18077010
Im judt kind of aware of burmese "puer" i dont know anything about their own traditional teas

>>18050670
Any tips to harvest yerba mate? I took another anon's advice and roughly chopped the leaves and allowed them to dry for a few days before putting them in a jar. When I used the mate, it tasted like I cut some grass and made tea out of it. What did I do wrong? Side question, I bought a gourd to drink it from and the gourd smells like shit. How do I cure the gourd to remove the smell?

>>18077776
harvest? why can't you buy a pack of mate like any normal person? it's cheap as fuck, get a decent bombilla, ditch the gourd meme, use ceramic instead.
here's a glimpse of mate production (lmao at shears). think you can process it like that?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Red04vvY0UA

>>18077776
Im the anon that made the original suggestion to you.
Looking at this the big differences are
>>18077818
That they dry the mate with hot air in a tumbler instead of air drying it and that they age the mate. Maybe it's just too hard to replicate at home but if you still have some of the mate left stick in in a thin layer on a pan on the stove on low and heat it, stirring frequently untill its starts to get aromatic, that might help know down some of the green notes and create a more roasted flavor. Other than that they just age the stuff in a warehouse for a year or two which obviously you can do at home but it makes it a little less viable to make it yourself. Maybe you can find some articles on how it was traditionally processed by small families and farmers. I wouldn't be surprised if they used to dry / smoke the leaves over a fire and then stuff them in a stack up in the rafteres of their house.

>>18077818
>harvest? why can't you buy a pack of mate like any normal person?
I homestead and I try to make everything myself. I processed it basically the same way as they did in that video, but obviously without the machines and same volume.

>>18077867
I think you're right about how I dried it. I'm reading they traditionally dried the leaves in two steps. First with direct flame and second using smoke over about 12 hours. I'll give that a shot next. Hopefully I can figure this out. Thanks for all the help by the way

>>18077893
>12 hours over fire
Im imaging them just making a frame and haging full branches over a fire pit. If you actually used some kind of sealed fireplace with a flue and smaoke them in the flue 12 hours would be way too much.
In china for rustic tea where they use smoke for processing they have a small fire hole on the bottom edge of a hollow rectangular brick structure, then they spread the leaves out on bamboo matts over the opening, they stir them a few times and leave them on for an hour or so total iirc.
Anyway from my experience that smoking is actually a processing step, it changes the flavor of the tea not just by adding a smoke flavor but it also mellows and rounds out the tea flavor itself.

>>18061911
Checked.

>tea still hasn't arrived

>>18067098
That’s because /tea/ is like 90% lesbians who take this stuff super seriously.

>>18077010
>jingpho phalap
thanks for the update. wish i could have helped you find it but i had forgotten about it myself. phalap is incredibly obscure over here. it is a tea i would like to try though, weird heicha is kind of my jam. i know i have it written down on my to try list somewhere. it's looks a pain to source though.

the only mainstream western tea shop that i know of right of that has it is hotsoup.nl but they charge quite a bit.
https://www.hotsoup.nl/en/singpho-falap-phalap-6-jaar-oude-in-bamboe-gerookte-thee.html
the best bet is probably to buy it from some smaller vendor direct from India and hop you get something good.

Tea in the ancient world has a good blog post on it:
https://teaintheancientworld.blogspot.com/2019/09/trying-assam-falap-variation-of-bamboo.html

the East Himalayan Society for Spermatophyte Taxonomy has a great article on it:
http://pleione.ehsst.org/journals/Pleione131/004%20%E2%80%98Phalap-Khah%E2%80%99%20%E2%80%93%20the%20bitter%20tea%20of%20Tangsa%20community%20in%20the%20Changlang%20district.pdf

>>18078388
My tea has taken a month to get on a boat in HK and now it's been on the boat for over a month, it's probably going to arrive in October

>>18078501
That's a shame. I hope the tea is worth the wait. Do tea leaves expire or go bad after some time? Or is it dependent on how you store it?

>>18078521
All the stuff im waiting on keeps forever, so im not worried about that, just regretting i decided to save $30 on shipping by sending everything the slow ass way right when china closed their ports for a month

>>18078527
just imagine you could get your puerh with an extra 10 years of age at no extra cost!

>>18079008
It's fantastic, and extra six months of age at sea, and it costs me nothing, it's just like im buying tea from the British east India company

>>18079021
You've heard of Taiwan storage and Malaysia storage, but few know about the exciting flavors of sea storage.

>>18079086
just imagine the taste of ghost ship storage.

>>18050670
>picrel
sussy

>>18051544
>sacrilege?
buffoonish. it's a staple

>>18058888
>in milk

>>18070160
Now they have some wuhui zhuni in stock for the sale. It's zhuni but with a different form of firing in order to turn it black.

>>18074330
Yes... Very SO!
I Also have recalcitrant Kots.
They are NO EASIER.

Eh...Slow night.
Good night all..
May the Morrow bring good hot water.

>>18079901
nice cat anon

>>18079973
Nighty night. Thanks for the good vibes.

>>18079973
Nighty night. Thanks for the good vibes.

Neat. I didn't bother looking closely at this before since it's all in Portuguese, but there's a chart on the Gorreana bag.
Theine = caffeine (the=tea, caffe=coffee)
>Composition:
>Theine: 24.2%
>Protein: 21.9%
>Starch: 11.5%
>Tannin: 7%
>Sugar: 4%

With the tea in his cooler dwindling, anon is becoming restless
(That's mostly empty ziploc bags in the pictue)

Anyway non of these photos wanted to come out well but today im drinking a 2006 or 2007 puer cake from Feng Quing tea factory. They mostly make black tea but they occasionally dabble in puer.
This is an okay tea, nothing spectacular, it got some decent humidity at some point and now with some time in my pumidor its usually a nice somewhat mild floral puer

>>18081715
After a few brews i dumped it inti a mug and finished it granpa style, pretty decent session

>>18081700
what are you looking to buy?

>>18083232
Good question, i have some puer on the way. I would like to buy oolong but im broke. So i will probably order some tea domestically to tide my over. Maybe some liubao or liuan from purple cloud tea house, maybe just some cheap puer from puerhshop

>>18083250
good luck anon, i don't have any specific recommendations but i hope you can find something you like. i can sympathize with having limited cash for tea. been holding off on exploring oolongs due to cost as well. i will have my snobby yancha and dancongs one day.

>>18083449
Thanks anon i will figure it out, i might just buy a half kilo of black tea a tieyguyanyin at the asian market to hold me over

I'm one peace of gear away from brewing my tea like at home when I visit folks: a Brita filtering flask. The crimson lotus tea gongfu2go feels incomplete when the water is hard.

I'm fairly new to tea and have been trying a few samples. I just tried white tea and it was delicious. Why is this variety so overlooked in the tea community?

>>18051544
I have a southern coworker who drinks store bought extra sweet iced tea.
one time when he was annoying me I threatened to swap it out for unsweetened tea and he threatened to stab me

is there a significant difference to brewing tea in the cup you drink out of compared to brewing it in a teapot and pouring it out in a cup? i suspect my taste buds died a long time ago

teanis

>>18084781
Less common production due to the higher demands for other types of tea both historically and currently. Most people in the west don't know about it, and have a very surface level understanding of camelia sinensis in general. Even research papers will specify production, such as "green tea improves [xxx]..." and so on. So, marketing bias is in play too. It's what people know and think they want that the market largely seeks to provide.
>>18084833
>is there a significant difference to brewing tea in the cup you drink out of compared to brewing it in a teapot and pouring it out in a cup?
Possibly. Different vessels may have varying densities and thicknesses, or different materials with different thermal capacities. If your cup is without a lid, the liquid may cool down quicker than the teapot (evaporation), which may be weaker. If you leave the leaf in indefinitely or not (common with "grandpa style") will affect the infusion concentration. Pouring can also affect temperature itself, especially if it is a longer stream (more movement through the air), which may affect interpretation of taste. There are multiple variables to consider, but if you liken it to, say, stewing vegetables in a pot over a stove, it may make more broad sense. If you really want direct confirmation, just try them both at the same time.

>>18084781
>Why is this variety so overlooked in the tea community?
depends on how you define the "tea community"
"tea enthusiasts" are usually well aware of white tea.
"the general tea drinking public" is less aware of white tea because it has historically never been as prevalent and more casual tea tea drinkers are generally happy to stick to drinking what they know.
my question is how did both historical china and japan settle on green tea as the default?

I got medium to hard water and its taste is always very noticeable. what do? bottled mineral water? Water filter? Brita or something else?

how would I go about drinking tea the way they do in Turkey?

>>18084833
Evaporative cooling is a major issue although it's easily solved by putting a saucer or plastic measuring cup or something on top.

>>18084404
Yeah hard water is annoying. Might be easier to just bring a bottle of spring water with you

>>18085092
>my question is how did both historical china and japan settle on green tea as the default?
That is an interesting question, at least witj japan its not too surprising based on their general food preferences and their love of umami. Im less familiar with china

>>18085170
I have decent luck with the pur brand filters.
Britta can be worth a shot too. Under sink filtration systems work pretty well. Whole house water softeners are ideal but not pratical.
I would try to find some sort of filtration that works right for you. You can of course just buy spring water but its a bit of a hassle if you drink a lot of tew everyday.
Don't get zero water pitchers of something else that advertises 0ppm water, you want some minerals, just the right ones

>>18053887
>ive been aging for a few years
How?

>>18085399
I just left it sealed in the foil bag it came in a stuck it on a shelf

>>18085634
i really want to buy canned oolongs and black tea for aging some day. bags are cheaper but cans are so much cooler.

>>18084971
???

>>18085774
Just get the big cans filled with bags, best of both worlds
But yeah the cans are pretry cool, pic related is a 30g tin of wuyi star old time taste dahongpao i got a while ago. It was pretty good but i prefer darker roasts.

>>18085840
my problem with the little single serving bags is that they are never quite the right size for me.

>>18051544
desu iced sweet tea and unsweetened hot tea should be considered two separate categories of beverage all together
It's like comparing black coffee to a Starbucks frappe

>>18085912
8-10 grams is perfect for a 100-120ml teapot/gaiwan

>>18050670
Whats the best tea to water ratio for black tea

>>18086061
For western brewing i usually use 4g in around 10oz of water
For gongfu brewing look at the pastebin

>>18086061
1g per 50-70ml

>>18085230
This wikihow gives a good explanation: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Turkish-Tea

A turkish friend of mine explains that you're supposed to brew it for 20 minutes (yes really) because you dilute it with hot water according to your taste and then sweeten it. You're making a tea concentrate.

>>18086028
i tend to use 10ish grams in my 100ml gaiwan and most of those bags are 7-8 grams.

Does anyone have experience with cold steeping green tea? Would it work for Chinese green teas?

>>18086362
>88 KB
>Does anyone have experience with cold steeping green tea? Would it work for Chinese green teas?
yes, and it works great for most other Chinese teas as well barring some heicha and roasted teas.

>>18086382
I just searched "cold brew chinese green tea" on google images.

Just to triple check, you boil water for proper western-style black tea brewing right?

>>18086695
You boil it in the kettle but the true temperature the tea steeps at should be ideally 86-90 C / 187-194 F. Water cools off a lot just by pouring it. Don't literally boil it like southerners.

>>18086362
I have experience with it. Works very well, giving a smooth, bright, refreshing flavor profile in general. Tea in jar, fill with water, shake gently to incorporate, leave in refrigerator for at least 8-12h or longer. I'd advise giving this a go with all spent leaves from regular infusion too, as you waste substantially less in the process. You can do it with any tea, though I think some perform better than others.

>>18086759
It will be in a pot and the pastebin mentioned 205f. I guess 194 is ideal? Is there a way to eye ball it? I don't know if my store has a water thermometer

>>18086800
If you've got to guess the temp, the water will be steaming but not boiling on the surface.

recs for green tea brands? I drank a box of that "our finest" walmart brand at work over the past few months but I'm wondering if there's a better brand of bagged green tea I can buy. Cuppa the green during a break is based and tasty

>>18086881
I should say over the past month or so, not few months

>>18086881
If you have a Costco card this is fine without jumping to fancy sachet tier

>>18086910
thanks for the rec but I don't shop at costco. BUt I appreciate it maybe dey have a smaller version

I'm just doing grandpa style with all my tea at this point. Even my all buds ones. I feel like I'm channeling the tea vampire when I finish my second mug of my ripe puerh, seeing it be as dark as coffee.

>>18087036
It's probably in Asian grocery stores. ITO EN is the brand. You won't see it at regular grocery stores.

>>18087044
Based
I did that for about a year strait at one point and really enjoyed it

My tea finally arrived. I have High Mountain Red Ai Lao Mountain black tea, Black Gold Bi Luo Chun black tea, amd Dragon Well green tea.
Maybe buying this much tea wasn't the best way to start but I'm excited. There were no tin containers at my store, will the bags they were shipped in be okay for temporary storage?
Right now I am waiting for my scale to charge.

>>18087234
It will be fine, the black teas keep for years. They come in those zip seal bags right? You can just leave it in those you don't need to change containers.

>>18087234
The bags are fine so long as they're resealable. Longevity-wise, try to use more of the green over time since it has a shorter period for peak freshness. Sounds like some pleasant choices either way; welcome to the /tea/ life. What will you drink first?

>>18086760
That actually sounds like a great idea anon

>>18087299
Give it a try. It's low effort for what you get in return, and highly efficient. I have gotten to the point where I always maximize the use of my leaf by pouring what I 'finish' drinking from my gong fu sessions into a rolling coldbrew jar. After a few days of constant infusing of these remainders, you'll get a bonus drink you can pour off (use a gaiwan lid). The flavor and notes will often differ notably if you change up what you drink too, so you get a slightly different result to experience every time. When done, you just discard the leaves (outside, compost) and resume. You can also just pour in fresh leaf and get something solid in 0.5-1d.

>>18087266
I think I will try the High Mountain first. It sounds interesting

>>18087394
Are you me? That was my first leaf I tried when I got into it not too long ago. Don't be scared to use spring water with the Red Ai Lao. Using my hard tap water and not having a kettle to keep my water hot really made me almost regret buying as much as I did. Give an update on the black gold when you can. I want to know what others think of it.

>>18087454
The tea was a little bland, but it was only one infusion and I messed up the infusion. I don't taste a lot of sweetness but there's a weird, tingly feeling that pads your tongue. It leaves some sort of after taste but I can' tell what. Overall it was nice. It's better than the sugary station coffee I'm used to, but it might take a while to get used to the subtlety.
I used about 300 ml of deer park spring water and somewhere between 2 to 2.5 grams of leaves. The scale doesn't show any numbers between.
The water evaporated faster than I thought so when I made the cup it had only half of the water at first, so I quickly boiled a little more water and dumped it in during the infusion. The infusion lasted two minutes.
Next time I will try for a second infusion.

>>18087542
Just to add I think I dumped in more water than I should have

>>18087299
not the same anon but i also cold brew my leftover leaves. when i gongfu brew i tend to overleaf so the tea often still has quite a bit flavor left in it when i am "done". after that i just toss the tea in a quart jar with water in the fridge and come back to it in a day or two.

>>18087555
I'm starting to think 8 grams is too much for my 150ml gaiwan. It's more like 120 since I'm not filling to the brim. The quart jar thing is something I'm gonna do for sure though. I have a little half gallon tea jug with a spout from Dollar Tree, but I can literally taste the plastic when I drink from it. Seems my canning jars will be put to use before my tomato harvest comes in.

>>18050670
I usually drink black tea with natural sugar and added honey. Any recommendations for something more higher tier ?

>>18087542
>>18087544
I use about 2.5g for a standard coffee mug worth of water. If you want some sweetness, there's nothing wrong with a teaspoon of honey.

>>18086695
yes but brewing with 90c will give you a less bitter less tannic tea
>>18087605
ripe puerh, jasmine pearls, dragonwell aka long jin green tea

>>18086362
I tried longjing and it was as bitter as raw puer. I guess 48h was too long for it.

new thread
>>18088761
>>18088761
>>18088761