/ck/ - Food & Cooking

TGY before being brewed. Love watching tea leaves unfurl.

Was able to get through a couple chunks of the 2017 Menghai 8592 last night and today.
Disclaimer, I am fairly new to Puer overall.

More stem/non leaf material than other puer I've tried. The cake itself doesn't have too strong of a funk to it. But the first few infusions definitely show that it's fairly young. Bright, almost sharp taste, medicinal undertones maybe from lingering fermentation.
After the first few infusions it mellows out with a fairly light mouthfeel.
$15 for 357 grams shows in the composition of the material and flavor. Given some time I'm sure it will smooth out and develop more. YS has a menghai 8592 from 2010 which has doubled in price over time at $31. I'm tempted to get a sample to see what the difference 7 years can make.

Even with time I'm not sure it would make a massive difference in the overall flavor profile. But man, for that price I'll happily drink this cake over the next few years.

>>11115048
Good to know, thanks

Had some of Teavivre's Tianmu qingding earlier today. Very very nice stuff. A bit more expensive than some of the other greens, but well worth it.

>>11115048
My TGY is really tightly curled and doesn't extract well until second steep. Still tasty though. Good taste anon

>>11115032
Second flush Darjeeling, huge muscatel flavor

>>11115202
Meant to reply to >>11115187 lol

>>11115222
you're rinsing it, right?

I got a sample of roasted Oolong.

Cold brewing a glass now, but might have to make it hot because it smells fantastic.

>>11115239
What kind?

Some cheap green tea later of course.

>>11115232
I'll briefly pass it over with some water at 190F to clear any debris
Just a few seconds though. Do you go longer?

>>11115314
I'd personally recommend doing two 5 second rinses.

>>11115314
thats usually about right, but hand rolled oolongs and puerhs that are still caked together need a longer rinse sometimes. i think you could go 10-15 seconds without losing much. A good tgy is good for 6+ infusions.

Two 5 second rinses could work well.

After the rinse, try leaving them in the pot or gaiwan, lid on, to sort of steam and wake up for a minute.

Does she have a learning disability, lads?

>inb4 who?
Selene from MeiLeaf

>>11116183
Mei Leaf's videos are nice

>>11116203
i very much enjoy them but something about her bugs me.

>>11116205
She's somewhat awkward yeah

>>11116209
she never stops moving and is so disgraceful haha.
i feel like she just copies everything dan says and does.
shes still cute though.

Coziest tea on planet Earth coming through.

What i like most about green tea is the odour. I'm new to tea so I don't really know if it's the right way to describe it but it somewhat smells like eggs.
Whats the type of green tea smells like eggs?

I decided to use my first paycheque to buy a teaset with a gaiwan.

>What are you drinking today?
Drank a bit of "russian blend", but I think I'll switch to sencha green now.

I've been drinking matcha tea for years. Hate the hip young instagram health bloggers associated with and all the idiots pouring milk into it. I've been ordering from hibiki-an and a local shop called "sunday natural" (they list everything from terroir, cultivar to harvest, altitude and shading) and was wondering if anyone knows any other/better sources.

>>11116770
gaiwans are pretty handy, especially when it comes to cleaning. I only wish my local potters made more teaware.

>>11116366
ayyy

>>11117871
I love how easy it is to wash them. I drink way more Chinese tea than I would because of it, all you have to do is dump it in the trash and give it a quick rinse compared to 10 minutes digging out tiny pieces stuck in my kyusu strainer

>>11117871
Honestly, it feels like I get more out of my tealeaves this way.
I can leave them under the lid, and make another cup whenever I want. No rush to make a lot and then drink it while it's warm.

>>11118298
I have had many shameful evenings rinsing tea leaves into the sink drain because it is the only way to get at them.

>>11118647
There is a local teashop that uses glass teapots and they keep them warm over candles. I don't know how they keep the tea from oversteeping. I always forget about the candle and burn my hand.

Oh dang /ck/, new kettle!

>>11119042
does that spout double as a sounding device? also source on the cup.

O-cha's Daily Sencha again, still old as shit. First steep was .7g/30ml, 45 secs at 165 degrees.

>>11119054

1000x easier to slow pour out of thw gooseneck spout so my water measurements are coming out much more accurate.

The teapot and teacup are both from o-cha, as well.

>>11119059
you have the hand of a person that should be beaten half to death and put in a gibbet.

>>11119087

>gibbet

Actually had to look that up. Good form.

>>11119080
The teacup looked chinese to me I don't know why. Thinking about the cup and the kettle makes me want to try and decorate my kettle.

>>11119141

I'd say go for it! Mine came like that but it's just painted on to the bare ceramic.

how worth it is one of these Japanese zojirushi kettles? only heard good things about them but it can't be that much better than one like >>11119042, right? everything else i've ever bought from Zojirushi like their rice cookers and thermoses is great

>>11119174

I'm not sure what the features on that one are but the one I got that you referenced is temp adjustable from 104 to 212 degrees in 1 degree increments and has a built in timer. It heated about 500 ml of water to 165 in just over a minute.

>>11116183
who is this goddess

>>11119200
you're a bigger fuckin pinhead than her it says who right in the post

>>11115187
Interesting. Is the most cost effective pu'er strat to buy super cheap young cakes and age them yourself in a pumidor?

>>11116760
Literally sulfur
Not sure what tea you're drinking that smells like that
I've had a super cheap "Tieguanyin" once which had a smell somewhat like garlic on the first steep or two, wasn't bad tbhonest.

>>11119252
Maybe if you have a good sense for how it will age, but sometimes either due to your setup or the tea itself things turn out in unexpected ways. If all you want is aged tea and are willing to wait for it then I'd say yes. It might taste different than the same production aged in the vendor's setup. The price is not just for letting it sit, but for knowing how to age it as well. Not only are there many nuances, but storage has changed a lot in the past 10-20 years with the growth of the western market. There's a lot to it but I'm not sure anyone fully understands it all.

>>11116366
Do you eat this with biscuits or what

>>11120500
read the box. it Tastes like tea & biscuits!

>>11115032
for some reason i can't find one of my favorite autumn-sipping oolongs, Buddha's Hand or Fo Shou. Anyone know where i can find some? I've seen a few places claim to have it but instead of those massive, almost silver-needle looking leaves (except dark) what they have looks like gunpowder. What's going on with Buddha's Hand?

>>11120627
Like this?
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/buddhas-hand-fo-shou-wu-yi-rock-oolong-tea-spring-2018

>>11120709
you're a fucking legend, man. thanks.

>want tea
>can't make any because it's late and you'd only be able to use the leaves once
send teabags

R8 my $3 find.

>>11120523
>>11120500

Yup, that's the idea. The marketing blurb says they taste like digestives, but I reckon they're actually more like custard creams.

>>11122410
Just use them tomorrow.

>>11122507
>$6
nice tho

>>11122542
It was half off.

>>11122410
Make a cup now, put the leaves in a cold brew bottle in the fridge for the morning

>>11116183
I met her in Camden and she was really sweet and fun to talk to. Not sure why she strikes you as disabled.

>>11122507
Rest of an $8 tea haul from a place that sells box damaged stuff that had a 50% off sale

I asked this in the last general but I'm not sure I got my actual question across.

Are there teas that should not be steeped in a kyusu used primarily for Japanese green tea? Not as an impropriety thing, but in terms of odd flavors sticking around and contaminating subsequent steeps. I'm curious because I'd like to start exploring pu-erh but don't want to fuck up my kyusu.

With tobacco pipes folks call this "ghosting," and will only smoke one category of tobacco, or even one specific tobacco, out of any given pipe specifically to avoid that problem. I was curious if it happens with unglazed ceramic as well.

>>11122973
It does happen with unglazed ceramics so there's that. It's really up to you to make a judgement call on what you want to mix and match.

>>11123026

Got it. So maybe a glazed gaiwan as an all purpose steeping vessel?

>>11122973
Any unglazed, clay teaware should be used for one type of tea. You could get away with mixing white and greens, roasted and unroasted oolongs, ripe and raw puerhs, etc, but I wouldnt steep puerh in the same clay I use for greens.

>>11123060
yes, anything glazed, glass, or porcelain can be used for anything.

>>11123069
>>11123077

Word. Thanks y'all. I've found so many similarities between pipe smoking and tea steeping that I figured ghosting was going to be a shared concept.

>>11122882
Is that the 1$ matcha from the last thread?

A no-name green and jazmin they sell at a coffee shop I part time in. A bit too perfumed but not as bad as I expected.

>>11123660
yea
Looked it up and that tin usually goes for $20

>>11119150
coot

>>11123987
discount?

how do i stop my teeth from getting yellow when i drink so much tea? yes i brush and floss 2x a day

>>11126230
Use straws.

>>11125726
As in, did I get a discount? No, I just took it, we're allowed to make drinks for ourselves whenever as long as we don't use the syrups or anything with alcohol.

I got some excellent red tea and Mao feng from a tea shop in Beijing this summer. The flea market it was located in is being demolished this year and I don't know the exact name or origin of the tea. So once I am out I am out.
Kind of makes for an ephemeral tea experience

>>11126241
ew no wtf

>>11119174
Honestly these look super handy by why do they have to be so fuck ugly and cheap looking. Does the manufacturer not understand that aesthetics are pretty important to most serious tea drinkers?

>Drink bagged earl grey for all my life
>Terrible, so drink it with sugar and lemon
>Start drinking actual good tea without sugar and lemon
>Notice that they are selling earl grey flavoured leaves in the shop
>Buy them
>Open the bag at home
>The smell makes me cry tears of joy
>Brew it
>Continue crying
>Give some to my mother
>She can't believe there isn't any sugar or lemon in it
Is this what transcendence is like?

>>11126230
drink some water
plenty of vegetables

Don't mind me. Just posting the best kettle a tea-lover can get.

>>11126953
I don't like shiny things. How's the temp control

>>11126975
Pretty good. Only downside is the narrow opening for filling water.
Bought it looking for a kettle with temp control and wasn't disappointed.
All unshiny ones have BPA anyway.

>>11126627
nice bro

>>11127633
It's the bergamot oil + the quality of the tea itself that does it.
They put the powder in the bags, not the proper leaves.

I got this bergamot oolong over a year ago from a local and thought I had lost it during a move, but I just found it, let's see how it goes.

>>11128869
vamos

>>11128869
10 seconds to unfurl and then brewed for a minute. Not a lot of flavor on it and then the bergamot taste at the very end after you swallow it. Is the slight foam from the citric oils?

>>11128972

>>11128979
that foam is really weird, but I don't drink flavored tea a lot so idk. How did you pour it? I like tea with bubbles so I high pour sometimes.

>>11129020
I think I high poured it, yes.

>>11129058
Congrats anon you're doing it like they do in Morroco.

>>11128979
Second steep, 1:30, didn't foam at all, you can feel the, tang? what's the word for that particular oolong punch? now, followed by less of the bergamot. I'm gonna steep it perhaps three or four more times but I doubt it'll get much better. Note to self, just buy bergamot essence to make candles or whatever and stop buying meme teas.

>>11129130
to get the foam like in Morocco you need to pour from veryy high, I think that’s something else. Morocco was where I first learned to love tea, but that might just be because of how sweet it is there. Most aesthetic tea culture

>>11129269
You must be right, I assumed it had somrthing to do with pouring but who knows. Any good anecdotes about Morroco tea?

>>11129269
>moroccan tea
>most aesthetic
kek. get that gaudy shit out of my face.

>>11129258
I think you were trying to describe astringency?

Earl Grey, same as always.

>>11129289
it developed somewhat recently, compared to other tea cutures (late 18th century maybe) since all tea had to be imported from China. mint leaves grow EVERYWHERE in the country so they were added to make up for limited supply, as well as a lot of sugar since it wasn’t always the highest quality green tea (usually gunpowder), other herbs are added too depending on the season. it’s served everywhere - breakfast, lunch, dinner, and with a 4th small snack meal they usually eat. any time you enter a home as a guest, you get tea, it’s seen as rude not to. when you go into a souk to shop, you usually get tea before you start discussing prices, no business can be conducted while drinking tea, you can’t hurry it and it’s drinken slowly and gracefully. since there’s little alcohol it’s sort of a replacement as it’s a muslim country. pretty sure they drink the most tea per person out of any country. it’s not just poured from high to look nice, it cools the tea, and adds texture. it was a long time ago and there’s much more but sadly I forgot a lot of it

The first cup I poured from my teapot was weaker than the second one, what can I do to avoid this in the future?

I could stir after removing the leaves but is a metal spoon bad for a glass teapot? Any softer utensil recommendations?

>>11131182
That's normal with a lot of teas, especially tightly rolled ones or puer.

You can always toss the first cup or do multiple rinses. Or just drink the shit and stop being a ninny.

>>11131141
It sounds very cozy and a lot of fun. I wish that business culture in the US was geared more towards that pace.

>>11115032
Haha. Were you inspired by the tea threads on /jp/ years ago? There was even a Pastebin for beginners.

>>11132047
>Were you inspired by the tea threads on /jp/ years ago?
I've never been to /jp/ you dumb fucking weeaboo.
Get out of my thread and back to whichever cancerous yellow fever board you came from.

>>11132047
I hope this is ironic

>>11132059
>>11132101
Something else might be ironic here, I don't think it's my post.

>>11132025
>Having to make mandatory small talk before you can conduct business
Nah, straight to the point would be better. But being offered delicious tea every time to enter a place, that I'd like.

Oh dang, look what showed up!

>>11132331

Left to right.....

Yutaka Midori (fukamushi), hojicha, San no Ma Uji sencha (asamushi).

Which one first, /ck/?

>>11132363
Asamushi. Post impressions of all eventually.

>>11115222
i'm drinking Daily Darjeeling, i like Vahdam, good tea and not that expensive

>>11132365

San no Ma it is. Dry, it has that very seaweedy smell, almost salty. Pretty bright too, if that makes sense.

Idk how to describe these things. Quit smoking 3 months ago after three years so smell is all new again.

Brewing instructions list .6g/oz at 176 degrees, 1 minute, 30 seconds, 1.5 minutes.

I would not recommend Japanese green tea from Honshu. Personally, I do not drink Japanese green tea at all anymore. The disaster at Fukushima is ongoing despite a lot of creative media framing about it and Japan isn't going to become less contaminated with fallout as time goes by. Iwaki is literally a short drive away from the crippled nuclear plant. The Japanese government changed their radiation testing criteria after pressure from the agribusiness lobby so that contaminated food products, including tea, could pass.

>>11132363
how much for those?

>>11132440

68 bucks shipped from o-cha.

>>11132415

First steep. The taste mellows and evens out a lot from what the smell might have you expect. It has an almost light earthiness to it without any bitterness or astringency. Very smooth and easy and subtle flavors.

>>11132458

Second steep. The tastes stay very similar with a little bit of bitterness making it's way in and lingering on the front of the tongue.

>>11132483

Third. I'd say it "grows to its smell" over the three infusions, if that makes sense. Starts off subtle but builds in intensity and astringency until it's got that bright seaweedy (or maybe more accurately grassy) character.

>>11132059
this is not the OP
>>11132047
no, never went on /jp/. /tea/ is a pretty regular thing here on /ck/ (not so much recently though, i've started it again)

>>11115202
beautiful teapot, where's it from?

>>11132515
these pics give me vertigo

>>11133137

Only spot with the proper lighting to show the actual color. Sorry.

>>11132515

Yutaka Midori.

>>11130138
Yeah, that's it, thanks

What I ordered

>>11133924
What I got

Fuck you, China.

>>11132280
I like small talk, but to each his own

>tfw living in China but still drinking bagged earl grey

>>11133280
what happened

Burned my tongue again on hot tea after I tried to drink it out of a thermal mug my aunt gave me :/

The mug is pretty shit to drink out of anyway. But it might make a good tea pot.

Many years ago I had a roommate who drank Earl Grey tea with bergamot each morning before he went to work. He got up at around 5 am each morning and put the tea kettle on while he showed and put on his clothes. The water used was filtered tap water. Around this same time I would be wrapping my day and be about to go to bed.

When the tea kettle would whistle he would remove it, and then rip open eight bags of tea and place them in the kettle to steep. I believe he steeped for 5 minutes.

This was done daily for around 2 to 3 years, often multiple times daily. Over time inside of the tea kettle became caked in a thick layer of tea residue. It was possible to make tea in that pot with no bags if you would like.

The tea that I drank on those mornings with him as he was just beginning his day and I was just ending mine was the best tea of my life, by far. I have never had anything that had the body of that tea which was steeped in that kettle the "wrong way". And I have had quite a lot of good teas since.

>>11134649
cool
did either of you ever scrape off some tea residue and eat it?

Today’s choice is Tie Guan Yin. Third infusion, 90 degrees Celsius. 15-20 seconds.

I also love GABA oolongs, Gao Shan and puerhs of course.

>>11134748
What does GABA do?

>>11135255
I am not sure what you mean by that question but GABA teas should relieve stress, increase concentration, lowers blood preassure, burns residual alcohol faster and some other stuff. I like one specific GABA oolong because the taste is off the charts - dried plums, overriped fruit, dates, roasted wallnuts sometimes.

>>11116366
what makes it a biscuit brew
is this a new branding

anyone else drinking kenyan tea? i think it's the best black tea

someone redpill me on guayusa

>>11135281
What's the oolong called and where to get? Please, kind sir

>>11135309
I am not from english speaking country so I can’t really give you link where to order since I order from small family chineese teashop here. The tea is not specified - it only says “ Formosa GABA oolong” - place of origin Taiwan/ Nantou, harvested in summer 2017.

Try google theese:
Gabaron, Jia Wu Long cha, Jing Bai Long cha, 佳叶龙茶.

>>11135283
It's one a few new ones that Yorkshire Tea have brought out.
They also do a 'Breakfast Brew', which is like the standard brew but with a bit more Assam in it to give it a good tannin punch, and one called 'Bedtime Brew' or similar, which presumably has less caffeine or something, I dunno.

>>11134748
Wonderful color. I wish there was more vibrant green(in appearance at least) Chinese teas, like how Japanese teas are usually a rich shade of green

In order to compare it with the usual bagged dust, I'm looking for some good earl grey, the best earl grey that can be. Any recommendations? I see what-cha has one with a ceylon base, and I guess the base is the most important part, but I can't find much since, understandably, most reputable sellers only have unscented teas.

>>11134429
same

>>11134429
>>11136783
isn't high quality loose leaf cheap as dirt there tho?

>>11115032
Having some informal hojicha which I saw on sale at my local supermarket. It's surprisingly tasty. I love the roasted feeling and scent.

>>11135297
Anything specific?

Closest I've had is some Rwanda Rukeri orange pekoe that I got cheap as a mystery from what-cha. Really clean flavor, cold brewed with some simple syrup makes for an amazing sweet tea.

However it can barely be reused. Most other black teas I can get 2 good coldbrews or 3-4 regular hot steeps. This Rwandan stuff I get 1 good cold brew or like 2-3(-ish) hot steeps.

Honey Orchid Dan Cong Oolong tea. Smells and tastes like honey and flowers. Love when a tea’s flavor and aroma actually fits its name - rarer than you would think

Sencha or matcha?

>>11136096
I've only had other teas from them, but Upton is a good seller with popular Earl Grey.

>>11137892
matcha, but it doesn’t make sense to drink it as often as sencha for price/ease reasons. matcha is a nice treat, sencha is a reasonable daily tea that tastes great too. sometimes i add a sprinkle of matcha to other greens for extra flavor + caffeine

>>11137907
A local seller has a mix of genmai-matcha and it seems interesting, and since the matcha coats the whole thing it's this nice, bright green.

Wow two active tea threads in a row, this is nice

>>11137892
For me, it's sencha.
It isn't trendy here and you can get really good sencha for way less than you can get really good matcha. Plus it's less of a hassle to prepare and is much easier to store. There really isn't much else that tastes like it either.

>>11135493
Do Japanese teas have their richer green color because of the steaming process they go through?

>>11138910
It def has something to do with the technology and how they process it. Even the cheapest kukicha will still have this beatifull vibrant green color.

>>11138910
>>11139015
I thought it's because they're shade grown or something
Or maybe radioactivity from all the nuclear power plant problems they have

Who has the best Lapsang? I tried Twinings and it tasted like cheap artificial smoke, I tried Harney’s and the smoke flavor was good but weak and a lot of the leaves were crushed and almost powdered.

What is Yerba Mate supposed to taste like? I bought this brand because it was the only one I could find. Brewed it like regular tea and it tasted like... nothing. Brewed it extra extra strong and it tasted like bland green tea with a very light wood/straw flavor. Does this brand suck or is that it?

>>11138910
>>11139015
It's the steaming. 90 seconds is considered a "deep steam" and they're rolled and dried right afterwards so they retain more of that leaf vegetable character than pan-fired teas. Some of them can brew a really vivid fluorescent green.

>>11139033
Sencha gets full sun while kabusecha and gyokuro/matcha get shaded. That does make the plant send more chlorophyll to the leaves, but the bright colors are mostly from the way it gets processed.

>>11139033

There are two distinct types of shaded sencha, but not all sencha is shaded.

>>11137907
>>11138891

Thanks for the input.

>>11139170
Yerba mate should taste like yerba mate, if it doesn't taste like yerba mate then you did something wrong.

>>11139033
Not the radioactivity tho. I saw my distributor has certificates from his suppliers so his teas can be considered not poluted by the radioactivity.

>>11139171
Nice. Thanks for the info anon.
I had few japanese teas and they all had really nice yellow/green/neon color.
I am now thinking if you can really judge the quality of tea by it’s color.

I have this sencha. What's the proper way to make it?

I have this sencha, what's the best way to make it?

>>11139347
That's pretty cheap stuff but not terrible. Maybe around a teaspoon to brew a cup, 1 minute 30 seconds at 175 degrees

>>11139251
Yeah and green tea tastes like green tea but some low quality green tea tastes like lightly flavored grass water while good green tea has a really distinct, strong taste. I’m just wondering if Yerba has a subtle taste or if that brand just sucks.

I'm going to Seoul next week, are there any interesting Korean teas I should try to find

>>11139436
ya it was cheap as hell
thx for the advice

sup

im gonna make some oswego tea sooner or later. Last time I tried making it I picked the wrong leaves and it was incredibly weak. The flowers tasted pretty good though, a unique sweet tasting flavor sort of like of oranges and mint, but also sort of not really

>>11140511
some anon was drinking some kind of korean ginger jelly tea or something in the last thread
>>11068654

>>11140054
mate has an very strong, powerful taste. not meant to be a 'light' drink by any means. it's closer to coffee than tea

>>11140781
living life on the edge I see

Drink Yerba Mate
Just Drink It.
Don't drink coffee anymore, just Yerba Mate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCWmgYzAMwg

3:50-4:45 -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU9TYw4oEj8

Does anyone else struggle with tea stains on their teeth? No matter how diligant i am with my brushing and flossing, my front teeth get brown stains. I recently had a dental visit to get my teeth polished and now they look nice and bright, but tea will inevitably stain them again. I only drink one cup of tea every other day.

Out of tea.... and waiting on a big YS order to come in. I haven't tried the newest batch of duck shit, very excited for it.

>>11143130
Some random guy gave me a coupon for a free mate at a cafe that is owned by a cult.

>>11142591
actually I can overfill it and still water level drop a lot from evaporation before it's in drinkable temp.

>>11144015
did test once, overfilled cup with just made tea and water dropped about 1cm when tea became room temp.

What is /tea/'s opinion on ginger tea?

>>11139436
Remember to brew it twice, about 2 mins second cup. Second cup is best cup.

>>11144665
great with honey when i have cold/flu

>>11144665
smells gud

>>11144990
I usually do slices with skin 10 minutes steep in boiling water and then add one teaspoon of lemon juice. Sometimes I add green tea for maximum power. Keeps me flu free in the winter.

>>11145844
>lemon juice
what kind? bought? homemade?

>>11133280
you still alive bro?

>>11143167
not really no
how dark do you take your *one* cup of tea exactly? or maybe your teeth are super white so staining is actually noticeable?

>>11146032

Still alive. I own a business so it's not infrequently I have 16 hour work days and don't have time for anything else. I'll try to give a little info on the brew tomorrow.

>>11145902
bought. You can get 200ml bottles in every supermarket here.

Has anyone here ever had yellow tea? How was the taste compared to other sorts of tea?

>>11148635
>200ml
They don't sell the stuff in two litre bottles?

>>11148963
No...

>>11144665
I have it pretty often, but I've only used crystallized ginger and never fresh.

>>11132047
>>11132059
Actually, tea threads in /ck/ were from tea threads from /jp/. The original pastebins posted in the /ck/ threads were by /jp/. Check fuuka.

>>11147939
Looking forward to it duder, huge respect for you being a self-owned man

>>11148931
what's yellow tea?
I know pu'er is sometimes called purple tea

>>11149225
Cute ^.^

new to tea, what do you recommend?

>>11150594
Any green loose leaf from your local asian market

>>11150584
Yellow tea is one of the six historical chinese teas: green, white, yellow, Oolong, Pu-Erh (a.k.a. dark), red (known in the west as black).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_tea

>>11150584
From Yunnan sourcing:
Purple Tea is a special Yunnan tea. There exist three unique varieties, all different cultivars. The original Purple tea is called "Wild Purple" or "Ye Sheng" Purple tea. The varietal is referred to as Assamica Dehongensis. Ye Sheng tea is very bitter when young but ages quickly and develops great complexity with age. It was originally processed into mao cha and sold as a kind of Raw Pu-erh tea, but more recently has been processed into Black tea with incredible results! The second kind of purple tea is often called "Zi Cha" 紫茶 or 紫芽 (Purple tea or Purple Bud). Zi Cha is a naturally occurring mutated version of Assamica. It grows all over Yunnan and accounts for less than 1% of cultivated Assamica in Yunnan. The third kind of purple tea is called "Zi Juan". Zi Juan (aka Purple Beauty) is a man-made cultivar developed by Yunnan Xishuangbanna Tea Research Station in the late 1990's. Fujianese purple leaf cuttings from Wu Yi area were hybridized with local Yunnan Assamica plants to product this unique tea.

>>11149679
Naughty troll

>>11150594
Don't ever bother with teabags.
There's a lot of tea out there, tons of flavor to discover. As >>11150597 said your local asian market might have some OK loose leaf, you can experiment with that and try green, black, oolong and white tea to begin. Each category is pretty big on its own, so don't let a bad experience with say, green tea discourage you. Just try some different green teas.

For hardware, you only need a kettle + a cup + a strainer to start off.

Enjoy your journey~

>>11149679
I wanna try making my own candied ginger, can you just bite into it or is it too strong?

is it fine to keep leaves around for a few hours for a second seep or do you have to add hot water asap to maintain flavour or something?

>>11153741
They should be fine
Adding hot water and steeping for hours would just extract a ton of flavor and tannin from the leaves and you'll probably have to dilute the resulting brew. Either way is fine tho

>>11153741
Few hours or even overnight is fine, in my experience. If you're using a small teapot or a gaiwan, leave the lid open and let them cool down/dry a bit. Then put the lid back on to protect the leaves.
Just don't let them out more than one day, cause it'll get all moldy, and that's a pain to clean, especially for clay teaware.

>>11153783
>>11153758
I brew my tea how my parents taught me, some leaf in a teacup, add hot water, cover for 1 minute, stir and drink.
The leaf will always be submerged in a decent bit of water after i finish drinking it, don't reckon it'll wreck the tea?

>>11153802
You'll be fine anon.

>>11115032
Poo-erh

>>11115032
Why do people recommend steeping tea for seconds at a time? I let it steep for at least 15 minutes before drinking.

>>11153887
kung fu method
more leaf less water

>>11153887
Fifteen minutes? At what temperature?

>>11153900
Straight out of the kettle boiling.

So... about brands. Is DavidsTea any good? I'll be going to amerilands soon and I've seen they sell cute mugs, but what about their blends?

>>11153802
That's what we call "grandpa style". I won't "wreck" the tea, but the infusion definitely continues if you leave the leaves in water, and it can become into something very heavy in tannins, or bitter. It'll be dilluted when you put hot water inside again, sure, but the taste won't ever be the same.
It won't kill the tea, but I don't recommend doing it with any type of pu-erh, or any real high quality tea you care about.

>>11153887
With gong fu cha, you infuse a big quantity of leaves in less water. Which gets more out of the tea, and allow for multiple infusions.
You're using western style brewing, and generally it's 1 to 5 minutes depending on the tea. I suspect you're not using enough leaves, or you're really into bitterness.

>>11154033
Mugs are fine, and they sell good tins, actually. Blends are great if you're into something that smells like chemicals. Just go into one of their store and smell the teas --i find it rancid, but a lot of people seem to like it...

what's a good tea to drink grandpa style? and is a taller or flatter bowl-like cup better to drink this way?

Does anyone know if the tealife2015 on ebay jin xuan is scented? title says "No Additives" but in the description they're saying how it changes with consecutive brews, and says, after the third, "Milk fragrance adds tea fragrance". I guess that's just talking about the change but it's confusing with the engrish.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jin-Xuan-Milk-Oolong-Tea-AAAAA-From-Chinese-Taiwan-High-Mountains-No-Additives/141737173869?hash=item210031a36d:m:mowOFjleq5qalO-NP2VcGAQ&var=440855332482

>>11139170
How did you brew it? it's not brewed like any tea, western or chinese way afaik. Retry with correct brewing method.

>>11150594
I recommend mei leaf, yunnansourcing and teadb youtube channels (in that order) to get some knowledge and ideas first. Then get a cheap gaiwan or kyusu from ebay/aliexpress and some teas from whatever online vendor you can. What type of teas depends on your taste, you can get a few samplers for green, black, oolong and puerh.

>>11153741
You can leave them, covered in the gaiwan for a couple of hours. More than that, you should spread them on a couple kitchen paper to dry in a place free of odors and sun.

>>11155268
Taller. Any non astringent tea. For greens go for hou kei or long jing. Silver needle for whites. Some blacks may work as well, as long as they don't get too bitter. Haven't tried oolongs, but I don't see why they wouldn't, as most also don't have much astringency or bitterness.

>>11143244
It's good. I haven't written down my tasting notes yet, only had it once. When you get yours, post it, I'll brew a cup as well.

>>11126992
>muh BPA meme

Get over yourself faggot

>>11155205
there's this one guy on >reddit that grandpa styled his puerh in a thermos all day and he and everyone else shat themselves over it

>>11139146
Maybe you are like a lot of people and don't actually like Lapsang.

>>11154033
Davids tea is pretty crap. They have some decent stuff that is way overpriced but 90% of it is heavily perfumed garbage. Just google search "[city name here] tea shop" and find a local place that sells loose leaf.

Finally back around with the Yutaka Midori. Having a few mugs while I do my bakery invoicing.

This stuff is like the stock of green tea. It comes out nearly opaque with a fair helping of tiny tea particles in the bottom. The taste is, again, super grassy and earthy. It almost reminds me of when you sautee a bunch of spinach in butter but didn't rinse it off quite well enough, but in a good way.

Going to push this one to a fourth and fifth infusion. This is number four. Starting to lose some of the earthiness and actually taste a little sweet.

>>11156570
Not that anon, but does this place I found look good?

https://www.carytownteas.com/

I know you can't judge everything from a website, but y'all know way more about tea than I do. I just know I tried and really liked pic related as my first loose leaf and want to try more tea.

>>11157687

You Richmond motherfucker. Everyone knows the only reason to go to Carytown is Mom's Siam.

>>11155643
There are some puerh teas that I wouldn't want to grandpa style because they're expensive or change a lot between steeps. Some puerh is cheap and stable also. Maybe reddit is just stupid though.

>>11155205
>>11156570
Noted. Thanks.
I'll probably end up buying stuff in some Asian market, though I still might try one of their teas. It has piqued my curiosity.

>>11157701
Poo-Air is the preferred tea of teahouse lesbians everywhere. Please don't give money to domestic abusers.

>>11155632
Will do man. Last year's was still one of the best i've tasted.

>>11157542
Why are you using a scale to rest your pot?

>>11158062

I weigh out the tea and water into the kyusu. I just keep the scale off between infusions to not waste battery.

>>11157687
>https://www.carytownteas.com/
Doesn't look too bad but not that good either.

>$25 for 2 oz of kukicha

Im new to tea, Im drinking this charcoal roasted dong ding oolong from a local tea place not too sure its a dong ding but from the research i've done it seams to be.
Also is it worth it to get a variable temp tea kettle i use water that is too hot every now and again trying to judge by the size of the bubbles

>>11159350

>>11158101
What's your water to tea ratio?

>>11159530

For most sencha I use .6g/30g h20 as a baseline. I'll deviate slightly up or down but that's my starting point.

>>11159596
That seems kind of low, but I guess that's what they actually recommend in the description for that one. I go closer to 4g for a 100mL cup. I like doing second steeps that are almost instant too, 10 seconds or less.

Good to see somebody else making sencha though. I've had that Kaoru before but I can't remember what it was like. I think it was the one I found oddly smooth no matter how I made it. I should keep more notes.

>>11159763

I've been slowly increasing the ratio. I might try what you recommended later today.

>>11158738
I've been thinking about just using a kitchen thermometer to make sure I don't burn more delicate tea, but if you can afford it a variable temperature kettle would be easier

>>11158738
>>11160589
It is worth it. I have pic related. It works like a dream. Keeps water heated for about an hour or so iirc.

>>11158738
>>11160589
It does work, the kitchen thermoter. Definitely cheaper than buying a fancy kettle, but keep in mind it's always a bit slow to update, and depending on how much water you're boiling, it goes very quickly between 70 and 100°C. So try to remember there's always a bit of delay, e.g. by the time your thermometer shows 70, water might already be at 80 or more. Once you're used to it, you can get accurate results.

>>11159596
>20

do i have to go through the whole traditional nip ceremony to drink matcha or can i just fucking drink it?

>>11160836
No. But please at least mix macha and water well before drinking it, you'll have a horrible experience otherwise. And buy one of these whisks, they're awesome

>>11160678
I was thinking more of going above the temperature I wanted, taking it off the fire and then using the thermometer to know when it has cooled enough.

Which tea has the lowest acidity, i'm kind of trying to cut down in that department, or maybe any specific brew methods?

>>11160947
Yup. That's the safer way to do it. You can also pour it into another recipient if you want to cool it faster.

>>11161069
Probably white, along with less theine

>>11160836
Not unless you are a weeb.
1)Put macha in bowl
2)Pour appropriate temperature water
3)Wisk or use frother. Blend well
4)?????
5)Enjoy your radioactive fukushima cancer

>>11161207
Not too cumbersome for the budget option then, thanks

>>11160947
>>11163060
I do this, but I pour it into a cheap glass pitcher meant for gong fu.

>>11160652
thanks i will probably pick one up when i get paid hopefully i can find one locally since the online prices are really high for canada
also this is the worst commercially sold drink i've tried since i had glen moray and fell down a flight of stairs what trash

>>11163303
>premium tea from select gardens around the world
What did they mean by this?

Is it true that drinking tea from green oolong leaves that haven't been infused for 3h is bad for the liver? That's what I've been told at the store.

I was also told to always wash pu er for health reasons (because of molds if I remember well). But the only reason I find is because the second infusion is always better than the first. What do you guys think?

>>11164208
>infusing tea for 3 hours
what

>>11164259
That had been left to sit out of water for more than 3h between two infusions, sorry...

>>11164208
> is bad for the liver
There's all sorts of myth about tea, particularly oolong and pu erh since the west at large discovered them recently and they have appropriately foreign sounding names that make it easier to sell them as medicinal remedies. If you google their names plus any health benefit you can think of you'll find someone that swears for their detox capacity, weight loss properties, how it cured their cancer, etc, and the same the other way around, about all the adverse effects these mysterious eastern substances can have.

So no, most probably not, I doubt anyone has made proper research that found a significant relationship between consumption of oolong that has been submerged for less than 3 hours with diminished liver functions.

Also, pu ehr is usually very tightly packed, so giving it a fast pass with hot water before you brew it is normal, like >>11115314

>>11164208
>>11164307
>oolong that has been submerged for less than 3 hours
Silly me meant oolong which was infused, then left in contact with air for > 3h, then infused again. Something to do with partial oxidation of green oolongs.

Just tried pu-erh for the first time. Is it supposed to smell kind of fishy or is it just bad tea?

>>11164378
Can it degrade the taste? maybe, you could just try it, people up in the thread were talking about leaving your already brewed leaves out overnight >>11153783

Affecting your liver? Nah. Sounds like something my mom would come up with after seeing a video on her facebook health groups. Again, does it affect the liver? we don't know, there's no research as far as I know and it's not something you can apply simple logic to.

>>11164537
it doesn't mean anything specifically, the fishyness can be seen in both high and low quality puerh. if it's overwhelmingly fishy, and not just one of several notes, it's probably not great quality.

it's usually seen in shou pu'erh, as opposed to sheng pu'erh which is more bitter and vegetal. Shou pu'erh is made pretty closely to how compost trash is made - not necessarily a bad thing, just explains some of the 'fishy' flavor.

>>11164208
i doubt it's harmful, people have been drinking tea forever and generally being slightly healthier for it (not to say it's a magical health potion or anything). at least you're not drinking soda or something else which is flat out bad for you, that's how i think of it. basically what >>11164568 said, there's no way to know 100% but that shouldn't discourage you. only bad effects you'll get is your tea tasting slightly worse from being left out, not any health problems is what i guess.

>>11163630
the leaves look really nice, i don't know what the flavoring is supposed to be but it tastes so much like chemicals i can't tell what the leaves taste like

>>11115032
im drinking constant comment with honey


i miss my grandma

is Celine from Mei Leaf autistic? her movements/expressions are fidgety and seem very childlike. it's weird watching her constantly dance around and shake her head while sitting next to Don trying to make a proper video. where is she from? is it just cultural or is she a freak?

>>11164537
ripe poo-er is shit unless you break it up completely and also rinse it like three times or hold your nose

I have to packets of pu'er. One is 15 years old, the other is quite young, not fermented as much. It was interesting to notice the difference.
The 15 old had an earthy flavour, it was pretty nice, not too rough, but the young one was incredibly strong.
I don't know if I did something wrong, but it looked like an espresso when I poured it into a small cup.

>>11165120
Link to the video? I want to see this tea temptress in action

>>11165288
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd1bBecFv6k

symptoms start to get intense around 1:20

>>11165322
My dick is rock hard right now
Also she looks like an addict getting anxious waiting for her next hit

>>11165322
I need to e-stalk her

I bet her cunt tastes like milky oolong

Whats the general consensus on Fortum and Mason, /ck/?

>>11165413
>I bet her cunt tastes like milky oolong
How romantic

>>11165485
>>11165413
which tea actually tastes the most like human genitals
probably puerh

>>11165120
I believe she's French, but she might have a little bit of a problem. Not that it matters, honestly.

How good of a redpill was this, /ck/?

>>11165793
>vegetable milk
kek

>>11165120
Was last thread not enough? Why are you being autistically bothered about people behaving in slightly different ways? Are you a freak?

>>11166065
Don't know what you're referring to about the last thread but okay, Celine

Who /ivanchai/ here? I literally cannot stop drinking this shit.

>>11166077
You're absolutely right, it was in this exact same thread. >>11116183

>>11166095
Lmao didn't even realise. kind of proves my point though she's a bit off, it's not just me

>>11166105
At least use a different picture

>>11116183
It's one of their most recent videos so it makes sense that we both took a screenshot from it. Kind of amazed that we both thought that while watching then came to post it here lol, I didn't read earlier in the thread and never saw their post

>>11166086
Had never heard of it before, any supplier you'd recommend?

>>11166086
>ivan chai

Cold brewing my shitty bergamot oolong, see you in three hours.

>>11165120
based and redpilled
t. OG Celine poster

very weird that we screenshot the same video

>>11166442
also
Scott>Don

>>11115277

I got it off Amazon for $2 with shipping, Beantown is the brand. It was really good, probably going to order a full package.

>>11166446
I like Scott but he looks like a fucking goblin

>>11166639
I think he is kind of cute.
No homo, just his quiet presence and big glasses and ears.

>inb4 homo

>>11166379
It only takes three hours to cold brew?

>>11166839
I've done green tea like that and the taste is basically the same at three and four hours like some websites say. I'm not sure if three will be enough for oolong but we'll know soon.

>>11166871
Why cold brew tea? curious

>>11166924
.. why not? that's like asking "why make pizza?" - because people like it!

>>11167018
ok then, I'll rephrase it: what's good about it? "What does pizza taste like?, Why do people enjoy pizza?"

>>11167018
yea but you're not cooking your pizza you're eating it raw

>>11167147
you are "cooking" (steeping) it, tea steeps in any temperature water (actually any liquid, you could steep tea in lemonade or vodka even), temperature just affects the rate it steeps at. steeping tea in cold water is just slower.

>>11167104
i don't make cold brew tea often at all but sometimes it's just too hot out for hot tea, but I still want tea - cold brew is for those situations. there's also some teas which I like better that way, for example Bailin Gongfu black tea (aka Golden Monkey). Gyokuro is also very good cold brew but since it's pretty expensive I rarely ever have it that way since I usually would prefer it hot.

>>11166924
Because I brewed it hot and it's >>11129258
Crap. Maybe it'll be more interesting with the longer brew time of cold brew. But no, it's just 100% bergamot and tastes like nothing else, but now it's refreshing, nice and cold so that's a better use of this terrible tea. Also we'll never know about the three hours since I got distracted.

Mostly I cold brew when I want tea but I'm too busy to sit down and measure grams and milliliters and do eight brews. I can just dump it on a sports bottle and enjoy whenever, the flavor won't change.

>>11165793
cringe

>>11166105
It doesn't prove anything, Scott.

>>11165120
This is a normal, energetic type of person. Have you really never met one before? Do you not go out at all?

>>11166446
Scott has the calm mentality I would expect from a passionate tea drinker. Don gives me a high energy coffee drinker vibe.
Also, YS-vids are comfy as fuck.

>>11167958
I forgot to say:
I very much enjoy the Mei Leaf documentry style videos where they go out in some random village and show the tea production and growing methods and such. Very informative.

I bought some oolong tea out of curiousity and generally I don't know much about tea. It says to steep for 8 minutes, but nothing about how many leaves per cup. Any general rule?

>>11167991
https://pastebin.com/4ZEuMwBJ
Read the temperature and timing sections.

>>11167965
>>11167958
Mei Leaf channel is clearly made to push their own teas, but I don’t have a problem with it because their products (which i’ve never tried) are clearly quality and they’re not in-your-face about it, they like to let the teas speak for themselves a bit, so the videos are still fun, interesting, and don’t feel like advertisements. YS has a more normal vlog-type channel which is definitely of higher comfiness

>>11167736
Don is energetic, Celine is immature is more like it

So hold up a minute, you're saying that I should re-steep loose leaf teas? I've had this stuff hanging out in the cabinet, how much have I wasted by steeping once and then throwing the leaves away?

>>11168731
I'd say it only works with different types and brewing methods. Once I've made half a litre of earl grey, and reused the leafs after, but it was really weak and tasted bitter, but pu'er works wonderfully with a gaiwan for example. Same goes for green tea and the like.
If you don't steep it for long and in much water you can re-steep it and get the same amount of tea made. These are my findings so far.

>>11168731
Not every tea is suited for multiple steepings. Green and Pu-Erh teas are commonly steeped up to eight times in gong fu brewing style. Black tea usually gets one or two steepings.

>>11168919
One or two steepings? No way. Hongcha is not like puerh, which can withstand a dozen of infusions easily, but for any decent tea it's gonna be at least 6. I'm talking gongfu style, of course. I suspect you're not using enough leaves --which is fine, but is a waste for better teas. More leaves; shorter infusion times; more infusions --> usually a better extraction, more flavor and best value for your tea.
Feel free to experiment with it.

>>11168731
I'm supposing you're brewing it western style. I know nothing about those leaves; but try to at least steep them 2 times, and increase the steeping time for the second infusion (you can double it). That's how you can get most of your tea.
Again, experiment! Tea is meant to be a journey too, don't be too afraid of "wasting" leaves unless you really got some high end shit. Have fun with it first :)

>>11169158
I usually brew western style and even the second infusion of black tea is already really flat or bitter.

>>11167267
>or vodka
Has anyone here tried tea vodka?

>>11169443
sounds retarded

Has anyone ever put brandy in their tea?

>>11169270
Again, it'll really depend on how much leave/water you have, the steeping time, and the quality of the leaves themselves. Infusing teabags twice is terrible, and pretty much accomplishes what you described: flatness & bitterness.

>>11169443
Yeah. I've tried both ways. First one is "Irish coffee" style, that is pouring vodka in hot tea. Utterly disgusting.
Second way would be to cold infuse tea into a vodka bottle. I've tried it a few times with tea blends with different flavours, it gives good results. It's best if you leave it sit like 1 week in the fridge, and if you use a vodka that has a neutral taste (I find poliakov worked really well for that). Every time I tried, the bottle was drunk the night it was open --tastes real good!

>>11168255
Fucking steepster-tier conversation now

>>11168731
You should re-steep loose leaf teas. It saves on leaf and the flavor will differ from infusion to infusion. Depending on what kind of tea you have it can last many, many infusions. What kind of tea is that in your pic?