/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>11655003
Gunpowder tea a winner.

I'm working in Guangdong province atm and the tea culture is fucking on point. Takes a while to get used to some of the more tannin heavy teas but the variety is amazing, even HK has cool tea culture, allbeit a weird mutant one with far too much milk everywhere.

a french press is good for brewing loose leaf tea

try to get a few brews out of it before discarding the used tea

>>11655037
jealous as fug my dude

Samovar ideally. Failing that a teapot.

>>11655003
I brew that stuff western style. For a mug of it try a teaspoon/3g at 170F/75C for 2 minutes. It should be nice and floral and near the color of the tin. If it gets too bitter lower the temp or the steep time.

>>11655037
>Guangdong
Some of the best black tea I've ever had was from Guangdong. Have you had a chance to visit Chaozhou city for the Dan Cong?

My delivery from Yunnan Sourcing is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Got pic related and some nice teaware.

>>11655003
I made Thai iced tea

>>11655697
Proper Dan Cong is infamously hard to get hold of because of the necessity of small batches. I'd love to try it. I've been to Chaozhou.

>>11655748
that looks so good! how did you make it?

>>11655713
is that the tea farmer market site? i forget the name.

The Chinese lady at my local tea shop gifted me some Huang Jin Gui, so that was really nice.

>>11656368
Based Chinese lady

Where do I buy good tea if I live in a third world country? I could find pekoe Ceylon tea but not any of the Chinese.
I live in Turkey btw, so, where do I find gunpowder tea, wanna taste it.

>>11655003
https://www.enjoyingtea.com/smartteamaker.html?utm_source=googlepepla&utm_medium=adwords&id=61865531738&gclid=Cj0KCQiApILhBRD1ARIsAOXWTzvGFCb1z7UlpsAl5TM48pRQVYaRPvxm46PCBySk6E3uKwxCDZU2c6gaAqgsEALw_wcB

Cant be beaten if youre just doing individual cup, sorry for the long link

>>11656512
Do you have Chinese markets there? That’d be a place to look. That or any spice markets you could find. I don’t know how shipping is in Turkey, but that’s the easiest way to get quality stuff. Most online retailers sell gunpowder green

>>11656512
got a loose leaf tea sampler as an early Xmas gift. admittedly many of the samplers are fruity herbals I'd never go near noemally, but hey, why not? My daughters might enjoy a pot too.

>>11657020
thanks anon i'll look for such a market

>>11655003
These threads are always so comfy.

>>11655156
What kind of tea you use when using samovar? I am pretty sure my chinese tea wouldn't like it.

>>11656512
>I live in Turkey btw
Kinda surprised its difficult to get good tea in Turkey - i thought Turk have like twice higher tea consumptions than chinese...? Or is it like british, who drink a lot of shitty tea and don't care about quality much?

>>11657379
I think we, Turks, are the one that cares the least about tea's quality. We generally over-brew it.

How do you deal with caffeine?

I like tea, but i recently developed habit of drinking it at work for the energy boost it gives me. Which is pretty cool in itself, but the thing is other days i am just... so... fucking...tired. I want to perform well at work, but i also want to drink tea because i like it, not because i need it.

Any insight?

>>11656129
I made 700mL batches because because I couldn't fit any more in my 1L french press, I had to use like 12 tbsp of tea for that much water and all that tea took up a ton of space. I think I used 1.5 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk per 700 mL batch of tea, I probably should have used more condensed milk though. I store it in the refrigerator like that and then add a splash of evaporated milk to the glass with ice when serving.

>>11657379
Samovar is literally just a way to heat water. You can use it to keep the teapot warm.

>>11657565
I've read that most of the caffeine is released in the first few seconds of brewing.

>>11657391
How do you brew your teas? Black tea is shit where I live, unless you specifically hunt azerbaijani. And there's literally no way to buy decent english breakfast except via the internet.

Also is it me, or did the quality of black tea drop this year?

>>11655003
Well,the general rule is teaspoons of leaves equal to the amount of cups of water you're using + 1.

So my fuck off cast iron pot inhales 5 to 6 tablespoons of tea each brewing.

>>11657972
1. We boil some water
2. After it boils, we transfer some water from below to the top of the teapot, then add tea 3-5 spoons
3. Add missing water to below from tap
4. wait until it boils again
5. decrease to lowest heat
6. wait 15 minutes
7. drink

>>11657972
>Samovar is literally just a way to heat water.
Oh. Isn't there the little teapot on the top of it for the tea concentrate you use to mix with hot water from samovar to get as strong tea as you like?

>You can use it to keep the teapot warm.
Like putting the tea pot at the top of samovar to keep it warm between infusions?


>>11657977
Not as far as i can tell, but tea market is global in scale and it is quote possible it dropped for your supplier or favorite brand.

>>11658028
I heard Turks like their tea with shit-ton of sugar, also?

>>11658051
I haven't used any sugar in years, but yes, they do. There are some people who refuse to drink any tea if there is no sugar. Currently I'm drinking pekoe Ceylon tea. Pretty good.

>>11658028
I'll try it. I need to get some flavor from my tea.

>>11658051
>samovar stuff
Yes to both, but you can do that with anything. You could put a large pot of water on the stove and a teapot on top so steam warms it. Of course samovar would be more convenient, but what I mean is samovar isn't a high tech way to get your tea brewing at 90 Celsius specifically.

>>11658113
Thanks for insight about samovars. They always fascinated me.

About to gaiwan for the first time, wish me luck...

>>11658935
It turned out really well, using 6g of Yunnan Sourcing Year of the Snake 2013 in about 120mL of 99C water, I'm on the third infusion now

>>11658113
Good luck. If you need any help, I am here, like, twice a day I check here. Also, you can find some guides on Turkish tea brewing on the net.

>>11657565
I think the "tired on days when not drinking caffeine" myth is false. Caffeine is an adenosine antagonist. When the caffeine high is gone after 6 hours you are rushed with adenosine which makes you sleepy. I don't believe you will be rushed with adenosine for even 12 hours. The tiredness is probably caused by something else. Maybe lack of excercise, stress, poor sleep, etc, could also just be psychological.

>>11655003
Use a tea strainer. I like Oolong and yerba mate.
Black tea is always welcome too.

Still haven't gotten around to actually brewing some up yet.

Picked up Whatcha's Shandong Laoshan black. It's fucking stunning how chocolatey this smells, I thought I'd gotten chocolate into my infuser or something. Delicate, slightly floral, very nice.

Top: LOST, MISSING
Bottom: Jokes on you, son of bitches, I'm drinking tea at my home, how could I go missing.

Something I found at the internet which is in Turkish.

My favorite tea is the Turkish Tea.

It is snowing in Ankara, Turkey. I just arrived to my dorm. Gonna brew some ceylon tea and feel the snow
who here /maxcomfy/

>>11655037
You got any specific gunpowders to recommend?

Is it actually worth it to order tea from the internet? Is it significantly different from the ones in stores?

I know for coffee that any beans that are older than 2-4 weaks past roasting are stale shit but I haven't heard the same for tea.

>>11656368

Merry Christmas to that lady, get her something nice in return

>>11661264

lol a turkish buddy of mine told me his family usually comes to visit him in Scandinavia to escape turkish winters

It made me chuckle, didn't think turkey got that cold but the more you know!

Stay comfy anon and happy holidays

Im starting a vegan ketogenic lifeatyle and am afraid of the tanins in tea blocking my iron intake. What can i do to drink tea but have enough iron? Is it as simple as consuming the two separately?

>>11661745
Teas have long shelf lifes, usually 1 or more years. The thing is that people usually buy larger quantities of tea online because of shipping fees. So you can still end up with stale tea in your cupboard.

I guess if you're not a big tea consumer, going to a well-furnished store is a better option.

>>11662001
Sorry I phrased my question wrong. I meant the difference between supermarket tea and tea from a specialist seller. My brain just defaulted to internet stores because there aren't any specialty tea stores around here.

Pill me on tea, how bad are sachet teas? Are flavoured teas entirely artificially flavoured? What about herbal teas?

I like tea but i'm sure i'm doing things wrong, or not as good as I could be when it comes to picking out teas and then brewing them

What are some tips, introductory things I should know if I want to "get into" tea?

>>11662006
Supermarkets have very little to offer when it comes to tea. It's like 90% sachet tea (usually shit quality) and 10% loose-leaf.

Tea stores have a much wider selection of loose-leaf tea with cheap options. So you can keep trying new ones.

That said, many tea stores are just partnered with one or two wholesalers and offer the same exact selection you could find on the websites.

>>11661800
Just made a snowman. Came to dorm. Brewed a cup of ceylon tea.
hmmm
nice

>>11659024
>Yunnan Sourcing Year of the Snake 2013
If you are who I think you are, I rec'd you the Snake. What do you think of it?

>>11662018
>how bad are sachet teas?
Some are okay, but there's a fairly low ceiling for quality. The Good Stuff simply doesn't come in that form; some teas it doesn't make any sense at all to put in sachets.
>Are flavoured teas entirely artificially flavoured?
Not necessarily. Jasmine teas are a prominent naturally flavored category. For other types, like Taiwan's Jin Xuan "milk oolongs", it's on a case by case basis.
>What about herbal teas?
Some are pretty tasty but I have yet to find one, or a blend of them, that comes close to high-quality Tea in terms of complexity.

>>11662132
>What are some tips, introductory things I should know if I want to "get into" tea?
Big question. For starters, what sorts of tea interest you? I highly recommend gongfu (Chinese tea ceremony), but there are loads of different tea traditions out there and any gongfu advice I give won't be all that helpful if you're into Western or Japanese-style brewing. The site Steepster is a decent resource for info/advice regarding specific teas.

>>11662335
Comfy. Stay warm, turkanon!

>>11662400
>If you are who I think you are, I rec'd you the Snake. What do you think of it?
If you're the anon who was suggesting it to a first time puerh buyer and noted its thickness and espresso-like qualities, then yes, I am probably the person you are thinking of. I really like it. I also got the mini 2012 cake (maybe I have the years swapped, I don't really remember) but I haven't tried that yet.

Merry Christmas anons, I was wondering where you guys buy your tea and what kind do you drink the most? I'm looking for some advice as a person who uses Lipton bags in a microwaved mug

>>11662400
>Some are pretty tasty but I have yet to find one, or a blend of them, that comes close to high-quality Tea in terms of complexity.
There's a handful of herbals that are made with the same or similar processing as actual tea, and it really shows. I recommend the Laoshan Sweet Potato Leaf available from Verdant.

>>11655680
I used boiling water and covered for 5 minutes like the instructions said. Not bad, but I'll try 175 next for conparison.

>>11662774
Look for a coffee/tea shop or go to an asian grocer if you can. Try loose leaf, it's higher quality than prebagged. Just look for anything that catches your eye, I presume you'd like some quality green/black teas. I tried earl gray for the first time recently and it was some good ass shit, although it was processed crap.

Just had some traditional Christmas tea with the family. Who here /samovar/

>>11663212
Huh weird that it turned sideways.

>>11660548

I know that this is nigger-tier preparation, but I got sick of forgetting to pick up a proper teapot. It's breddy gud/10 guise, very clean taste, and a little sweet even without any honey or other sweetener.

>>11663224
that electric cord holy cow

I recently obtained a sample of l'artisan parfumeur's tea for two. If you love tea- get your nose on this shit. The best tea scent i've ever had the privilege to smell

>>11664688
You have problem with glorious Soviet electrical engineering?

>>11661817
>What can i do to drink tea but have enough iron? Is it as simple as consuming the two separately?
I'm anemic, wondering the same.

Does anyone know any earl gray that uses real bergamot and not synthetic?

>>11666575

Bigelow. Yes, seriously. t. fellow earlgreyfag

>>11660918
Looks like some twat who'd have to draw on me if he went into Dodge, just to try to prove a point. He'd end up on boot hill.

>>11664688

It appears to be insulated with braided silk, which was actually the standard prior to the advent of rubber and synthetic polymers. That samovar is likely a little over a century old, unless it's the product of wartime shortages or some similar event.

>>11665181

>>11666623
I thought that was samogon, Russian friends tell me that's wartime bathtub vodka. We all fuck with each other, that's why we haven't nuked eachother, it's more fun this way plus their girls are really cute!

>>11666654

There's loads of historical products that were the result of such shortages and the ingenuity thereby inspired, its actually kinda fascinating all on its own. "Ersatz" products ranging from chicory root "coffee" to cigars composed of dried... cabbage, I think? soaked in nicotine solution, converted road vehicles powered by the destructive distillation of hardwood, the list goes on.

>plus their girls are really cute!

Hell yeah they are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zty2WxVnklI
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Get Down Moses

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Long Shadow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbWdtlWmuLE

>>11661817
>vegan keto
What are you going to eat, grass and avocados?

>>11666771
That fag will go for soylent green wafers.

What are some retarded and autistic things you do to take your /tea/ drinking experience to the next level?
For me it's drinking hot matcha while sitting in my cheap replica Eames Lounge chair listening to Gerry Mulligan's Night Lights (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5PG7aRYS1k I make sure to take the first sip at exactly 00:04 so I feel the warmth of the matcha at the same moment the brush hits the snare) onan old B&O soundsystem from the 70s with a broken speaker that my father gave to me when I moved out.

>>11655680
>>11663175
I tried 175. Only notable different was that the last 10% of the tea was bitter and tasted perfume like. I'll stick with boiling.

>>11661499
Brands don't really matter, only freshness, any fresh pingshui gunpowder is what I look for, shiny pearls are a good sign.

Got shitty bagged spice tea for christmas. "Green", huh? There is no freshness. There is barely any color. It's astringent no matter how I brew it, so I just poured boiling water with it. Bit of sugar to soften the kick.

>>11656368
Give her the D

>>11657565
youre likely addicted to the caffeine
it takes about three or so days to get off the addiction and after that your tolerance will also drop and in the mornings youll have your energy back

christmas presents

>>11655003
OP, my wife is coming back from China with about 6kg of high quality tea. Jealous?

BTW if you want to get serious with tea, only use one tea per pot, over time the flavour will be more pronounced and sophisticated, this is more so with clay pots.

Also try to figure out your taste preference, for me, I like really strong red tea. Whereas others like a finer, more delicate profile.

Tea recommendations:
Red tea, my fav, i especially like cheap red tea, i can have it every day and it costs next to nothing.
Pu'erh, if you have this try it at different strengths, do this by steeping it at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 minute intervals.
Dragon-well (green), might be hard to find in a western country but you need to have it within a year or the flavour profile decreases in intensity

Try all of them, that should be enough to immerse you into the tea culture.

Lastly, treat the tea process as a ceremony, i dont but i have a wife to do that for me.

>>11668716
>6 kg of tea
H-how much tea do you drink exactly?

What do you guys think of ahmad and palais des thes? not much of a chinese tea drink since I'm a poo in loo.

What do if I drink A LOT of black tea every day, like 1.5-2 litres a day, should I just buy very big teapot or what?

>>11669396
Drink less tea. Stop chugging it and slow down and actually appreciate it.

>>11669401
Pretty much the only thing that I drink is tea. A glass of water in the morning and then tea.

>>11669419
flip those around and drink more water

>>11666914
Get Samovar and go full gopnik like>>11663212 >>11663224

>>11669429
I like tea.

>>11668716
>BTW if you want to get serious with tea, only use one tea per pot, over time the flavour will be more pronounced and sophisticated, this is more so with clay pots.
Meme

>>11669311
A decent amount, I like to have at least 1L per day of cheap red tea. Shes bringing back a lot because we dont know when we will go to China next or when the chink family will come here so we got enough to last a year and a bit.

>finally get money to indulge in my tea addiction
>don’t have enough time to have a cup before work and nowhere enough time to be brewing with my fuck off cast iron pot
>when I do have time I only make one batch cause I am tired and cold tea in the morning makes me sad

Dammit

>>11671194
Thermos bro. Make it before bed, it will still be hot when you wake up.

>>11660382
>I think the "tired on days when not drinking caffeine" myth is false.
Dunno, it seems pretty real to me. But i could be wrong. The mechanism i imagine for it was more akin "body gets used to caffeine and stop trying so much on its own".

>The tiredness is probably caused by something else. Maybe lack of excercise,
Yeah, this is entirely possible. I gotta work on this, too.

>>11662774
Merry Christmass to you, too, Anon.

> I was wondering where you guys buy your tea and what kind do you drink the most?
I buy tea at local tea-room.

>>11668716
>OP, my wife is coming back from China with about 6kg of high quality tea. Jealous?
Honestly, i am more jealous abotu the wife than tea.

>>11669324
Ahmad is OKay for what it is (i. e. bagged tea).

>>11655003
Please what brand is this? Bought it once and it was best tea I ever had. Have never been able to find it again.

>>11673395
Sunflower Jasmine Tea. It's pretty good for cheapo tea.

>>11655713
TASTES LIKE FUCKING DIRT HOW DO PEOPLE DRINK THIS WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU

>>11675115
hahaha

it was ambitious to go for pu'erh first, don't know who told you to do that but never listen to them again

>>11672755
Thank you

>>11668716
>OP, my wife is coming back from China with about 6kg of high quality tea. Jealous?
Not at all, friendo. Enjoy your 3 kg of lead. :)

>>11675115
Did you drink the first steep?

Just picked up pic related today, wanted to try and get into tea after learning more about the stuff. Supposedly this was supposed to be good for 8-10 infusions, I got up to 5 before giving up, it just kept getting worse each time. I'm sure I did something wrong, maybe y'all can help me figure out what it was. I used the right side pic for steeping the tea, filling the top chamber up fully with about 2 teaspoons of tea in the chamber. Each infusion was done with boiling water and I let the water sit for about a minute or two before pouring. What should I change? Longer detention time? More tea, less tea? Advice appreciated.

>>11655713
I haven't tried the Dragon of Jing Mai yet, but the Year of the Snake is really good, it's thick and espresso-like.

>>11675447
>two teaspoons
>boiling water
Learn to measure, you retard. You're supposed to measure a ratio of x grams tea to y grams water and then use the recommended brewing temperature and times for oolong. This isn't casual babby shit where you can "toss in a few teaspoons" of tea and put who fucking knows what temperature water in it and let it sit for an indeterminate amount of time.

>>11668711
Nice tray, teapot looks pretty based as well. Is that Japanese?

>>11676672
Fuck you asshole

>>11676672
>grams water
stoopid
you measure water volume

>>11675447
>Oolong
>boiling water

Therein lies the problem

made tea azerbaijani style (put leaves in the teapot, pour boiling water, put the teapot on fire, keep on fire while not allowing to boil for 5-15 minutes), didn't like it - it just makes it overbrewed
same with turkish
oh well

>>11657005
Just use this and take it out after a few minutes. Much easier to clean
https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32675785830.html

>>11655003
This is best tea
It is black tea, elderberry and quince

>>11655697
I buy Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong from Mei Leaf in Camden.

>>11656512
Turkey is not a third world country

AUS new to online tea shopping
anyone suggest a good regular? not black

>>11677237
Not him but 1 gram of water is 1 mL so it's pretty easy to translate

>>11677704
lol

>>11677704
lol

>>11678118
Go to your local ching chong town and shop around. If you find something you like, ask them where they got it from and track it back to the source.

>>11677704
lol

>>11677704
heh

Got a dumb question. Say I have a tea that advertises it can be steeped three times in x amount of water. Can I just steep it once in 3x the amount of water?

>>11680761
No

I'm making puerh and it's really good for the first four or five infusions but then it's really weak after that, and this stuff is supposed to be fine going for like 10 to 15 infusions. Am I doing something wrong? I increase the brewing time by 10 seconds with each additional infusion.

>>11681565
Maybe you need to add more leaf

>>11681881
I'm using 6g

>>11681565
It's still good, you're just conditioned to think it's not because of your inferior tea habits. Where did you acquire this Pu-Erh?

>>11683160
Yunnan Sourcing

>>11677444
>>11676672
I am pretty sure you are supposed to use boiling water for oolongs. (With an exception of dark oolongs with "open leaves" who like slightly colder water for first one or two steepings.)

Am i missing something?

>>11677462
>same with turkish
Well, i think turks add shitload of sugar into their teas, so the fact it is overbrewed is expected and even kinda intended.

>>11680761
From my experience, you can't just plain multiply the number of infusions by volume, if you want to get good tea. I usually do half or 2/3 of that amount.

>>11681565
Also kinda depends on the size of your steeping vessel, but five infusion from 6g of tea sounds like appropriate number.

>this stuff is supposed to be fine going for like 10 to 15 infusions
Honestly, that sounds unrealistic amount, especially for puer. Unless it is some super-fancy shit, i guess.

>>11680761
No, that's not how infusions work at all. Pretty much all good tea can be infused multiple times.

>>11677676
nordqvist is really good for flavored, bagged tea

>>11684504
>five infusion from 6g of tea sounds like appropriate number
ok
also should I break up the leaves into a loose leaf consistency before brewing or is it okay to leave them in chunks

>>11686374
>also should I break up the leaves into a loose leaf consistency before brewing or is it okay to leave them in chunks
My approach is: Leave in chunks, but for first infusion, give somewhat longer steeping time (about minute*) so that the chunks have time to break down naturally.

*Well, i guess minute isn't really longer steeping time for when i prepare "darker" puers, but it certainly is when i prepare "lighter" ones.

>>11686621
One minute? I thought that you were supposed to steep for like ten seconds

>>11686642
> I thought that you were supposed to steep for like ten seconds
Again, it's hard to make general recommendations without knowing the particular tea and your setup (gaiwan/pot size).

I use about 150-200ml gaiwan/zhong (which is relatively large). When i have single big chunk, i leave for minute to break down. If i had more smaller ones, i would steep somewhat shorter. Should i steep it only 10 seconds, i would get basically colored water.

It would be fair to admit i usually drink poor-quality pu-er, though.

>>11686706
It's pic related >>11655713 and my gaiwan is supposedly 140mL but I underfill it a bit so it's probably like 110mL.

>>11686724
One whole minute might probably bit too much then.

I still think 10 seconds for first infusion is bit too short. Again - longer steeping time is meant only for first infusion, until the chunks break down. After that, just do the regular, short steepings as you would do with "normal" tea.

Moved out of my cockroach infested shithole apartment into a really nice newly renovated place.

My OXO electric kettle is in the closet in a sealed bag with borax and roach poison for another month, though. Fucker got all up in side the base and anything that even had the possibility of carrying them over has been sealed away until safe to open.

Anyone have suggestions for what to do for water in the mean time? I only have Japanese green teas so temperature is pretty important, and I don't really want to spend money on another kettle in the mean time.

>>11655748
I bought a big bag of the Thai tea mix restaurants use and it just isn't working for me. I think it oversteeps really quickly and I'm not used to adding as much sugar as I probably need to. The mix smells exactly like a glass from a restaurant though.

Death to "tea" with added sugar at convenient stores. They're just sugary water.

>>11687212
Oversteeping shouldn't be an issue if you add enough condensed milk and evaporated milk

>>11666771
They could eat leafy greens, cauliflower, broccoli, nuts, seeds... a lot of things.

>>11687257
Bottled/canned tea is kind of shit in general, but I'm still jealous of the huge variety of unsweetened ones available in East Asia.

Are teas from the Asian grocery stores as good as the stuff from the tea shops? I've seen a huge selection at the grocery stores but the packaging makes it look cheap.

I tried so hard to get into this shit, I used a kettle with customizable temperature settings, I measured out my tea in grams and my water with a measuring cup, I timed my infusions, but after 5 infusions of some high mountain oolong tea I have to say that it still tastes like bitter leaf water and I haven't experienced any kind of unfolding or evolution in flavor over time. Pretty disappointed, I guess tea just isn't for me.

>>11687081
throw the kettle away bro, that's disgusting

>>11688993
y/n
the packaging looks cheap because tea in general is meant to be cheap. if it tastes good it's good, and if it doesn't it is bad

>>11689174
sorry to hear. if you don't want the kettle to be a waste maybe try yerba mate, i've heard good things about it

>>11662400
>For other types, like Taiwan's Jin Xuan "milk oolongs", it's on a case by case basis.

If there are *any* flavourings, artificial or otherwise, in your milky oolong, there is something wrong.

>>11690603

But it was 90 dollars. Just gonna clean it once it's roach free.

>>11690760
Throw it away.

>>11690765

Nope.