/ck/ - Food & Cooking

how do I use my Taiwan without scalding my hands

>>13428258
*Taiwan, Province of China
FTFY

should i buy a shitty chink teaknife lads?

>>13428258
*gaiwan

>>13428258
get good? does it come with a saucer, eventually you'll learn how to hold it without burning yourself, mostly now i only sometimes mildly scald myself on steam escaping

>>13428283
i have a mini blunt knife, i think that works better as its flat and i can pry cakes apart easier than a pick

>>13428324
like a small butter knife?

>>13428253
Redpill me on green tea anons, I want to become a weeb and reap the health benefits

>>13428265
lmao stfu
>>13428283
The chink knives and needles on Ali, amazon are the same ones they sell on path of tea and yunnan sourcing etc. They're all the same.
Anybody with decent Christmas tea hauls? Post em. Pic related. :(

>>13428392
yeah i figured they were like the ones on yunnan. just don't know if they're worth.
yunnan actually has a decent looking teapot that i want and it's cheaper than aliexpress for some reason

>>13428410
For teapots all of YS is going to be better than all of Ali, almost certainly. I only meant knives/needles being the same. If you need (want) a pot, YS is a good choice. I probably will get one soon, too. I've been just fine with Adagio's ingenuitea, even for gongfu desu senpai

>>13428426
i searched for the teapot and it's still alibaba shit, just you obviously can't get a deal on it unless you buy 100 or whatever.

but i guess a regular knife is probably just as easy than a tea knife

>>13428253
>caffiene

What exactly is "loose leaf tea?" Just tea not in a bag? I drink my shit grandpa style at work and everybody's asking if it's loose-leaf tea. I'm like wtf if it was just unbagged tea, isn't the answer really obvious?

>>13428496
Probably. To most people tea comes in teabags and that's it

>>13428283
It's literally a letter opener.

>>13428496
Yes. Non-bag tea is loose-leaf. If you're drinking grandpa style, it's already loose-leaf.
It's only really a term used to differentiate it from teabags. People who actually drink tea seriously don't tend to use the term, because all they drink is loose-leaf.

>>13428612
So I should get a letter opener instead?

>>13428722
If it's cheaper, yeah, pretty much.

>>13428317
no saucer

Picked this up at an Asian supermarket for 8, I think. Looks to have some stems in it...is that pretty typical for cheaper loose leaf?
The only other puerh I've had is bagged Numi, which is pretty expensive, and some Prince of Peace. I thought they all tasted pretty decent.

>>13429771
depending on how zoomed in that is, it seems like there are some decent sized leaves

>>13429820
There certainly are some stem bits, but I'm not too far into it. It's not as bad as some loose leaf Lipton I bought before. The Lipton tasted fine as long as it didn't steep more than 4-5 minutes, but seemed like mostly little pieces and and nearly an equal distribution of stems and leaves.

>>13428387
its a small lock knife thats actually older than i am and nicked off my dad

2019 Xiaguan Jinbang GAN Puer Ripe
5g/100ml 100c 10+5 x15

10g in my 200ml gaiwan, half of that as a large lump. dry leaf smells almost like tobacco, wet leaf smells creamy
10sec wash, 10sec 1st cup, coats the mouth but flavour is a little thin

>>13430070
20sec 3rd cup, still tastes creamy, more flavour now than the 1st cup, taste like other puers ive had
1:20, 15th cup still has a bit of flavour, small lingering sweetness, wet leaves almost smell fruity
not massive amounts of flavour but it lasts throughout the steeps, defiantly drinkable and cheap

2012 Yunnan Mengku YUE CHEN YUE XIANG QI ZI PuEr Raw
5g/100ml 100c 10+5 x15
10g in my 200ml gaiwan, this is my 1st ever raw puer, cake smells like cigars and a hint of toffee, cake broke apart easily and theres some nice intact leaves compared to ripe which is mostly dust and small bits.
10sec wash, 10sec 1st cup, wet leaf smells fruity like grapes and a hint of smoke, no fish. 1st cup, thick feel, taste of grapes that quickly falls off then smokey and a dry mouthfeel, no fish taste but it is kind of meaty? the grapes only comes when breathing through the tea in your mouth. cool dry mouthfeel after swallowing.
20sec, 3rd cup, a lot drier and the sweetness has fallen off
55sec, 10th cup, same as the 3rd but more bitter.
only drank 10 cups of this. think i prefer ripe and hei cha vs this, maybe its the style of this raw vs what ripes ive tried. i'll have to try some more raws and see.

>>13430078
thats a pic of the 1st cup btw, colour stayed roughly the same

shou mei/Gong Mei Fuding Shoumei Tea Bai Cha White
5g/100ml 85c 10+5 x10
10g in my 200ml gaiwan, big leaves and hard to break off cake, lots of intertwined stems, cake feels less dry than other cakes i've had. dry leaf smells almost like aniseed, sweet and spice.
10sec wash, 10sec 1st cup, wet leaf smells like raisins and spice. tea tastes sweet, oily and cooling. 10g/200ml might have been a bit much, after 10 cups it never went bitter, and still has a cooling effect in the mouth, the sweetness died off gradually and its a little more dry
10g may have been a bit much, i'll try 8g/200ml in future. lots of stems in this and not over powering, kind of weak flavour, not terrible very drinkable and only £10/350g

anyone recommend green, oolong, and black teas that i can just drink a bunch of for cheap, that i don't have to worry about "getting the full experience" but are still decent?

>>13430138
Yunnan "Black Gold Bi Luo Chun" Black Tea, 3 crane liubao tea cake

I got some puehr but it smells like old fish and tastes the same. Should I try a different kind or just stick with oolong like I normally drink?

>>13430802
It may be the case that the puerh isn't ready to drink. Sucks, but it might need a few more months or years of aging. Did you try rinsing before drinking? Sheng or shou? How are you brewing? Have you had puerh before? What cake exactly and from where?

>>13430802
was it raw puer and do you know how old it is? maybe stick it in a cupboard for a few years then come back to it. try ripe puer, its composted so it shouldn't have that fish smell

>>13430831
>>13430835
It's not a cake, it's some stuff I bought in a tin from jungle jims. Its probably just not good. I'll go onto YS and order some good tea. I've been planning on getting some good oolong too.

Best masala chai recipe

>>13430930
this ain't google niggaaa

>>13430930
It's best to brew a masala spice concentrate separately, simmer your spice for at least 20 min to an hour. Probably 1 tbs spice per cup of water, you can make a bunch at once and keep it in the fridge.
For actually making the chai, put about 1.5 tbs black tea, (dont bother with super high quality tea, it wont really make a difference) and how ever much sugar you want into a small sauce pan. I like them sweet so i usually use about a table spoon.
Fill one quarter of your drinking cup with hot/boiling water, one quarter with your masala concentrate, and simmer the tea in that.
One the tea is simmered, probably like 5 mins at least, it depend on what kind of stove you are using, add half your cup of milk.
Optionally you can also add powdered cardamom.
Let the milk heat, i like to let it get hot enough that the milk gets frothy.
Strain into your cup and enjoy.
If you dont want to make masala concentrate you can throw in some dry masala into your tea at the begining, but I've never gotten this to tase as good. Its also adapted from a workplace recipie, where we dont use exact measurement, so I'm slightly guessing on the proportions. There is probably a simpler way to do it, but i find the process to be fun.

>>13431225
Which spices do you use. I like cardamom, black pepper, and cinnamon. Maybe a little fennel seed

>>13428283
They are fine. Get the cheapest ones you can find on eBay. I recommend either the large round needles or the large flattened ones. Smaller needles just lead to more broken tea and are just a hassle.

>>13429771
Lots of big stems is pretty normal in cheaper and sometimes even expensive ripe puer. That stuff looks fine as long as it tastes good.

>>13430070
>>13430078
Thanks anon
That raw sounds like it's more one the smokey side. Some can be very sweet and have flavors of dried fruit spice etc. There is a huge range of flavors with raws.
I will be picking up some of that Xiaguan ripe for sure it's a killer price for a nice daily drinker ripe.

>>13430802
Some cheap ripe puer is just disgusting. If you want to give it another shot grab one of these guys off eBay.
>>13430070

>>13431422
>>13431426
its half the price on ys compared to ebay
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/2019-xiaguan-sweet-pu-erh-ripe-pu-erh-tea-cake?_pos=10&_sid=fb01ec84b&_ss=r

>>13431285
The blend i have has dried orange peel, fennel, clove, cinnamon, and ginger, i think. I cant quite remember everything thats in it, but i think its pretty standard.

>>13431459
But then you have to pay for shipping, it pretty much evens out. But yeah YS is also a good place to get it.

>>13428253
I'm a coffee snob (locally roasted artisanal beans, burr grinder and espresso machine at home, etc) but my best friend is a tea snob (loose leaf specialty tea shop tea, thermometer, filtered water, etc) and we we're talking about teas one day. I said I liked any kind of herbal tea and she went full snob and started making fun of me saying herbal teas aren't tea because they're not from tea leaves. I felt attacked, is she right though?

>>13431612
>is she right though?
yes, herbal is like instant coffee except at least instant coffee is derived from the same plant

>>13431612
Nothing wrong with herbal tea. You can call it a tisane instead if it makes you feel better.

>>13431612
>>13431639
Coffee is a tisane

>>13431629
>herbal is like instant coffee
It can't be that bad is it?
>>13431639
>tisane
huh, the more I know. Everyone calls it herbal tea though so I'm still going to call it tea, maybe more so now just to trigger my best friend

>>13431693
wouldn't that mean every drink brewed in hot water is a tisane then?

>>13431704
Being animla based, broth and stock would not be.

>>13431693
Only when it is a decoction. Not all coffee preparations are decoctions.

>>13431704
It's possible that real tea came after tisanes anyway.

>>13431629
Instant coffee is meant to taste like coffee.
I don't think herbal tea is supposed to taste like normal tea, it is just brewed in a similar process, so the idea that it's fake tea or something seems rather silly to me.

>>13430701
That's still like... More expensive than I was hoping

>>13431901
I guess it can get cheaper... But I'm not really sure where. You can get sea dyke oolong at your local asian market probably.

Can I keep my gong fu teapot with the leaves in it in the fridge in between infusions? I don't drink an insane amount of tea per day, maybe 3-4 cups of gong fu tea, yet those leaves I have in the pot can withstand up to 9-10 steeps, so can I keep them in the fridge for 12 hours until I wake up the next day to back to continuing to brew the same leaves without destroying the flavor too much? Does the fridge kill the taste/quality? I wonder if I'm the only one who's ever had this problem.

>>13432051
You can leave it out overnight, once. Not for multiple days though. Don't put it in the fridge, just leave it on the counter.

>>13432063
Also getting 12 infusions out of a tea is a complete meme. Sure it's possible but it's pretty silly unless you are buying $500 tea cakes. Usually by the 5th or 6th infusion I just let it go for 5 minutes or so and then toss it. I would increase your steep times slightly for stronger infusions unless you actually have to keep them that short due to bitterness.

>>13432051
I've had days old tea before and it was fine

>>13432051
I would cold brew the leaves overnight instead of trying to save them for another brewing session.

>>13432099
>Also getting 12 infusions out of a tea is a complete meme.
no, my cheap ass teas easily go for 10 if not 15 steeps

>>13432134
Holy shit, that's a brilliant idea. Never thought about that.

>>13432168
>my cheap ass teas easily go for 10 if not 15 steeps
My steep times are usually something like rinse-15-20-25-30-45-1:30-4:00
How about yours?

>>13432233
Same pretty much, though depending on the tea ill start with a 5 sec infusion, and finish with a long cold steep.

>>13432245
The cold steep is a good idea, i have finished some of the samples of expensive tea I have gotten with a 10 minute simmer on the stove which worked pretty well.

>>13432051
What the other anons say is correct, but in practice, there's no need to be stingy with tea. Maybe if you are very very poor, but in general tea is cheap and plentiful. Allow yourself plenty of tea. You deserve it, anon.

>>13432212
Yeah I need to try that too

>>13432233
for puers, wash, 10sec then +5sec every steep
for blacks, wash, 20sec then +5
with final extra long steeps for 3mins then 5mins

>>13432364
tea is not that cheap lol
come on man

>>13432364
besides, not wanting to waste is not the same as being "stingy"

>>13432380
>Tea is not that cheap
I usually try to buy stuff that is around $10 per 100g
That lasts me around 14 days so i spend a little more than $20 a month to drink 7g a day. Sure you can spend way more than that but I can get pretty decent puer for that money. It's about the same as what my wife spends on nice coffee beans.

>>13432413
you may consider it worth it, but it's not cheap when it's almost 10x the price of shitty tea bags

you could argue cheap if there was a tea ~2-3x the price of lipton and far better quality

>>13432548
cheaper than alcohol or soda

>>13432548
It's cheaper than buying a 99¢ coffee every morning. Considering i drink the equivalent of 3 cups a day of Lipton teabag tea I'm not sure that is actually more expensive, if it is it's not by much.

>>13432548
>>13432380
"Life is not worth enjoying."
- you

Any tisanes that hit the same notes as black tea? None of my current decaf selections have been satisfying the cravings at night.

>>13432994
>the pinnacle of pleasure is an expensive cup of tea
god i hate foodsnobs

alright m8s i need a kettle and have expiring amazon credit.

>oxo
https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Adjustable-Temperature-Electric-Pour-Over/dp/B074KHPS7F/
>rosewill
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0791MKDNP/
>bonavita
https://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-BV382510V-Variable-Temperature-Gooseneck/dp/B005YR0F40/

want gooseneck and precise temperature control. it seems like only the rosewill doesn't have complaints about it rusting out, but there are fewer and newer reviews. i mean rosewill i only know from pc parts, can their cheap kettle compete with ones 2-3x the price?

hey /tea/, it’s /g/ checking in. I can’t drink coffee because the ridiculous amounts of caffeine gives me anxiety. I picked up pic related the other day from Trader Joe’s for a nice mellow caffeine buzz - Is this a good tea to start with (for beginners?) - I’ve been steeping one bag in boiling water for 5 minutes. Is this too long? Should I add anything, or just drink it by itself? Thanks guys

>>13434762
the result of a 5 min steep

>>13434762
green tea you'd generally want 70-80c not boiling and try 3 mins. greens you'd want to drink without milk but Moroccan mint tea they add quite a bit of sugar

>>13434770
thanks anon, i’ll try this. now I just gotta find a way to measure the temperature of the water

I’m thinking about getting a silver or china cup. Cause I love my Gaiwan and cup combo (like 9 bucks on YS) but the clay hides the liquors color and I am worried might affect the taste.

>>13434775
70-80 is the loudest point, 80-90 kicks off a lot of steam, 100 full boiling obviously.

>>13434778
if its glazed it shouldn't effect the taste, silver metal will and will tarnish

>>13434787
My cup doesn’t feel glazed to me

>>13434778
I love drinking tea out of porcelain. It just feels like the right material and really does let you see the color. I have some bone china mugs and they're deceptively light and thin.

>>13434891
May I see them?

>>13434893
They're nothing exciting. Good for western brewed inexpensive teas. I have some small porcelain cups for Japanese teas too.

>>13434968
nice

>>13433934
The other one that is recommended frequently and reviews well is this
https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CPK-17-PerfecTemp-1-7-Liter-Stainless/dp/B003KYSLNQ/
With the comment that the text on the buttons can wear off over time.
Here is a review site which may or may not be helpful
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-home-kettle/
I read lots of good things about the bonavita on tea forums but it's hard to recommend when I see how many have uploaded pictures of them falling apart on amazon.

>>13434762
>>13434767
Any tea is a good starting point. I just want to emphasize that you should never think that you don't like a particular kind of tea until you have tried lots of it. Teabags aren't as good as loose leaf tea so try to order some cheap loose leaf from one of the vendors in the pastebin before you decide if you like tea or not. I have problems with coffee making me too twitchy as well and tea is much easier on me, even when I drink lots of it.

>>13428265
Chinese Taipei*
you are not up to date on the party line, comrade

>>13428390
there's no health benefits
it tastes really good though, especially if you like to chew grass for fun

>>13431952
>sea dyke oolong
Based. Unironically my very first introduction to non-Bong teas. Also how I got my first gf.

>>13430138
That hairy crab oolong on yunnansourcing is super cheap.

>>13431582
>But then you have to pay for shipping, it pretty much evens out
That very much depends on where you live.
>>13431612
I've never heard anyone call chamomile straight-up "tea", but almost everyone would call it a herbal tea. Obvs it isn't actual tea 'cause actual tea is made with...tea, but "[X] tea" is shorthand worldwide for "drink made from [X] boiled in water".
>>13431694
>It can't be that bad is it?
It's not really. It's just that actual tea has literally over a thousand years of autism behind it, while herbal teas don't. A better example would be smoothies vs. cocktails. Smoothies taste nice and sometimes I'd rather have a smoothie than a cocktail, but nobody's gonna become a smoothie snob.
I'm a huge sucker for mint tea in summer.
>>13433191
Roiboos, I guess? That's the whole point of the plant, basically.
>>13434762
>boiling green tea for five mins
My God that shit's gonna make your mouth sew itself together.
Anyway, order a variety of loose tea from one of the websites in the OP. I like yunnansourcing. If you want to spend the money on it, buy at least one green, white, black, and oolong (ideally get two oolongs). They all taste very different. It shouldn't set you back more than £20-25 and it'll last you a while. Buy a gaiwan and look up how to use it, too. It'll cost less than a fiver and take five minutes to learn and it's the equivalent of using a french press instead of a k-cup machine.

I love oolong tea but I am not smart enough to know why I like it. It has such a distinct flavor over say earl gray tea (which i also like too) or any other black english tea.

Also what does a cozy hot cup of lapsang souchong tea taste like?

>>13435204
Lapsang is usually very smokey, campfire tasting. There are some offered now that aren't smoked or a are lightly charcoal roasted but traditionally they are very smokey. If you get some and find the smoke too strong you can always add a pinch of it to another black tea to give it a hint of smoke.

>>13435204
Oolong actually has a metric fucktonne of flavours compared to other classes but you probably had tieguanyin. I'd personally describe that flavour as toasty, grassy, and oatish. Just drink more tea, man, you'll figure out why you like what.
Try some non-bong black teas, too. The eternally shilled black gold bi luo chun is a great intro to how good and different-tasting black teas can be.
>Also what does a cozy hot cup of lapsang souchong tea taste like?
Smoke and my grandparents' house. I had no idea that tea they always used to give me was lapsang souchong.

>>13435225
>The eternally shilled black gold bi luo chun
i swear this is going to bite me in the ass when i try to reorder more

Iced masala chai with breakfast and homemade sambal

Best tea coming through

>>13435394
the fuck
explain

>>13435394
Delicious, but too much fucking sugar to drink often.

>>13435434
It's pretty much marmalade that you mix into hot water. The bitterness of the peel does make it somewhat tealike.

>>13435394
I recently got this for the first time and I love it, shame it doesn't have any actual tea in it therefore no caffeine.

>>13428253
Do I really need a gaiwan, or is this a food snob /ck/ meme?

>>13436972
not really snobbery when its the cheapest equipment to brew tea in, besides a basket that sits in your mug

>>13436972
No you don't need a gaiwan. It's totally different than brewing western style and I think it's really only appropriate for brewing certain kinds of tea. Just get a finum brew basket and brew all your tea normally unless you actually want to use a gaiwan.

>>13436972
Gaiwans are not memes. Nobody has ever said that. Try one! Worst case you're out 15 USD.
Does /tea/ even have memes? I could start posting every day asking if anyone has ever tried Earl Gray or something.

Threadly reminder that Yunnan Sourcing raises their prices on puer and other aged teas at the beginning of the year. Make sure to get your orders in by the end of January.

>>13437295
Across the board? Just as a aging fee? Or is it temporary?

>>13437505
They raise prices by 20% or so permanently on all the puer, aged white tea etc in their inventory every spring. Not sure if they also do it for black tea or green tea or oolong.

>>13436972
if you want to try gongfu brewing you can use a gaiwan or a teapot, it doesn't matter. if not, just strainers are ok

>>13435394
russian people like to put jam in their tea which is similar

>>13428283
Why buy that when you can buy an overpriced, absurdly weighty INDUSTRIAL TEA KNIFE?

>>13430835
>try ripe puer, its composted so it shouldn't have that fish smell
Ripe puer CREATES the fish smell. Raw puer doesn't have that awful fish food taste.

>>13432413
>I usually try to buy stuff that is around $10 per 100g
This is a pretty disingenuous way to represent gong fu tea drinking then. Most decent cakes cost well in excess of that.

>>13439505
theres plenty of good tea(cake and loose) in that price range.

Other than the obvious YS, where do you guys like to get your puerh? Anyone tried White2Tea's stuff?

>>13439485
I have one of those wedge style tea knives. They are fantastic and work way better than the tea needles do.

>>13439485
I can't justify spending $30 on a utensil

>>13439583
I thought it was total meme nonsense until I held one of them IRL, they feel so nice in the hand, good heft.

Still a total luxury, you're fine with a five dollar letter opener pick from eBay, but this whole hobby is dumb luxury shit.

>>13439536
I get most of my stuff from kingteamall. It's cheaper than YS for lots of factory teas and has a huge selection of them. YS is nice because it's curated by Scott, KTM just has loads of tea but the owner may have never tried it. It also lacks detailed descriptions for most teas so you have to be somewhat familiar with puer to make good buys. Chawang shop is another store you can check out with an interesting selection of other fermented teas. I haven't tried white2tea but people seem to like it. I don't really like the trend of selling 200g cakes instead of ~365g cakes.

>>13439588
I just use a swiss army knife.

Okay, what tea would you use to get some one into gong fu?

for me, it'd be either https://yunnansourcing.com/products/yunnan-purple-beauty-green-tea-from-lancang

or unironically Yunnan "Black Gold Bi Luo Chun" Black Tea.

both are the tits and affordable

>>13439933
Do people really gongfu black tea? Seems weird to me.

>>13439940
I do

>>13439942
i guess I will have to try it sometime

Need dem good quality leaves, so I can get tea drunk. really is soothing feeling.

My current session is on its 13th brew (not counting the 10s wash) and is still going strong

>>13431612
Tea is the name of the drink brewed from the camellia sinensis plant. Coffee is made from coffee beans. Herbal tisanes are disgusting affronts to God and I'm going to start calling them herbal coffee because it's as accurate as calling them herbal tea.

>>13431612
>>13440524

I need to order about a kilo of puer soon. Anyone have any suggestions for cakes? I want to spend about $100-$120 total so no cakes that are more than $40, $45 max. Mostly interested in raw teas that are at least 3-4 years old.

>>13441526
I will check out suggestions for ripe puer and white tea cakes as well.

>>13428265
taiwan numbah 1

>>13439933
Red Monkey from Yunnan is a pretty good cheap entry level Puerh.

I think it really comes down to what flavours people already like, though. You're better off catering to their existing tastes.

>>13441526
https://kuura.co/collections/raw-puer/products/vector

If the Australian postage isn't too prohibitive for you, this is great for the price.

>>13442236
Thanks anon. Ill check out how much shipping to the US costs.

>>13439933
If they were already a fan of tea I might take a chance on one of the "impression" cakes from YS. It's great puer for the money, accessible and the leaves are big and nice looking so it might make the gongfu experience more exciting. Other than that probably a tie guan yin.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

>>13442503
Are you using a drive as a coaster?

>>13442509
>>13442503
This

>>13428390
Just drink it, dude

>$20 shipping from yunnan
holy shit bros..

>>13442761
What's going on in that image

>>13442785
It is from China.

>>13443030
I'm used to aliexpress which is almost always free even for heavy shit

>>13443102
Pretty sure the only reason YS profits at all is because they have shipping, considering how affordable their tea is to, say, meileaf

>>13443102
I have no idea how AliExpress actually make money. Probably incredibly narrow margins because they're so huge.

YS is primarily run by one dude. Can't afford to skate on such thin ice. That's gonna be the reality in gong fu tea until it hits some kinda hipster mainstream (which would probably be horrible).

>>13443138
It's happening. The Yunnnan province is getting hugely developed in recent years, puerh focused tea stores are slowly starting to open physically in major cities.

We're a few obnoxious articles on the right websites and instagram posts away from it becoming the newest trend.

>>13443138
political prisoner slave labour

>>13443132
>>13443138
YS has a markup of around 100%-150% over Chinese domestic prices. It's not the lowest markup but it's pretty low for a western focused vendor. I have seen some websites that don't ever get recommend here that have a markup of 400% or more. The shipping cost kind of sucks, i think it's a combination of a slightly higher profit margin, him actually having staff and overhead for both Chinese and USA tea storage and Scott trying to encourage you to buy lots of tea at once. AliExpress has some weird scam shit going on to ship so cheap, it's probably directly subsided by the Chinese govt.

Protip: if you want some display stands on Amazon for your cakes, search for commemorative plate stand instead of tea cake stand. You'll find the exact same items three times cheaper.

>>13443601
Probably even cheaper on ali

>>13443621
no u

berry hibiscus tea

yummers

>>13442503
I missed you :) gelukkig nieuwjaar

>>13428496
It also implies the tea grade:
-whole leaf
-broken
-fannings
-dust
Most teabags contain either fannings, dust or a mixture of both. Loose leaf tea generally implies the whole leaf grade, but loose tea can also mean broken tea.

>>13444209
Ty
Going back NL, going need to stock up on Dilmah

>>13443326
Yeah, I also like Scott. his videos with his wife and dog humanize him. Meileaf does the same, but you know, there shit is a bit pricey for end of the month NEETs like myself

>>13428253
I don't like tea, it taste like someone filtered water through dried leaves.

whats the first tea you're drinking this year?
for me its https://yunnansourcing.com/products/yunnan-purple-beauty-green-tea-from-lancang

>>13445522
silver needle every year. It's my favorite tea

>>13432994
i'm not made of fucking money here you pompous dickhead. go to hell.

>>13445545
I love your setup! Next time I buy a tea pot its going to be the rice holes like your pitcher

>>13445545
I like the lucky cat

>>13445522
I'm having Adagio's puerh dante. I like it, but it's the only puerh I've ever had, so I have no reference. Happy New year, anons.

I just started using my electric kettle with the keep warm feature and temp control. Hoooooly hell I get it now. These things are amazing. Def worth upgrading from a non temp control one.

>>13428283
What are these for?

>>13446371
to pry leaf out of a pressed cake.

>>13446386
I thought the teas that came as cakes were meant to have each cake as its own serving you put directly into the water. Care to explain to a newfag who's only gone as far as loose leaf green tea?

>>13446457
this cake is 350g >>13430070. you do get individual tuos but even then some aren't single servings, pic is a 20g tuo with a typical tea aserving of ~5g

>>13446480
>Using gardening shears to cut tea cakes.
Based, I had to take a hammer to a particularly dense tuo recently.

>>13446480
>>13446628
If you can't use a tea pick at use try to use an awl or a 3/8" punch, maybe flatblade with a hardened shaft desu.

>>13446480
>>13446628
What's the benefit of these pressed cakes? It seems like a hassle compared to loose leaf.

>>13446782
its just how some tea is stored to be aged

>>13446861
Is there a particular reason for it? Why some tea is stored and aged that way versus any other way?

recommendations for a tea new fag? I basically have just had lipton green tea and this.

>>13446937
The pressed cakes reduce airflow to the leaves so they age slower than tea stored loose-leaf. It's also makes tea more compact and dense for transport.

>>13447221
Some black tea or green tea from yunnan sourcing .us or some russian carvan from upton tea imports.

>>13447399
Specifically Black Gold Bi Luo Chun from yunnan sourcing .us
.com ships from china

>>13439940
Why not?

>>13440524
>Herbal tisanes are disgusting affronts to God
reddit
drink morrocan mint tea

>>13442785
>>13443132
>shipping from YS is basically free where I live
get fucked ameriburgers
>>13446241
When I leave this country :( I'll get a temperature controlled kettle. For now I'm fine with my £3 kettle and thermos.

bump

>>13428283
>shitty

these are surprisingly well made for the price and have some heft to them

>>13448248
Yeah I have one to, it’s really nice. Can switch it between Fahrenheit and Celsius, which is really nice. And it turns off automatically when there’s too little water. It cost like, 80 bucks

What kind of tea is best brewed in a tetsubin? I feel like black teas/puerh brew so hot that its hard to drink. Green tea at lower temps is pretty comfy though.

Where to get cheap non Japanese matcha style tea powder in the US?
Good brands?

>>13449129
You have one from ali? Which blade style? I see three and don't know which to choose

>>13446386
I just use my pocket knife for that. It works fine on tobacco cake as well.

>>13435217
I actually blended my own blend for a bit and I'd always add just a little bit of lapsang to give it that lovely smokey undertone.

>>13449300
i bought mine from YS

its the same as this
https://a.aliexpress.com/oC7pWkV2

reviews look good so it should be fine. Anyway its only like $2 here. Think I paid $7 from YS

I've drank nothing but water, seltzer and unsweetened black coffee this past year. Ill check the links before anything but looking forward to this.

>>13447221
Earl Grey sweetened with Pure Stevia Extract.
This will put fuel in your veins.

If you dont wanna spend alot you can usually get away with 4:1 ratio between Bargain Tea to 1 bag of Earl Grey. It has a distinct and strong enough flavor it will do just fine to strengthen your basic tea.
> One 20 bag box of Earl Grey and a cheapo $1 tea bulk box will provide you with 20 Liters of good tea.
> Youll stop drinking sodas

Do not cook your tea either.
Get the water up to steaming and stop right there.
You can also brew it with just really hot tap water in a container, if youre willing to wait about 20 min.

>>13450227
You doing gong fu or just tea in general?

>>13450227
Nice anon. Enjoy some tasty tea. You can post your thoughts on whatever tea you pick up and we might be able to to suggest more things you will like.

>>13450424
Fuck sweeteners, just drink the tea.

>>13450700
Honey in tea can be nice sometimes. But there is plenty of tea that tastes sweet enough on its own.

>>13446681
is that a doll?

>>13450700
earl grey is one of those teas i'd actually recommend adding sugar to, it just feels lacking without it

>>13449758
yeah i know, there's just three different blade types. pencil-like, flathead screwdriver like, and "wedge like"

>>13451939
idk which of the latter two is this, but its this

works very well

>>13451961
cool thanks anon. it was the second one i referred to. i'll get one like that

Is the stagg ekg fast enough for short gong fu steeps

>>13451977
Personally id recommend the wedge type or the pencil like ones. I have the screwdriver type and don't love it.

>>13452028
ah, shit ok. is it the only one you've tried?

>>13452034
I have two narrow ones and one big triangle one. For most cakes I find that the wider needles separate the leaves better with less breakage. The lil sharp ones can be good for really dense cakes. They all work fine though in the end.

>>13451811
i agree, sugar and lemon is the best way to enjoy it or with lavender and frothed milk (London Fog)

>>13452005
It's a beautiful kettle but I've heard it doesn't stay functional for very long. I don't understand what you mean by "fast enough" though, it's irrelevant to brewing since you don't make tea in the kettle

>>13453660
for flash steeping gong fu style, it’s important to fill the gaiwan quickly.

>>13453945
for fast pouring im not sure id buy a gooseneck, isn't the whole point of a gooseneck to give you a slow controllable pour for coffee, which has a whole ritual in how you wet the grounds

>>13453977
unfortunately most non-gooseneck kettles only have a few temperature settings or aren't very accurate. the upside is a gooseneck is nice for pouring into a small gaiwan or shiboridashi.

>>13453981
How many temperature settings do you really need? Mine does 5 degree increments and I've never felt the need for more granularity.

>>13453945
ohhhh you are talking about the spout. Don't worry about it, the difference is negligible. you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Buy a gooseneck kettle, they are more convenient

hey /tea/,

I posted a few days ago about how to brew Moroccan Mint Green Tea. How much sugar should I add to a cup of this tea? >>13434770 Informed me that this style of tea is famously sweet. I’m using a small/medium sized tea cup.

I’m still using tea bags, but will get loose leaf as soon as I finish these.

>>13455636
The whole 10 seconds.... 15 seconds.... 25 seconds.... thing is a meme, it's just general estimates and using a timer adds stress and worry to the process.
If you are a real gongfu wizarr don't use a clock or timer, just your senses and experience.

>>13455680
There is no way to do it with teabags in a mug, the process involves boiling the tea over the stove for several minutes in a metal teapot and pouring it from a very high distance. there is also no reason not to use green tea And actual fresh mint leaves instead of a combination teabag. add however much sugar as tastes good to you.

>>13443138
Chinese government socialized shipping so they are not the ones paying for it.

>>13454496
140, 160, 175, 180, 185, 190, 195, 200, 205, boiling. I need all of those.

>>13451811
Darker or spicier teas can sometimes be nice with some heavy cream, but adding sweeteners ruins most tea in my opinion.

>>13428253
Fuck your weird tasting water.

>>13456189
>t. had poorly-brewed Lipton once
Sad!

>>13456072
No you don't.

>>13455898
They subsidise shipping for corporations and big business. YS is neither.

>>13456520
t. neurotypical

>>13456714
Leaning into your brain weirdness instead of challenging it seems healthy.

>>13456764
funny how it's always autists' fault they "don't" change their way of thinking even though normies don't spend even a second self reflecting on their thought processes

>>13456072
Explain why you need each of those temperature points.

>>13456900
gyokuro
sencha
also sencha and matcha
some chinese greens
most chinese greens and most whites
some whites and oolongs
most oolongs and some blacks, esp japanese
some blacks
some blacks and a couple weird taiwanese teas that are sort of white
some blacks and tisane

>>13456937
Fair enough, I don't drink Japanese stuff so those lower temperature points have never been relevant for me.

Guys What type of Tea do they serve in hong kong Dim sum restaurants can't find that shit anywhere here getting frustrated

>>13456949
Chinese grocery store oolong.

>>13456937
>set it to highest setting
>add cooler water until it reaches desired temp
easy.

>>13456949
jasmine to tourists

>>13456957
NEXT

>>13456937
>>13456957
get a kettle with a temp display, set it to the closest higher temp pull it off when it reaches desired temp. mine goes from 70-100 in 10c jumps and thats easily enough. good for baking yeast too so long as you dont over shoot and kill them....

>>13456988
>>13456957
or you could literally just buy a kettle that supports the temperatures you want and expend zero effort getting that temperature water and keeping it there

>>13456995
yeah but whats the difference in price? id rather buy an affordable kettle and spend the difference on tea

>>13457015
others might prefer to spend a one-time extra $xx to never have to worry about it again and that's fine. but for cheap, https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-RHKT-17002G-Gooseneck-Temperature-Stainless/dp/B07VPF54HF

>>13457015
There are plenty of temp control kettles with 5 or 10 degree increments for $50-$60
>>13433934
And
>>13435094

>>13456995
they don't make kettles that do that because no one needs them. you can't be this much of a sperg about temp and not use a digital thermometer when putting the tea in anyway, just manually fix the temp yourself.

>>13457029
They do make them, though.

>>13457029
bonavita is accurate to within a degree for most settings. stagg ekg has other problems but it’s also accurate to a degree

>>13457029
it's EASIER to just set it and never worry about it. like what the fuck dude. there are plenty of examples of kettles that give exact temperatures even if you don't need 212 settings. what happens if your kettle thermometer ends up being off 15 degrees? with 5 presets now you have to fuck around with a physical thermometer and take it off blah blah, but with full variable you can just compensate for it. not ideal but still easier. and yet i'm the sperg while you want to whip all this equipment and constantly monitor the kettle

Just got some hojicha from Yamamotoyama, recommended temps/steep time?

>>13457264
10g
200ml
100c
30s

>>13457472
10 grams sounds like a lot

>>13457586
it is a lot but that's japanese tea for you. look at ippodo's instructions if you don't believe me.

>>13428392
Late but pic related. Tea gifts from a relative while on a tea pilgrimage in Taiwan for the first time.

Pic related also, my first teapot (had always used a white gaiwan) from Lin's Ceramic Studio (purion). Also not pictured two beautiful one off teacups from Yingge.

>>13458429
Oh, you can't see the Da Yu Ling foil wrapped in there somewhere. The same relatives once sent a pack to me and I finished it before finding out that it can't be found for fame or money these days. I'll keep this packet carefully treasured this time round.

>>13456949
I think in Asia they tend to serve cheap po lei (is. Pu erh). I can't find it now but there was once an enlightening article about why in southeast Asia Chinese restaurants all serve the same tea which was offloaded cheap from Hong Kong by the metric ton decades ago. And about how now tea tourists go store to raggedy store in Singapore and Malaysia seeking out passed-over good quality tea sent the ages ago.

Omg guys I fuckin love tea the heckin good hot leaferino water xD

I have a tiny tin of matcha. It's good. Love it. I don't even have any of the matcha stuff like the bowl, whisk, and bamboo measuring thing. Really tasty on its own iced.
Thanks for reading.

What do I do with the rest of the team I've made if I make too much? Put it in the fridge and make iced tea?

>>13458528
What do you drink anon?

>>13458584
you pour it on your tea pet :)

>>13458528
Aw shucks, I've been trolled. Now what am I going to do?

>>13458580
I appreciate you and I appreciate your post.

what's a good all around size for a kyusu, and who's got a hohin/shiboridashi they like for gyokuro

>>13458779
Depends entirely on how much you'll usually be making. My kyusu is 280ml. Perfect for me because I'm usually brewing a ~100ml cup of sencha for myself, but it has enough space to make two.

>>13434968
I was half expecting to see mug anon return

my mate always look like shit not like those in videos or pics. Btw is there a Tea to cure balding and/or ADHD ? thx a lot

>>13458884
Coffee is better for ADHD than tea, it's like ritalin-lite.

>>13458915
It gives me anxiety and the shits

>>13458920
Then oh boy is ADHD medication going to fuck you around. Coffee improves concentration for most people with ADHD because of the stimulant effect, which is how ADHD meds work.

It's why a lot of people discover they have ADHD when they try meth.

>>13458936
Maybe i should try other methods to coomsom my coffee like cold brew and shit. Right now it's office tier machines or nespresso or instant stuff

>>13458884
for balding, choose any tea you prefer and dissolve finasteride in it
for adhd, choose any tea you prefer and dissolve amphetamine in it

Post gaiwans. I wanna see what people steep their tea in.

Are "easy" gaiwans for casuals or is it a meaningless distinction?

>>13459462
normal gaiwans are pretty easy themselves but the 'easy' ones are damn cute.
mine has a snowy riverbank design, kind of ruined by the coloured house and fisherman imo

my gaiwan didn't come with a plate, is that normal

>>13459462
I chipped the little knob at the top of my cheap clay gaiwan. Just a small barely noticeable chip. But I know it’s there. Might order a new gaiwan to go with my new glazed cup I ordered to see the liquor clearer. Need to find a 110ml to match it

>>13459817
meant to reply to
>>13459462

>>13459830
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/white-porcelain-easy-gaiwan-and-cups-set
Oh and here's the gaiwan and cup I've been using, the chip is on the other side of the lid's handle/ knob

>>13459955
wait shit wrong one fuck fuck fuck
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/cups/products/yixing-purple-clay-easy-gaiwan-and-cup-set
I meant this one, my shame is endless, take my head

>>13459958
>yixing-purple-clay
is there any difference or is it just a meme? do you regularly brew different types of tea or do you generally stick to one type for it?

>>13460005
I haven't tried to season it since it was 9 bucks, and its my first gaiwan so who knows, I just brew everything in it

though I did notice that if I didn't wash it, the scent of the last tea I brewed in it would linger until I did another session or cleaned it

https://yunnansourcing.com/products/oceanic-experience-glazed-ceramic-cup-110ml this is the cup im going to be getting

Test

Yasssss tea slay kwweeeen heckin good leaferino water

>>13459462
Most of these were gifts. Waiting on a yixing pot in the mail- I had one a few years ago but I dropped it to its death when drunk. Will have to be more cautious.
A teafriend is trying to convince me to get a shiboridashi; what has your experience been with shibos, /tea/?

>>13459496
>>13459817
Nice. And yeah sometimes they don't have saucers, no big deal.

>>13460219
I dig the taller ones like the white one you have, very comfy.
I have had and broken at least 2 clay pots and at least 3 gaiwans it's a skill really. My current gaiwan has managed to survive so far with only a cracked saucer. They usually get dropped when I am making tea first thing in the morning and half asleep.

Anybody ever try making tea with marijuana stems and bud? You have to put butter in the water for it to get you high. I think it tastes really good.

got myself a little set

https://teaware.house/collections/teapots/products/white-jade-ruyao-swan-neck-teapot-160ml

https://teaware.house/products/sunspot-persimmon-flared-teacup?variant=36196594563

https://teaware.house/products/standard-green-ruyao-gaiwan-100ml?_pos=33&_sid=39a1bbb02&_ss=r

For some reason the link names of the first 2 are different from what they are.

Yeah, now I can have sessions for multiple people when this comes in. Or you know drink grandpa style, or just serve myself with 2 cups and a gaiwan like a king

>>13460429
I couldn't think of a less efficient way to extract thc from bud and stem. Not to mention you would have to roast the weed first to decarboxylate it or it would not do anything till it hit your liver. It's 2020 like just get weed extract drops from the dispensary and put them in your soda if you want to drink weed. No reason to still be using stoner "science" weed recipes from a 1970s issue of High Times.

>kettle is right next to my desk and its loud...
can anyone with noise canceling headphones tell me if they're good enough to silence a standard kettle?

Whats your Math for Gong fu? like Gram to MLs

>>13460812
5g per 100ml

>>13460812
yeah 5g/100ml is standard but i sometimes go as low as 5g/200ml and i haven't tasted a large difference, just a less thick mouthfeel

>>13461058
Right now I'm at 7.5g in 120ml. It's pretty ridiculous desu senpai.

>>13461072
maybe i have shit taste

>>13461084
I used to smoke so my taste buds might just be shot.

>>13439493
Bad storage methods create the fish smell, anon.

>>13461293
Bad fermentation creates the fish smell. You would have to store ripe puer in a mold infested tropical wearhouse to really fuck up the flavor post fermentation. Hell traditional Hong Kong storage intentionally gets both ripe and raw puer moldy and they like it that way, but it creates more of a wet musty flavor than a fishy one.

>>13459958
>Yixing

Ehhhh. I don't know if I'm that dedicated.

>>13461293
Nah, young ripe puerhs tend to have that smell from the fermentation process. You've gotta age it out.

>>13428253
Favorite Irish breakfast tea?

Is there a good guide for getting into tea tasting?

>>13462107
lurk /tea/ for a few days

>>13462107
I think it's just, try a bit of everything and delve deeper into what you like without discarding what you didn't entirely, because there's a chance you brewed it wrong/got a bad batch

>>13462137
Based
>>13462107
If you mean detecting different flavors and describing them then you just have to get lots of experience, focus on the flavors of different foods you consume and look for ones that are familiar, taste lots of foods for reference points. Read some of the tea blogs from the pastebin to get an idea of the flavors you should be looking for in different teas and develop your pallet.

>>13461776
I mostly agree but some ripes are just fucked no matter how long you age them.
The larger tea factorys like Dayi age all their ripes for at least 2 years before they are pressed and this helps a lot. They also have pro fermenters with decades of experience to monitor the process so they rarely make nasty batches. The small fly by night operations gotta sell whatever they end up with, and usually are fermenting tea that's shit in the first place so they can end up with batches that are just unsalvageable and yet still end up on the market.

Bump

>>13462107
get a variety pack of different types, watch some meileaf videos on youtube(they're tismy and lie about tree age but their tea is good quality)

>>13460804
bump

Whats the oldest/ most expensive tea you've drank?

>>13465749
2009 Shou puerh it was good, but not mind blowing.

I recently got some bagged pu-erh from a local shop. Do you guys reckon it’s complete shit compared to buying it loose? Honestly either way I don’t mind it this way, it’s kind of nice. I may have had pu-erh one other time at a tea bar but it was too long ago for me to know how this stuff would compare.

>>13466702
Forgot pic

Brewing Harney and son's Pu-erh gong fu to see if that can save it/ make it palatable. Had a tin of it sitting since before I got into gong fu, so I'm experimenting as I ordered some new tea wear and I want all my good tea to be here to brew in it.

dry leaf smell: smells incredibly fishy, like bad ripe pu-erh which is what it is
wet leaf smell: more fishy, smells like wet sea weed, smell dirt when I take a long whiff of it
6 grams in 100ml 100c
2 15sec washes (can't pour them off as I have no tea board, so I drink them)
Tastes like it smells, its really unpleasantly fishy and tastes like dirt on the end. Has a bit of sweetness not present when I brewed it "English" but its taste lingers and coats the tongue, even though its less fishy than it was when I didn't gong fu it, its still overtly fishy and unpleasant.
The taste coats the tongue, throat and roof of your mouth, makes them feel dusty, dirty almost. if you don't drink more it feels like you got a mouthful of dirt after awhile.
Unpleasant

1st infusion 10 secs
taste hasn't changed in any way I can tell

2nd 15secs
might taste more of dirt that fish/ seaweed, but it really doesn't matter both are very much present, its still making my tongue feel so dusty and dried I find myself licking my lips to try and clean it

3rd 20 secs
the flavors have mellowed, but also muddled together, almost hiding at first. my brain is desperately trying to pick out anything to replace them, but all it finds is the uncaring void before the dirty dusty fish creeps onto my tongue
Actually getting a little mad at myself for trying this. I could be drinking good tea instead of this

4th 25secs
fish scent has come back to the leaves, think there may be some sour, acidic smell to it. but I only rarely get it and its brief so I may just be grasping at straws.
Dusty / dirt on tongue feeling has progressed to feeling like I drug it through clay dirt
taste hasn't changed or improved

cont

>>13466716
5th 30 secs
I think I figured out the smell I thought was getting brew. the dirt smell has progressed to SWAMP MUD SMELL. Exciting stuff. I dread sipping this.
still has all the problems of the prior brewing, but now the dirt is replaced with that scummy river/ swamp mud and the Dusty/ dirty tongue feeling comes quicker. My throat feels especially dry now. Might be getting a vague metallic note, but it certainly isn't helping

6th brew 35secs
a sort of chalky bite has entered the fray . bit more fishy than dirty/ swamp mud. doesn't matter, none of this matters.
Every swallow I feel and taste the dirt

7th brew 40secs
leaves just smell of dirt and mud again.
no changes to the flavor.

8th 50sec (meant to be 45, but I got distracted and lets be honest it doesn't matter with this shit)
hasn't changed

9th around 60 secs
there is only dirt and seaweed, anger has faded to sadness. this was a bad idea.

10th somewhere above 70secs

No changes, why am I doing this? the answer is no, gong fu doesn't help. but Ima keeping brewing to be sure and to punish myself, at least till my kettle goes dry

11th Vaguely 80secs
all the same, a bit sweeter if anything, but not much, not enough to change or save it

should be 2 brews left. Ima get some good pu-erh once my new tea ware comes in, to apologize to the concept

Cont

>>13465749
I got a 2002 liu bao from yunnan sourcing that tastes like forest floor and pencil shavings, kinda meh.
I also had a sample of xiaguan love forever 2012 which is supposedly made with tea harvested in 2002, it's very good but one of those puers where you have to have drank a lot of puer to appreciate what makes it special
Finally a 2002 TaiLan International tea seminar commemorative cake, this ia a fantastic tea for the money and I would recommend a sample to anyone who wants to try an older raw that has had nice dry storage

>>13466708
I have had some bagged puer that was okay. They usually use pretty mild inoffensive teas for the baged stuff. If you want to try more the tea you have is probably what's called ripe puer so look for that when buying.

>>13466716
>>13466931
Thanks for this write-up anon. I loled

>>13466931
12th 100 secs
Liquor has cleared and brewed out, but I can still taste the dust and fish. bit of moldy after taste so that's new.

13th 120secs (fuck there's still enough water for another brewing or two, fuck me)
still faintly fishy and dirt tasting

14th 5 mins
no color to the liquor, no scent to leaves. I think its completely done. still gonna drink this hot water to try and clear out the after taste. Actually tasted better than all the actual brewings.

So in short. don't do this, doesn't improve the shit tea in a very noticeable way, or at all really.
get any other pu-erh and so long as it isn't shit it should be actual miles above this.
Should just got my drunk on red again
So yeah, in short. Don't do this, doesn't save the tea, just makes it last beyond like, what, 15 minutes into a couple of hours.
My day is ruined

>>13466955
That cheers me up a bit

>>13466943
Right, I’ll keep that in mind, thanks. While I’m here does anyone have any good white tea recommendations? Been wanting to try something white

>>13467267
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/yunnan-purple-beauty-green-tea-from-lancang

https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/flower-and-herbal-teas/products/spring-2014-drunk-on-red-with-snow-chrysanthemum-sun-dried-feng-qing-black-tea-mini-cake

2 of my recs

and the eternally shilled https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/best-selling-products/products/yunnan-black-gold-bi-luo-chun-black-tea?variant=3279220080661

and yes it lives up to the hype

>>13467267
>>13467273
oh shit you said white tea, fuck fuck

yeah this one is pretty good
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/jinggu-sun-dried-silver-needles-white-pu-erh-tea-cake-spring-2019

>>13467273
>>13467278
Excellent, thank you. Hope this site ships to Canada.

>>13465749
>oldest
1974 baozhong. It actually tasted quite a bit like the liu bao described in >>13466932 (I still have some of that stuff lying around), but with more going on. A cool curiosity but not something I would reach for too often; I also bought baozhongs from '81 and from '85, both of which I preferred although they were all radically different.
>most expensive
Monocle Boss from Mei Leaf, a really nice young sheng (my second favorite ever, after W2T's long gone. Lots of salt and mineral notes, very bold and thick, overall it had a very oceanic vibe. Think I bought their very last cake- I was in their store and Celine was genuinely a bit sad to be out of it.

>instant white tea
Kinda want to try it ngl

>>13465749
Huang Pian from the early 90s or late 80s, they weren't quite sure. Really good, I'd love to get some but the cakes go for almost 500 bucks.

Anyone shop at crimson lotus tea? it any good?

>>13467443
I haven't read anything bad about them. Prices seem kind of high.