/ck/ - Food & Cooking

/tea/ news
Shipping from china is still slow.
Shipping from Japan is still FedEx and DHL only but very fast.

>>14291807

This is the most recent update on my W2T order placed April 2nd...

>2020-05-05 04:56
>Guangzhou, has been delivered to the airline transport

I'm assuming that means it has flown to the US and has simply been sitting in customs forever. Gonna wait til the 3 month mark before I start bothering 2dog about it.

Tonight I'm brewing up some of this 2006 Jinggu ripe "dragon egg" from puerhshop. The dry leaf has a tiny bit of funk yo it but it doesn't make it in to the brew. 1st infusion I'm getting some nice sweetness, maybe a bit of malt. Will report back after I drink some more.

>>14291820
I'm pretty sure that means it's waiting to get on a plane. You can put the tracking # into the usps website and if it's made it to the states you should be able to see that it's in customs.

>>14291828

Hmm, gotcha. The option after "tracking number created" on the USPS site is "package received by USPS" so I wasn't sure if it would ping when it hit customs. Guess we'll find out.

>>14291822

That looks interesting. Definitely curious to hear more about it. After breaking in the new Yixing with the Cha Tou I'm putting some hojicha through the new gaiwan.

>>14291842

I've only recently started in on the hojicha with any seriousness after having it for like 2 years now, and it just hit me what flavor I've been getting. I wanted to just say "nuttiness" but it's even more specific than that. If you've ever been to a baseball game and had shell on peanuts, it's the taste left in your mouth after you've been gnawing into peanut shells and skins to get to the nut over and over again. It's super pleasant and is now surprising me how much it tastes exactly like that. With some salt in there it would be 1:1.

>>14291822
Second infusion, bitter dark chocolate, more malt, woody, much less sweetness. it has a pretty long finish, very much like eating a 90% cocao chocolate bar. The tea doesn't have much viscosity, which i find a bit surprising considering how rich it is. This is the oldest ripe that I have had by a few years. I'm pretty sure it's been in Michigan since 2009 or so, no idea what effect that has on aging.
>>14291842
>hojicha
Is it really low in caffeine? It really seems like it would hit the spot for me if I could get away with brewing it in the evening without loosing sleep.

>>14291878

>Is it really low in caffeine?

I've never seen any actual scientific analysis of it (although I haven't really looked) but I'm a baker and so get home around 0600 to sleep, and have been drinking it right before bed as the sun is coming up with no issues. I also tend to be pretty insensitive to caffeine so take that with a grain of salt.

>tfw bakery breaker board fried itself so trying to maintain my sleep schedule while we're closed

>>14291822
I found some of this stuff in my gutter once. You want to buy it from me for a good price?

>>14291878
Third infusion, mostly wood, the finish is alternating between dark chocolate and sweetness with the sweetness more pronounced again. I wonder if it is a purple tea, the sweet flavors remind me of purple teas.
I haven't had a ton of ripes but this one is up there with my favorite, the only thing that's letting it down is that it's a bit thin. I found a tea seed pod, so i guess that means it's a fall tea.
>>14291872
>If you've ever been to a baseball game and had shell on peanuts, it's the taste left in your mouth after you've been gnawing into peanut shells and skins to get to the nut over and over again.
Interesting that sounds pretty good
>>14291842
>Definitely curious to hear more about it.
Email me and Ill send you some.

>>14291908
That stuff is downright nice looking compared to some of the mulch I brew up.

>>14291952

>Email me and Ill send you some.

I'll think about it.

Heading to bed now - stay comfy y'all.

>>14291982
Yeah, no pressure. Say something in the thread if you decide to get in touch. I won't check that account regularly.

Is it weird to start drinking tea because of rozen maiden?

What's up /tea/ple, show me your favorite piece of teaware that you own

>>14291972
I found something like this in my backyard before. Would you like to buy some "tea" from me?

>>14291788
My favs are Darjeeling and Tieguanyin.
Anyone?

>>14292716
A bit weird. But there's no shame in being weird (says the aging hippie).

>Your country
USA
>What tea have you tried before
my favorite tea is yogi's chai rooibos, tried davidstea birthday cake and absolutely hated it, i usually use skinny syrup and stevia in my tea
>Do you own a teapot, gaiwan etc
i own a kettle but i usually just take hot water and microwave it because whenever i use the kettle it tastes metallic

>>14293223
based retard
seriously though what's the point of sweetening tea? milk / cream I understand in euro blends, but if you're adding sugar I think you really fucked up the brewing.

>>14292877
If I want to drink from a set, I reach for this.

>>14292877
>>14293639
When I'm drinking alone, I go for this.
My mommy sent me this when I moved out of state, best thing I ever got when I started my tea journey.

>>14293658
How's you rat doing?

>>14293223
You should try some honey bush. It's an herb that's very similar to rooibos, but very honey sweet. Make sure you brew it for a very short time ~1 minute, it gets bitter fast. It's sweet enough that you probably don't need to add any sweetener.
As far as tea tea, you should check out yunnan sourcing .us
These white teas are sweet and easy to brew. Check out grampa stye brewing in the pastebin.
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/loose-leaf-white-tea/products/wild-tree-purple-moonlight-white-tea-from-jinggu?variant=29302425190445
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/compressed-white-tea/products/2018-fuding-shou-mei-white-tea-cake
My out of Left field recommendation is this ripe puer. It might smell a little intimidating, but you will be rewarded with a complex chocolate bitterness with a sweetness that lasts and lasts on the tongue after you finish drinking.
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/menghai-tea-factory-pu-erh/products/2017-menghai-v93-premium-ripe-pu-erh-tea

>>14293624
Idk, not this anon but ask the UK (esp. “Builder’s Brew”)

>>14293815
Lmao what? Rat? I haven't had a rat or rats for over two years now. You're probably mistaking me for another anon.

Does anyone have any comments or criticism about the revamped pastebin? I know I need to copy down the mei leaf brewing chart so it's not just linking to a pdf but anything else that needs to be fixed? Any glaring misinformation or weird sentences or other issues like that? Is the information presented in a good order?

Trying the Dan Cong Black Tea that came as a sample with my Kong Mountain Tea order. This is my first non-bagged black tea ever so it should be interesting. Dry leaves have some of the same smell that hojicha does (as I described earlier itt – like peanut shells) as well as a strawberry sweetness layered alongside it – not dissimilar from strawberry jam.

>>14294626

Leaves in the preheated gaiwan open up with more of that roasted peanut scent, and the strawberry sweetness moves towards grapefruit. After the first infusion the wet leaves keep those same tones but a bright acidity really comes out. It reminds me of an Ethiopian coffee espresso shot I had a while back that I described in the last thread.

>>14294634

I'm using 8g for 100 ml, which is what the size of the sample was and the ratio that was suggested on the website. Looks like this is around 30 cents/gram so it's definitely not a cheap tea. The first two steeps were done at boiling for 3 seconds each and make a bright grapefruity brew, but it's not overly acidic or bitter. I'm reminded of breakfasts at my grandparents' house where my grandpa would eat grapefruit halves with a spoon, and it's uncanny how similar it is to that coffee. The roasted peanut taste is very subtle in the background.

I got to 226 pounds 3.5 weeks ago and realized I was becoming a fat drunk slob while working remotely for like the 3rd month. Alternately fasting for a day or two and then eating grilled chicken salads I make for myself on the days I eat have helped me get down to 208 already but it’s literally all thanks to tea. I’ve got some Irish breakfast black for the morning, matcha or oolong in the day and the. This nice apple cinnamon herbal tea before night. Before this I would drink monsters and diet soda all the time, I truly feel like a changed man. I’ll still sneed post though. Tea is fucking amazing, fuck my parents for never introducing them to me as a burger child.

>>14294765

Congrats, anon. Sounds like you're moving in a positive direction.

>>14294765
Very blessed post. Good job anon. Something I tell myself to remember is that it's often better to not eat anything than to eat something like junk food which will make me feel worse afterward. Drink a lot of water. Keep some nuts and dried fruit or something easy to make but isn't too bad for you on hand just in case you're too lazy to cook.

>>14294984
>>14295032
Thanks guys, I definitely feel like I’m improving my health and have found an awesome beverage that I don’t have to feel guilty about enjoying. Any recommendations from some folks that are more familiar with the intricacies of teas? So far I like black, green, and oolong (basically like black to me minus the caffeine) hot and enjoy “Flavored” herbal teas on ice before bed.

>>14295280
see
>>14293831
>>14286807

Is YS a shilled meme or basically for pu er? I'm consistently unimpressed by the tea I had from their order compared to other sites

>>14295333

What are you asking, exactly? If YS is only good for puerh, if their branded tea in general is memed, or something else? I couldn't quite tell from your phrasing.

>>14295324
Thanks that looks cool, what do I need to brew that correctly though? Right now I rely on bags, a thermos and a tea kettle, from what I can tell that’s loose tea right? Do I need a certain strainer?

>>14294647

10 or 11 steeps in and still going. The grapefruit acidity is backing off and allowing the roasted peanut flavor to come through more. Very pleasant. I may have to start looking into oolongs/blacks soon.

What tea to drink to force your mind to open the gate of truth and see the spirit world?

>>14295656
Ayahuasca.

>>14295656
Drugs aside I’d say anything that’d relax your mind or a strong black with caffeine if you’re in an empty stomach, but from the caffeine perspective black coffee would be far more effective per volume. And I guess anything that’d actually relax you would be more geared towards peacefulness and not necessarily the enlightened sensation you’re after. So drugs.

>>14295656
any tea but paired with zen practice

>>14295379
I guess
1. Is YS overall a meme?
2. Is it a meme aside from pu er which I haven't bought from them?
3. Did I just at random get an order full of mediocre-at-best YS tea?

>>14295460
Sorry for the late reply.
The easiest thing to start out with is a brew basket. Finum makes good ones, you can also get generic stainless steel ones on Amazon and eBay. The larger the better, you can use a brew basket to brew in whatever mug you have so that's all you need. All those tea cakes from yunnan sourcing can also be brewed "Grandpa style" there is in explanation in the pastebin in the OP along with some other helpful brewing info.

>tfw when you remember water weighs 1g/ml so you can measure your water instead of eyeballing

>>14295810
I have personally never bought any tea from YS other than puer and hei cha. Their prices aren't the best but I have been happy with every tea I have bought from them (at least a dozen cakes at this point). I have seen at least on person in these threads say they didn't think their green and black tea was that great. Once the shipping situation gets better I probably won't buy any tea from them other than hei cha or their house brand puer since I mostly drink factory teas and they can be had cheaper elsewhere.

>>14296570
I should add that I don't know who else to recommend for Chinese green and black teas. Lots of vendors like they eBay ones don't even list what tea the year was harvested.
There have also been at least a few posters that reported being happy with their black tea orders from YS.

I have been drinking some more of this 2003 liu an basket tea that I got form puershop.
It's pretty good. The first brew had a bit of funkyness to it, it was definitely stored on the wetter side for a while. Lots of wood. The finish is fantastic, just pure rock sugar sweetness. It's not a particularly complex tea but it's very pleasant.

I'm a super noob to teas and have only really had bigelow peppermint tea (not counting some v good but pretty much impossible to source random chink tea that i had years go). I like sweet things, and live in canada. Ideas?

>>14294765
congrats anon i made the switch from sips to tea ~3 years ago and since xmas i've lost ~70lb
>>14295460
get a gaiwan, they're cheap, easy to clean, you can western brew in them too and it has maximum brewing volume for leaf expansion. strainer is optional but good for getting rid of all the tiny bits
>>14296589
>There have also been at least a few posters that reported being happy with their black tea orders from YS.
drunk on red and bi lui chun seem to be popular here. i for one generally buy blind from ys or based on recommendations from here and i've never been disappointed by a tea, i may not rebuy them all again but none have been duds

>>14291788
Tea? No one but the chinese or brits indulge in that.

>>14296570
>>14296711
Maybe I will try the drunk on red, but I have the bi Luo chun and didn't think it was anything special. The best black I've had so far was Dian Hong from dragon tea house, and a green from teavivre, don't have the name atm. There are several other places I'd like to try from next so I probably won't do YS again

>>14296648
Well i can recommend two teas I'm drinking right now that ship from Canada.
This is a very sweet fruity puer. Very juicy.
https://www.puerhshop.com/canada/index.php?route=product/product&path=69_70&product_id=101
This is a ripe puer, bitter dark chocolate, woody, but the finish is very sweet.
https://www.puerhshop.com/canada/index.php?route=product/product&path=69_71&product_id=94
I haven't tried this one but it also sounds good, fall puerh tends to be floral.
https://www.puerhshop.com/canada/index.php?route=product/product&path=59_64&product_id=104
These are all easy to brew, just pry a chunk off of the cake, toss it in a mug and top it up with boiling water as your mug gets half empty. Look up grandpa style brewing in the pastebin in the OP.
The only other Canada retailer that i know is the Chinese tea shop in Vancouver. But they sell mostly very expensive very old tea.
This white tea brick is an okayish price depending on what they charge for shipping, white tea is fruity and floral usually with a kind of sugar cane sweetness.
https://thechineseteashop.com/collections/white-teas/products/2013-fu-ding-bai-cha-white-tea-brick-100-grams
They have some black and green tea too but it's too expensive for me to recommend.
There is also best tea house in Vancouver but they are super high end puer only.

>>14296711
>>14296842
ai lao black tea from ys is the best loose leaf black tea I tried. ay lmao
also black tea leaves taste best after about half a year of storage. I'm not even joking here. 2019 is probably better than 2020 flush right now.
don't believe me? try for yourself.

>>14296621
Was sweeping my garage's floor today and found some stuff that looks just like that dude. Want to buy some?

>>14297030
You must respecc the mulch.

I recently switched over to chinese teas from coffee/indian teas, currently drinking some tieguanyin i buy from an old chinese teahouse. its very good, hits the spot every time. I brew western style in my old pot (500ml) and tea glass, but occasionally drink grandpa style. Looking to get a gaiwan in the near future, but im quite content with how it is for now. Tieguanyin is refreshing, with a musky honey-like flavour, a slight sweetness and tang, and very fragrant.

>>14297051
I'm just messing with you guys of course.

Next time you make the tea, I'd like to see it steeped. I'm curious how they look once they're hydrated and what color the tea would be.

>>14297075
No problem. This is a shot of this
>>14296621
After i dumped it out of my mug. Pretty rough looking honestly. The actual brewed tea liquid is red-orange.

matcha tastes like a cup of soup

>>14297136
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

yo here's the pic of the tea cup i was talking about last general

>>14297136
What kind of soup?

>>14297759
>rotated

fucking hell anyway here's the inside. anybody know what this is?

>>14297766
underside's got some mark/stamp of the maker i guess

for me it's some fresh mint leaves and lemon zest

very good. brewed multiple times.

German here. I have a question on where to buy leaf tea. I really want to try out yellow tea, oolong and white tea. Question is where to buy and tell if they are good quality? The prices for yellow tea as example are wierd.
Tezen yellow tea is 15€ for 50g (Huoshan Huangya).
Teaworld has a yellow tea for 7,90 for 100g (Huang Ya). I dont know where to buy my tea, any germans who can help out? I doubt that higher price = better quality.

>>14297902
German here as well, if I may recommend you a local teashop with a good online presence, I'd like to show you teabento from Mainz:
https://teabento.com/

They're run by a young Taiwanese and her German husband and they get most teas from her brother who still lives in Taiwan and owns a tea plantation.

>>14297951
Nice thank you i will look into them. I just dont know on which shop to settle because the weight/cost ratio is so different on any shop. There is probably no shop that has all teas right? I have to get more shops involved to have best of every kind.

Also whats your opinion on Tezen? They seem kinda big here in germany.

>>14297766
>anybody know what this is?
It's a teacup with a lid

>>14297960
Never tried Tezen to be honest. I personally try to get most of my teas from local owner-managed stores because I like seeing, smelling and tasting teas before I buy them and because buying there often you get samples that fit your taste. Tezen looks legit, but I'm not sure about the quality.

>>14297960
Lots of European vendors tend to be pretty expensive.
https://essenceoftea.com/
Is is based in the UK, good but they are pretty specialized and have high prices, I'm pretty confident that their prices actually reflect the market price of the teas they sell but it's still expensive.
Normally I would recommend that euros buy tea from sellers in China or japan but shipping will take 2-3 months right now from china. Japan orders must be made with fedex or dhl right now so you will pay a minimum of 20€ for shipping.

>>14297960
Just looked at tezen. They look like a decent vendor. I see things that make me think they know what they are doing, like selling aged oolong. It's definitely worth getting a sampler from them or trying a few teas and seeing if you like them. Their prices could be better but they aren't awful for a seller based in Europe.

>>14298000
Yes i am not sure about quality but i guess ill try them. I dont think i have local shops here should maybe look out for them.
>>14298043
That shiping and time is just really annoying. I hoped to find some seller on which that would work better on both aspects.
>>14298066
Okay good. My confusion was about the different €/gramm on different sites. Tezen is the one that is more expensive.

>>14298280
The markup when you buy direct from a Chinese vendor is 100%-200% over wholesale or the market rate they pay for tea. The markup for a vendor in Europe or the and the United States is typically 300% over wholesale 400% on the high end. Small tea shops and vendors in Europe tend to be on the higher end due to VAT high employee wages etc. If you find teas you like and you want to buy 200g or more you should buy from a Chinese vendor.

Took nearly 3 months but my W2T order just hit US shores.

>>14297766

I like it.

>>14297970
i getcha anon. was just asking if there's a term for it say a gaiwan or whatever

>>14298616
thanks anon me too

Japanese Sencha grandpa style anon reporting back, shit's actually breddy gud

>>14298768
Last few lots of sencha I've bought have been hella fishy. What are you drinking?

>>14293831
Honeybush sounds good wtf I had some for a while (gift) and never tried it but I will now

>>14294647
Where'd you get the gaiwan? I'd say bitterleaf but the ones they had had a shinier glaze

>>14296711
I really liked the 2019 jing mai purple beauty from ys, it's one of my all time favorites

>>14299783
It's very good, the brew instructions that get posted for it online frequently ruin it. That 60 second brew time is key. Another anon recommend cold brewing it overnight for a nice iced tea version.

>>14296648

Check out tealyra. Use code REM20 for 20% off

Out of sencha so I made another order. I also refuse to buy chink tea or anything else chink since chink flu, so I decided to grab some Vietnamese greens instead since I've never had them before.

are blooming teas worth it? or just a shitty meme

>>14300474
They are mostly a meme. Good for impressing girls and chill summer afternoon tea times with friends. Unfortunately they mostly aren't great quality and everyone seems to get them from the same factory so it's not like you can buy "high end" ones from some vendor.

>>14300653
Agree with this, they're "worth it" but only for the fun / novelty.

>>14299792

Kong Mountain Tea.

>>14300708
Those guys have some pretty cool teaware. Prices aren't bad either.

Having some huang pian (old yellow leaf) tonight. This is a 2011 Guafengzahi from puershop, it was included as a free sample with my order. Here is a shot of the dry leaf.

>>14301018
I've never had a huang pian before, I've read they are typically lighter flavored and sweeter than the smaller leaves and buds. I'm feeling a bit apprehensive because the leaves smell a bit fishy in my mug, maybe i should have given them a rinse.

>>14301042
1st infusion is okay i guess. It's kind of bland, some light fruity flavors but it's pretty light on flavor. A hint of green taste which I didn't really expect. This mostly makes me want to try the huang pian brick set that bitterleaf sells since I have a bit more faith in the quality of their starting material.

>>14291788
NOT GONNA LIE
I like bigelow earl grey

>>14301139
2nd infusion has a hint of thickness, a bit of fruit, some kind of weird ocean salt air smell flavor thing. It mostly tastes like I'm brewing up some spent leaves. A bit of a lasting finish but nothing impressive, maybe a tiny bit of bitterness creeping in.

I'm just getting into tea, I have a gaiwan, but I'd like to buy a couple teapots too. Any recommendations?

Anyone have any experience/recs with seven cups? I'm mostly looking at them because of their chinese greens, but they're a little pricy and I don't want to waste my neetbuxx.

>>14300940

Yeah, I was asking around here about yixing shipping from the US and they were mentioned. Seems like almost all of their stuff is out of stock right now but that's understandable. What they do have is still super nice and, as you said, not at insane prices. That tea sample they included was really phenomenal. I might have to start exploring oolongs and blacks.

>>14301216
Where are you located? What kind of tea do you drink?
For western brewing i have the small size Chatsford teapot by the London teapot company, you can find them cheap on Amazon. Perfect for tea for two people or two cups for yourself.
For Chinese teas i would recommend a 90-120ml teapot that is glazed on the inside. Wait to try to get into the raw clay stuff until you get a feel for how you would use itz since they get pricey and tend to be dedicated to a single tea.
For japanese teas get a kysu with a mesh basket inside that fills most of the pot. Go for one that is glazed on the inside for that as well.
Yunnan sourcing has some reasonably cheap stuff. This anon just picked up a gaiwan from Kong Mountain Tea and their stuff looks pretty nice.
>>14294647

>>14301240
I haven't had their tea but they look like they are doing some solid volume in sales. Their puer prices aren't particularly high. Id say give them a try, you can look on steepster to see if people have reviewed their teas on there.
You can also check out yunnansourcing.us and compare prices on the same varieties. But the same variety doesn't necessarily mean the same quality, high end tea really is quite expensive so it can be hard to tell what's markup and what's just expensive ass tea.

>>14301240
>>14301334
Yeah looking at seven cups oolong prices they seem to be pretty standard to market rate, so I think they just sell high end green tea. I know stuff like dragons well gets expensive fast so while I don't know too much about green tea prices but none of the prices on their other teas are particularly high for what they are selling.

>>14301369
I can't speak english. I'm trying to say that their prices are probably in line with the quality of tea they are selling.

>>14301180
Im calling this tea a wash. There are some hints of potential but overall the tea is weak and has some fucking salty low tide flavor to it somehow, probably poorly processed material that was cheap in the first place. This is one of puershops house cakes and they are selling it for $16 for a 357g 2011 cake. That is very very cheap for puer and as always you get what you pay for. Kind of cool to see such large (sort of) intact leaves.

>>14300474
>shitty meme
takes ages to uncoil and out of the 10 i had only 1 uncoiled as it should have. would make a nice decoration for a wedding table ect but not worth drinking

>>14298585
How was it shipped? EMS or e-packet?

2013 Cha Yu Lin "Wu Long Mountain" Fu Brick Tea with Golden Flowers
came in 3 large chunks, weighing a total of 45g when i ordered 50g... lump is flaky and pulls apart easily, no yeast/funk smell
99c 5g/100ml 10sec +5 x7

tea is very pale for a Heicha
wash tastes a little sour and tingly.
1st wet leaf smells a little nutty and has that twang just as Gao Jia Shan "Guan Gong" & "Wild Fu Zhuan". tastes fruity, light flavour, thick in the mouth
2nd leaves look quite dark green and large
4th brewing more orange now, reminds me of Guan Gong taste wise but without the butter
5th tastes a little like a raw a little like a white leaf, fruity and sweet ish
7th nice big leaves, little bitter and dry in the back of the throat

honestly cant really recommend this, hard to describe, maybe its just my blocked nose from hay-fever. got it for the golden flowers thinking they would add something to the flavour but its just seems to be health claim woo. its close to the Guan Gong but a bit weaker, and the Guan Gong was less intense than Wild Fu Zhuan, so i'd just recommend that(so have others here)
>>14273432 for my thoughts on the 2014 Gao Jia Shan "Guan Gong" Fu Brick
Tea DB drinking this and another tea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ9fcRP6Irw

someone asked for my thoughts on the YS golden pig raw puerh and honestly it tastes the same as every other raw i've drunk, i really can not tell the difference between the ~4 ive had, maybe i'm just getting cheap young cakes or i just cant get into this style

>>14302014
I can see cheaper young raw cakes not being very exciting. I mostly only drink stuff that's at least 8-10 years old because I don't really like the green tea kind of flavors that young puer has. Try pretty much any version of a xiaguan tuo made between 2009 and 2011 before you give up on raw puer.
If you are planning on ordering from yunnan sourcing again one of these will do nicely.
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/xiaguan-tea-factory-1/products/2012-xiaguan-zi-yun-hao-premium-raw-pu-erh-tea-tuo-cha-in-box
Or the 2011 cang er brick or the 2011 ft mushroom tuo.
If you want to try more interesting hei cha check out chawangshop. They have tons of hei cha and I'm sure they have a few older xiaguan teas that would fit the bill.

>>14302107
If you end up ordering from chawang shop make sure to get at least a sample of some liu an tea and a sample of the 2014 three cranes ye yun gu shu brick liubao tea.

>>14302107
next tea order i'll check them out

Where can I get decent Wuyi yan cha thats is not from YS?

>>14302217
https://teadb.org/wuyi-oolong-tea-vendors/

You guys ever try something called red bush tea? I've been wanting something without caffeine but the decaffeinated teas are more expensive than the herbal "tea."

>>14302217
>>14302402
This one in particular looks good.
https://www.jingteashop.com/
You could also consider getting some tea sold by the wuyi star factory, lots of vendors on eBay sell it. They specialize in wuyi yancha but I have only tried one of their other teas, it was very good.

>>14302452
Yeah, it's also called rooibos. It's very good, very sweet and honey like flavor, it's close cousin honey bush is also very good. Protip, only brew the rooibos for about 60 seconds regardless of what the directions say. It gets bitter if it brews too long. Another anon said they cold brew it in the fridge overnight and it makes great iced tea.

>>14302217
Old Ways Tea- if you order from them make sure to also get their Wild Style Black, it's absolutely stellar. They order from the US and if you live there, shipping is very fast. I hear good things about Wuyi Origin but it's out of my budget.

>>14302452
Rooibos is fantastic, as is honeybush; the unoxidized green version of rooibos is pretty nice too.
>I've been wanting something without caffeine but the decaffeinated teas are more expensive than the herbal "tea."
Decaffeination is a messy industrial process that probably strips tea of a lot of its healthy compounds too- better to avoid decaf teas.

>>14302468
>Protip, only brew the rooibos for about 60 seconds regardless of what the directions say. It gets bitter if it brews too long.
I routinely brew rooibos for a half hour or more (honeybush too) and never detect even a hint of bitterness, only sweetness. YMMV.

just received my intro to tea sampler set from what-cha. Any recommendations on what to start with as someone new to tea? What is your favorite?

>>14302619
Start with the Vietnam GABA or the Yunnan Golden Tippy Black, they're probably the most accessible and easiest to brew. Do you have a gaiwan?

>>14302663
I dont have a gaiwan. I was thinking of going grandpa style and then buy a few things like an infuser.

>>14302689
Yeah start with the gaba oolong. You should be able to grampa style most of it but im not sure id recommend it for the darjeeling or the sencha

>>14302722
Thanks! I'll keep that in mind!

>>14302007

EMS

I don't understand the love for gaiwans. Redpill me on them.
They look dumb to use especially when I could just use a normal teapot, or even just steeping tea in a pot and straining the tea leaves afterwards. What's the appeal for gaiwans?

>>14303386
Gaiwans are cheap and easy to use, and they don't interfere with the taste of the tea. They give leaves lots of room to expand, and they don't really filter anything out- strainers can remove good stuff when it comes to certain teas. Gaiwans also give the user a ton of flexibility, and are great for observing the leaves compared to a pot.

>>14303386
>>14303756
dont forget insanely easy to clean too

has anyone ordered from yunnan sourcing recently? I ordered something in late march and it still hasnt arrived..

>>14303371
Damn I'm screwed. I went with e-packet even though I tell everyone to use EMS because EMS would have cost something like $100. I ordered a lot of tea.
>>14303872
Shipping is still very fucked right now.
See
>>14298585

>>14302468
Any idea what weight of rooibos per liter of water you'd need to cold brew it?

>>14305010
I haven't tried it myself but I'd start out with a teaspoon per litre and go from there.

>>14304805

W2T is flat rate so that was nice.

What's the best way to quickly judge the quality of tea sold by an online tea shop? I personally check the matcha they're selling. If they only show the container or the matcha looks like it's lost all color I don't even bother buying anything from there.

>>14305791
If I see they're selling matcha and any non Japanese tea I close the tab. NEXT!

>>14305791
I try to avoid places that sell lots of flavored tea especially if it has random colorful flowers in it. Places that don't list what year a tea was harvested in. "Tea shops" that also sell lots of herbal blends. Places that have weird eBay garbage puer. Places that list a bunch of health claims about tea, though there are some okay Chinese vendors that do this. Any shop on eBay other than the 2 or 3 good ones.
With japanese tea i just would not even bother getting it from anywhere but a vendor that is based in Japan.

>>14302217
King Tea Mall, nothing super fancy but great prices for daily drinker level stuff.

>>14294647

Okay, I've been thinking about this tea since drinking it all the other day and I want someone here to buy it. I have so much goddamn tea already and need to cut back a bit on shelling out for new stuff, but I want to be able to enjoy it vicariously through someone else. They're shipping free in the US on orders over 50 bucks. I promise I'm not a payed shill - this was just a unique enough experience that I'm really curious to hear anyone else's thoughts.

>>14306255
I would do it but they only have 100g packets available. I have to file a PayPal dispute over another tea order that never shipped. If it's still in stock when I get my money back I will consider it.

baesd

>>14306336

I hope you do. I'm having to remember that I have to pay for my own health insurance now which means there's a good 300 bucks/month I'm not going to see.

>tfw no basic coverages
>8000 dollar deductable

I'm giving away the equivalent of a car payment every month to essentially not have health insurance. Thanks Obama.

>>14306353
Yeah the insurance situation blows right now. Looking forward to hearing about your W2T order. I wonder how long it will spend in customs.

>>14306382

At this point the package is so disconnected in my mind from the actual ordering of it that it doesn't even bother me. As long as it gets here at some point it'll just feel like a present or something.

>>14303872
i ordered 19 of April and it arrived here in the uk last week

>>14306441
I hope it's all pu'er so at least you can have comfort in it tasting better when it arrives in 2021 or 2022

>>14306643

It all is. By the time it shows up some may be semi-aged.

>>14306643
Yeah I was wondering what effect sitting in a hot warehouse for two months would have on my puer.

How often and with what do you clean your teaware?

>>14291788
>meileaf infographic included twice
>yunnan sourcing included twice
>health tea house removed
>everything about gong-fu brewing that was changed is debatable or wrong
the pastebin is new and streamlined but not improved at all, someone please fix it

Imperial Grade Pure Bud Bi Luo Chun Green Tea

did 4g/100ml starting with 20sec and it became bitter by the 3rd and was pretty undrinkable by the 5th
trying again with 3.5g and 15sec, both at 80c

wet leaf smells of honey, hay and edamame beans
1st thick and tastes like vegetable soup, kind of like tomato soup but with out the tomato flavour if that makes sense. also sweet, honey and a little grass
3rd roasted flavour coming through now and its turned bitter, sweet honey after taste
4th very bitter now, overpowers everything
6th undrinkable

this tea taste very nice(first 2 infusion at least) and i think i prefer its flavour to dragon well... however it really can't last, dragon well i can do 6 steeps easily and it never gets bitter, i then usually cold brew those leaves for work the next day but with this i cant see that working. the bitterness really hurts this tea, i'll retry with multiple short steeps and see if that changes anything or maybe try 70c.
it probably get so bitter because its all bud and 1st leaf rather than just leaf but white bud teas dont seem to have this problem

>>14307368
Never because tea stains add S O U L. But if you want to remove tea stains use warm water and baking soda, let it sit for 30 minutes and then handwash the item.

>>14307368

This >>14308841.

For my porcelain stuff I'll just do a quick rub down with a magic eraser under running water if it's starting to get stained up. Everything else just gets rinsed. The one time I didn't drink tea for like 3 years and let my unglazed kyusu get kind of funky I hit it with baking soda and a toothbrush.

>>14308474

That's interesting to me that the bitterness increased though the steeps rather than the reverse. Is that common for that type of tea?

>>14307422
>yunnan sourcing included twice
.us and .com are different stores
>health tea house removed
Yeah i can add them back, I got them confused with a different eBay seller that had questionable products.
>everything about gong-fu brewing that was changed is debatable or wrong
Provide specific criticism

>>14309196
Health tea house operates as https://www.fullchea-tea.com/ now. highly recommended for factory puerh and cheap oolong. just don't buy no name cakes - this also applies to all ebay/aliexpress vendors.
also has this cheap "first timers set" which is really beginners friendly with 35 one session packets. this got me into chink tea years ago.
shipping included in price.
I still buy odd shou or heicha from them.
shipping is not the fastest, but is what you pay for.
protip: haiwan ripe cakes.
thank me later

>>14307368
only when its really dirty, wet paper towel does the job
>>14309051
greens get more bitter with brewing, or rather buds get bitter and buds are usually in greens and whites

Grandpa style is LITERALLY the best way to consume tea holy fuck it is so easy and efficient. Also the people who say that the tea gets too bitter or tannic are literally lying.

>>14307368
porcelain gaiwans, glass pitchers, porcelain cups
usually once a week, when the stains from tea oils get dried out and dark and glass gets really clouded. just like other dishes - sponge and dishwashing liquid. once a week I have a squeaky clean teaware - not for long.
bamboo tea tray - maybe once a month once over with a sponge.
day to day - just rinse.

>>14309252
Yeah I've actually ordered from them before. Like I said I got them confused with a different vendor.

>>14309313
Based, it's the only way I drink tea now.

At long last, my commissioned teaware is going to arrive, in a few days. I can't wait, especially since I broke my only other nice looking gaiwan a few days ago, and the cup that came with it. As well as a tea pot I smashed cause I had fucked it up earlier and left scratches in the inner glaze and I don't wanna fuck around with that AND smashing pottery calmed me down from losing my gaiwan.

But all of that doesn't matter cause my special gaiwan and cup are coming.

What should I brew in it first? I have a lot of Raw pu-erh and ripe pu-erh (Most of this is 6 cakes of white 2 teas waffles a friend ordered me for my birthday)
some oolong, three white teas, three black teas with 2 low, and a bit of green tea

Kettlenoob here. I want to say thanks to the anons that recommended ripe puerh and hojicha to me. I've been drinking them grandpa style and shit's cash

>>14310797
nice, any recs?

>>14306336
>>14306255

I ended up breaking down and buying 200g.

>>14310794
White tea, oolong, puer in that order.

>>14310797
Based

>>14310971
Haha you are getting in deep anon. I'm looking forward to your first sample of a $1/g young (or old) sheng. I've got my eye on a few early 2000 cakes in the $150-$300 range and I'm really afraid that I will like them.

From Australia, but now in France, have tried a few Japanese green teas, love the matcha too and some basic Lipton /twinings earl greys, love those.

Anyone recommend some good European teas?

>>14311881

Y'all fuckers did this to me. A few months ago I was just a guy who would order 80 bucks of sencha once every two years.

The two things I'm reminding myself are that I'm currently in the "have to try everything" phase that I always go through when getting into new things, which tends to be a few months of above average expense before dying back down to a manageable level, and that even extremely expensive teas are affordable if you approach them with the right mindset. Thinking of something that's a dollar per gram, that would come out to about 5 bucks in a typical gongfu session for me, and I've sat down at a bar and gotten a rail whiskey for that amount, which is a much lower value proposition.

Thinking about it in terms of the opportunity cost like that makes it a lot easier to digest. "Oh, that's just one drink at a bar I'd have to forego...that 10 cent/gram cake is really just the equivalent of ordering food once, and I'll get to enjoy it for months....etc".

I've noticed that even though I'm diverting a fair bit of cash towards tea, since I'm also not spending money on anything like eating out or going to bars, it's pretty much evening out in the end.

Something I've been curious about for a bit now...

Tap water, to varying degrees, is obviously not great for tea. I've been using a standard Brita filter basically forever now, which seems to produce a perfectly fine result to me, but I've also never had anything other than tap water to compare it to. Seems like some folks here are using bottled spring water?, which leads me to my question...

Is there an amount of "stuff" (say, minerals) in the water you're using to brew that is actually desirable, or is an essentially contaminant free water going to produce a good result?

I ask because my girlfriend has a Berkey water filter that removes basically everything from the water, much more so than a Brita filter. Would this water be good to use? To add another layer, she also adds mineral drops back into it so she's getting those important things while cutting out any possible contaminants. Would the filtered-to-only-h2o and then re-mineralized water be good?

I can just give it a shot, obviously, but I'm wondering what the general thoughts are regarding water with only the Bad Things out of it vs. water with basically everything out of it.

>>14311936
Yeah you are right, it's a lot easier to rationalize a bunch of small $5 purchases than spending $350 on a cake. But if look at it as 70 or so sessions of drinking tea it doesn't seem so exorbitant.

>>14311957
I know that some coffee nerds will use reverse osmosis filtered water and then remineralize it. So I'm assuming there is some utility in the water having some mineral content.
The specialty coffee association has listed standards for mineral content in water listed on this page, but they don't really go into the details for why this is considered ideal.
https://sca.coffee/research/coffee-standards

>>14311983

I'll read up on that, and may do a taste test this weekend. The only thing I worry about is that she kind of eyeballs how many drops she's putting into an amount of water that varies slightly each time, so the results of the Berkey water may not be consistent.

>>14311983
They have a handbook that goes into more detail available for the low price of 40 euro.https://eustore.sca.coffee/products/the-sca-water-quality-handbook?variant=8659341344881
Maybe you can find a copy online somewhere, it might be worth asking the coffee general.

>>14311997
Fucked up the link
https://eustore.sca.coffee/products/the-sca-water-quality-handbook?variant=8659341344881

There is also a company that sells a mineral blend designed specifically for remineralizing water to sca standards if you want to try that out.
https://thirdwavewater.com/

>>14312001

I'll see what the Berkey filter water ends up being like and then keep my options open from there. Thanks for the links.

>>14312019
Sure thing. I'm not sure how much difference there really is as far as brewing tea is concerned with britta filtered water vs berkly filter water + minerals. I wouldn't be surprised if the end result is pretty similar at least for the minerals that the SCA is concerned with but I'm interested to hear your thoughts once you try it out.

>prefer cheapish chinese tea in the asian supermarkets over moderately priced japanese green tea, except matcha
Why am I like this?

>>14312437

Honestly doesn't sound like a bad problem to have.

>>14312459
Kind of, but when one of them is some shit like "we shade the plants for a while to make them darker and only pick the upper leaves by hand" and the other one is just "haha, shake the bush and fire it up" it makes me feel like I have shit taste or something

>>14291788
do you niggas use thermometers in your water or just wing that shit? i bought some white tea which everyone says will taste like shit if I fuck up the temperature

>>14308474
did 7 steeps all at 15 sec 80c and its less bitter but also less flavorful, obviously. other than that its the same as increasing steep time.
took 7g of brewed leaf and cold brewed it over night, very bitter. undrinkable, hard to force myself to swallow.

ok so Ys recommends brewing this at 90c with a wash then 15sec & +15 going forward, maybe that will tone down the astringency?
90c 3.5g/100ml 15sec +15
wash 15sec at 70c (i was going to try brewing like this to see if that helped then i read the YS page) tasted good.
1st 15sec feels more oily compared to 80c, still tastes great, really good
3nd 45sec little lingering bitterness
4th 60sec there actually is less bitterness and the sweetness is coming through unlike the previous infusion, sweet vegetable nice but still a little bitter
5th 75sec bitterness dying off, more sweetness coming though
6th 90sec bitterness again dying off, less sweetness, more vegetable weaker flavour now
7th 105sec hardly any bitterness, taste a little of hay
8th 120sec couldn't stomach 6 infusions at 80c but this is still quite nice. very drinkable
9th 135sec and that's the end of it, weak but the bitterness is only a whisper, still drinkable but i dont think i'll get anymore out of it. wont cold brew these spent leaves, the leaf from yesterday was truly horrible this morning.


also i should mention there's nice white fluff in my strainer from the bud hairs, just like hairy crab oolong i should probably not filter this seeing as a lot of teas have this as a selling point.
just goes to show you need to research how to brew your teas correctly. this has gone from an undrinkable disappointment to something i'd probably buy again. massive improvement and 9 infusions from a green and only 3.5g is impressive, it did get bitter but after it fell off its pretty great. would i recommend it? more so now, just get a very small sample, the first 2 infusions are extremely nice but the bitterness is off putting

>>14312866
temp control kettle, they're cheap and i think becoming standard for kettles these days. no idea how accurate mine actually is but as you can see from my post above +/- 10c can fuck a tea up

>>14312866
White tea is actually pretty flexible about temp. Many of them can handle boiling water about as well as blacks.

>>14312866
I do use one, but only because I had it for my beer brewing hobby.

>>14305791
Avoid: health buzzwords, flavored tea, inexplicably high prices, non-descriptive product names like "Amber Dragon" or "Gyokuro", lack of pertinent information such as when and where the tea was harvested

>>14312866

Seconding temp control kettle. I have and speak very highly of the OXO Variable Temp Gooseneck, but another anon pointed out that their more recent Amazon reviews raise some concern. It seems like quality may have declined in the years since I got mine.

Morning.

>>14312887
Wild, i would not expect that much bitterness from a green, but I have basically no experience with Chinese greens so what would I know. Glad you found some brewing parameters that work for it.

>>14313281
There isn't a single electric kettle on the market that has good QC these days, i don't even think you can find one that's made with actual 316 stainless anymore. Really sucks but you basically have to treat them as disposable and plan on buying a new one every 2 or 3 years.

>>14313447
What are your thoughts on the raw clay pots, does it noticably change the flavor? I kind of one to get one of the ones made with really light colored clay just so I can turn it brown with tea stains.

>>14313530

I'm curious about the Stagg, now. I'm not dropping the money on it when my OXO is showing no signs of rust and still heats water within 1F of the temperature it displays on the readout, but if my kettle ever dies I may need to take the plunge.

>>14313541

Not entirely sure yet - this is only my second or third time using it. I'll note that I'm only doing shous in this, and it's seeming to round out the flavors a little bit. I can report back with some more meaningful feedback in a week or so probably.

My tea arrived but it's already 5pm bros :(

Just gonna drink shou all day.

>>14314035

That's fucked up anon.

>>14314035

>>14314035
one way to get a thick mouthfeel from a tea bag. whats that egg in the pasta?

>>14291822
puerh smells like a chinese old man

>>14314035
who individually imprints an egg label?

>>14314062
that's a good looking lao cha tou, which one is it?

>>14314197

It's one of my favorites.

https://yunnansourcing.us/products/2014-yunnan-sourcing-cha-tou-sheng-yun-ripe-pu-erh-tea-brick?variant=38849728264

>>14314328
2014, nice, so it's ready to drink and I imagine at peak condition.
have you tried mixing it with regular shou?
I have some broken up gong ting grade shou for this purpose. it's really fun, you should try it.
first the regular ripe dominates, then the cha tou opens up and keeps going and going and going.
I do i with my 2016 dayi cha tou when I'm in the mood to mix thing up.
https://kingteamall.com/collections/2016-dayi/products/2016-dayi-lao-cha-tou-old-tea-head-brick-250g-puerh-shou-cha-ripe-tea?variant=30396157853799

>>14314378

I never even thought to try that. The only other ripe I have right now that's worthwhile is a 2018 7572. Later this week I'll give that method a shot.

I'll do it in the gaiwan because I still feel like I'm learning the yixing. It's definitely a different beast to brewing in a gaiwan.

>>14314396
>2018 7572
sounds good. not every ripe gels with cha tou in my opinion. I'll be looking for ripe on the sweeter side. 7572 is light and mellow in my experience, should be good.

I'm a gaiwan guy myself, can't be arsed to play with the clay. I want to taste the tea and tea only, glazed porcelain all the way. I know it's a sinful neophyte take in some circles, but I say fuck them. besides who has the patience to clean the pot out, when I can reach into the gaiwan, squeeze the dregs and throw them out.

>>14291788
So idk if this is a good place to post this, but I'm trying to quit chewing tobacco. I've noticed a lot of the fake chew is just tea in dip pouches so I'm thinking of doing some DIY with empty single use tea bags and loose leaf. Do you guys think this is a good idea? What tea would you recommend? I'm from the USA, rather obviously, I suppose and have tried many types of tea from regular black, green, yerba mate, even some rooibos back when lipton sold it in bottles. I've never had a tea I didn't like, just looking for something to maybe help. At the moment, I'm considering a blend of mate with another tea (mate for caffeine to generate a bit of buzz to help with nicotine craving) but I'm not sure what to blend it with.

>>14314662
lapsang souchong is smoked and vahdam does a smoked assam which is really nice and malty too

>>14314701
A smoky tea is an excellent thought since it would sort of mimic the taste of tobacco. I hadn't even thought of that desu. Do you think they would pair well with the earthy flavor of mate? That's my issue in coming up with a pairing is something that will balance the earthyness of mate so it doesn't taste like I packed a hammer of dirt in my lip.

>>14314662
The recommendation of lapsang souchong is good because it has smoky notes that may evoke tobacco. Black teas in general can often have tobacco-like notes. Hell, get unsmoked lapsang for that.
But personally, I'd recommend puerh tea as a tobacco replacement; it's the most addictive kind of tea.

>>14314758
With the input the other anon and you now that I think about it, if I use a roasted mate it wouldn't be so earthy and would be closer to a malt flavor. Maybe a few minced peppermint leaves for some tingle. So a black tea of some sort for the largest portion of the blend? What about a red rooibos instead? My worry is that since instead of being diluted in water it's going directly in my mouth so any strong flavor notes will be overwhelming.

>>14314662
Switch to snus white portions or those tobacco free nicotine pouches. I used to dip for a few years, sunus does the same thing but doesn't give you cancer and the dry white portion pouches won't destroy your gums as badly. If you really want to quit cold turkey then keep a fresh unopened tin around for a while and bring it with you. Having it around makes it easier. Also get some wild bills ground beef jerky chew and pack lips of that.

>>14314840
I tried both of those and it didn't work to quit. I chewed just as much as I did Copenhagen. Currently using Zyn and have tapered down to 3mg pouches but can't quite kick it. I'm not saying this will work but worst case scenario I end up with a tea blend. I think I'm gonna blend 12g of mate, 125g of blueberry rooibos and 100g of black peach. Should make a good iced tea at least.

>>14314864
Add some salt

>>14314952
Why salt? I know I'm going to ruffle some feathers here, but my plan is to grind or mince the tea, add some honey or agave nectar to give it some texture and a bit of sweetness then cut disposable teabags in half, get them a little moist, add the tea/sweetener mixture, then put in the fridge. What would salt add out of curiosity? This is going to be a process of trial and error for sure.

>>14314968
Dip has loads of salt in it. Adding just a hint of salt will help scratch that itch, helps make you salivate.

Are there any reliable aliexpress tea sellers?

>>14315543
Based on my quick look around.... No
Some of the bigger stores with thousands of sales and decent ratings are full of fakes. You might be able to buy good tea on there somewhere but they aren't making it easy for you.

>>14291788
Try sun tea brewing. Black, green, white, what ever your favorite, fill glass container with COLD clean filtered water with tea bags, and place directly in the sun for 5-7 hours. When sunlight charges water, it changes its molecular structure to "living water" and is utilized to heal cells and tissue when consumed.

>>14314433

I definitely prefer gaiwans to experience the tea in its truest form, in a sense, but I'm still liking the yixing a lot. The two big things are that my particular pot pours very slowly, so it's not suited to young raws and things similar to that, and has a definite muting effect on the sharper edges of a tea. I'll have to figure out with some trial and error how to reap the benefits of that effect without dimming a tea overall.

Close to the end but still going.

>>14315543
Yea. fullchea
The two Haiwan and taetea puerh cakes I bought were both genuine
They also have a nice selection of different teas

https://www.fullchea-tea.com/

>>14291788

Does anyone here mix their own chai? I only started doing so when I realised I had spices in my cupboards I had never/rarely used otherwise.

One version I quite like is a variation of golden milk - 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, pinch black pepper, 1 tblsp honey, mug of milk heated until aromatic then strained through a sieve.

What spices and ratios do you use.

>>14316222
Nice, sorry I gave you such a hard time for ordering of AliExpress. Those guys are legit.

For me, it's Twinings Irish Breakfast with a bit of milk.

>>14315772
>When sunlight charges water, it changes its molecular structure to "living water" and is utilized to heal cells and tissue when consumed.

>>14317046
I've got a box of Tetley "british blend" sitting around that I never bothered to open.

>>14291788
Is there any kind of tea which has the same caffeine content as coffee? I prefer the taste of tea, but I need more caffeine to get going in the mornings, and don't really want to drink 3-4 cups vs. one cup of coffee.

>>14317136
You're never quite gonna get there. If you want high-caffeine tea, your best bet is probably gyokuro or silver needle, but you would still need a few cups of either to compare to coffee. Have you tried yerba mate or guayusa? Those might be up your alley.

>>14317136
Apparently they make teabags with added caffeine if you want to go that route.
https://www.myrecipes.com/taste-tests/high-caffeine-tea
As far as regular tea without shit added to it...
Just get this incredibly expensive tea that gets you fucked up.
https://www.bitterleafteas.com/shop/tea/puer/wmd-2018-spring-mansa-raw-puer
As far as something that's actually reasonable to drink everyday
This was a pretty bland tea, mostly tasted smokey but i found it uncomfortably stimulating like it had loads of caffeine in it
https://kingteamall.com/collections/2011-xiaguan/products/2011-xiaguan-ft8603-11-cake-357g-puerh-raw-tea-sheng-cha

>>14293639
please post your knee socks and your MTF transformation

>>14313447
that video doesnt look like it has boiling water
and that looks dumb, just wash it inside so it actually washes.. with hot water

>>14316066
whered you buy the teapots? I only own a gaiwan and want to experiment with this clay stuff

>>14296570
I have been so clsoe to buying from YS. I want to start with factory teas. Can you tell me a place to buy them that is gonna be genuine and also cheap? Thanks man..

>>14317194
just read the thread
kingtemall
fullchea tea

>>14317194
>>14317200
Yeah hit up fullchea get the 150g dayi 7542 and a full sized ripe cake and then also get the xiaguan 2011 bulang cake or one of the 2006 xiaguan tuos and a 2011 nannuo tuo
You should also get one of these liubao cakes, everyone in the thread who has gotten one has loved it
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/three-cranes-sanhe-2014-quot0207quot-liu-bao-tea-cake-dark-tea-heicha-100g-p0518.html

>>14317239
That's a full sized dayi ripe cake. Any of the # recipes will do the 7572 is the classic but they are all good And the 2011 nannu tuo is also from xiaguan.
Also grab one of these yiwu bricks because it's cheap.
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/2008yr-250g-yiwu-menghai-alpine-arbor-old-trees-pu-er-raw-puer-brick-tea-aged-puerh-best-organic-tea-p0281.html

People who prefer "Breakfast tea" or "English Black Tea" over Earl Grey have absolutely no fucking taste

>>14317290
or like their tea without fucking chemical orange aromas, ever thought of that?

got some loose leaf and figured i'd just brew it in a mug like normal then pour it through a mesh strainer into another mug, but i thought this shit would be less finely ground and a lot of it got through the strainer...

>>14317357
get a fine mesh strainer (and a gaiwan), everyone seems to use the same dirt cheap one and i've no complaints with mine. seems aliexpress is cheaper than amazon

>>14317193

>that video doesnt look like it has boiling water

It was directly off a rolling boil.

>and that looks dumb, just wash it inside so it actually washe

I'm trying to look cool like 2dog, no bully.

>whered you buy the teapots?

Kong Mountain Tea. Almost all of their stuff is sold out right now (they seem super small so their supply from China is probably fucked) but overall their stuff seems of good quality, well curated, and not stab yourself in the neck expensive.

>>14317290
I got some earl grey as a free sample and it's really not very good at all. Just tastes like chemical orange like the other poster said. Maybe it's better with sugar or milk.

>>14318220
The bergamot fragrance is often used to mask the poor quality of the tea. Same goes for a lot of lapsang souchong made for Western export. I don't much care for perfumed teas or flavored teas because of this.

I'm considering no longer buying Chinese tea because fuck China and no longer buying Indian tea because the working conditions are so shit. Should I just stick to drinking Japanese tea, or are there tea plantations in India and China where the working conditions aren't shit?

>>14318249
anon those chinks need jobs too, if they didn't have plantations they'd starve

>>14318249
I think you should dilate and/or kys self

>>14318249
>reddit tier anti-china posting
you know taiwan is a different country right cletus?

now post your copypasta, the one you always post when you get confused

>>14318257
lol stfu chink that's a libtard who's sad about poorfag peasants not a Based&Redpilled chad /pol/ incel who is wary of the jewchink's vile sorcery

>>14318269
>>14318249
t. samefag "enlightened centrist" now post the one about obama drone strikes and pervy joe

>>14318249
supporting the chinese people isn't the same as supporting the chinese state, anon

>>14318273
cringe

>>14317357
Imagine buying loose leaf and it still seeps through the strainer.
Let me guess, it was some jap weeb tea or pajeet powder. Think before you buy.

Has anyone here tried Japanese black tea before?

>>14317262

Why does it say both Yiwu and Menghai? The former is in Mengla.

>>14318294
i don't have to imagine

>>14318509
Because these cheap Chinese ebay dealers tend to screw up their product descriptions.

I got a kyusu with a sasame filter(the ball filter), and brewed some sencha for the first time. It's not fine enough to filter the many tiny bits of sencha. As an aside, the kyusu also sucks at pouring slowly, you have to go really fast or it slides down the nozzle and on the curve its own body. Are these non-issues that are normal or is it just a character of the kyusu I bought? As far as the fine sencha goes, they just settle at the bottom of the tea cup, so it's okay I guess.

>>14319614
well, that's what you get for buying kawai gohan pinku bento box for your chopped up weeb "tea".
but we have here some jap tea enthusiasts, so they should answer accurately.

>>14319632
My bad, didn't know this was the short bus where we pretend green tea isn't real tea because it came from Japan because you dislike weebs while posting on an anime website.

>>14319644
sorry to disappoint you. enjoy your tea (if you manage to pour it through your sasame into your yunomi).

>>14319658
I've come to my senses. I'm returning the weeb pot for a refund tomorrow.

What should I get instead though?

>>14319702
depends on what you're brewing. if the leaves are finely chopped or you absolutely cannot have some bits at the bottom of your cup, I've seen some anons here recommend teapot with mesh strainer inside. seems like a sensible solution to me.

if your leaves are mostly intact, and you like to have more control over your pouring and brewing times - get a fucking cheapo gaiwan for 15 bucks and be done with it.

I’m drinkin a nice cuppa.
What kind of tea is it, you ask?
PG Tips. Simple as.

>>14319746
You take sugar?

>>14319702
just get a secondary filter to pour into from the kyusu to the cup. it'll catch the stray particles. or just live with them.
if you really want to micromanage your pour speed get a gaiwan.

>>14319749
One an a ‘alf, semi-skimmed milk.

>>14319702
Yeah there are pots with big mesh strainer baskets inside that are made specifically for those kinds of japanese teas. The ones with the ball filters are for sencha, bancha, hojicha etc, the teas with more large intact leaves. It's counterintuitive because you would normally think that the mesh basket is a cheaper, less fancy solution but it's kind of necessary for those really fine teas.

>>14319614
I have a kyusu with that kind of filter as well, and I don't mind it. The small bits of leaves come from the way some sencha is "deep steamed." This makes it fukamushi cha. If you're concerned about larger leaves, look for a lighter-steamed sencha.

Regarding pouring, it depends on the size and shape of the kyusu. My kyusu is on the bigger side (~400 ml) and I don't have any problems with pouring except for a tiny drop that runs down the spout itself, but that's what I've experienced with all my teapots so it's no big deal.

>>14319754
Now that's a proper brew. You know which mug I use. Chipped handle, page three stunna on the side. You can see her baps when you put hot water in. Go on, put the kettle on.

>>14319798
I have one of those but I put it in the dishwasher and the heat got rid of everything except her tits and pussy.

how do I use this contraption

>>14320155
i think you're supposed to cook ramen in it

>>14320155
Somebody was poopooing all ova it. I wouldn't touch it.
Maybe watch teadb videos on yt I dunno.

>>14320155
They are kind of fun once you get the hang of them.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvu3Y14m5tA

>>14320244
Oh yeah, my bad. Right. You have three kotoba. big one is for tonkotsu broth, upper small one for nori and miso tare. Saucer is for yakisoba noodles. Arigato konnichiwa hai!

>>14319702

What kind of sencha were you brewing? Fukamushi is typically much finer and will pass through most ball strainers. Keep an eye out for kyusus that specifically mention being good for fukamushi, as they'll have the finest filters. Look around on o-cha as they have very good teaware and are very good about labelling what each piece is appropriate for.

Mine, for instance, is a kyusu from o-cha that has an integrated mesh filter that keeps the leaves from sitting on the bottom.

Just signed up for the W2T subscription service. I'll let everyone know what shipping looks like and if I think it's worth it.

>>14321024
Sounds fun anon. From what I have seen they put some effort into what they send out so hopefully you will enjoy it.

Y'all did this shit to me. Appreciate it. For real, though, it's been a blast exploring this with everyone here. Thanks for being assholes but also recommending some great stuff.

>>14321528

Currently drinking some hojicha 2:1 with Laphroaig for reasons that are completely unknown to me. It's alright. I'm very curious to explore some tea-centric cocktails. I could imagine sencha working well in something gin based.

>>14321528
Haha goddamn. Don't even look at the liu bao or yancha on essence of tea.
I'm ordering one of these soon. I'm pretty terrified to do it because I think I will like it but it has to be done.
https://www.bitterleafteas.com/shop/tea/puer/wmd-2018-spring-mansa-raw-puer
This apparently is one tea that has extremely dramatic "tea drunk" effects. One tea blogger likened a previous year production of the same cake to getting stoned.

>>14321601

>$1.00/gram

Fuck. That looks super interesting, though. I feel like it might be similar to this, which is something I really love.

https://yunnansourcing.us/products/2018-yunnan-sourcing-autumn-bang-dong-zi-cha-purple-raw-pu-erh-tea-cake?_pos=3&_sid=d3150026b&_ss=r

It's almost like a green tea in character, but super aggressive and forward in its flavors and strength. I love it for days when I need a kick in the ass and I've definitely gotten "tipsy" off of it before.

I also just realized I excluded my 90 dollar o-cha order in that so it's even more than I thought. I'm going to keep that Mansa in mind, though, and remember that Bitterleaf exists, since I've never even perused their site.

>>14321552
That's pretty interesting, i could see some interesting combos like that.
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/hunan-tian-jian-tea/products/2018-cha-yu-lin-liu-bu-xi-village-tian-jian-basket-tea
Sounds like it might be able to hold up to Laphroaig.

>>14321613
I haven't tried bitterleaf but they have a good reputation. They occupy a similar place in the market as W2T. They also have the best tea pets I have seen anywhere.
https://www.bitterleafteas.com/shop/teaware/accessory/tea-meowster-tea-pet-costume

>>14321614

If I wasn't already decently inebriated from socially distant hangs with some friends earlier tonight and it wasn't almost 4 in the morning I'd fuck around with the ratios to find what works, but that will have to wait until a later time.

In more interesting news, that particular friend is an ultra coffee nerd and we're planning a tea date for a few weeks from now. I'm excited to guide him through a progression and see what he thinks.

My current plan is...

>Uji Kamejirushi Gyokuro via o-cha
>2018 DaYi 7572 via KTM
>2007 Yi Pin Tang Yi Wu Zhi Chun via YS
>Kong Mountain Tea Dan Cong Black Tea via Kong Mountain Tea
>Uji Organic Hojicha via o-cha

>>14321623

>teapets

I will absolutely check them out, though I feel like the Wienermacht Turtle can never be replaced even though it was an 8 dollar Amazon find.

I need some suggestions for where I can get basic but high quality thin wall 8-10oz mugs. All my current mugs are ancient and need to be replaced, i want something that's well made but not fancy.

How does /tea/ deal with teeth staining?

>>14321680
Specifically I want something with straight sides and tall. Preferably porcelain, but ceramic will do as long as it's properly glazed.
Something like pic related but 8-10oz instead of 15oz

I tried yellow tea for the first time and it kinda tastes metallic. I did it correctly on brewing it and all. I wish i had some comparison with actual yellow tea.

>>14321839
I've had several teas that have metallic mineral notes, my wife won't drink several of my puers because she hates that flavor. It probably doesn't mean your tea is full of of heavy metals or pesticides if that's what you are worried about. If you don't like that flavor I would experiment with lower brewing temperatures and/or shorter brewing times and see if that helps.

>>14321885
Well ginkgo and black tea never have a metallic taste for me, same goes for green. Thats the first cup i had with yellow tea and i dont use a gaiwan but these cups with a sieve inside it.
Maybe i did not enough leaf in it? It said i need around 2 tea spoons of leaf (some gramm i forgot), and having tea leaf on the tea spoon feels really wierd. Also i brew it on ~80° for a bit longer than 3 minutes.

Thoughts on blooming teapots? I'm considering it and I want to know if it's worth it

>>14321904
I would first try brewing one teaspoon instead of two. If that still tastes metallic try brewing for one minute instead of three.
It's better to use a scale but I know most people don't have a gram scale at home.

>>14296589
90% of what I drink are oolongs and I'm saisfied with most of the ones bought from YS. The only think I didn't like was TGY, because I don't like the green style with no oxidation

>>14321910
You mean something like that? I am on a diet so this would come handy i guess if i can also use it for tea. I guess ill get one then. My cup is 450ml. I am not sure 1 tea spoon would be enough but ill try. I mean there is only 20g so fuck.

>>14297902
Check out Benjowski tee - I like their yunnan red superior, An Yue, Ming Yue, Tie Guan Yin but the yunnan black wins by a long shot

found some feather in my ebay longjing, should i be worried?

>>14321921
Is flavor.

>>14321919
Okay i will, i still find the prices wierd. I am btw the guy with the metallic taste in yellow tea. I can post what i got later on. I am at work right now.
I got my package of all the teas, 20g yellow tea for 15€ is really feeling wierd if you see how big the package actually is.

>>14302468
I brew rooibos for a long time, sometimes it stays in the pot during the whole session and havan't noticed any bitternes. There is a mineral taste when overbrewed tho so I'll try your suggestion today

>>14321915
Yeah just make sure it has a resolution of 1 gram. .1 gram is better but it is harder to find kitchen scales that will do .1 gram.
>My mug is 450ml
Okay then keep using two teaspoons. Try brewing for a shorter time first. Brew for 1 minute only and try it. You can save the leaves in the brew basket and probably rebrew the same leaves 2-3 times.

>>14321921
>found some feather in my ebay longjing
Haha that's a new one. I find lots of weird shit in my puer. You have to remember lots of these teas are processed outside or in simple structures with just a roof and no walls. Weird shit happens. The more expensive versions of a tea like that would pay laborers to sort through all the tea by hand and remove any weird things like that before packaging.

>>14311957
Personally I noticed the biggest difference with these 2 things

>level of chlorine in tap water
>level of calcium

My tap water is so hard that after 1 kettle boil it's milky white and a little opaque. The chlorine content varies, since it's tap water anyway. So I've settled on a local brand of bottled water (7L bottles, they replace the bottle when I run out) that has a very low calcium content. The difference in flavor is very obvious, even to my retarded brother who used to think all tea tastes the same.

>>14321931
Okay good, ill try it like that.
Correction, its 400ml. Well i put 3 teaspoons in it.

>>14321928
Yeah bitterness was the wrong word to use. I should have just said it tastes over extracted.

>>14314164
All eggs sold in stores in my country have this. Only if you buy directly from someone who has backyard chickens they won't have individual stamps

>>14321942
3 teaspoons is probably too much.
You will get the hang of it eventually, try to only change one thing nat a time between brews so you will know what thing you changed that fixed it.

>>14315772
Bruh

>>14321947
Okay. I guess trial and error is my workcase for that. Thanks again.

So I'm having something kind of unique this morning. I have a ripe puer teabag from the dayi tae tea store on Amazon. A friend got a box of them and gave me a few to try. Smells a bit fishy like most ripes, im guessing it's a fairly recent production. The packets the teabags are plastic lined and the teabags are filled with basically fannings, maybe some slightly larger pieces. Will report back after I drink some.

>>14321925
What exactly do you think it's weird about their prices? Personally I wouldn't bother with yellow tea at all as the production is scarce and most of it stays in Chinese market. I had some actually good yellow tea gifted to my boss by Chinese business partners, and it's very subtle. There is some difference from green and white, but the closest I could compare it are good quality silver needles. Maybe it's because I prefer blacks and oxidized oolongs, but I just don't think yellow tea is worth it at all.

>>14321952
Smells like a pretty standard ripe, a little funk, a little chocolate, maybe some toffee or caramel. The first few sips have a bit of funk, then caramel, i think these teabags have 2g each so i probably should have used 2, i usually throw ~3.5g in my mug.
Im mostly getting notes of cocco and a cocco finish. Not much lasting sweetness, not much viscosity.
Getting some more caramel as it cools, and a touch of bitterness.

>>14317136
Just take caffeine pills you addict

>>14321976
Not bad overall, i probably shouldn't have refilled the mug. It's decent but it's still teabag quality tea, even when it's from dayi. It's good for someone who absolutely refuses to drink tea unless it's in bags but for anyone else there are better options.

Wtf is the bump limit on /ck/? I thought it was 300.

new thread
>>14322239

>>14322239

>>14322239