/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Gorgeous pot. I like the fishies.

I am considering making a small order from https://www.puerhshop.com/ in the near future anyone have any recommendations on what to get, especially on the cheaper end of things.

>>15259874
yunnan sourcing has more pics of it up on their Instagram. I think the pot itself already sold though.

>>15259880
These ripe toucha are really good, like a really dark chocolate, slightly bittersweet.
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=9_24&product_id=382
I would generally recommend against getting their house brand stuff, zenpuer and mgh/ american hao, it's not very good quality overall.
Also check the 2008 xiaguan ft tuo, the 2008 liming eco arbor tuo
Get a sample of this
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=42_44&product_id=644

>>15261067
Also there are a few 2008-2010 raw cakes that look good, haven't tried them myself.

>>15259838
Had a glass of pic related earlier, might make another soon

>>15259838
Thanks friend, i really have failed op duties lately.

Tea news:
The USPS is shitting itself, hopefully they will get back on top of things after Christmas but right now it's the worst it has been i a long time. Mail between the us and Europe seems to have really slowed down as well. Mail from China to the rest of the world is still moving pretty quickly.

>>15261074
Sounds like a decent blend, can you taste the ginseng?

What's more likely - my new pumidor is leaky and isn't getting to the humidity it's supposed to or the dry cakes stored within are absorbing the moisture?
A week ago I put it together, a heavy duty Coleman cooler with supposedly great insulation, four 60g boveda packs marked at 69% RH. 68 F static temps. Been monitoring with a wireless hygrometer. I have not opened it since closing it. Actual RH inside has not yet exceeded 58%. I'm planning on allowing it another week or two to come up before I make any decisions on what else to do.

>>15261146
Did you calibrate the hygrometer? There is this procedure you can do where you put it in a zip lock with a boveda and leave for 24 hours to make sure it is reading accurately.
Also th boveda pack don't tend to get your humidor to the exact % listed on the bag, it will usually hover a few % below that.
Beyond that it depends on how much tea is in there, do the boveda packs look dried out already?
You might want to get some of the bigger ones.
I'm in the middle of setting up the same thing and i ordered a single pack that is i think 320g.
Also 58% is fine, you really don't want to push your luck too much. As long as it stays over 55% you are in good shape

>>15261181
Yes I calibrated my hygrometers. I wouldn't mind around 65%, but I'm still aiming for 69%. I have perhaps eight or nine cakes, all in mylar bags, some paired with others based on type and age. There is room for probably another 30 cakes, maybe more, certainly more if I forwent the mylar. As I mentioned, I haven't yet opened the pumidor. After this week or next I will open it and have a look, as well as sample the teas I haven't yet. Should also mention RH in my house is sub 30, typically during the winter.
At the very least, the RH and temps have been gradually stabilizing, probably a good sign.
Thanks for the response. Let me know how your setup comes together later.
Picrelated is a portion of what the Boveda BTLE hygrometer app looks like. You can see when I pulled it from the calibration and set it up into the pumidor. It's decent, but not great. Seeing day over day and hour over hour changes has been insightful to the temperament of the pumidor. I recommend it, but it definitely is not needed.

>>15261253
Fwiw boveda butlers are fucking JUNK. Nearly ruined about a grand of my cigars by saying my rh was stable for 2 months, then letting me know it had dropped from 65% to 35%. I stan for sensorpush now. Boveda offered to send me a replacement butler, I told them I wouldn't even be comfortable giving it away as a gift. Didn't want anyones stash getting ruined on my conscience.

>>15261253
Hmm, i would definitely open it up and see what's going on, it's probably also worth getting a standard hygrometer and attaching it to the inside of the lid to serve as a backup.

Pumi sitting at a consistant and comfortable 72% / 75F
feelsgoooood

>>15261937
tea drawer sitting at a constant 72% 13c/55f
feels cold

>>15261953
so cold :(
thought about getting a seedling heat mat? will fix that problem ez

>>15261967
my whole house is that temp, its fine, i have slippers a hoodie and hot tea. i dont see the need in wasting money on heating

I drinking this. Thoughts?

>>15261979
high humidity / low temp can cause mold

>>15261988
Meh

>>15261086
>Mail from China to the rest of the world is still moving pretty quickly

yeah I would love for that to be true but alas

pic related are my packages from YS, W2T and teaware.house, moon runes translate to "waiting for airline space", meaning have been in a airport warehouse for almost a month now (and then I'm not even talking about how long it took for them to reach those airports in the first place)

>>15262118
Everything's possible these days. My w2t order came in like 2 weeks to your big neighbour country but my what-cha order (also from cyber monday) is still in UK

My OXO Gooseneck finally bit the dust after 4 good years of service. I probably contributed to its degradation by never descaling it and flooding the entire base with soapy water when moving from a cockroach infested shithole to an apartment where that wasn't an issue. We'll see how this one holds up as I had seen a few reviews that could suggest the quality control as lessened in the last few years.

>>15261067
thanks
>>15261073
>Also there are a few 2008-2010 raw cakes that look good, haven't tried them myself.
Which ones did you have your eye on?

always open to more suggestions

I don't get pu'erh. At its best it's just okay. Always tastes overly processed and manipulated. Oolong is so much more elegant and appealing and can be either tame or wild and either way brings so much more to the table, I can taste the terroir. It's like puerh is new word wine and oolong is old world.

For reference the "best" puerh I've had was some sample flakes from aged raw puerh cakes, I've also had ripe and relatively fresh raw. For oolong I've had leaves so fresh and raw they're still fuzzy as well as highly roasted knotted-up stuff that looks like pebbles. Am I the pleb? Why does everyone go crazy over puerh?

Pic related please pay attention to me.

>>15261988
good for when you're on budget

>>15261086
>USPS
they have been listing my tea package as "In Transit, Arriving Late" for over 3 weeks now.

>>15262424

Also trying out some of the stuff I've had sitting in the bottom of my pumidor that I wasn't a huge fan of when I got it. This is some 2009 XiaGuan Chen Xiang Tuo from KTM. Brewing up very mineral-y and, now that we're about 11 months post purchase, I'm noticing that that mineral-yness is paired with a hint of something that almost tastes like menthol that lingers on the tip of the tongue for a second. There's definitely a fair amount of smoke to it but it's pretty well counterbalanced by those other two flavors, so it's not standing on its own. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this, still. From my memory it definitely seems more complex now and like there's more to explore with it, and I don't really think it tastes bad by an stretch, but it isn't doing a whole lot for me. In some ways it's actually kind of coming across to me like taking a drag off of a Newport and then licking a rock. That makes it sound terrible, which it isn't, but it's not really what I'm looking for.

>>15261988
tastes kinda shit
if you are in the UK aldi sells lemon green tea for very cheap and its one of my favorites

>>15262646
people go crazy for pu'erh because it lasts forever so they can buy a bunch in bulk and not have to worry about it expiring. It's also somewhat more "traditional" since it was what was popular from the tang dynasty to the end of the qing. Even the Boston Tea Party was dumping something closer to pu'erh into the water than an english black tea.
There's always the certain satisfaction people get too from knowing obscure information like how to find a good source of pu'erh and what specific blends and years are good. It attracts pseuds.
It's also pretty cheap for what you get, there's a reason tibettans drink so much of it that they get cancer.
Some people just like it.

>>15262646
I mostly drink pu'er because I love tea but I have a really weak nose; with oolongs I mostly just feel bad that I can't appreciate the aromas. Pu'er is much more about texture, aftertaste and effect, a language I can understand.

>>15262118
Yeah i guess the situation is different for Europe than the US. Also lots of holiday orders of Chinese crap from 11:11 sales and holidays

>>15261683
That's too bad to hear.
>>15261756
I do have a second hygrometer attached to the lid.

>>15262646
I mostly drink puer but i have come around on oolong recently. With oolong i tend to like very heavily roasted oolongs that have been aged for several years or more.
The biggest factors for me are that good oolong gets significantly more expensive then puer very quickly. I can drink .10¢ to .15¢ per gram puer all day and be quite content with it. Good oolongs especially well roasted and rested wuyi yancha very quickly gets to the .60¢ per g range and just skyrockets from there. Dan Cong can be more affordable but i have read that that stuff can be really loaded with pesticides so i don't really want to have it as a daily drinker. Finding heavy roasted taiwan oolongs is also usually quite pricey since green processing is all the rage these days and heavy roasts tends to get used as a way to try and rescue poorly processed batches.
Essence of tea has a bunch of the kind of oolong i would like to drink in stock right now, just take a look at the prices.
https://essenceoftea.com/collections/wuyi-yancha
If people have suggestions for good places to get tea like this that is in a more affordable price bracket im all ears.

>>15261756
I opened it up. The other hygrometer had 65%RH. The wireless one, resting on the wall of the cooler, was 58%. They were calibrated together a week or maybe two ago. Perhaps there were issues being pressed against the wall.
At any rate it smelled good. It smelled like puer. The rock hard cakes that I threw in there had the slightest give to them. I feel good things are happing in there.

Reposting from last thread, I'm putting in an order at teas we like later today for a 2010 dayi 7542 cake and a .12c raw brick. Anything else i should consider picking up?

>>15262865
I usually drink stuff in the $1/gram range and I'm fine with that. I drank pretty expensive coffee before finding out about good tea and it's not that different

>>15262118
On a more positive note, last Wednesday late at night I got too impatient with Chinese shipping so I ordered a bunch of random stuff off of Moychay, and that was actually delivered today! So from Russia to The Netherlands in 3 business days, whilst only selecting the regular speed shipping option, so all credits to them for that, especially now.

Pic related is my order: that vaporwave meme shu cake from a couple of threads ago, a silver needle mini white cake that sounded cool, some cheap oolong for cold brewing and some other random samples

>>15263292
Neat, you will have to tell us how the tea tastes.

>>15262424
get a tetsubin boio

>>15262646
not a pleb
Don't worry that we like it and you don't
bok_fl hates puerh on teaforum (sources good pots for the community) mainly drinks oolong

What is tea grading? Which grades are the best? And where is it used?

>>15263292
Nice, i want to hear what you think about that herbal cake, at least i that's what the thing in the bottom left is.

Im definitely getting the 7542 and 12 cent brick from teas we like.
Things i am on the fence about,
Getting another on of either or both of those, getting the 2008 8582, getting the 2004 nanqiao bada nannuo blend cake.
Nanqiao especially made lots of very cheap low quality tea in 2006 and 2007. But im wondering if their earlier productions might be a little higher quality.

>>15263757
Nanqiao has some very good tea's, the double lion was proccesed by them

Would go for it

The Jincha I hear is very good also
Liquid Proust and TWL listed these at the same time by accident (though LP's was called Snoot's Shroom) and it sold it instantly

>>15263292
Report back on how the cyberpunk cake is

Drinking some old white tea

>>15263789
Alright i went for it
wish me luck

King Tea Mall is getting expensive. I'm looking through my wishlist from the beginning of the year and lots have teas have gone up in price 20% to 30% or more. I'm guessing it's mostly a reflection of chinese market rates but it's depressing. Two years ago he had a ton of high end late 2000s menku cakes for less than $100. He delisted most of them and the ones that are left are double their old price

>>15264089
This reminds me, where's that one anon who reminds us threadly about the annual price hike on YS and other places?

>>15262424
Jesus look at the chin on that thing. I've got 10 port usb hubs smaller than that.

THREADLY REMINDER
ys raises prices on most aged teas by 20% 30% in early March. Get your orders in before then.
>>15264117
Good point anon.

>>15264482
Ah the true herald of winter

>>15264034
No luck needed, looks like a great order!

About to get my blue Lotus i bought in a week. Did anyone try it yet?

>>15264482
>ys raises prices on most aged teas
what counts as an "aged tea"? does YS just raise prices on all puer?

>>15266072
yes
a flat rate increase every year on everything

It's one of the reasons I don't use YS unless i'm specfically buying YS's own cakes

>>15266072
>>15266075
Surely other shops do the same.

>>15266082
Other shops also raise prices, but ys is the only one that raises the prices on every tea every year regardless of changes in the market.

Coof

>>15266082
Most do, but not nearly as drastic as YS does. For instance, see the home blends that W2T does every year (such as the old reliable, white arbor, daily drinker etc.) the price only increases by a couple of dollars. In comparison, everything at YS increases by at least 20%, regardless of quality. See some of Scott's tea reviews on youtube where he will usually mention the price, when the video is 2-3 years old most cakes will have increased by 50-100%.

https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/hei-cha/products/1992-tibetan-kang-brick-tea
See this one for example, it's already 28 years old so realistically the flavour won't change that much from year to year anymore. However, in 2018 it was $80 while it is currently listed for $120 only 2 years later.

I don't know any other vendor that increases their prices that much anually.

>>15267868
Thats a bit of a disappointment It means some of the cakes I want to buy will cost more then I would like to pay by the time i have the the cash. Wish I had more income right now. does this mean with YS its a good idea stick to buying just recent (last year) store additions unless you specifically know the value of the older stuff?

Alright I'm a lazy fucker, so far I've just been microwaving my cup of water to boiling, dumping in a few leaves in a strainer, then pulling them out and tea's done.

How do I up my tea game? I feel like I'm not getting much taste out of it, most teas kinda taste the same, too.

>>15268501
Do this in order and stop at any point you want for any reason you want.
Buy an electric kettle. With temperature control. Buy whole leaf tea. Broaden your tea palate. Broaden your palate vocabulary. Stop buying teabags. Ask questions and talk to people on /tea/. Buy aged tea. Buy a gaiwan or teapot. Learn and brew gongfu method. Review what you drink on /tea/. Buy a tea style you've never heard of. Build pumidor. Store tea. Indulge in a good order from somewhere for nice tea. Drink, review, age, repeat.
Remember to do it for yourself and not for /tea/ or anyone else.

>>15268551
>Buy whole leaf tea.
>Stop buying teabags.
Already doing these, will start with getting a proper kettle.

its a Christmas miracle! After 3 weeks the USPS finally scanned my package again and updated the tracing information. To bad its on the wrong side of the country where it has no good reason to be but lets ignore the small details. It at least seems the package is not lost and I will get it someday.

>>15268592
>will start with getting a proper kettle.
I like the OXO Brew Adjustable Temperature Gooseneck Kettle.
https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Adjustable-Temperature-Electric-Pour-Over/dp/B074KHPS7F
However, the Adjustable Temperature kettle is a luxury and is mostly only really helpful for green teas and some white teas. if you never make green or white teas you really only need a source of boiling water (and in a pinch you can just let the water cool a bit if you need it at a lower temperature). I would focus on improving brewing technique and ensuring you have good quality tea (also if your water is terrible fix that as well. if the water is just subpar you can deal with it later.). i think that will give you the most bang for your buck (and is important anyways). if you want stronger tea adding more tea to the same volume of water tends to work better than significantly increasing steep times. look up gong fu style brewing (lots of tea in a small brewing vessel, may short steeps). you don't even need a gaiwan or small teapot (though such things are nice) you can do with with a cup (or two) and a strainer. happy sipping

>>15268742
Huzzah!

g'day wankers is chamomile tea any good for sleeping or does it just taste good

>>15269263
I've always felt chamomile is more calming and relaxing than sedative/sleep inducing. Lavender tea is a bit more "sleepy" to me.

>>15263292
I really love MoyChai and even to here in US the shipping takes about the same. It's crazy. I love Ivan chai and he carries a lot of options. The herbal bricks are very nice and convenient but I found that some of them take on that weird minty funk that overpowers the over stuff in the cake. The Georgian and Russian produced black teas are nice, despite being sort of run of the mill. Bready, with notes of berries and maybe raspberry leaves sort of flavors. He also has a Russian produced shou which is bomb. If you like fruit jam then it would be right up your alley.

Thanks for reading my Russian shill blog. Every look nets my account 64 rubles.

>>15269631
I will have to try some of the ivan chai. It sounds interesting.

/fit/ retard here, I've been doing a bit of research and have found a lot of conflicting studies on how green/black tea affects testosterone. Anybody have any insight? If I'm just drinking 1 or 2 cups a day, it shouldn't matter, right?

>>15269753
The plant is really unique. Flavor is sort of smoky and reminiscent of stone fruits. It's pleasant. And I don't know how well the effects are *clinically* documented, but my own anecdote and that of others I've met, is that drinking it gives a loose, relaxing feeling. Almost a buzz, but not quite. Really good for stressful times.

>>15269263
Try spearmint

>>15270013
It certainly matters less than other things like allowing hot food in plastic, BPAs, seed oils, lab grown meat, soda, refined sugars, etc. Tea is basically a veggie broth. It isn't insignificant in nutrients, but it isn't an elixir either. Just enjoy it.
If you're really looking for a boogieman that scares fitizens, search out chemicals containing synthetic xenoestrogens and avoid that.

got my 1st lapsang suchong today. Wow, it tastes like liquid barbeque. I feel like I sat in front of a campfire for a few hours. v. comfy

>>15268382
Yeah, if you're going just by value, defo get some of his [current year] cakes.

But, to be fair to YS (since last post seems like I'm slacking them off too much), I do think their prices still are pretty fair overall, compared to other vendors out there.

Just always think as a rule of thumb: would I feel comfortable paying [current price] for their cakes? Order a sample first if possible, but yeah for sure get them if the answer is yes

>>15270627
Smokey teas are peak comfy. Especially in the winter.
I'm drinking some changtai tong an lion right now and it's a nice smokey puer

My pumidor smells great after three weeks! The tea is alive!

>>15271989
Nice, I'm still waiting on the boveda packs for mine.

>>15271699
For me, it's the YS 2013 Autumn Ye Sheng. Not the best sheng I have had but in terms of smokiness it's really special. Having some today.

>>15273726
Yeah that was a pretty special one. A much more bbq smoke flavor, like apple wood or mesquite, compared to the average smokey puer

I have been drinking a few samples young raw puer recently 2018-2020 productions. I kind of enjoy them but i remembered why i usually avoid young sheng, it's very rough on the stomach. I really need to drink it after a heavy meal so i don't get nausea.
I'm also not convinced about the processing of the raw puer from some of these smaller producers. Eventually i will pick up one of the single origin young raws from xiaguan so i can get a feel for what a young boutique sheng is like from a big factory that really knows their shit when it comes to processing.

>>15268551
Different anon. Also a beginner although I followed Mei Leaf on YT to learn basics before I came here.

How bad is it that I've ordered tons of samples from greece and lithuania using ebay? I assume worst thing is that the flavors will be basic but a little better than teabags? I know Lithuanians don't make the worst tea.

Am thinking of buying from thetea.pl next month since they're polish.

>>15275580
There are a decent selection of vendors in the pastebin in the op. There is another Link under the main list with an even longer list that includes a bunch of european vendors. They are a decent starting point. Really you should order from vendors in china unless you are in the EU and know that your country will fuck you with customs fees.
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/
Is a popular chinese vendor with decent quality and very affordable prices. They usually have a big sampler in stock but it's sold out right now.

>>15275628
>vendors in the pastebin
Yeah, first thing i checked. Added any eu to my bookmarks

>another Link under the main list
>european vendors.
Oh, missed that. Thanks.

>EU and know that your country will fuck you with customs fees
Yep. Americans don't have that issue when purchasing online?

Thanks for all the help, again.

>>15275694
>Americans don't have that issue when purchasing online?
We supposedly are supposed to pay customs fees on certain imports or things over a certain value, but they also believe the declared value from the Chinese sellers without question unless you are importing pallets of engines or something so we never actually have to pay anything for personal purchases.

>>15275628
Many stores on the list don't ship to europe due to covid.

>>15268799
>in a pinch you can just let the water cool a bit if you need it at a lower temperature
Am poorfag. How long would you let it cool off? I use a coffee maker to warm up water.

>brewing technique
By trying out different infusion lengths or something else?

>good quality tea
Will buy online. But also I buy loose leaf tea from irl stores, how can I judge a store sells ok quality tea before buying? The larger the leave pieces, the better?

>>15262646

>>15274510
>I really need to drink it after a heavy meal so i don't get nausea.

I read this and then about 15 minutes later almost puked up 4 heavy steepings of 2007 Bulang raw.
Never had this happen until now. I steeped at a bit higher temp than I normally do, and the end of these samples was a bit more broken up. That combined with an empty stomach had me standing by my toilet trying to decide if I wanted it in or out. Chugging a pint of water thankfully washed the nausea away before anything happened, but man was that weird.

are porcelain teacups supposed to crack if you pour 190 degree water in them, or did I get a defective cup? are you supposed to heat it up first with hot tap water or something?

>>15259838
what makes matcha taste so good, particularly in dessert applications?
I remember eating matcha ice cream in 2009 and knowing it would go viral eventually

>>15262646
>those oblong gibberelin grapes and creatura mystery meat muttface
guess the country

>>15277437
porcelain is known for its heat tolerance

>>15277489
so I got a shitty defective cup, nice...

>>15277437
You could practically melt iron in a porcelain teacup.yours was jank.

>>15277437
Do you mean actually crack, or just a crackle effect on the inside? Because on a lot of porcelain teaware the glaze will have that crackling effect which will go dark with tea over time and is completely normal, see pic related

To then anon who linked my Black Pearl shu brick from oleg ebay. I know you sent the link half jokingly and I bought it on a drunken whim but it was worth it.
As I suspected, it's mostly "lao cha tou" but weirdly composed of big leaves. Like broad and paleozoic, not buds and fanning stuck together as usual is the case with lct.
Which makes me wonder if the whole batch is fermented this way to achieve this. And it's fermented to fucking compost levels.
Wet leaf opens with that lct sweet, almost sickly, smell. Think grandma's plum preserve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powidl
The soup is of course dark, but quite clear. Not yet crystal clear like some my dayi shus from 2010 but it's getting there. 2015 production if the package is to be believed.
The taste is your standard shu nuggers fare. Sweet, borderline sour-bitter when pushed, like artificial sweetener. Some cooling sometimes appears on the aftertaste. No off flavours, unless the ripe puer flavour is off to you by default.
As for energy, yes, it's potent, but nothing extraordinary. It's warming. Warming my belleh.
Overall good buy for $16 or how much did I pay for it.
Rewrap it in art student style hip wrapper, put $59,99 on a sticker and watch "tea heads" gobble it up and shit up instagram and review boxes with nothing but praise and how good value it is.
I swore no more Lao Cha Tou after I bought Haiwan half kilo brick, but there we go. There's no end to this ride.

Merry Christmas you fucking queers.

Is a glazed cast iron tetsubin (or equivalent pot) a poor choice for brewing oolongs, sencha, and pu-erh? If not, how should I effectively measure the water capacity of it and balance my loose leaf quantity? I've been struggling to make good brews, and I think the quantity of tea I am using may be a part of the problem. Also, glazed cast iron isn't a 'memory' material like red clay, right?

>>15279058
Haha thanks for the write-up, that's pretty funny. I figured it was drinkable but when the guy said it was requested by his russian customers i had no idea what to expect.
I have also wondered if some lao cha tu batches are fermented in a way that turns the whole batch into LCT. Otherwise i have no idea how anyone but the big boys would have large enough yields of it to make any kind of volume of bricks. I will have to grab one now if he still has any.

>>15279409
>glazed cast iron isn't a 'memory' material like red clay, right?
if its glazed then no it should be taste neutral. whats its volume? anything more than 200-250ml and it'll probably be better as a kettle for just boiling water in. easiest way is to just fill it up then pour it out into a measuring jug or into something on a tared scale(1ml = 1g).

brewing depends on what you're looking for, either gongfu (~5g/100ml) or western ~2g/200ml or grandpa

>>15279409
> glazed cast iron isn't a 'memory' material like red clay, right
Yes it should be neutral. If it's imparting flavor in you tea wash it out with hot water + vinegar plus a brand new sponge.
>Is a glazed cast iron tetsubin (or equivalent pot) a poor choice for brewing oolongs, sencha, and pu-erh?
It should be okay, one thing that you need to balance is it's heat retention. If you pre heat the pot before use with boiling water it might stay too hot when brewing a result in off flavors. It might be good to try to warm it so it is only slightly above room temperature instead of very hot to the touch. This can also be an advantage with certain older puer or other fermented tea where you want to hit it with water that is a hot as possible.
>how should I effectively measure the water capacity of it
Fill the teapot with the Max you can use for brewing tea without making a mess. Pour it out into measuring cups to figure out how much liquid is in there and then convert cups to ml using Google or whatever.
>and balance my loose leaf quantity?
A scale is the best solution, there are weight to ml ratios in the pastebin. Otherwise you are going to need to play around to get a feel for the right ratio, start with around a teaspoon of whatever tea you are using and then adjust up and down to get the strength you want.
Also make sure you aren't brewing oolongs with fully boiling water, let you kettle cool down for a minute or two after you boil the water to get the temp down slightly.

>>15279458
>Also make sure you aren't brewing oolongs with fully boiling water
really? i've has good results with oolong and boiling water(gonfu style), greener oolongs too

Tea and you all got me through a tough year. I'm grateful in the most sincere way possible. I wish I could return the favor somehow. I'll be toasting to you all day while I sip. Merry Christmas, anons!

I was once recommended to try ripe pu'erh because I really like milk oolongs, vanilla teas, rooibos, general soft and creamy shit, but there are just so many different ones on YS that I have no idea where to start. I'm going to try samples first for sure, but which ones would be best to try out for me?

>>15279588
ys cozy is very nice
Xiaguan "Sweet Pu-erh" Ripe
"10 Years Aged Rhyme" Ripe Pu-erh

>>15279617
Thank you anon! Going to try out those.

>>15279464
It depends, it works for some but not others, 90°c is a good starting point if he is having issues

You ever hit a woman with "damn girl, yo pussy smell like 20 year old shou pu erh"?

>>15279457
>whats its volume? anything more than 200-250ml and it'll probably be better as a kettle for just boiling water in.
To be frank, I don't even know. I could add water to some point and pour to check the value, but I do not know up to where to do so. It is fairly small, if nothing else.
>brewing depends on what you're looking for, either gongfu (~5g/100ml) or western ~2g/200ml or grandpa
I have been mostly trying gongfu, but I wonder if it has be disastrous because of my water to leaf ratio being off (too little water for excessive leaf, perhaps). I thought it wasn't because later diffusions were still unpleasant. It is truly a mystery for me.
>>15279458
I don't think it is imparting foul flavors, I just wanted to know if it could be an issue to use this same pot for different teas.
>Also make sure you aren't brewing oolongs with fully boiling water, let you kettle cool down for a minute or two after you boil the water to get the temp down slightly.
I have a temperature-controlled electric kettle, so I don't think the water temperature is the issue. Even when brewed low, it doesn't come out right. I feel I have much to learn, but I haven't the slightest as to what resources are legitimate. I can look at the Pastebin all day, but tea processes seem so subjective and per-case that I haven't been able to make anything of any of it. Still, I appreciate your notes. I will measure out my tetsubin and cups today.

Experiences/reviews on moychay? I know some anons like the vendor here, but want to hear more personal stories. What are their most sweet/fruity-ish cheaper stuff? Making my first order.

>>15279507
Wholesome. Thanks for sharing.

I haven't ordered from Taiwan before, i wonder how long the shipping will take. I'm guessing it will be pretty quick but you never know these days.

The ys order arrived

>>15281158
Post more pics when you unpack it.

>>15281182
time for a sippy

>>15281230
Nice!

>>15281254
>the health tea house order came right after
What a nice Christmas
250g of keemun and some random puerh

>>15279730
That's how I met my wife

>>15281281
Are those mini tuo of puer?

>>15281281
I'm pretty weary of mini tuos, i hope those ones are good.

>>15281492
yes

Coof

what do you guys do with tea that you've purchased but dont like? can't imagine it'd be that easy getting a refund on something you've had imported or is it? how easy is it to get samples on more expensive premium tea leaves?

>>15283122
I try to have at least 2 more sessions with it, and if I still not like it give it to a mate or just throw away honestly, no point really in holding onto tea you don't want to drink

>samples
depends on the seller, I find that at most shops you can either sample almost everything regardless of price or nothing at all

>>15283122
If I don't like it after all my parameter testing, and vessal testing
I just throw it away

I've come to realize that if you don't like the tea as is, you won't like it even when heavily aged

this isn't to say "undrinkable" doesn't mean bad, just too rough to drink now, but if you simply hate the taste, then not worth keeping, even for aging

Why does price for teapots and other accessories matter and the pastebin demands to pay a lot or "it will not be the same"? Wtf does that mean? Give me one reason to pay for an overpriced lady chinkchong tiny teapot. Sounds like a retarded myth.

Prove me wrong. I will listen with an open mind. What's the excuse?

>>15283122
Will try it a couple times more but try to brew a little differently. If all fails, brew it only for my fiance. Might try giving it away in the future, this russian lady yesterday made her son bring me 3 teabags, so might return the favor eventually.

If all fails, drown it in honey and sugar and maybe it will taste ok. Might need to learn to just throw shit away though in the future and stop crying over 1 tea not tasting great for me.

>>15283659
The thing that the sticky refers to is that the only teaware worth shilling out for is clay teapots. Cheap pots will have shit quality clay with all kinds of chemical additives, both of which will heavily fuck up the flavour of your tea.

Literally all other teaware can be as cheap as you want it to be. Gaiwan and cups from any sort of porcelain/ceramics for a couple dollars, the most basic kettle, using a teacloth instead of a proper tea table to put your stuff on, you name it.

Like the sticky said, if you want a cheap teapot get a porcelain one.

>>15283763
Yeah this pretty much covers it, i still need to mess about with that section of the pastebin and clean it up some, i will make sure it's clear that that only applies to clay teapots

Tiny Asian teapots are meant to be refilled and refilled and refilled so you can enjoy the progression of flavors of the tea leaves.

>>15283659
Cheaply produced modern mass factory teapots are shit and are potentially dangerous for you to use, inherantly missmarketed and deceptive claims are the normal

Anything under the set amount of price can almost guarantee that you will be buying one of these pots
and let's for arguments sake you aren't, and you're buying an ok pot that isn't completed fucked for under $100, a porcelain gaiwan will perform better than that pot


any Yixing pot or any material other than porcelain is very unnecesary
Porcelain is amazing to brew every tea in, and even with the best pots $$$$$$$$$$$ out there, a lot of the tea you have, or will have, even if it's the $1-3 / g range, can potentially and often is better in a porcelain pot or gaiwan, especially any young sheng


Buy good tea and use good water, good home storage, these are your biggest factors in making and having better tea
Yixing Pot's have the lowest return into making your tea better for the money you'll be spending out of everything else you can do
What cup you use has more of an impact even

Picked up some Jinxiu Longzhu, dian hong gong fu, and lao shu dian hong last weekend because the were 20% off. Never had the dian hong gong fu or jinxiu lingzhu but will be trying some after it steeps

>>15284003
Dian hong is pretty good, i haven't tried the others. Where did you get them from?

>>15283995
What about those pure silver pots I see on YS?

>>15284009
seven cups, I love the lao shu dian hong but wanted to try a peur (I think it's the jinxiu)

>>15284027
mental illness. but also really cool, I want one badly.

>>15284027
Silver pots I hear are pretty nice
not neutral like porcelain, and can get too hot to brew young puerh and greens / whites well (I'm sure they brew them fine, depending on taste, but to my preferences, and my friends prefrences, we don't like the boiled / stewed taste that can happen with those) or if you leave the lid on a yixing pot between brews, as an example

but I'm told they had quite a sharp cleanliness to the tea, and obviously have more extracting qualities than porcelain would

though my opinion? I find it a bit silly to buy such expensive silver pots over a nice yixing pot
but I can see someone using just 1 silver pot for everything and being very happy

>>15283763
>>15283995
Say I am poorfag but want to ensure I am not buying teaware that is not going to slowly poison me over the years. I read somewhere that glazings may contain awful toxins, especially if made in China, and the safest option is glassware (usually) for poorfags.

Can I trust buying glass tea filter or ceramic ones sold on amazon that claim to be in the UK? Are they tested to be safe materials? or should I buy some cloth bags sold within europe? It is essencially the only poorfag safe options. Thanks in advance.

>>15284244
It's pretty safe to buy anything other than unglazed

Glazed is fine, porcelain fine, glass fine, ceramic fine
I wouldn't worry, just buy what you want when it comes to these materials, as long as it's not some from black alley market for $1
any normal tea site you go on or amazon is fine to buy from

>>15284258
>Glazed is fine, porcelain fine, glass fine, ceramic fine
I see. Guess paranoid dumb women just schizoposting on those tea forums I used to read on. Thank you for reassuring. Will buy a couple things on amazon today to start my collection.

By the way...tea trays aka water catchers from aliexpress is fine and not gonna arrive broke, right? Especially the ''pricier'' ones.

>>15284306
I have no idea
I wouldn't believe they would arrive broken, they generally ship them quite well and are pretty durable

I don't use a tea tray though

>>15284244
If you want a tea filter you don't have to worry about get a brew basket made by the company finum. They are made in germany and cost around $10.

should i make some tea

>>15284928
don't bother, mix jack and coke instead

2019 naka

>>15285394
which producer?

>>15285481
No idea, it came in the liquid prost mixed sampler i got.

Strongly considering getting the 2009 XZH Diangu from LP

>>15285491
Oh, so just random 2019 sheng then. I'm sorry. Better luck next time. Any Lao Ban Zhang in the bag too? Don't worry, it's tuition tea. Have a good mix.
https://soundcloud.com/seantyler/bbc-radio-1s-essential-mix

>>15285518
Oh, sorry, I meant Bulang. Even LP doesn't mark random leaves as LBZ. Any Bulang there?

>>15285523
Nah no bulang, this is the only young sheng that was labeled. I'm not sure what the production situation is in naka. This certainly isn't from old trees, looks like young plantation bushes, very small leaves. Tastes decent, not very bitter but has some spicyness too it.

>>15285518
Also this sampler they guy put together cost me like $15 for 150g of different puer. I didn't shell out $1 per g for some random "naka' maocha.

I gearqueered up for Christmas, hows my rig?

>>15285558
leaves from Naka tend to be small, their local varietal. If a random person on internet knows that I'll bet that your pusher took that into consideration.
as long as it satisfies you, I guess.
the proof is in the tea, always.

>>15285590
where's the tea mr gearfag?
but seriously I totally respect your off white gaiwan. whether casual brew or scrutinizing step by step you seem to have your bases covered. have a nice one.

>>15285609
Here's the tea. The gaining and cups have water waves on the outside that match the tray but I dont want to clutter the thread just trust me.
Tea is 2013 Yi Duian Hong cake that came free with the set

>>15285641
>Yi Duian Hong
is it dian hong aka yunnan black tea or some shu puer? those random marketing names always mean nothing.
anyways that's a pretty good and esthetic setup. I'd suggest you some glass cha hai in which you could fully see your tea soup. shimmering trichomes, cloudiness and the smell of empty vessel. just a step away.

>>15285685
Its just a random sample that came free with it, I didnt pick it and its not great so I'm not going to look into it to order it. Its just a ripe puerh as far as I care

>>15285518
00:51:00

>>15285394
So anyway I've had a couple brews of this now. It doesn't strike me as anything insanely bitter, but i can't taste bitter all that well. The woman says it's extremely bitter, but she says everything is bitter. So i get a decent amount of bitterness but mostly a peppery spicyness both on the sip and on the finish. Very little if any sweetness. Instantly warming on the first cup, started sweating a little. I like it, it's different.

>>15285590
Nice

This tea is so fucked
I brew it in my QSN pot, 1g/15ml and it doesn't taste like much
even in porcelain, same

I go to 1g/10ml, and it's normal again

It's a young sheng, being brewed in QSN, fibb brewing, at 1g/10ml
weird tea

Moychay Hey guys,, i placed my order 3 days ago but i hear no response only receipt from moichai.

Is dis normal? Pls respwn *<|:^} sry for no english

P. S. To clarify I only recieved a receipt for my order and I have not been able to recieve a payment option, is this normal?

Ordered from MoyChay (sort of) but only recieved a receipt for my order and I have not been able to recieve a payment option, is this normal?

Has anyone had the fenris ulf from white2tea, waiting for it to ship to me and the anticipation is killing me

>>15259838
Is drinking matcha on regular/daily basis worth it? I don’t like coffee that much since I have to fuck around with grounds etc, but I need a decent energy boost which the standard tea doesn’t really give except when I brew really strong black tea. Do you have a reliable, affordable daily matcha and techniques to not waste too much time and effort on the brewing process?

>>15286313
>Do you have a reliable, affordable daily matcha
This advice applies to basically only matcha and not much else in the tea world.
95% of matcha is dogshit garbage. It's only Worth drinking if you are importing it from a handful of vendors in Japan and buying smaller amounts at a time so the tea you are drinking is always freshly ground. There are some good vendors in the pastebin in the op.
This is basically about the cheapest matcha you should even consider drinking
https://www.o-cha.com/matcha-powdered-green-tea/uji-organic-matcha.html
>Easy to prepare?
Matcha is fast and easy to prepare, you just mix it with some hot water in a bowl and whisk it for a few seconds.

>>15281281
Tried one of the pink ones, weighed in at 5.10g with wrapper, brewed in a 100ml gaiwan. Wrapper is totally in chinese so I had no idea what I was getting, turned out to be a ripe. Not bad actually, earth taste but not too strong, no fish taste, not bitter, very very light astringency.

>>15286355
I think it says in the listing what the different kinds are, maybe it's just a list of all the flavors and it doesn't actually say what label is what. Good that it's not fishy. Should be fun to try the different ripe flavors

>>15286352
Thx bruv, I know that matcha is generally a scam when going for the lower shelf but I gotta get my energy somehow. Very nice

What's the best place for a sampler of Chinese teas, or atleast a good importer of chinese teas which has samplers? Beginner who wants to try out a lot of the darker flavors from there. Also; are the subscription services like W2T worth it for education's purposes?

>>15286438
Yunnan Sourcing

>>15286442
Checked them out but didn't seem to have samplers, I may be wrong. Any good oolongs and puers I can check out from them to get an idea of the standard flavor of each, or just that you'd recommend?

>>15286461
Not who you replied to but I recommend https://www.fullchea-tea.com/ their prices are cheaper than YS, while you aren't getting a premium product you're getting fair quality for the price so it's a better starting point. You can find 250g bags for under $10 so just pick some you like and drink. For puer I recommend the standard:
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/-p0140.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/-p0139.html

>>15286461
They have samplers but only on the .com website that ships from china not the .us one. Still probably your best bet for samplers from chinese tea vendors
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/samplers

>>15286516
>>15286510
Thank you, I'll look into both of these and figure out what to get from there. Are either of these sources also good for getting infusers and possibly picks from, or is it recommended to buy those from groups which specialize in that more than buying from those who primarily sell tea?

>>15286438
I'd just buy loads of stuff from W2T or get loads of samples from tea encounter

I don't care much for YS productions

>>15286379
>I gotta get my energy somehow
Have you tried maté?

Are there any good Indian import websites to check out, equivalent to YS? I've been wanting to try some tea from there, been most wanting to try some proper Assam.

Kinda annoyed about the UK situation atm
loads of orders from this month and last month are still in transit, 23 days +
Wanted them to come around this time so I could start posting notes about the tea's in these threads
oh well, guess just have to be patient

sales alert

>white2tea only today free shipping on orders over $75 + 3 free samples with every order
>yunnansourcing 10% off on all YS brand puer until 31st

I'm planning on ordering a bunch of YS samples, mainly ripes, which will hopefully arrive by February so I can test them and order full cakes of the ones I want before the price increase in March.
Does anyone have any specific recommendations for cakes I should sample?

Local loose tea & raw coffee beans store has sourced a "Kenyan loose tea". Holy shit this stuff is so strong compared to Ceylon tea.
I like it though.

>>15288254
Yeah the kenyan teas are really strong, they are frequently used in modern english blends.

Anyone else likes very sweet or berry tasting tea? What's some good ways to sweeten tea without masking half of the leave's notes/richness? Noticed certain honey types hides less than sugar, maybe.

>>15288986
Oh to add, what are the sweetest teas you've tasted?

>>15288996
Honeybush and roibos are both quite sweet, in terms of tea tea the sweetest have been different raw puers. Unfortunately i can't think of any really sweet ones off the top of my head to recommend.

Why is most of my tea tasting too weak? I use a gaiwan and all.

>>15289268
>raw puers
Tried to order some actually, been curious to taste that. Thanks. Unfortunately, my order is stuck in limbo, not allowing me to pay for it for several days now.

>>15289292

Leaf/water ratio, water temp, and time are the only three factors we can control to affect the outcome of a brew, essentially. You just have to play around with them. For tea that's weak, the simplest solution is to up the leaf amount.

>>15289292
Try Kenyan tea then.

>>15289368
>Leaf/water ratio
I carefully measure the leaf at least 4g or more and use extremely little water (less than 100ml sometimes)

>water temp
Yeah, I think that's the culprit at least for my non-green teas. I use a coffee maker, but probably wait too long for the water to cool off.

>time
Whats time do you use or suggest? Should I make each infusion a few seconds longer? I've been starting off at 10 seconds for black, and slowly increasing by 5 secs.

>up the leaf amount.
Will try next time I make non-green, thanks. How many grams of leaf do you prefer?

>>15289490
Ew, no. Lol.

>>15289543
>Ew, no. Lol.
You said your tea is weak. Kenyan tea is so strong it's going to knock your eyelids off

>>15289554
Do kenyans actually drink it?

>https://youtu.be/q_lOYpu0Jzg

Rip bone bros.

>>15289543

>I carefully measure the leaf at least 4g or more and use extremely little water (less than 100ml sometimes)

My baseline is generally 6.5g of leaf per 100ml vessel size, so even less than 100ml of water. I bump that up to 8g of leaf for shou pu'er. You still might explore increasing your leaf to water ratio.

>Yeah, I think that's the culprit at least for my non-green teas. I use a coffee maker, but probably wait too long for the water to cool off.

Yea, using water right off the boil and preheating your vessels are all good practices. I really only lower water temp below boiling for green tea and for some very young raw pu'er, which might as well be green tea.

>>15289543

Oh, and if you're doing gongfu the times you listed are pretty standard. I tend to do it by feel mostly as I progress through a session to get what I want out of each infusion, and will very occasionally adjust temperature as well if I can't get the tea to do what I want with time manipulation alone.

>>15289609
>dont drink cheap teabag tea
big shock. most of us seem non blended/'pure' tea anyway. also big difference between getting ~1.5L out of 5g of tea vs a tea bag for every cup

>>15289621
>My baseline is generally 6.5g of leaf per 100ml vessel size
That's the amount aprox chinks also use. Guess I'll try it out, thanks.

>8g
>pu'er
Will keep in mind.

>preheating your vessels
Thought it was only majorly different if you used glass tools.

>only lower water temp below boiling for green tea
Is it a good idea for white tea, too?

Thanks again a LOT so far for sharing. Was getting increasingly agitated by the weak flavors lately.

>>15289708

I've always done white tea with boiling but there are folks who think you can get some other benefits out of it at lower temps.

If you've got a few hours and want to go extremely far into depth with all of this, TeaHouseGhost has a bunch of videos doing deep dives on how to brew individual types of tea as well as general gongfu lore.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgnB2QJGjqNrSlcxWiKuIA8b66xr3wfqN

>>15289708
i use 5g/100ml and i get fine tea, i also dont bother pre heating. i do use the water straight as it comes to temp and a britta water filter
>8g
>pu'er
thats shu/ripe pu'er, i'd imagine sheng/raw would be very unpleasant.
>white tea
if its buds try 80-85c(buds can get very bitter) 15-25 second 1st infusion then try +5 or +15 seconds.
for white leaf full boiling 15sec +5
i always find whites harder to brew compared to everything else

>>15289721
Thanks, man. I appreciate your time and patience to explain all this to noob me. Bless you. Will watch the YT video, nothing much to do anyway during corona flu season.

>>15289732
I used to do 7.5g of raw in a 120ml gaiwan. Only the older stuff tho.

>>15289702
I'm retarded. What's "pure blends"? Like whole leaf?

>>15289767
I don't get why they say pure and blends, it seems like it means whole leaf, single origin teas but it's not very clear

If anyone is in the market for a puer tea pick i would recommend one of these. They are the best shape for separating leaves with minimal breakage and priced at $2.80 shipped. I have two other tea picks that are thinner and more needle-like and i reach for this shape 99% of the time unless i am trying to break up a rock hard tuo. These days i usually just hit those with a hammer.
https://aliexpress.com/item/4001054207320.html

>>15289775
Well fuck then. Hope the tea I buy isn't slowly deteriorating my body.

>>15289855
The only documented cases of flouride poisoning in the USA are both from people who brewed 80-150 dollar store teabags every day for a decade or more. You can find the articles if you search around a bit. Even in china it only happens with the tibetans that boil tea stems and dust for hours to extract every last drop from the lowest quality material and consume huge amounts daily.

>>15289879
Specifically they got severe fluorosis of the bones I'm not sure if that technically counts as poisoning. But anyway i wouldn't worry about it unless you have extreme consumption habits.

>>15289851
i have one that shaped from YS, very good. wedge is great for opening up cakes and its quite pointy
>rock hard tuo
gardening secateurs works well, also for spatchcocking chicken

How do I make tasty sweet iced tea? What tea types should I NOT use? Honey or sugar to sweeten it?

>>15289919
Oh yes i use pruning shears as well forgot about those. Good for xiaguan iron cakes

>>15289929
Don't use earl grey, i would suggest any looseleaf black tea blend or some british teabags like tetley or pg tips, lipton should be fine as well. 1 teaspoon (2-3 teabags) per litre in a closed container in the fridge overnight (8-12 hours), strain in the morning. If you must you can add a bit of honey and a squeeze of lemon.

>>15289895
Yeah, in the dermatologist world, we say "the amount makes the poison, not the ingredient". Fluorosis of the bones is what I specifically worried about. Thanks for reassuring, anon. I'm just a schizo-ass scared of everything. Will cut down on the cheaper loose leaf tea and focus on the higher quality stuff when I run low on tea again.

Guess my new year's resolution will be to stop being so cheap on things I enjoy daily.

>>15289943
>blend
I am a beginner with tea things. What are blends? Sorry to ask.

>>15289943
>1 teaspoon
>per litre
Whoa. No infusions? I just western-style brew when I want iced tea?

>https://youtu.be/3dObh-JKk-w
/tea/ comedy.

>>15289952
>What are blends?
Most teas you get at the grocery store like English breakfast are a mix of several teas from different places, they are blended together to achieve a specific flavor. A typical english breakfast might contain assam, celadon and kenyan teas.
>>15289958
>Whoa. No infusions? I just western-style brew when I want iced tea?
I find that a simple cold brew makes the best iced tea, if you hot brew it will typically be more bitter.
I'm not sure what you mean by infusions in this context, i certainly wouldn't bother brewing a bunch of tea with a gaiwan, dumping it all in a jar and cooling it off in the fridge. I guess you could try it if you really wanted to.

>>15289982
>A typical english breakfast
You mean teabag tea/powder tier tea, basically? Or can loose leaf tea also be blends when shit like strawberry slices and other plants are added to hide the poor quality?

>find that a simple cold brew makes the best iced tea
Oh I see, thank you.

>>15289543
>I use a coffee maker, but probably wait too long for the water to cool off.

Most aluminum element autodrippers(99% of drippers) don't get close to boiling.

>>15290017
>Or can loose leaf tea also be blends
Yeah blends don't have to be made with bad tea.
Stores like upton tea sell some blends made with quality whole leaf teas and only tea leaves, nothing else. They even make an iced tea blend. But yeah lots of blends have flavors and fruit pieces and shit like that added too them, usually combined with crappy tea.

>>15290129
I see, thanks for explaining.

>>15290111
Thanks, probably logical.

Which containers are ok for storing black tea for a year? Are metal tins and those asian style tea containers alright? Read glass jars work best but they look a bit ugly to me when you have 10 of them...

my 6 year old niece got a miniature tea set for christmas and now she's begging me to buy her tea so that she can have a "real" tea party. is there a particular kind of tea that a 6 year old would like? i asked her what flavors she likes and she said apple.

>>15290795
amazon and t2tea have apple teas, Darjeeling is light and floral, iirc french teas usually have flowers/dried fruit in them.
also to reduce bitterness, do greens at 80c and blacks at 90c

>>15290795
Don't give her caffeine, get something like roibos or honeybush that is sweet and not very bitter

out of the thousands of people who visit this board everyday you teafags are the most autistic. it's fucking leaf soaked water and you retards manage to have a new general up every 10 hours.

>>15290942
i like tea

>>15290955
pwnd xd

>>15290955
i also like tea. what type of tea is your favourite?

>>15289855
I guarantee you it isn't

>>15290942
food is just flavored calories

>>15291081
My favorite is a black tea my friends Bengali mum gets from her sisters tea plantation in Bangladesh. I squeeze a quarter of a lemon in the pot and throw some ginger chunks in if I have indigestion.

>>15291081
I can't say I have a favorite overall; lately i'm drinking a lot of keemun and i'm enjoying some silver needles white I got from ys.

>>15289946
I always say life's too short to drink bad tea.

>>15290942
>and you retards manage to have a new general up every 10 hours.
most threads last around a week, seethe more

>>15290795
Fuck, I so badly wish I could make weekly tea parties how Edwardian women used to, but do it a little more chinese style.

I wish people still made friends with tea parties. I hate this gay faggot digital era.

>>15290942
As if talking about food is anything more special. Lately the food pics I've been seeing on here that anons make looks horrible and lazy, so I've switched to /tea/ until corona is over and /ck/ goes back to normal. /tea/ has been much less disappointing lately.

>>15291819
based pajeet goomer

Been drinking tea everyday lately and somehow I now get mild diarhea. Anyone else had a weird thing happen like that before? Wondering if i'm overhydrating myself or the tea itself is too much.

>>15293730
It's probably not related to tea unless you are drinking something with flavoring or q herbal blend. Some of the throat soothing herbal teas have herbs with laxative properties like slippery elm

Any OG Pajeet drinkers here?
Rate my masala chai
5-6 cardamom pods, 1 SMALL clove, half a stick cinnamon, 2 seeds of star anise, ginger powder, pinch of salt - all that pulverized in mortar. One litre saucepan, half litre water, spices in, two tablespoons of osfriesen tea (assam blend). After it boils for a few seconds I add loads of sugar and top up with 3,5% fat milk. Wait for the milk to boil over, take off the stove, strain with fine strainer and serve frothy, poured from some height.
Any tips to up my game?

>>15293877
Yeah, I'm trying to use up lower quality loose leaf tea blends I bought a few months ago before I got serious about better quality tea. Why would lower end teas do that?

>herbal teas
Never heard the term before, not in English at least. What's that? Shit like "rasberry plant's flower petals and stem" or "whole dried dandelion" stuff, right?

>>15294236
herbal tea is "tea" made from any kind of herb/leaf/plant that is not the official tea plant, aka Camellia sinensis

flower petals and stuff can still be in a tea but then it's a blend of black tea (usually) and those additives

>>15293730
Pretty normal if you're drinking either cheap stuff or young sheng constantly
even more so if you're drinking on empty stomach

Where a tea is from, when it was picked and its altitude should be the bare minimum information given to customers when they purchase any tea that is 10$+ per ounce.

I'm saddened by my work colleagues who are spending a fortune on some garbage artificially scented tea that belongs in a discount bin next to Lipton tea bags.

>>15294644
How do you tell it is scented artificially?

>>15294236
>Shit like "rasberry plant's flower petals and stem" or "whole dried dandelion" stuff, right?
Yes that's what i mean by herbal tea

>>15294711
I don't think i have seen any scented tea other than higher end earl grey that was entirely scented with natural flavors. Not like the natural vs artificial distinction really matters. Basically all flavored tea is crap.

>>15294775
How do you know when it's flavored. Basically all teabags?

Is kyusu teapot based or cringe?

>>15293473
You alright, anon?

Can somebody explain what the point of cast iron tea pots is? How do you season them?

>>15295883
Lightly oil them and stick 'em in the oven

>>15295883
Most cast iron tea pots are coated with enamel on the inside. Cast iron kettles are bare metal, you don't season them you need to empty it and heat until dry after every use.
>What is the point
The iron may add some flavor to your water depending on who you ask. Otherwise it's just aesthetics, or people like how substantial they are or people like the feeling of using one. I wouldn't bother unless you really enjoy the ritual of preparing a tea session and cleaning up afterwards and you think it will improve your enjoyment of it.

/tea/, I'm a newfag to tea, so sorry in advance for the stupid question. I want to make tea in a teapot, and I've got an electric kettle already. Could I heat up the water in the kettle and then just steep the tea in a separate teapot?

>>15295941
...that is how teapots work, yes

>>15295941
lmao gtfo

>>15295994
Thanks, I wasn't sure. I often hear people use teapot and kettle interchangeably, and didn't know if a teapot would cool down too quickly for the tea to actually steep.

>>15259838
My grammie got me an 'ea 'ot. Admire it! The pot was $80 and the mugs were $18 each. Can't wait to trip walking across the room with it and toss it into the wall. I've already ordered a preemptive kitsugiri kit.

>>15291819
Vadham Darjeeling is awful, immensely regret the purchase.

>>15296679
Who do you recommended then? Bigelow?

>>15296926
There's a huge amount of space between the two. And other brands of comparable price to Vadham are good. Idk about darjeeling, but I've owned good Rishi brand Jasmine tea.

>>15296673
Is that made in the orient or is it a domestic product. The very english shape with the oriental decorations is interesting.

>>15296974
A darjeeling recommendation for you. Find somewhere selling Margaret's Hope Estate second flush. Lots of sellers have it because it a huge plantation, should be affordable and still good quality. Might be out of season right now but you can probably still find it.

>>15297063
It's western. It's patterned after traditional "China", which was originally imported but eventually came to be made in Europe. The best and most expensive China was imported from China, and so haute teaware traditionally has copied Chinese visual styles. This particular set is "bone China", meaning it's translucent. Pic related.

>>15296679
i like thier Daily Darjeeling and its 1/3 the price of the goomtee. but i mostly drink chinese these days

>sencha session
>last infusion
>crack some black pepper into the cup
Does anyone else do this? Normally I don't add anything to my tea, but pepper really perks up a potentially weak last steep, and supposedly enhances catechin efficacy.

>>15295177

Kyusus are great.

>>15295941
I warm up my water and, since I don't yet have a gaiwan, use a large strainer (the leaves need room to open up) in a 100ml cup, pour 50ml to 100ml of hot water, let it steep for 15 seconds, then pour the water into the non-electric teapot. Then repeat but add 5 seconds constantly. I use 3.5g to 8g of tea leaves, depends on the strenght I want. I rinse the leaves first before I do all these infusions. I think they call this method "building infusions" or something.

By the time I am done with 5 to 8 infusions, the teapot is still warm but not burning hot anymore. The perfect temperature. I don't like western style brewing and prefer to put a little effort for a stronger, more pleasant taste that's bitter-free. Takes only 3 minutes or less to do.

Alright, niggas. Came back to say that this past 2 week, you've taught me a ton. I went from making bitter or tasteless tea into now making amazing tasting tea every day. Even my left over lower end loose leaf teas I bought a year ago taste much better, guests thought I give them pricy shit.

Thank you, anons, for helping me learn and master the art of tea. May you all have a wholesome week.

>>15298842
That's the most convoluted way to make some fucking tea. As long as it tastes good, I guess.
>non-electric teapot
What's an electric teapot?

>>15298958
>teapot
Sorry, ESL. I meant kettle.

>That's the most convoluted way to make some fucking tea
Why are you obese Americans so lazy? Infusions are the literal standard to basic tea, I do it everyday and only food feels like actual effort to cook, not brewing my tea. My method is even lazier than what half the anons on here do. If you're that lazy, try this:

>https://youtu.be/daSyezArFK8

Mei Leaf website has a downloadable sheet for brewing times and amount. Use it to see how many grams of tea leaves you need per 100ml.

Thoughts on tea pets? Post your tea pets or pets you plan on buying. I ordered like 5 from aliexpress yesterday.

>>15298958
Oh yeah, forgot. Don't use teabags. Inferior taste, overpriced, very unhealthy and riddled with toxic shit including fluoride. Stick to loose leaf.

The larger the tea leaves, the better quality. The more sliced up leaves, the lower quality. I am over generalizing, there's some exceptions. Lower end tea may cause diarrhea or sickness, like mentioned earlier in this thread. Had a friend even vomit from teabag shit.

>>15298990
Annoying
I really don't like teapets and tea trays

The more I drink tea and use teaware the simpler I want it

most recent brew
just a towel with a bowl on top
a small piece of wood which holds my pitcher and cup
though normally I just use a large cup so no pitcher required

and then kettle right beside me on the table

I had a teatray once and the additional cleanup was a pain

First sip of the day is Alishan Cream from Mei Leaf. Overall I don't recommend it because it's pretty bland honestly. A creamy, floral, slightly sweet oolong with minor astringency but nothing really stands out.

>>15299034
>I had a teatray once and the additional cleanup was a pain
yeah i only use my tea tray as a convenient place to hold my gaiwan, cup and waste jug. keeps it all together and sits along my tower when im not drinking, i dont even rinse tea anymore so the waste jug stays empty/holding my strainer

>>15298866
My man

There’s part of me that wants to get pic-related. But then the logic part of me kicks in, says I already have a teapot, and if I want “tea for one” I have an ample tea mug and a strainer.
Help talk me out of buying more tea-related non-tea shit.

>>15299077
> i dont even rinse tea anymore so the waste jug stays empty/holding my strainer
Yeah i know that feeling.

Might get a gaiwan. Say I buy both high quality but also some lower end loose leaf, where the latter has some tiny pieces of leaf. Will the gaiwan hold it all in? I hate it when tiny pieces of leaf falls onto my teapot.

>>15299464
you'll always get some small bits, get a fine mesh strainer, very cheap and sold probably everywhere that sells gaiwans

>>15299357
Everybody deserves a nice teapot, but nobody really needs many.

>>15299464
>>15299488
Filters are nonoptional, imo. Especially for the first two dozen times or so you use a gaiwan.

>>15299561
It would only be the second if I bought that or something similar. I have a borosilicate teapot I use regularly. I’m relatively new to tea, and I like to see the color of the liquid in the pot before I pour it. But pic related appeals to me since It’s for one person, and since I have friends in Delft and the pattern reminds me of my visit to them.

>>15299649
Sounds like a good reason to get it to me.

>>15277462
chick is russian iirc. really demonstrates your incredible perceptive talents.

I'm sorry for being retarded /tea/, I'm fairly new and i'm trying to make my first black tea, checked around and the number of infusions seems to vastly vary from each place I get info, how many infusions should I go for?

>>15299823
just keep infusing until it doesnt taste enough anymore, thats what i do atleast

>>15299823
depends on brewing method/time but until it tastes like warm water instead of tea
western brewing ~3, gongfu ~8-13. also try brewing at 90c if its bitter

>>15299840
Even when it's just colored water I find tea enjoyable.
>>15299823
Stop looking for rules. Leaves + water = tea. The rest is overhead. Researching different stuff is always good, but make sure you always have your cuppa first.

i think most people drink tea expecting it to taste more than warm water with food colouring.

Coof

>>15299914
>how many infusions should I go for?

>until it tastes like warm water instead of tea

>i think most people drink tea expecting it to taste more than warm water with food colouring.

They really need to make these captchas harder.