/ck/ - Food & Cooking

TWL order is finally here
Double Lion smells really good, like scotch and dry aged leather with a lot of spice

in that box is the BSLN

Yesterday I had some high quality gyokuro and even though I've had it before, this time I followed these instructions and it was amazing:

Tea: 5g.
>Time: 2-3 min. Water: 50C/122F, 60-80 ml (Water should just cover the leaves).
>Resteep 2nd time at 15 sec., 80C/176F, 200 ml.
>Resteep 3rd time at 45 sec., 80C/176F, 200 ml.

That first shot was mind-blowing, never had something like that from a tea before. Super thick and viscous liquid, very strong umami and light sweetness flavour. The 2nd and 3rd steep were fine and more 'normal', but I highly recommend trying that first steep method at least once.

>>15340835
what did you brew it in?
a kyusu?

>>15341188
No I don't have one (nor a gaiwan that's big enough), so just a regular teapot + mesh strainer

Can someone redpill me on Russian Caravan/Lapsang Schoung?

I was always under the impression that they were the same thing. I'd only ever had the Twinnings tea bagged Lapsang. After disliking it and reading online that they tend to have that very heavy BBQ kinda flavor. I just wrote it off.

But Upton gave me a sample of their Russian Caravan, and I actually kinda liked. Like a solid afternoon style with a bit more character than the Darjeelins I'm used to. Smoky but not like the oppressively kinda shit of that Twinning's

Is it bad that I like a spritz of lemon in my earl grey?

>>15323762
From last thread, I ordered a couple of those cakes you mentioned. I'm willing to fucking try any relaxing hippie bullshit. I just hope it fucking will work.

>>15340691
Hey OP, fuck you for copying my pic.

>>15341462
just took a nice one from the last thread mate,
did you find some nice recs for your milk tea?

>>15341509
Nah. I just scored a great Ethiopian gesha and Ill be preoccupied with it for the next few weeks.

>>15340785
Nice, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the love forever. Also that zongcha is the hk henry cake right? I just missed those, too bad.

>>15341256
Russian caravan is a fairly popular blend made by lots of different companies, it usually contains enough Lapsang to give it some smoke without being overwhelmingly smokey like some pure lapsang teas can be. This of course varies and there are lots if different russian caravan blends out there made by many different sellers.

>>15340785
I would also be interested in a comparison between the 7542 and the 8582 if you fell like doing one. The way that TWL describe the 8582 almost makes it sound like a xiaguan 8653.

>>15341597
Yeah it's HKH
I'll be trying them all in the next couple days, even without the rest

I just finished having the double lion actually

>>15341631
sure, will do

>>15341597
>zongcha
>hk henry
can you explain those terms to me?

>>15341762
Zongcha is a generic term for any puer that comes packaged like pic related. These are that wrappers that were used when all the puer factories were state owned and were continued to be used after the factories were privatized by hundreds of large and small producers. It's basically the same as a generic white wrapper as far as most people are concerned. Collectors put lots of effort into identifying certain fonts used or printing errors or slightly different typesetting to identify certain specific batches of tea with this style of packaging.
HK Hernry is apparently the name of some tea seller who commissioned some batches of tea to be made for him. I was asking about this cake that anon bought
https://teaswelike.com/product/2003-hong-kong-henry-7542/

>>15341796
Someone please correct me if im wrong but i think zong refers to this symbol at the , and cha means tea, so the word basically means tea with this symbol.

>>15341796
>>15341859
Zhongcha is CNNP tea
COFCO used to be the parent agency, Zhongcha is their tea branch

there's no Zhongcha production's past 2003

though modern Zhongcha is named, Zhongcha, it isn't "real" Zhongcha, but either a counterfeit, or using the classic Zhongcha recipes

>>15341899
Thanks, for clarifying

how do i make a nettle infusion without ingesting the stingers?

I like cream in tea

>>15341899
experts strike again

https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=zhongchapai

>>15342320
How does that discredit what I said?

>>15340691
Newfag to tea here, is cream or milk better for black teas?

>>15342350
zhong cha literally means china tea.
cofco is the parent company now.
there are zhong cha productions made to this day, it's not counterfeit, usually made by Kunmning TF.
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/2020-zhong-cha-ripe-puer-7581-shu-puer-tea-brick-yunnan-box-tea-250g-p0679.html

>>15342383
You linked the phrase zongchapai, which is the sympol
not Zongcha

https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=zhongcha

The privatzed companies after CNNP continued to produce their zhongcha's under the name and logo
but it's not "real" zhongcha, which was largely produced by the COFCO brand under CNNP

What do we think about Forsman?

anon asked about the logo.
>but it's not "real" zhongcha, which was largely produced by the COFCO brand under CNNP
jesus, you're not "real".
zhongcha was property of chinese government, now it's property of cofco corporation, that's it.
real zhongcha.
zhongcha logo was used on every government controlled tea factory, now the trademark belongs to kunming.

>>15342410
>can you explain those terms to me?
Where in that does he specify logo?

>>15342423
done with you

>>15341796
to clarify, HK Henry is a trading company/teashop
http://www.henrytrading.com.hk/main.php?lang=eng

>>15342439
Funny how when you clearly just rehash what I said, and make up random stuff to suit your argument, then get called out on it, you're done with the argument

>>15342355
milk definitely

>>15342448
you were just wrong with your "real" zhongcha babble and saying that it WAS owned by cofco but isn't now.
there's no argument here, I straightened up your half-truths. but clearly, you won the argument.

>>15342157
heard hot water 'melts' the barbs, just dont gongfu it for 20 seconds

>>15342455
I never said that though

I said COFCO was the main producer for Zhongcha under CNNP, and although that they kept the logo and recipe, it's not Zhongcha, which is defined differently based on your own source that you linked to what you're currently saying

>>15342355
different tea noob here
can I put the milk in the mug while the tea steeps or must I wait?

>>15342496
remove the liquid from the leaves, add milk to the liquid

At the risk of being bullied, I’m a total noob at this, so what are some trustworthy companies to buy puerh? Also, any suggestions on milder flavored ones to try out?

>>15342496
ISO standard for making tea says to put milk in cup first, then tea. Then you add lemon.

>>15342560
That's how my grandma used to make it! I'm just confused as to when put the asafoetida in.

>>15342483
Not him but the cnnp offered the zongcha trademark for use to anyone who wanted to pay for it after privatization, i doubt many actually paid the fees to use it legally vs just using it anyway but I'm not sure how that's not 'real' zongcha if they made the trademark available for licensing.

>>15342528
Check the pastebin in the op.
Ill drop some suggestions for people who live in the us in a second.

>>15342528
>>15342648
I generally recommend yunnan sourcing, their prices aren't they cheapest but they don't sell a lot of bad tea. Here I'm going to recommend some stuff from puershop but i don't recommend buying from them on your own till you get a feel for what you are doing they sell lots of duds.
This is a really nice ripe, bittersweet dark chocolate with no off notes or weird tastes
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=9_24&product_id=382
This is a pretty nice raw puer, fairly mild and floral. Very pleasing and easy to drink
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=9_21&product_id=537
And get a sample of this tea as well. I have some serious doubts that this tea is what it claims to be, the price ia missing a zero, but whatever it is it's fucking good tea.
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=5&product_id=644
That should be a decent start to enjoying puer for ya.

>>15342560
milk or lemon, never both

>>15341762
thanks to everyone who helped answer my question.

>>15340691
meat tea > leaf tea change my mind

Behead those who put milk in tea

>>15342685
>their prices aren't they cheapest
while there are ways to get tea cheaper such as ordering in bulk from taobao yunnan sourcing has some of the lowest overall markup among the reliable western facing vendors and has a great selection of good tea on the lower end of the price spectrum. therefore I am not sure "their prices aren't they cheapest" is the most best description considering they have perhaps the lowest prices out of any reasonably popular vendors (at least on the lower end stuff perhaps its possible their more premium stuff is overpriced but I have not tried any of it yet as i don't have the cash for expensive tea).

>>15342685
any other gems on puerhshop.com?
also do they have any other good teas in their sample section?

I am new and looking to try more decent puer on the cheap.

>>15342696
Of course you do! But you have to use superior American milk. British milk is inferior. It can’t survive lemon being put into the tea, nor can it survive the microwave as part of the American tea brewing method.

>>15342780
I van recommend a few things that i haven't tried that are probably good.
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=9_22&product_id=58
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=9_22&product_id=13
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=50_7&product_id=549
And some samples
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=42_44&product_id=647
There might be some other good stuff but i feel fairly comfortable recommending those

>>15342599
>asafoetida

New word for me to learn; thanks Anon.

>>15342736
I put half&half in my gongfu'ed Yunnan pure bud golden snails black tea and you can't stop me

>>15342892
Why though. Milk tea tastes so terrible

>>15342994
pleb

>>15342892
>Yunnan pure bud golden snails black tea
based.

>>15342998
It just tastes like watered down warm skin milk with slight tea flavor. I don't grasp it and I never even saw it until a British immigrant offered me tea. Its not like coffee where it cuts down the acidic flavors

>>15342994
Its mandatory for something like chai imo, but yeah I think its pretty gross in plain black tea

>>15342839
thanks

Just found a black tea blended with Yerba Mate and my heart is POUNDING

>>15343021
>chai
chai = tea, masala chai = spiced tea. milk is fine
>plain black tea
good quality tea doesn't need milk, milk is there to round off the bitter harsh flavors from cheap dust tea

>>15343021
Drinking a malty assam without milk is weird as shit brah

>>15342839
>>15343037
Actually i have one more question do you think any of the Xiaguan ripe Tuocha are likely to be any good?

>>15343113
>do you think any of the Xiaguan ripe Tuocha are likely to be any good?
I wouldn't recommend xiaguan ripes to people starting out generally, they can be kind of funky/fishy
This one MIGHT be okay
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=9_24&product_id=102
But if you want some ripe toucha you are much better off with one of these dayi productions or the one i linked earlier.
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=9_23&product_id=1026
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=9_24&product_id=347

>>15343271
>I wouldn't recommend xiaguan ripes to people starting out generally, they can be kind of funky/fishy
Specifically I kinda wanted to try a Xiaguan ripe to get their "house taste". I am open to the tea being a bit "funky" so long as it is not merely bad low quality tea. Right now I am trying to build my puer tasting palate so I like to get some variety. When I say I am new I don't mean I have not had any yet only that I have not tasted very many productions and don't have the budget to go out and just buy everything.

To extend the question do you think xiaguan ripes worth drinking if one is okay with them being "different"?

Thanks again

>>15343448
Oh well if you put it that way then they are worth trying. I don't mind them myself i just think they might scare someone away from ripe if it's the first puer they try.
I have been sipping on this xiagaun ripe from puershop recently and think it's pretty decent. Any of the green box ripe toucha are probably the most representative of classic xiaguan ripes.
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=2&product_id=107&page=2
And another sample for ya, real wild stuff.
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=2&product_id=686
IIRC this is the large leaves from their yearly wild tea productions. And they saved them in their warehouse for a decade or so before they made these cakes with them.

Im getting in to making loose leaf tea.

What type of setup should I get?

Any recommendations for an oolong similar to pic?

>>15343742
100ml gaiwan, fine mesh strainer, temp control kettle, micro scales. with that you can brew anything, anyway

>>15343680
thanks, that 7663 mini cake looks nice I will probably get either one of those or a Xiaofa. they are both in my price range.
>IIRC this is the large leaves from their yearly wild tea productions. And they saved them in their warehouse for a decade or so before they made these cakes with them.
I was wondering about that my self. my first impression upon seeing it on the site was that it looked fake as no reputable big factory would put out a cake so ugly with giant stems in it. glad to here that there is a reasonable story to it. I may try it as it looks unique.

back to an earlier post you said:
>And get a sample of this tea as well. I have some serious doubts that this tea is what it claims to be, the price ia missing a zero, but whatever it is it's fucking good tea.
https://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=5&product_id=644

you think puerhshop.com sells some fakes? the prices on some of the older stuff seemed too low to my novice option. I figure buying low ticket stuff like cheap Xiaguan's is probably safe as its not as profitable to fake them right?

>>15343742
I recommend some kind of chambered all-in-one vessel for brewing and pouring. The one I use is from mei leaf but i'm sure theres equivalents out there. Not knocking the traditional setup, just think its a little better to start with something minimal so you don't gearfag too hard in the beginning

>>15344052
i had one of those, dumped it because its plastic, i keep the bottom part as a waste jug. they're good i just didn't like the idea of drinking from hot plastic and it became heavily stained from the tea. a gaiwan is half the price and you can even get easy pour ones

>>15343886
>you think puerhshop.com sells some fakes? the prices on some of the older stuff seemed too low to my novice option.
I must preface this by saying I'm not an expert by any means. There have been previous allegations that puershop is selling fake or mislabeled teas. I looked into them personally and i don't really think the people making the allegations were experienced enough to be credibly making them. That being said their prices are low on some of their older, more collectable teas, so you would think if they were a bargain some collector would snap them up.
The issue seems to be that the owner of the shop likes extremely dry stored Kunming teas, and his shop/storage is in michigan near the Canadian border, as a result his teas don't really age like they would in wetter storage, his teas look green and taste young, and so people think they are fakes.
I have personally had kunming dry storage tea from 2002, from a different trusted vendor, that i would have guessed was maybe 5 years old if I was tasting it blind. It was this cake, Yunnan sourcing also has some from the same storage.
https://kingteamall.com/collections/others-puerh-tea/products/2002-tailian-international-puerh-tea-seminar-commemorative-cake-400g-puerh-sheng-cha-raw-tea
So anyways it could be fake, I don't know enough to say, collectors might be staying away because of the rumors of fakes. Or they just might not like dry storage, it's not my favorite.

>>15343886
>it looked fake as no reputable big factory would put out a cake so ugly with giant stems in it.
Yeah even their yearly wild tree productions look very rough, and this is the stuff that got sorted out for being too ugly for those.
Pic related is one of their standard yearly "Sheng Tai Lao Shu" (Organic Old Tree) productions, i haven't tried them myself, i will get around to it eventually.
https://kingteamall.com/collections/2012-xiaguan/products/2012-xiaguan-sheng-tai-lao-shu-organic-old-tree-250g-puerh-sheng-cha-raw-tea

>>15343742
read the paste bin in the OP. what you need depends on what you want to make and how much you want to spend.

>>15344052
only really useful you want to make tea at the office

>>15344108
this, you can get a gaiwan and a cup for the price of that thing.

>>15343773
>100ml gaiwan, fine mesh strainer, temp control kettle, micro scales. with that you can brew anything, anyway
this is a good set up if you have the cash ($120 or so) it will do all things Chinese tea (and more) well (a small 100-120ml teapot can be substituted for the gaiwan as well but are a bit pricier). you can add a medium sized (300-500ml) teapot and a matching sized cup ($40ish) in order to brew Japanese, Indian, and english style tea. you could also add a matcha set if it interests you ($60ish). you may need additional tea ware to serve company or if you want to replicate traditional ceremonys but the above will let you brew anything well.

this is not like the coffee world where you will get people suggesting you need a $300+ grinder. you could get all the tools to properly make any tea in the world for less than $300.

**if you are on a tight budget get a cheap porcelain gaiwan or a small teapot, a matching sized cup, a basket style strainer, a big mug or mason jar, and have a source of hot water. its all you really need to get going ($30ish).**

Use the gaiwan gongfu style and, use the strainer together with a big cup to make tea that does not gongfu well. I recommend steeping the tea loose and pouring though the strainer rather then steeping in it directly.

>>15340691
So if they pulled one of those old tea bricks that were thrown into the Boston harbor during that old tea party way back when - from the bottom of the harbor after all this time would it still taste like tea?

>>15344365
I thought it was tea chests that got dumped into the harbor, not bricks. Anyway it would just be soggy mess that tasted like the sea, even if it was somehow sealed air tight it would probably be disgusting.

>>15344186
thanks for the insight. to me dry storage is better than not being able to afford the tea at all. glad to hear that there may still be some decent old production tea available in the west at somewhat sane prices.
>>15344261
thanks, the buds in that picture look a bit like Ye Sheng.

>>15344378
>if it was somehow sealed air tight it would probably be disgusting.
that's why you say its worth $10,000 a cup so that the buyer never drinks it or if they do they would deny it tastes bad so as to avoid seeming foolish. just look at other ultra aged food. its about showing off how much money you have and bragging rights more than taste.

>>15344402
Last thing i should mention is that 2004 dayi raw i recommended you get a sample of is specifically listed as having some more humid storage at some point, so don't take it as a representative sample of the dry storage people were complaining about.
>Ye Sheng
Yeah it's definitely one of the purple varietals, that's part of why i haven't tried it, I'm not sure if i love how some of the purple teas taste.

>>15344432
>2004 dayi raw
$7.46/25 grams is on the higher end of my price range so I may hold off for the moment (and get something with a cheaper $/g) unless you really think it is worth it (plus if i liked the sample it would be hard for me to justify a whole cake anyways.).
>purple Ye Sheng
the one example i have had had a strong savory note to it and a decently strong bitterness to it that was a bit different than the normal young sheng bitterness (more bitter on the tongue but perhaps a less bitter feel in the throat).

thanks for all your help.

>>15340691
ice brewing green tea is excellent for creating a tasty, refreshing drink. I did it this summer and it was fantastic

>>15342165
reasonable

>>15344559
I think it's worth the sample just to try, i don't really like 7g samples but i think 25g ones give you a reasonable chance to try the tea. But i get not wanting to sample things you probably wont buy

>>15344698
ok then i will keep it on as a strong consideration. what do you like about that particular production?

What's the proper way to make chai? I've seen it as an instant powder (with creamer and sugar), as a flavored tea, and as a masala to be added to seperatly brewed black tea.

>>15344892
It has a nice fruityness. It has good durability, the storage and age has taken the edge off, decent lasting sweetness, decent durability. No off flavors or weirdness from poor storage, It's just overall a nice tea.

>>15344921
I think the traditional way is the masala and tea is cooked in milk together and then strained before serving. I personally think the flavor would probably be nicer if you cooked the spices for a bit first and added the tea after you kill the heat and then steeped for whatever your standard black tea steep time is.

Whats the best way to bring water to temp for more delicate teas like greens and whites if all you have is an old fashioned kettle? I have a thermometer but it spends most of its time being shoved up turkey asses so I don't want to use it for my tea-water. Is there an eyeball trick I can do to tell its ready, or like a certain ratio of room temp water I can add to the boiled water to get it perfect?

>>15345046
Honestly spend the $60-80 for a temperature kettle, its tremendously faster.
The eye trick i think is bubbles the size of crab eyes in the pot, if you want to try that.

>>15345046
Bring the kettle to a boil, kill the heat, measure the temp of the water every minute, take notes. Next time you need water at x temp you know you can brink the kettle to a boil and then set a timer for y minutes.

Anyone have a stove top kettle recommendation? Preferably something that doesn't whistle bloody murder. Thought pic related would have been nice as it was offering complimentary buttplugs but they were too small for my rave-cave.

>>15345575
No they all suck ass
Don't get cast iron or even worse enameled cast iron, avoid cheap enameled steel as well.
There are some really aesthetic looking japanese ones but they boil over if you fill them more than half way, called the Sori Yanagi Tea Kettle (pic related), you should be able to get one for about $75 if you shop around, don't pay more than that. Otherwise look for something stainless that's decently thick. If you can pay way below retail the kitchen aid one looks decent, All clad also makes a nice looking and way too expensive model.

tea is only for weebs and yellow teeth brits. gay ass drink suwoooo

>>15344937
thanks

This?

>>15345681
Haven't heard of that brand, the OXO and Bonavita brand variable temp kettles are frequently suggested.

>>15345681
i know there a few here that use:
https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Adjustable-Temperature-Electric-Pour-Over/dp/B074KHPS7F

yours looks ok but is a no name brand (not that means its necessarily a bad product). I do like how they fixed a few of the common complaints about other kettles.

>>15344921
>>15294077

>>15345681
This looks gay as fuck. Imagine inviting someone over and the look on their face as they notice this quaint gadget on the counter. Besides it's 0.8 L, a kettle for ants.
Man up https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Cordless-Electric-Shut-Off-Protection/dp/B084KQTCQW/

>>15346039

It's for making tea, not an aquarium. That trash you posted isn't even temp controlled.

>>15346121
It's for boiling the water and it sits on a counter. When it looks like the one you posted it attracts attention.
> temp controlled.
What for?

>>15346141

>When it looks like the one you posted it attracts attention.
So we're confirming you're an introvert troll with low self-esteem.

>What for?
Do you understand what thread you're in?

>>15346156
>So we're confirming you're an introvert troll with low self-esteem.
Yes.

>Do you understand what thread you're in?
Why do you need temp control? To make tea?

>>15346183

Read the pastebin.

>>15346224
I wrote some things that are in the pastebin.

Have it your way, consoomers gonna consoom, I guess.
I wanted you to clarify why the temp control is so essential for you that you're willing to pay 4 times the price of normal kettle for that 'convenience'.
Go ahead and buy your gadgets, nobody's stopping you.

I think if you're willing to spend $100+ on a variable temp kettle, you might as well get a tetsubin

>>15346413
>you might as well get a tetsubin
Sell me on a tetsubin. why should i get one?

>>15341256
I tend to blend my own stuff and add a small amount of Lapsang to other blends to give it that hint of smokiness and taste.

>>15346418
Everyone I know that got a Tetsu, say it's the most important piece of teaware they have, better and more important than any clay pot they have

It will make your water taste great and be incredibly smooth, and every tea will taste a lot better from the iron content

It will also get a lot hotter than any electric kettle, and won't lose it so signficantly and fast, gooseneck kettle's are great, but they lose quite a lot of heat in the spout

Having the 2008 8582 from TWL
90ml Gaiwan, 6g, 120TDS water, 100C
Cake smells good, floral, minty

(NO REST!!! It is signifcantly different and worse with no rest, I've just been asked to post notes early, don't use this as a fact-based buyer's guide)

Rinse Smell - floral incense, sweet, honey, rich, lots of high notes
waiting 10m to open up in the gaiwan

1st Steep - Gaiwan lid smells punguent now, darker and spicer, that's that taiwan storage for you. Honey sweetness, watery base, small hint of i guess berries, no bitterness

2nd Steep - Fruity / Floral Incense smell coming back, still very sweet, brewing fairly dark, good fermentation. ever so slight bitterness coming through, floral incense tasting, lingers around your mouth mostly on the upper pallete with sweetness, buttery and rounded mouthfeel, not sharp like smaller leaf dayi productions, smooth and rounded

3rd Steep - Camphor and sweet smelling, some of the herbal coming through. bitterness is more upfront now, but it's pleasant and not overpowering, rich and sweet, mouth coating, darker herbal taste

4th Steep - Sweet Herbal, floral high notes almost spicy. Bitterness on the front, coating all around the mouth and back of throat with a coolness, opening the throat up and waking me up with it's energy, lots of sweetness with a mild bitterness, floral, the lingering taste turns into camphor and wet tree nuttiness

5th Steep - Rubbery and Camphor sweet high notes with a touch of floral. Bitterness is there on the start and with the lingering mouth, sweet, nutty and woody, floral high notes, buttery and coating mouthfeel, with the bitterness lingering in the back of the throat

6th Steep - Heavy on the Floral Incense with an upfront sweetness, herbal smell lingering in the back. such a heavy coating of the mouth, buttery, rounded and filling, smooth and clean, nuttiness is more pronounced, almost like hazlenut, remaning bitter but also sweet

taiwan storage did this tea very well

>>15346766
Sounds good
Where would you say taiwan storage falls on the continuum from dry Kunming to traditional Hong Kong?

>>15346497
>>15345644
How would one use a tetsubin, then? Boil water in electric kettle, heat up entire tetsubin with it, discard, heat more water, use tetsubin as brewing pot? Or only as a water containing vessel? I personally don't think temperature is that important but boiling, waiting until it goes down enough in case you're brewing say, a green, and then transferring to the tetsu seems unnecessarily cumbersome when I can simply refill and boil in the kettle each session.

>>15347302
closer to trad hong kong, but you don't get the wet storage taste

>>15347341
What are you on about
Tetsu is just a kettle
boil water, pour it

>>15347432
That's what I'm asking, if it's a kettle or a pot, as I've seen them with strainers. Boiling water over fire for 20+ minutes vs pressing a button on a kettle and waiting for 3 is my real issue. definitely wouldn't do it everyday but the taste of the water being different sounds worth it.

>>15347531
I'm only referring to the non-brew basket / un glazed Tetsubin

you don't get iron in glazed tetsubin's, only the outside
You don't need a fire, you can use a hot plate, or induction plate
and it doesn't take 20 minutes, it takes maybe 7-10 minutes for a near 2l tetsubin at 800W, most people use higher W and way smaller tetsubin's

It's very worthit, I can't name a single person I know that has got a tetsubin, that hasn't greatly prefered the difference and then just completely denounced electric kettles, even if they are a touch more convinent

>>15347566
Any particular difference between a tetsubin vs a western made cast iron kettle? Assuming they're all unglazed.

>>15347683
Possibly heat retention / peak temps

>>15341631
How does someone reach these levels of tea autism?

This little number from black friday sales finally showed up

Will test in a few days when I've had the time and it has a bit of a rest

>>15347683
One is from Japan and therefore inherently superior to anything the west can ever dream of producing, and it almost goes without saying that anything made with Japanese utensils make the end result much more enjoyable and straight up better than anything made using lesser tools.

For tea this is especially important when it comes to heating the water, since its impossible to make good tea without first making good water.

The only exception to Japanese tools being superior, in regards to tea, is the use of Chinese clay pots, which of course you should get a couple of as soon as possible, so you can properly pair your tea pots to each kind of tea you are planning on drinking.

>>15347868
Nice, looks like that will be fun to drink through.

>>15347897
>this level of consumer
Dude just get a $10 gaiwan and your choice of electric kettle.

>>15347897
>so you can properly pair your tea pots to each kind of tea you are planning on drinking.
This is a massive misconception
people do this because yes, if your build of tea scum and dirt build up with a mixed bag of tea's it can make the taste confused

but you don't want that scum or dirt, it's counter intuitive to the reason you use pots in the first place, to utilize the properties of the pot and the clay

Seasoning a pot is different from what the common perception is

You can use every tea in any pot, people who have loads of pots and have tried loads of different tea end up "dedicating" a certain type of tea or tea's to that pot simply because they like what that pot and clay does to that type of tea, but if they were to use every kind of tea in that pot, it wouldn't matter

Just don't be a dirty fucker, clean out your teaware, don't keep leaves in there for hours and days, use boiling water and let it air dry from the heat
Don't let tea scum and dirt to build up, if it builds up on the inside, clean it out

>>15347897
Lemme guess, white guy who thinks everything from the east is magical and superior? Its a fucking iron pot dude, get real.

>>15342685
Thanks anon, I forgot about this thread but I appreciate it

>>15340691
I'm drinking kroger brand english breakfast right now
its good

Anyone have a decent quality sencha supplier?

Realizing that I like earl grey the most but I haven't tried many teas.

>>15348645
I like ocha & co sencha (they have a store on amazon). I'm sure theres better ones out there but at only like $0.17/gram it makes a bretty good daily drinker

>>15348340>>15348517
Read >>15346497 and >>15347566 before you embarrass yourselves...
Electric kettles are clearly inferior.
>>15348456
>>so you can properly pair your tea pots to each kind of tea you are planning on drinking.
>This is a massive misconception
>people who have loads of pots and have tried loads of different tea end up "dedicating" a certain type of tea or tea's to that pot simply because they like what that pot and clay does to that type of tea
so you mean you should buy clay pots and pair them with teas if you enjoy what the end result tastes like?
novel concept wonder where i read that before.
oh right...

>>15340691
anyone ever had this type of Vietnamese tea?
tried it once in a Vietnamese restaurant but could
never find this type of package in any Viet store.
I'd go back to the restaurant but they only do
take-out now and probably won't serve tea to go

>>15348819
im saying the opposite :)
you shouldn't think to pair anything

>>15349217
was it a jasmine tea?

if you are looking for high quality Vietnamese tea check out:
https://hatvala.com/

gonna start blending in booze

Got 4 69%s in the 18qt cambro. Went through my linen bags and removed the plastic i was keeping shit in, made sure everything is breathable. I'm fine keeping the linen bags in there? Also put in my loose puerhs and liubaos with the bags open. See any issues?

Also I got too stoned again and ordered the chasen off of kurasu.kyoto. Hopefully that gets the japanophiles dick hard. I don't even drink that much matcha. Mostly because I don't have a whisk I guess.

>>15349595
Don't. Ruins both.

>>15349676
Looks good to me, pal. You may want to use mylar to split up teas based on essence. Cross contamination isn't the worst thing at your size and budget.
You also strike me as somebody who really likes tea. I appreciate that about you, anon.

>>15348819
No dude, go take your gearfaggotry back to guitar and bass general or coffee time general. If you spend more than $100 on your daily drinking equipment you're a massive tryhard.

>>15349927
Trying harder makes better tea.
Don't let me stop you from copeing however you like.
May i suggest a 2004 8653?

My Teas We Like order is on its way, i guess they shipped it a day or two after i ordered but didn't send me a notification for nearly a week. No big deal, I'm excited to finally try a 7542.
>>15350024
>May i suggest a 2004 8653?
Not him
Is there any consensus on the 2004 vs 2005 8653? I know the 2003 and earlier ones demand a steep premium but i was surprised at how close the prices for 04 and 05 are.

>>15349714
Yeah I'll eventually mylar up my shit. I just wanted to tackle storage before I ruin my little stash. Figured theres no sense in ordering any more teas if I don't have room/will just slowly dry them out. I had a big order of random shit I don't need from w2t and ktm in my cart last night too, but I came to my senses. So I

>>15349927
I just dropped an extra $150ish on dumb coffee gear. New dripper, carafe, tins, and scoop. Big midyear tea/ware order is next.

>>15340691
Yorkshire Gold am i right lads???

If we are sharing storage this is my ghetto pumidor i set up recently. I know it's a mess ill clean it up when i get more tea in. It looks stuffed but the bottom layer is mostly sleeves of xiaguan tuos i snapped up when i was afraid shipping would be disrupted long term.
I kept everything in plastic or sealed bags because I'm opening it several times a day. I probably need to grab another boveda or two because the humidity is still sitting in the mid 50s.

>>15350463
looks good to me. what puers do you like most? I am still building up my stash and don't have enough to fill a cooler yet.

>>15343019
>skin milk
What? Presumably you meant skim milk. This is still wrong, because the skimming has been achieved, therefore it is 'skimmed milk'.

If it wasn't the colour of red clay it wasn't made right, try it again like that.

>>15343742
Big teapot. No need for that chinky shite.

>>15351036
My favorite stuff so far is some of the higher end xiaguan blends. The 2009 silver xiaguan from KTM and the little 100g fangcha that in on yunnan sourcing have been some of my favorites along with a 2011 880g 88 bing tribute brick from MengKu RongShi, i really wish I bought a few more of those when they were still going for $75.if you haven't had a chance to try a cake from Mengku i suggest you give them a try. Maybe the 2010 arbor king or mother tree of of King Tea Mall. Or the 2011 small arbor cake one anon described as tasting like blue raspberry flavor.

Do you guys take any preventative measures to prevent the yellowing of teeth associated with daily tea drinking?

2020 Yutaka Midori shincha is still brewing up strong and fresh, with only a slight reduction in its depth and brightness. Anyone else still working through last spring's orders?

>>15351219
Yeah I usually brush my teeth 2x a day.

>>15351355
Wow, still pretty green. I guess it's a bit darker and more yellowish than it was in the spring. I had expected it would be mostly yellow by now.

>>15351490

I was surprised too, and part of its yellow in this picture is just from the lighting.

>>15351187
>the little 100g fangcha that in on yunnan sourcing
which one?

>>15340691
having a mug of this with some ferrero rocher fine hazelnut chocolates, i must say it is quite divine

I've been grandfu brewing 1/3 of the little oranges stuffed with puerh that purple cloud has. Eerily reminiscent of the tea I'd get as a kid at a chinese mafia run restaurant.

>>15351917
>which one?
This guy
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/xiaguan-tea-factory/products/2013-xiaguan-chen-yun-fang-cha-raw-pu-erh-tea-brick
It's a bit pricey but very good if you like smokey xiaguan.

>>15352094
Looks tasty, the tea inside looks like much better quality than the stuffed tangerine i had a few years ago from a local shop.

>>15342718
Breh, Meat + Leaf Tea Is the way to fuckin go. Make a nice 12+ hour bone broth with ginger, lemongrass and black tea. ooo I drink that shit all day.

>>15349595
I do this frequently. Usually between 1/8-1/4oz of good unsliced rum. Whiskey makes a nice hot toddy. Also heard of some using gin or vodka.

Whats your go to sleepy time tea?

>>15352586
Add a whole shot of rum to whatever tea I’m drinking.

twinings is the tea for me

is tea's popularity losing out to coffee?

Sipping on Farmerleaf's new NaKa cake. It's good stuff. Green, umami, alpine. Quite thick. Happy energy. Bit numbing on the palate. Bit of huigan. Like I expected, a steal at $40 full bing shipped.

>>15343742
Kettle, teapot, strainer, cup or mug
Patience and palate.

>>15353763
It's a very different experience, I think of tea as a refreshing drink throughout the day whereas I drink coffee for a boost of energy.

>>15340691
Hey chaps, I normally drink fortnum and masons English breakfast, Lapsang souchong and jasmine loose leaf but I understand this is relatively pleb tier and wish to broaden my horizons. Where do I go from here?

Alishan high mountain oolong gang reporting in

>>15341260
I'd rather add a couple drops of milk in higher quality (more large loose leaf) earl greys and some honey.

>>15353763
Tea has been the drink of nobility for millennia going back to its literal discovery by a Chinese emperor.

Coffee is absolutely plebian tier and is mass produced for the wagies to slave away, day to day, and to find the only satisfaction in their lives is with their drugged up bean juice.

>>15343085
>harsh flavors from cheap dust tea
No. Some earl grey I buy that's made in Sri Lanka that isn't tea bag dust (it's almost whole leaf actually) and tastes fine on its own, but sometimes adding a hint of milk makes it taste nice too.

But that being said, it is the only tea i enjoy with milk. Would feel weird to add milk to any other chink tea though.

>>15354423
Good point. Adds up.

Tetsu came

>>15354584
thinking about getting one when my kettle breaks, anyone know how you stop an unglazed inside from rusting? im assuming they're just cast iron

>>15354838
Some rust will inevitably form and there's not much you can do to stop it

but some thing's that help, don't keep water in it for hours upon hours after use, when you're done with it, boil the rest of the water, dump out that water, then let it air dry with the lid off

Use it frequently, the first 30 days you should use it atleast once everyday

What are some way sweeter teas i can buy from MoyChay? Ordered oolong, pu'erh and some other samples but it just wasn't for me at all. Hate spicy/pepper-esque tea flavors too.

Used to love some super sweet whole leaf Japanese teas 8 years ago.

>>15354838
hojo has a decent video about it
https://youtu.be/MYIQ_1pD1_Y

What do you call that taste / flavor / mouthfeel when you drink certain tblack tea and it leaves a slightly sticky aftertaste? Not a sweet sticky like sugary stuff, not fruity.

>>15354935
stop drinking soda

>>15354935
what a cute transbian couple

>>15354967
If also in red wine: tannic?

>>15355024
That’s it. Thanks Anon!

>>15354998
I like this, it's better than the coffee one.

generally how reasonable are king tea malls shipping rates (i hate websites that don't let you estimate shipping without filling everything out).

Reminder that there is no better tasting tea than Earl Grey tea.

>>15355452
>reminder: there is no better tasting water than Kool-Aid

>>15355386
Yeah that annoys me too, they went up because of batflu, iirc up to 1kilo is around $20 or $30. I think up to about 500g is around $16. My last order was 2.5 kilos and it was around $60.

>>15355386
Shipping was 15 on my 1.25kilo order late 2018. The price tripling is the only thing that kept me from impulse buying more.

>>15341859
That is indeed the hanzi/kanji for tea. A lot of bubble tea places here use it on their signage.

Who here /bubbletea/? I love it. I always go no sugar and if it's a good place the tea tastes amazing. I had burnt sugar tea the other day for the first time, very nice

>>15355465
thanks, I was trying decide between making a small order ($60ish) at puerhshop.com or kingteamall.com. puerhshop has far cheaper shipping and perhaps a broader selection of low ticket items ($8ish tous and whatnot) to try but kingteamall.com undoubtedly has the better storage conditions and is probably less likely to have fakes. guess i will have to think about things for a bit.
>>15355520
I sure do hope shipping prices go back down a bit or at very least stabilize.

>>15355674
Why not use yunnansourcing.com or yunnansourcing.us?

>>15354948
>get air brush
I lost it right there. It's even worse than cast iron pan meme. Congrats on buying expensive, high maintenance, prone to rusting kettle with placebo effect on the tea you make. Have fun.

>>15355695
And overpay both on the tea and shipping? YS site is only for buying YS productions.

>>15355695
YS is great but does not have a particularly good selection of low priced semi aged factory tous. I was looking at tous (or mini cakes, or small bricks) because I want to try a number of semi aged puer teas but I am on somewhat of a tight budget. if i just bought full cakes i would only get to try a couple and if i just bought samples i would get too high a $/g.

>>15355708
didnt >>15346497 convince you of that already?

>>15355710
eh, I would not be so hard on them. they also have a good selection of lose leaf tea and not all of their other factory tea is overpriced. it is mostly just the stuff that has gone though too many yearly price increases that is not the best deal. I am pretty sure they have a lower markup than most western facing vendors in general.

>>15355792
I simply ignore all the post's by this guy.
This one is also a good read https://hojotea.com/en/posts-27/

>>15355799
yeah, fair enough. it has most varied loose leaf selection in the western facing scene and I'm first to admit it.
But for Factory time make it KTM time ;)

>>15355854
yeah KTM looks like the single best vendor for big factory teas (at least for the factories they carry). I look forward to making an order from them someday.

So much cope in this thread

>>15355708
"high maintenance, expensive, prone to rusting, placebo"

It's the same price for a good gooseneck eletric kettle
The maintenance consists of "Don't leave water in it for hours, let it air dry from dumping out your remaining boiling water, use it often"

rusting is fine believe it or not

"Placebo" I guess every single person that has ever used a Tetsu is lying then :)

I suppose the simple concept of iron in water is lost on you, you could add an iron egg into your regualr stainless steel kettle and it'd be a budget tetsu, you'd atleast get the iron effect

but y, I guess it's all placebo
nice cope

>>15355674
I think if you stick to the stuff i recommend you will be okay ordering from puershop. I do love KTM but you really need to have some idea of what you want, since his descriptions on some of thr factory teas are pretty sparse, his site is much better if you are buying 900g or more with the way his shipping is priced right now.

>>15356176
>his site is much better if you are buying 900g or more with the way his shipping is priced right now.
that's my biggest problem. I don't have the funding to make a big KTM order and the relative shipping cost is is a lot higher on the cheap $/g stuff.

>I think if you stick to the stuff i recommend you will be okay ordering from puershop.
thanks for the reassurance. I just decided to take a look to see if i could get a better deal or better storage/more age at the same price but it looks like puerhshop is probably the best bet for my specific wants right now.

>>15356250
>better storage
It's important that you form your own opinions on storage, don't just take my word for it. It really comes down to personal preference. Don't worry too much about age either. For every puer that tastes better after a decade or two there is another that tastes its best shortly after pressing, or after 5 years or 7.

>>15356250
>>15356277
That said if you really want guangdong storage here's a few from fullchea.
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/2012-puer-tea-dayi-taetea-7542-150g-gift-package-china-yunnan-menghai-puerh-puer-pu-erh-raw-organic-health-care-food-chai-aged-puerh-best-organic-tea--p0139.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/xia-guan-2011-tuocha-tea-nannuo-gong-tuo-tribute-tuo-raw-pu-er-tee-100g-p0342.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/xiaguan-2012-tuo-cha-jing-mai-ancient-tea-raw-puer-cha-100g-pcs-p0341.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/tulin-2005-chinese-puer-tea-phoenix-premium-raw-tuo-cha-aged-tea-100g-p0492.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/tulin-phoenix-2008-shou-puerh-tuocha-981-ripe-pu-erh-100g-p0540.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/mengku-rongshi-2014-mu-ye-chun-3-years-aged-ripe-pu-erh-tea-brick-100g-p0375.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/anning-haiwan-tea-industry-7588-ripe-pu-erh-tea-2015-yr-yunnan-puer-tea-brick-shu-puer-250g-p0346.html
Godspeed anon

Green tea and vodka work well together, feels healthy af. What else should I mix with it?

>>15356360
lemon verbena
lemongrass

>>15354998
make mine a hazelnut burnt food

>>15356277
>better storage
>It's important that you form your own opinions on storage
agreed I don't want to slip into simply following convention. thought i probably could have phrased things a bit better. while part of my thought process was was "wet"=desirable the other part was that puerhshop's storage is effectively a mystery (presumably cold and dry but i don't know for sure and so its a less useful benchmark, nor do i know long they where in different conditions beforehand). i fully intend to try a variety of storage conditions when i have the chance. also i wondered if there is perhaps a slight advantage to start from a known "normal" benchmark that is widely discussed and extensively characterized before doing too much with more unusual stuff. and quite frankly i don't want to get stuck with too much "tuition tea" that is subpar at the moment since i am penny pinching a bit and so misses sting more. However, I am undoubtedly overthinking things, and I should just be thankful for what i have and go drink more tea.

>https://www.fullchea-tea.com
thanks for the recommendation they are on my radar for a future purchase.

thanks for all your help Cháyǒu and happy sipping.

>people used to drink wine with tea
is it a good combo? why did they do this?

>>15356431
>>15356431
You mean steeping the leaves in hot wine? Or just enjoying a cup of both at the same time? I could see it working, I'd imagine if you used a chai blend or some kinda fruity/herbal blend it would taste just like spiced wine. I'd also be really curious how green tea would look/taste in a white wine now that I think about it.

I heard of a Japanese dish where they pour tea over rice. Has anybody tried this before? I was planning to try it for breakfast tomorrow with some of the herbal tea I got for Christmas.

Looking for a new kettle. Does this look good?

>>15356496
Sounds weird, maybe it's good but remember that Japan loves soggy gummy textures and eating chunks of fat. It might not agree with a western palate.

>>15356505
I haven't heard of that brand, it looks okay but it's kind of a shot in the dark. Check reviews

>>15356505
if you can spend a bit more i would recommend getting a kettle where you an actually set the temperature and have it keep it at temp as they are incredibly convenient. but if that kettle has good reviews and is well made looks like it should work.

>>15356540
I mostly cold brew my tea, so I was hoping to avoid spending too much.

>>15356505
>>15356540
looks like that Chinese mystery brand
https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Yabano-Gooseneck-Temperature-Stainless/dp/B07R7FXKGL/
obviously caveat emptor especially when buying suspiciously low priced no name brands but if works well it may be a great bargain. its interesting how much more competition has come to the adjustable temperature kettle market in the last year.

>>15356584
see
>>15356600
>looks like that Chinese mystery brand makes its own adjustable temperature kettle that is only $3 more right now.

>>15356091
bot

>>15356091

W动态网自由门 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Free Tibet 六四天安門事件 The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 天安門大屠殺 The Tiananmen Square Massacre 反右派鬥爭 The Anti-Rightist Struggle 大躍進政策 The Great Leap Forward 文化大革命 The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution 人權 Human Rights 民運 Democratization 自由 Freedom 獨立 Independence 多黨制 Multi-party system 台灣 臺灣 Taiwan Formosa 中華民國 Republic of China 西藏 土伯特 唐古特 Tibet 達賴喇嘛 Dalai Lama 法輪功 Falun Dafa 新疆維吾爾自治區 The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 諾貝爾和平獎 Nobel Peace Prize 劉暁波 Liu Xiaobo 民主 言論 思想 反共 反革命 抗議 運動 騷亂 暴亂 騷擾 擾亂 抗暴 平反 維權 示威游行 李洪志 法輪大法 大法弟子 強制斷種 強制堕胎 民族淨化 人體實驗 肅清 胡耀邦 趙紫陽 魏京生 王丹 還政於民 和平演變 激流中國 北京之春 大紀元時報 九評論共産黨 獨裁 專制 壓制 統一 監視 鎮壓 迫害 侵略 掠奪 破壞 拷問 屠殺 活摘器官 誘拐 買賣人口 遊進 走私 毒品 賣淫 春畫 賭博 六合彩 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Winnie the Pooh 劉曉波动态网自由门

Wuhan biological weapon 武汉生物武器 China manufactured Coronavirus Test kits were broken on purpose 中国制造的冠状病毒检测试剂盒被故意破坏 动态网自由门 天安門 天安门动态网自由门 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Free Tibet 六四天安門事件 The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 天安門大屠殺 The Tiananmen Square Massacre 反右派鬥爭 The Anti-Rightist Struggle 大躍進政策 The Great Leap Forward 文化大革命 The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution 人權 Human Rights 民運 Democratization 自由 Freedom 獨立 Independence 多黨制 Multi-party system 台灣 臺灣 Taiwan Formosa 中華民國 Republic of China 西藏 土伯特 唐古特 Tibet 達賴喇嘛 Dalai Lama 法輪功 Falun Dafa 新疆維吾爾自治區 The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 諾貝爾和平獎 Nobel Peace Prize 劉暁波 Liu Xiaobo 民主 言論 思想 反共 反革命 Ai Wei Wei 抗議 運動 騷亂 暴亂 騷擾 擾亂 抗暴 平反 維權 示威游行 李洪志 法輪大法 大法弟子 強制斷種 強制堕胎 民族淨化 人體實驗 肅清 胡耀邦 趙紫陽 魏京生 王丹 還政於民 和平演變 激流中國 北京之春 大紀元時報 九評論共産黨 獨裁 專制 壓制 統一 監視 鎮壓 迫害 侵略 掠奪 破壞 拷問 屠殺 活摘器官 誘拐 買賣人口 遊進 走私 毒品 賣淫 春畫 賭博 六合彩 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Winnie the Pooh 劉曉波动态网自由门 Umbrella protests Extradition Law 纸老虎 Hong Kong protests 李文良医生 Democracy won the Vote 习近平的阴茎很小。 每天晚上,在上床睡觉之前,他都会吞下几加仑的非裔美国人的阴茎汁。它充满了他的胃,使他忘记了自己难以置信的小阴茎。还有,他妈的中国,台湾第一。

HKH in pic
6g / 90ml Porcelain Gaiwan / 120TDS Tetsubin / Boiling Water

>>15341597
My note on LFPT
this is nice and tart, sweet, cherry, thick, easy to drink, energetic qi, smooth, full in the mouth, taste lingers and develops for a long time
Almond aftertaste

god i fucking love chai

>>15357981
nice, thier smoked assam is insanely good, smokey and malty

vahdam is great

>>15357321
>LFPT
Love forever?

>>15357992
it's actually chai tea, pay attention
>>15358159
it's discord speak for Leftist Faggot Pedophile Transvestite

>tfw had the best tea I ever had while backpacking through northern Vietnam and didn’t manage to find out what it was called and will never have it again

>>15358159
Love Forever Paper Tong

>>15358336
Indian anon here. stfu before i slap you with the poo hand chai is tea what you just said is "tea tea"

>>15358368
That's what i figured, there is definitely some interesting stuff going on in that tea.

>>15358348
It probably had a lot to do with that backpacking background anyway.

>>15342165
im going to put my cream in your tea

What would be a good white tea for someone getting in to loose leaf brewing?

>>15359136
baimudan

>>15359136
Was about to post this >>15359168

>>15359136
white peony "baimudan" and silver needles "baihao yinzhen" are perhaps the two most famous varieties.

>>15359136
I highly recommend a lightly aged shoumei.
I'm personally not a big fan of bud heavy whites, shoumei is a nice big leaf and the closest to tasting like honey than any other tea I've had.

>>15359136
>>15359263
>silver needles
seconding this, I tried for the first time last week and it was amazing

>>15359289
i'd recommend shoumei loose not caked, i hate caked large leaf teas, they're impossible to break part without getting just a pile of dust and any lumps never separate when brewed. it can also take boiling water without becoming bitter unlike buds

is there a good guide anywhere to Dayi's and Xiaguan's product stack. I am already familiar with the the recipe codes but they don't tell you much nor do they help with all the other productions that don't have one.

>>15359653
That would be a good addition for /tea/ 4.0.

>>15359653
I wish, there is a yunnan sourcing video where he talks about the different major factories. There are also a few articles on teadb but none of them really go in depth, it's pretty tough because they put out so many different releases every year probably 50-75 each.
https://teadb.org/big-puerh-factories-menghai-xiaguan/
This article covers a few, I'm not really happy with what xiaguan teas he chose to buy but he at least has decent tasting notes.
https://teadb.org/factory-tea-report/

>>15341256
I like lapsang souchong, it's the only tea I drink apart from Java melange

>>15341256
Russian Caravan is usually Lapsang + some other black tea, e.g. Keemun so it's less smoky than straight Lapsang.

>>15359695
I have already watched/read all of those but they are not great at answering practical questions. for example Xiaguan makes a number of of different raw tuo productions but whats the actual difference? whats a Cang'er? are FT productions generally higher quality? that exactly differentiates the different high end repetitively produced Dayi ripe cakes?
nor does it answer some of the broader questions like what sort of difference in taste should i expect between different types of productions at the same price level by the the same factory and whats the difference when you go up the factory's price stack between compatible products? what are the MSRPs of the product stack and how they products relatively compare. ect

it really feels like there is a huge hole in the very basic factory puer knowledge here in the west.

>>15359780
>Xiaguan makes a number of of different raw tuo productions but whats the actual difference?
They have 4 grades of the standard productions, da zong (3nd grade) Yi Ji (2nd grade) Jia Ji (1st grade) Te Ji (special grade)
The difference is ostensibly quality of material used in the blend and price.
>whats a Cang'er?
That's a specific product line, i believe it's focused on a blend from a particular set of regions and should be generally higher quality material than any of the standard tuos.
>are FT productions generally higher quality?
Generally, but that has changed in the last decade or so with xiaguan making more single origin or premium blends on their own.
>what sort of difference in taste should i expect between different types of productions at the same price level by the the same factory and whats the difference when you go up the factory's price stack between compatible products?
Honestly you typically get some % improvement going up to higher tier productions but it isn't always worth the price increase http://www.marshaln.com/ has written about this but i can't find the article at the moment.
>what sort of difference in taste should i expect between different types of productions at the same price level by the the same factory
Depends a lot of what the difference is, usually the higher end blends are single origin or regional, so you have to go off of what are considered the traditional flavors for that region and hope the blenders have been able to accurately create that flavor profile.
>it really feels like there is a huge hole in the very basic factory puer knowledge here in the west.
Yeah i agree, i wonder if this has been written about more extensively in china. There isn't much effort (or any) in translating chines knowledge on these subjects into english.

How do you lads deal with the weight of it all? Just keep sipping?

>>15359860
>whats a Cang'er?
>That's a specific product line, i believe it's focused on a blend from a particular set of regions and should be generally higher quality material than any of the standard tuos.

that's my point i know Cang'er is a specific product line the problem is how hard it is to find what exactly differentiates it from Xiaguan's other product lines. I would think Xiaguan lists the rough difference somewhere. we just don't tend to get that part of the marketing translated.

I just wish it was not so hard to find good product descriptions. when buying factory teas in English it feels a bit like ordering off a menu that only list the dish's name and its price but does not say whats in it or how its supposed to taste.

the best database option i have found is (in Chinese but still useful):
https://www.puercn.com/pinpai/

>>15359984
also:
https://www.donghetea.com/eng/

>>15359874
Buy a good scale.

>>15359984
>I would think Xiaguan lists the rough difference somewhere. we just don't tend to get that part of the marketing translated.
Hilariously it's not on their website which has borderline useless descriptions for most of their teas, you might get a region if you are lucky.
Thanks for the links.

>>15359752
good to know
>>15359984
>I would think Xiaguan lists the rough difference somewhere
I don't think so. It's all word of mouth on chinese forums as to what regions the material is.
I noticed that chinese are very loose with their descriptions. The only way to find out is to buy something from every line and note which blend tastes the best for you.
On their one off blends I just search it on puercn and google translate it along with the comments. And it's always "great rhythm, firm tea threads, shiny surface, goes for many bubbles" lol
Btw, they nicknamed the BaoYan JinCha's "Poison Mushroom", because of nature of the tea scraps that they consist of. And the fluoride deaths, pretty funny.
Instead of trying to put everything into an excel spreadsheet I try to drink the tea.

>but does not say whats in it or how its supposed to taste.
that's appealing to some but hard to overcome to other tea autists.

That said, if anyone compiles scattered info on factory cakes I'd be thankful.

>>15360186
>great rhythm, firm tea threads, shiny surface, goes for many bubbles
Haha yep, this is half or more of the translated tea reviews i read.

I made some spicy ginger tea today. About 1/4 pound of ginger root grated and a chunk of lemongrass crushed and beaten up. These were steeped with 2 cinnamon sticks in a pot of water for about 30 minutes. In my mortar I put a bunch (not measured just eyeballed) of black peppercorns, allspice berries, blade mace, cloves, cardamom, and fennel seeds. Ground it all up into a nice powder and stirred it into the pot. Simmered for another 15 minutes and added a scoop of lychee black tea. Once the tea was done steeping I strained everything off and drank it with a little milk stirred in. Very spicy, very gingery. For some people it might be too much ginger, but I could eat the stuff raw and really like the earthy spice it adds to a tea like this.

>>15360335
>In my mortar I put a bunch (not measured just eyeballed) of black peppercorns, allspice berries, blade mace, cloves, cardamom, and fennel seeds.
I was with you until this part. I don't really see why it wouldn't work but I'm more of a purist when it comes to ginger tea. Any pictures? Im curious what the color of the final brew is.

>>15360186
>I don't think so. It's all word of mouth on chinese forums as to what regions the material is.
i am fine if i don't always know the exact nature of the blend from a big factory (they dont share that all the time). what i want to know is roughly what each product is intended to be. for example even a hypothetical poor description from a factory like "carefully blended to be be both sweet and smooth this sheng tou represents great value and will surely age into something special!" give you useful information. in this case you get the rough intended flavor profile, you know it is a blend, and based of the description you can assume it is likely in the low to mid point of their product stack ("bargain").
>The only way to find out is to buy something from every line and note which blend tastes the best for you.
yeah that would work but i don't have unlimited cash
>BaoYan JinCha's "Poison Mushroom"
lol, its on my to try list
>Instead of trying to put everything into an excel spreadsheet I try to drink the tea.
i find fun in both enjoying the tea and learing about it.
>that's appealing to some but hard to overcome to other tea autists.
?
>That said, if anyone compiles scattered info on factory cakes I'd be thankful.
same

>>15360352
>lol, its on my to try list
Teas we like has an expensive but old (2003) example that might actually be calmed down enough to drink. It's about $34 which is crazy sine it probably cost 15¢ in 2003 but there is a massive premium on pre 2004 xiaguan and other factory teas. With 2004 being deemed by one chinese collector as the year of the great dilution. Where factories started adding much more filler to their blends to keep up with the explosive new demand.

>>15360345
No pictures, I drank it all already. It's basically my mental formula for masala chai, just with a different process and lots more ginger. It was a light gold-brown before adding the tea, and a darker golden brown after the tea had steeped. And I'm with you on pure ginger tea, we always keep at least a pound on hand because it's so easy to make a tasty drink. Fun to change it up with the added spices though. Next time I'm going to use less black pepper and more cloves.

>>15360374
TWL looks great but most of what they sell is way out of my current price range.

>>15360409
Yeah i can't splash out for most of their product. I have a small order fr them on the way so i will post my poorfag review of some of their more accessible teas.

https://www.teadiscussion.com/types/index.php

Newb here. This link in the OP pastebin seems to be broken,

>>15360441
that would be very helpful. how is their shipping costs? high shipping costs murder small orders from many vendors.

>>15340691
Twinings Chai has SO MUCH cinammon. I don't want any cinammon in my tea at all, but I guess it's cheaper than cardamom and other chai spices

>>15360478
They have flat rates by weight, they are listed on their about page.

>>15360534
that is quite reasonable.

why do we think black teas are the most popular? they're boring to me and remind me of basic ass tea.

>tea autism

But why?

Boil some water, put in a pouch of earl gray for a few minutes, drink.

Simple as.

>>15360892
Black tea is universal and accessible for most people. Easier on the stomach than green tea. If you find black tea boring you need to try some more black tea, something like a nice second flush darjeeling is light and tastes like mellons, some Chinese black teas taste like chocolate and ripe fruit. Some assam and ceylon is malty and bracing. There is plenty of variety in the world of black tea, even if you stay far away from the expensive stuff.

>>15360892
Black tea takes boiling water better than green tea which is not something people who are trying green tea for the first time usually know so they say its too bitter.

>>15360892
>why do we think black teas are the most popular?
longer shelf life in the days of sailing ships and before modern food packaging.

>>15341631
Just having the 7542 now, here's my notes on 8582
>>15346766

>>15341631
(UNRESTED!!!!)
7542 Could definitely use more aging, but has a lot of energy, very cooling, pluminess, oily, savoury, bittersweet, chalky, slight smoke, really strong and punchy, almost fruity umami when it begins to chill out

There's not much crossover between the 7542 and 8582, 8582 is more nuanced steady and developing, 7542 punches you instantly with the first several steeps

both could use more aging, 7542 more so

If we talk my standard testing parameters, in porcelain gaiwan, 8582 is better, but based on how 7542 is, I can tell it really needs to be rested and would work extremely well in my zini pot, even going low ratio / long steeps

both great tea's though, if you want to complete avoid bitterness, don't get either, but if you can accept a touch of it on both, then they're ready to go
either way I'd pick them up, aging will do these tea's wonders, soon both of these tea's will skyrocket in price, I'll probably buy 2-3 cakes of each extra

these one's for now, 2-3 for age

This has got to be the most pretentious shittest thread on this board

>>15362829
yeah these tea fags are absolutely pathetic

>>15362829
>>15362835
cope

>>15351219
>yellowing of teeth associated with daily tea drinking
nah, i consider a mark of pride like Fiddler's neck.

>>15361844
Thanks anon.
The bitterness doesn't bother me at all.
How are they on the stomach? As long as they have mellowed out a bit on that front I'm g2g

>>15364042
fine on stomach, they're not harsh like young sheng
they've very much mellowed
but they're just awkward in the sense that they're right on the edge of great age and a tad too young

btw, just as a reference
on KTM, the 09 7542 is $492, the 08 7542 is $562
the 08 8582 in the past month has gone from $69 to $100
and these are with worse storage than TWL is offering, those KTM ones will taste a lot younger

I can't really think of a better deal that you shouldn't sleep on

>>15364220
>the 09 7542 is $492
The 09 has always been expensive. There is a ton of collector hype around the first batch. The 2019 release first batch was supposed to be a ten year anniversary reissue of the 09 batch and the price on release was insane.
That sai i completely agree that non of this shit is getting cheaper anytime soon and you should absolutely snap up what you like when you can. I have missed out on some fantastic prices because i hesitated for a week or three on putting in an order on something i was watching, only to see the tea triple in price or disappear completely.

So my father and I are pretty new to tea. We enjoyed black/green tea in tea bags but the flavor was always bland. So I decided to look up some loose leaf tea to see what I was missing. I ended up ordering some sencha Setoya Midori 2020 from yunomi and was surprised that teas could have such complex flavors. I got a clay kyusu to brew my favorite Japanese greens. Now I'm hooked and have tried several different types of teas. My favorites are still Japanese greens. Do you guys have any good recommendations?

>>15364559
The world is your oyster, but it would be an absolute tragedy to have never tried sheng and shou puer, especially aged, but not necessarily aged.
I also must always recommend a Tie Guan Yin oolong for somebody who hasn't tried many.

>>15364559
Make sure to try some dragonswell / longging chinese green after the harvest this spring, 2021 batch should be on sale on the online shops in 2 or 3 months.

>>15362829
>>15362835

>seething over people discussing leaf soup on a chinese cartoons forum
kys

Nice my TWL order is in the us already. ~ a week and a half between shipping and hitting customs. Unfortunately this hit LA customs so it's going to take another week and a half to get to the east coast.

>>15366195
are you?
>>15360441
if so i look forward to your report.

>>15366425
Yeah
Hey if you want a random selection of some tea send me an email teageneral 'at' cock.li
Make a new email address on cock.li or somewhere. I appreciate your enthusiasm. I can send a little care package to you.

>>15366526
the email that was sent at 10:11 PM is me. thanks ChaYou

>>15366526
>>15366754

Now kiss.

>>15358909
thank you :)

>>15340691
I don't like tea that much. Sure it's okay but not enough to write about.

but this is a nice thread good luck I hope everyone here enjoys discussing tea even if I don't have too much to say about it.

I think my dinner is ready so I'm going to leave now but I might be back if there are more posts. I added this to me "watched threads".

>>15367199
Drink more tea

>>15367461
i try to but I like cold beverages like water usually

>>15367520
drink iced tea?

More xiaguan ripe this morning

>>15368338
I think i finally managed to put too much ripe in a brew. ~6.5g in a 300ml mug brewed grampa style. My scale was acting up and i just went with it. It would probably work with a more refined ripe but this one is a bit rough around the edges and the smooth cacao notes were a bit lost.

which loose tea would you recc for throat?
Ive been taking this and has been working

>>15368960
Mint with honey
Ginger with honey
That throat coat stuff with works okay just be careful you don't drink too much or you will get the shits. They don't call it slippery elm for nothing

>>15368994
>That throat coat stuff with works okay just be careful you don't drink too much or you will get the shits. They don't call it slippery elm for nothing

i have never had that problem and i have drank 8 bags of the stuff in one sitting on multiple occasions.

>>15343064
>my heart is POUNDING
yeah yerba mate can do that to you. works stronger and longer than coffee in my experience, if you make it the OG south american way

>>15368960
i just brew up lemon juice, honey and a few chunks of ginger

>>15368960
>any black tea
>honey
>slice of lemon
>Wray & Nephew rum

thank me later

>>15369081
psst, Kurupi menta y boldo will take you someplace else, don't tell anyone I told you this. they think I'm puer autist here.

>>15369342
haven't had a mix with boldo in a while. I do like normal kurupi, it has that classic paraguayan flavor, deep and powerful. might try it next time

>>15369358
my gaucho

Mate is pretty nice, i can't drink it it gets me into trouble.

>>15340691
New Thread
>>15370391
>>15370391
>>15370391