/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Time to shade those spring greens edition
SOON

Whatever you do, don’t mention puer

I don't even think I'm getting any Japanese greens this year.

>>15591571
>puer
LESBIAN

Okay so this time I actually tasted this tea
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yunnan-Teng-Chong-Organic-High-Mountain-Golden-Oolong-HUO-YAN-CHA-300g/303533092853
Which is the cheapest of the yunan oolong samples that i got. It's not as complex as the one i tasted last thread and it's less aromatic, but it's also 1/3 the price.
I will probably grab a can at somepoint
It is lightly roasty, lightly nutty and mostly just sweet sugary fruit, probably the sweetest tea i have had, if you gave this to a random person to taste they would probably insist that it has sugar added to it.
Good value for a simple and easy daily drinker type tea

What would hydroponic tea taste like?

>>15591571
>>15591776
Did somebody say puer???

>>15591864
No puer! This is an oolong thread now
(Untill my next order of puer comes in)

>>15591863
Growing perennial bushes in hydroponics isn't super practical, i guess you could root a shitload of cuttings and then do some kind of sea of green setup untill disease or crop failure hit.
Hwo it tasted would depend almost entirely on what varieties you grew, how you fed them and what specific temperature light humidity etc climate conditions you used and of of course how the tea was harvested and processed. I'm not sure how big of a role genetics vs soil conditions vs climate plays in tea.

>>15591516
Who is the one who wrote the pastebin?

What's his background with tea?

>>15592015
if you know your tea just ignore it.
in fact, you can skip these threads for now.

>>15592015
Most of it was translated from a Taiwanese BBS post from the early 2000s.
Why?

>>15591863
probably not as good
the weather and soil adds a lot of the nuance to the flavour

>>15591838
Yunnan tea is the best out there.
It's also the most beautiful region on the planet.
Don't bother with the organic shit, it's all grown organically up there anyway.
If you've ever smoked tobacco you'll get a real kick out of it.
Also I blend mine with a big standard commercial English breakfast for an edge.

>>15591516
A pity that the last thread lasted barely three days. Oh well, things arise, play out, and pass away. Such is life in a dewdrop world like ours.

What's everyone drinking? I'm drinking some Xiaguan hongcha. It's not bad. I was unaware that Xiaguan made black tea.

I got a Tokoname pot recently that I've been brewing in. Would anyone like to see it? :-)

>>15592269
Yeah, i mostly drink yunnan teas
>it's all grown organically up there anyway.
That's a bit of a stretch, there are plenty of conventionally managed and sprayed tea plantations in yunnan, i agree it's usually not worth specifically buying stuff that is sold as organic.

>>15592289
Yeah xiaguan makes some solid value black teas. Im a fan of the ones I've tried.
Not long ago these threads would last 1-2 weeks.
>Would anyone like to see it? :-)
Yeah, ive wanted to get one of those for general purpose brewing, one with the fine ceramic mesh filter. They seem like they are fun to use. Is yours unglazed on the inside? If so do you find it effects the taste of the tea you brew in it?

How is Emmet's 2004 Dingji Yesheng ?

>>15592269
>Yunnan tea is the best out there.
>Don't bother with the organic shit, it's all grown organically up there anyway.

What about Taiwan and Japan? Are those a better culture of treating tea with care unlike China?

>>15592290
It is. But the region is either all sprayed or all not.
I know it doesn't make sense but go there you'll understand.
Awesome part of the world.

>>15592770
I can't speak for Taiwan or Japan.
Just that region of northern Vietnam and southern China.
In general they can't afford western sprays.
Also the tea is picked, regularly, and fermented sometimes twice.

Take northern Vietnamese coffee, one of the best n the world. Most of it is dried on the side of main roads because the concrete is best suited for it. All day long 50year old diesel trucks roll past dropping oil and all sorts of other shit.
Some of the best coffee on the planet.

>>15592269
>Yunnan tea is the best out there
from this statement alone
I know you know fuck all about what you're actually talking about
you know how big of a region it is? you know just how severe of a quality degree there is?
there's too much tea and regions and varietals to claim such a thing

>>15592289
I didn't realize that either until just some months ago bro. Picked up one of those pressed Xiaguan black tea cakes. Wooo doggy was it strong, but so so good. Retained that signature XG taste on top of some tippy black tea flavor. Would get again.

As an aside - what's the consensus on Vadham tea, and Hatvala teas? Looking forward to spring teas and want to go India/Vietnam this year. Is Vadham really all its cracked up to be (actually I've sampled them long ago and liked them but it was all their more basic teas)? Is Hatvala legit and decent in quality? I only ask since WhatCha carries Indian and Viet teas, along with African and Taiwan teas, and generally has decent prices with lots of information attached to each of their offerings. Is it worth going to these individual websites or would I be better served by WhatCha?

>>15592309
It holds around 330ml. I don't know if it's glazed or not. I haven't detected any change in the flavor of the tea since I began brewing in it. It's a lovely little pot, all-around. :-)

>>15592889
330ml is too big. You're going to deeply regret this purchase as time goes by. It'll keep you up at night thinking how you should've gotten a smaller teapot. It looks cool tho.

>>15592884
Which black tea cakes were they, may I ask? I have enough tea as it is, at the moment, but I'm always interested in more hongcha in the future. I haven't tried too many hong cakes: I did love the Feng Qing and "Drunk on Red" cakes from YS.

I've tried Vahdam Assam tea (summer harvest, I think). Quite strong and stark, as a good Assam ought to be. Nice when brewed Western-style, could probably hold up well with milk and sugar (though I don't add stuff to my tea as a rule; tea ought to be flavorful enough to stand on its own). Hatvala has some good black tea, in my experience. Check out their Wild Boar and Mossy Frog blacks; the former is stronger, the latter is a bit lighter in color and flavor (more flowery, I think).

https://ratetea.com/region/china/1/

This website explains every region around the world perfectly.

>>15592912
I think it's fine the way it is. What matters is that it's good for brewing and pours well, and it satisfies both of those categories admirably. :-)

>>15592943
>https://ratetea.com/region/china/1/
Might be worth putting into the pastebin

Just a friendly reminder that the Asian world have no concern for human health or humans in general. This is where our tea is coming from. All those pollutans coming from the sky rain down upon the soil and guess where it all ends up?

In your tea cup.

>>15591293
How long did you infuse with these leaves? I'm surprised you got as much flavor as you say with only 7g/600ml. It wasn't bitter?
>Last time I brewed (gaiwan, pre pumidor storage) it was pretty flat and underwhelming.
It is interesting you mention that. I still need to invest in a proper pumidor setup, but I've been experimenting with alternative hydration in the meantime, and am finding some notable results. Using my flat/dry 2014 Gong Ting shou as a potential sacrifice, I released some steam from my kettle below the cake to increase humidity and warmth conditions slightly a few times over a few days. I noticed some changes to aroma, but it wasn't significant enough. I recently tried just leaving a bowl of water with it and my new white cake exposed nearby, and I swear their aromas have both exploded. I'm not sure if the water is evaporating slowly into the air like a lake (the intention), or if if is leeching hydration due to proximity somehow, but it is an interesting phenomenon. Impressive placebo effect at the very least.

>>15593082
Careful about adding humidity artificially, very easy to cause mold problems that way
https://teadb.org/correcting-your-storage-preventing-mold/
https://teadb.org/simple-home-storage-solutions/

>>15593039
Adds extra flavor

>>15593039
Meh, as usual unless you are raising your own meat and growing your own food there are dozens of shitty things you are exposed to everyday that you should be more worried about than tea. You can buy only teas that have been tested for 120 odd pesticides if you are really worried about it.

>>15593082
Not bitter at all, this is like the 5th cup I poured in ~15m. 204f in a kruve evoke.

>>15593039
just a friendly reminder that the meat you eat are pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, so get off your high horse and fuck right off

>>15593396
>kruve evoke
Cute
I have had the occasional ripe puer that gets bitter (dayi red coin or whatever its called in chinese) but most ripes will basically never get bitter no matter what you do with them.

I should be getting a new cake tomorrow. I'm excited for this one. I bought a wet storage version from yunnan sourcing a few years ago. Then i got a sample of the same cake from the eBay guy recently and it was better (and cheaper) than the YS version. Nothing fancy but a good easy daily drinker from back when. Feng Quing was still using their top quality spring harvest to make puer, they don't do that anymore from what I've read.

>>15593104
I'm aware of the risks. That is why I used a tea I did not enjoy as a sacrificial lamb with the light steam, and did it fairly briefly. The water in a bowl is not going to ramp me up from local ~50RH to 70 any time soon, so I'm comfortable with doing that for a short while.
>>15593396
Nice liquor. Impressive results for so little leaf. It makes me want to try the white tea stewing idea an anon proposed to me in the previous thread.

>>15591531
Imagine the smell

What does tea plants smell like?

>>15593666
Probably chlorophyll mostly
I'm planting a few next spring so i will let you know.

>>15593413
I often buy organic.

Checkmate.

>>15593912
USDA organic is a fucking joke, you are way better off buying meat from small local farms that arent "organic" than buying industrial meat shitslop with a fancy label on it.

>>15593039
>India
what the hell, poobros?

>>15593687
From seeds or is there a place to buy the plants from?

>>15593912
>buy organic

HAHAHAHA good job paying the stupid tax

>>15594044
Indians have no concept of the consequences of overpopulation. They'll keep breeding and breeding until everyone there starves. They're not too bright of people considering the state of poverty they're in. Last article I read was that roughly 60% of Indians don't even have working toilets. So sad and pathetic, even the Romans were more civilized that 2021 Indians.

>>15594057
If you live in the US
https://camforest.com/collections/tea-camellias

>>15594142
Rad! Which variety are you planting?

>>15594177
I live in a colder climate so im going for the Sochi variety. If i lived further south i would probably go with assamica.

>>15594205
I'm in the PNW and there's snow outside right now so that looks appealing. Like, I bet the China plant would make better tea except I probably can't grow and process high quality tea in the backyard anyways so easy care is more important.

>>15594403
Yeah most tea processing is impractical from a small scale home growing perspective. White tea is probably the most easy since it mostly just involves sun drying.
Growing the tea bushes does seem fun and i think they are pretty decent looking foliage wise.
The site also says the bushes will reach 10ft tall and 10ft wide after a decade so you could really make some impact with a few.

>>15592859
why are you sperging out about a general statement. if someone said "i like japanese tea" would you start screaming about how big japan is and how they can't say that?

>>15594523
there's a difference between saying I personally like something and claiming something is better on a non-personal level

Which green tea is the nuttiest?

Pick an oolong, any oolong (in this image).

>>15594625
coffee

>>15594628
The bottom one with the blue mark on it.

>>15594644
Okay, here you go.

>>15594625
Probably dragonswell aka longjing
But i haven't tried all of them

Does anyone have recommendations for stress-relieving herbal teas that don't make your liver poop out or something if you drink it constantly?
For me, it is Greek Mountain Tea.

>>15594628
Fenghuang

>>15594675
Now post the finished brew.

>you vill add ze milk
>and you vill be happy

>>15594687
For me it's papaver somniferum

>>15594700
tastes very bad

I only drink Ceylon and green tea, loose leaf ONLY. But I'm more of a coffee drinker.

>>15594700
I was an opiate addict in college (back in the day when you could get poppy pods on ebay) and a couple of my friends were selling bottled poppy tea. Well they gave me an "expired" bottle that was a couple weeks old and I drank it because I wanted to get high. I was violently burping and throwing up for like 7 hours.

>>15594694
Will make it shortly. I'll post my log some time in the next hour or so.
>>15594697
>

>>15594697
In case you truly didn't see the Bei Dou brew, I posted it quite early this morning in the previous thread: >>15589322

>>15594700
Too addictive

>>15594714
>I was violently burping and throwing up for like 7 hours.
Sounds fun
Violently burping is a really hilarious image

>>15594687
I haven't tried it in tea form, but I believe you can take ashwagandha as a tea. I use formulated extracts of it myself. Excellent for vigor and stamina, as well as stress relief. It is an adaptogen.

Wow had no idea there were people of culture on this site. Tea heads wuttup. I’ll be back, and I’ll bring photos of teaware so help me glob. In the meantime, post your tea setup.

>>15594848
>post your tea setup.
That's it, this is my complete setup, occasionally i use a different mug

This Taiwan oolong sampler is a pretty great deal btw
25g each of 7 different 2020 oolongs for $42 shipped, I probably should have just ordered this instead of ordering a bunch of individual samples
https://www.tea-masters.com/en/samplers/1399-teamasters-sampler-for-beginners-february-2021.html

Finished my entry for the Spring 2020 Jin Fenghuang Wuyi oolong from Verdant Tea. If any of you have thoughts on how I might clarify the sweet/tart note(s) on a tea such as this in the future, please feel free to comment about them in a reply. Here are my notes:

5g/205F/20s. Dry leaf has a sweet old (maple?) scent. Wet leaf has an excellent toasty, savory scent. Quite like a mix of roasted nuts, perhaps also a touch of popcorn. Medium thickness, low astringency.

Sunflower seeds, wet driftwood, and subtle popcorn aroma from wet leaf now. A faint malty aroma from the liquor. Bitterness raised slightly. Aftertaste seems to hover around a low sour bitterness within a roast. Only underlying sweetness. Starting to notice a cool, almost minty aftersip feeling towards my lips and edge of my tongue, but detect no such flavor.

Performed two brews at 195F/25s and 200F/35s. Scent on the gaiwan lid is much sweeter now. Flavor seems lacking; don't think this leaf lasts many infusions. Performed a heavier brew at 205F/60s. Sweetness on gaiwan lid is still very subtle, reminiscent of a tart fruit. No such flavor or aroma in the liquor or leaf as far as I can tell. Flavor has remained muted despite ramping up the brew parameters, yet bitterness has subsided with each infusion.

This tea certainly seems aftertaste-focused. The aromas are more potent than the Bei Dou of the same area while having much lower astringency, making it much easier to drink. As with the Bei Dou, I would not go out of my way to drink it, but the aroma is nice. I think a more experienced brewer could potentially unlock a hidden fruit aroma, or something similar otherwise. That would be a most welcome pairing to the nut-focused character of this tea. It would be a great base for a fruity tisane blend.

>>15595071
You can try to break down the sweetness by category, honey, brown sugar, rock sugar etc

>>15595071
Fag.

>>15595174
I'd certainly consider this, though the issue comes when the element of sweetness is too faint to clarify, or obscured by another, more potent note. I've been trying to rectify this in my brews by lowering the temperature slightly to offset bitterness and avoid "burning off" aromatics, but I question if that is an effective method. It could just be that the sweetness in most of my teas is low. I certainly wish I had tea from a source other than Verdant to compare to. My order from Fullchea is going to take a fair while to arrive, and it is 100% pu'er. I am still a novice brewer, so it is all part of the learning experience for me.

>>15594687
mint tea from the leaf of my mint shrub.

>>15595315
Personally, when I read too many hyper-specific tasting notes at once I start to dismiss it as astrology tier bullshitting. Different anon btw. I keep my descriptions to two, maybe three things. There's no actual sugar in tea. The perception is mostly from linalool. It can increase slightly with more theanine and less bitter caffeine. Tea seems to either taste fruity or like honey and wine grapes depending on if leafhopper bugs fucked the plants up.
I'm curious how important temperature really is, because in the coffee world people used to believe too hot water would burn the beans but it turns out that's not true. No word on how temperature effects tea afaik.

>>15591516
Geez, two saucers?

Got a load of Suki tea for Valentine's day. Really love this one.

>>15596430
I'm also inclined to believe there is a typical limit of flavors for most teas based on what I've tasted, but the variety I've consumed is fairly low, too. I've experienced some weird aromas like buttery crackers and cannabis, but many were very bland or flat teas. It is usually two to four aroma/flavor combos at once. I'm not expecting Mei Leaf-tier impressions, but I think there is much yet to have, especially with fruit or pastry-like values.
>I'm curious how important temperature really is
I think it has made a notable difference on some of my teas. With my recent 2020 Bei Dou brew, just a 5-degree drop in temperature opened up a nutty note that was obscured by bitterness. I think brew time matters similarly. As an example, with my 2016 Shou Mei, longer steeps just increased the richness and prominence of its buttery cracker notes. I'm sure it all just comes down to the tea type and individual leaf characteristics.

>>15596751

Not that anon, but I think it's useful to imagine brew outcomes as a function of only three variables - does, temperature, and time. These are the only 3 things we as consumers can control, and they each play a distinct but interconnected role. I think it's both liberating but also confounding to realize that there are a maximum of 3 variables that we can ultimately control for when it comes to the splendor or ultimate shortfallings of our finished steeps.

>>15596772
I see it similarly. My journalings have all been for the purpose of acquiring a more intimate understanding of these parameters. I think the most difficult thing is not having enough data to pull conclusions from, but I suppose that just comes with time. I wish I had teas other than those from Verdant to learn from. Thinking of ordering a full stack of white cakes from Fullchea, very pleased with my whites so far.

>>15594687
>For me, it is Greek Mountain Tea.
hmm yes, quite based indeed. I'm surprised the stuff isn't more popular.
also try lemon balm if you haven't

>>15596751
Fun fact about linalool: it's in cannabis too. I've been reading a book called Nose Dive and it's sometimes amusing for pointing out molecules in seemingly dissimilar things like butter and vomit, or citrus and ants. That's where the entertainment value of tasting notes lies, the associations reflect on your memories.

With a particular sencha, if I follow the brewing instructions and steep for 1 minute it will smell strongly grassy at 160F but hardly at all at 165F. Huge difference in 5 degrees. But I never tried just steeping it for less time with hotter water. Is there any reason I can't steep gyokuro with boiling water for like 2 seconds? Does that 14 minute room temperature steep method really make a difference? I wonder...

Another confounding factor is apparently dilution influences your perception of how sweet/floral or bitter a drink is. Not due to sweet or bitter compounds, literally just from water. Maybe it's not so weird if russkies oversteep tea then dilute it.
https://sca.coffee/sca-news/25-magazine/issue-11/less-strong-more-sweet

>>15597085
(2)
Also if you're interested, tea flavors are common in the aldehyde column on the right. I figure oxidized tea is further broken down and the flavors are nearer the top generally.

>>15595071

>>15597123
Thanks for the charts anon, good shit
>>15597085
>Is there any reason I can't steep gyokuro with boiling water for like 2 seconds?
That really raises a lot of questions in terms of what exactly is going on. Is the higher temp causing the breakdown of compounds that wouldn't occur with lower temps even with much longer exposure? Does the higher temp actually cause the water to pick up other compounds it wouldn't otherwise grab? Or is it just that lower temp longer steeps is easier to control and more forgiving then trying to pull off two second flash steeps?

>>15597154
One of the thinks i really like about tea is that is seems to be somewhat resistant to the autistic degrees of repeatability that coffee is subject to. There is a lot more room to play around and experiment and it's impossible to codify into things like
Black tea
Use boiling water
Steep for exactly 2 minutes
I like the less precise kind of go with the flow approach that is used to dial in each tea

>>15597085
Thanks for sharing these resources with me, Anon. The article was certainly an interesting read, and much of it coincided with my personal findings (especially 'masking'). What I didn't consider outside of genetic predisposition was the concept of flavor association. I can see how I might have an association of things such as butter crackers or a campfire, but others make less sense. I have never smoked marijuana in my life, but I can isolate the scent very well despite not having much contact with it. Though, perhaps it is that quality of distinction that makes it stand out so much that a brew I made was predominantly cannabis/linnalool-focused.

It's funny; as a nootropics and supplementation enthusiast, I can recognize and fully understand many of those components, and why they are as they are. Theanine is mild and somewhat sweet, glycine is sweet (and disgusting in my opinion), and glutamine is highly savory. I can take magnesium glycinate powder, and while fully detecting its sweetness, be revolted by it simultaneously. It would be fascinating if many struggles to detect specific notes in tea and other beverages could be due to such base preferences and instincts.
>>15597154
I'm inclined to think that much of it has to do with the different rates of extraction within a tea. A tea heavy in linalool may smell herbal/floral, but if you infuse it too long or hot, bitter elements may extract more readily, causing significant bitterness that masks that trait. I think this could be especially true of fruity or floral flavors. Whenever I brew with water of a lower temperature, I nearly always experience a clearer, less bitter, and less atringent brew. However, brewing too low or too short can lead it go be flavorless.

Found a piece of rubbery plastic in my sample cake while picking it apart. Tea was 2018 Yunnan Sourcing "Lucy" shou puer. At least it wasn't a fingernail.

>>15597223
Nice, usually when i get plastic it's bits of string or fragments of those big plasticised sacks they use to store tea.

>>15597189
Tea is more forgiving since it doesn't get sour if you under-extract it. Some of my oolong tea I don't even check the temp or set a timer anymore. Random results still turn out drinkable. It's freeing after delving into coffee autism. But then my gyokuro is expensive so I'm sticking a Thermapen in the water obsessing over how to get the most out of it.

>>15597223
Imagine not being based and teapilled and getting tiny rock fragments in your tea instead. Don't you want that sweet minerality, anon?

>>15597250
Yeah those fancy Japanese greens are for sure one of the less forgiving types of tea.
When i tank about brewing being less precise im not just talking about being more or less forgiving to mistakes but that each tea requires you to feel out it's own brew parameters, you could get two similar Yunnan black teas but one spent more time in the rolling machine so it extracts faster, there are good general guidelines but no real one size fits all approach.
I know them same exists with coffee to some extent, but you are still grinding and homogenizing the coffee before brewing which helps remove a huge amount of variability.

>>15591516
Just tried the Twinings Earl Grey tea and I have to say I'm kind of disappointed. I might have to go back to lipton, but it tasted better with some maple syrup though.

Drinking some 2008 Three Cranes 0855 liu bao from Chawangshop. It's on the more pricey side of the spectrum but if you want s super clean tasting liu bao with over a dozen years of age on it it's a very good choice.
The description mentions gamey flavors which is accurate in a subtle, surprisingly pleasant way.

>>15597565
You live in the US?
Check out this shop, they are an importer of brittish teabags and looseleaf that is trustworthy and sells fresh tea, so you aren't buying it on Amazon from god knows where.
Extensive selection and much better prices than typical English import stores.
Here are all their earl grey offerings, mostly teabags
https://www.teadog.com/earl-grey-tea/

>>15597618
Still working on this, it's pretty good, decent longevity

>>15597565
If you want to try some earl gray and don't mind loose leaf I can recommend from personal experience puerh shop Brooklyn has a good one, I also hear good things about Bellocq also in nyc. for a cheaper one, or if you want tea bags, then going for a pyramid sachet is usually nice, harney and sons, or any of the french sellers should be good

So I have a bunch of stuff in my cart at YS, but if shippings gonna take forever I might as well wait until they release the spring 2021 teas. their .us site is picked clean, what are some other good us vendors I can tide myself over with? I'm gonna go with upton unless someone can point me to something better.

What is the best tea-and-liquor combination you know of?

>>15598714
depends what's in your basket, because do keep in mind that in a couple of weeks, defo before the new harvest, they'll increase the prices on their website, with specifically puer increasing by 20-30%

>>15598738
My cart is basically all inexpensive white cakes at the moment, so if they mark those up as they do puerh it should only be $1-2 more per cake.

>>15598714
Upton is cool
You could check out purple cloud tea house
They have a few nicely priced black teas and oolongs, their whites are pretty expensive
Also grab a sample of liu bao if you order from them, i would suggest this one
https://purplecloudteahouse.com/collections/liu-bao/products/2005-si-jin-quan-four-gold-coins-liu-bao-tea

>>15599098
Hey I'm just scrolling through out of boredom and don't really care about tea, but I thought I might try something new. What sort of flavors can I expect from Liu Bao, is it something I'll be able to appreciate if I just drank cheap chai, green, orange pekoe, chamomile tea from Walmart as a kid?

>>15599441
Its not for everyone, it's woody, nutty, maybe chocolatey. It's fermented after it's made using methods not that different than turning a compost pile, and it has some of those loam earthy flavors. If that sounds good to you than you should absolutely try it, for me it's a great tea for an afternoon or a cold weekend day inside. Its very easy on the stomach as well.

>>15599513
Sounds good as long as it's not actually rotten, I like the smell of leaf compost
Thanks. I'll try it

>>15599577
Should not have any rotten gross flavors like that.

Does anyone drink tea before bed? I used to be able to but now it keeps me up.

is there anyone that sells tea sets for a single person? i just want a gaiwan with a matching cup that's the same capacity. should i just get a pitcher?

>>15600578
Frustratingly it's hard to find teacups that are big enough to hold the entire capacity of a gaiwan. You could get a pitcher. But i can see thr appeal in keeping things simple. You can always buy a cheap gaiwan and use it as a cup for your other gaiwan.
If you look through these listings you could get the glazed gaiwan and one of the glazed "master cups" and that would look pretty good as a set and the cup would actually hold all the liquid.
https://www.chawangshop.com/tea-hardware/huaning-pottery.html

>>15600578
>>15600625
Just buy a gaiwan and a western style teacup or coffee cup, ffs guys.

I got into tea just to trick slutty yogi leftist BPD whores into thinking I'm like organic or shit

Based
Based
Oh yeah that's based oh yeah I'm based

>>15600625
shit, this is perfect. i'll get these.
>>15600872
i've been drinking out of a mug for years now, i'm just thinking of getting something a little nicer.

>>15600578
>>15600625
https://www.amazon.com/White-Portable-Kungfu-Ceramic-Minimalist/dp/B089XYMKXR/ref=sr_1_49_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=easy+gaiwan&qid=1613532496&sr=8-49-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyOEo1WUNLMjBJWEhTJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTkxMTQ0MTdOTkFSUVJXQUtSJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA1NTgxNjFVNDY4SlZZMklDU0Qmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGZfbmV4dCZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Russian caravan in the morning and gaoshan for post lunch.

fgm

>>15600883
Same. I read these threads so I can spit puer game to about a size 14 lady who thinks she’s a lesbian and is obsessed with puer. I’m *this* close to convincing her she’s actually pansexual and not lesbian. So keep spilling the tea on this wild world of puerism, please.

>>15591516
I like the packets but am proud enough to disregard any teabags containing "Natural Flavors". My favorite is pic related. Fuck with me.

>>15601000
I love mint tea, try spearmint if you get the chance.

>>15601000
At least in my experience, bags vs loose leaf isn't nearly as important for herbal tea. However, fresh leaves do make a difference and mint plants are tough as nails and easy to grow.

>>15601025
the ones I've had tend to be a bit more bitter than peppermint but it may have just been the brand or how I was preparing it
>>15601048
actually, I've had a couple mint plants in my time, haven't had any in maybe two years or so. there had been a local flower+plant popup market in town some time ago and this one was labeled as "Mojito Mint", even more than any mint plant I'd had before it was so sweet, fruity almost. I miss that plant, I'd make iced tea with it and, woof. So good. And you're right, they're so hearty, I'm horrible with plants but even managed to keep these alive for a while. Maybe it's about time I got some again.

>>15601048
fresh nettle is such a different experience to bagged nettle

>>15601169
What does nettle tea taste like?

>>15601105
>the ones I've had tend to be a bit more bitter than peppermint
Yeah i guess that's right, you have tu use a slightly lower temp and or a shorter steep time, spearmint can get kind of bitter if you just leave the teabag in for 10 minutes

gween tea

Is it supposed to smell and taste like nori?

>>15602925
they're both toasted, so it's reasonable to expect similarities. that said, toasted rice obviously doesn't actually taste like seaweed (to me, anyway)

>>15602925
no

>>15602925
You mean rice crackers

>>15603125

More like bok choy, spinach and seaweed. None of the toasted rice is coming through. Either I'm not steeping long enough or I got a bad batch. It's not bad but it's more of a dinner tea than a snack tea.

>>15603162
I have only had a very cheap asian market version but mine had some toasted notes to it, the green tea also wasnt very good so it didn't add a whole lot.
Seaweed nori etc sounds like notes you can sometimes get in strong Japanese green teas.

So much snow this week, it's a good time to enjoy an nice cup of tea

New tea came
This is the 2006 feng quing i ordered from the dude on ebay.
Looks good, i will probably wait a few days to break into it. Cake is very loose around the edges so it's pretty messy

>>15604123
It came with this slightly dusty sample of a 2006 chang tai "369" so i will be giving that a taste today

>>15591516
I've bought some keemun recently. Best black tea I've had so far.

>>15604137
I can't find a listing for this tea on his ebay store, maybe it's new or maybe its the 2006 399 and he labeled it wrong.
The tea smells mellow and well aged.
Thr initial sips are sweet and mellow, very reminiscent of black tea flavors a bit of that powdered sugar sweetness on the tongue, fall tea flavor. No hints of storage tastes, tea still has some of that factory "roughness" in the background but it's not prominent.
Lots of floral or powder sugar sweetness on the finish.
I'm not sure if i like this one or not, i should thinks it's a nice mellow easy daily drinker but something isint quite clicking, it might be the strong black tea resemblance.

>>15594625
genmaicha

>>15604339
Yes, kemum is one of my favorites
I really want to recommended this dianhong "classic 58x tea but the brand i like only comes in these big boxes
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/2019-yunnan-old-tree-black-tea-dianhong-feng-qing-red-tea-cake-357g-p0593.html

Got my YS order in. Not really a big oolong fan, but no point in buying old green tea when the spring 2021 teas comes out so soon so fuck it.

>>15587041
>Absolutely no caffeine (during pregnancy)
evidence shows that high levels of caffeine during pregnancy may be harmful however limited caffeine intake has not been definitively shown to cause harm. most health organizations currently suggest limiting caffeine intake during pregnancy to less than 200-300mg a day. under those limits caffeine consumption has not been proven to be harmful during pregnancy.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625078/
https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2010/08/moderate-caffeine-consumption-during-pregnancy
https://www.who.int/elena/titles/caffeine-pregnancy/en/

for the sake of comprehensives i will note there is a recent review article that suggests that all caffeine should be avoided during pregnancy but its conclusion has not been widely accepted yet and there is some controversy surrounding it.

https://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2020/09/01/bmjebm-2020-111432
https://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2020/09/01/bmjebm-2020-111432.responses

>>15590196
>Just get a lead test stick
those are generly designed to detect lead paint and may give false negatives on harder to test materials such as ceramics and glass. you need specialized equipment (X-ray fluorescence) to non destructively and accurately measure lead in ceramics/glass.

if you want to avoid heavy metals plain porcelain or borosilicate are possibly safer (glazes and crystal glass often contain heavy metals). also you can try to buy from a source that you trust and confirm the product is heavy metal free. better still if they can provide certification. if you are really dedicated you could soak the teaware in concentrated vinegar (or other food safe weak acid) for a number of days after you get it to try and preemptively leach out any heavy metals from the surface.

>>15592269
>Yunnan
>it's all grown organically up there anyway
don't make bold statements like that if you cant prove them.

>>15592912
>330ml is too big
it is a fine size for making Japanese tea. they don't use as aggressive tea to water ratios traditionally as you would in gong fu style.

>>15604502
Based i want to hear your thoughts on that 2009 liming. It sounds good, also interested in hearing about the gao jia shan fu zhuan

>>15593425
>I have had the occasional ripe puer that gets bitter (dayi red coin or whatever its called in chinese) but most ripes will basically never get bitter no matter what you do with them.
that has been my experience as well.

>>15596430
>Personally, when I read too many hyper-specific tasting notes at once I start to dismiss it as astrology tier bullshitting.
i think some people are more impressionable and do the tasting equivalent of squinting in order to maximize the number of notes. i tend to err on the side of being conservative with my notes or at least qualifying thing i am uncertain off.

>>15596772
water quality matters as well and the factors you mentioned can become become quite complicated to control and their effects difficult to quantify.

>>15597223
>Found a piece of rubbery plastic in my sample cake
i mostly just find hair but i have gotten a rock before.

>>15600578
>is there anyone that sells tea sets for a single person? i just want a gaiwan with a matching cup that's the same capacity.
buy two identical gaiwans and use one as a cup.

>>15604732
>also interested in hearing about the gao jia shan fu zhuan
Aside from the white cakes this is what i'm most excited to try. Closest thing I've had to hei cha is ripe puerh, and if they taste anything like the descriptions it sounds like i'll like it more. I wish they had more choices for freebies in the 50 dollar range, the golden pig raw is OK but nothing to write home about.

>>15604879
I have a brick of the 2009 gao jia shan and love it, it's very interesting, it coats your mouth and gives you the creamy aftertaste of eating a spoonful of whipped cream. The woman said she found it "too creamy" it also has notes of a nicely aged raw puer. It's not the prettiest tea, but their newer productions seem to hace improved the looks some compared to their very early stuff.

Amazing weather today

>>15605129
Looks cozy anon

>>15604346
Final verdict on this tea is a big meh, it's okay but just too much like black tea, it has some nice sort of fall flavors but the processing lets it down.

>>15605205
would it be good for someone who likes the taste of black tea?

>>15605511
Yes, if you are into black teas you would probably really like it, it's complex, has some aged flavor and what i can best describe as fall harvest tea flavor.
The packet said 369 but im pretty sure it's this
https://www.ebay.com/itm/China-yunnan-Chang-Tai-Tea-Group-2006-sheng-green-pu-er-399-400g/303120549062
His proce seems reasonable, its one of the more affordably priced chang tai productions from 2006. I checked king tea mall i was going to like him too if he also had it but he doesn't, if he did have it it might be $10 cheaper but you would have to pay for shipping separately.

Oh shit lads we got one of the first 2021 harvest green teas, sound like it's from somewhere in the south china sea. I promise i will ease off on shilling ebay guy for a bit. A lot of his puer prices aren't fantastic , some are pretty good. But he seems to bring a few interesting teas to the table when it comes to looseleaf non puer, stuff i haven't seen from other vendors.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2021-Chinese-green-tea-from-the-Hainan-island-Baisha-region-unique-tea-100g/303839874550

>>15591516
Was memed into adding milk to black tea after reading some anon’s advice.

It did nothing.

What the heck???

>>15606145
Ive never been one for milk, if you don't think it did anything you probably need to add more

All I want in life is to find a waifu to drink gongfu tea with. That is all.

>>15606233
Hilariously my girl drinks black coffee, hates tea.

>>15606233
I got a middle eastern wife who drank loose leaf before I tried loose leaf. She brought me to a Chinese tea house on the shores of the persian gulf for a date. Got me into it.
It's insanely comfy having a wife who loves tea. She doesn't like drinking (not a muslim though) so we tend to drink tea on romantic dates instead of wine.
Maybe look in an arab country?

>>15605797
>Changtai
what happened to them? it seems like all the tea of theirs i have seen is pre 2010.

>>15605944
>A lot of his puer prices aren't fantastic
who do you consider to have better prices?

Welcome to my tea shop, what do you wish to drink today?

>>15603305
genmaicha is literally feudal japanese peasant tea, It really shouldn't have ultra high grade tea plants in it.

>>15606486
>what happened to them?
They got absolutely fucked in the 2007 puer price bubble crash. They tried to go high quality in 2008 and 2009 but they effectively died. Apparently they are making some modern productions in the last few years
>who do you consider to have better prices?
You always have to shop around because it really depends, if you compare ebay guys prices for Haiwan teas to fullchea-tea.com/ than fullchea is usually cheaper sometimes by $15 on a sub $50 cake
If you compare his prices for mengku stuff to fullchea or king tea mall they are both usually cheaper.
But he beats prices from yunnan sourcing on a couple teas they both stock like the one i posted upthread, and his version is actually better for less money
>>15604123
So it's all relative, he actually posts tasting notes for every tea where fullchea almost never does and king tea mall only does sometimes so there is some vale in being a little less blind buying from him and that fact that he seems to actually curate his selection unlike the other two that are more warehouse style.

>>15606614
thanks

>They got absolutely fucked in the 2007 puer price bubble crash.
that was my guess but i had never seen it directly stated by anyone.

>You always have to shop around because it really depends
i totally agree with this which was kind of why i asked the question (who do you consider to have better prices?) in the first place in case you had some new vendor or insight.

>posts tasting notes for every tea
tasting notes are great even when you don't agree with them 100%. they help you avoid blind buys and can be helpful for a beginner to build tasting vocabulary.

>>15606145
Here's something I consider as a rule of thumb: good tea should be flavorful enough to stand on its own, without milk, sugar, honey, etc.

>>15606573
>5000 jars of random shit that is getting staler by the day
Anybody with a "collection" of consumable shit like this is a larper, if they liked it they'd actually use it.

it's a store. It still raises the same problem as I doubt they sell enough to justify that wide a selection of a specialty item like tea.

>>15606897
Its a tea shop using the quirky store everything in mason jars look

>>15606954
Mason jars are cheap and pretty durable, is there also bad in storing tea in a mason jar?

>>15607009
Well you don't really want to store tea in the light, lots of tea shops use big wooden drawers on a big shelf. For home use mason jars are fine as long as the sun isn't shining on them all day

>>15607036
I've been planning an elaborate custom built tea drawer system and was going to use glass inside the drawers for keeping it air tight.
So the only issue is keeping it out of light?

>>15607178
Yeah, otherwise there is no issues with glass as long as the containers seal tightly

>>15607178
Also that sounds cool, post some progress pics when you start working on it

Sipping on some of the 200X failcorp w2t just sent out.

>>15607486
Probably going to be like 10 years until it actually gets built, I want to get my PhD and pay off my student loans before I buy a house where I will spend tens of thousands to make a room just for tea.

>>15607548
Haha oh yeah that's long term stuff. Having a tea room would be pretty great, it would be fun to decorate it with tea paraphernalia.
>>15607536
The even keeping the harvest years secret now? Or is it some white wrapper situation with an unknown age?

>>15607581
Supposedly its some shit from 2004 from a failed company and most of it got sold at auction over the years. I guess some just sat in the warehouse and he got his hands on it at some point but can't verify what it actually is. Smells kind of plummy, kind of malty like the 2012 lao chao tou from purple cloud so it definitely has some years on it, but who knows. Its pretty good.

>>15607723
a e s t h e t i c

as chinese born please be careful where you are buying your tea many bad places and bad sellers

be careful!

>>15607723
I don't think i have had a ripe that old before.
The dry material looks like it's good quality.

>>15607771
Thanks chinabro

>>15607771
any bad companies to watch out for chinabro

Are you able to tell what's wrong with this ?
Better yet, can you tell me who this was made by?
Year?

they're leaves mate

>>15608985
If you laid some out flat where i could see the ribs i might be able to make #ome guesses about processing.
Age is really a guess but less than 6 year old, probably less than three.
No way i could say who made it.

>>15607036
>>15607178
just as an fyi ball mason makes brown (amber) UV protected jars.

>>15607036
>>15607178
just as an fyi ball mason makes brown (amber) UV protected jars. i would probably still not store them in direct sunlight though.

>>15608985
looks like young raw puerh

>>15609426
you can tell from this pic

>>15609933
hint
it's to do with the processing

>>15608985
It's over fermented before the kill green, and or there are issues with the drying process too much reddish brown. There is also some weird spottyness going on on on some leaves but im not sure of that happened before or after they were picked It's a small boutique producer owned by a westerner, probably YS but maybe W2T, but that's based more on context clues than my knowledge of their products, its less than two years old, probably a year or less.

>>15610069
If i wanted to make further speculation i might say it took to long to process after harvest or there were some issues with drying after processing or possibility even issues with drying the cakes after pressing.

HOW DO I BREW GYOKURO TEA?!
Every time I fucking google it’s stupid ass tea ceremonies. “OH TEA A-SO SACRED. MUST RESPECT IT.”
SHUT THE FUCK UP!

>>15610069
It got over oxidized from withering too long
to compensate for this they put it in the frier/wok for too long and or a unskilled worker didn't have even distrubtion of heat during the kill green or they didn't manage the fire well enough making the leaves to hot, those leaves are burnt / singed
hense the dark spots and also red stems

so the processing was done in an unskilled fashion before and during kill green
What does this mean? it will age extremely poorly and have off-tastes throughout

how do the compensate for this? they store it in kunming so it ages extremely slowly before revealing such thing's to unknowing customers

Who was this by? YS ofc
Hai Long Hao processing

https://yunnansourcing.com/products/2017-yunnan-sourcing-da-qing-gu-shu-raw-pu-erh-tea-cake?_pos=8&_sid=ec7e7a7b4&_ss=r

"Gushu" is a rocky claim, i highly doubt that this is what it claims it is based on what genuine Gushu I've had

Be careful when you buy from YS

>>15610152
Ofc its the fake tea sperg again.

>>15610147
Get a small pot (a kyusu no more than 200ml/6 fl oz should be fine), and brew three steeps with the following parameters:
1 minute at around 50C/122F
30 seconds at around 60C/140F
90 seconds at around 70C/160F (if you're daring)

Green teas tend to be delicate, but gyokuro is an especially delicate tea, and thus should be brewed at cooler temperatures compared to, say, black or oolong tea.

please rec some really malty black tea

>>15610447
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/black-tea/products/yunnan-black-gold-bi-luo-chun-black-tea

>>15610447
Dianhong, Dianhong, Dianhong.
>>15610485
What he said.

Anyone know a ''''better'''' tea then earl gray? I'm interested in tea and i love earl gray, but i somehow feel like there are more exotic and better tasting teas out there. Earl gray is just. idk, American? tea. Weak, inoffensive. I had ginger with lemongrass or something like that and i couldn't stop drinking it, i just felt so calmed while drinking it.

>>15610515
Seems like you might enjoy black tea. I suggest trying Keemun or Dianhong teas. They're strong, malty, and the base for breakfast teas in the US and UK. :-)

>>15610515
masala chai aka spiced tea, there's also lady grey which is more lemon. Darjeeling is floral, assam malty, vahdam does a Smoked Assam which is extremely comfy

>>15610515
Earl grey is a flavored tea so they use a very standard very bland and boring black tea as the base, like how they make flavored whiskey with the stuff that doesn't taste that great on it's own.
Are you okay with loose leaf tea?
Grab this sampler set
https://www.uptontea.com/tea-samplers/loose-leaf-black-tea/p/V00528/
And a brew basket to brew in a mug
https://www.uptontea.com/tea-infusers/finum-stainless-steel-brewing-basket-med/p/V00471/
You should really enjoy trying the different types and that has a good variety covering different tastes of black tea
Want teabags?
https://www.teadog.com/english-breakfast-tea/
Pick out a couple upmarket English breakfast teas that sound good and give em a try

>didn’t realize Japanese tea is now largely from China
Wtf. Where can I find real Japanese tea? I don’t care about radiation

>>15610650
Where did you hear this?

>>15610650
The pastebin in the op has links to lots of Japanese tea shops in Japan.
Also these shops are based in the US and ship from there
https://ippodotea.com/
https://www.denstea.com/
If you are in the UK or europe
https://what-cha.com
Canada
https://www.capitaltea.com/

>>15610152
Are you saying that Hai Long Hao teas have the same issues? I haven't tried any

>>15610636
Cheers! Thank you for the advice.
>>15610623
I'll check these out!
>>15610561
Thank you!

My order from https://www.tea-masters.com/en/ shipped, im looking forwards to trying a few Taiwan oolongs and some somewhat heavily stored taiwan puer, I think this will be the first official CNNP puer production I have had as well. I haven't heard great things about their productions but it should be fun to try.

>>15610152
>this guy bought a $120 cake
Why are puerh lesbians like this? buy a sensible priced tea.
YS has great offering

>>15611735
I think he said he bought a sampler of some of their higher priced offerings and wasn't impressed with it.

>>15611735
>Be careful when you buy from YS

>YS has great offering

Its like you don't even read before responding.

>>15611471
be sure to tell us how the cake is. its on my list of tea i am interested in getting so i would love to hear your opinion on it.

>I haven't heard great things about their productions but it should be fun to try.
i think some of their ripes and other heicha types are considered ok. but i have never really seen much talk about newer CNNP raws.

>>15612048
If you're not a puerh lesbian, YS is amazing

>>15612144
Will do, it's a decent price point if it's a nice daily drinker tea without anything weird going on.

You guys think this might be any good?
$200
2003 white label cake
no info about where the material is from
storage is described as
>Classical Guangzhou storage only some near wet but suitable for drinking and enjoyment.
and it comes with a warning
>Attention:
>Only recommended for old tea drinkers who are familiar with Guangzhou or HongKong storage.
i would not blind order a cake but I don't think he would have listed it if it wasnt good.
https://kingteamall.com/collections/home-page/products/2003-kingteamall-naked-cake-357g-puerh-raw-tea-sheng-cha

>>15612547
if i had to guess i would say it was probably some fake and thats why he is selling them unwrapped, i doubt they were tonging up naked cakes in 2003

What tea does everyone drink in the evening to wind down? I always drink some after-dinner tea to settle the stomach. Tonight I'm drinking sencha, but most nights I opt either for hojicha or an herbal tea. :-)

>>15612560
i usually do herbal tea, sometimes a liu bao or a roasty oolong

>>15612547
This is a culture that eats living fish, you do the math on what they consider nasty

>>15612560
I drink jasmine in the evening

>>15612554
>it was probably some fake and thats why he is selling them unwrapped
even if that's the case some of the fakes back then were supposedly made of good material because it was harder to make your own brand and sell it back then so they just copied wrappers to make their otherwise good tea marketable.

>>15612612
kek touche
>>15612682
yeah I know, I just thought it was interesting its a little off brand for the king tea mall guy to list a tea like that because he basically does no curation and resells tea from a big wholesaler he has a relationship with, this seems like a more specific and more curated selection.

using a small dedicated tea cup actually makes a surprisingly big difference compared to a normal mug

>>15612692
>its a little off brand for the king tea mall guy to list a tea like that
he does have his own house brand so its not that far off.
https://kingteamall.com/collections/kingteamall

>because he basically does no curation and resells tea from a big wholesaler he has a relationship with
he probably still pokes around some of their warehouses to find what to list and to ensure he trusts selling their stuff under his name even if does not taste everything.


has anyone had any of KTM's house brand stuff? how was it?

>>15612703
in what way

>>15612756
Ive had a few samples of his puer, they seem decent quality for the price. He is really into the bitter stuff so lots of what he stocks reflects that. Is the $30 for 100g bulang gu shu really made from 300+ year old trees? Eh, probably not, but it's reasonably priced for what it is.
The reviews are pretty accurate from the ones ive tasted.
I keep meaning to grab one of these since people seem to like it a lot but i haven't gotten around to it.
https://kingteamall.com/collections/available/products/free-shipping-2018-spring-zi-qi-cake-100g-puerh-gushu-sheng-cha-raw-tea-1?variant=30686666031207

>>15612836
That link is weird I'm tring to link to the "BoYa" cake and that's what comes up when you click it, but it says "zi qi” in the url for some reason.

>>15612048
>argues that YS is good as a counter to "they're sketchy"
m8, you need reading comprehension

I'm just saying be careful with YS
can get shit like this, but YS has also produced many good cakes

I suppose if you buy young sheng to drink now and like Kunming then I don't believe we'll see you complaining about any of their tea's
(that's because you have shit taste btw)

my Gushu claim isn't based in fact, just experience, feel free to ignore that
And if you disagree with the conclusion's about the processing, feel free to reply

but otherwise, don't blindly follow your favorite vendor as I see some of you doing, be ultra critical of your purchases and your vendor's, or you'll find yourself getting fleeced

>>15614451
Not him
Like i said last thread, you can't trust any vendor who presses their own cakes to have perfect curation, like the example tea you gave.
>>15608985
>>15610152
He says he pressed 50 kilos of that tea. He shouldn't have bought it in the first place but maybe he wanted to maintain access to their crop or he just screwed up in buying it, either way lets look at his cost very roughly. He made about 125 cakes, assuming his total cost to bring it to market was half his retail price $60.50 x 125 = ~$7,560
At the point where he has 7 grand invested in producing the cakes he is going to try to sell them. So it's impossible to trust a vendor that all the stuff they produce is going to be fantastic. Looking at his product photos he does at least show the singed leaves, though the redness isint as obvious as the picture you posted. I generally agree with advice that you shouldn't be buying tea for long term storage untill its already 6 years old or so, by then you can get a feel for how it has progressed so far and if it will age well. I guess that doesn't really do you any good with small boutique vendors, since lots of their stuff sells in a year or two and ends up as a cake here or there in hundreds of small personal collections. But maybe that just means you shouldn't be buying this small production stuff to age, whis is advice i have heard anyways.

>>15615145
Can agree with most said here
It's the problem with curation without verification
He has to maintain his relatonship, so he must buy the tea that was processed by hai long hao, but I'm simply not going to be forgiving of these business related decision's, he's putting up fucked up tea on site, not good enough

understanding this, I just say to be careful when buying from YS since you're unable to trust his curation or verfication, for some, this is a complete turnoff to a vendor, if you have to maintain such specific care because the vendor either has horrible curation or must sacirifce such a degree of quality every now and then then it's probably not worth buying from that vendor

I mean, it's fine I suppose to buy young sheng with the intent of ages, but it's like, 10+ year investment and you'll not be buying a cake, you may buy a tong, but you'll most likely be buying a jian
If you want to buy a cake for aging seriously, the older the better, unless you must see the changes of young sheng, might as well get something with age on it already

>But maybe that just means you shouldn't be buying this small production stuff to age, whis is advice i have heard anyways.
never hear of this, this would also mean a lot of BYH or CYH is a no-go because their stuff is small production, just not true statements
The claim is generally talking about single-estate sheng instead of blended sheng, blended tends to age better

>>15614451
>>15615145
>>15615520
>Puerh lesbians yet again judging an entire vendor based solely off Puerh
When will puerh lesbians get cured of their rampant homosexuality

>>15615533
https://www.reddit.com/
fuck off like your faggot friend karma did

>>15615540
Nah, screw off to your puerh subreddit if you think all tea discussion is about puerh. Some of us just want to have loose leaf tea and value vendors that provide loose leaf tea. It's you puerh lesbians that insist that tea has to be about puerh

>>15615554
aren't you insisitng that tea has to not be about puerh?
guaranteed
you haven't made a valueable opinion or contribution to any thread you've been in

go suck off your leaders cock some more

>>15615568
I've posted plenty of tea pics and reviews in these threads, including puerh I've had. It's just so tiresome to have puerh lesbians dictating and acting like puerh is the only tea of value and that vendors should only be judged on that.

>>15615579
literally no one says this or does this
you just see puerh and write your autistic shit

how old are you?

>>15615585
>circle jerking about how YS isn't a quality vendor because of puerh
>get told to knock that crap off and consider their whole catalogue
>decide considering a vendor for all their products is autism
seriously m8...
25 btw

>>15615596
Oh hey scott, I didn't think know you were anon posting on 4chan, guess you got bored of posting from your alt accounts on reddit

>>15615603
Scott is extremely based, ngl

>>15615603
lmao I forgot he got caught doing that

>>15615520
>hai long hao
whats your beef with them?

>BYH or CYH
can you list their full names? i don't know those abbreviations.


>>15615540
>karma
who

>>15615649
I don't have beef with Hai Long Hao
when I say Hai Long Hao I'm referencing processing, because he processes the tea

Biyun Hao
Chenyuan Hao

>>15615672
>when I say Hai Long Hao I'm referencing processing, because he processes the tea
Wait are you saying Hai Long Hao does Yunnan Sourcing's house brand processing? otherwise i fail to see how Hai Long Hao is relevant here.

>>15615694
yes

>>15615725
whats the source for this? did Scott post it somewhere?

>>15615738
He's talked about it before

>>15615754
thanks, i will try and look into it more at some point.

>>15615647
It seems that I am under constant attack here on reddit.

Here's another thread that just came out of the blue... well researched and exhaustive.


I am leaving, but I won't delete my account, so all the conspiracy people can pore over my posts and perform their expert level forensic linguistics.

All this stuff really takes a toll on my health. As a tea vendor I need to be spending my time sourcing teas, running my business and taking care of those people who matter to me most. I for one don't have the right constitution to be under attack constantly. I work 70 to 80 hours a week and I am still interacting with all my customers on a daily basis, while maintaining 3 websites, and sourcing all the great teas we offer. Maybe if the OP of this post and the OP of the other post took the time to know me and YS they would actually consider how this makes me feel and how it affects me. I am 43 years old, 2 years ago I was diagnosed with melanoma (grew in Saudi Arabia) and I am trying my best to take care of myself and keep the business running. My family begged me to quit and take time off so that I can rest and recover but I told them I want to keep going and that I'll be ok.

Bi Luo Chun is back in stock

Busting into this incredibly photogenic sample of tong qing hao’s 2019 yi wu "luo shui dong lao shu" raw puerh. The dry leaf smell yi wu

>>15616154
What an odd visual. It looks like some sort of hairy beef jerky. Curious how it eill turn out.

>>15616154
Im not really sold on yi wu puer in general, especially with the astronomical prices some of the material is fetching these days. That said i actually like this tea quite a bit, it has that sory of nutty mellow yi wu flavor without being bland or weak tasting. It still retains a hint of bitterness but its at a low level. The vegetal green tea notes are surprisingly limited for a 2019 production, i guess its nearly two years old at this point. Really strong lasting sweetness on the finish that maintains the nutty notes of yi wu.
The finish is really complex, with different shades of nuttynes, sweetness, flashes of bitterness and some interesting almost hard cheese kind of tang. The sweetness feels like it's just sifting and bubbling on the middle part of my tongue.
I also sampled the 2016 version of this same cake and don't remember it being as exciting or dynamic

>>15616304
Second cup
The finish on this is really impressive, easily lasts 10 minutes or more. Mostly more of the same, a bit over extracted because i insist on drinking young raws grampa style but sill very nice, powerful long finish is still happening. The energy is decent, it's starting to make me sweat.
I guess i get yiwu teas now. Still not my favorite but they will move up my priority list several notches.
Heres the cake
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tong-Qing-Hao-puer-tea-Luo-Shui-Dong-Old-Trees-2019-357g-sheng-green-puerh/303575206026
There is also some group buy website for buying that producer's teas, i forget what it is but it's mentioned on teadb somewhere, prices are probably better but i think the group buys work out nicer if you are getting a few cakes at once.
I will try and remember to post some leaves after i finish brewing this out in a few hours.

>>15615781
Wow... just wow. You are a true spin doctor! You are the one who leaked my personal account and made it into a controversy (with questionable motives) just to prop up your shaky hypothesis. Mastertinklebot had not been used in over a year, and nobody had ever said: Hey Everyone Scott of Yunnan Sourcing has another account he uses to talk about his personal and financial stuff. Have a look! Your smoking gun is a verdant comment I made and a "good video" comment.

Is anyone actually saying that YS is a bad suggestion for affordable loose leaf? I know one anon last year insisted he wasn't impressed with their loose leaf offerings but everybody else seems to think they are decent. I haven't had enough of them myself to judge but i have always considered YS a fairly safe suggestion for people to try a bunch of loose leaf from. I think the issues that people have are mostly with some of their cakes but i don't think a beginner is going to blind buy a $120 cake and their impression series and their affordable ripes are usually a safe, "i want to try some puer" buy for people.

>>15616486
YS is incredibly safe with their loose leaf options, it's where they absolutely shine, especially with their samplers. The problem is they've lately tried to become more pu'erh oriented and they are just incredibly mediocre at it. If you stick to their loose leaf, you'll be fine. Most people know to get pu'erh from elsewhere (KTM seems to be the beginners pu'erh shop these days?). It's mostly 2 guys who keep insisting on being YS pu'erh and ranting about it while 1 or 2 guys calls them lesbians.

>>15616512
Okay i was just trying to make sure nobody was saying their looseleaf sucked now, they are one of my go to suggestions for people getting into tea.

>>15615145
>Like i said last thread, you can't trust any vendor who presses their own cakes to have perfect curation
i would not trust any vendor to have "perfect curation" its just too much work as a vendor and for a verity of reason they are often going to end up with some tea that is less good. only a really small outfit with a very limited selection like TWL or LP stand much of a chance of being well curated. buy samples and get advice.

>>15616486
their loose leaf is generally fine and i don't think their puerh selection is as bad a the couple dedicated naysayers here state. mind you i have only drunk some YS's cheaper stuff and if you are buying $100+ cakes you should do your own research. some people just hate kunming storage as well (and will try and shame you if you like it). they are not the end all be all of tea vendors by any means but YS just seems trendy to hate on at the moment.

>>15616512
>The problem is they've lately tried to become more pu'erh oriented
they have sold puerh for a long time. they have Yunnan in the name after all and it would be strange if they did not have at least some focus on puerh.

>KTM seems to be the beginners pu'erh shop these days?
i am pretty sure most beginners buy from W2T, YS, or CL. KTM is more useful after you decided you want to get into big tea factory tea.

>It's mostly 2 guys who keep insisting on being YS pu'erh and ranting about it
??? not sure what you meant did you forget some words


as an aside
i can almost guarantee a lot of the puerh from back during the "golden age" had all sorts of things that would get called processing defects today it still turned out good. while i think it is a good idea to be careful with what you buy i would not wholesale believe certain individuals predictions on aging and i don't think we will know for sure how the current era of puerh will taste until it actually ages. I hate how cargo cultish puerh can be.

>>15616782
>they have sold puerh for a long time.
I was more referencing how they been pushing their own brand and making a lot of in house pu'erh
>??? not sure what you meant did you forget some words
It's mostly 2 guys who keep insisting on drinking YS pu'erh and ranting about it*

>>15616809
>It's mostly 2 guys who keep insisting on drinking YS pu'erh and ranting about it*
that makes more sense. yeah stop buying it if you don't like it.

>>15616782
>some people just hate kunming storage as well (and will try and shame you if you like it)
I was under the impression that the only difference was slower aging due to drier conditions, there something else to this i'm not seeing or just cork-sniffing?

>>15616898
supposedly wetter storage is more muting and transformative whereas dryer storage is more likely to maintain more of the original characteristics. i am not well enough tasted to really make a definitive statement on this but it would not surprise me if there is some truth to it. there are a number of processes biotic and abiotic that may affect the tea and different conditions may affect the the rates of separate processes differently.

>>15616841
Is the whole puer lesbian thing just assblasted teafag infighting? Never understood that forced meme

>>15616984
As far as I understand it, it's for people who only drink puer and only recommend puer, some people get more visceral about it. The people who lift their nose up high and act like puer is all that matter kinda deserve to be kicked down a notch if we're being honest, but those who yell puer lesbian at every single puer post regardless of content are a bunch of wankers

>>15616898
I have seen claims that storage that's too dry can make tea taste flat or sour, but it's usually in the context of stuff that's whay up north like Beijing. My own personal criticism of Kunming is that you are paying for old tea that doesn't taste old. I have had 20 year old kunming teas that i would have easily believed were 4 years old or so. And then in general i just like the transformation that more humid storage brings. It can definitely go to far in the other direction as well. Like hong kongers that will only drink tea if it's got a nice dusting of white mold on it.

New tea drinker here again, could you just link me some of the basics so you don't have to repete the same thing day after day?

>>15617057
Did you look at the pastebin?

>>15617066
I'm a idiot, thanks

>>15617081
No worries feel free to ask questions, answering questions helps me learn

>>15616427
Here is the leaf shot if anyone is interested.

>>15617309
Any pics of the liquor?

>>15617916
Nah i don't usually take any, i will try to remember next time, i have another brew of this tea left.

>>15617928
Lovely, thank you for sharing. Some interesting notes, like that unusual "[tangy] hard cheese" description. Though I'm having some difficulty conceiving it, I can somewhat get that kind of interpretation when comparing it to a white cakr of mine. I did a tasting for one recently, and it had a buttery cracker flavor, so I guess it is certainly possible. Would this yi wu be considered gushu?

>>15617975
>Would this yi wu be considered gushu?
Nah, im always dubious of those kinda claims but the teas itself isn't even claiming that, if i plug the name "luo shui dong lao shu" into http://www.babelcarp.org i get
>luo shui dong (Luo4 Shui3 Dong4) = (落水洞) literally Fall-Into-Water Cave, a village in Yiwu reputed to have a thousand-year-old tree
And
>lao shu (Lao3 Shu4) = (老树 or 老樹) Old Tree; leaves from old trees are valued in pu’ercha manufacture
In general the way teas are sold trees that are refered to as lao shu would be less than 100 years old and older than 40 or 50 years. You really never know with these things hold old all these dn trees actually are and i try to worry more about the tea than the exact claims of provenance.
When you have some time this video is really insightful in explaining the chinese culture around tea region and age claims and how to best interpret them as a westerner.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=kwvx3yrsyLU

>>15618066
Also that tea is around $90 for 365g, which doesn't really put it in to yiwu gushu territory. Teas we like has a 2020 tea right now that they are selling a a yiwu gushu for $200 for a 365g cake which is more reasonable but still very cheap compared to the high demand yiwu stuff.
Something like this probably has some older trees in it but i wouldn't bet my life on the trees all being over 100 years old.
https://teaswelike.com/product/2020-biyun-hao-longdui-guoyoulin/

>>15618066
>>15618114
Good information and helpful links. I'm definitely bookmarking Babelcarp (been looking everything up manually). Haven't tried gushu or lao shu, but I hear their minerality can be wild, so I like to see posts about some of these older-origin teas. Perhaps someday. Thank you.

is there any thread more boring than one of these?

>>15618684
/wip/ on /tg/ literally posts 24/7 about paint drying.

Is it crazy to age black tea? i have some unsmoked lapsang that's still sealed in mylar factory packaging and i was wondering if i need to hurry up and drink it.

What spring green teas should i order other than dragonswell?

>>15618684
It is boring if you aren't brewing or have any interest in it. Just acquire a touch of autism first, drink more tea, and you'll be good to go.

How long do Fullchea orders tend to take for you lads in once the airline receives and accepts the package? It's been over three weeks waiting to be shipped out due to customs. Was confirmed as received yesterday.

Ordered some of that ebay ephedra. Wasn't the guy who asked about supplements but it sounds interesting. 500g otw.

>>15620577
Come back with your effect results, tastings, etc. Would be neat to read about.

>>15620577
>ephedra
is this Sudafed general now?

Shui Jin Gui "Golden Water Turtle" Wu Yi Rock Oolong
5g for 140ml

Rinse was darker than following brews

First steep onwards smelled strongly of coffee with a hint of nectar
Tasted about the same, a weak coffee with some floral notes

I went for five steeps, it could handle more but i just didnt enjoy it

Im gonna try out a 13 year old rock oolong tomorrow before i write off rock oolongs completely
The roasted flavour of this tea was not for me

>>15622257
>Im gonna try out a 13 year old rock oolong tomorrow before i write off rock oolongs completely
The roasted flavour of this tea was not for me
a bummer you don't like yancha. while it is not all strongly roasted tasting most of it will have at least a bit of toasty flavor to it. what kind of tea do you prefer?

Couldn't sleep after getting home from work this morning so just trying to finish this book and drinking the dancong varietal hongcha from Kong Mountain. Still good. Will probably make some coffee or start in on a semi-aged Yiwu later.

>>15618684
>boring
You spelled comfy wrong. It's the other threads that are boring. Eventually the fear of missing out what others enjoy, instead of enjoying what you actually like, will pass.

>>15622420
Might just be because of the yellow tea towel but that brew looks pink. Nice setup, i need to start doing the boiling water in thermos thing.

>>15622280
I tend to go for blacks for daily drinkers, i had 50g of yunnan gold that i went through faster than any other tea Ive had before.
Im gonna get some hei cha to try out when i order spring stuff.

>>15622739
>Im gonna get some hei cha to try out when i order spring stuff.
what kinds of hei cha are you planing on trying?

kenya gold tips black tea
sweet, fruity, almost like a mix of oolong and black
vietnam wild seed black tea
malty, very nice
peterson estate welsh black
smooth with a subtle honey taste

>>15623016
Where can I find these?

>>15622739
>I tend to go for blacks for daily drinkers

You're probably not wrong. This peach black from w2t is extremely good.

>>15623235
what cha

>>15591516
How much tea is too much tea? I love trying new teas but am becoming a bit of a hoarder and already feel I have enough to last me for the next year however I always get excited about new things I read about and feel like I'm missing out.

>>15623016
>peterson estate welsh black
>£16/12g
i would love to buy tea grown in my own country but god damn

>>15622739
>Im gonna get some hei cha to try out when i order spring stuff.
Based, there is some good stuff out there, do you have anything in mind? Are you thinking of getting some from yunnan sourcing?

>>15622875
Im probably going with YS hei cha sampler
Since the oolong sampler showed some great variety i want to see if hei cha has similar differences

>>15623311
>How much tea is too much tea?
It really depends if you drink stuff that con be stored long term like puer and hei cha i would say two years worth at your current consumption rate is a good limit. Beyond that you really need to be ready to commit some effort to setting up and maintaining a long term storage setup. If you live somewhere that is tropical or semi tropical that can be as simple as dedicated shelf space but if you live somewhere where humidity is under 50% for half the year it can take a bit of commitment and planning, and probably require both setup costs and regular maintenance. For things like deep roasted oolongs in well sealed factory packaging go nuts. Buy a couple kilos (of good stuff) and stick em in a cardboard box somewhere that stays around room temp year-round. If you drink mostly green teas i wouldn't get more than six months worth at the rate you drink them, this is assuming your supplier stores their greens carefully, you could swing it to a years worth if you don't want to reorder halfway through the year. Some blacks can be stored long-term, it depends on the specific tea and again nicely sealed factory packaging makes it easy.
I mostly drink puer and i have a little over a years worth on hand or in the mail right now

>>15623785
>Im probably going with YS hei cha sampler
That should be pretty good, i dont love the 2002 aged wild liu bao that is in it but everything else should be tasty.

Every time i try green tea i like it, but i never buy any, what's wrong with me?

>>15624312
Deep down, you realize white tea is the best tea. Follow your heart, anon.

>>15624366
What are the typical flavour notes of white tea?

>>15624455
I'm still new to whites to be honest, but I think that is still too inexact of a question. It surely depends on the individual varietal/location, grow and storage conditions, and so on (like with any other tea). Though, the last one I had was really buttery and bready. I've been taking care of it by indirectly humidifying a small space with a bowl of water, and it just continues to smell like a delicious, buttery loaf of bread or crackers. Another cake was more nutty and herbal in scent. I'm most optimistic about whites and would like to invest in them the most, especially ones aged five years or more.

>>15623785
>Im probably going with YS hei cha sampler
tell us how it is if you get it. its on my possibly to buy list.

>>15623890
>That should be pretty good, i dont love the 2002 aged wild liu bao that is in it but everything else should be tasty.
what did you not like about the 2002 Aged Wild Liu Bao?


>>15623879
>If you drink mostly green teas i wouldn't get more than six months worth at the rate you drink them, this is assuming your supplier stores their greens carefully, you could swing it to a years worth if you don't want to reorder halfway through the year.
eh, i have some Chinese green tea that is approaching a year in age now and still tastes nice. if you are really dedicated to freshness you could refrigerate it sealed with a desiccant and a oxygen absorbing pack.

>>15624901
How well does oolong age?

>>15624455
Every white tea i've ever tasted has been sweet. They will usually taste very fresh and clean, sometimes a little hint of spice. Pressed into a cake they taste different, since the leaves are steamed when pressed some oxidation will occur that wouldn't have happened otherwise. The most common flavors I get from cakes are honey and fruit. Aging cakes bring out complexity, expect darker malty flavors

>>15624901
>what did you not like about the 2002 Aged Wild Liu Bao?
It's very very rustic, it tastes pretty strongly of pencil shavings and gives the impression that it was aged in a barn for a decade. Your mileage may vary but i still have most of a 50g bag i bought 4-5 years ago and I maybe brew it once a year. I didn't dislike it quite as much last time i tried it but i wouldn't call it accessible.
>>15625002
>How well does oolong age?
Not him
It depends entirely in how it's processed, oolongs with medium to high levels of fermentation and medium to high levels of roast wuyi oolongs, dan con oolongs etc age very well as long as they are stored properly.
https://teadb.org/what-is-good-oolong-storage-for-aging-inbetweenisode-229/
Green oolongs with little or no roast like many modern Taiwan oolongs don't tend to age very well and are considered to age poorly sort of like green tea.

Tea

>>15591516
New Thread
>>15625234
>>15625234
>>15625234