/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Brown Edition
What's your favorite tea that brews up nice and dark?

Tried powdered hojicha. It tasted like an ashtray. Is it supposed to taste ashy or was it just low quality?

just brewed some tea

today's sale alert/thread bump
https://www.sugimotousa.com/
is doing 25% off all tea. they ship from the usa and have free shipping over $75. they are not exactly a super high end Japanese tea vendor but they are well know and may be good if you are looking to pick up some "daily drinker" grade teas. no production dates listed but the tea is stored in nitrogen flushed packaging so it should probably still be reasonably fresh.

>>16956926
>Tried powdered hojicha. It tasted like an ashtray. Is it supposed to taste ashy or was it just low quality?
some hojicha can be pretty intense so i can imagine the powdered stuff being pretty strong.

>no scale, measured with cups
>no thermometer, "measured" by eye
>no timer, counted in head
>still got the leaf/temperature/time perfect for a silky smooth session
Tonight is gonna be a good night.

>>16956947
>US shipping
>$8 or free over $75
>Canadian shipping
>$45~
Guess I'll just die.

t

>>16957252
Canada has the honor of having the xiaguan factory store.

>>16957418
>all puerh
I'm sorry, I am not a lesbian.

>>16957586
Have you looked at capital tea from the pastebin, i thought that they looked like a pretty decent store in Canada

>>16957596
I've ordered from them before. Their fulfillment was a little slow as a nitpick; the tea is pretty good quality for the price.
My primary complaint is of course the limited selection. They only have a small handful of teas available, which is completely understandable as they are likely a smaller business and can't afford to source and stock thousands of teas but if I want something they don't have I'm rather out of luck.

>>16957627
Yeah pickings for Canada have been pretty slim, ive looked through a bunch of shops and wish there were some more big yunnan sourcing style stores up there. Unfortunately instead there are a bunch of meme puer shops of varying quality and some weird overpriced hipster stores, then there are the typical flavored tea types that i usually try to steer people away from. Before covid fucked up global shipping i used to tell everyone, including in the us to just suck it up and order from japan/china but it's much more expensive and slower now than it used to be.

>>16956947
I only drink black tea, so convince me to buy their Organic Wakoucha.

>>16956546
I should brew up some YS red pig this week, my first and only ripe so far. First brew after rinse is a super dark brown

>>16956926
Why are you licking ashtrays?

>>16957644
any reason why https://camellia-sinensis.com/ is not on the list?

>>16957886
I have a deep seated hatred for the québécois

https://tea-expert.net/
and
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/
are both running some 11/11 discounts (11% & 10% off respectively)

Ameribros, 99% of the tea for sale in your country tastes stale and nasty af but I found a brand on amazon called 'VAHDAM' that vacuum seals their leaves in india and it's by far the best tea I've found in the USA. Would strongly recommend.

>>16958368
Fuck off you street shitting shill

>>16958391
Keep drinking cardboard then.

>>16958422
Fuck off pajeet

got a nice sample from yee on tea I can't wait to try it, also the golden osmanthus oolong is nice.

are there any good cardamom tea?

>>16959114
i fucked ur cardamom last night

>>16958726
That is a pretty interesting sample, make sure to post about how it tastes

>>16959244
I will, I might have it tomorrow if the roof of my tongue heals from being scorched by hot pizza

Went for an extra strength 30 gram cocido infusion steeped for 30 minutes at 80 C° (I took the temperature afterwards, it was at around 70 C°) in my kettle.
It tastes completely different from yesterday. It has some kind of toasted barley feel going on instead of the usual grassy feel.
It's very pleasant. Reminds me of barley coffee a bit!

Bought this green tea in a asian store, what should I spect?

>>16959587
Tried to make another infusion with half the water, but there was nothing left.

>>16960009
The elemental sulfur will not hurt you and will pass through. The carbon will also pass straight through you because your intestine has no way to absorb it. The nitrate can be a problem, especially if it becomes partially reduced to nitrite. It depends on how much of course, but in the short term, too much nitrite can produce methemoglobinemia which can be fatal because it prevents the red blood cells from transporting oxygen. In the longer term, too much nitrite ingested without sufficient ascorbic acid at the same time, can be transformed to nitrosamines, which are known carcinogens. It’s best if you don’t eat gunpowder.

>>16960087
Eh, saltpeter was long used for pickling meat. It's not the healthiest thing ever, but it's far from poisonous.

>>16960094
try it then

>Gu Shu puer
>dry leaves smell like a cow barn
this might turn out good
>wet leaves smell sweet and a bit minty
very nice
>tea smells like a fish market
what the fuck get me out

>>16960222
what a rollercoaster. Smells from the plains, smells from the mountain and smells from the sea :^)

>1 l water
>5 g karkade
>5 g minced ginger
>1 tbsp honey
>1 crushed clove

>>16957761
honestly, blind buying a pound of Wakoucha seems like a bit of a gamble if you don't already know you like that type of tea and there is nothing else you want to get from them. its probably a fine tea though and it is very well priced for a casual daily sip. it would probably also work well for cold brew or iced tea.

>>16960009
it tastes like cheap green tea. i would recommend using it to make Moroccan mint tea.

>>16960222
why is everybody so afraid of fish? i swear people call things "fishy that don't even taste like fish.

We’re in the middle of a Cold War and you’re still buying Chinese tea. Shame on the lot of you.
Stop giving the enemy money

>>16960573
>t. sent from a device which was made in China.

>>16960573
K. I hope you're not buying electronics, then, for the sake of your mental health :-)

>>16960573
What time period are you from? Also fuck all governments. None of them are our friends or allies, they're all molesters waiting to fuck our asses and dump our corpses in the sea. The chinaman can provide good tea, the man ruling my country can only provide me misery directly or indirectly, through incompetence or malevolence.

Sure, if I was living beneath the china man, he'd give me misery to. But as I am not a chink, the only thing I get is tea and Cultivation Web Novels and TV dramas.

Until he either takes over my country and fucks me in the ass or ceases to exist. Doesn't concern me

Anyways what you lads drinking today? I'm slurping the new purple voodoo pressing. It's good, can taste the difference between it and the older pressing I had before

>>16955186
>Any huangpian drinkers here? This stuff seems to die off pretty fast in terms of flavor.
i have not had that problem but i have also not tried that many productions of huangpian. the YS "Spring Morning" cake i own has ok longevity but is not the most dynamic. huangpian is generally considered to have a bit less stamina than top quality sheng but i don't think it should be super weak either.

>>16957822
>my first and only ripe so far.
well how was it? ripe tends to be kind of finicky and is something acquired taste so don't feel bad it if you did not love it right away.

>>16960573
Koreans Japanese and Taiwanese make green tea superior to China. Why would anybody buy Chinese tea ? Hell, even India makes Green Darjeeling and Assam.

>>16960695
Cause I prefer other types of teas to green. it's always the last in my "Cycle", and I skip it as often as I don't. Need to be in a certain mood for green tea

>>16960566
>honestly, blind buying a pound of Wakoucha seems like a bit of a gamble if you don't already know you like that type of tea and there is nothing else you want to get from them. its probably a fine tea though and it is very well priced for a casual daily sip.
I just noticed the size of the package just now. A pound is a LOT of tea to me, and it takes me a while to even get through 200 grams for daily drinking personally.

>>16960644
unironically this.

>>16960671
I'm drinking Ceylon BOP from a sample from Upton. It tastes like boring grocery store bag tea and leaves a bit of dust in the liquor because of how broken the leaves are, slipping through the shitty tea strainer that my pot uses.

>>16960566
Im going to pick some mint and try it this week, thanks for the idea

>>16961156
with how ubiquitous the brand is it would not surprise me at all if they actually use "Temple of Heaven" brand gunpowder green in Morocco.

>>16960009
I know every harvest is a little different but from my experience with gunpowder, err on the side of caution and steep it for short periods of time. I find it gets insufferably bitter if you oversteep it with water that's too hot. There will still be some degree of bitterness regardless, that's the type of tea it is, but it can get REALLY bad.

>>16960573
I only buy Japanese tea, like a responsible consumer.

>>16956540
scasfda

>>16961402
Temple of Heaven isn't a brand, it's a "classification" meant to quantify that it is the highest quality of Gunpowder tea. Whether or not that's true, or whether or not "Temple of Heaven" actually means exceptional quality is up for debate but it's not a specific brand.

>>16961511
>Temple of Heaven isn't a brand, it's a "classification" meant to quantify that it is the highest quality of Gunpowder tea.
you are wrong here "Temple of Heaven" is a trademarked brand that at least used to be used by the state owned CNNP for gunpowder green tea. its unclear to me whether or not "Shanghai Tiantan International Trading" who owns the current trademark is still state owned or was privatized.

>>16960573
But muh biluochun

>>16961638
here is the back of the vintage advertisement i posted earlier >>16961402

>>16961644
those are some crisp ass kanji

>>16961650
that's in Chinese not Japanese Anon.

>>16961686
it's <asian>

>>16961638
It means jack shit then because I purchased a "Temple of Heaven" gunpowder that has nothing to do with that brand, and there are plenty of online tea sellers listing it as a quality index like Orange Pekoe.

>>16961749
Calm down

>>16961749
it says its trademarked ® right on the box. just because some western vendors erroneously call their tea "temple of heaven" (and may in fact be selling the same stuff) does not make it a standard name for the tea. the "temple of heaven" moniker just gets tacked on because it has been associated the type of tea for so long and it sounds good. wheres your evidence? why don't you show me some proof that "temple of heaven" was used historically as a generic grade indicator for gunpowder green tea and not as a brand name.

>>16961887
bonus pic.

>sip some earl grey
>instant boner
why?

>>16962152
Cirus

>>16962152
It's the bergamot

A pot of tea helps to pass the evening.

>>16962475
Based glass teacup anon

>>16961101
>Upton
I'm disappointed with my order from Upton so far, other than the fast shipping. I find the teas to be weak and boring. In all fairness, I haven't tried all of the samples yet.

>>16962579
What stuff did you get?
If people aren't happy with them i might move them to the extended vendor list, its seems like they are preety good for some kinds of tea like indian and english style blends but their Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese teas don't seem to hit the mark as often.
They do ship fast and have reasonable prices but i don't like that they don't have harvest dates for every tea, and i generally wont add new vendors that don't do that.
Anyway what ate anons thoughts on upon these days, i haven't used them myself in years but i know a few people have ordered from them recently

>>16962603
I don't like Lipton tea

Jasmine gang
2020 YS Jasmine Pearl's, I believe these are the highest quality ones he sells.
Its very subtle with the Jasmine flavor, not the biggest fan, the cheap ones with flowers are such a kick this is like green tea la Croix.
Just threw in a few pearls until I thought I had enough, no idea how many grams, but likely 10 considering how much of the gaiwan it takes up. 160ml gaiwan, 80C water. Doing a lazy brew, kinda just 15+5s but it's been doing +7 or +12 whatever, not really doing it scientifically just wanted it to unfurl.
I just want to finish the bag while it still has flavor

>>16962603
I concur that their Chinese teas are hit or miss, for me more misses than hits. The blacks like keemun and souchong were passable, but I got other stuff like oolong and it was Asian grocery-tier at best. They seem to be bad at sourcing from China. Since that's the main tea I drink, I was disappointed. I realize though that it's not their specialty, their specialty is English (or colonial American) style tea. With earl grey type shit they seem pretty good. So I would give them credit there.

>>16962625
>Its very subtle with the Jasmine flavor
i think its a preference thing. i have heard others praise certain higher quality jasmine teas for not overwhelming the tea with jasmine. is the green tea side of it ok? the picture makes it look nice and tippy.

>>16962686
Yeah that seems to be what others have said as well, i guess i can add a disclaimer but i hate having vendors listed with a big list of teas not to buy from them next to it.

>>16962603
Not him, but I the Ceylon BOP was just an optional sample and it was disappointing. I typically order Earl Grey varities, St. Isaac's Blend and one other one,, and also drinking Kandy OP, and like all off the above. I have found Upton to be extremely reliable, but I should expand my horizons a bit when it comes to tea varieties.

>tfw my tap water is hot enough to steep green tea

>>16962707
>i guess i can add a disclaimer but i hate having vendors listed with a big list of teas not to buy from them next to it.
to keep it simple you could phrase it the opposite way and say that the are only recommend their black teas (particularly western blends and Indian tea).

>>16962738
Yeah that's a good idea

are there any fellow white Yerba mate enjoyers here?

the place i got my black tea blend is closed-down, what can i do bros it came all the way from Iran and i dont even know whats in it

>>16962691
The green is fine, very soft flavor though, not very strong in general.

>>16962836
Did it have a name or any other info on the packaging? Can you find the website on the wayback machine and get more info there?

Where can I buy a decent lapsang souchong in the US? Not really a tea drinker more of a coffee guy if that matters.

>>16962833
We had some lively mate discussion last thread, what brands are you into? You like the bitter ones? Smoked? Stems or no stems?

>>16962896
If you want one that not really smokey at all yunnansourcing.us
If you want one that's really smokey your local Asian market, the stuff in the tins with the sailboat on it.
You can take your chances on harney and sons tea off Amazon, i guess check reviews to see if it is smokey or not.

>>16962897
Taragui, unsmoked with stems. You have any experience with a gourd? I have a question. Also, are you white?

>>16962950
Im white, i might be able to help but ask anyway, we have had a few south American bros post so i can't help check back tomorrow and maybe somebody else will have answered

speaking of lapsang souchong has anyone here ever tired Mark T. Wendell Tea Company's famous Hu-Kwa blend?
https://marktwendell.com/shop-by-tea-type/hu-kwa-tea
https://marktwendell.com/about-us

>>16962911
Looking for something smokey. Might give the Amazon one a shot for $6 but I figured everything on Amazon would be shit and the reviews are mixed.

>>16963014
No i haven't but i will now, pine smoked Taiwan black tea sounds great and prices are good.

What's better, English breakfast, Irish Breakfast, or Scottish breakfast?

>>16963026
>Looking for something smokey
Luckily anon came to the rescue
>>16963014

>>16963026
>I figured everything on Amazon would be shit
This is usually a pretty safe bet, it's actually kind of hard to find smoked lapsang these days, the Chinese don't like to drink it themselves and they use that tea for more premium production black tea these days, also allegedly the Chinese govt banned pine smoking tea because of deforestation. I just wasn't sure what else to suggest for smokey ones.

>>16963014
>>16963033
Just ordered some, cheers.
>>16963040
>the Chinese don't like to drink it themselves
Makes sense. I tried some teas from Yunnan sourcing before, they were good but not what I'm looking for I guess, there were a lot of options though.

Also this thread is much comfier than the coffee generals.

>>16963005
No, don't think too hard friend. I am glad you're white. I don't want to talk to coloreds. Regardless, how can I get my Yerba to slope to the side of the gourd and stay there? It feels like my gourd isn't big enough but I bought a mass produced one that many people seem to enjoy and recommend. It's integral to the quality of the drink so you can pass more water through it and maintain flavor, but I cannot seem to maintain the "mountain".

>>16963100
>Just ordered some, cheers.
tell us how it is when you get it.

>>16963126
It might be worth watching some YouTube videos. The biggest things are when you add the mate you cover the gourd with your hand and then flip it on its side to get the mate to pile up against the wall, then when pouring your hot water you always want to pour slowly and into the empty part where you keep the straw, don't pour over the mountain. Depending on the texture of the mate you can lightly compress the mountain with your fingers to help form it and keep it more stable when you are filling the gourd, just don't push too hard or it will get too compact and the water won't soak into it properly.
Really i think watching some videos is probably the best way to get a hang of the technique.

I can't seem to brew Shui Xian without it coming out weak

Just had a good tea time. That is all.

>>16963934
How long you steep it for?

Why does gunpowder green tea always taste 100 times better on the second steep.

>>16963952
4-5 minutes, I brew it in a french press so I add 2-3 tsp for 8oz of water but still comes out weak but the faint flavor is so good, I added another tsp after and it still came out weak.

>>16963963
I don't think its anything your doing on your end, 4-5 minutes should be plenty of time. Might just be the flavor profile is subtle. Never hadshui xian

>>16963955
Is your first steeping long enough for the leaves to open?

>>16963934
Drink coffee instead. Tea is kinda wack anyway hehe

>>16963934
>>16963963
>2-3 tsp
If you really mean teaspoons as in the measurement that's probably too little. It's pretty voluminous tea. Use more

>>16962475
goddamn that windows & speakerset. what a throwback

>>16962475
It was a simpler time.

>>16963987
>Might just be the flavor profile is subtle.
Shi xian at least the ones ive had usually has a pretty potent roast on it, i wouldn't call it mild

Making laurel tea for the third time. All the recipes I looked at used different weights so I'm trying to experiment.
The first time I used 10 grams of leaves in 1 liter of water. It went well, it was a bit strong but enjoyable.
The second time I used a handful of leaves in a liter of water. It was hot water.
This time I'm back 10 ten grams but I'm bumping it up to 1.5 liters and throwing the stems in too, 5 grams of leaves and 5 grams of stems.

Alright, that wasn't bad, but I'm feeling like I could have gone for 15 with the stems.
2.5 grams for each cup seems like a decent choice.

>>16965492
Nice anon, thanks for the notes, i might start collecting more info about brewing herbs in the pastebin, did you use dried ones or fresh?

>>16965568
Fresh, my laurel's getting too big and I gave it a trim an hour ago.

just ate an entire gaiwan of leaves and I don't feel so good

>>16965714
but why?

>>16965724
It was an expensive oolong and I didn't want it to go to waste by throwing the used leaves in the garbage

What's the rawest tea you can buy, white tea? When I say raw I mean the least amount of processing/aging, like the only way you could get less processed would be to pick it directly from the tree into a Gaiwan and brew it on the spot (could you do that? Would you get a drinkable tea?)

I'm now drinking a sample of Darjeeling BOP from Upton. Pleasant, smooth taste, but I feel like it doesn't do Darjeeling teas justice, but this is my first step into Darjeeling tea.
>>16965733
Which has me wondering, how can I reuse use tea leaves, instead of throwing them away?

>>16965793
> how can I reuse use tea leaves, instead of throwing them away?
Simmer them in a pot on the stove, put them in a salad like the Japanese do.

On a more esoteric note, does anyone else take Iodine before drinking tea?

>>16965819
Why?

>>16965793
Sprinkle them onto (fried) rice.
Only works for Japanese green tea.

>>16965824
Teas are supposedly high in fluoride, which binds to your pituitary gland. Iodine is an antagonist and if taken beforehand will bind your pituitary gland and prevent uptake of Fluoride.
Iodine is also just insanely useful for your overall health and most people's diets lack it, so there's really no reason not to supplement it.

sweet, sweet pesticides.

>>16965890
Not much you can do about that if you're drinking Chinese tea.
I'd maybe trust Japanese tea to be organic but if you want to drink any of the Chinese styles of tea you're fucked, Chinese culture is to lie and cheat if you believe you can get away with it (it's only shameful if you're caught.)
It's especially encouraged to cheat gweilo, so just like Gushu is a made up bullshit term I would not trust any Chinese tea to be free of pesticides.

>>16965903
>none of the teas I like have an organic label
>look around in the pastebin for """organic""" labeled tea I like
>they cost twice, if not three times as much
I'm just gonna have myself a monsanto infusion and pretend nothing is wrong.

>>16965927
Yeah you pay too much for organic. I'm honestly just resigned to the fact that yes I am going to ingest some harmful pesticides like with everything else I eat.

>>16965927
I remember drinking this big fucker in college and I'd rinse the leaves before adding hot water, probably shortened my lifespan by just a little bit.

>>16966155
on the flip-side, perhaps that stuff actually follows government regulations on allowed pesticide residues because that brand is exported so widely internationally that if there was a major safety problem someone would have likely noticed it.

>>16956540
I've had the same fucking tin of Earl Grey since last Christmas and it's just now getting empty, I'm gonna stick with three ounce tins to get some more variety.

>>16965903
I don't disagree about china but japan is one of the top 5 consumers of herbicides and pesticides per hectare of farmland.

What kind of tea would a plantation/slave owner drink in the 19th century? I want to become a southern aristocrat in all ways. Traditional sweet iced tea? It's very hot there so I can't imagine they'd drink too much hot stuff but there must be some info on the topic, I just can't find it

>>16966653
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/06/09/412984583/as-american-as-iced-tea-a-brief-sometimes-boozy-history
Looks like untill around 1900 the vast majority of tea came from china, before the world wars green tea was fairly popular in the states but after ww2 soldiers came back used to drinking black tea and it became the most common type.

>>16966555
I don't doubt non-organic Japanese teas are sprayed, but the Japanese have honor and pride so if they label something organic there's a very good chance it actually is. You will probably pay a King's Ransom for your organic ceremonial grade Kabeuscha or whatnot but I would trust it to be organic if sold as such.

>>16966838
Yeah sure, my biggest issue with organic tea is that it's usually worse.

I want to get into tea. I enjoy a nice cup (i probably don't know what a nice cup is) and there is a shop nearby that sells lots of interesting blends. What do I need get into it?

>>16966968
Not much, buy some tea, i encourage you to not buy flavored teas with bits of fruit and colorful blue flowers in it but if it makes you happy go for it.
Lots of info in the pastebin,
The easiest thing to do is get a box if fill your own teabags or get a brew basket for a mug like the ones made by finium or for life, that's all you need, maybe a electric kettle if you drink lots of tea.

>>16963031
For me, it’s Lesbian Breakfast Tea

I'm so confused. For oolong the sticky says 99C and random internet sources say different ranges: 180-200F. Just wondering wtf. Aren't oolongs more like a range of oxidization? Does that impact the best temperature?

>>16967268
Yeah oxidization and the roast level affects the best temperature, bright green/ lightly oxidized oolongs should be in the 80-90°c range, darker or lightly roasted 90-95°c heavily oxidized or high roast oolongs should be full boiling water

>>16963031
What's the difference?

>>16963031
For me? It's Indian Breakfast.

>>16967333
This is good stuff. Thanks. The Tie Guan Yin I have is pretty green looking. Not very well versed in oolongs

>>16967614
Yeah 80-90°c should be good, you can usually tell if the water your are using is too hot as you get more experience as the tea will taste weird

What are good tea shops on Amazon to order from? Don't feel like waiting a month+ for tea.

>>16967812
There are essentially none unless you want to buy puer, there is a an official dayi tae tea storefront on there that ships from the US, it's linked in the pastebin. Otherwise i suggest you areder from one fo the domestic tea sellers listed in the pastebin because just about everything on amazon blows.
Or i guess you could get some usa grown tea in teabags, but the tins of loose tea are out of stock on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/American-Classic-Pyramid-Teabags-Count/dp/B004EJVYU8/

I blended a blueberry tea with a raspberry juice mix. If an Arnold Palmer is plain tea and lemonade, what should I call this drink? Queen’s jam is a mix of raspberry and blueberry jam, a Swedish concoction. Should I call this Swedish royal tea?

>>16968616
>If an Arnold Palmer is plain tea and lemonade, what should I call this drink?
Garbage?
Why the hell are you putting fruit juice in your hot leaf water

I’ve recently been on a hot tea kick. It’s just so comfy. I usually make a ~16oz cup with one teabag of twinings English breakfast and one earl grey.

>laurel infusion turns rose pink after steeping for long enough
oh my gosh that's adorable
the most adorable infusion

>>16957355
Based

>>16969185
No, cold leaf water. Too hot most of the time where I am for hot tea. As for why, different tastes, avoiding food ennui, and I have a bunch of raspberry drink packets I need to use.

https://www.mariagefreres.com/UK/welcome.html

what should i buy?

>>16956540
Is Red Rose any good?

>>16970241
A gun and hang yourself with it.

>>16970251
belive me i wish i were brave enough for that

>>16970241
There original marco polo blend is their most famous tea, they do a yearly sakura blend that's supposed to be good, they had a couple of smoked Japanese black teas i thought looked interesting.

>>16970246
Haven't tried it, not a lot of enthusiasm for bagged tea here. I generally recommend if people want bagged tea they should get pg tips if it isn't obscenely overpriced where they live.

>>16970251
>gun
>UK
guv'na...

>make mint tea
>use the water to make hot chocolate
wa la

>>16970485
Read a sad tale of an SAS man tried and convicted in UK cause he has some burger SEAL friends who gave him a Glock 17 or 19. Dude had it in a safe deposit box. Still got arrested for it. If the Brits can’t trust one of their own SAS guys with a gun on his own time , wtf?

>got a nice borosilicate glass mug with a metal strainer that sits in it
>got some good looseleaf oolong
>had a super-comfy morning watching the clouds go by and drinking tea

>>16971698
Nice, having a nice tea session with some enjoyable equipment is peak cozy

>Ban Pen Village "Emperor's Golden Pu-erh" Ripe Pu-erh
Let this one air out a week because it smelled like my ex's dirty minge. Now that the fishy smell is gone I'm quite enjoying it. Has a sort of dry, woody campfire taste, almost salty in a way but not quite. Umami I guess? I hate using that word but that's how I'd describe it. Very mellow tea, nothing really jumping out at you but it's nice. Would compliment a savory meat dish quite nicely. I overstepped the 3rd infusion to see what kind of flavors I'd pull out of it, still pretty mellow honestly. I'm getting a slightly mushroomy taste now? I'll try this one a few more times before I decide how I feel about it.

Can't find asian ginseng root tea in American stores anymore what the FUCK

Tea newfag here. I got the Puerh variety sampler from YS and I'm kind of feeling overwhelmed by how different they all are from each other. Just within the Puerh category and even within the ripe/raw subcategories there is an astounding variety of flavors and smells. And these flavors are so complex and new I can barely understand them to begin with. I've only tasted half of them and I'm already forgetting how the first ones tasted like. I consider myself "well-informed" on coffee and beer but I'm starting to realize that tea enthusiasm is a much deeper rabbit hole than either of those.

Also, does puer really for lesbians?

>>16961644
Tranny'd (disappointingly they all say the same thing)

Can I feed tea leaves to my guinea pigs? Just because they might be interested in tasting it, I think

>>16967333
Is there any reason except physics that the range of recommended temperatures for tea stops at boiling? Would any teas actually become better if you somehow pressure cooked them at 230f+?

nobody asked me what kind of tea i brewed :(

I made Shoumei tea and it tastes like some kind of fruit juice, like pear or something

Tried a new stacking method to keep the tea in my kettle at around 80 C° for longer periods of time, for my more experimental infusions. Usually I just use both an electric kettle (to heat up the water in bulk at 80 C°) and a regular kettle (to heat up a single cup of water to a boil) and I pour the boiling water under the kettle itself to keep it hot while I let the infusion rest for half an hour. I usually lose about 10 C° after half an hour this way, after that the water becomes too cold and it's actually detrimental to the infusion. But the problem is that that specific cup of water that I used to heat the kettle is wasted.

So this morning I tried something different. I boiled my water and put some bay leaves there as sort of a side-infusion, then I transferred the water into my cup. That freed up the space in the kettle to pour the water from the electric kettle and my main infusion.
The bay leaves were quickly losing heat after a matter of minutes though, and I checked the temp with my electric thermometer to see that the kettle was also bleeding heat more slowly than with the extra cup of hot water to keep it heated up. So as a whole this was starting to look like a double failure. That's when I thought about stacking.
I took the still decently hot water in my cup with the bay leaves, moved that to a small saucepan that can hold up to 2 cups of water and turned on the stove. Then I put the kettle on the saucepan as a lid: this way the kettle could regain heat from the steam coming out of the laurel infusion!

And it worked! I let it happily boil on low for a good five minutes. The water in the kettle creeped back up to 82 C° and now I have an small sample laurel decoction, which I was also trying to see how it would taste.

tl:dr if you wanna optimize your heat usage with long infusion with a side cuppa use your kettle as a lid

granted, it's a terrible idea in the first place and you should never do that because who the hell needs to keep their tea at a specific temperature for more than 10 minutes and also it's only good if you need to make a decoction in the first place, but still
my main kettle with the infusion is still sitting at a chill 75 C° after 40 minutes of infusion and the bay leaves aren't that bad actually and my kitchen is now much warmer and smells great so I'd call it a success

Are there any disadvantages to glass gaiwans? Also, recommend good 150ml gaiwans that ship to the EU.

>>16957824
you must of had a boring childhood

>>16960644
my computer was made in Taiwan

>>16974427
my gf made me lick her ashtray once during some really kinky foreplay
protip: cigarette burn scars don't actually go away so don't be a retard and get one on your arm or you'll have to explain youself for the rest of your life

>>16973016
dangerously based

>>16974715
haha worst my girlfriend ever did was make me eat her ass, it tasted like a raw puerh

>>16974794
>>16974715
Why do lesbians and domestic violence go hand in hand?

>>16973648
>I got the Puerh variety sampler from YS
this?
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/introduction-to-pu-erh-sampler-set
if so it looks like a very good start though it lacks a fully aged sheng (at least 15+ years many would say 20+ years) and wet stored sheng samples.

> I've only tasted half of them and I'm already forgetting how the first ones tasted like.
you could consider writing tasting notes. i have found that doing so help me improve my tasting vocabulary.

>>16973664
>disappointingly they all say the same thing)
why would you expect them to be different?

>>16972910
cool jar
I haven't tried any "golden" puer, my understanding is it's fermented in a different way than ripe normally is, i think they ferment it inside of cloth sacks instead of piled up on the floor. It seems like a interesting process i wonder how it changes the flavor

How bad is Dasani going to fuck up the taste of my tea? It was all we had in the work fridge.

>>16974715
You need to keep burn scars under short or bathing suit areas. Your dom/girlfriend is the retard for putting them in non-covetable places if she’s the one who put them there. You need to get a better dom.

>>16973648
Yeah puer is a massively broad category, ive been drinking it for years and i only sort of know what im doing. I love it though. Really good stuff.
Try not to worry too much about mastering new teas when you sample them and focus more on the experience in the moment and enjoying it. Taking notes like the other anon suggested can also be helpful

>>16973703
Good question, i can't really say, i suspect not but maybe with certain teas it would work. I think you leach just about everything out of tea leaves with 20 minutes in boiling hot water, so with pressure cooking you would be condensing sever brews into a single brew and it would probably taste somewhat foul. With some teas you can simmer them in a pot on a stove ive had the come out nice for ripe puers and some other fermented teas.

>>16975467
>puer
>broad category
heh

>>16973817
Based

>>16974278
Not really, the rim can maybe more a bit hot to the touch.
Aliexpress has plenty of good ones, kingteamall has lots of cheap nice gaiwans, otherwise check the vendors in the pastebin, if you are really lucky you might find some random sellers with gaiwans on ebay inside the EU or local asian markets in your country that sell online or that you can visit.

>>16975440
It's just filtered tap water, it's probably fine

Busting out the silver teapot today. 12g of white tea shoved in it

>>16975420
that sounds fucking disgusting man, put it in a bamboo basket like normal people do.
or on the concrete floor and feed it water from a nearby lake.

>>16973648
>does puer really for lesbians?
ask this one
>>16975482

>>16975525
poo in it

>>16975517
No, I think there’s added minerals. Just not sure how much and what. I used to mix lemonade packets that go into bottled water, and with Dasani they always have extra foamy head, not what you want on lemonade.
Steeped tea extra long (8< minutes ) cause doing paperwork. Dasani not to blame for that one.

Are double walled teapots worth it? I have this antique one I use that's about 750ml capacity but I find it gets cold relatively quickly.

>>16975420
>i think they ferment it inside of cloth sacks instead of piled up on the floor.
where did you hear that? i am pretty sure that golden puerh is made mostly from the buds and tips (just like a golden black tea or silver needles). also my understanding is that cloth sack or bin style pile fermenting is a newer technique intended to allow you to ferment smaller batches so you can experiment with higher grade material without excessive risk. traditional wet pile fermenting requires a lot of material so that you can build the piles big enough to ferment properly. W2T and farmer leaf have both talked about it.

not gonna lie that shit looks fucking disgusting and almost makes me want to drink bagged tea

>>16975694
They put salt in there so it doesn't quench your thirst and tricks you into drinking more. That's why they only sell Dasani at theme parks.

>>16972910
>Let this one air out a week
its probably not as well aired out due to being stored in the jar as well as still being pretty young.

looks comfy. how is the build quality of the jar? it appears like it would be nice enough to reuse.

>>16975766
That explains a few things.

>>16975733
Honestly i just read it on some vendors description for some tea, probably on YS somewhere. I might be totally wrong.
As an aside i find this whole idea of microbatches of fermented puer pretty hilarious. I dunno maybe the results are interesting but it seems like it made more sense when these small time guys were buying and pressing already finished batches of tea. I guess i need to try one of these ultra premium ripes and see how they stack up. They highest tier one i tried is a super premium production from mengku TF and it was worth the money at $400 / kilo.

I received my Siam Tea Advent Calender order.

For anyone else who is wondering, these are the days:

1. Dian Hong Cha Black @ Golden Needle Black Tea (China)
2. Ancient Snow Shan Green Tea (Vietnam)
3. Fuding Silver Needle White Tea (China)
4. Xaysathan Red Elephant Black Tea (Laos)
5. Bai Ya Qilan “White Buds” Oolong Tea (China)
6. Pathivara First Flush 2021 (Nepal)
7. Anji Bai Cha Green Tea (China)
8. Lahu Forest Yellow Tea (Thailand)
9. Wuyi Waishan “Ai Yiao” Dwarf Oolong Tea (China)
10. Sencha Fuji Green Tea (Japan)
11. Jin Mao Hue “Golden Monkey” Black Tea (China)
12. Makaibari Oolong Second Flush 2020 (India)
13. Pai Mu Tan “White Peony” White Tea (China)
14. Ancient Snow Shan Black Tea (Vietnam)
15. Tai Hu Dongting Bi Luo Chun Green Tea (China)
16. Royal Tippy Latumoni SF 2020 Assam Black Tea (India)
17. Da Xue Shan “Ye-Sheng” Wild Sheng Pu Erh Tea (China)
18. Jungpana Autumn Flush 2020 (India)
19. (Pre-Qingming) Long Jing “Dragonwell” Green Tea (China)
20. DMS “Cha Nang Ngam” Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea (Thailand)
21. Yunshan Yinzhen First Grade Yellow Tea (China)
22. 1. Dian Hong Cha Black @ Golden Needle Black Tea (China)
2. Ancient Snow Shan Green Tea (Vietnam)
3. Fuding Silver Needle White Tea (China)
4. Xaysathan Red Elephant Black Tea (Laos)
5. Bai Ya Qilan “White Buds” Oolong Tea (China)
6. Pathivara First Flush 2021 (Nepal)
7. Anji Bai Cha Green Tea (China)
8. Lahu Forest Yellow Tea (Thailand)
9. Wuyi Waishan “Ai Yiao” Dwarf Oolong Tea (China)
10. Sencha Fuji Green Tea (Japan)
11. Jin Mao Hue “Golden Monkey” Black Tea (China)
12. Makaibari Oolong Second Flush 2020 (India)
13. Pai Mu Tan “White Peony” White Tea (China)
14. Ancient Snow Shan Black Tea (Vietnam)
15. Tai Hu Dongting Bi Luo Chun Green Tea (China)

>>16975846
Woops, I fucked up, sorry.

1. Dian Hong Cha Black @ Golden Needle Black Tea (China)
2. Ancient Snow Shan Green Tea (Vietnam)
3. Fuding Silver Needle White Tea (China)
4. Xaysathan Red Elephant Black Tea (Laos)
5. Bai Ya Qilan “White Buds” Oolong Tea (China)
6. Pathivara First Flush 2021 (Nepal)
7. Anji Bai Cha Green Tea (China)
8. Lahu Forest Yellow Tea (Thailand)
9. Wuyi Waishan “Ai Yiao” Dwarf Oolong Tea (China)
10. Sencha Fuji Green Tea (Japan)
11. Jin Mao Hue “Golden Monkey” Black Tea (China)
12. Makaibari Oolong Second Flush 2020 (India)
13. Pai Mu Tan “White Peony” White Tea (China)
14. Ancient Snow Shan Black Tea (Vietnam)
15. Tai Hu Dongting Bi Luo Chun Green Tea (China)
16. Royal Tippy Latumoni SF 2020 Assam Black Tea (India)
17. Da Xue Shan “Ye-Sheng” Wild Sheng Pu Erh Tea (China)
18. Jungpana Autumn Flush 2020 (India)
19. (Pre-Qingming) Long Jing “Dragonwell” Green Tea (China)
20. DMS “Cha Nang Ngam” Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea (Thailand)
21. Yunshan Yinzhen First Grade Yellow Tea (China)
22. Kabusecha Tenko Green Tea (Japan)
23. Wokan Shan “Gong Ting” Shou Pu Erh Tea (China)
24. Bolaven Plateau Silver Cloud White Tea (Laos)

I received my Siam Tea Advent Box.

https://www.siam-teas.com/product-category/siamteas-advent-calendar-box/

These are the teas:

1. Dian Hong Cha Black @ Golden Needle Black Tea (China)
2. Ancient Snow Shan Green Tea (Vietnam)
3. Fuding Silver Needle White Tea (China)
4. Xaysathan Red Elephant Black Tea (Laos)
5. Bai Ya Qilan “White Buds” Oolong Tea (China)
6. Pathivara First Flush 2021 (Nepal)
7. Anji Bai Cha Green Tea (China)
8. Lahu Forest Yellow Tea (Thailand)
9. Wuyi Waishan “Ai Yiao” Dwarf Oolong Tea (China)
10. Sencha Fuji Green Tea (Japan)
11. Jin Mao Hue “Golden Monkey” Black Tea (China)
12. Makaibari Oolong Second Flush 2020 (India)
13. Pai Mu Tan “White Peony” White Tea (China)
14. Ancient Snow Shan Black Tea (Vietnam)
15. Tai Hu Dongting Bi Luo Chun Green Tea (China)
16. Royal Tippy Latumoni SF 2020 Assam Black Tea (India)
17. Da Xue Shan “Ye-Sheng” Wild Sheng Pu Erh Tea (China)
18. Jungpana Autumn Flush 2020 (India)
19. (Pre-Qingming) Long Jing “Dragonwell” Green Tea (China)
20. DMS “Cha Nang Ngam” Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea (Thailand)
21. Yunshan Yinzhen First Grade Yellow Tea (China)
22. Kabusecha Tenko Green Tea (Japan)
23. Wokan Shan “Gong Ting” Shou Pu Erh Tea (China)
24. Bolaven Plateau Silver Cloud White Tea (Laos)

Never tried Laotian tea, so quite interested in that. Also the quality yellow tea and Kabusecha.

The calendar itself is kinda bare-bones, just a small box with the date stamped on there and a glass small tea cup.

>>16975878
My wife got me a tea advent calendar from Vahdam’s. Haven’t opened it yet cause it’s not December.

>>16975797
>I dunno maybe the results are interesting but it seems like it made more sense when these small time guys were buying and pressing already finished batches of tea.
i am sure most of the western vendors of them still do buy at least some of their shou maocha wholesale. the problem with doing that is you dont get as much control over how its made or where it came from. if want them to ferment only your own tea you may run into problems reaching the minimum quantity of tea required for traditional wodui (a literal tons). this makes it hard to do things such as single origin ripes. using large piles also means there is a lot more financial risk in each batch which discourages experimentation or the use of higher quality raw material.

>I guess i need to try one of these ultra premium ripes and see how they stack up.
small batch or micro-batch ripe puerh does not have to be super expensive. its more about being able to take more control of the process and experiment than simply being more premium.

links:
https://teaintheancientworld.blogspot.com/2020/11/small-batch-shu-processing.html
https://tea-side.com/blog/craft-shu-puerh-tea-interview/
https://www.farmer-leaf.com/products/jinggu-micro-batch-ripe-pu-erh
https://white2tea.com/blogs/blog/what-is-small-batch-shou-puerh-tea

>>16975878
looks like the sent a nice large variety of teas. i am especially curious about the "Snow Shan" teas from Vietnam and would love to hear your tasting notes on it.

Anyone ever put jam in their tea?

>>16975918
Thanks for the links anon, i will check those out.

>>16975766
Regardless it just tastes fucking off, the few times I've had Dasani I think "water should not taste like this"

>>16975960
Russians do it with their black tea, so not exactly out of the realm of reason.
I tried it once and it wasn't really anything special.

>>16976280
I actually kind of like it, though it does taste weird. The worst water by a mile is Evian. It tastes like the water that comes out the back of a clothes dryer.

>>16976263
>Thanks for the links anon, i will check those out.
your welcome i always like sharing information.
i will add that W2T has posted a number of pictures and videos of their own small batch ripe production on Instagram if you are looking for more visuals but i don't have links.

if you want a more critical take on the subject mattcha has a blog entry about it though he seems to mostly just be irate with W2T's marketing. The Essence of Tea's owner chimes in in the comments and defends the concept.
https://mattchasblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/white2tea-small-batch-shu-marketing.html

>>16976430
That's a pretty interesting take on the situation, still with a reasonable amount of nuance, it's not hard to get annoyed with some of w2ts marketing practices

what do you think about the brand vahdam?

>>16975878
>website
>looks like 1999
can you recommend the vendor?

>>16976500
Meh, im not impressed, also Indian made a drive by shill post for them a few threads ago and that annoys the shit out of me.

step aside

>>16976589
Compare it to tetly english blend and builders if you have tried them

>>16975420
According to the YS description it's wet-pile fermentation.

>>16975770
>its probably not as well aired out due to being stored in the jar as well as still being pretty young.
It mentions it's from 2018, so most likely just from the storage.

>how is the build quality of the jar? it appears like it would be nice enough to reuse.
Love the jar, it's half the reason I got it actually, definitely plan on reusing it.

what kind of kettles and teapots do you guys use?

>>16977031
For heating water a Bonavita. probably the cheapest option that has temperature control and doesnt just boil the water. I have 4 teapots, a tiny 60 ml porcelain one for small sessions, 120 ml yixing clay for ripe/hei cha, 180 ml porcelain for larger sessions or 2 people, and a 500 ml porcelain teapot for my herbal tisanes.

>>16976500
Probably just a shill but I'll bite

I got a sampler variety pack for Christmas in 2019 that I never finished. Let's see what's inside.
Mostly black teas but has a green, white, and oolong. The oolong says High Mountain and Dargeeling on the package which seems weird. Dry leaf smells a touch peppery. 10 second steep with 90 C water, smells a little acrid. The brew itself tastes like a decent pot of tea from a Chinese joint, faint astringency and nothing floral. Has a faint peppery note which is interesting.

2nd steep 10+5, leaves starting to open up. Tastes the same.

Other than that, it looks like I finished off the chai and breakfast blend in the past. Having said that, I'm just teababby so YMMV.

>>16956546
A nice, dank Puerh. Simple as.

this thread made me brew some rooibos, haven't had it in months.

>>16958368
not looking to get e. coli but thanks

>>16976521
>website
>looks like 1999
zoomer detected.
this is an example of a real 90's website: https://www.heavensgate.com/

>>16965824
schizo pseudoscience

>>16976500
If you’re gonna buy thru Amazon, then it’s a great company to get different seasonal flushes with.

>>16976286
I over-steeped my tea today. At one point I felt raspberry jam might improve the flavor. But as a burger raised on bad Southern fast food iced tea, I plowed thru and finished my cup, cause I was thirsty.

>>16966997
> i encourage you to not buy flavored teas with bits of fruit and colorful blue flowers in it
Why? Is it because they don't actually add any flavor?

>>16962603
>What stuff did you get?
Gunpowder
Organic Sencha
Yunnan Black Snail
Lapsang Souchong
Finest Russian Caravan
Seasons Assam GFOP Organic

I think the main problem is with their recommended brewing directions. The amounts are way too conservative and everything is coming out extremely weak. Even when I double the amount, the Lapsang and Gunpowder are weak. The Black Snail is good. The Sencha is pretty good too. Those are good with more than double the 1tsp./6oz. recommended amounts btw. I haven't tried the GFOP yet.

>>16956540
Basic cheap Assam. Nothing fancy, but it does the job.

>>16977899
>Those are good with more than double the 1tsp./6oz.
>tsp
Found your problem. Guess it's retarded that they use tsp measurements which are probably wrong. I've been going by their gram measurements (usually 2.25g/6oz) and it seems to work.

>>16977862
>Why? Is it because they don't actually add any flavor?
Most teas like that are kind of like flavored whiskey, they use middling or low quality tea and then add artificial flavors to it, usually the fruit pieces are just decoration to make the tea look more appealing.
It's okay to like flavored teas if that is what you are into, but i find that good quality teas can be incredibly flavorful and have all kinds of tastes, chocolate, sweet fruit, savory flavors, honey sweetness, cooling mint. Lots of the flavors that get added to flavored teas can be found in some good quality loose leaf out there.

>>16975912
That looks more festive! For me with shipping etc the Siam was still cheaper.

>>16975946
I will try to share some experiences here. I am surprised how much information the owner has written on every tea on their website

>>16976521
This is the first time ordering for them, but they seem pretty knowledgeable and good quality.

And fyi, usually website that look like shit are a good indicator the quality is great because they don't spend all their time on some fancy branding. Same with restaurants - if their website only updates once a year to share their holiday opening times you know it's good

>>16978774
>I will try to share some experiences here.
look forward to hearing them. i like how they source a bunch of tea from unusual locals.

>>16978774
>I will try to share some experiences here.
look forward to hearing them. i like how they source a bunch of tea from unusual locations that few vendors carry.

Guys I found out why my yerba was so green
apparently this is untoasted yerba mate

>>16979537
that makes sense, thanks for the update.

Anyone else find tea best when it's hot? My ideal temperature is literally the moment it doesn't burn my mouth when I drink it, and as it cools to a temperature that doesn't require short quick sips to avoid scalding it starts to lose flavor.
By the time it's roughly room temperature it's basically flavorless to me, and I can't stand cold-brewed tea.

matcha buttplug

>>16979674
I drink tea to save on bills so I don't have to heat my home during the day, but it's a utilitarian decision more than a flavor thing.

>>16979706
Yeah see I'll drink scalding hot tea in the middle of the summer and sweat like a pig because I can't stomach cold tea.

>>16979678
Please don't buttchug your tea.

>>16979765
Wife wants to 'spice' things up a bit sometimes.

>>16977297
Careful with that stuff, it contains more estrogen than soy
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0254629916305257

>>16974455
aka best china

>>16979674
>My ideal temperature is literally the moment it doesn't burn my mouth when I drink it, and as it cools to a temperature that doesn't require short quick sips to avoid scalding it starts to lose flavor.
Yeah this is reasonably accurate, still sometimes as the cup cools it can bring out other flavors that aren't there when is super hot.

>>16979678
Tea buttplug

>>16980713
why in god's name

>>16980713
...is that supposed to be showcase for displaying the leaves?

>>16980753
Well, clearly it's a glass amphora, put upside down.

What ever do you think that could actually be, anon? Gosh. Get your mind out of the gutter.

Also I really don't recommend glass buttplugs unless you wanna 1man1jar yourself.

no but seriously, that's japanese
if that wasn't intentional I'll eat my hat
and I'd have to buy a hat

>>16980801
i mean have you seen a matcha whisk, its seems like a pretty good way to hold it

>>16980848
please don't put a matcha wisk in your asshole
it's unsanitary and like
how would you whisk stuff with that in your ass, you'd spill everywhere

>>16977899
>>16977929
I wish Upton would print their recommended gram measurements on the labels.
Captcha: PGPG8

found some funny tea chocolate:
https://www.fossachocolate.com/search?q=tea&f_collectionId=58a91eeb725e25c4faad388d
https://toakchocolate.com/products/puer-tea-aged

>>16982242
https://www.fuwanshop.com/products?query=tea

>>16980905
put whisk in cordless drill then up bumhole. profit

>>16982242
Lol puer chocolate. Probably tastes like fish

I'm a bag fag (i only drink tea from tea bags)
Peppermint from Celestial Seasonings
Lady Grey from Twinings
Peach Green tea from Bigelow
And the God, the King, the greatest herb in a bag you can find on this side of the pacific ocean, Honey Vanilla Chamomile from Celestial Seasonings

>>16982352
For me its bengal spice from Celestial Seasonings
Also kava tea from yogi

as an small update LP plans to start selling the puerh beginner packs on the 27th.

>>16982711
Thanks for the update, im looking forward to it

what are you all sipping today?

>>16984577
Love Forever (paper tong)
One of my favorite shengs; thick and luscious with a pronounced cherry taste. It's pricey, but I would highly recommend a cake if you feel like splurging a bit.

>>16984626
sounds nice, i would have picked some up by now if it weren't for the price.

>>16984577
today i am having some cheap no-name factory dry stored mengku sheng from 2007. it not fancy gushu but the leaves are all whole and appears decent quality. i would say the prominent flavor is that "old leather" or "tobacco" taste a lot of semi aged or aged sheng tends to pick up. its also got a savory lightly smoky side to it as well again similar to other semi aged shengs i have tried. its old enough to have tamed the sheng's bitterness and is quite pleasant to drink now. I doubt this tea would compare favorably to premium offerings (though i have not had much in the way of premium sheng yet) but the price was right and its a nice daily drinker for me.

>>16984577
cold-smoked lapsang souchong that I bought a whole pound of because it was dirt cheap. kinda sick of it now and I got like 1/3lb left

>>16985308
>kinda sick of it now and I got like 1/3lb left
at least lapsang souchong is the sort of tea that keeps well if you want to put it aside for awhile. if you store it in a dry sealed container it it should last for a long time.

>drink coffee
>feel good
>drink tea
>tired
this is bullshit. picrel is mfw I drink coffee. I like that feeling but tea doesn't give it to me. Why?

>>16967341
Irish breakfast has more emphasis on Assam in the blend than English breakfast. Scottish is supposedly stronger, but is also hardest to find.

>>16985479
cuz ur so addicted to caffeine that anything less than the coffee-stim doesnt satisfy you, since your brain expects much more.

>>16984577
Bay leaf, as always.
I'm getting the hang of it I think, I like how it turns pink after steeping for a long time.

>>16984577
Two tablespoon scoops of Assam with roughly 12 oz water, and a dash of whole milk after the steep. Good stuff, but now I've got a bunch of leftover bags of Irish breakfast.

>>16985236
>i would say the prominent flavor is that "old leather" or "tobacco" taste a lot of semi aged or aged sheng tends to pick up. its also got a savory lightly smoky side to it
Nice that's just about ideal for a semi aged daily drinker for me

>>16956540
Lads, I think I'm starting to prefer tea over coffee. What do I do? Start wearing cologne and a turtleneck? How do I tell my father?

>>16985908
just drink green tea, and claim it's for health reasons

>>16985908
>What do I do?
Drink tea
>wear cologne
Sure
>turtleneck
No
Nobody is going to think drinking tea makes you a pretentious art fag unless you dress and act like one already. Remember most of the guys in the uk that do manual labor, builders, carpenters, delivery guys etc all drink tea and nobody thinks they are fags.

>>16985975
>>16985940
Thanks, friends. I will wear the cologne and drink tea, but I will not buy the turtleneck. Perhaps I will drive a sedan instead

>>16985988
Too bad they don't still make those big boxy volvo station wagons, those things were tanks

>>16986024
Maybe I will get a Hot Hatch instead of a sedan. Mroe convenient, does the Audi RS3 still have an inline 5? I can drink tea inside while I spray myself with Chanel

cool old tea books and papers:
History of tea (look at this one):
https://archive.org/details/AllAboutTeaV1/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/AllAboutTeaV2/mode/2up

The book of tea (for those not already familiar):
https://archive.org/details/cu31924000402648/mode/2up

more History an cultivation books:
https://archive.org/details/teaitsmysteryhis00days/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/manufcultivation00monerich/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/cu31924023998184/mode/2up

Cultivation focused:
https://archive.org/details/pestsblightsofte00wattiala/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/ceylonteamakersh00pettrich/mode/2up

Blending:
https://archive.org/details/teablendingasfin00wals/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/teateablending00slewrich/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/b28056024/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/cihm_02262/mode/2up

Health:
https://archive.org/details/b28038605/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/teaitseffectsmed00sigmrich/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/b22326339/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/101242438.nlm.nih.gov
https://archive.org/details/101178363.nlm.nih.gov
https://archive.org/details/lettertofriendco00weslrich/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/b22397255/mode/2up

>>16986054
Accounts on tea processing and trade by region:
China:
https://archive.org/details/accountofcultiva00ballrich/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/onteacultivation00derorich/mode/2up

India:
https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.211984/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/teaindustry00kydduoft/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/cu31924013772441/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/teaproducingcomp00gowwrich/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/teaplantinginout00mcgorich/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/goldentipsdescri00caverich/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/teacultivationin00haml/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/teaplanterslifei01bark/mode/2up

US:
https://archive.org/details/cultivationmanuf234mitc/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/theaviridisorchi03wash/mode/2up

Trade:
https://archive.org/details/teateatradeparts00nyegrich/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/teahintsforretai00blakrich/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/teafromgrowertoc00ibberich/mode/2up

Drinking:
https://archive.org/details/101188587.nlm.nih.gov/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/teateadrinking00readrich/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/teaitsorigincult00haus_0/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/littleteabook00grayrich/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/campbellsteacoff00camprich/page/92/mode/2up

This content will be on the exam.

>>16986058
Thanks for pulling these anon! I will go though this in a bit and get some/all of it up in the pastebin

>>16985988
turtlenecks are comfy though i recommend the uniqlo wool ones

>>16986193
>I will go though this in a bit and get some/all of it up in the pastebin
some of them are not as useful as the others and were just thrown in for fun and also because i got lazy half way though making this list and did curate them heavily. there is still a lot of great content in here however. i made the list as a spur of the moment thing earlier today and admittedly have not looked too closely at most of the works yet but i intend to. i may make a better organized and curated list later. as one other note a number of these books have multiple versions on archive.org and i still need to double check to make sure i picked the cleanest scans or newest edition of each book. glad someone found it interesting

Thinking about ordering some Gyokuro soon, how different is it from regular sencha? I recently started drinking Japanese tea, as of yet I’ve had standard Sencha, Genmaicha and Kabusencha.
Figured Gyokuro might be the next step here.

>>16986745
>Figured Gyokuro might be the next step here.
It is but at this point you should consider Waiting till next spring to order for maximum meme freshness

>>16976579
>Indian made a drive by shill post for them
Im english you psycho. I dont indians even drink tea. We take it all from them

>>16976579
>Indian made a drive by shill post for them
Im english you psycho. I dont think indians even drink tea because we take it all from them.

>>16987683
Sorry, a paki made a drive by shill post for them, and that annoys the shit out of me.

Tea

>>16987635
Fair point, where can I order tea from the 2022 harvest from when the time comes?

>>16963031
Russian breakfast.

>>16986745
Much more savory and thick, as well as more psychoactive thanks to higher caffeine and theanine. It often tastes like butter and/or sesame, and the higher-end ones lean into citrus territory. It's very nice, but you need to use a lot of leaf and treat it delicately, so it's not really a casual drink like sencha.

>>16988803
I recommend O-Cha; their Yame gyokuro is a perfect introduction to the style. If you want something a bit fancier, their Fujitsubo is excellent. If you're going to order from them, you should also consider the "Organic Kurasawa Kabusecha" as well, it's really good.
I've heard good things about Thes du Japon, but can't speak from experience.

any asufags here who can point me to a shop that they regularly use?

anyways
>want to get oolong
>all these different varieties
fuck it I'll just get jasmine oolong

Been having a lot of different red teas, some taste sweet and smell like bread, some taste a bit sour, in a good, berries kind of way. I remember reading something about it being a sign of a bad tea. Is it though? Because I kind of like it.

>>16989448
Who do you wanna get oolong with, anon?

Warm it up... Aerate it... Mmm... that's a 10.

>>16988803
April should be the new harvest, i guess it's not really that soon. I don't really drink a lot of Japanese tea so i don't know how autistic you need to be about freshness, but Gyokuro tends to have more emphasis on freshness that others.

Finally got around to doing a second session with a Gyokuro I didn't like the first tasting and either it has mellowed over time or I'm just appreciating the flavor more now. I had the same issue with another tea I tried though, where I hated it the first time and now consider it a solid daily drink. How many times do you guys find you have to drink a tea before you start to fully appreciate it?

>>16991016
I sometimes feel like i have to drink half of a ~350g puer cake to really gat a feel for it.

does no one have 100ml gaiwan in stock

>>16991210
Shipping's clogged

>>16991210
Aliexpress
https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32860463309.html
If it needs to be a USA shop these are close to 100
https://purplecloudteahouse.com/collections/gaiwans/products/yun-duan-gaiwan
https://purplecloudteahouse.com/collections/gaiwans/products/white-sancai-gaiwan
https://purplecloudteahouse.com/collections/gaiwans/products/qinghua-knife-gaiwan-125ml

>>16991210
>does no one have 100ml gaiwan in stock
verdant tea has some, this is the same one i use:
https://verdanttea.com/simple-white-gaiwan
if you want to get it and have not ordered from them before buy this first as it come with a $5 off coupon that makes it free when you use it towards the gaiwan in a separate order.
https://verdanttea.com/five-teas-for-5

Getting worried I'm chasing the dragon, bros.

>>16992154
>Getting worried I'm chasing the dragon
heres your next fix bro:
https://yeeonteaco.com/products/1970s-little-yellow-mark-cnnp-7542-raw-cluster-pu-erh-tea
you know you need it.

>>16992436
Is it going to give me a purer tea high than the rest? And what do I do once it no longer does it for me?

>$350 for a single serving of tea
Man, Puerhtards are next level.

>>16992600
>And what do I do once it no longer does it for me?
get some Da Hong Pao from one of the 6 mother bushes.
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20160425-the-pot-of-tea-that-costs-10000

>>16956540
new thread
>>16993167
>>16993167
>>16993167