/ck/ - Food & Cooking

For my final steep on whatever I'm brewing, I let the tea sit in it overnight and drink it the next day.

Does anyone else do this?

Rate my haul.

>>17321216
I don't leave it overnight but i will sometimes leave it for an hour or so, or at least 10 minutes

>>17321240
Love me mengku teas.
I have no idea what that flavored oolong is like, report on what it tastes like when you get the chance.

Tea is a scam to extract the money from the clammy hands of gweilo NEETs. Coffee and alcohol are the real man's beverage.

>>17321240
>Flavored
>Yunnan green
Pass from me, the Mengku black should be pretty tasty though.

>>17321186
what's your guys' preferred brewing method for chamomile?

>>17321284
I've been brewing it in a gaiwan and it's pretty interesting, other than that just brew it in a teapot, I have one with a built in strainer that works pretty well.

Did anyone order from moy chay? It's run by some Russian dude but they have an EU web shop and I'm too much of a Jew to pay tax for outside packages

Any recs?

I tried mulberry leaf tea/kuwacha because it's supposed to taste like matcha but "earthy." It tastes like muddy spinach. I didn't want to throw it away, but the more I tried it the more nauseous it made me feel. I lay in bed dazed wanting to throw up for hours. I still feel lightheaded. I don't think I'm supposed to drink anything that boasts about lowering blood sugar levels if I don't have problems with my blood sugar to begin with.

>>17321332
I recommended their NL site to a Dutch individual I know, and he liked the products. Said individual was new to tea, but still, the products seemed devent and arrived quite quickly. So, I imagine their other regional sites are fine.

How do you guys drink tea in the summer? I need a cup but it's so fucking hot and it makes me sweat like a mf

>>17321433
Cold brew or drink with ice cream

where to get cheap buttery or nut flavored japanese green tea?

>>17321247
That milk oolong tastes like sour milk with some of the leafyness i expect from jade oolong, its p comfy ngl

>>17321216
Sometimes I do. Usually I get the water and the cup boiling hot in the microwave and forget about it for a while.

>>17321284
Spoonful in one of my brew baskets in a mug, usually 5-10 minute brew depending on if i forget about it or not

>>17321368
> I don't think I'm supposed to drink anything that boasts about lowering blood sugar levels if I don't have problems with my blood sugar to begin with
Yeah that sounds like a weird time. The ones you really want to avoid are the ones that say they lower your blood pressure

>>17321186
What do you like to eat with your tea?
For me, it's cake or ham sandwiches.

>>17321186
Can anyone recommend the best place in Australia or even for an Australian to order Chinese tea cakes?
Looking for somewhere reputable and trusted that also won't rape me on postage.

I put my balls in the cup and add hot water to make tea

>>17322088
You're closer to china than i am. Just make the trip.

>>17322088
There is that one tea brand that is based in Melbourne or Brisbane or something that makes their own tea cake.
This shop mostly looks okay, juat don't get their little tiny mini toucha or anything where the tea leaves look like someone raked some leaves off the ground and make a brick with them.
This one looks okay
https://www.valleygreentea.com.au/pu-erh-tea/pu-erh-tea-ripened-brick-golden-tip.html
Otherwise just import m8, there is nothing in AU.

>>17322088
yunnansourcing

>>17322128
This cake also looks okay for a cheapy
https://www.valleygreentea.com.au/pu-erh-tea/buy-xigui-pu-erh-raw-cake.html

>>17322088
See pic related
Anyway order from http://fullchea-tea.com/
They only charge a couple $ per cake postage. Just order from the reputable brands like xiaguan, dayi (menghai), haiwan, and tulin and you should be fine. Happy to offer advice if you have more specific questions

>>17322088
I buy these ones. Theyre small and portable.

https://tinyteashop.com.au/collections/full-collection/products/puerh-nest-small?variant=32163370238057

>>17322457
I generally advise against buying those little mini puer nests, they tend to be made with floor sweepings

>>17321216
yeah i cold brew my leftover tea leaves if i have not fully spent them.

Is having 10 varieties on hand when it's both medium quality and I only drink a couple cups a day excessive? Been compiling them over years and except for maybe one variety I plan on doing reorders on all of them when I run out

>>17323092
If you'll drink them all before they go stale, or they're kinds that age well, then I see no issue with it. Maybe John wants peach soda one day and tangerine soda the next. It's your money to spend on options.

>>17323102
Some are stale but drinkable except one. I just feel it's ridiculous especially when I want to try throwing London fog in the mix. I usually use an online rng to pick which one I want to make but making matters worse I can't remember if darjeeling is different enough from English breakfast to warrant buying both on top of all of this

I get really unreasonably stressed out over things like this

>>17323125
You should only keep 2 different teas in the house, you will find it much more relaxing

>>17323125
If selecting from existing choices and types is stressful, why not go full circle and go completely out of your comfort zone? You could go full Chinese leaf and change infusion methods. White tea and pu'er will only develop with age, so they're decent options to consider. Maybe a cozy red tea or fun oolong. You'll spend more time being stressed over what kind of leaf you pick in any case, so if you abandon existing concerns and try for something completely new, you won't know what to expect, and won't have to think about it.

>>17321332
I've ordered from them once, got one of their wood fired gaiwains, a relatively cheap ripe cake and some georgian grown black.
If you lurk their social media and check their site after they fire a whole kiln load of pottery you might be able to snag something with sick colored glass like sections from pooling ash.

Actually really enjoyed both teas and wish I could justify ordering from them more to sample their other stuff, but funds are tight atm and I can't justify the shipping.
I follow some of their social media out of curiosity, I don't speak or read russian, and they have a couple physical tea houses in russia and do pop up shops/brewings a lot. Seem to be doing exceptionally good business over there.

>go to hispanic grocery
>they have rows of bottles of Mimi's Chamomile stacked sky high like bricks of cocaine
I never understood people who got hyped over grocery displays, but that display went so fucking hard. I wanted to take a picture, but I failed myself in that moment. They didn't used to have a whole van's worth of the stuff and its a pretty small place, I wonder if they noticed I was buying a lot of it in every form they offered or if I'm not the only one who has been craving the cham. I did not buy any, though, as I already have a few ounces of mid chamomile.

Mimi's comes in half ounces, though, and they sell them for the price that the 2oz ones used to sell for. There is a bottle instead of a bag now, so I that is fair for whole flowers I suppose. They are not the only store that switched at the same time. I wonder who is pulling the strings...

>>17321284
Steep for 1.5-2 hours. Just get it very dark. Or if using a smaller infuser, steep for 15 minutes while covered. It is a very sturdy herb. Even after a 2+ hour infusion, you can still get a second one out of the flowers.

>>17323102
who tf is john

>>17323629
John Smith. Mary Adams. Placeholder names.

So they actually fuck with Scott.
2022/01/15
>CLT & YS handed over to the carrier
2022/01/23
>CLT made it through the customs
2022/01/24
> Still no update from YS

>>17324101
>>CLT made it through the customs
Actually, it was presented to the customs. I'm being a little impatient. It made it to my country nevertheless.

i found a norwegian tea store website that seems decent and sells chinese teas and not purely indian tea or flavoured shit: https://spillthetea.no/
since norway is outside of the eu its kinda ass for tea since the shipping prices are always higher than the price of shipping from one eu country to another

>>17324988
also im tempted to try their puer cakes but theyre pretty pricey

I've been a lifelong soda consumer. I was sure that there was nothing more to offer from liquid drinks than a sugar hit.
I had some bagged black tea before and I thought it was just bitter water, I didn't like it.

Anyway, I poured a little clump of these dried leaves into a glass bottle and filled it with hot water. I let it cool down to the point where I could touch the bottle without it hurting, and holy shit. It tastes good, I never remember any tea like this.
I might have to get one of those portable glass bottles with the silicon handles.

>>17321186
does anyone have a link to an article that has the ACTUAL health benefits of drinking green tea? not any of that "it aligns your chakras" nonsense.

>>17323434
Big chamomile is on to you mate
At last you can appreciate the simple stuff and you arent ordering by the LB from some obscure french Alpine organic collective

>>17324988
Well i cant comment on prices because I'm to lazy to do conversions but the tea looks nice

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I ASKED FOR GREEN AND THEY GAVE ME MINT
I WANT TO FUCKING MURDER THE BITCH

>>17325370
Nice, there really are some fantastic teas out there, fruity, chocolaty, ones that taste like baked goods.

>>17325532
I might have to get myself some actual teaware and experience it properly
Oolong tea might just be my favorite thing to drink right now

>>17325522
DUDE WEED LMAO

>>17325589
I NEED MY GREEN TEA FUUUUCK

>>17325405
Just google EGCG

Teasisters, coffeebrothers are making fun of us again...

>>17325839
what do those chuds want now ?

Doc's orders are no caffeine for 2 weeks to see if that's what been exacerbating the heart issues I've been having, so that knocks out 95% of my tea collection. I'm hoping in the long-run that I just have to indulge in caffeine sparingly and not cut it all out. What are your favorite herbals to have on hand? I need more than the hojicha and the few odd herbals I currently have to make it through the next 2 weeks of suffering.

>>17325854
hojicha is easy to make with green/white/oolong teas at home

>>17325915
I've never tried roasting/cooking tea leaves. Thank you for the suggestion, I will have to give it a try.

>>17325854
Soba or barley for caffeine-free toasty drinks

>>17326144
heat up small saucepan medium high for 30 sec or so, add tea leaves, and stir for 30 sec until leaves can sit without burning. put cover on top and let steam cook the tea for 3-5 min, mostly off the stove but maintaining heat until unique flavor quality comes out. then cook on low and stir for 5-8 min more until brown and roasted smelling

>make kettle of lemon balm tea
>whole kitchen smells like reefer

>>17325483
I only switched from bagged tea less than a month ago so I am pretty easily impressed by any and all loose leaf I come across. I can tell the difference in quality with really good herbs, but I'm still learning so I like cheap teas to learn with.

>>17323364
Georgian tea? You mean Chay with caterpillars?

>>17326282
>georgian grown black
No, it's just a black tea that was grown in the country of Georgia

>>17325405
Most I can find is the L-Theanine and antioxidants

>>17326292
In the Soviet Union it had a reputation is all lol

>>17326282
Luzianne with chitlins.

>>17326302
Interesting. Being a typical uneducated American I was unaware.
For it's relatively low price I found it to be really enjoyable. Sort of a middle point between a more malty/bud heavy chinese black and typical indian assam.

>>17326325
The soviets didn’t have access to Chinese tea for a long while after the revolution and it was much cheaper to produce it in the Georgian Soviet republic. They actually cut the tea from the trees/bushes using thin chainsaws and it was horribly cut. That’s where the reputation of having caterpillars in it came from. I assume it’s much better now than it was back in those days.

>>17326332
Holy shit that's wild. Tea history in various parts of the world is always interesting.

>>17326343
Russia’s been importing tea before England. They believe it saved the star’s son

>>17326368
Tsar

>>17326325
>>17326332
i’m not an expert but i think georgia has one of the best natural conditions in the world to grow tea.
before communist took over georgian tea was considered among the best teas
with the greatly increased demand of soviets heavy machinery got involved in the picking process and tea quality rapidly went down. even still it was the best tea soviets had.

here is an interesting article i found some time ago
https://www.rferl.org/amp/the-revival-of-georgias-tea-industry/30230293.html

>>17326332
Apparently the large soviet tea plantations don't exist anymore but there are some small farmers who want to grow high quality tea with the "specialty" coffee and tea market growing in recent years.

Since we're talking tea history, can we cover how chamomile tea is pretty much a modern invention?

The Egyptians revered the stuff, but they did not know what tea was. They did not make tea with herbs, they basically made infusions with them using wine as a base.

And then it was popular in Europe, after that, but Europe still didn't know what tea was either yet...

And why/when/how the fuck did Latin America start using it? We have documents about George Washington and hemp coming to the U.S., but who is the George Washington of chamomile?

>>17326496
Are there any brands you would recommend?

>>17326728
I saw teehaus, moychay and some german vendors stocking it and there's a website for Renegade tea estate who have their own farms. Right now it's too expensive for me to buy so I never tried any

>>17321332
Bought some of their dancong while visiting Russia a few years ago and liked it so I ordered a few months ago from the NL site

>Da Hong Pao Jinping
Meh, nothing special, pretty one dimensional and can't take many steeps

>Thai Gui Fei High Grade
I'm a sucker for bug bitten/partially bug bitten teas so I'd order this one again

>WEBPUNK 2.0 shou pu cake
Not a puer fag and don't like the dank flavors so this one is great. According to the reviews on the russian site, their shou pu-s are sort of weak(?) and usually have dry/woody notes that not a lot of people like. Good enough as a grandpa style tea for hiking and camping but nothing special, the price is good.

>Thai Red tea from old trees
Meh, I like the fruity and strong red teas, this one isn't.

>Exclusive Dutch black (red) tea 2.0
Got it just for the novelty of trying an Europe grown tea. Sucks ass, doesn't even taste like red tea, has a weird cardboard flavor. Used it to make kombucha which turns out drinkable when flavored with something

>Xiao Zhong Hong Cha 100g brick
Fucking love it, perfect balance of fruity and strong black tea flavor, when/if it gets back in stock I'm buying 10. The only thing I'd 100% order again

Some other EU vendors: 1000tea (Hungary), Eastern Leaves (Italy), pu-erh.sk and farmer leaf (french site) for pu but I don't drink that so idk if they're good. Yuropoor anons give some more recs, I usually order directly from China

>>17326512
Any good-to-read sources on that? Hard to believe that no one thought of putting plants in hot water to extract the compounds before the Chinese invented tea.

As for another anon who worried about heart damage from linden tea, there's a bunch of blog posts about it and most have zero references or vague claims like "some scientists note that...". Some of them refer to some short reviews and they all in turn refer to one single publication from 1997. with weak evidence. It's even a bigger stretch than "coffee gives cancer". Keep drinking your tasty semen smelling tree flower tea anon.

>>17326950
The ancient Egyptians soaked the blue Egyptian lotus Lilly in alcohol to make a potent infusion.

Ive been drinking all my cheap shitty tea because i got covid and lost half my sense of taste/smell i guess it should come back in a week or two but it's helped me get through a bunch of random old tea

>>17327758
A guy who I turned onto tea recently got COVID. Finding his sense of taste and smell to be completely fucked for most things, but he still tastes some of his tea and coffee. I can see some otherwise harsh sheng or heavy shou being a nice choice in those sort of conditions. Anything more forward, perhaps with notable texture to make up for it all is surely a better choice when your other senses are impaired.

>>17322088
I purchase from
- Kuuracorp
- Cuppacha
- Lupicia
- A Leaf Story

>>17326950
Yes, I have no sources just reading stuff on blogs. And as another anon said, there is more documentation for how they used blue lotus, which is where I got the alcohol idea from, just connecting the dots. I know with scientific research how to put things into google scholar but with history I don't even know where to start lel

My personal limit for caffeine tends to be around 5-6 infusions in the typical gong fu style (100 ml each, 4-6g of leaf depending on the type). I always feel bad about not being able to get through all the infusions. I also try not to drink tea after around 3pm so I don't have trouble sleeping, but combined with my schedule I end up rarely having the time I'd need to comfortably drink 9 or 10 infusions anyway.

I was thinking of halving my infusions and tea - 50ml each with 2-3g of leaves. 50ml is barely any tea so I'd probably combine and drink every 2 infusions as I go. This would fit my caffeine tolerance and schedule a lot better most days, but is this idea totally retarded? Has anyone come up with similar compromises to get gong fu flavor and complexity without needing hours of freetime? I know I don't "need" to use all the infusions but 5-6 grams per session is a lot of leaf wasted if I'm not drinking half of its value.

Lemon balm tea feels like what they gave me in the psych ward... brain made of steel

where to get a cheap japanese hohin teapot?

>>17328211
I don't know if there are any research on gongfu caffeine extraction, but have you tried discarding the first few infusions? I believe they should be the strongest in caffeine but I might be wrong. Otherwise sure, double 50 ml or infuse longer in 100 ml.

>>17328211
Lowering your tea output is a fine idea. You might find a smaller vessel useful but just using less of your gaiwan's volume works.
>>17328782
If you must discard tea this is a good idea, also because the first few infusions might not be preferable anyways. Personally, sometimes when I don't feel like drinking all the tea, I just taste some infusions and throw most of them out unless they're particularly good. It feels less wasteful since I get a taste.

>>17328721
Take a look at some of the Japanese shops in the pastebin, sometimes there are good prices on ebay.

Anyone else get a "high" sensation from green tea

>>17329453
"tea drunk"

>It's another "early morning white and thick shou while coasting out on high doses of L-theanine and noopept" episode.
You know, the past few days were rough. Yet, this is a nice experience. I wish every day was just a cruise ship of anxiolytics, tea, and literature. What do you anons like to do and pair with your tea time? What really 'makes' the session for you?

>>17329735
When I do gongfu I can't do anything but focus on the tea and ponder things. I've come to consider it a meditative activity at least, cliche as that may be. When I want to do something and drink tea at the same time, I do grandpa style. It's kinda cozy to write, draw, or cook a cajun dish while sipping that way.

>>17329824
I'm usually the same way, though perhaps more sporadically. I have a very streamlined setup that enables me to have rapid infusions, so I'm able to savour the developments at whatever pace I fancy. I am a relatively high-stress individual, so I'm trying to incorporate my gong fu sessions into other things as to ponder less, instead being more recreationally productive while reducing stress and paying attention to my infusions more intimately. I hope for the anxiolytics to help with that. I kind of want to try using kratom while drinking tea too.

>>17329735
What kind of doses of L-theanine are you taking? I bought a bottle of L-theanine pills once but i didn't notice them doing all that much.

>>17329453
Yes. Feels nicotinic, wouldn't be surprised if it is. Herbal teas have groovier highs imo, but that green tea buzz has powered generations

>>17329883
I don't even measure manually at this point, as I use powder and can use as much as I can get (even if somewhat irresponsible). I used to measure 600mg on my scale, if not 800mg or even up to 1.2g sublingually depending on severity of my conditions. I recommended L-theanine to someone else recently who wanted to reduce benzodiazepine use. He's taking 400mg in 1x200mg doses daily, and said he's already halved his pill usage. I think 400mg should be the starting point for most chronically stressed and nervous/anxious people. Everyone's systems are different in the end, though.

Keeping the post on-topic, I find the additional L-theanine (taken sublingually) to really enhance my gong fu sessions. Of course, camellia sinensis already has L-theanine in it, but the amount isn't nearly high enough for a proper therapeutic dose in my opinion, and the extra amount really pairs well with the caffeine as a common nootropic stack. That is part of why I'd like to try kratom sometime, and see how it pairs with tea.

The 1980s leaves are much sexier than the 1998 ones. I love ‘em thicc and Chinese.

>>17329923
Damn, those are some thick liu bao nuggies. Post some brew notes when you make it, bet it will be good.

>>17329908
>That is part of why I'd like to try kratom sometime, and see how it pairs with tea.
Kratom is great, it has mild opiate like effects and has a combination of stimulant and relaxing properties. Very enjoyable combo with tea. Get some from kraken kratom as the head shop stuff can be super inconsistent, go for the red meng da. Don't get it in capsules, put 1.5 to 2 grams in an oz or two of hot but not boiling water, swirl and chug with some water on hand to chase it.

>>17329923
Nice looking stuff, very clean for an old tea

>>17329994
How do you feel it stacks with tea? Thoughts on how it may impair or improve attention and memory? By coincidence, an associate has some red maeng da he's intended to send to me at some point, so I may be fortunate enough to try it (eventually). Finding combinations with tea that reduce stress greatly without impacting my cognition has been of interest to me as of late. Also curious about white vein.

Why am I so greedy? I just want to try every tea from every place.

i've been drinking a lion's mane tea for the last few weeks and i feel so much more focused, mentally and emotionally balanced. anyone else with similar experiences or other cognitive benefits from teas?

>>17330042
>Thoughts on how it may impair or improve attention and memory?
If you overdo it it can leave you feeling a bit spacey but it doesn't seem to impair cognition. It goes very nicely with tea, almost as good as the classical cup of coffee + cigarette combo.
The red green white stuff is confusing and inconsistent between brands, i would consider it more a subjective description of effects than actual differences in the color of leaf veins.

>>17329453
like cha qi?

>>17325799
>>17326295

hmm, so it is a meme then.

DUDE MINT LMAO

>>17330224
you gonna smoke that later?

>>17330361
i’m trying to mix it with few teas i have to see which one works best
i don’t like drinking pure mint tea

>>17321254
Don’t be a bitch. Coffee, tea, and alcohol are all real men’s beverages. Better yet if you mix coffee and alcohol or tea & alcohol.

Can I keep YS tea in its bags? Or do I have to buy a tin?

>>17321433
>brew big pot of hot tea
>add big pitcher of cold lemonade
>keep in fridge, drink as needed

>>17321240
where can i get some jin xuan that isn't flavored?

>>17329926
I made some a couple days ago; since I normally do 5g brewings, that tiny bag is only good for 2 runs. But damn I’m glad I tried it.
It’s intensely rich and loamy, which seems to be the main thing that increases with age in Liu Bao.
Absolutely zero hint of any bitterness or funk or other off-putting weirdness.
At some point I’m going to treat myself to a much larger order of it.

>>17330632
It basically ended up looking like coffee.

For reference, I used my standard Liu/Pu brewing method of 5g leaves + ~400g boiling water poured into a pre-heated tetsubin, with a brew time of “yeah that’s the sort of color I’m looking for”.
I’m convinced it’s literally impossible to overbrew a good Liu Bao. It just gets richer and better.

I got 2 super dark brews from that 5g of leaves, and a 3rd slightly-less-dark but still delicious one (all using 400g water)

>>17330594
YS=Yunnan?

>>17321186
Is it weird that sometimes I just crave a small cup of soup and hot tea for a meal?

>>17330668
Yes.

>>17330900
Why would that be weird?

>>17331187
What sort of bags are they?
The ones I got from Yunnan US are like heat-sealed Mylar which can’t really be closed and isn’t the best sort of thing to store tea in anyway.

>>17331198
I haven't gotten my tea yet. So I don't know.

>>17330900
No, sounds pretty good, desu.

>>17331201
This is what mine came in.
It’s bad to leave it sealed because tea like this needs a bit of air and fresh humidity.
But the bag can’t be resealed, and basically tears when opened anyway.

You should honestly just get a few tins/jars. They’re the best storage option, and likely you’ll eventually end up buying some anyway, so might as well go ahead.

>>17330662
>For reference, I used my standard Liu/Pu brewing method of 5g leaves + ~400g boiling water poured into a pre-heated tetsubin, with a brew time of “yeah that’s the sort of color I’m looking for”.
Nice, that's an ace way to do it

>>17331250
I ended up buying a few cheap bagged teas from Harney; I'll just reuse those tins.
Thanks.

So i bought a tea master sampler for beginners and opened the first (pic related) and i'm not sure exactly how to brew? I'm googling around and it's giving me different time/temperatures/ratios? I found one website that said 2 g/6 oz water at 170* for 45 seconds-1 minute but it's kinda weak? Please help, as I'm a noob to all of this?

>>17331507
does your oolong look like strips or is it rolled up like a ball? that changes how its brewed but oolong should be brewed at boiling temp 210f i think and do 2 minutes 1g/100ml of water

>>17331521
little balls. i'll try that!

>>17331528
use 0.8g per 100ml then since its rolled then

How much profit do you think he makes off of his abysmal shipping scheme? I’ve spent half the cost of shipping from China and received it in a week. Does he really just charge the most expensive rates for the worst shipping?

>>17329895
Thought I was the only one who claimed it felt like nicotine. Definitely feels nicotinic for a non smoker like me, even tho the smoker teafag friends say it's nothing like it

>>17331507
I don't think you should necessarily use boiling water with those Taiwan oolongs, probably 90°c is the sweet sport unless it's roasted.

>>17331201
generally with most of their loose tea they put in resealable ziploc bags (but you have to be careful because the ziploc part will rip off pretty easily if you're not gentle opening it). samples of bricks of puer or heicha will come in >>17331250 these bags. and they put anxi oolongs in the same type of bag, but in red.

>>17331754
This dude appearance says “colossal douche” to me.

i wanna get into puer more, is there any good beginner packages or something like that from a european store, or do i just say fuck it and buy a full cake from farmer leaf since they interest me the most, my budget is prob 130 dollars ish for a full cake and 60 for a beginner package

>>17332023
Bro anyone that describes something’s taste as “guangzhou-y” scares me

>>17332059
As much as I rag on yunnan sourcing they are quality-focused and generally honest about their labels which is very rare in China. I’m an amerifag so I can’t say much for euro stores.

>>17332152
since they ship from china (i think) is there even that big of a difference between europe and us shipping?

>>17332059
>something like that from a european store,
European store situation is grim. I can't promise that it's a great idea to go all in on a cake of young raw from farmer leaf but that is probably the safest way to buy puer in Europe and get anything close to your moneys worth.
Otherwise there are no good beginner packages and you can get a few cheaper cakes from fullchea instead.
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/2012-yr-menghai-dayi-classic-7572-ripe-puerh-100-quality-guarantee-taetea-chinese-puer-tea-for-gift-packing-150g-pc37-aged-puerh-best-organic-tea-p0140.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/2012-puer-tea-dayi-taetea-7542-150g-gift-package-china-yunnan-menghai-puerh-puer-pu-erh-raw-organic-health-care-food-chai-aged-puerh-best-organic-tea--p0139.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/tulin-fenghuang-2009-raw-puerh-special-feng-huang-xiang-bing-702-old-pu-erh-tea-380g-p0440.html
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/haiwan-2019-yr-pu-er-cha-9978-batch-191-shu-puer-te-357g-p0473.html

I like to make two thermoses for work every day. It stops me from going to the gas station every day to get gatorades or red bulls. But the bags seem to break in the thermoses and I get loose tea leaves. Earl grey is my favorite. Thank you for reading

>>17332292
wow was not expecting that price, ill prob buy some of them then ty

>>17332325
Prices vary quite a bit when it comes to puer, from $15-$20 a cake, which used to be much more common 5-10 years ago, to thousands per cake, the market is pretty insane.

>>17332059
I’d just find a store that offers the option of buying small (like 10-25g) samples and order as many different ones as your budget allows.
You’ll come across at least a few that you love and can order proper amounts of later.
There’s like a gorillion puerh makers which may or may not even exist anymore and another gorillion different ages.
So it’s literally just a guessing game unless you’ve had it before; might as well just flip a coin to choose between “Virtuous Jade Ancient Monkey 2005” and “Goku 7 Dragonballs 2003” because who the fuck knows? And it would suck if you didn’t like it after spending 100+ on a whole cake.

This is made worse by the tact that when a particular puerh variety gains some notoriety as being “a really good one” and starts popping up on forums, the price instantly inflates.
So if you buy a well known/reviewed one, you’re probably paying a huge “popular tax”.

>>17333008
>There’s like a gorillion puerh makers which may or may not even exist anymore and another gorillion different ages.
>So it’s literally just a guessing game unless you’ve had it before;
Not really true if you're buying from the big guys. Dayi is pretty consistent across years, you might not get a hidden hit but it's probably going to be pretty good. Same with Xiaguan.

>>17321247
For me it smells strongly and tastes slightly like powdered milk, I agree it's p comfy

>>17333082
>but it's probably going to be pretty good
Fair enough as far as some of their more cost-effective cakes go.
Personally I just prefer to try a sample when we’re talking cakes that start going significantly over 100/150 or so.

>>17333196
Oh sure, I just mean starting out it's probably fine to grab a cake from one of the big guys at the ~50 dollar mark, if you want a cake. You'll probably not be disappointed if you're new to puer and like it. I mostly buy samples just because a cake is a lot of tea, I'd rather drink 5 different things than a lot of one thing. I only buy cakes of stuff I know I like. If that anon is thinking about buying a cake though, I don't think it's a big deal to round out his total tea volume, samples can get expensive.

>>17333256
I buy older ones to drink and newer ones to age. I have some saved for special occasions and may flip one or two.

>>17329453
yes, got tea drunk off some Jasmin pearls and almost crashed my car driving to work
>>17331250
the 50g bags that dont have a resealable top, i put mine to jam jars, for the larger bag the seal is usually good enough no to rip and for paper wrapped cakes/bricks leave them in the paper (
and the plastic bag as bricks usually dont give extra paper to re wrap)
>>17331507
if its weak try 1g/100ml but 20 seconds then 25 then 30 ect. oolongs expand a lot, so those ball infusers aren't great

To heicha anons, how do you like to make the most of common grade, loamy soil note kind of heicha? I mean the heavily compressed kind that infuses heavy. It continues to be the most difficult tea for me to infuse wrll.

Found grandfather Chang's lucky wizard hair in my gaiwan after several infusions from earlier today. I'm not bothered by it, but rather, find it to just be an odd perspective. You will of course know that random Asian farmers are handling the gathering and preparation of your imported leaves, but it's more personal to find more direct remnants and signs of their existence in your tea. Strands of hair, rubble, cigarette butts, and so on. I wonder what it would be like to go to foreign farmlands and micro lots, drinking tea with people I can barely xomminocate with. That could be cool.

my mom accidentally shattered our old kettle so we got a new one (pic related); can i just put a bunch of oolong balls into this "tea infuser" and just leave it in there, reboiling another ~1.5l with it still in there grandpa style?

i've only ever poured boiling water over tea leaves/bags, never like brought it up to temperature with the tea in it

>>17334567
Why not just brew it on a stovetop in that case?

>>17334635
in what case? sorry my post isnt worded well, i was mostly asking about the idea of just using the kettle for multiple grandpa brews lets say 3 for example

i drop all my tea balls into the infuser, fill kettle with 1.5l water and boil it, pour out all the liquid into another vessel but leave the same leaves in the infuser and repeat 2 more times

>>17332292
ok this is what i found that seemed good from their moscow warehouse, does it look good?

>>17334878
oh nvm they dont shit to where i live from russia : (

>>17334884
They should ship from China, the Russian warehouse is just for Russians to order from

>>17334878
Skip the 2008 yr Linsong
Get one of these instead
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/tulin-2009-tuocha-tea-yunnan-tuo-cha-raw-puerh-250g-p0490.html

>>17334567
dont brew in kettles, all the leaf residues will burn on the bottom

>>17335175
is that so? well i'm inclined to believe you because i wasn't looking forward to having to 'deep clean' this thing after brewing tea in it; thanks

Has anyone had ever drank pic related before? Fermented Japanese tea sounds quite interesting

>>17335175
Nah man, it’s fine if you do it right.
The trick to brewing in a kettle is to put the leaves in your kettle, and then put that kettle into a larger kettle.
So then the kettle-kettle boils the tea-kettle, which in turn boils the tea, thereby preventing burned residues due to the Pythagorean Transitive Axiom placing said residues into an undefined state.
Unless we’re talking black tea, which requires a 3rd kettle for obvious quantum entanglement reasons.

>>17335404
>Has anyone had ever
forgive me for being retarded

are all green oolong expensive as heck? after tasting a couple of green teas i've gone back to a green oolong from teathara but they damn near doubled the price since i last purchased. help.

When doing iced tea I can barely taste the difference between black and green tea. Is this a common phenomenon or are my taste buds dead?

Gonna shill for my favorite tea shop without giving a single fuck.

I currently live in TN due to work, and the lady who runs https://www.musiccitytea.com/ is an absolute treasure.
It’s a tiny shop mostly focused on local sales, so her online tea selection isn’t nearly as big as most sellers, but her site does have some killer prices on Chinese teaware.
And the owner is as based as they come.
Her English isn’t the best (and there’s some “engrish” on her site) but she’s super-passionate, her family has grown tea for generations, she hosts the tea ceremonies in her store, and loves making samples for people and teaching Chinese brewing/serving techniques.
She also has a YouTube channel showing those things. The videos (and her website) are kinda low-quality, but I don’t expect a Chinese tea-lady to be an expert UI-designer and YouTuber.

>tfw no wholesome chubby cheongsam-wearing Chinese teamaster wife to enjoy morning pu-erh with

>>17335464
I can taste the difference but it is more slight at cold Temps. You might be over/under brewing one of them. If you cold or sun brew it, green tea will end up tasting like black tea if steeped too long.

>>17335464
Are you making them weak?
Or are they kinda flavorless teas?
You should definitely be tasting a fairly large difference.

Does anybody know what type of tea this is?
It smells like honey

>>17335609
>>tfw no wholesome chubby cheongsam-wearing Chinese teamaster wife to enjoy morning pu-erh with
>>to enjoy morning pu-erh with
Outch

>>17335684
Probably roiboos, maybe even honey bush varietal

aliexpress tea is good enough for lazy brewing, if you want something that's cheaper than YS
It's not as flavorful but the low price makes up for it

>>17335979
are you not worried there like lead in it or something?

>>17335404
I want to try it really badly but i never want to spend $20 for 50g of it. Some day, maybe if Japan ever starts shipping EMS to the US & Canada again.

>>17335987
it's a possibility but none of the teas really tasted 'off' so I figure it's probably fine

>>17335987
chinese teas are probably the least sketchy thing you can buy from china, even the people there hate the farmers using herbicide/pesticides

>>17335609
Based poop tea vendor

>>17335979
Holy shit I always love machine translated product names/descriptions
>for health care lose weight houseware
Of course you’ll lose weight if you also lose your houseware. You can’t cook/eat anything then. Can’t brew more tea either.
>Kung Fu Loose Tea Taste Better
Than Dianhong Tea
Kung crew 4lyfe. Fuck that shitty Dianhong tea and those asshole farmers who grow it.

>>17336077
Giga-based.
In first 5sec of that video in your screenshot she says
>We gonna put two scoop in this teapot, called “lazy America teapot”.

>>17336154
pretty sure it's also because searches are based off titles instead of product tags, so they have to cram in every related keyword they can

>>17336248
>Yunnan 2001 ripe shou pu erh chá tea black red 茶 (老外茶)guangzhou fujian province flaming dragon mountain detox weight loss probiotic antioxidant fermentation wet pile ancient arbor private garden happy tea.

>make cups of chamomile tea
>take flower heads out of infuser
>eat them
Oh boy, new socially unacceptable habit that is deeply rooted into our nature!

Time to sip a bit of the ol' leaf juice before going to sleep

>>17336506
unless that shit's organic I really recommend against it
even then, it's a terrible idea to eat chamomile, it does the opposite

>>17336608
It's already been "washed" and "cooked" several times over by the tea infusion process. What I ate earlier was not organic, but what I'm about to eat is.
>it's a terrible idea to eat chamomile, it does the opposite
Do you care to explain?

>>17336665
What’s to explain?
If you eat it, it does the opposite.
If you want to prevent it from doing the opposite, refrain from eating it.
If you’re fine with the opposite being done by the chamomile, then eat as much as you want.

>>17336712
But, like, how?

i bought 0 buds, leaf only black tea, how much did i scam myself?

>>17336718
>how
Are you asking how to eat it? Or how to avoid eating it?

>>17336826
Is it good? Being too obsessed with buds is a meme, but totally bud free teas can also be somewhat less potent

Eating chocolate truffles with mint rooibos with chocolate husks...exquisite...

>>17337398
>mint rooibos
What's that like, is it just mint and rooibos mixed together or do they add some kind of mint flavoring?

You guys don't even know what bad tea is
I've tried some bad teas in my days that are burned into my mind

>>17337699
I’ve had tea burned into my mind as well.
It wasn’t bad though, the flavor was nice.
The part that burned into my mind began shortly after; turns out it had been brewed with opium.

cheapest sites for fresh jap teas?

>>17337782
The pastebin
Look for that every day sencha

>>17337808
just looking for personal experiences especially from people who have tried tea from multiple sources

>>17336665
>Do you care to explain?
Concentrated chamomile is an stimulant. Same happens if you brew a big ass batch of chamomile or let it steep too long.
Thus brewing a good ol' cuppa does the opposite than eating the goddamn flower, first one will calm you, second one will wake you up. I've also been told anecdotally that people who drink really high concentrated chamomile end up having nightmare more often, but that's speculation.

>>17337561
It's T2's blend that uses mint flavoring.

Complete tea noob here. Is tea supposed to just taste like warm water with a slight hint of flavor? I've made a couple cups from bags and that's all I taste.

>>17340880
Bags are shit, buy cheap loose leaf. If you've essentially never had tea before, there's no need to start with the fancy stuff, just get some inexpensive black tea. Harney famous but imo pretty bad and overpriced for what it is. Find the guy here who was buying tea from India.

>>17340880
>from bags
theres your problem. upgrade to loose, the price difference is non-existent as you can steep loose multiple times, also increase the amount of leaf vs water

>>17340880
Try some loose tea. Start with cheap stuff.
Do you have an Arab/halal store anywhere near you? They’ll have a lot for cheap.

>>17340901
>>17340904
So if I use loose leaves do I just throw them into warm water and then strain it out?

>>17340914
You can, you can use a teapot with a strainer built in, or a kitchen strainer or whatever. I'm drinking tea right now that's just sitting in the bottom of a mug, it will sink if you brew with boiling water. However you want to combine leaves and hot water works.

>>17340914
yes, either get a gaiwan(~$10) or a small teapot with a built-in strainer or brew basket. 'normal' western brewing is iirc 2g/100ml and 3-5mins then add an extra min for each additional steep

>>17340921
>>17340926
I see, I'll take all this into consideration and hopefully make something that tastes good. Thank you.

>>17340931
I use a tea strainer like this and just brew 1 mug at a time. Gaiwan is a bit trickier to figure out if you're a beginner.

>>17341591
>Gaiwan is a bit trickier to figure out if you're a beginner.
It has three pieces, what the fuck do you need to figure out? You put in tea, you put in water, you pour it out when the tea is ready.

>>17341600
Gaiwan tea ceremony complex as fuck bruh you need a flowchart

>>17341600
Not him but it takes a while to get the feel for how to grip it properly, everyone starting out with a gaiwan manages to spill boiling hot water on their fingers at least once while trying to pour out their gaiwan.

Has anyone had bancha tea here before? Was thinking about buying some nicer green tea, but instead of just getting nicer versions of the kind I've already drank, I wanna try something new.

>>17341783
>Has anyone had bancha tea here before?
Bancha is just low grade Sencha. I am not much into Japanese tea, but it's fine.

If you're not familiar with Japanese teas, they are definitely worth trying. (But be gentle. Compared to Chinese teas, they have smaller leaves and prefer shorter steeping times and colder water.)

>>17341759
Maybe if you're a fucking quadriplegic.

>>17341818
I see, I've only ever had American Brands like Bigelow and The Republic of Tea, so I'll start with Bancha then as a starter for Asian teas. I got an electric kettle recently and it works pretty well with the tea I do have, so I'll see if it works here too.

>>17341920
Japanese teas generally have pleasant grassy taste, Bancha might be bit more leafy/vegetal.
They are bit unique category, so even if you came to conclusion that you don't like them, you might want to try teas from other Asian countries anyway.

>>17341591
>Gaiwan is a bit trickier to figure out if you're a beginner.
If you're spilling or dropping anything, you're probably not doing it right. If you're not spilling or dropping anything, you've probably got it figured out. Its pretty fucking intuitive.

Nah fuck off with this i used a Gawain perfectly the first time i ever touched it bullshit. You splashed, you spilled, you absolutely got hot water on your finger tips. Its not that hard to get used to but it absolutely takes practice

>>17342366
>it absolutely takes practice
To... pour a liquid?

>>17342435
It definitely does take practice to get the grip down and pour it consistently with no spills. I think gaiwans are easy to learn but hard to master. Why be so incredulous over that?

>>17342366
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TuYCnuSmKg
Here bud, this might be more your speed.

>>17342366
did you type this with a headwand?

>>17342435
Pouring liquid from gaiwan is so easy that chinks developed drained for use with it.

>>17342489
Lol jokes on you, they actually invented those in 1998 so they could laugh at silly westerners trying to use gaiwan.
>t. Learned expert on China because goes to Asian massage parlor with each paycheck

>>17342366
Bitch I do that shit one handed. Decant it from an incredible height, current personal record over three feet. Even Shou or Oolong doesn't make my hand tremble even if splashes back and burn the palm of my hand. I can guzzle that shit straight from the Gaiwan or teapot. You simply haven't adapted and will be left be hind

>>17342546
Based

>>17335609
Lol I was going to pull her lazy america pot video to meme on gaiwantard. Noticed the name. I bought a cheap tray to stab cakes apart from her etsy a while back.

This any good? Do you have any simple drippers you recommend? I've been drinking tea on a daily basis for the past 10 years (mostly matcha). I have some nice tea pots, gong fu tea tray, etc when drinking loose leaf. Getting into coffee over the last year, I did find myself leaning towards products with easier clean-up. Right now I had this in mind or IngenuiTea dispensers. What do you recommend?

>>17342895
I don't see this being easier to clean. It's two pieces of glass and a stand vs a gaiwan or typical teapot. Tea isn't that complicated, and if your setup feels like a chore, reevaluate it. Even just changing to a cheap electric kettle with temperature controls will go a long way towards making it less trouble.

>>17342895
Hario switch with the "eco filter" metal cone? Looks right up your alley. Toss in a paper filter for coffee, keep the metal cone "clean" for tea.

The shape of the gaiwain's lip, and it's lid are the two biggest factors. Combined with the angle of the lid into the gaiwan when you pour and at what rate you invert the gaiwan over your receptacle of choice.
HOWEVER, the type of tea, large leaf vs smaller bits, amount of leaf and amount of water are all also contributing factors to how water will pour out of a gaiwan.

Just using a gaiwan is simple and anyone can do it. But I also enjoy how each of those small variables ends up changing how the water will flow. Yes I've put too much thought into this.

Finally pulled the trigger on this during a recent sale ($100+ off) and being able to program shit in has improved my teas so fucking much it's unreal. I thought I was good timing and doing everything manually but fuck me has this raised the bar for me. It's expensive don't get me wrong but I'm glad I forked out. I mean why buy quality tea if you're gonna fuck it up with boiling water and lax steeping times.

>>17343092
It's great that it works for you anon, i would expect people here to make fun of it for one reason or another but what matters most is you enjoying tea.

>>17343110
We'll get a post here in a few weeks that he tipped it over and broke the glass. I'll stick with my fellow stagg and a $10 gaiwan.

>>17343142
Says the guy with the $250 electric kettle

>>17343092
I'm not usually one for integrated systems, but it does look comfy for tisanes and maybe some chill white or oolong infusions. Let us know how it goes.

>>17343048
THANK YOU. I already have a Hario Switch, I love the fucking thing. I'll just get a metal cone filter for it. I've been considering it anyway since I figured the metal filter would make the coffee taste more french press-like.

>>17343092
Nifty; it would be great if you posted some detailed opinions with type of tea, temp/time etc. because I’m always interested to hear about personal experiences with stuff
>>17343110
>i would expect people here to make fun of it for one reason or another
Anyone who does is probably an exchange-student from the coffee general.

Got loose leaf tea, tastes VERY different from Twinnings black/oolong teas. I guess loose leaf isn't a meme after all

>>17343206
Yeah bagged tea is usually nothing but stems, dust and mulch, often swept off the floor.

>>17343160
$150 for a 304 stainless kettle with a pid. You're going to break that carafe.
>>17343187
Np pal. I really like the idea of the switch and its versatility. I might snag one when I break my origami.

what's the password

how bad is tap water for tea?

>>17343282
Depends on your tap water, which varies greatly according to where you live.
How bad is *your* tap water for tea? I think only you can answer that.

>>17343110
>, i would expect people here to make fun of it for one reason or another
I was honestly in that camp myself and did everything manually but I was spending a lot of time making tea so I figured with a steep enough discount I'd try it out. The steeping cup is magnetic and its programmable so you can set it to run each morning so I can test out varying steep temps and lengths and wake up to a fresh brew every morning. For just that alone it's shaving time off my day which is convenient as fuck. Waking up to a ready made batch is comfy as fuck. I'd previously been using an old steel stovetop kettle and was looking for a glass kettle for a cleaner boil and hadn't even considered these auto makers.

>>17343199
>>17343176

I'll try report back once I've had a chance to try it out properly, I've also got a load coming in from YS including some cakes and a few samplers of stuff I'd never normally drink from other places (some mushroom chaga and some Butterfly pea flower) and I've been drying a bunch of home grown german chamomile I've been saving for winter. So I'm going to be playing with steep times and temps for quite a while I think.

Has anyone had any experience with silver cups? Always been curious as it's stated to improve taste and silver has health benefits too. Just a little hesitant to buy from china for quality assurance reasons. Thoughts?

>>17343321
>as it's stated to improve taste and silver has health benefits too.
It doesn't and it doesn't and it's expensive. I have a decent amount of sterling silver, but it's because I inherited it and I think it's cool. If you think it's cool, feel free to buy some. There is a zero percent chance the thing in your image is not an alloy of silver and some cheaper metal, because it was made by Chinese.

>>17343393
>There is a zero percent chance the thing in your image is not an alloy of silver and some cheaper metal, because it was made by Chinese.
Your post started out so good and then went full retard.

>>17343420
No Chinese certificate of authenticity is worth the paper its printed on, you'd know this if you'd dealt with them at all. They'll never miss a chance to scam dumb gweilo.

>>17343442
Let him buy his lead pot.

>>17343446
Now if liquidproust was selling it you know its legit.

>>17343092
How does it work? The tea leaves are steeped in the "cage" and they are pull out after the time is up?

>I mean why buy quality tea if you're gonna fuck it up with boiling water and lax steeping times.
Wouldn't thermometer and using timer be enough of help?

>>17343321
I have a silver pot from YS. It reduces the bitterness of tea, and retains heat like nothing else. Any change in taste beyond taming fiestier teas is horseshit. All it does for flavor is smooth out the astringency and, to my pallate at least, bring the flavors closer together if that makes sense

But god does it burn when you touch it hot

>>17343442
Again, you literally don’t seem to know how it works, and are just hung up on “Chinese will peepee in your coke”

>Tfw you keep thinking about a dull-looking masterwork graded cup from Chawangshop for over half a year because it reminds you of a cheeky egg.
>Tfw it looks like it has blue balls or cherries inside.
They keep dropping some cool ones. There are certainly more colorful ones on there lately too. This is the one I keep thinking about, though:
https://www.chawangshop.com/huaning-pottery-wood-fired-master-cup-d1.html

I don't know of the flavour would improve much with finer teaware, but I'd like to own some finer stuff someday to enhance the experience of my daily infusions more.

>>17341754
so hard

anti-teabag anons what is your response?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhrpxXCBFxg

>>17344766
He isn't absolutely wrong; it is 'tea', but it is extremely misleading. You can have tea products from the same plant, but particulates will extract at very different rates, and thus taste and smell very different. They will also take to oxidation differently, and go stale much sooner as well. This is primarily due to the vastly increased surface area, but also some other factors associated with automated harvesting, production, and packaging methods.

Please take note that he does not explain anything other than state they are the same while sifting particulates/dust. It is lying by ommission of information. He also obviously has a reason to do this, belonging to a company that is selling these products, so he has everything to gain from directing these subtle lies.

A final note, there is no video evidence that I witnessed of the leaf being non-particulates in the video. Rather, I only saw bigger particulates be sifted into smaller ones. So, there is not even evidence that the leaves were even remotely 'whole' before being pulverized into dust. Thus, they are very likely not the same grade of leaf even beforehand. In the end, it is up to you to decide who to believe, but I would not trust his meritless claims with these considerations in mind.

>>17344806
it BTFOs the conspiracy theory nuts who say they just sweep dust off the floor and into the bags

>>17344817
It isn't much different. The process can be 'clean', but the form it arrives in is inherently flawed. Keep in mind, this is also only one company, so basing your entire viewpoint on one curated video from one company is not an effective way to build a strong opinion on the subject. I have provided my thoughts, do what you will with them. If you like bagged tea particulates, it does not affect me.

>>17344817
>they just sweep dust off the floor and into the bags
I always assumed that was just figure of speech, simile, not not actual, literal truth.

>>17344817
Generally, yes, the tea for tea bags is production waste. Some of it is literal actual floor sweepings, but it's not like the floors are dirty or that's super unusual. Tea that's going to sell for multiple thousands a cake is piled on the floor, left on the floor, dried on the floor. Rooibos is left outside on huge concrete slabs and moved around with bulldozers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HowWKkQ5si0
The problem is that you can't actually make good tea with the dust, it's "the same tea", but it won't brew properly. It'll extract way too quickly and then be done. That's why you can brew with leaves multiple times, and tea bags once. Of course, tea bags are the most common way to brew tea in a significant portion of the world, so it isn't like all of it is waste. Conceptually, you could put decent tea in a bag and brew something much better, that's essentially what infusers are. The reality is that tea bags just aren't good, they don't brew good tea, and they're expensive for the volume of tea they make, while being shitty.

>>17344766
Is tea good for you?

>>17344223
>thermometer
please stop this, temp control kettles are not the same price as all others ~£35
>timer
used to use my phone but stopwatch.net is so much more convenient than unlocking and messing around with apps ect. i always keep a tab open now
>>17344766
depends on how the leaf is processed, also that looks like indian production not chinese. its going to be more cut up and close to dust grade(even buying the more expensive luxury Indian teas) pic related
>>17344817
dude that is literally dust, he even takes the effort to sift out the non-dust grade leaf for you

>>17345026
>are not the same price
are *now the same price

Might any anons know about some prime deals or bang-for-buck options on Chawangshop? Any idea how much pricing scales with weight/fragile items? I'm strongly considering buying some teaware from them, so I figured I'd try some of their selections too if shipping costs won't annihilate me. I imagine staying under the 2kg limit will make shipping easier to bear, right? I've curated a small list of items I think seem interesting. If any anons don't mind giving some feedback on these, I'd appreciate it:
https://www.chawangshop.com/2021-chawangpu-jinggu-lao-shu-zhuan-400g.html
https://www.chawangshop.com/2016-chawangpu-menghai-xiao-bing-cha-100g-1401.html
https://www.chawangshop.com/2021-bada-manle-red-tea-100g.html
https://www.chawangshop.com/2021-qiaomu-organic-white-tea-100g.html
https://www.chawangshop.com/2020-chawangpu-wuliangshan-qiao-mu-qi-tse-bing-357g.html
https://www.chawangshop.com/oolong-tea/2019-fujian-hong-mu-dan-oolong-50g.html
Don't think I'd get everything, but it would be nice to pick up at least a few unless shipping kills it.

>>17344223
>How does it work?
You put the leaves in the steeper and when the water reaches the correct temperature the basket dips into the water and pulls it out at a programmed time. You can set it to continually keep dunking the basket to better agitate the leaves for max surface area/water contact or just let the steep sit for the duration instead. It's far more accurate than using a thermometer and timing it yourself since it's all automated. You could use a thermometer and a timer yourself but this is way more convenient and saves time over all. Since you can set it to steep while you're doing something and come back to perfectly steeped tea every time.

>>17344817
>conspiracy theory nuts who say they just sweep dust off the floor and into the bags
Lol holy shit hold up, you took that literally? Like you thought it was an actual description of the production process?

Friend, it’s like when people say those super cheap hotdogs are “made out of pig dicks and assholes”.
It isn’t literal. There is no actual dick/asshole content in those hotdogs.
Its a hyperbolic way of pointing out those hotdogs aren’t really a product unto themselves, but instead are a way to utilize byproducts/trimmings/odds/ends leftover from making other meat products which would otherwise go to waste.

>>17345297
>When visiting high quality tea producers in Taiwan I noticed that they sweep up and bag any tea dust from the floor after a day of producing. I asked what they do with these sacks of dust and their answer was a bit of a surprise.
>This tea is put into teabags and sold to high end hotels as top quality Taiwanese Oolong! Whenever I step into a high class hotel serving tea bags I am reminded of this day with the farmers.
https://meileaf.com/article/tea-bagging-in-taiwan/

Tea bags are made in many cases of the bits of leaves that are sifted out, some of those bits make it on the floor and are not thrown away, but swept up and used. This isn't that surprising for tea production. The floors are kept pretty clean.

>>17345367
>The floors are kept pretty clean.
used to work for a pharmaceutical company packing tablets/capsules/vials. the floors even with everyone wearing bags over our shoes and lab coats still got dusty/dirty, and thats with washing the cubicles down in between every job

>>17345367
>retaining product from clean conditions
Well sure.
But you’re speaking in factual terms.
When most people say “lol bagged tea is just the shit they sweep off the floor”, it’s clear their connotation isn’t “Oh it’s just smaller particulate matter reclaimed from a clean surface! :)”
They’re basically saying “lol you’re drinking the shit you dump out of your vacuum”.

>>17345400
>lol bagged tea is just the shit they sweep off the floor
But it is, they sweep tea off the floors, and that tea is what goes into tea bags. Other tea also goes into tea bags, but bagged tea is quite literally the shit they sweep off the floor.
>lol you’re drinking the shit you dump out of your vacuum
That's pretty much correct.

>>17345391
Yeah, but they're relatively clean. It's not like expensive tea is somehow kept in some super sterile environment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI4yDyH1oUM
Ripe puer is also, at some point, swept off the floor.

>>17344563
I had one of those before i broke it, i dunno if the flavor changed much but it was very nice otherwise

>>17345258
That cheap oolong at the end is great for cheap oolong, gimme a few minutes and i can look at the rest, but generally his oolongs are good, his hei cha is good, and he has some nice puers, i haven't tried everything but ive had good luck with tea from him

>>17345258
Some deals
https://www.chawangshop.com/pu-erh-tea/raw-sheng-puerh/2016-myanmar-xiao-bing-cha-200g.html
This is fantastic for the price for a semi aged puer
https://www.chawangshop.com/pu-erh-tea/raw-sheng-puerh/2006-myanmar-kokang-mei-hua-bing-raw-puerh-tea-100g.html
I havent tried any of his house brand "chawangpu" puerh but it seems fine
That jingu ripe seems okay, obviously cheap material but should be fine as a daily drinker
I would probably rather get a few of those menghai ripes from your second link
All that red and white tea should be good
Strongly recommend you get one of the wuyi oolongs, whatever is cheapest should be fine

Have you ever cooked with tea?
I've seen people make green tea salad

>>17345750
Never cooked with tea, ive been known to chew on a wet tea leaf from time to time

>>17345750
Was thinking of making rice with tea sometime soon. Will report back when I do.

You can change one ingredient in this celebrated grocery tea.

I change spearmint to peppermint. I don't really get spearmint.

>>17345864
I would add some holy basil

>>17345271
Neat, thanks for sharing.

V0PHD

>>17345568
>>17345595
>>17345674
Thanks anon(s?), the notes are appreciated. I'm still unsure how deep I want to go with this order (as to be cost effective), but the 2006 raw seems interesting (though the 2016 one appears to be OOS at the moment). I will bookmark the 2006 for sure.
>Jinggu
I'm sure it isn't top grade, though I find the picking and fermentation history to be interesting, and I've never had Jinggu region tea either. Apparently, this is also temporarily discounted (if the listing and social media posts are to be believed), so I thought it could be a nice option for something new.
>Strongly recommend you get one of the wuyi oolongs
I would, but they're almost all out of my comfort range of price/g. I think I could do the 50g one though.
>I had one of those before i broke it
Did it seem brittle, or was this just a casual accident? The main thing I was pondering about buying is one of the master cups, though I was also considering getting one of the gaiwans and perhaps a nice spare cup too:
https://www.chawangshop.com/huaning-pottery-wood-fired-gaiwan-100ml.html
https://www.chawangshop.com/huaning-pottery-yellow-cup.html
Think I should bail on either? I have some basic porcelain and glass gong fu gear, but I figured a clay gaiwan and set of cups would be nice, even if they're of different finishes.

Hope I'm not coming across as asking for spoonfed advice, just trying to think mindfully on my tea purchases. I don't have the fortune of buying and acquiring costly new tea goods often, so I want to be mindful with my order so I don't stress over the amount. With ten items of various prices in my cart, it's sitting at $142.50, and that's before shipping. Probably nothing for some enthusiasts, but I'm more of a Fullchea shopper ordinarily, so it's a tier I'm not used to or that comfortable investing into. I really wish they gave shipping estimates without requiring prior correspondence.

>>17345965
>Did it seem brittle, or was this just a casual accident?
It's kind of a large grain clay but i dropped it from a good height a couple times before it broke, one of the master cups, just be careful when washing them and you should be fine, i kept dropping it in my sink while it was soaped up.

>>17345750
chewing that shit's terrible for your teeth.

>>17345965
>With ten items of various prices in my cart, it's sitting at $142.50, and that's before shipping.
I typically ordered around $100 worth of stuff at a time from chawang and shipping was usually $20-$30, this is post pandemic, the guy is chill if you need to adjust your order because shipping is too expensive.

how long does it take harney&sons to process orders? i made an order for some assam, keemun, souchong, and sencha on monday and haven't heard anything back

>>17346037
Who knows, send them an email and ask what is taking so long

Ok so I'm new to all this tea stuff and I have no idea what type to buy. Ive had oolong before and thought it was pretty good, but when I go to buy some there's like 5 billion different types. How am I supposed to know what to get?

>>17345750
As in cooked with the leaves?
Or cooked with brewed tea?

>>17346254
It's a bit overwhelming at first, try small amouts of several kinds of tea to get a feeling for what to explore more, the classic most popular oolong is tie gyuan yin so i would suggest starting with that. Maybe a roasted one if you see it

is it just me or does brewing sencha in a gaiwan suck ass? theres always a bunch of tiny pieces of leaves that fall through the gap on the gaiwan lid into the pitcher, where it usually catches most of the leaves with all other tea types

>>17346500
Yeah it's tough because of the fine little leafs, that's why most Japanese teapots have a super fine mesh in them, or they use those gaiwan like things with the little groves in the rim to pour through.

Guys, I REALLY like white tea.

does anybody know a good seller of wintergreen tea? I used to grow it but now I live in a bad climate for it

Gaiwan is a meme for everything except rolled leaves.

>>17346698
China just called. They said you’re a meme for everything except deez nuts.

>>17346770
Did china even use gaiwans before the 70s?

>>17346932
Lol who the fuck knows?
If you try to Google it, you’ll find things saying gaiwan originated anywhere from the 12th to 19th centuries.

I figure it at least has ancient roots though; lidded cups aren’t exactly new. People still wanted to keep dirt and bugs out of their drinks centuries ago.

>>17346958
I know lidded cups existed for a while but i think gaiwans being used as brew vessels is more modern. The oldest pictures iv seen from the 50s or so they were used as lidded cups, but i haven't researched it that thoroughly.

>>17346971
>I know lidded cups existed for a while but i think gaiwans being used as brew vessels is more modern
I’m no expert, but the Chinese lady at my local tea shop says that gaiwan have always been used as both, and that if someone in China just wants to have some tea, they’ll brew in the gaiwan and drink straight from it, and if they want to serve tea with it, they’ll brew in the gaiwan and then pour it into cups for serving.

>>17321186
How much tea do you guys drink? For me, it's 2 black teas in the morning and two green teas later in the day.

>>17347067
Pretty much, 10-25 grams.

>>17347067
about the same, but sometimes I decide to just sit down and steep and steep

>>17347067
7.5 - 14 grams per day

>>17347067
5-6g, about 12-13 100ml cups over 3-5 hours

>>17347348
What tea are you drinking that will hold up consistently for 12 infusions? How long are your infusions?

>>17347438
+5 seconds and staring at 10 or 20. just stopped drinking some ys cozy at the 20th cup, granted most teas are pretty dead by the 12th. but thats nuggets of ripe puerh (lao cha tou)

>>17347609
Ah, okay. I string out infusions pretty long after around five or six, before ten I'll have left it for a while to just take what's left, and I'm done. I pretty much do
Rinse / 20 / 15 / 10 / 10 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 60
for sheng and white. After I feel the flavor start to go I'd rather just brew it as long as I feel like and call it done.
Ripe I've been brewing granpa style, or doing long infusions because most of what I have is pretty mediocre, what's left from Shulloween. Usually I do a rinse and start with a pretty long infusion though. I think it takes more to get the leaves open but that might just be my random experience.

Tea time

>>17321186
new thread
>>17347849
>>17347849
>>17347849

>>17337699
Worst tea I’ve ever had was ironically from a tea shop. It was one of those trendy boba places but I just ordered a plain green tea because I wanted something to sip on. That shit was gnarly, no idea how the Korean barista girl fucked it up that badly.

>>17346525
>or they use those gaiwan like things with the little groves in the rim to pour through.
I believe it's called shiboridashi

>>17347917
>It was one of those trendy boba places
Perhaps they make it extra strong, because they expect it to be mixed with other shit?

>>17334567
Don't reboil tea. It is tempting with how they have the infuser in there, but when you do that all the good stuff flies into the air. I have the same machine and use it for herbal tea.

>>17338966
I do exactly that every day. I drink over a dozen strong cups. Once you begin taking it with regularity, it transcends stimulant vs depressant. It just becomes a whole body regulator. It has indeed replaced coffee. I was kind of dissapointed that eating it had real effects. I just wanted free veggies, but it is definitely no different drinking vs eating it and it does get you to the “too much cham” point in a way tea won't without the bladder protesting first. I don't want to mess up the rhythm of the tea by eating it, but there was definitely a goldilocks zone of feeling like I just ate a nice cup.

>>17348441
And I do have more odd dreams. I feel like when I would only drink a cup before bed it would actually decrease sleep quality a la alcohol, but now I have reached a funny state where my dreams are remembered with nearly as much detail as waking life. In fact, waking life and dreams are qualitatively the same. I wake up in the morning, but I really don't. It is hard to explain, but very similar to how when you consume caffeine everyday, you kind of just snap to when you wake up almost like you never slept. With lots of chamomile and no caffeine the reverse happens. I do not wake up, my eyes just open. Different still from no hot beverages, where you wake up tired and wanting to sleep more.

>>17348441
What's your chamomile routine like? I have about a quarter of a pound left and I'm ready to leave humanity behind.

>>17348553
Sometimes I make a kettles worth of loose leaf (takes 3 hours) then that goes into a 40oz thermos, or if I am home I will use a tea ball to make cup after cup steeping for 15 minutes each, getting 3-6 infusions out of each loading depending on the quality. Teabags are still on the menu for other herbs and in a pinch, and some of those have chamomile in them too.

>>17348493
>>17348553

you worry me.