/ck/ - Food & Cooking

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>>17982101
>>17982101

>>18022822
Some day we should spell tisane correctly in the OP

Drink butter tea

>>18022849
No, i will not buy the kang brick i refuse to buy the kang brick. Can i make it with some cheap xiaguan tuos instead?

>>18022775
>korean version of dark tea
Tteok Cha

>>18022808
>Chong shi cha
>How was it?
my notes from a while back:

https://www.chawangshop.com/2005-sichuan-chong-shi-cha-25g.html
>brew parameters:
>western style 3.3g/380ml for 2 minutes 1st brew, 150 seconds 2nd brew, and 10 minutes for a 3rd somewhat lighter but still tasty brew, the 4th brew is still steeping.

>tasting notes:
>a clean earthy taste, a nice sandy loam, not like shou but perhaps a bit more similar to a light liu bao, its surprisingly clean tasting compared to >some of the wet piled tea i have had.
>something woody like chicory dandelion root, some sweet flavored traditional Chinese medicine vibes, licorice root?
>an aged herbaceous element that is hard to place, almost as if the "spiciness" of the plant had been striped of much of (but not all of) the >"green", like damp fallen leaves on the forest floor.
>low bitterness but quite drying and astringent in a pleasant way, mouthfeel overall sharp and dry.
>sightly cooling almost minty aftertaste that lingers for a good awhile.
>possibly a bit stimulating, perhaps it may contain some tea and therefore caffeine?

>conclusion:
>its honestly not half bad. its not going to be a regular drink for me but i will absolutely consider getting some again. the only thing that makes me a bit leery is the lack of knowledge of exactly how its made and what it is made from.

>>18022822
I love ru ware and crackle glazes in the style of ru ware sooo much.
Icecrack glazes are even better but i can never find good examples on anything but plates and platters

>>18022936
Any idea what other herbs are involved beyond tea?

>>18022936
Neat notes, seems quite pleasant. I might have read it before and forgotten, not sure. Still, it's impressive it could give such a notable spread of flavors with so little material in so much liquid. Also interesting how some of the latter notes read out to me almost like it's a young white.
>>18022849
What does it even taste like? I'm hesitant to ever do it because of the cals and high stimulation, but I'm sure it must be quite invigorating. Didn't warriors use it before war or something along those lines?

redpill me on oolongs /tea/, i want to buy some. i'm more into japanese greens, so i imagine the less oxidised oolongs are my best bet. taiwanese and jade tieguanyin
what are some of the best vendors for taiwanese oolongs? and Tieguanyin

>>18023024
Yeah you should start out with the Taiwanese oolongs.
I have ordered from tea-masters.com before and been happy with their products.

They have an introductory sampler but right now it has a lot of last years tea, you want to focus on 2022 high mountain oolongs, get a few that sound good, don't go crazy with the really high end stuff.
https://www.tea-masters.com/en/31-high-mountain?page=2
Grab some of this too
https://www.tea-masters.com/en/lightly-oxidized/1560-1472-2022-dong-pian-sijichun-oolong-from-mingjian.html#/1-weight-25_gr
Maybe some oriental beauty as well
https://www.tea-masters.com/en/jassid-bitten/1491-1451-2021-summer-oriental-beauty-tradition-from-hsin-chu.html#/1-weight-25_gr
Maybe some of this as well
https://www.tea-masters.com/en/wenshan-baozhong/1583-1497-2022-spring-subtropical-energy-baozhong.html#/1-weight-25_gr

guy im really fucking struggling here with trying to brew sencha/gyokuro. How the fuck do the japs do it?

>>18023298
https://www.o-cha.com/brew-gyokuro.html
And for sencha
https://www.o-cha.com/make-green-tea.html

>>18023298
It's the most difficult tea to brew due to how bitter it can get. If it's too bitter you should decrease the temperature since caffeine solubility is highly dependent on heat.
I steep gyokuro at 135F. To get it precise I boil water then mix it with cold water until it's right.

>>18023152
Thanks for the recommendation!
Might order a couple cheap samples of the '21 teas for a kick

I was reading Dream of the Red Chamber yesterday (XVIII century Chinese book), and when it came to serving tea, first a perfumed tea was served to rinse your mouth with, and after that, the "better" tea was served which was the one you'd drink.
Does anyone know anything about this?

>>18024213
Wrong pic.

>>18022822
Darjeeling mogs all the so called 'teas'.
/thread

>>18022943
Same i love the subtle cracks of ruyao, i've had a bit of luck digging through aliexpress for some unique glazes but most are mediocre at best. Also im scared of the chinks putting weird chemicals into those cheaper glazes but its probably not a problem really.
Mudandleaves always have some good ones but you probably know that seeing its where you got the image from

What tea can I make with some fresh ginger to help with a sore throat?

>>18024379
Ginger, sliced or grated, simmer in a pot on the stove for 10-15 minutes. You can made. avig batch at once and then reheat in the microwave or a pot on the stove.
Then pour a mug, add a spoonful of honey and a small pinch of cayenne pepper to taste. The ginger and honey help the throat, the cayenne helps loosten up mucus and clear the sinuses.
You can skip the cayenne if you really don't want it.

>>18024930
Do this but add lemon peel

>>18024930
for me its just ginger root, lemon juice and honey in a teapot, nice and easy which is what you want when you're ill. i'll have to try cayenne

Brewing my leftover tea dust grandpa style
If you drink puer and heicha and you aren't collecting all your crumbs and leftovers from when you finish a cake in a bag somewhere for lazy grampa style brewing you are fucking up. My crumb bucket has 20+ different old puers in it at this point

>>18025984
I'm doing the grandpa thing and I'm finding that I don't like ripe anything with it. I might have added too many grams, so it could just be me making it too strong.

>>18026090
Huh, i usually add a bunch of tea when i grampa ripes and it usually works out. Some ripes just need to be rinsed tho and that can be a problem. Try putting your ripe in the mug, adding boiling water halfway, waiting for 40 seconds to a minute and then use a fork to hold back the tea while you pour off as much of the liquid as you can into the sink. Then fill to the top with hot water and drink normally, that can help deal with any ripe funk issues you might have.
Or just try less tea, that can work too.

>>18026104
I guess i should mention that what i do doesn't work for everyone because i taste significantly less bitterness than the average person does. But i don't find ripes to usually be too far on the bitter spectrum

In light of current female events, what is a tea that only men can enjoy?

>>18022849
looks tasty

>>18022954
>Any idea what other herbs are involved beyond tea?
no clue, i kind of want to try and make some though.

>>18022977
>I might have read it before and forgotten
not a problem, I meant to dig up my notes on it anyways.

>almost like it's a young white.
not sure i would consider them similar. however, if chawang shop ever restocks on qing zhuan i would recommend you try it. the stuff i got from there has the buttery tea flavor you seem to like.

Anybody have any good resources for Iced milk tea/bubble tea?

>>18026992
For making at home or places you can buy them from? I can't really help with the former but the latter I can kind of help if you're looking for Cali locations.

>>18027004
Former :c

>>18026992
sorry no faggots allowed ITT

>>18026992
i have no experience with making bubble tea and i doubt many people here do but i do know its not that hard to make.
here recipe i found randomly on google that looks OK (though i am sure it would be fine with just one type of black tea):
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/classic-milk-tea-bubble-tea
i would say just go ahead, follow any decent looking recipe, and try to make some. its not like it requires much investment.

>>18026646
High mountain oolong is the Master and Commander of tea.

>>18022849
gimmie a recipe

Gonna try some white and greens from Yunnan Sourcing. Any starter suggestions? I'm buying my favorite black in bulk and trying something new and I don't know where to start with greens and whites.

>>18027500
some big white teas are shou mei, bai mudan, silver needle. The differences are essentially just bud/leaf ratio; white tea is not a very diverse category. If I could recommend a less common one, try the Yue guang Bai. Beatiful tea in between white and puerh.
As for greens, Yunnan isn't necessarily known for their greens but it's perfectly fine just for getting into it. Start with the most famous chinese greens, which will be longjing, liuan gua pian, bi luo chun, anji white, tai ping hou kui, mao feng. I would start with longjing as it is seems to be the most ubiquitously praised by both new and veteran tea drinkers

>>18027342
here's what I did:
if you don't have tibetan tea use any smooth, earthy dark tea you have. Boil about twice your standard cup steeping concentration (for instance I used 4 teaspoons) in a cup of water pot for up to 10 minutes. When that's done, strain the leaves and put in about half a cup of milk a tablespoon of butter, and less than a teaspoon of salt. Let that mix for a minute and then transfer it to a big cup with a tight lid and shake it for as long as you can. The tibetans use churns. To get a more yak's milk flavor you can replace some of the milk with buttermilk.

this turtle pot speaks to me

>>18027636
What does it 'say'? Something about this design makes me want to be far away. By a quiet ocean shore, but not in it, light breeze wafting. Being a turtle or tortoise would be okay.

You VILL dreenk zee bug mushrooms

>>18027136
Sorry can't really help but you could always go into a local boba shop and ask what they do

What are you sipping on today, /tea/? What do you think about it? Alternatively, what are you looking forward to trying?

I'm having some 2007 Yi Pin Tang yiwu today. Had a few infusions yesterday, and left it in my gaiwan to have again now; still solid. I've been letting it age for countless months with a boveda pack to see what would happen, and its flavor profile seems to have shifted slightly. Used to be more mineral "grape skin" (which was excellent), but now perhaps just a touch of a crispy fruit flavor making its way into my palate. It is good tea like this that makes me rethink what my full preferences really are. I don't drink sheng so often, so I might dig into my Myanmar stuff again in a few hours and share a picture.

>>18022840
It also needs a good searchable term. All the words in the op are either non-specific or too long. I don't want to deal with other threads when browsing to 4chan.org/ck/tiss. When I used to read /emg/ on /g/ it had a list of alternate titles in the bottom of the op b/c emg conflicted with /iemg/, another general.

Something 3-lettered would be ideal.
tdg for tea drinker general.
clg for china larp general.
teag would work too.

Thank you for reading my blog. I will now be making a nice afternoon cup of hoj'.

>>18028476
Yo is that a bunch of cordycepts in a big cup?

>>18028737
>It also needs a good searchable term
/tea
https://boards.4channel.org/ck/catalog#s=/tea

>Something 3-lettered would be ideal.
tea

>>18028900
tea pulls in several posts about steak on any given day

>>18028900
I didn't know about that. Pretty neat. That would work as a bookmark but I don't really use bookmarks and it's a bothersome url to type out every time.

I think what I propose would be very convenient but I'll survive either way.

Story time anons. How did you get into tea?

>>18028966
I used to work at a coffee shop when i was young and after my morning espresso and cup of coffee i usually switched to some second flush Darjeeling. Never bought any.
Years later i got the itch and went to a very nice tea shop i asked for "a green tea that wasnt too buttery" god knows why. Enjoyed that but still didn't make the switch.
A couple years later a tea shop opened up where i lived, i saw some video online shilling puer and so i went to the shop with my gf and we ordered a pot of raw puer. Through some miracle they actually had good puer. When we were leaving i tried to buy a cake but spagettied and accidentally bought a cake of threee cranes liubao instead. Hated it at the time but a year or so later that got me into liubao.
Anyway after that first time i had raw puer i was hooked, started ordering from yunnan sourcing. That was about 6 years ago and now i drink tea all the time.

>>18028966
Im not at my desktop does TSG bring up any other threads right now?

>>18022822
Add /tsg/ next to /tea/ in the thread body for the next op thanks

>>18028940
>tea pulls in several posts about steak on any given day
thats why you search or Ctrl+f "/tea" or "/tea/" not just "tea".

>>18028966
i got into it from the bulk herb and spices bins from a local store. it was only much later that i got into specialty tea. that reminds me i should get some nice smokey lapsang souchong for old times sake. it was my favorite true tea back then (at that point i mostly drank tisanes).

>>18028723
I've worked through a cake of that this year. I think your tasting notes are pretty accurate. I think I fucked it up with the storage though. It started fairly 'spicy,' when I first got it, and over 4 - 5 months it became so sickly sweet, that I had to force myself to finish it, and would brew 7.5 g or more in a 130mL gaiwan to try to overpower the sweetness.

I've been watching farmer-leaf's vids for a while now, and I bought his Mengku ripe earlier this year. It was honestly much superiour to any shou I've tried at that price point. Placing an order for his Jingmai ripe cake, Jingmai yellow flakes huangpin, and a couple of his blacks today.

>>18029071
Nice, farmer leaf is next on my list to try now that i have some tea from the vampire on the way

>>18029071
The mengku ripe is a really good one, haven't tried the Jingmai yet. Curious to see what you think of the huangpian.

>>18028966
ordered a london fog once when Tim Horton's was running them as a special drink. Got hooked and realized there's whole new world to explore

>>18029071
>I think I fucked it up with the storage though. It started fairly 'spicy,' when I first got it, and over 4 - 5 months it became so sickly sweet, that I had to force myself to finish it
Interesting. I can see some distant potential in that with my portion, but never so grossly prominent in my tastings. An excerpt from my initial journal entry on it over a year ago:
>...it almost feels like I'm sipping tieguanyin. An easy, vague sweetness coats softly, leaving an equally tart aftertaste...
I don't know if my original impressions stack up accurately now, but it's still pleasant to sip on from time to time. I'm now wondering how it might be if poured over ice, as some people apparently do with coffee (rather than coldbrew).
>Farmer Leaf
I haven't had any of his stuff as it's frankly out of my price range, but I've window shopped before. Even his cheaper stuff looks quite whole and well-packaged. I don't hear many people mention his non-pu'er though, and most people seem to focus on his raws anyway. To be honest, I didn't even know he offered loose blacks, so that's an interesting thing to discover now.
>>18028966
Some bags of Maeda-En sencha were gifted to our family that were alright compared to most bagged teas I'd drink, but not great unless just coldbrewed. It wasn't until trying a chilled osthmanthus oolong at a small tea shop (in a bordering town no less) that I encountered what decent tea and tisanes could be. Kept thinking about it periodically after that for months until curiosity took me. I started with Asian market bags (with Western teaware), and then came to this general several months after to get basic porcelain teaware, and pu'er from Fullchea.

So, you could say that my curiosity of what could be, and desire to experiment have driven me towards tea. Like a form of exploration through my senses. It's the same mindset that's making me consider trying this with coffee at some point, maybe soon. Another "can't get it out of my head" scenario.

>>18028966
Started drinking for the health memes, stayed because I liked it.

>>18028737
How about /ctg/ - Cha Time General?

>>18028966
I bought a Celestial Seasonings variety box and came to /ck/ to learn some new food stuff. Saw the tea general about a month and a half ago and here I am now with my gongfu tray as my dining room centerpiece.

>>18029386
>here I am now with my gongfu tray as my dining room centerpiece.
Based. A nice gngfu session in the living room is maximum cozy

>>18029370
Go for it. Coffee Time General has been floundering for about a year now.

>>18028966
i got into it from here : )

>>18029438
>Coffee Time General has been floundering for about a year now.
Why are they all so angry anyway? I visited earlier in the week to ask some advice for getting started, and while fairly nice to me, they've been progressively bitter towards each other. The end of the last thread looked basically like two guys monologuing huge "no but you" responses to each other for two days. It's weird going from affable tea discussions to that.

>>18029397
You're not wrong. I didn't do the electric kettle thing. I just bought a nice classic looking stovetop one and it's doing right by me. My grandpa mug is catching a nasty case of tea stain already though.

>>18029386
>gongfu tray as my dining room centerpiece.
on that topic here is my favorite tea tray that i have ever seen.
https://moychay.com/catalog/posuda/chabani/chaynaya-doska-chaban-24755-pressovannaya-tkan
i would have bought it when it was available but it was like $600 or something and i sure don't have that kind of cash.

moychay still has some other undecorated micarta trays:
https://moychay.com/catalog/posuda/chabani/chaban-chaynaya-doska-33876-polimer-500-ml
https://moychay.com/catalog/posuda/chabani/chaban-chaynaya-doska-33874-polimer-500-ml
https://moychay.com/catalog/posuda/chabani/chaban-chaynaya-doska-33872-polimer-500-ml

i wonder who makes them and if you can get them cheaper direct. micarta isnt cheap though so they are always going to be somewhat pricey.

here is another neat tray though its not my favorite:
https://moychay.com/catalog/posuda/chabani_ruchnoy_raboty/chaban-ruchnoy-raboty-34783-derevo-kedr
its a bit too gaudy looking for my tastes but i really like the idea behind it. gold fish swimming amongst broken pottery is a cool theme.

>>18029517
>My grandpa mug is catching a nasty case of tea stain already though.
Ahh yes mine are quite brown. Those magic eraser cleaning sponge things wipe the tea stains right off, easiest way i have found to clean them up

>>18029609
i really love moychay's trays, im a big fan of their wood ones too like this one
https://togo.moychay.nl/collections/chaban-tea-table/products/handmade-tea-tray-22836-wood-pine
its really odd how much unique teaware moychay has, they have a bunch of silly cups too like picrel, i'd buy a bunch if they werent all super expensive though

>>18029802
Anime cup

>>18029618
I forgot about those. They really are magic with cleaning anything. Pic related is only my sixth time using my favorite mug. I don't rinse when doing grandpa style so I always get that foam/bubble ring.

>>18029850
Nice, here is my regular tea mug, i swear i scrubbed it down a week ago but its a mess again.
I know exactly what you are talking about with the bubble/ foam line, sometimes a skim it out with a spoon before i start drinking but usually im too lazy.

>>18029883
my mom washed my gaiwan after it started getting some cool tea stains even though i told her not to :(

>>18029899
Good keep your gaiwan clean, if you want cool tea stains get one of those crackle glazed ones.
T. guy with filthy brown gaiwan

>>18029883
I'm gonna try a ripe puerh tomorrow to see how long it stretches. I can only assume my mug is going to go from slightly hued to full on stained afterwards. Would using green and whites in the same mug mess with them if I leave the stain?

>>18029943
>Would using green and whites in the same mug mess with them if I leave the stain?
I haven't noticed anything like this, as dramatic as the stains look they are an incredibly thin layer.

>>18029946
Nice. And damn. Hearing thin layer made me realise I'm probably staining my teeth just as bad as my mug is getting it.

Having some 2006 Myanmar Hei Hua Kokang sheng from Chawangshop. I haven't sipped this one many times because it's somewhat potent material and packed unbelievably tight (might honestly need a hammer and chisel). Prickly texture, modest refreshing 'minty' characteristic. Notable huigan of low bitterness that comes up crisp and tangy, only nearly sweet. Invigorating and lightly sweat-inducing.
>Pic related, a light 2nd infusion.
>>18029960
Just get into the habit of swigging some clean water after and/or during each session. You can keep a brush around if you're particularly worried, but I don't.

>>18030004
>2006 Myanmar Hei Hua Kokang sheng
i'm really looking forward to trying it. i got a tong/sleeve of it coming in the mail. hope i like it.

>>18030031
>i got a tong/sleeve of it coming in the mail. hope i like it.
Godspeed anon
>>18030004
>packed unbelievably tight (might honestly need a hammer and chisel).
I think i actually used one in that. One of my tea picks is like an awl with a wooden handle and i think i smacked it with a hammer a few times to get into that guy.

https://www.simonlevelt.nl/thee/losse-thee?p=1

Which do I try next, lads? I've decided to trick women into impressing me by the tea I drink. Alongside something fruity, what tea should I pick up from the site above to impress women and expand my tea palette?

>>18030093
Actually, asking anyone to navigate a website with 200 teas is retarded.

Is there a variant of tea I should try? India? China? IDK.

>>18030093
Get this instead, the whole damn 60€ cake, this will blow the panties off them hoes,
https://www.farmer-leaf.fr/products/huey-wa-small-trees-1

>>18030093
I don't like that website, use these guys instead
https://www.hotsoup.nl/en
Get a Chinese black tea, a secind flush Darjeeling, a tie gyuan yin oolong, a Chinese white tea, and some dragonswell chinese green

>>18030149
*second flush Darjeeling

>>18030149
It's just because there's one near me, and I like chatting to the workers. Thanks for the recs though, Anon.

>>18030093
https://www.simonlevelt.nl/pai-mu-tan?c=291
https://www.simonlevelt.nl/earl-white?c=291
https://www.simonlevelt.nl/white-moonlight?c=291
I didn't read the descriptions, but they appear to be mostly young or lightly-aged white teas based on the grainy pictures. Should be palatable enough and easy to sip. They might have okay oolongs too, don't know about greens or blacks from them. Otherwise, I'd recommend another site like Moychay (NL) or Hotsoup. You can also go big dick and splurge on the Farmer Leaf cake the other anon recommended.
>>18030073
It's just so tight that even shards broken off won't undo themselves reliably until infused. Part of me wants to go full demolition on it, but I'd think that would impact its aging/storage performance. Maybe that's more long-term thinking, though.
>>18030031
Neat, when's it arriving? I'd be interested in seeing how your notes compare. Best get a pick and hammer ready for them in advance though, quite tightly compacted.

>>18030185
>It's just so tight that even shards broken off won't undo themselves reliably until infused.
Belive it or not ive had denser compression.
Iirc i just busted it up into manageable pieces and kept them in a bag in my pumidor, i wouldn't worry too much about breaking it up, i didnt really notice it changing in storage but i guess i did drink most of it pretty quickly

>>18030185
>Neat, when's it arriving?
who knows these days. i'm expecting it to take a month or three.

>>18029883
nice, anyone else feel like it gives a more dusty mouthfeel?

>>18030217
I don't think it makes a difference but most of my tea is old and has those aged dry soil characteristics anyway so i probably wouldn't notice

>>18029802
>proclaims to seek wooden artisanal trays for 117€
>even in my third world shithole, the same exact thing is sold for an equivalent of 3€
>mfw firsties

...your face when people make two orders of magnitude more than you? Were you unable to upload an image because of your connection speed?

>>18026646
Clove cinnmon ginger garlic chili cayenne

>>18029802
>i really love moychay's trays, im a big fan of their wood ones too like this one
i am hoping to make my own wooden tray sometime

>its really odd how much unique teaware moychay has
they really do have a great selection of unique handmade stuff.

Darjeeling first flush: actually really great if you can get over its bitterness. An adult's tea.

>>18029515
The people who start the most shit over there don't actually drink coffee. Its the funniest thing. I'm the guy who sent you to slowpour btw.

>>18031364
>get over its bitterness
It’s one of the least bitter black teas, though

>>18029515
anyone have that chad meme with the coffee fags crying about equipment and the chads are just using a $10 gaiwan and a mug

>>18030397
why not buy them for 3€ and sell them online for 100 then? Theres a reason you're still in the third world dumbass..

>>18031483
>Its the funniest thing. I'm the guy who sent you to slowpour btw.
Thanks for your input on my posts. Even if I may not get the origami for now, reading into it did give me the opportunity to learn about the scene and its methodologies. Probably just going to try a cheap plastic V60 and Kingrinder K6 to start with if I decide to go for it. An aside, are you by chance the prepper anon who had tons of that green coffee he roasted at home? I was just wondering what happened to that guy recently.
>>18031888
I know the image you're referencing, but don't have it. Still, it's delightful how high-tier tea infusion is comfortably possible with a cheap lidded cup that costs basically the same as a pack of coffee filters. Even less if you just infuse in a mug. I think that makes it way less intimidating and complicated to get into, which helps greatly with accessibility. The most we might have to deal with are long shipping times and little treasures in our tea cakes. Tea is just great overall; no wonder wars broke over this stuff.

>>18028966
I was bored and clicked this thread one day.

>>18033078
Nice, what have you been sipping lately

>>18033103
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/purple-tea/products/yunnan-purple-beauty-black-tea-of-simao

Just opened a bag of this. Pretty good, a little light for my tastes though. Tastes mostly like a black but with slight mineral oolong flavor. Most days I just brew black teas western style but occasionally will gong fu some puerh or silver needle. I'm still trying to figure out what I really like.

I tried getting into tea a few years ago but tea bags made me nauseous so I gave up. I was pleasantly surprised to find that loose leaf does not have this effect, and now I drink a lot of tea.

>>18033138
I find those purple teas interesting, in a few i have tried they seem to have a sort of citrus flavor along with the tea flavor im expecting.
>I tried getting into tea a few years ago but tea bags made me nauseous so I gave up
Yeah i remember i would grab a box of "fancy" bagged green tea every once a a while and wonder why the hell people drank it.

>>18033169
Yes, I've noticed they definitely have an undertone ranging from fruitiness to tartness, especially on the first brews. I like it. The descriptions mention that many of them are fermented but I don't know what that necessarily means, or how it is different from puerh fermentation for example. If the tea was harvested this spring, it can't be that fermented. Anyway, its good stuff.

>>18033069
Yeah I've got 60ish lbs of greens kicking around. Probably snag another 20 this fall just in case. It's nice to be able to roast up a new batch of something completely different to what Ive been drinking. Make a nice little morning mug, go sit outside and roast up a new lb. Nothing wrong with starting on a v60, it's what I did. I only got the origami when coffee filter prices went haywire and I wanted the flexibility to use flat bed filters in a pinch.
>I was just wondering what happened to that guy recently.
I get tired of dealing with the same two clowns in that thread. You post factual infoand feedback, they start crying about YouTubers.

>>18033181
Oh yeah looking at the listing again. I think he means a primary fermentation, which is directly afte the harvest before the leaves are dried. That is the way oolongs are made. Black teas after harvest the leaves are buruised and then placed in shallow bins and allowed to oxidize for several hours. If i understand correctly with oolongs this process is extended even further up to 24 hours or more, and the leaves actually begin to ferment before drying which gives oolongs their characteristic flavor. This is different from postfermentation which is how teas like ripe puer are made, where the already processed and dried leaves are wetted and then fermented in big piles like compost.
So basically its a black purple tea, but the processing is somewhere in between traditional black tea processing and the technique for making oolong.

>>18033252
Interesting. All these different processes are something I would like to learn more about.

>>18033261
kys frogscum

>>18033278
This isn't /jp/.

>>18028966
I was watching Alex, the French guy cooking and he had an episode with Mei Leaf.
I didn't buy any tea at first because shipping was too expensive to my country but when moved to the UK for work I thought it I might give it a try.

>>18033181
>The descriptions mention that many of them are fermented but I don't know what that necessarily means, or how it is different from puerh fermentation for example. If the tea was harvested this spring, it can't be that fermented.

when talking about black tea or oolongs "fermentation" just means oxidation. it does not require microbial activity and is therefore not really fermentation. its a very old misnomer. the term "fermented" has been mistakenly used to describe black tea for such a long time now that its still commonly used even if we know its technically incorrect. however, i prefer to use the term "oxidized" because it leads to less confusion. teas such as shou puerh, liu bao, and some fu zuan are actually fermented (in the sense that microbes are involved) and aged wet stored sheng undergoes post-fermentation as well.

>>18031888
>>18033069
But tea gear queering gets way crazier than coffee gear queering
>Maoist, Republic of China, Qing, etc. clay
>Different grades of each clay, dahongpao vs normal zhuni, tianqingni vs normal zini, etc.
>Proper tokoname or bizenware folded 10,000 times
>Matcha sifter, whisks with 100+ tips, scoops meant to look like they were made without intention
>Seasoning clay
>Song dynasty style celadon vs jingdezhen porcelain
>Flower arrangements, incense, silk cloths, etc. for Japanese tea ceremonies
>Hojo Tea memes like having different clays based on how the tea was farmed and different kettles for different sources of water

>>18033421
A $400 coffee grinder will last you decades longer than a $400 cake. Also much more likely to survive a drop than a $400 gaiwan.

>>18033421
By no means did I mean to suggest that tea doesn't carry its own range of potential gear autism and depth otherwise. I've even purchased some nice handmade teaware and basic storage setups myself, so I've invested into that a bit too. I just think that it's especially nice how the road to an excellent tea experience is not gatekept noticeably by the cost of basic tools. Assuming you already own at least one kettle, you could have $25-$45 to spend and acquire a gaiwan/cups, gong dao bei, and some simple but pleasant leaf from Fullchea or even Amazon if you just want it quickly. Then you'd be ready to go, and you could extend that full setup just by buying whatever leaf you wanted. It's all quite appealing.

I am almost completely out of ripe puer, so today im brewing up a few bags of sea dyke ripe puer from the asian market. I remember this being okay, a bit woody. The teabags are in unsealed paper wrappers and i have had them sitting on a shelf outside of my puer storage for years. Will report back once it gets cool enough to drink.
2 bags, they seem to have a pretty generous amount of tea maybe 2.5-3g each. Will try them grampa style and see how it goes

>>18033523
It's actually not bad, nothing amazing but drinkable, a pleasant amout of mild fermentation funk, some woodyness, some darker browner notes. Good enough to drink

>>18033577
Never messed with Sea Dyke, but often heard from anons that it's acceptably palatable. Could be interesting to coldbrew several of them in a jar of water overnight. You wouldn't even need to remove the material from the bags. Those kind of notes could probably do decently with some stevia and almond milk (maybe spices) for simple and refreshing tea shake. If there's anything cheap market pu'er does right, it's stuff like that.

>>18033630
Yeah that would probably work.
I'm a pretty big shill for sea dyke oolong, if you like the flavor profiles they go for, witch is dark and heavy roasts for SEA pallets and you can get the boxes for $10 or less they are usually nice. I tend to grampa style brew them.
Ine of the nicer tieguyanyins that i have had was a more premium sea dyke offering that comes in those single serve 8g bags. It was super creamy and really nailed that milk ooling flavor without having any flavoring added to it. The only complaint i have is that it can be hard to buy sea dyke online at reasonable prices. It's absolutely not wortj $20+ for a 125g box. There are also fake vintage boxes out there so make sure to avoid any that say they are old or come in old style looking packaging. (Not the tins of aged stuff those are fine but the ~100g boxes that say they are from the 90s or whatever are all fake.

Are there any health benefits to having black tea every day?

Idgi bros... This cheap ass roasted Darjeeling is still my favorite tea. Is there anything Chinese like Darjeeling teas? Even cheap CTC Assam shit is sort of naturally sweet and has a bit of a tang to it.

>>18033495
i also think its neat that if you splurge on teaware you get something handmade, i'd rather spend 400 on a unique handmade pot rather than some mass produced machine

>>18033791
Maybe, but you should drink it because it tastes good.
>>18033799
Try some roasted oolong or some lightly smoked lapsang tea
Maybe try this if you are in the US
https://marktwendell.com/shop-by-tea-type/hu-kwa-tea

>>18031888

>>18033814
Comandantes are assembled and finished by hand in Germany which drives up the price. The chinese clones of comandantes are mass produced.
https://youtu.be/BAbbmzyRC3s

>>18033893
Painfully accurate. I have spergs sperg when I say I use an aeropress.

Does anyone here have a power level high enough to own Showa era pottery or Factory 1 pots?

>>18033954
Enjoy your BPA

>>18033679
>The only complaint i have is that it can be hard to buy sea dyke online at reasonable prices. It's absolutely not wortj $20+ for a 125g box.
i agree its hard to find at good prices but i though that besides their cheap stuff they also made some nicer productions these days that are probably worth a bit more. i think the other part of the problem is it can be hard to tell what is their nicer stuff and what is a fair price because its not sold or talked about much over here. i guess i need to make a taobao account sometime.

>>18033954
I'd rather use aliexpress leaded ceramic over a plastic gaiwan any day.

>>18033893
I brew my tea in a reusable steel k-cup.

>>18033964
I have pdf scans if factory 1 catalogs somewhere but i dont own any. I have a 90s two tone pot probably from taiwan but it looks slipcast so i never bothered to use it.
Apparently these two tone pots with the long lid skirts were a trend in the late 80s and 90s
Excuse the shit picture.

>>18028966
coffee made me feel terrible and was keeping me up to 3am

>>18034026
Why? I make my tea (western style) in plastic and it tastes fine. I also have a regular unglazed terracotta gaiwan for gongfu.

>>18034058
Just take a gram of l-theanine with each cup of coffee

>>18034013
What? It's Tritan though.

>>18034041
That kind of aesthetic is still pretty popular in Taiwan. Dark stoneware + light celadon is a common choice for skilled potters.

>>18034069
Regardless of what the manufacturer claims 4 out of the 7 different production runs of aeropress contains bpa

>>18034069
They switched away from Tritan a few years ago because it leached estrogenic chemicals.
>In contrast, following UV stresses (UVA and/or UVC), 32/41 products demonstrated leaching of chemicals with EA, including most acrylic, PES, PS, and Tritan™ products.
Its unbranded polypropylene now, which you should also not be ingesting. Fda says eating bpa is fine but I can't imagine your tract enjoys being lined with microplastics. People with diverticulitis probably have entire pockets full of plastics in their system by now.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4063249/
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.9b02293

>he doesn't enjoy the unique flavors of microplastics
>he doesn't enjoy the subtle sweetness of lead

>>18034248
Don't you dare associate the long enjoyed sweetness of lead with micro plastics garbage

>>18033791
The health benefits of black tea are nearly identical to green tea. I have no idea how green tea specifically got memed as the health food.

>>18033799
Darjeeling is so good because thrips attack the plants in the summer. There's a similar situation in Taiwan with jassids and honey fragrance 'mi xiang' tea, although the bugs' mouths aren't as effective.

for all the anons lucky enough *not* to live in australia, kuura is offering free shipping above $75
i strongly endorse this tea:
https://kuura.co/collections/tea/products/2020-electroflowercandy

>>18035144
God i love Oriental beauty

Drinking 2008 red robe oolong rn while eating bbq potato chips with chopsticks. #fusioncuisine

are special tea kettles where you can control the temperature worth it?
https://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au/Healthy-Choice-Digital-Glass-Kettle-w-Tea-Infuser
t. tea noob

>>18033799
Dian hong, Jin jun mei and Keemun all mog the Indian blacks

>>18035455
Haven't used one but it's basically the modernized gadget version of putting a tea cozy over a pre-warmed earthenware teapot, or the samovar. Temperature stability matters more the longer you steep. An issue with separate kettles is that pouring from them drops the temperature so you don't know how hot you're truly steeping at unless you check with a thermometer. It does seem convenient to just set it to 85 and rest assured the water will be stable and correct according to The Science™

>Stomach off, feeling achey and tired.
>Take some L-theanine sublingually.
>Infuse some quality white, sip a few infusions.
>Coast into mildness and ease as its essence flows through me.
Do you feel it, lads? It would be okay, just drifting meekly into oblivion like this.
>>18035455
Could be fine, though I haven't used it. There isn't anything wrong with that kind of approach, especially if you want to do western-style infusions or tisanes (non-tea). On the flip side, many anons like to use adjustable electric kettles to pour hot water into their dedicated teaware instead of infusing in the kettle itself. You'll see this commonly with gaiwans and teapots of various origins. As the other anon mentioned, there can be some heat loss, but most people just quickly preheat their vessels by pouring hot water into them first. You can also just get a separate "Finum basket" as some anons recommend.

It comes down more to preference for most teas, though I personally much prefer the eastern approach to infusing tea ("gong fu"). Relatively inexpensive and easy to do with solid results, and not difficult to clean up. Check the pastebin in the OP if you want to learn more about either option. Whatever helps you appreciate your leaf the most in the end is best.
>>18035161
I'm almost certain I've heard you or another anon rave about this before. Sounds and looks nice, though I'm more hesitant to drop stacks on various W2T-esque artisan cakes. Still curious about your tasting/aroma impressions regardless. Wonder how their reds are, too. This one looks like it has tasty buds:
https://kuura.co/products/2020-dark-red-black-tea

An old mate at work gave me some jasmine dragonballs he brought back from his family's plantation in south africa. I don't usually like tea but that was really nice. Tasted totally different fresh vs bags. Where's a nice play to buy this?

I'd ask the man himself but no longer in contact..

L-theanin anon, I'm about to pull the trigger. Do you use it to ease any mental health issue?

>>18036054
It's useful as an anxiolytic, so many people use it for related therapeutic relief. It does not function with such harsh side effects as some benzodiazepines or barbituates, and is substantially more easily tolerated. I would not expect such dramatic, rapid effects as you may have with those drugs, but it is arguably more useful on a regular basis. Assists with memory formation and focus, acting somewhat similarly to practiced meditation (which it also 'stacks' well with). Present naturally in tea and a few species of mushrooms, it is commonly consumed with caffeine to mediate the negative side effects of caffeine use (jitters, hyperactiveness, tachycardia, etc). May also lower blood pressure, so just take note this if you happen to be notably bradycardic.

It is not a panacaea, but I use it multiple times daily. You can try pills or powders, but I personally opt for powders because sublingual administeration (before swallowing) is more bioavailable than outright oral consumption, and powders are cheaper as well. While using a milligram scale is standard practice for nootropic supplements, I dose rather high for my own needs, so I don't even bother beyond using a small scoop. I like to use it before any consumption of caffeine/stimulants especially (in this case, tea). If you are experiencing anxiety or stress, it may work well for you, especially if you're consuming stimulants like tea or coffee regularly. Frankly, I think most anons here would benefit from using it during their sessions.

>>18036054
It's useful as an anxiolytic, so many people use it for related therapeutic relief. It does not function with such harsh side effects as some benzodiazepines or barbituates, and is substantially more easily tolerated. I would not expect such dramatic, rapid effects as you may have with those drugs, but it is arguably more useful on a regular basis. Assists with memory formation and focus, acting somewhat similarly to practiced meditation (which it also 'stacks' well with). Present naturally in tea and a few species of mushrooms, it is commonly consumed with caffeine to mediate the negative side effects of caffeine use (jitters, hyperactiveness, tachycardia, etc). May also lower blood pressure, so just take note this if you happen to be taking medication for high blood pressure, or if you are notably bradycardic.

It is not a panacaea, but I use it multiple times daily. You can try pills or powders, but I personally opt for powders because sublingual administeration (before swallowing) is more bioavailable than outright oral consumption, and powders are cheaper as well. While using a milligram scale is standard practice for nootropic supplements, I dose rather high for my own needs, so I don't even bother beyond using a small scoop. I like to use it before any consumption of caffeine/stimulants especially (in this case, tea). If you are experiencing anxiety or stress, it may work well for you, especially if you're consuming stimulants like tea or coffee regularly. Frankly, I think most anons here would benefit from using it during their sessions.

>>18036054
Get gaba powder too

>>18036124
Do you know it's action on the autonomous nervous system? I'm subject to reflex syncope, which is caused by excessive activity of the parasympathetic system and withdrawal of the sympahic one.

>>18036167
GABA powder doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier alone under typical circumstances. So, while it may be present in the blood, it won't cross into his brain, which is the target zone in this scenario. He'd have to use something like gabapentin or phenibut to achieve something like this. Personally, I don't think it's best for most people to use those drugs longterm considering potential side effects, but it is best to ask your physician. I just want to make this known since the subject was brought up. I don't mean to split the thread topic or cause divisiveness.
>>18036189
To my knowledge, it may suppress sympathetic activation. If your issue with reflex syncope/fainting is caused by the reasons you noted, it may not be ideal for you. However, I advise that you do your own research or ask your local physician equipped with your own records if you are concerned. I must clarify that I'm not a licensed physician, and my own physiology differs from yours. I'm just a private enthusiast with years of self-experimentation and powders under my belt.

A few slightly related subjects if you don't mind the gatekeeping P*bmed archives:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34822436/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25759004/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16930802/
If you don't own a milligram scale and do decide to try supplementing L-theanine, you may consider trying some pills first (200mg/ea for example) since they'll be pre-measured. A side note I wish to clarify: L-theanine is naturally found in tea, which I presume you drink since you're posting here. It is much smaller in proportion to therapeutic supplementation with typical portions. So, I don't think it would be an issue to keep drinking tea as you already may if it does not present you with symptoms currently.

To keep the topic closer to /tea/, what tea should I drink later today, anons?
>Bada red
>Yue guang bai
>Gushu liu bao
>Taetea sheng
>Pleasant French green blend I keep putting off journaling about

>>18036353
>GABA
I add it to an energy drink mix with the l-theanine. I sleep better. Maybe I should optimally be cramming it but w/e
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30707852

>>18036365
>An energy drink mix with GABA
Well, some athletes do it to improve muscle repair/etc, so that's fine. If you don't already, supplementing L-citrulline could be a nice addition to stack with it too. I used to drink L-citrulline DL-malate (2:1) mixed in with my green tea coldbrews when I still used bagged tea, and it was great stuff. The sour tang of the malic acid gives a refreshing snap to the smooth tea infusion. Takes citrus juices well, too.

>>18036353
I want to hear bout this French green blend

>>18035455
I have a temperature controlled kettle, but one where you have to pour it into a teapot.
It depends a bit on what kind of tea you like to drink, but I find that it helps me a lot with green teas.

>>18036430
I will make it later in the day and write back. I don't remember the brand, but I recall it having a gold-colored seal with an angel baby blowing a horn or something similar.

>>18036353
>what tea should I drink later today, anons?
go for the baicha today, you won't regret it

>>18035455
my bonavita kettle(~£100) can set it to any desired temp by degree including down to 40c which is good for baking. some are good for fail after a year

also dont brew in the kettle, kettles are for water only, you dont want to have to clean out all the tea stain/leaf bits ect

>>18035550
This guy is chasing the dragon with l-theanine
Don't try hard drugs my friend

>>18036990
>my bonavita kettle(~£100)
It's been my daily driver for years with barely any incident. For a while there it was struggling slightly, misgauging temp and forgetting to hold it, but for whatever reason that stopped a few months ago. For the price it's an excellent product.

tea novice here with no knowledge of tea, how should i go about getting into it? i have a thing for green tea though

>>18037601
>how should i go about getting into it?
Much of this will be explained in the Pastebin link in the OP. Get some basic inexpensive tools;
acquire a kettle if you do not own one. A cheap temperature-adjustable electric kettle is quite convenient, but at least a clean stovetop kettle or similar source of hot water is fine (even a thermos). From there, you can choose your infusion vessel. Eastern brewing may be a gaiwan/shiboridashi (lidded cups), or even just a plain mug. I recommend a basic porcelain gaiwan/shiboridashi, which costs $8 - $13 or so, and can be found on many non-specialty sites, even Amazon or AliExpress. Alternatively, you can buy something like a Finum basket.

From there, you can check the Pastebin link in the OP for links to tea shops serving your region or shipping globally. If you want specific tea suggestions, just ask for some basic recs of whatever interests you. You can also mention what you've liked before if applicable, or what you think you'd prefer. I don't drink many greens so I won't recommend any, but a cheap gong mei or yue guang bai are both cheap white tea cakes types that will typically be fairly accessible if you want to try those. Many people like Wuyi and Tieguanyin oolongs, and you may feel similarly if you try them. Tea is not especially expensive or complicated to get into, so don't stress much about it and feel free to ask questions.

>>18037601
Buy some looseleaf tea. Look for vendors in the pastebin. Either order aome chinese or Japanese green tea. Get a finum brew basket for $10 online. Maybe get a small gram scale but you dont have to.
Look at tea brewing directions, brew tea, enjoy. Jap tea is more savory umami seaweed soup kind of vibes. Chinese greens are typically less savory.
If you are in the us thos is a pretty decent start
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/green-tea-spring-2022/products/premium-grade-dragon-well-tea-from-hangzhou-long-jing-tea
Nice green tea flavor, slight roasted and nutty aspects.
Ask questions if you have any, don't make things to complicated, all you need is a mug and hot water to enjoy great tea

>>18037715
If you order from these guys try some of this too
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/black-tea-spring-2022/products/high-mountain-red-ai-lao-mountain-black-tea

>>18037715
>Maybe get a small gram scale but you dont have to.
Honestly, if you're buying a scale, make sure it can do (or at least display) tenths of a gram, or it's basically worthless. I bet you I could eyeball tea with a comparable error bar to a gram scale. If you're going to go to the trouble to buy one, at least make sure it's useful

>>18037827
Yeah you are correct thanks

Really glad I moved away from puerh and towards sencha, gyokuro, and matcha
Green tea is just so comfy and tasty.

>>18037907
I bet the Japanese pricing and leaf quality were favorable this year, too. I skipped the Spring greens season, but I imagine that sort of neat material makes for refreshing tea going into these hotter months. Have you tried pouring any green leaf infusions over ice?

>>18038005
I did an ice brew a few threads ago. Very sweet and dense, like syrup.
I pay about 0.4$/g for japanese tea compared to 0.2$/g for Chinese, so I can't speak if the price is better

>>18038049
Ah yeah, I saw those posts. It looked incredibly viscous and slick; can only imagine the texture. How did it even get so thick? I think a nutty note-focused green could be quite appetizing with that method either way. Seeing this makes me want to start coldbrewing more than just my spent leaves.

>>18038109
I think it just got so thick from the ice losing volume and a lot of it soaking into the leaves from how long the brew takes, but I'm no chemist.
Honestly don't think I'd do it again. While its good it's far too rich and not much liquor

>>18035144
fun fact both the singular and plural of thrips is thrips. for example "i see a thrips" would be a correct way to refer to seeing one of them and not "i see a thrip".

>>18037827
>Honestly, if you're buying a scale, make sure it can do (or at least display) tenths of a gram
i like having one that goes to hundredths especially on cheap scales where the last digit is often not accurate.
i use this one and can recommend it though it used to be like $7 cheaper before COVID-19:
https://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-Scales-AWS-100-CAL-Digital/dp/B01DPHXYFM

Thoughts on cold brewing green tea? I threw 13g of green tea in a liter of water and am now waiting until tomorrow to see what it tastes like.
I read the serious eats article from the pastebin about cold brewing, but got no idea how common it is.

>>18038366
It's pretty good in my experience. Especially for lighter black teas and green teas. Really great over ice or just cold out of the fridge, that recipe makes it pretty strong so im guessing they expect you to serve it with ice.

>>18038394
All right, thanks. I guess I'll try both with and without ice.

Finished my tasting and journal entry on a strange French blend I have kept on hand for a while. It's the "Thé roi soleil" from Ladurée, found in a small plastic bag within a yellow board mini tub. It has a best by date of a few months past, but still tastes and looks fine. The one they show on their site is slightly different, with the same ingredients but 91% "China green tea" in my tub, and 92.5% in the new version according to the labels. Also different colorway tubs, and their leaves seem to be brown instead of green for some reason. Here's the store link:
https://www.laduree.fr/the-roi-soleil.html
Pray the French don't kill me. My notes:
___
4.3g/175F/12s

Dry leaf somehow reminds me of a soft classic bubblegum outright, followed by brisk garden flowers (the marigold flowers, bergamot) and a touch of the caramel. Wet leaf lifts the caramel, becoming sweeter and smoothening the bergamot, but otherwise remaining the same.

Low bitterness, medium thickness, and medium-high astringency. Intro flavor is a sweet bergamot which goes into the caramel comes up from below, somehow ending up with that peculiar (but pleasant) bubblegum note on the end. Aftertaste stays as such for several seconds after sipping, balling up just a touch in the mouth. Responds well to temps around 190-195F so far in subsequent infusions.

The alleged lemon pieces are not particularly noticeable in isolation, but they may be quietly lifting the vibrancy of the tea otherwise. I'm also starting to consider if the bubblegum aftertaste flavor may be related to the rhubarb somehow. Somewhat alarmingly, I may possess some form of allergy to something within it. It "remains" in the throat, and is slowly affecting my body (some building inflammation and nausea I am ignoring for my notes), but I am unsure if it's the cause of outside influences such as the sweltering heat, placebo, etc. Regardless, the flavor itself is pleasant. Curious how a cold infusion may go.

>>18038445
Interesting the leaf looks chopped but it also looks somewhat robust, like it wasn't rolled into oblivion durin processing

What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?

>>18038524
I bought it at Costco if that helps.

>>18035144
Tasty, but how does that help flavor?

>>18038524
Bake cookies with it, maybe make smoothies with it, i wouldn't suggest making matcha with it

I saw someone using a wooden box with a tea candle to keep their teapot warm. What exactly do you call that? Looking up teabox just shows the typical box with little compartment. The teapot was resting in a little hole with the tea candle a few inches underneath it. I've been fascinated with it and desire one.

On the topic of cheap matcha, someone gave me a giant bag of "Ayurvedic matcha" that tastes awful. It's ground up Indian green tea, turmeric, ashwagandha, black pepper and some other things. It tastes like bitter, spicy sludge.

>>18038535
The tea leaves produce certain sweet chemicals as a response to insect bites.
afaik it's not clear what those chemicals really do, maybe they somehow repel the insects, maybe they attract predators that eat the insects, anyway apparently it can improve the flavour.

>>18038631
It's a tealight pot warmer or something like that, they are usually metal or ceramic or glass

>>18038650
Make cookies with it

>>18022822
I got this Darjeeling tea thats called Brew Tache and I have no idea how to brew the shit

>>18038761
211C
5 minute steep
Simple as.

>>18038796
99C
Oops

>>18038761
Wow that's a crazy teabag huh?
Any way that other anon is right about how to brew it.

>>18038535
Scratching the buds triggers gene expression that produces enzymes. They create more aromatics, like more than double as much. Specifically, linalool and linalool oxides that smell lavender and woodsy, and another that tastes like grape, 2,6-dimethyl-3,7-octadiene-2,6-diol

>>18038445
I do like some citrus peel with tea. Rhubarb and marigold is pretty unusual. Wet leaves don't look 9% other ingredients, but that is a lot.

>>18028966
A brutal diarrhea cured by drinking ginger and mint tea. Now I need to buy a pot and a mortar apparently. Any suggestions?

>>18022943
I'm new to this general-But did study(independently) Cha-Do..
I even have made a tea bowl when I was in the grad program at IU ceramics... i call it the "Toad Bowl"--as my tea ceremony persona was a "Wabbibito" -lonely man of the woods/Woods Hermit.
What do you think?
(as pertains to your poast, I too like imperfect tea vessels)
I appreciate you guys IMMENSELY

>>18039754
Ooops!
>veracity for veracity's sake
>pic

>>18038547
Mmmm, Sweets!
Sounds like a good suggestion.
Maybe some matcha based ginger snaps? (A ginger snaps recipe with a cup of matcha pow thrown in.)

>>18039754
Nice tea bowl anon, i like that style where the exterior is only partially glazed.
Don't worry about timestamps, it's not necessary here unless someone makes some outrageous claim

>>18039808
The particular batch of stoneware that it was made from suffered from a condition known as "Bloat"--Outgassing from the clay body unexpectedly.
I value this bowl particularly as it is not supposed to exist. Bloat usually KILLS ceramics.
Anyhoo--I got into Cha-Do because of the service aspect and hospitality of Japanese tea.
It has ONLY been used Thrice, and once was only because my dear gal yoshi(cat) decided it was hers for a week.

>>18039830
>Anyhoo--I got into Cha-Do because of the service aspect and hospitality of Japanese tea.
We have a few Japanese tea drinkers, not a whole lot of discussion around ceremony but there is alot of appreciation for the meditave aspects or brewing and drinking tea. Its very relaxing and a nice way to chill out for a bit

>>18037907
Which ones have you been drinking recently?

>>18039852
I also love the informal/formal trappings of other tea cultures.
UK, mainly.
There is an engaged and intelligent relaxation involved in tea drinking, I've found.
I don't drink enough--as I'm predominately a coffee guy, But all forms of brew are basic to the human condition.
At least, I like to think so...
((Too many "I'"s))

Last week I thought my teas were going bland, to the point I wondered if I didn't get covid. Then I noticed some scaling in the kettle, checked and found out it was time to replace the filter cartridge, like every four or so months, lol. Hard water makes bland tea.

>>18039893
Yeah it's a pretty dramatic difference. I probably should also change my filer

Love you guys
Gotta sleep--May your brews all delight.

>>18039954
I decale my kettle with citric acid when I replace the filter. Now I know that when the scaling comes back, it's the end of the cycle.

Using bottle or filtered water was too intimidating for me when I began but I should have used that earlier: makes some low/mid end tea taste like high end.

>>18038466
>Interesting the leaf looks chopped but it also looks somewhat robust
Possibly. Gently chopped or just small bits, but I lean on the former. I took a picture beforehand on a whim in case someone was interested. It unfurls fairly quickly under heat. Pic related, the dry leaf.
>>18039427
I wouldn't say the citrus is especially noticeable, but the mixed floral character is decent with this, and its sweet caramel/rhubarb/bergamot aftertaste works well. I can't comfortably recommend it until I know what was going on with my reaction, but the tea blend flavor itself is not so bad; certainly different.

>>18040057
Oh i always forget about the way sencha is processed, i know it tends to fall apart when it's heavily steamed by i don't know if it's also typically chopped during production or if the leaves just naturally break.
I really need to get around to actually buying/drinking some Japanese tea

>>18035436
Edit: I read the label wrong. It's 2008 rougui (cultivar, chingchongese for cinnamon) red oolong. It was in a vacuum package so even 14 years later it still seems to be good. The gimmick is it's heavily roasted. Despite that, and despite being red tea, it's very fruity. Medium astringency. Decent stuff, won't repurchase.

Has anyone gone deep enough to try a Chinese clay boiler, tetsubin and silver kettle? Which one produces the best water?

mine new gaiwan arrived.

>>18038750
Would using a glass teapot with that burn the bottom or something?

>>18039867
Mostly still going through the ippodo shincha, drinking it while it's still freshish
The o cha stock is next

>>18041047
It might deposit some soot on the glass but its not going to damage it or anything, soot will wipe right off. They use the burner to keep a kettle full of water hot and the tea is in a separate teapot.

>>18040823
Sweet gaiwan anon, i love that rustic style
>>18040202
Nah its just too much, if i was going to get a clay kettle i would probably go Japanese, they have some really nice looking ones for decent prices last i looked. The most important thing is having good quality water that isint too hard or to heavily filtered. Using different kinds of kettles and water boilers are just going to impart tiny amouts of flavor if anything. And some would argue you are taking away from the flavor of the tea to focus on the flavor of your equipment.

>>18040197
Nice, well aged roasted oolongs are usually a treat. I really think oolong is the best tea out there

>>18040823
Oooh looks nice, where'd you get it? Also, reminder to keep spare teaware around. I have two full sets, so I'll never be lacking a cup, gaiwan or cha hai if I drop one.

>>18039754
Looks incredible. I want one. You're probably the most based anon here, Wabbibito. And yeah, crazing looks incredible. My favourite set is a custom one I had made, which is covered in iron blossoms and needleholes and bumps and the like. Feels very nice in hand.

>>18041356
i got it from aliexpress for 20 dollars :) the pictures on the listing had a crackle glaze but there werent any cracks on the one i got.
It also said that it was 100ml but it was 100ml to the rim not to the lid so its closer to 90ml but I was looking for a smaller one anyways

Made a pleasant drink with tea. Diced apple, mixed berries, almond milk, stevia, some ginger kombucha, and my multi-day rolling coldbrew tea. Smooth and refreshing. It's fun to make things like this from time to time in between my regular sessions. I have some bulk dong ding oolong coldbrewing in my refrigerator since yesterday too.

>>18041402
>the pictures on the listing had a crackle glaze but there werent any cracks on the one i got
No promises but there might be after the first few times you pour boiling water into it

>>18039754
My inner (and outer) fatass loves it because it looks like a pastry with frosting.

>>18041402
Oh, I have a ru gaiwan I got from teaware house, and a drip craze cup from there as well. Both crazed like crazy.

You just need to use it, and it'll show up. The gaiwan has some real handsome patterns in it

meanwhile on /b/

Got this in today. Standard gunpowder I use.

>>18042080
>this is acceptable

>>18042084
Keurig machines with reusable k-cups actually work better for tea than coffee IMO. Steel k-cups preferred.

>>18042080
Good old temple of heaven, i think it's sold in every Chinese grocer in the world. Its not some premium luxury tea but i gets the job done. I have a box kicking around somewhere.

>>18042089
served over ice. wah-lah

>>18042089
Green tea? Can you adjust the temp on those to below boiling? Might be kinda nice for making Japanese greens maybe some floral oolongs

>>18042119
They run at a fixed temperature usually, I think 89C, it's never boiling.

There are other vendors that make k-cup compatible machines with better heat control. But standard Keurig machines will run at 89C.

>>18042123
89c is pretty good for a decent range of teas actually. Probably would be pretty good for first flush darjeeling, also rooibos/honey bush

Has there ever been a tea that you've drunk that made you say "What the fuck?" in both the good and bad ways?

>>18042230
I used to buy bulk bags of tea from coffee beans direct. I had a large amount of their Orange Pekoe, and I also hag a keggerator and brewing equipment, and decided to steep a 5 gallon batch of it using my mash tun.

I think put it into a 5 gallon soda keg and force carbonated it.

It was fucking horrible. Never do that.

>>18042349
>I think put it into a 5 gallon soda keg and force carbonated it
I'm sorry but I can't stop laughing at how this sounds. I'm almost tempted to try it myself.

>>18042363
I don't know what sort of fake shit they're doing to bottled teas that makes them not fucking gross, but trying to keg unsweetened tea under pressure for serving on tap is ... bad.

>>18042230
Yeah, I've had some experiences like that. I remember early on when I was just getting into tea, I had a Wuyi oolong sample that smelled and had a flavor somewhat like, among other solid qualities, (inoffensive) cannabis. I have never smoked weed or used cannabis products outside of CBD, but I've smelled it before, and it was 1:1 to that among some other nice aroma notes. It wasn't especially bad or off-putting, just unexpected. As for actually 'bad' stuff, some fishy shou material and especially cheap pu'er mini tuos fit that bill pretty well. Plentiful time to air out such material in isolation can help, but it does take a fairly long time when it's that dank.

The free sample bag I got from Yunnan Sourcing smells so much like the tea bags I used to buy. I can't tell if it's floor sweepings or not.

>>18042349
Was it good before you carbonated it?

>>18043124
Yeah, it tasted fine.

When you carbonate water the CO2 binds to the water and creates "carbonic acid", which has a distinct flavor. It make beer and some wines taste better, by balancing out other flavors. It makes unsweetened black tea taste very strange.

>>18043002
What's in it?

>>18043196
Pic related is it. No gram amount or harvest date on it. I'm too much of a novice to know anything about it for now. It just smells like a typical orange pekoe bag.

>>18043305
It should be decent, i couldn't find it on their website but i might be retarded

>>18043456
>i might be retarded
i hate to tell You anon...
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/assamica-black-from-mei-zi-qing-village-in-yong-de

>>18043492
Thanks anon, sounds good, assamica black teas are fun

>>18043456
It's ok, I'm tarded too.

>>18043492
Thank ye. I'll give an update on it tomorrow. I have enough to gongfu and grandpa style.

>>18043305
Such ugly packaging. How can you accept that? It's one step away from a Ziploc with sharpie scribbled on it "Tea from China idk lol"

>>18043605
I would rather buy good tea in ulgy pakages than pay $4 a teabag for whatever stale dust is in it.
Those nylon teabags are loaded with microplastics.

Any other anons here ever just take some dry tea material and nibble on it passively? I kind of like just chewing on buds and stems occasionally, not sure why beyond the nice aroma and texture. I used to chew coffee sometimes too, as I liked the concentrated flavor and aroma. Neither are great for your teeth, but it's fine if you wash/brush after. Chewing on a white bud right now. Feels comfy, going to read a book while doing it.

>>18043605
I'm not drinking the teabag.

>>18043615
I chew on wet tea leaves a lot, good stuff

>>18043605
liquidproust sampler says hello
>heres some 03 raw, dont ask me about it, i dont know shit and don't have more to sell
>this one is called ak47, I found it on taobao and know nothing about it, had a cute label

>>18043673
lol

>>18043673
what a tease

Based Dr. Thepul Darshana delivers the tea with the free untracked shipping at last. You magnificent bloody blasterd, sir.

>>18044044
I'm tempted to hit that website just because of the fancy stamps. WHATS IN THE BOX

The best by date is as the website listed. Even better, it prints the specific date of manufacture.

Gonna go brew some up in a minute

>>18044044
Oh nice i saw you order this. Seemed pretty quick if i remember correctly.
>>18044070
Looks like a big box of tea, i like that it's vacuum packed

This one doesn't say which regions it's grown in but I'm sure it's majority lower elevations. There's a hint of that citrusy ceylon aroma, mainly malty tasting though. It's nice to taste that without staleness. Mild bitterness. It's astringent of course, at least in a gentle drying way.

Drank it plain as an experiment. It should be good with milk. Decent amount of body.

>>18044212

>>18044212
Thanks for posting about it
Its pretty sweet that its this years harvest, while i find tea like that at the asian market it's always god knows how old.

>>18044338
*When i find tea like that at the asian market it's always old.
>>18044334
Nice color, looks like tea
You think it will work for you as a cheap daily drinker?

>>18028966
Coffe gives me the shits but I wanted something other than water to drink on the regular. I also realized most of the reason I didn't like tea when I was younger was because I associated it with the stuff pumped with sugar.

>>18044338
>>18044340
Funny you mention old tea since I'm also trying to finish off some Taiwanese sample from 2008. Somehow that held up, and yet teabags almost always have this noticeable stale flavor and scent. It doesn't come across in the brewed tea but the dry leaf has a nice apricot/peach smell.
This is a major step up from commodity shit for only $14 / 250g. I also really like Gorreana orange pekoe. It's a steal at €5 / 100g. There's a couple other cheapies I'm curious to check out. Like Turkish tea seems cheap. Caykur's premium orthodox tea is $9.49 for 500g.

I love when promo images for Chinese loot is flagrantly photoshooped

>>18043305
>>18043562
Update on that sample pack. I tried it grandpa style because the packaging was heavier than the tea itself. It went from 15 grams to 9 out of it. It was pretty malty at first, mild dried fruit sensation. It was one step away from being almost too puerh. The second mug really had that orange pekoe smell and flavour to it. I think it'd be better for a cold brew.

>>18045754
How much cold brew will 9 grams make?

>>18045801
I don't know for now. Lol. I'm still learning about it all, but in general, it'd be better for a cold brew to me because of that orange pekoe flavor. I'm doing my monthly order soon and don't care to try samplers, so I just order new leaves per 100 grams each and put up with it if I don't like them. At this point, I'll try any recommendation for anything on Yunnan Sourcing. I like to try other people's personal favorites.

>>18045208
Kek that's fantastic thanks

>>18045827
.us store?
I haven't tried this particular batch but 3 cranes liubao is one of my favorite teas, this one spent long enough in the right humid places that it should have that classic liubao flavor
Earthy, rich, root celler, sometimes somewhat nutty, soft and smooth, kind if like ripe puer but without the wet fish smell some ripe can get
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/hei-cha/products/2011-three-cranes-15010-liu-bao-tea

>>18045906
I'm actually an idiot and didn't notice the .us site until a day after my first order. That's probably why I didn't get my free shipping for a 125 dollar order. I'll double dip and get that one too. I'll get some of that, 500 grams of Red Ai Lao and some greens and whites. My entire first order was all black, so I want to try the rest.

>>18045935
Cheers anon

>>18045935
Get some Bi Luo Chun Black gold. That tea is incredible.

>Disgusting black tea drinkers, get out of my sight

>>18045801
>How much cold brew will 9 grams make?
For me, almost 2L. I do 5g/1L@ambient temp for 48h. It's too much for mao feng and sheng which end up bitter, I'll try 2.5g next time.

Fun fact: some teas do ferment, some others don't. Bai mu dai did and was undrinkable, some black indian just got fizzy, I'll taste it the day after tomorrow. No prob with oolong, Chinese blacks and greens, sheng or shou. Speaking of shou, I have an expensive 2002 shou that is even better cold brewed this way.

>>18046216
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot

Neat to see more discussion about coldbrews. It's been hot lately, so I thought about digging into my bulk Asian market leaf a few days ago. Using some few years-old "Good Young" dong ding oolong. Piled tons of it into a small glass jar to coldbrew over two days; nice bittersweet, smooth smoky roasted wood flavor. Almost like having a light texture, mildly sweet coffee, which is very refreshing in this heat. The aftertaste lasts a fairly long time even after dilluting it too.

It's convenient and inexpensive to use bulk amounts of cheap (whole) leaf that would probably otherwise be used by restaurants and big households, to make highly concentrated coldbrews at home. They can end up really smooth yet potent since you have so much material to use, and you can just let it keep infusing and refilling over several days as you drink it, so maintenance and concentration control are easy (and you don't deal with the nauseating fannings of many teabags). They may even be so concentrated that you'll want to water it down as I do. Would not be especially economical to do the same with higher quality leaf, but if you find a balance of quality of material to price like this locally, it becomes relatively feasible. I'd easily recommend this as a low cost option for a refreshing beverage if any anons here are struggling with the heat.

My only quip is doing this with teas blended with floral materials and aromas. I have a bag of barely-used jasmine green tea from the same company; was weird before when I did a coldbrew of that, maybe because the floral qualities ball up in the mouth a bit much for my liking. Perhaps the people who love strong florals would appreciate this more than I do. Perhaps something like citrus and sweetener or fresh citrus peel would neutralize this, though I'll leave such considerations for another day.

>>18046182
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/yunnan-black-gold-bi-luo-chun-black-tea?_pos=2&_sid=97b3d1842&_ss=r

Will that do?

Anybody else kinda over hot tea and exclusively drinking iced tea now?

>>18046739
Ye, that's the eternally shilled black gold bi lo chun

>>18046746
The opposite. Hot tea on a hot day is liberating

>>18046746
I drink hotter tea in the summer

>>18046746
Nah, Hot tea lowers your core temp, cold shit makes it raise. Of course this happens cause you're sweating more. It sounds counter productive, but I guzzled Shou while my AC was broken last summer, sweated like a hog but I was cool and much more comfy than everyone else with their jugs of ice water


>>18046860
For good reason

no context necessary

>>18047066
Yup the official pot of /tea/

cold brew teanema

Years ago, at uni, I had a classmate from Myanmar who introduced me to this smokey oolong-like tea from her country. She said that her family back home pick it and stuff it into bamboo and it gets roasted over open flame. Can't remember what it was called, but it was really quite good.
Any idea wtf I'm talking about?

>>18047147
Laphet

>>18047159
Lahpet*

>>18047159
Nope. She had me try that, too. Lahpet is pickled tea leaves. They come in a plastic pouch and are wet and meant to be eaten. The stuff I'm talking is dried and meant to be brewed in water. Two wholly different things.

>>18047147
theres quite a few teas stored and roasted in bamboo, here's one
yunnansourcing.com/products/meng-song-bamboo-roasted-raw-pu-erh-tea?_pos=7&_sid=79d84e619&_ss=r
>>18047164
all that seems to give is tea leaf salads

>>18047187
Hrm... well, that's a start, at least, thanks. Wish I could remember wtf the tea was called. All I remember is that she's not Bamar/Burmese, but some minority ethnicity and that Burmese people don't really brew tea but eat it but her group does both.

>>18047196
probably some cultural crosspollination from china. you probably wont be able to find a tea that tastes the same unless you find the exact product but stored and roasted in bamboo will get you in the right ballpark you just need to narrow it down, its not uncommon at least

>>18047066
ahh yes, the buttplug teapot with flow through fart holes

>>18047066
Imagine a tea service from a Chinese girl using this.
(While it's inserted)

>>18047717
What's up wiyh those tea cups? Do they have a light green swirl in the middle

>>18047717
Is it the weird perspective, or are her shoulders really small?

Is good tea for you?

>>18048809
I hope she really is that small and that there's rough BBC anal porn of her.

>>18049563
One or two cups a day probably is good for you, yes.

>>18049563
Listen, the whole point of that meme is that you have some inadequate milquetoast question, but at the same time you post a lusty thirst inducing picture. You missed half of the fucking meme you twerp.

>>18050115
k bud...

>>18050115
Is tea good for you?

>>18050364
Depends. Is she using the fart kettle?

Since when do we have a tripfag?

Reminder for the next op to perform aggresive takeover of /ctg/. Or just do >>18029007

>>18050364
Is this the vampires mistress?

>>18050505
I only saw him start posting a few days ago. I think the 28th. Poster activity has been a little weird even beyond that, but this general is always weird and sporadically active. I don't even want to post cool tea stuff I work on sometimes because I don't want to turn the gen into a personal blog. Having unique teaware and identifiable writing rids the sense of anonymity too, unfortunately.
>Takeover /ctg/
I saw some anons discussing this recently; I honestly don't see the point. It takes little time to type '/te' or just 'tea' and sift through one or two steak posts. Making needless beef with the coffee drinkers is counter-productive. It's almost all just two or three really angry people yelling at each other (besides a few helpful and informative anons). I don't want that sort of sentiment brewing in a nice gen like this. I'd rather us keep the /tea/ lesbians getting drunk on old moldy leaves and various sorts of comfyposting.

>>18050584
Whats the meme Chinese hand grinder of the week?

>>18050584
The takeover thing was intended as a joke and I appreciate the thread's history with the title.

I'm not sure how to get my point across to people not big on the search-term thing. It's just very comfy for me to type "4chan.org/ck/tsg" in my address bar and it being immediately obvious which thread I need to go to, without having to C-f or click anything else along the way. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.

>>18050584
Also yeah it might be a bit pedantic for me to complain about tripfags when pretty much everyone can be recognized by their teaware. Like you say it's difficult keeping a sense of anonymity.

>>18050626
It time for a new thread any way i will make it woth /tsg/ right now

>>18050659
Thanks!

>>18022822
new
>>18050670
>>18050670
>>18050670