/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Tea

>>18161168
Is Lapsang souchong a meme? How do people like that shit?
Chai is king

>>18161642
Unsmoked 'sang is pretty good, but it tastes like most any other Chinese hong. The smoked stuff is most definitely a meme.

>mfw I realize that several pots of tea in a day is not normal
It's Turkish tea, and I drink a lot of it.

>>18161693
I was drinking multiple cups of tea while studying for a test once and when i went to go take it i had no tea with me and I started getting debilitating headaches halfway through from caffeine withdrawal.

Just end this general now.

did a comparison with some cheap keemun on the left and some more expensive yunnan hong on the right. Really interesting that despite the much darker red honey like colour of the keemun tea liquour (most likely since the leaves were cut), the yunnan tea had much more flavour while being nearly yellow. The keemun tea had nearly lost all taste after 4 infusions while the other one stayed strong for about 5 more. Both teas had a very chocolate like smell of the dry leaves, but the yunnan tea smelt more like real chocolate while the keemun smelled kinda fakeish like american chocolate.
>>18162013
go back coffee tranny

>>18161693
Those dudes drink a lot of tea and seem fine.

>>18162074
It's kind of counter-intuitive how the color of tea works, isn't it? Orange color is supposed to be a sign of quality generally since it takes 2+ hours of wilting versus 10-50 minutes like red CTC shit. I like reading comparisons since it gives a better sense of the relative quality of tea. Keemun has a bunch of grades--Hao Ya A, B, whatever--so there's some sort of difference beyond leaf size. Where'd you buy the yunnan tea?

>>18162158
yeah im gonna start doing more comparisons from now on, its really easy to learn from them.
i bought it from this norwegian website spillthetea:
https://spillthetea.no/produkt/zijuan-hong/
its kinda ridiculously overpriced but i just got it since i ran out of black tea and was kinda desperate, its nice that they give full info about the tea though so its easy to find other sellers

Although it's a dumb comparison between different oxidation levels, I thought this was amusing: how a tea that's so colorless is insanely expensive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_VsxGdECYI&t=685s

>>18161642
>Is Lapsang souchong a meme?
No its fantastic, cheap rich pine smoleked goodness.

>>18162074
Nice setup
I really love those chocolaty black teas, really darjeeling + chinese black teas completely changed my perception of what black tea tastes like

>>18162194
many white teas are very colorless too, yabao especially almost looks like just water

>>18162194
That is interesting, those floral oolongs really do get out there and just smell like flowers, some them also tend to really fill the room with floral aroma while they are brewing which is nice

>>18162239
Yeah, interesting how the aromas associated with black tea are rose (geraniol) lavender (linalool) and violets (alpha/beta-ionone) but I've definitely tasted some pale yellow oolong that was like a flower petals infusion.

>>18162291
Yeah absolutely, im trying to think of what florals i get from oolong but i would need to brew a cup i think, maybe lilley of the valley, some other white florals.

>>18162231
>Nice setup
thanks :) its all just relatively cheap shit i got from ali and amazon, i wanna focus more on ceramics with neat glazes and maybe yixing now that i have the basics i guess

>>18162569
Im pretty sure all those tea tables come from the same place.
For yixing i would recommend mud and leaves in china and purple cloud tea house in the US (at least the ones they have that are made by the same shop that mud and leaves buys from)
I have one from essence of tea and while im happy with it it doesn't have a built in clay screen so you have to keep a bamboo skewer around to unclog the neck occasionally.
Don't bother with vintage yixing unless you have more money than you know what to do with and want teapot collecting as a complete separate hobby from drinking tea.
Mud an leaves has aome good articles on what teas pair well with what clays. You really don't need to have a separate pot for each tea, you just need one pot for skanky ripe fermeted stuff and another pot for everything else.

Do you guys prefer coldbrewing in room temperature or in a fridge? Does it affect the flavour significantly, or mostly just the brew time?

>>18162943
I don't think it makes much difference flavor wise, i like to use tap water as cold as it will get and put it right in the fridge. It's not really something worth worrying about but it will grow more bacteria / mold faster at room temp then in the fridge, so if i keep everything cold i feel better about keeping the brewed tea in my fridge an extra day or two longer than i otherwise would.

>>18162943
I've consistently noticed a more stale flavor in a jar infusion left out by accident. Coldbrew left in the refrigerator as intended is low risk, easy, and infuses well. Infusion time might be slightly faster in conditions for something like "sun tea", but that won't taste the same due to different temps of extraction and some risk of unwanted bacterial proliferation. I recommend keeping it in the refrigerator.

I have about 6 kg of tea, almost all of it puerh and red. But I only end up drinking sencha.
I think I need to face the idea that I prefer green tea and give up the puerh game.

>>18163126
It's more fun to go all in on a certain style of tea. Throw it away. Throw it all in the trash except for the sencha.

>>18163126
>Hold onto pu'er, sell in a few years.
>Make back costs, sell to anons at a discount, or profit, and buy more leaves.
Think long-term.

>>18163126
It's a pretty rough pill to swallow, that the nips had it right all along.
Nonetheless, 'tis so.

Where can I get some good houjicha

>>18163402
Check the pastebin, any shop in japan or there is at least one Japanese tea specialist in each other region

>making "cold infusions" in a jar when you can just suck on tea leaves for a few hours

>>18163383
I mean I like chinese greens too, but sencha really is something else.
Probably just going to do matcha, sencha, gyokuro, jasmine, long jing, tieguanyin, honey ninger, earl grey, and maybe a darjeeling as my annual order haul and forgo puerh altogether.
Maybe if I move somewhere with colder winters puerh would be nicer.

>>18163577
>Queue: "The Sound of Silence" plays as anon's dentist stands hoddled over his royal flush of brown teeth, stunned in awe of all the money he is about to make.

>>18163615
Why would I let a dentist destroy my seasoning?

I wanna thank whoever recommended this. I know it's basic, but at about 4 metric cups a day it's a winner for me.

>>18163722
Nice, glad you are enjoying it anon
I just ran out of black tea i need to order some more

Teeth seasoning top /tea/ meme 2k22

>>18163722
It's my go-to for kombucha. Totally fine for actually tea drinking too, at a fine price. Glad you could dig it, mate.

What's the douchiest adjective to describe tea?

>>18163943
elegant tannins and fresh minerality

>>18163943
We had a poster that really hated when people talked about viscosity

>>18164154
It's fucking flavoured water. WHAT viscosity?

>>18164240
The tea gets thick, it coats your tongue

Will /tsg/ hate me if I make green-tea-and-rose ice pops? It's been hotter than a motherfucker lately but I still want some tea.
And talking of which, for those who blend teas ourselves, where do you source your greens? I just use supermarket loose for mine since I'm not going to blend a good quality one.

>>18164240
Boil some shou or do that weird Japanese green ice infusion thing an anon did here before. Taste either and say there is no such thing as tangible viscosity in tea.

>>18164314
Just do it
I would be interested to see some pictures or hear how it goes. Does it use rosewater for rose flavor?

I just want to boil shu but mine is still on a boat, i barely have any fermented tea left.
Nothing but raw xiaguan tuos in my future

>>18164558
No Asian markets nearby? You could get some cheap bulk shou or oolong that way to tide you. If you're the boat shipment anon, you've been waiting for seemingly months.

>>18164349
Anon who did the japanese ice infusion thing here (koridashi)
It gets pretty thick, like a tea syrup.

Do you guys collect your cake wrappers?

>>18164570
Oh yeah i don't think my asian market has any shu execpt tebags. I might buy some actually.
Yeah ive been waiting a while. I picked a very bad time to order shipping by boat. We had a Canadian poster that did the same thing last year and i think his order took two months

>>18164589
I have a big box of them. No idea what do do with them. I used to fold them more neatly

>>18164580
How do it

>>18164613
That's cool. I've been planning on picking up my first-ever proper tea cake, so I was curious as to what the standard procedure was for the wrappers. I always kind of figured you'd keep the wrappers somewhere since a lot of the artwork can be really cool.

>>18164621
take a kyusu, put a normal amount of tea in it, then fill it with crushed ice, close the lid, throw it in the fridge, and wait 1 to 2 days for it to melt. Once it's melted you can drink it.

>>18162194
Their pickle one is my favorite.

teanus weenus

>>18164646
What are you getting anon?

>>18164646
One thing you can do with tea cake wrappers is sort of fold the edges in so you have a square that just has the front artwork on it. Then i guess if you had some you could put it up on your wall or something

Looking to get a temperature-controlled kettle for european voltage. Are there any with particularly low minimum-fill levels? I'm sick of boiling .5L water to make a .25L cup of tea.

>>18166502
bonavita is what i have
>Are there any with particularly low minimum-fill levels? I'm sick of boiling .5L water to make a .25L cup of tea
thats just physics, you're not going to find one that doesn't have the same basic element inside. if you really want to save on electricity, boil .5L for your 1st cup and re-steep your tea with the still warm water while drinking the 1st, that way at least you're using all the water you've heated

Ok, guys I like tea but don't know much about it. Help me improve, here's how I make pretty much every single tea (this probably will sound very cringe for some of you guys):
>hadboil water and tea herb
>strain into a cup
>put sugar in it

>>18164549
Rose petals and/or buds, whichever. I blend the loose green with loose rose petals and/or buds and brew them together as a super concentrate then cool, dilute, chill and freeze. I don't sweeten tea for drinking, neither hot not cold, but pops get some sugar.

>>18166638
Depends on what kind of teas or herbs you are working with.
If you are making tea out of things other than tea bushes you current recipie is pretty much fine, i would suggest a lower simmer instead of a hard boil but its not a huge deal.
If you are brewing tea bush tea try this instead.
Hard boil water
Shut off heat
Add tea to water, stir for a second
Wait 5 minutes
Strain out tea leaf and drink
You absolutely can just boil tea leaves and plenty of people do it but you loose out on some of theore subtle flavors of the tea and it tends to make the tea very heavy with tannins which can taste a bit unpleasant.
Another thing you can try that's even easier.
Boil water
Put yoir tea leaf in mug or cup
Fill mug with boiling water
Drink from cup once its cool enough to drink
You don't even need to take the leaves out, you can also add more hot water once you drink it halfway down to get more flavor out of the leaves

>>18166757
>Depends on what kind of teas or herbs
oh, I drink a lot of tea
>yerba mate
>black tea
>chamomile
>lemon grass
>blackberry leaf
>guava leaf
>fennel seeds
My mom has a big garden that supplies me with most of it.
>tea bush tea
Never heard of it, and can't find it on google. It has any other common name?

>>18166164
I'm thinking of picking up a cake of shu puer like year of the dog blue label. It was one of my favorite samples of shu

>>18163739
You're welcome.

>>18166793
its the first result on google.
tea from the leaves of the tea bush (tea plant, tea tree) aka camellia sinensis. some might say actual tea or "true tea", since most of what you are drinking is from herbs and not leaf juice from the tea plant.
this is why the tea/tisane distinction is actually useful.

>>18166502
Haven't you heard of the thermos trick

>>18167019
Nice anon, ripe puer is good stuff. Very nice to drink all year round, it's just a really comforting tea, plus it tastes good.

Its a grandpa ripe and granny candy evening for me

>camellia sinensis
oh ok, tea made with this plan it's known as black tea and green tea around here. Good to know

>>18167160
Awesome mug anon

>>18167116
No, what is it?

>>18167287
An insulated flask

>>18162610
Thanks, I think im gonna get either a zini or zhuni depending on what i find first. I'd rather spend the money on tea right now but ill save up a bit and check mudandleaves for new stuff occasionally.
Do you or anyone here have any experience with yinchenstudio.com in the pastebin? Their teapots have really nice carvings on them for the price

>>18162074
What tea tray is that?

>>18167489
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32973339292.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.3a021802vNiCuS
I wouldnt really recommend this one desu because it used some really stinky paint and the wood panels arent straight and not flat like you can see in the top right in the og pic (maybe i just got really unlucky though), but it looks nice and works well.
A plastic tray is good to have because you dont have to worry about it rotting if you dont wash and dry it immediately after.

>>18162074
Is that a mud skipper?

>>18167581
catfish

>>18167581
You're not allowed to call them that anymore.

>>18167550
That's a shame because the looks are exactly what I'm looking for.
Build quality is always hit or miss with teaware on Amazon or Ali. I have been looking at some trays from reputable western tea sellers but I either don't look the way I want or are ridiculously expensive.

>>18167623
why not

How good is Harney and Sons really? I've liked almost everything I've gotten from them. Am I being ripped off?

>>18167481
I dont own anything from yinchenstudio but their pieces generally are gorgeous. They sell pots from a selection of different artists but from what i see the quality seems high for most of them. zini or zhuni are both good choices, the other clays are more for specific purposes like really stinky ripes or wet stored tea.
Also according to an anon that posted about it a while ago you should avoid mixed clays when starting out. I think i put some info from him about buying clay pots in the pastebin somewhere

>>18167643
From what ive seen the tea trays that western vendors have is the same stuff that on aliexpress.

>>18167664
Depends most of their tea from what ive seen is affordable. From what other anons have posted its kind of hit or miss with different types but its all sort of mid grade mass produced tea. If you have a type of tea your really like you coild compare it with the same tea from one of the vendors in the pastebin and see how the quality and price compares. Just ask if you have questions or want some recommendations.

What kind of teas won't affect whiteness of my teeth?

>>18167719
There are some exceptions
https://pathofcha.com/collections/tea-trays-chaban
Most of their wooden products are made by a Ukrainian guy. They also have Balinese stuff on rare occasions.

>>18167741
Realistically, most tea and tisanes can affect your teeth if not cared for. Swish clean water after every session and maintain a consistent dental care regimen. A basic effort like this will protect your teeth from stains well.

>>18167744
I like the Tree of Life one.

posting some more tea notes:
today's tisane is 2020 Laoshan Dandelion Leaf Tea from verdanttea
https://verdanttea.com/laoshan-shandong-wild-dandelion-leaf-tea-pugongying

Parameters: 9.9g/100ml @ 175F gongfu in gaiwan with short steeps

Taste: intense, distinctly dandelion, biting but not lasting bitterness, different than the bitterness of tea, no astringency, some roasted root flavor, some pungent salad greens, slick oily mouthfeel, slightly mucilaginous especially at first, green-brown liquor at first fading into a brownish-yellow, only moderate longevity, the first few steeps brew hard and fast.

Conclusion: i really like it, though i wish it were a bit cheaper, and its perhaps a bit to intense to drink all the time. it is very bold and distinctive and i suspect it will be a love it or hate it sort of affair. dandelion haters need not apply.

Aside: i wish there were more high quality handcrafted tisanes available. verdanttea is one of the few places that has anything like it. i am quite willing to shill their laoshan tisanes to anyone with a interest and an open palate. just be aware they are not tea proper and don't taste like it. don't get them expecting them to just be decaf tea.

i think the Koreans also make some high quality tisanes but the premium handcrafted stuff is expensive and all but unavailable outside of Korea. Japan has a few interesting ones too. there has got to be some other cool handmade tisanes from China but most of what i have seen comes from the laoshan area. sometime when i get a good electric wok i may try to make my own tisanes in the style of what verdanttea sells.

>>18164589
>Do you guys collect your cake wrappers?
yes, i have kept all the ones i have gotten so far though i may decide to start recycling the boring ones if i get too many.

>>18167719
>From what ive seen the tea trays that western vendors have is the same stuff that on aliexpress.
check out https://moychay.com/catalog/posuda/chabani

>>18167741
>What kind of teas won't affect whiteness of my teeth?
unless you have unnaturally white bleached teeth or you sip on tea all day long i don't think tea is going to stain you teeth much if at all. it does not seem to have affected my teeth at least. just swish your mouth out afterward if you are worried.

>>18167893
I can't think of many premium tissanes. I guess if you dig around you can find super premium batches of herbs grown by some biodynamic farm somewhere. But in terms of stuff produced specifically for making tea with nothing comes to mind

>>18167893
>>18167993
There are some small rooibos farms that might qualify, but I don't know if you can buy their stuff if you don't live in South Africa.

>>18168009
Ah yes i remember some anon finding out that most rooibos comes from a farming collective so most shops that sell it have the same product. It would be interesting to see if any of the smaller farms sell online or are otherwise available

>>18167664
What have you gotten? I've been looking at their web store thinking of ordering some samples since the free shipping offer is so tempting.

>>18167893
I've spotted this. They even show a gaiwan in the product photos despite primarily being a tea blend sachet company for Americans. It sounds vaguely interesting but then I saw the price... Holy shit! It seems crazy to me to pay a lot for tisane when you can get fucked up on drugs (tea) for less.
https://www.smithtea.com/collections/reserve-series/products/reserve-series-no-202-northwest-alder-leaf

>>18168491
$35 for an ounce, yeah that's expensive, but at least it's something interesting. I have found another site that is selling alder leaf not that much cheaper, and obviously then its not processed by that tea nerd. Its not like i can just buy alder leaf tea by the lb from mountain rose.
https://www.woodlandwildcraft.com/product-p/alder-leaf-tea.htm

>>18168549
Hmm, is alder leaf a typical herbal tea? Part of my hesitance is simply due to ignorance. I don't even know what to expect so $35 is a lot to find out.
That's a very tiny photo on that site so it's hard to tell but it looks like flat green dried leaves whereas this other one is rolled and oxidized.

I want to get away from bag tea, my main tea I drink right now is PG tips, is there something similar in taste loose?

>>18168491
>https://www.woodlandwildcraft.com/product-p/alder-leaf-tea.htm
thanks for sharing. that is exactly the sort of thing i was looking to try. unfortunately, i not willing to shell out $35 an ounce for it at the moment. perhaps in a couple years if it is still available on the market. i suspect the price is probably just about all labor costs. in any case it looks like good inspiration for something to try to make myself.

>>18170035
wrong link i meant to quote:
>https://www.smithtea.com/collections/reserve-series/products/reserve-series-no-202-northwest-alder-leaf

>>18168590
>That's a very tiny photo on that site so it's hard to tell but it looks like flat green dried leaves whereas this other one is rolled and oxidized.
that's why the price is so different. one is simply picked and dried which is how most herbal teas are made and for the other they tried to processes the alder leaves like a traditional tea which is something that involves a lot more work.

Captcha=DRVAXD lol

Crimson Lotus had a sale the other day. We'll see what these are like.

>>18168590
It's still just a a fancy experience. If it's worth it or not depends very heavily on your budget and how interesting it seems.

>>18170172
I had a crimson lotus tea recently and i thought it was pretty good, one of their sheng cakes.
They are a bit cheeky selling tibetan flame bircks for that much, but i guess it costs a lot to ship these days.
Years ago pre bat flu some anon bought an entire package of tibetan flame bricks for $15 (5 bricks)
I think the shipping cost 2x as much as the actual price of the tea
These days of course the shipping would cost $50

>>18169826
I feel like the inclusion of Ceylon tea is what sets PG Tips apart from other brands. Now that I'm out, I'm drinking Dilmah loose tea. It's not a perfect match in flavor since it has a cedar wood smell but it's the same brewed strength, can add the same amount of milk.

>>18168009
>>18168021
Rare tea co. was the only place I found that was actually retail and shipped to the states. There's some single estate Rooibos in the Chinese and Indian market, but it was a pain in the ass to buy. I found the adresses of a few wholesaleres but shipping was a pain and I didn't want 2kg of Rooibos. I could have afforded it though, shits cheap.

But yes, beyond that Rooibos is simply controlled by grade, there is no other way to distinguish it. It is all the same thing, produced in the same factories, all mixed together. I get it from Mountain Rose when I want to buy it, but I'm more into honeybush now. Green Rooibos exists, haven't tried it.

>>18170413
>tibetan flame birck
its definitely too expensive if it is actually from 2019. that tea really benefits from some age on it. hopefully "2019" is just the year CLT brought it into their inventory and not the actual production date. they really should have a picture of the actual tea. the last batch they sold did have some age on it so there may be hope for this one as well. they claim they did actually purchase these from Tibet which is different than other vendors that sell them. it would be nice to try some with authentic Tibetan storage on it.

to the anon who bought it, please post a picture or description of what the tea is like when you get it.

>Years ago pre bat flu some anon bought an entire package of tibetan flame bricks for $15 (5 bricks)
last i checked it was one of the items KTM still had good prices on, though as you said shipping will not be cheap. XG kang bricks tend to be somewhat overpriced at most western vendors so i cant fault CLT too much.

CLT is a vendor i have had my eyes on for awhile but have never purchased from. their tea looks nice and i have heard only good things about them but most of their line up is more expensive per gram than i usually buy and i cant shake the impression that they are a bit overpriced even when on sale. you pay for their curation i guess. not everyone is a cheapskate bargain hunter like me. maybe i will change my mind in time after tasting more premium priced teas.

>>18170532
>. I found the adresses of a few wholesaleres but shipping was a pain and I didn't want 2kg of Rooibos
Lol yeah that's a lot
>but I'm more into honeybush now.
It's good stuff, i have some from mountain rose as well. I should brew some later, i haven't had any in a while

>>18170608
Holy shit my order from the tea vampire finally made it off the boat!

>>18170712
thanks for the (you) kind stranger. i am glad that you finally got your tea and i can't wait to hear you thoughts on it. did they throw in a free sample with your order?

>>18170712
Starting right in on some best taste ripe. The tea cakes actually didn't ship in bags which i was surprised by at first but they still smell rich and strong so I'm not going to worry about it. If anything giving them a few months to air out probably helped them along.
Went from no ripe to nearly a kilo of HKs dankest. Good times.

>>18170712
here we go, all my reccs are in, I see. close the curtains, put on some Bauhaus, let the cellar in.

>>18170748
Thanks anon, i guess i know in the future you don't get any updates after it goes on the boat. I was just going to check shipping and my downstairs neighbor texted me that i had a package.
No free samples, kind of a bummer but not a huge deal, i think free samples are more of a western thing.

>>18170773
Yes thanks for your suggestions, it really helped. I would have done something stupid like order a 500g liubao brick and nothing else.

>>18170762
Cool, didn't know puer came uncompressed too.

>>18170782
>i think free samples are more of a western thing.
i got one with my order from them but my order was slightly larger and was during a holiday sale. that reminds me i haven't actually tried the sample yet. i will post notes when i do.

>>18170790
happy for you mate. there will be time for a liubao brick in the future. if you're up for the vampires' storage that is. it's a love or hate thing.
I've had that raw jiang cheng brick couple of days ago and I'll repeat, it has no business being so good for such a price.

>>18170817
they do free samples and it's usually anounced on the pront page, paper plate anon seem to have hit the dry spell. first time I ordered I've go the Tea for Connoisseurs 1 Red Label Pu-erh Tea Cake 2007 sample and subsequently bought 100g of it later.

>>18170762
Good tea, its very warming, it has a sort of medicinal aspect to it as well, maybe not quite ginseng but something like that. Very warming. Feels good man
>>18170817
Yeah i was going to say that too i didn't spend much
>>18170792
Yes you can find loose puer, it's not super common and it's usually the cheap end of the spectrum like this ripe im drinking. Sometimes the smeller vendors will sell looseleaf if they have some tiny amout of some tea and don't think its worth it to press.

>>18170712
How many months has it been now? All those HK teas must have some interesting aromas. Let us know how your pics turn out, don't see many posts about the great Nosferatu of HK's inventory.

>>18170883
I think i placed my order at the end of march, it actually made it on a boat june 1st.
If i had known the ports were closed at the time i would have just shelled out the extra $30 for EMS shipping

How many grams of tea do you drink a day?

>>18171294
Only around 8-10g lately down from 14-20g a few months ago

>>18171322
>20g
What would even be an efficient method for drinking that much tea in a day? Grandpa style?

>>18171294
6g per session, if its the weekend or a day off i'll usually do 2 sessions. but my record is 38g in a day

>>18171339
You could do that easily if you like making giant gong fu batches.

>>18171339
Gongfu 7.5g 3x per day

>>18171294
I'm a neet living with my parents and I'm drinking 50g of the finest zhengyan yancha daily, specially reserved for me by the chinese government for defending 中国 and bashing the US on a Mongolian throat singing forum. They send it to me each year in these large wholesale bags.

>>18171468
I would probably take this deal desu.
That's tens of thousands of dollars worth of yancha per year

>>18171294
I'd guess anywhere from 6-12g on average. Of course a big gap, but that's comfortably up to two equal 6g sessions, one heavy and one light, et cetera. It depends on the type of tea. For example, maybe I'd like to go heavy on a thick shou, but have less with a gentle bud-heavy white. It changes by the season, and I frequently drink coldbrew of spent leaves too.

>>18171294
>How many grams of tea do you drink a day?
12g average on days i drink tea.

There is something nostalgic about these old cnnp bings. For a HK tea dealer it was real end of an era when tea started coming in different wrappers.

>>18174823

>>18174823
Also im not complaining because this is cheap tea but a few things that strike me about this production.
This is a 2007 "purple ripe" from yee on tea. Not sure if they are talking about the leaves or the stamp. This is a 2007 tea but its in full garb of an older production, it's lacking a S code or date stamp or any of the other information that was pretty uniformly printed non the back for wrappers by 2007. At this point im not sure if you could still license the cnnp branding but only factory 1 was still making official cnnp productions and its clearly not from them.
I wonder if this tea was originally made to sell as much older tea and when that didn't work or their timing was terrible because of the market crash this HK dealer snapped it up cheap.
Any way im just sptiballing i don't really know what im talking about.

>>18174823
Really good tea btw, i will write up some actual nothes tomorrow but god damn is it smooth. I expected the wet storage might leave the occasional funky edge but these guys really know what they are doing

i love after work dinner tea, gives you a nice buzz. 400ml glass of black ceylon tea (1.5 tablespoons) of it with a shot of creamer and 1 small sugar cube.

>>18174866
That's 2009 not 2007, lol i shouldn't write long posts before ive had a cuppa.

>>18174938
That alotta tea at night. Does it effect your sleep?

in one of his books Orwell writes about English miners bringing cold tea for lunch. how wouldyou think they generally made it?

>>18174949
if i drink a second cup right after. but usually if its 4 -5 h before bedtime im ok

>>18174958
Well the half-life of caffeine is around 5 hours so that sounds reasonable.

>>18174866
the website says its from from 2009. that said it is somewhat unusual for a cake from that time frame to have no qs code on the back. though i think some of the cheap other "CNNP" cakes also lack full production information on the wrapper though they may have it on a sheet if you buy a whole case of them. your theory that yeeon bought them instead of commissioned them seems plausible. on the other hand there may be some legal way to not have that info printed on and they just wanted a classic looking wrapper. besides the fun of speculation it does not really matter much anyways. the yeeontea provenance is debatably worth far more than whether the "CNNP" branding is real or not on a cheap modern shu production.

tell us what you think of that tea. i am going to sip on the sample i got from yeeontea and will post notes today or tomorrow.

>>18174999
>besides the fun of speculation it does not really matter much anyways. the yeeontea provenance is debatably worth far more than whether the "CNNP" branding is real or not on a cheap modern shu production.
Oh yeah i totally agree i was just spitballing because it's fun, trust me im not complaining.
The tea is good, incredibly smooth and with no fermentation or wet storage funk at all which i find very impressive, they clearly know how to handle wet storage and how to air the tea out afterwards. It hits all those soil and aged notes i was hoping for while still be recognizably ripe puer. I get tones of chocolate, graham crackers and some woody notes. First couple sips were noticeably warming which i find impressive for an affordable tea. Overall a great value ripe for someone who is into hk storage. I will try to write up clearer notes tomorrow after i have another session with it

More grampa style this afternoon. Best taste ripe 4.5 g but in a smaller mug then yesterday. This tea has a very distinctive minty / camphor aroma that hits you right away when you open up the bag

Where the hell should I be storing my Japanese greens? Some people insist the fridge or freezer is the only way to go, others say that's playing with fire. It's a hot summer and I'd rather not leave them out in the open but it might be the best option.

>>18175210
glad you like it.

>The tea is good, incredibly smooth and with no fermentation or wet storage funk at all which i find very impressive
i have a cake of it and would have described it the almost the opposite. while it does not have wet pile taste it is aggressively earthy and has a very strong wet cellar storage taste and aroma to it. i even store it separately from my other shu. to me it mostly just tastes like earthy shu + wet beet cellar. that said i still though it was a decent tea overall if you like the style, especially at its current price. mind you wet piled teas aren't really my thing and i am still iffy on wet storage in general. i think i have only drunk my purple mark ripe two or three times since i got it a year or two ago. maybe my mind will change by the time i finish the cake in a decade or two.

>>18175272
I didn't rise this because im lazy.
When the hot water hits the leaves you get a distinct soil aroma but with some depth to it, im getting flashes of the mint aroma but it's nowhere close to the dry leaves.
First couple sips are noticeably minty, feels cooling in the mouth. Again its instantly warming as it goes down the throat and you can feel the heat radiating outward.
As the aftertaste settles on the pallate you get more ripe tea notes, it feels creamy on the back of the tongue as well.
I'm quite confident that the minty note wasn't from the teas time on a boat since this looseleaf came in sealed plastic bags and none of the other tea has this strong aroma to it.
I can feel the warmth spreading to my face

>>18175344
If they're sealed keep them in the fridge until you are going to crack into them. Don't open a package that's still cold. Tea you're actively using keep at room temp in an airtight container.

>>18175354
> to me it mostly just tastes like earthy shu + wet beet cellar.
Okay i totally agree with this, when i say no off wet storage taste i mean that it has those earthy soil aromas that i like without any weird funky or off tastes that i sometimes encounter in wet stored teas, especially onces where they seem to have gotten quite wet and then dried back out. Some of these wet storage teas sheng included exhibit the same weird off tastes you get from poorly fermented shu, the sort of wet mold bacteria sort of unpleasant flavors if you follow me. This tea from YoT has all the root cellar flavor i like without any of the weirdness that makes me want to rinse it 3x before i drink it.

>>18175356
First refill, still lots of mint/camphor. This tea is surprisingly potent for cheap shu. Its going to take me a couple of hours to finish this.
Overall the flavor hasnt change much from the first fill. Still coats the tounge, has sort of a chocolaty minty aftertaste.

>>18175344
Properly vacuum sealed stuff (preferably nitrogen purged or with oxygen absorber packet and maybe desiccant) can go in the fridge or freezer if you want for long term storage. If its open and you are currently drinking through it i would just store it in opaque sealed container or foil lined zip lock bag in a "cool" dry place. Getting fancy about storage generally only makes sense if you are buying in bulk and want to keep things as fresh as possible.

The advantage of storing the tea cold is that slows the rate of chemical change in the tea. Reducing moisture and oxygen also helps with this. All three of those things help with microbial spoilage as well but that is not typically a problem with tea unless it is wet. The big risk of taking tea in and out of the fridge repetitively is you may get some condensation and it will pull moisture into the tea and cause spoilage. Also you want to avoid fridge/smells smells from getting into the tea. And finally repetitively freezing and defrosting tea may theoretically cause damage from the repetitive formation of ice crystals.

>>18175365
>>18175419
Alright, I'll leave the ones I haven't opened in the fridge and pull the rest. I assume this is the same for matcha as for sencha/gyokuro?

>>18175344
The way I see it, your tea was kept in cold storage (unless it's shincha) by the Japs so assume they know what they're doing. Freeze the unopened bags. It's not necessary to do anything special for the tea you're currently drinking. It doesn't harm it if you put it in the freezer because A) there's zero humidity in there B) there's more humidity in your kitchen C) dried leaf has no heat capacity to cause condensation and even if it did it would freeze when you put it away. The only concern is absorbing smells. Your fridge is probably smelly.

Tried a really expensive 2010 raw puer today; I hadn't enjoyed it that much. Are samples usually lower quality than the proper bricks? I noticed a lot of flakey material in it even after the wash.

Are (organic) Japanese teas the least polluted from all (green) teas?

>>18176142
Sure if it makes you feel better

>>18175945
Samples are usually pretty representative. Sometimes you will have some differences if a cake is on the top or bottom of a tong vs being in the middle but if you don't like a sample and don't find it impressive i wouldn't consider buying more.
There is plenty of overpriced medicore tea out there

I stopped drinking tea. It's over.

drink me tea

>>18176210
Alright, I think I'm going to stop experimenting with puer for a while. I like puer in general, but I don't love it. I'm going to pick up some yancha and white tea on my next order.

>>18176318
It's okay to not like puer.

>>18161168
What goes well with tea I steeped with Guava leaves? Would cinnamon go well?

>>18176318
Nothing wrong with that. I bought almost entirely pu'er starting out, and it was okay, but I had to develop my technqiue to appreciate it well. Compared to that, white teas have been very forgiving. Look into finding something like some yue guang bai cake if you want a buddy white.

>>18161168
Is this where the world darling comes from?

>>18176417
Try cinnamon, maybe ginger, honey might work but it might be too sweet.

>>18175756
>I assume this is the same for matcha as for sencha/gyokuro?
yes, the japanese freeze/refrigerate it as well.

>>18175945
>Tried a really expensive 2010 raw puer today
what was it?

>I hadn't enjoyed it that much.
it may not be that great or it may just not be your thing. you don't have to like everything.

>Are samples usually lower quality than the proper bricks?
no, they would be broken off the bricks so they should be more or less the same.

>I noticed a lot of flakey material in it even after the wash.
get a strainer if that bothers you. the "wash" will not reliably get rid of all the tea dust.

>>18176422
I bought almost entirely pu'er starting out and i still buy almost entirely pu'er. kek i like my white tea cakes to though and i have plans to venture more into other categories as well.

I've just been cold brewing Tetley with some mint leaves. It's too fucking hot here to enjoy hot tea.

I really thought i eased off on shilling puer to the new posters. I guess it still gets talked about a lot here.
Puer is bad don't buy it. Drink wuyi oolong instead.

>>18176583
Hot tea is the best when it's hot as hell out. Feels good man.
Cold brewing is pretty good tho hard to argue with that.

>>18176586
It's too late, anon. You can take the pu'er out of the lesbian, but you can't take the lesbian out of the pu'er. It was always too late. Go on without us.

>>18176605
Look. I know im responding to a mongoloid, i know. But i have to tell you. You dont know anything about tea. Read all the faggot books you want. Go to tea fest and turn your nose up to the indians and masturbate over Royal Tea. Go pay thousands of dollars to some chink to grade and look at tea under a uv light. Go for it. I dont even care. Just remember kid, i was unloading barrels of keemun while you were in fucking poopy pants diapers. I remeber when East India Trading still sold English breakfast in a square pine box.. Your playing yourself, kid.

I have over 100 specialy offerings from 97 different mountain ranges in contianer quanities AT ALL TIMES. Wow you say mr. tea broker leaf KANG you just doxed yourself on the internet, but i dont care. Fuck you. Ive been doing this so long i was playing golf with the tea guys before it blew up ive been a member and disbarred by the tea association of the use more times then your punk ass has even been on there mailing list. Ive FUCKED my way through more secrateries than you even have in your rolodex. I have a warehouse filled with over $1,000,000 of filters and tea brewing equipment laying DEFUNCT.

People like you, kid, people like your are marks, customers, losers. Go ahead, drink your shitty lung ching; panfire your own lapsang souchong; buy a new yixing for each new puehr. But to me kid, youll always be a loser and a faggot

but sirly, buy my pueher

>>18176669
You will never be a real tea master. You have no Chinese heritage, you have no mountain stream property, you have no plantation. You are a white man twisted by puer and Confucius quotes into a mockery of cha's perfection.

All the “validation” you get is two-faced and half-hearted. Behind your back the tea farmers mock you. Your parents are disgusted and ashamed of you, your “friends” laugh at your pesticide filled liver behind closed doors.

Real Chinese people are utterly repulsed by you. Thousands of years of evolution have allowed the Chinese to sniff out frauds with incredible efficiency. Even those who marry Asian women look uncanny and unnatural to a real Chinese man. Your bone structure is a dead giveaway. And even if you manage to start a tea farm, the plants will never thrive, disgusted by your black thumb and occidental heritage.

I love the memes in this general. Made my glum day a bit more easy-going reading these again. Please never change, /tea/.

>>18176700
>Your bone structure is a dead giveaway
I should have changed this to "your green hat is a dead giveaway"

>>18176756
lol

>>18176142
Japan is pretty clean aside from all the radiation.

>>18176362
I don't like puer either!

I like pu'er, though I think I prefer liu bao. I'm somewhat conservative with my liu bao since I don't have a lot, but the grounding depth of a solid liu bao is very comforting. Great for reading a book with, for example. It would be nice to try some more province-specific heicha someday, though I'd probably have to pay a fair bit for that.

>>18177280
>I like pu'er, though I think I prefer liu bao
Im starting to go this direction myself

how true is this greentext?

any tea history anons want to weigh in?

>>18177446
Its kind of accurate at least up to the opium wars
I can't comment on the rest of it

how to stop tea from making me poo

>>18177446
slavery and sugar plantations have existed since the knights templars, but yeah pretty accurate

>>18177941
Have you tried asking it nicely?

>>18177446
>colossal war
5k chinese deaths. Opium wars are a meme. They are no different than the other hundred times barbarians invaded borderland China. They werent even particularly bad for the times, China lost far more in the ethnic/regional rebellions they had every few decades.

What going on? I got a 250 gram bag o tea last month and it's already half gone when I thought it'd last annoyingly long. I can't stop drinking the same tea every day all day.

>>18179331
there is opium in the tea

>>18179331
Convenience and comfort, probably. I think it may be for the best to be fairly fickle when it comes to tea selection. That is, to drink through stuff as you have some and then move on to try new teas. I personally portion out two or so teas at a time in some cheap resealable polypropylene bags. Then, I will pick between those two until they are exhausted, and switch to something else when that time comes.

This rotation simplifies selection and encourages me to note qualities of the same leaf in greater detail over time. It's not like I don't deviate from that, but it's nice to just grab from the quick stash of leaf like you do with your 250g bag. Maybe you would do well to just have one more bag of something else to mix things up.

>>18161168
>read pasta for guidance on what tea to try first
>just test all of them out bro
t-thanks

i just found out today that i'm exiting neethood and entering into a nice stable lifelong career with great benefits, and since my tea supply is getting low i think i'll order something nice to celebrate. the only question is what do i even get when everything i'm looking at sounds good? why is buying tea so hard, i'm like a kid in a candy store and i want to try everything!

>>18177446
i remember reading a little blurb about some chad of a britishman who disguised himself as a chinese man and learned the language in order to infiltrate China and learn their secrets of tea farming and production. he succeeded and as a result the British started up tea plantations in India.

>>18179734
It's not like you'll have to spend a ton of money to do so. You don't even have to prepare them all that differently. It's really not that daunting.

>>18179881
That was Robert Fortune, a Scottish botanist. He did disguise himself sometimes but mostly he just wandered around asking dudes for tea bushes and how to grow them. Peasants in the middle of nowhere had zero contact with the emperor so they didn't know they weren't supposed to help or be so nice. It was wholesome aside from the two opium wars stuff.

how long can I keep loose leaf before it goes 'bad'?
I have a pack of oolong tea I got in May that's still half full

>>18180137
Tea won't spoil so readily unless in an especially humid environment. I'm talking practically endlessly, many years if your storage isn't completely neglectful. If by losing potency, that depends on your storage, leaf age, leaf type, and so on. Those values are listed in the Pastebin. Even outside of those values, a tea may still be pleasant, it's just a rough baseline for consistent freshness.

>drink matcha
>suddenly the world doesn't seem so bad after all
What sorcery is this? It works every time. It's like what a cigarette ought to do but doesn't. Is it just the theanine hit or what? A full gyokuro session doesn't do this to me. Either way it'll be hard to go a day without this stuff from now on, unfortunately for my wallet.

>>18180406
I don't think we know. Its partially ltheanine but there is clearly more to it than that

tea drink more

What's a good place to start with Japanese green teas? Sencha?
Also has anyone had any good hojicha this season?
Any chance i could actually drink hojicha at night if i went for one of the all stems kind or will it still keep me up?

>>18181418
Japanese tea begins and ends with sencha. Itadakimaaaas!

Someone redpill me on "purple tea"

>>18181891
it's tea mixed in with lean, a creation of the hood niggas who appreciate tea but still want to get high

Are any of you into former USSR tea countries like Georgia?

>>18182094
>former USSR
what does that have to do with anything
I've yet to try Georgian tea but i think others here have, the prices are a bit too high though but it seems to be the same for niche countries growing tea like Korea as well for example.

>>18181891
There are 3 or 4 different types at this point. YS has a decent explanation of the kinds on their store page
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/purple-tea
I mostly have experience with "ye sheng" It has a distinctive flavor that seems to be consistent even with wildly different processing. It has a hint of a citrus aroma and flavor to it that i can only describe as reminding me of citronella, but it doesn't taste bad or unpleasant or anything i just cant think of a closer citrus odor.

>>18182094
I can't figure out where to buy Georgian tea, any places? I know that russian stire had a branch in Europe but im wondering if there are other shops just to see what pricing is like somewhere else.

>>18182622
https://www.renegadetea.com/

>>18182736
Interesting site thanks

>>18182622
moychay was selling some too
https://togo.moychay.nl/search?type=product&options%5Bprefix%5D=last&q=georgia

>>18182876
Their website must be broken or something, every looseleaf tea is showing at $1 per gram

Just had a comfy session with 8g of 7275 shu, perfect ambient temperature, light rain and also some doves landed just outside the window

>>18182895
thats odd, im not getting the same issue

Getting the true HK tea experience alright. One of the cakes i got had some light surface mold. Im willing to be generous and blame it on shipping. Any way already cleaned most of it off but you can still see some on there. Not stopping me from drinking that brick but i did pull it out of my pumidor and stick it on my bookshelf.

>>18183206
Tea tastes good btw, Graham cracker vibes bigtime. Will post more detailed notes when i get to a cleaner part of the brick

the guy that owns this place mains /ck/

Lots of /g/ posters on /tea/ from what i see

>>18161168
>Darjeeling edition
I got gifted this darjeeling from India. No doubt the person paid more than it was worth, but I'm enjoying it. It smells a bit smokey which I don't get from my other teas and has a nice sweet note. It also has a smell I can't really place but associate with Indian people.

On top of that I got blue tea flowers, which apparently brew up a blue liquor. They smell weird, maybe a bit like anise.

>>18183241
>>18183244
Nipple gang

>>18183283
That label is really funny
Any way sounds like a nice session. Im a sucker for anything with smokey aspects

I bought a nice teapot but now I'm too scared of breaking it to use it

>>18183556
Time to switch to exclusively drinking grampa style in cheap mugs for the next six months. Then one day you will wonder why you aren't using your teapot and just go for it.

>>18183366
If you can't make out the small text, it says:
Grade - FTGFOP(I or 1?)
Fine tippy golden flowery orange pekoe
Is one of the finest and premium grades of Darjeeling tea.
signifying uncrushed Long Whole Royal Leaves with lot of fine coloured tips.

Pic are the flowers.

>>18183653
That stuff is cool, if you add lemon juice to it after you brew it you can watch it turn pink
No idea how it tastes
Good for making meme cocktails to impress people

>>18183556
I didn't give you permission to post this photo of me.

What Taiwanese and Chinese stuff should I panic buy before the American boomers start WWIII?

>>18184587
Nothing is going to happen
But if you want to stock up, Taiwan oolong from tea-masters.com
And a box of this stuff from fullchea if you like malty tea
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/2019-yunnan-old-tree-black-tea-dianhong-feng-qing-red-tea-cake-357g-p0593.html
Or a couple bags of this if you prefer more fruity black teas
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/jibian-high-mountain-black-tea-loose-leaf-from-yunnan-tengchong-dianhong-tea-red-china-cha-168g-p0699.html

>>18184692
Maybe one of these zongcha white tea cakes if you are into that kind of thing
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/2019-zhong-cha-white-tea-5929-white-beauty-tea-357g-p0685.html
If you really want to stock up get a few tongs of mid aged raw puer from king tea mall

could anyone suggest some green loose tea for an absolute beginner? And what is the correct way to brew and serve it?

I would also like to know what are traditionally the correct type of teacup/saucer I should be using?

Thank you very much!

>>18184953
Absolute easiest way to start out is to get a finium brew basket, or a stainless steel equivalent, you can find em all over amazon ebay etc. Pic related
Then you can brew your tea right in a regular coffee mug
Hold off on the cup and saucer stuff, if you want to go traditional it will depend if you want to drink western style teas, Chinese teas or Japanese teas as each school would use different teaware.
Assuming you are in the us i would recommended this
https://yunnansourcing.us/collections/green-tea-spring-2022/products/early-spring-cui-ming-premium-yunnan-green-tea
Japanese green tea is obviously also good but it has a very strong savory/umami aspect that can be a bit shocking if you have only had green tea bags before. But to be clear it is very good if you are into that kind of thing.
However if you would rather have Japanese tea then i guess this tea
https://ippodotea.com/collections/sencha/products/shoike
You can get good quality Japanese green tea cheaper but it involves ordering from japan and its not worth it to buy a bit to try

>>18185000
If you live somewhere else or have any questions (or you need tea on the real cheap) just ask

Will Japan ever open back up so I can buy Ocha/Wagashi and have it shipped EMS?

Give it to me straight: am I really missing that much by just buying twinings tea bags and brewing them in the cup? Does loose tea make enough of a difference to justify the investment and added prep time?

>>18186368
If you just want quick caffeine, and that is all you care about, not really. Caffeine is caffeine. If compared to coffee, it is akin to having typical instant or office drip machine stuff. However, flavor and aroma-wise, you have quite a fair bit to gain from whole tea. Whole tea will most typically be much easier on the stomach than bagged stuff too.
>...to justify the investment and added prep time?
There isn't really a big investment or prep time. A porcelain gaiwan is $8-$15, or you can buy something like a finum basket. Even just making your tea in a mug and drinking straight. The leaf itself varies in price, but you can get plenty of decent stuff cheaply at a site such as Fullchea (if you don't mind waiting for a somewhat slow shipment). Check the pastebin.

>>18161168
What do you drink with tea?
I noticed that sipping milk before tea kinda resets my taste buds.
Is this heresy?

>>18176583
I drink a TON of cheap cold brew tea this summer too. Why didn't I know about this before?

>>18185525
As far as i know ems is back in action for most places except Canada
It costs more than it did pre coof but its back

>>18187477
>except Canada
hahaha...

>>18187685
Yeah you guys got shafted. There are a bunch of posts on /toy/ where Canadians have had stiff sitting in Japanese proxy warehouses for years waiting till they can ship with something other than dhl.
Xiaguan opened their "official north American store" in Canada and they never restocked it. It's just complelty empty.

>>18186368
I wouldn't phrase it that you're missing much at all. However, it does make a perceptible difference to brew loose leaf, even if you tore open those same bags and poured it into a finum basket. Really, the payoff for your modest investment will be massively broadening your options of teas to purchase and the rabbit hole of becoming a connoisseur of unblended teas. If that doesn't sound interesting, bags are sufficient.

>>18186538
Nothing unusual about that unless you're lactose intolerant. Milk, and eating crackers afterwards helps with tannins astringency.

Thoughts on Teas we like?

>>18188248
Ive ordered from them before and been happy with the tea. Not the cheapest store but it's highly curated and a pretty decent way to get taiwan storage puerh. The twelve cent brick is a pretty solid tea for the money.
Haven't tried this one but immediately zeroed in on it as a good price fore that cake
https://teaswelike.com/product/2008-xiaguan-xy-commission/

>>18188332
Also i like that they are selling lots of quarter cakes now, they didn't really do samples at all when i ordered from them, even though quarter cakes are stretching the definition of samples its still nice that its an option

Be honest with me bros; is sencha worth trying? I watched a video review, and the guy said it tastes "grassy" or something. Also, it looks like gatorade.

>>18189516
It tastes like savory seaweed broth. Its very good but absolutely not for everyone

>>18189569
The brothiness and savory notes do seem reassuring. Hadn't checked the sticky yet, but where do you get your sencha?

>>18189614
Ideally from one of the shops in japan but if you don't want to pay for shipping there are a few US shops that specialize in Japanese teas.
https://ippodotea.com/
Is pretty good. More expensive then buying from the Japanese shops but it is what it is. If you are in other parts of the world there are other vendors in the pastebin

Let me show you my tea plantation.

What do you think? I am thinking about making my own niche tea brand rather than selling it whole to the factory. It yields about 15k tons of fresh tea leaves every year.

>>18189815
*15 tonnes duh

>>18189815
Plea tanation.

>>18189516
There's a weak aroma of grass in most of it, nowhere near the pungency of actual grass clippings. It's worth trying since it's a unique type of tea. I like it because it's all curated with tasters/blenders checking it so shopping is painless.

>>18189815
Nice tea, what kinds do you make? Whats yoir processing technology like?

>>18189815
Quite nice to my eyes. I am not experienced with the production/cultivation of tea, but is it some kind of large leaf variety? The leaves look so large. Curious what productions you have and will make out of them too. Would be great to learn more from someone in the scene.

>>18189815
What part of the world are you in? What varietals of tee brushes are you growing? tell us more about your farm.

>>18190267
Non, NADA, Nill. That's why I am thinking about doing something smol and unique.

>>18190282
As I said like any other growers I'm solely tea leaves producer for governmental and private manufacturers.

>>18190517
Rize, Turkey. Manufacturers here produce generally black Turkish tea. On the side green tea, oolong tea and some other varieties produced in minuscule quantities. Anyway this is a vague idea with the availability of internet, reaching out far wide it might be a good option.

>>18190878
>I'm solely tea leaves producer for governmental and private manufacturers.
I see, I briefly misunderstood. Still, it looks like quite the lovely plantation. I wouldn't have immediately thought Turkey, but that view is great. Let us know if you do decide to make something. Would certainly be intriguing to witness an anon in this thread producing his own private run.

>>18190878
Take a look at farmer leaf's videos maybe, I know other small producers like in India have contacted him for tips on starting their own tea production.
Really pretty plantation, could try white tea maybe since its very easy to produce assuming you get good sun, I'm unsure how well it would sell though.

My gf wants to buy me tea from bellocq, what should I get?

https://auctions.burstowandhewett.co.uk/catalogue/lot/51c475b097190c958d5e629892fd0364/c87e406e317d82bb64ed7e2ebc5bb166/homes-interiors-lot-520/

is buying this a bad idea

>>18191146
https://www.bellocqtea.com/collections/exotic-tea/products/yunnan-golden-buds?variant=31840731004994
https://www.bellocqtea.com/collections/exotic-tea/products/jun-shan-yin-zhen
https://www.bellocqtea.com/collections/exotic-tea/products/copy-of-no-5-snow-drop-jasmine
https://www.bellocqtea.com/collections/premium-black-tea/products/no-36-namring-estate-darjeeling-2nd-flush-2020
https://www.bellocqtea.com/collections/phoenix-oolong-collection/products/no-82-the-phoenix
Any of those should be good, stay away from the flavored stuff with pretty flowers in it

>>18190878
Hello, i agree with the other anon that you should contact this guy and ask him for advice. He has some fantastic videos on tea processing that will actually give you enough knowledge to try it yourself. At least for this first video.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yRxrEWs3QY8
https://youtube.com/watch?v=WDuN3K2HgGQ
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZyTYnm-khCQ

you should be able to find an email on his website
https://www.farmer-leaf.com/
I am by no means an expert but i can give you some info.
If you want to make special tea you need the knowledge for how to process tea correctly, you can learn some of this from guides and speaking to others, or watching an expert oversee tea processing, but you must get experience and it will take many years to develop instincts on how to process tea to make it the best possible.
If you want to make really fancy tea you will need to limit the amout of machinery you use, since now you sell the raw leaf your initial investment would probably be a rolling machine and you would need to be able to hire local laborers to work an intense couple days during the processing process. Sun drying istead of using drying machines is a good way to differentiate yourself form standard teas made in your region.
As far as selling the tea you have two options, you can talk to various specially tea merchants and try to talk them into buying your tea or you could try directed sales online, both have their pros and cons.
Anyway i only sort of know what im talking about but you should be able to learn more by reaching out to experts.

>>18189815
I would buy turkish puerh

>>18192186
Imagine this guy installing a bunch of wood fired woks and hiring locals to do kill green

>>18191803
I was thinking of getting their pure tea and blends sample packs, is the blend one not a good choice?

I've seen people talk about vaping camomile and green tea. Is this something worth trying? Is it possible to source my leafs such that I can know with some confidence that they have no lead (and other heavy metals), pesticides, etc.?

>>18190878
Do you sell it to Çaykur? I'd like to try your tea, not broken into trillions of tiny pieces, made slower. Black and green tea, maybe white tea like what Darjeeling now does as the most premium. It seems you can order small machines from China for producing small batches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4aaWykUkhc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj6J63aOrxg

How many times do you steep your average tea leaves before changing it? Does the time between steeps matter?

>>18192333
Depends on the leaf preparation, quality, quantity, and how you've personally prepared it (time, temp, etc). It's not a consistent ordeal across all leaves.

>>18192291
In general that brand is not what /tea/ is into, high prices for fancy presentation and lots of teas with flavoring and pretty blue flowers added. /tea/ only endorses on brand of flavored teas and they are french.
So my suggestion is to spend your money elsewhere but if you want to order from that brand get whatever interests you and not what impreses tea snobs on the internet

>>18192320
You in the us? Just order from mountain rose herbs, everything they sell is usda organic or equivalent. I doubt you will find any herb store testing their chamomile for heavy metals but i wouldn't worry about it.
No idea if vaping it is a productive activitie but i generally enjoy herbal smoking blends.

>>18188332
>https://teaswelike.com/product/2008-xiaguan-xy-commission/
i had my eye on that as well. will hopefully pick it up at some point. i should try to put together a mock order and see how much shipping will be. the really high shipping cost given by there shipping estimator is a big part of why i have not ordered from them yet.

>>18189815
>I am thinking about making my own niche tea brand rather than selling it whole to the factory.
keep us posted. if you end up making something cool i would be down to try some. good luck anon.

>>18191987
>Sun drying istead of using drying machines is a good way to differentiate yourself form standard teas made in your region.
even just making higher grade whole leaf tea from Turkey would be unique. wonder if the raw material could be used to make good Darjeeling styled tea. drying machines can be fine depending on the tea being made.

>>18192598
i mostly second this, the tea from bellocqtea looks fine and is probably good but i suspect you are paying premium for the tea if you buy from them. that said if you do really want order from them their pure tea sampler would not be a bad entry into tea if you are new. https://www.bellocqtea.com/collections/tea-collections/products/pure-tea-collection

>>18192598
>>18193092
I can't exactly return a gift from my girlfriend though, she would notice that and likely get offended.

>>18193101
Don't sweat in anon, just pick some stuff that jumps out at you, like i said don't worry about internet tea nerds

>>18193101
>I can't exactly return a gift from my girlfriend though, she would notice that and likely get offended.
sorry i missed that, if its a gift card or something than go ahead and get something that looks nice to you. also if its a gift card and you are making the purchase yourself it looks like you can get a 15% off coupon by signing up to their newsletter which will let you stretch the gift card further. /tea/ tends to favor unflavored teas but don't let us stop you from getting a flavored tea if that is what you want. again, bellocq's tea looks fine besides probably being a bit marked up and you will likely be happy with whatever you end up getting. in any case welcome to /tea/. feel free to ask more questions and share experiences about your tea.

>>18190902
>>18191013
>>18191987
>>18193092
Many thanks. I will look into it. Sending some testers from here when such times comes is exciting.

>>18192186
>>18192265
Lol

>>18192330
Yes. We sell generally to Çaykur. Sometimes when quota is reached and yield is high we sell to private firms. Çaykur also procude white tea, green tea and matcha tea and some other inventions like green and black tea powder for decorating and colouring of cakes and stuff.

>>18193185
>looks like you can get a 15% off coupon
Definitely missed that, thanks though.
I ended up getting the pure and blend samples along with some extra Darjeeling because that's what I usually drink.

>>18184692
>Nothing is going to happen
That's what I said about Ukraine.

What's his tea?

>>18161168
Fuck gunpowder tea

I brew my tea in an insulated ti mug, convince me to get a teapot.

>>18193959
No
I fully endorse brewing tea in mugs

>>18193959
Me too. It just brews hotter tea. Pottery is classy and has heritage but it's obsolete tech.

>>18192265
That would be pretty cool and he would be the first european - well, semi european - to do that.
Why didn't anyone do it before? Is it the climate or just that there isn't the market for this kind of tea here? Are there oolongs or other more speciality type teas being produced in countries like portugal or turkey?
You would need to import certain varieties from china I suppose. What varieties do these western tea growers use for their green and black teas?

>>18193292
>>18194596
Did you buy the tea plants from china or is your plantation long exiating family inheritance?

I want to stop drinking alcohol as much as I am. So I thought about drinking chamomile tea since it has some relaxing chemicals in it. What's some mixtures I could make using chamomile? Will probably cold brew the chamomile and some other teas in a jar overnight. I imagine lemon would mix well, but anything else? Any other good relaxing teas as well?

>>18192330
Here's your adhd cereal colored homo tea bro.
Americans really manage to rub their decay into every product imaginable.

>>18194640
Would you like your tea with or without monkeypox?

>>18194596
>Why didn't anyone do it before? Is it the climate or just that there isn't the market for this kind of tea here?
labor costs probably
>Are there oolongs or other more speciality type teas being produced in countries like portugal or turkey?
not in large quantities. there are a few very small western manufactures here and there.
>You would need to import certain varieties from china I suppose.
not necessarily, you would probably want to start by seeing with what you can make the tea plant you already have assuming you already have some.
>What varieties do these western tea growers use for their green and black teas?
i am not 100% but i would guess most of the more western grown tea descends from assamica varietals from plantations in india.

>>18194152
what did he mean by this

>>18195161
>labor costs propably
Are they that much higher? Turkey wouldn't be that expensive, would it?

>>18194596
>Why didn't anyone do it before?
It requres huge amounts of manual labor and not only that the labor must be skilled in performing the proper kill green for puer. In china they have migrant farm workers who do this for a living who travel all over yunnan during harvest season. The smaller villages and farms have also been making puer for years and the people that live there are reasonably skilled at processing it.
Im sure the larger factories have completely automated this stuff but i don't think the technology they use is available on a small enough scale for an individual farmer to use.

>>18194639
Stick with stuff like chamomile, the heavily relaxing teas are all drugs and you will just end up hooked on one of those instead

>>18195609
Which ones are you referring to? Do they all have grey area chemicals that aren't on the FDA's list yet?

>>18196069
Stuff like kava, kratom, dried poopy pods.only the last one is scheduled but the others are clearly drugs lite even if they aren't on the same level of actual class 1 substances.
Especially with the high concentration extracts of kava and kratom you get pretty close to just drugs.

>>18194606
My late grandpa and grandma did those plantations back in 70s I guess.

>>18195374
Nah not very much high indeed. Minimum wage is about 350usd/month

>>18195161
>>18195605
I should also mention; domestic demand is extremely high in here. In order to quench such thirst you gotta have what we currently have, automated&large Henry Ford type of production with little to no experience needed on workers' side.

Are tea pearls any good or is a meme?

>>18196210
Yeah im guessing you dont hand pick leaves right? You use some sort of machinery to harvest and then you deliver that directly to the factory. So you would need some kind of sheltered area, a rolling machine to roll leaves. Probably an automated drum drying/ kill green machine and if you wanted to make black tea you would need fermentation tables.
You should start out by paying a couple locals or family memebrs to hand pick a couple kilos of tea leaves for you and try to make white tea out of it. That requires the least technology, you could even do the rolling by hand with such a small amount.
This video will give you an idea of the process.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yRxrEWs3QY8

>>18196210
Turkish countryside always had something thrilling to me. The beautiful nature - ignoring the masses of the plastic trash that's being littered all over the place - the fact that many people still wear their traditional clothing, which is also an interesting contrast to those unfinished shitty concrete buildings with steel sticking out of the concrete. It's all kind of imperfect, unfinished but this gives it a very relax, unique atmosphere. I like that.
I dunno maybe you have a different view on that, having grown up in the place. Its not often you see turkish rural inhabitants on degenerate sites like these. Many rural parts are still unsullied by the influences of the internet, whereas in western europe you wont notice a difference between urban dwellers and countrymen.
Well guess that hasn't much to do with tea anymore, so excuse me if I'm getting too far off topic.
>>18195161
>nah not necessarily, you would propably want to start by seeing with what you can make the tea you already have
>assamica varietals from plantations in india
Could you make a similar tea to say wuyi rock through some kind of natural selection by growing it in a nutrion sparse terroir for example? Isn't the variety the most important factor in producing a specific kind of tea?

>>18196262
Depends on where they come from. They tend to be pretty expensive so it's not the most economical tea but like with all tea from china the quality ranges from premium to stale old junk depending on where you buy it from.

>>18196278
I was thinking of trying the Darjeeling pearls that Upton sells.

>>18196277
You can make any tea with any varietal. It does play a role in the final result but processing probably plays an equal role along with the terroir. Most modern varietals are selected for high yeilds as much as they are for flavor.
You could processes any tea the same way as wuyi oolong is processed, but it would probably taste closer to dancong oolong without the rocky soil

>>18196291
For the price i would probably prefer ordering a white tea from these guys
https://www.thunderbolttea.com/darjeeling/white-tea/

>>18195161
Surprisingly, most western farms grow the Chinese var. sinensis bushes. Turkey got theirs via Georgia.

Hi I know nothing about tea
Can anyone identify this tea I had at a Chinese restaurant
It was brown in color and it "smelled" sweet even though it didn't taste sweet

>>18196371
heard most chinese restaurants uses a roasted Tie Guan Yin oolong, look especially for roasted versions

>>18196371
Seconding what the first anon said
Roasted tie gyuan yin
This should fit the bill
https://www.amazon.com/China-Fujian-Oolong-TiKuanYin-Guan/dp/B00ABWLF10/

>>18196371
Or if you don't mind waiting a few weeks for shipping from china
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/250g-top-chinese-roast-tieguanyin-green-tea-oolong-tie-guan-yin-1725-weight-loss-china-green-food-slimming-teas-gift-best-oolong-tea-p0043.html

>>18196371

>>18196274
We mostly use shears with bags. Also hand held power shears got popular recently. There no tractor like device here as topography is too steep for that. Thanks for the advice.

>>18196277
Yeah I feel you. Urban and countrymen difference dimisihes rapidly here too as well as anywhere in the world. The scene you described mostly a thing in the past unfortunately, mountain sides are still good though.

I have a question. Though we use nitrogen fertilizers (except organic certificated pilot areas) here we do not use pesticides of any kind. There's no need for that. I have never seen one occasion for that. So is this a huge plus for tea quality? Any ideas? Think we'll never know for certain until I try something out.

Is there any reason why tea in a wide cup is more pleasing than tea in a mug?

>>18196502
I think generally the health of the plants and the environment where they are grown make the biggest difference. Not using pesticides or herbicides is a big plus for some of the the consumer market but in my experience the only time pesticides make tea taste bad is when some idiot sprays all their bushes and then picks a few days later and the leaves are still covered with whatever surficant and whatever that was in the spray.
I think farms that don't use pesticides probably usually have better tasting teas but its more to do with other factors like smaller farms instead of large scale industrial ones. better more careful processing, a more healthy environment for the plants and things like that.

>>18196541
Probably changes the way you sip so the tea is spread across your tongue more. Maybe some changes in the way you precieve smell because you face gets closer to the tea.

>>18196502
Pesticide-free is the big advantage you have over China. All the cheap tea outside Turkey is Rainforest Alliance certified, so it's something people care about. We only don't demand it for luxury tea because everyone knows China is polluted.

>>18196553
Makes a lot of sense, thanks.

>>18196541
How light and thin the drinkware is makes a difference. Another thing is wider cups will have shallower liquid so it looks brighter and visuals affect our perception. Wine glasses are the best for drinking literally everything; I only worry about breaking them by thermal shock so I have a teacup.

>>18196571
>>18196550
I see, care of the process is the key thanks.

Is it safe to leave my used leaves in some water in a mason jar to cold brew overnight? I've never done anything cold wise. I've got 7 grams sitting here in my grandpa mug and I want to stretch it out some more. What's the general consensus on that?

>>18197052
Completely fine. I do it routinely after nearly every session, and it works wonders. You can roll it over a few days as you do more infusions too, if you want a more concentrated liquid. Very refreshing.

>>18197458
>>18197458
>>18197458
Come on over sirs