/ck/ - Food & Cooking

TFW no antique Chinese plates for my Chaozhou setup

>>18405082
Had some genmaicha today
Why do the instructions on the ippodo package say to use boiling? it was awful with boiling but pretty decent with 80C

>>18405096

>>18405102

>>18405097
Good question, boiling probably works with genmaicha made with older lower quality tea or tea that's been roasted. But wouldn't work for one made with a nice sencha

>>18405110
you think it'd be more important for the bad sencha to be brewed at a decent temperature, it'll get more bitter.
But the rice seems to come out better at lower temps too

>>18405097
I never trust the stupid temp/times sellers post.

How do I make tea the Russian way? The PDF in the pastebin is 90% fluff and not very descriptive.

>>18405097
Could it be one of those things where by the time the tea hits the water it is supposed to have cooled down?

>>18405165
Just do the tea concentrate Kazakhstan style
Its basically the same.
That said in current day Russia people usually just western brew.

Since it was brought up as a matter of debate in the last thread. Does anyone here have any good references relating to the history of aging white tea in china? It's an interesting topic.

>>18405191
I was more curious for the memey nature of it. Ok. I'll try Kazakhstan style. Will I attain love from Kazakhstan and a hatred for women?

>>18405206
It annoys me that the wikipedia page uses the pedantic definition to say that white tea has only been around for two centuries, and absolutely ignores the previous versions of white tea.
>https://pathofcha.com/blogs/all-about-tea/the-history-of-white-tea-dating-back-to-the-tang-dynasty
is decent but I have another source I can't find, let me look.

>>18405214
Yes very much
Its really funny you said the pdf is full of flowery language and light on details, that's typical Russian behavior.

>>18405226
He just goes on about being le based Linux hackerman and some story about charcoal fired water boiler things. The details were basically sorta like the Kazakhstan thing but with less measure it seemed.

>>18405230
lolq

>>18405168
you bring the water to the tea

Bros i can't decide if i should get a tea boat or a tea table or use a number of small plates and bowls along with a wastewater bowl chaozhou style.

>>18405206
Dabai specifically was bred around 1850, it's been cultivated similarly to how it is now (large terraced plantations) for at least that long, and the production of Baihao Yinzhen, Bai Mudan, Gongmei, and Shoumei has been going on since around then. The phrase "One year tea, three year medicine, seven year treasure"
"一年茶,三年藥,七年寶" from what I can tell has existed as a kind of Fuding marketing slogan since around that time. I would say the idea of aging white tea has at least existed in the cultural consciousness of China for longer than the idea of aging something puerh. At the very least, it's not a modern take on western trends. I don't really have anything more concrete than "chinese traditional medicine refers to the value of aged white tea directly" though.
>>18405220
And yeah, that's pretty stupid. It seems like someone really drank the marketing coolaid on that one, "Only Dabai varietal from Fujian province is white tea". White tea is fairly obviously the oldest kind of tea, they're dried tea leaves. Something similar to moonlight white has been made in Yunnan for a thousand years or so at the very least.

Where do i get Chinese reproduction ru kiln stuff that isn't force patina fake antiques or extremely expensive pices made by living masters?
Especially looking for plates and bowls

>>18405353
Just get a tray man

>>18405548
I just really like the tapot in bowl aesthetic

>>18405220
>It annoys me that the wikipedia page uses the pedantic definition to say that white tea has only been around for two centuries, and absolutely ignores the previous versions of white tea.
the problem is it seems unclear whether or not the previous "biacha" was in fact processed like what we would call a white tea today. Modern white tea seems to be a relatively recent thing however.

It would be nice if there were more surviving technical historical writing on tea processing but it looks like there are some pretty big gaps. Honestly if you want to look back a millennia getting straight answers on anything is often difficult or impossible.

>>18405362
>"Only Dabai varietal from Fujian province is white tea".
That sort of stuff seems pretty common in the tea world, for example see the debate around whether tea just across the border from Yunnan can be "real" puerh or not or whether or not Dahongpao clones are valid.

>>18405589
>whether or not Dahongpao clones are valid.
I still don't understand this, i don't care if they are direct clones or not but can you confirm there is a tea verital grown in wuyishan that the farmers call dahongapo.

>>18405589
>processed like what we would call a white tea today.
It was still called white tea, and they don't even mention it. I would include a section on it even if the connection had been conclusively disproven, that just means there are two versions of white tea.

Drank some cheap Jade Leaf brand culinary grade "matcha" I got from the grocery store today. It is actually made in japan though it's not "ceremonial grade" (nor does it claim to be). The powder was a nice bold green but I don't it was as bright a green as a high grade matcha should be, I am no matcha expert though. It's probably not the absolute freshest either but at least they did put in an oxygen absorber. I prepared it by shaking it up in some cold water and drinking it plain. It was surprisingly good for what it is. Strong notes of seaweed with secondary grassy tones and not too much bitterness when served cold like this. I doubt it would satisfy a real matcha snob but I enjoyed it as something different than my typical fare.

>>18405666
>Satan has cold water
Likely story...

finna cop a nice bizen ware kensui / slop bucket / wastewater bowl
honestly just love that the proper western teaware term is slop bucket

>>18405733
I doubt the lake of fire has the right mineral content for tea either.

oh hell yeah, one box of tea is in customs, another is coming on friday and a third is waiting to get on a plane
I thought this shit was going to take way longer
EMS China to the USA moving pretty quick right now, looking like about 24 days total
It's not 6 business days like it used to be but this is pretty quick for batflu world

>>18405754
What goes in it? Just sloppa?

>>18406131
I actually have no idea how its used in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
Im just going to use it for rinsewater, water from warming my teaware and any last sips from the bottom of cups that have a bit of debris in them so im not drinking leaf dust. Basically the stuff you would pour into your draining tea table

Someday i will get a cool bowl to put my teapot in.

>>18405362
Most of my historical tea knowledge just comes from YouTube videos and short articles so please correct me if I'm wrong
>I would say the idea of aging white tea has at least existed in the cultural consciousness of China for longer than the idea of aging something puerh
I've heard that ageing puer started through trade thousands of years ago. So even if the ageing was not planned, the tea would age while the merchants were travelling the silk road for months.

I've also read that the oldest tea type was probably something similar to matcha.

>>18406761
Not that anon but puer, at least the tea we refer to with the name puer didn't exist until fairly recently. Tea cakes have been around for a while and tea bricks probably at least a thousand years if not more.

Now it's time for that loose HK ripe

I wish i had a spare $500 to drop on teaware

EOT made 1.2 litre zisha clay kettles...
I get the impression this guy is just commissioning shit he wants for his own setup and then selling it to the public to recoup his costs

is 63%rh at 16.5C really bad for puer? it sounds good for the rest of my teas but should i consider moving my puers to a hotter room?

>>18406131
it's used for gongfu also, you can use it to discard the rinse and also for when you get small leaf chunks at the bottom of your pitcher or cup you just throw those into it.

>>18407074
I think room temperature is fine. The tea won't have a ton of enzyme activity but it won't in general in home storage. As long as the room doesn't drop in temperature at night where you would risk condensation i wouldn't worry about it.
The tea is pretty hardy stuff, as long as it doesn't get bone dry or wet its going to be fine.

Chinese tea order took 3 days from the package being shipped to arrive in the USA. Then it sat at the airport for 10 days waiting to get sent to customs.

>>18407058
The zisha from the shitswamp mutes the water

>>18407058
I would do the same if I could.

>>18406761
>I've also read that the oldest tea type was probably something similar to matcha.
The primary tea in China for a long time was a type of ground green tea that was pressed into bricks and transported, you'd break some off and grind it before you brew it. If you read "The Classic of Tea" by Lu Yu, the "tea" he's talking about is this style. But in terms of tea, this is still a very modern development. Tea has been drunk since pre-industrial times, whoever the nomadic ancestors of the Dai people were went around planting tea trees all over Yunnan. They'd pick the leaves from these trees, and most likely eat them, but at some point someone started brewing them in hot water. If you pick the leaves, and lay them out to dry so they won't spoil and you can drink them later, you've got white tea. I'd say fairly confidently that this was happening before people were steaming tea leaves, cooking them in a wok, or anything else. I mean, all tea needs to be withered before it can be processed properly, if you just extend the withering process, you have white tea. This is all taking place, potentially, ten thousand years before the silk road. You'll never really get an accurate time period, because there aren't records, but people were already growing tea in Yunnan by the time it became desireable as a good to produce and transport to the rest of China.

>>18407282
More or less, the oldest type of tea is boiling the crap out of the leaf

tea is actually better for caffeine than coffee.

>>18405082
Imagine interrupting this gay little tea ritual and smashing the tea cups... who's with me?

>>18405191
nope, russia as well as eastern europe brew grandpa style. in my country its almost unheard to brew tea other way. coffee too, unless theres coffee machine

>>18407074
That is not bad but it is on the cooler side. If you are just looking to keep the "seasoned" for drinking it should be perfectly fine but if have ambitions of aging the tea long-term keeping the tea a bit warmer would probably be preferable.

>>18407159
>Chinese tea order took 3 days from the package being shipped to arrive in the USA. Then it sat at the airport for 10 days waiting to get sent to customs.
Interesting, it has always been the other way around for me. It will wait weeks at an airport in china but once it takes off across the pacific it will get to me within the week. Never had one of may packages get checked by US customs or delayed much on the US side (except for first year of covid). What does it look like on it's tracking record?

Grandpa style chai was a bad idea. Maybe it would work with a bombilla.

>>18407379
But "tea" is a secondary product. There is no tea that is just tea leaves in a pile. Of all of the teas that exist in the world, white, black, green, yellow, oolong, puerh, whatever, the oldest is white tea.

I pulled the trigger at Moychay today
Next week I know what their entry level ripe game is about

>No coffee at home
>Mornings now consist on a cup of tea and a caffeine pill
To think that I let myself sink this low

>>18407657
I really enjoyed the maocha of the menghai teji so please post notes about the cake when you get them, i think its similar material but harvested 1 year before. The maocha is probably still one of my favourite ripes because of its distinct walnut taste

>>18407657
Do these guys ship from le monke land or China?

>>18407657
lmao
where is that picture of tons of shitty tea wojak? 200 euros worth of russian commissioned compost, very well done comrade.

>>18407743
Tell us more about your patrician tastes, senpai.

>>18406899
I think the conversation around the history of puerh would improve a lot if everyone was forced to say "Yunnan tea cakes that improve with age" since the name puerh causes some kind of epistemological autism in people. I could go back in time hundreds years and buy sheng puerh, it just wouldn't be called that, but a lot of people act like Taiwanese tea drinkers caused a complete ontological break when they said "hey this stuff from the Hong Kong warehouses is pretty good".
It would be like saying there were no dinosaurs before 1841, just really big warm-blooded reptiles. It's an absurd statement but I see it in discussions of puerh all the time.

>>18407657
Absolute madlad, that's a lot of shu anon. To bad they didn't have a "Webpunk" cake in stock to round out your order. Why such the big order at once? Moychay has very reasonable sample pricing, you did not have to buy full cakes of everything. Also it should go without saying but tell us how they are when you get them.

>>18407729
Their main stores are in Russia and ship from there but they also have a EU store in the Netherlands.

>>18407785
>Yunnan tea cakes that improve with age
Really looking forward to cracking open this puerh once it gets here.

>>18405165
same as turkish iirc, brew very concentrated black tea, dilute with hot water. russians also add jam instead of sugar

what y'all sipping today?

>>18408341
Sipping this zongcha half ripe cake from YOT. Its not bad but i think it could have used another year or two in traditional storage, it still has a bit of wo dui in it from the initial half fermentation. Also needs to be aggressively leafed and pushed pretty hard when steaping to get the most out of it.

Anyone experiment with blending rype and raw teas and brewing them. If i remember in the morning i will do a ripe raw mix with some of my hk storage tea and report back.

>>18408341
Mixed some darjeeling with a breakfast mix because I was running out of the former. It's pretty good, just tastes like more generic darjeeling.

>>18405082
>Chaozhou Editon
What is that?

>>18408341
Had some more of my "matcha" mentioned here.
>>18405666
Still tasty but it was a bad idea to try and drink it on an empty stomach.

>>18408456
>wo dui
dui we?
Personally, I'd like us to just go for pile flavor, or taste of the pile, but I guess some people will always love jargon.

>>18408532
Chaozhou style brewing is a subcategory of Gongfu brewing. If you want to oversimplify it it name of a local tradition (from Chaozhou) where they use even higher tealeaf/water rations than traditional Gongfu and it is typically done with strip style oolongs (Dancong or Yancha). It is often considered the predecessor to modern Gongfucha.
https://www.kyarazen.com/chaozhou-gongfu-tea/
https://teamasters.blogspot.com/2014/05/chaozhou-gongfucha-brewing-step-by-step.html
found op's image

>>18408456
>Its not bad but i think it could have used another year or two in traditional storage
My personal thought process for that tea (YOT purple mark right?) was that it may benefit from another decade of dry storage to clean up both the wet pile funk and the wet storage dank. Don't get me wrong it's perfectly drinkable now and some people will love it as is but my personal bias is toward "cleaner" tasting heicha.

> Also needs to be aggressively leafed and pushed pretty hard when steaping to get the most out of it.
Agreed, my experience was the same. Can't complain much considering the price though.

>>18408615
>My personal thought process for that tea (YOT purple mark right?) was that it may benefit from another decade of dry storage to clean up both the wet pile funk and the wet storage dank.
Yeah that one, you are probably right that that would take care of it. I personally prefer a bit more root celler vibes on hk storage

>>18408653
It's a personal preference thing really. I don't typically prefer wet piled tea in the first place so I definitely have a bias on the topic. Wet piled tea just tends to not sit well with my gut so I drink it infrequently. My favorite shu cake is a DaYi "7572" (2009 first batch I think). Mine cake has very strong aromatic cedarwood vibes to it and is pretty clean by shou standards.

>>18408703
I think wet piled puer pales in comparison to a well aged sheng but it still enjoy it. I don't find it hard on the stomach but it does tend to be more jittery/stimulating or at least not as relaxing as a nice raw.
Im really baffled by fu brick tea, at least from vendor blurbs it seems like most of it gets short pile fermentation (15-20 days) which i would expect to result in a similar flavor profile to that purple stamp cake but it they seem to be totally free of pile taste. I guess it's probably a more mild form of post fermentation and not full on composting.

>>18408741
Yeah, but the thing about puer is that it causes lesbians to beat their partners with rock hard day old baguettes It’s like how alcohol makes gay white men murder and eat faggot n-people. Ladies, stay off the ‘erh for your partners sake.

>>18408849
I do get a little randy after some puer, but never violent

What is the origin of the puer lesbian stereotype? Does it taste like soggy carpet or something?

is it a waste to use nice tea for kombucha?

>go to my local asian market to buy smokey lapsang
>shelf it totally empty, that had a full case a few weeks ago
>the guy working says they have a regular that comes in and buys 6-10 cans of it at a time
Which one of you is cleaning out my asian markets tea stash?

>>18408912
>6-10 cans of smokey lapsang at a time
His stomach cancer must have cancer.

>>18408905
it's just some guy spamming shit ive never known any lesbians that drink puer
its like just chinese people and chinaboos who are mostly guys

>>18408908
It depends, i wouldn't use some $1 per gram delicate white tea or something but it might be fin to make it with some carefully brewed dialy drinking sencha or some half decent oolong.
I always just used cheap lipton loose leaf desu, these days i would probably use some cheap bulk Chinese black tea.

>>18408930
the closest thing to a "lesbian tea" would probably be matcha its trendy with young women/girls

Was the popularity explosion good or bad for matcha enthusiasts? Do we want normie women to get super into liubao or something?

>>18408905
The origin of puer lesbians is shrouded in mystery. But the stereotype is true, puer is a leading cause of intimate parter violence in the lesbian community.

>>18408969
>Was the popularity explosion good or bad for matcha enthusiasts?
Generally it was awful but fortunately it seemed largely disconnected from the actual matcha market. The huge trend resulted in a massive demand for ground up green tea that was marketed as healthy but it didn't really result in massive demand for the actual $30 a tin matcha made from shade grown koicha.
>do we want normie women to get super into liubao?
No, liobao is already getting too damn expensive. Im not really sure what could happen, i could imagine massive factory and plantation expansion but i think the result would be a lot of disgusting brown twigs that are cheap and sold everywhere and good liubao becoming more scarce (some people would probably argue that just that already happened in the 60s with the introduction of pile fermented liubao)

>>18408969
I encourage any movement away from bagged garbage tea as ultimately good for everyone

>>18408558
Thank you for the explanation.

>>18408741
>Im really baffled by fu brick tea, at least from vendor blurbs it seems like most of it gets short pile fermentation (15-20 days) which i would expect to result in a similar flavor profile to that purple stamp cake but it they seem to be totally free of pile taste.
Yeah I like fu brick. When I said wet piled I only meant shou and modern style liu bao.

>>18408969
>Was the popularity explosion good or bad for matcha enthusiasts?
Mostly neutral, it likely had minimal to no impact the production of tradition matcha because most of them never actually drink traditional matcha. If anything it may have been a small positive to westerners because the increased interest may have led to more vendors offering legit matcha to the west.

>Do we want normie women to get super into liubao or something?
That's never ever going to happen, the taste is just too out there. The demographic you are talking about will only drink matcha when its mixed with sugar and milk, they are not going to drink something that tastes like dirt. Not to mention Matcha likely has more antioxidants and therefore will be more popular from the health perspective.

>>18409003
>a lot of disgusting brown twigs
Sounds like liu bao to me. desu

>some people would probably argue that just that already happened in the 60s with the introduction of pile fermented liubao
I am genuinely curious what traditional liu bao used to be like. It is unfortunate that amost all production was shifted over to ripe liubao. I want some well aged fully raw liubao (not just the half fermented stuff they sometimes try to pass of as "raw"). I suspect I would like it.

I love white tea now but hate that it comes in cakes. The problem seems to be it's not rolled so it compresses as flat sheets that's super hard to peel apart, like laminated carbon fiber. I can tell it's not extracting efficiently because the chunks are glued together solid.

>>18409121
>I want some well aged fully raw liubao (not just the half fermented stuff they sometimes try to pass of as "raw").
EOT has a mid 50s basket, only $210 for a 10g sample, $1,900 for 100g.
There are some modern batches that are supposed to be made with the traditional multiple steamings and fryings.
https://essenceoftea.com/collections/liu-bao-tea/products/eot-3-leaf-liubao
Also
https://purplecloudteahouse.com/collections/liu-bao/products/2008-traditional-liubao
White 2 tea also made some green liubao the least few years but i don't see the point in drinking it before it has spent at least a decacde in Wudzu or Malaysia.

>>18409183
There's no shortage of unpressed white tea for you to chose from. Also it sounds like you need to get gud with a tea pick. It's not that hard to break up a white tea cake.

>>18409183
Super tight compression can be annoying, one thing you can do if you have a big solid chunk is give the tea a 1-2 minute "rinse" and then leave it it the gaiwan for 10 minutes or so before you actually start brewing it. Usually that will get things to open up nicely and steep more efficiently.

>>18408969
Maybe you could get them into fu bricks. It has the meme flowers, women love probiotic stuff even if they dont like the taste.

>>18409226
Its funny how hard china goes with chopping fu bricks in individual serving cubes in elaborate packaging to try to appeal to women.

>>18409217
Thanks anon

>OT has a mid 50s basket, only $210 for a 10g sample, $1,900 for 100g.
Way out of my league, and if I had that kind cash to burn would probably buy a basket of old liuan first.

>https://essenceoftea.com/collections/liu-bao-tea/products/eot-3-leaf-liubao
That has my interest piqued, I will put that on my long-term want to try list.

>https://purplecloudteahouse.com/collections/liu-bao/products/2008-traditional-liubao
they also have this
https://purplecloudteahouse.com/products/2017-raw-traditional-liubao-tea

>White 2 tea also made some green liubao the least few years but i don't see the point in drinking it before it has spent at least a decacde in Wudzu or Malaysia.
I like young sheng, so I would probably like it too. Not sure if it is actually processed the traditional way though.

>>18408905
It tastes like fish, do the math.

Dusted off the drip coffee machine to make some rooibos.

>>18409381
Nice, i need to get some more rooibos

>>18409225
This probably gave it a boost. Maybe it's not actually a big deal since the tea tastes strong enough. It's pretty hard to peel it apart even after a soak. Logically, it seems like that'd be important but there's no evidence to prove it.

Well I got so hooked on this stuff I've finished all 20 grams a day after arriving. The whole cake is on my wishlist next time I run low on tea.

>>18405082
I have no idea where to buy more Pu'erh tea once my puck is done. I live next to chinamantown, but a lot of these store staff are racist assholes and it's hard talking to them cause their english is bad.

Should I focus on looking for a store oriented towards English speakers and specializing in chinese tea? Can't order online; no credit card.

>>18409482
Use paypal with a checking account.
You're shooting yourself in the foot by wanting to buy it in person unless you live in a handful of areas.

Whats the proper technique for getting tea leaves out of a cake?
I have a pick but I'm not sure if I'm using it right

>>18409539
I just start from a little outside the binghole, get my knife in a little bit then pry outwards towards the edge, no clue if this is proper or not

If you were forced to buy only trustworthy organic tea could you afford it?

>>18409646
i can barely afford regular tea

>>18409539
>Whats the proper technique for getting tea leaves out of a cake?
Whatever way works best for you. Generally the goal is to break as few leaves as possible when separating them. There is no one correct way. Just practice and experiment until you find what works. It is not that complicated.

I typically start by going around outer edge and looking for loose spots where I can easily separate loose leaves or a chunks. Remember the tea is pressed vertically and will tend to separate in layers. I will also flake off any obvious loose leaves from the surface the cake. Then if necessary I will try to tease any large chunks apart. You don't need to separate every single leaf as small clumps will open up when you brew and trying to force them apart will just end up breaking more leaves. For my main tea pick I actually use a small flathead screwdriver. Personally I find that that shape works well for me but I know other people use different tools and techniques.

>>18409646
>If you were forced to buy only trustworthy organic tea could you afford it?
Yes, but it would sorely limit what types of tea I can drink. Price is less of a factor than quality and availability. Good organic Japanese tea would be the easiest to find at competitive quality and price, there are a some Good organic Indian tea plantations, and I think you can get at least some certified organic Taiwanese teas, but a good number of Chinese tea styles would be very difficult or impossible to find with organic certification. While price is less of a factor going organic only would mess with what I can get. Certified organic teas tend to be cheaper low grade commodity teas or less commonly higher end more expensive teas. You tend to lose out on a lot of moderately priced high quality teas.

>>18407726
>mornings
>plural
Go GET some fucking coffee if you're so desperate for it? What, you can only drink Kopi Luwak?

>>18409646
I don't really find any organic certifications trustworthy. They are all fucked in one way or another.
I could afford to drink only organic certified tea but it would be extremely limited, and ironically it would result in me mostly drinking teas from large scale industrial tea farms.

>>18410152
>you can only drink Kopi Luwak
Basically. Have you seen the price of coffee recently?

>>18410445
Methheads squander rent and everything else to get their crap. You telling me you don't have a few dollars to your name? 450g of average coffee over here is less than 6 bucks unless you're going for really premium stuff.

I wanna try some decaffinated green tea, and probably some black as well. Is there anything in particular I should look for when shopping?

I think I broke my sencha, it got super green and thick on the 2nd brew

>>18410934
First brew for reference

>>18409646
Yeah, but you would be stuck with India and Taiwan. Chinese and Japanese farms only bother with organic standards if their product isn't good enough to sell otherwise.

>>18410934
add it to your kale smoothie

>>18410934
VISCOSITY

>>18410934
Did you use exclusively the dust at the bottom of the tin or something? Shit looks like watered-down matcha.

>>18410977
No it's a branch new unopened sencha I just opened like 45 minutes ago to replace my last packet

>>18410822
>Is there anything in particular I should look for when shopping?
Not really, maybe try the Yamamotoyama decaf sencha teabags.
Vahdamn also came out with decaff green tea bags recently, but nobody here has tried them.
If you just want cheap bulk looseleaf green Davidsons has some.
For decaff black just grab some teabags at the store

>>18410934
We need to go greener
was it a syrup like consistency?

>>18411040
No, it was more thick in the way hot chocolate feels thick

>>18411050
Reminds me of when that poster tried ice brewing sencha.
How was it?

>>18407457
Coffee autism is way more fun than tea autism though

>>18411059
That was me too
This one sucked though, stuck it in the back of the emergency cabinet of shame

Let's bring this thread back to the /jp/ days
Anything more comfy than Kanji practice and matcha?

>>18411089
No. Incidentally, I'm doing my Wanikani reps with pu'er right now.

>>18411089
is being able to (hand)write kanji really worth the hassle for you or are you doing this to remember them?

>>18411143
Mostly to remember them, learning stroke order helps visualize the distinction and stops them from being meaningless blob symbols to memorize. It also helps with deciphering weird fonts and handwriting when you know how the strokes go.
But it's also just fun to do calligraphy and it helps with notetaking when I can write a sentence with the kanji in my notebook and not just resort to the mess of deciphering kana

>>18411143
>>18411156
What he said, but as someone who has friends also learning japanese, it's real handy to be able to show them kanji by just jotting them down on a napkin or whatever.

Purple cloud order came in. Now i should have enough liubao to last the winter. Im also really hyped they had some good quality traditional fermentation / roast tieguanyin, im not a huge fan of the modern neon green TGY.

>>18411269
Gonna start out with this sample of 2019 roasted tgy, smells delicious.
Camera did not want to color balance this correctly but i think this is pretty close.

>>18411269
Looks nice anon.

>>18411269
I was thinking about getting some liubao from them, but I'm pretty new to liubao and all the choices can be overwhelming, any reason you picked the ones you did?

>>18411292
Yup that's a proper tgy
Great color, some well balanced roast notes, some floral notes brought out by the roast with well balanced tgy taste. Blissful

told you it was brewing.
yeeontea 20% off early yearly sale, 2 weeks
time to visit the crypt.

Looks like W2T managed to get my recent order shipped out before they went on holiday. Hopefully, it does not take too long to get to me. Can't wait to try the laochapo bricks I got. As part of the sale I am also getting sent a free 25g sample of a back tea made from Da Hong Pao varietal that's not listed on the site yet. I am sure it will be good.

>>18411356
Thanks for the heads up. I would have been pissed if I had missed it. YOT was going to be my big Black Friday tea purchase. Wonder why they are doing it early?

>>18410934
Looks delicious, though maybe darker than I'm used to. That happens with deep steamed stuff. The second steep tends to be the best anyway.

>>18411318
>but I'm pretty new to liubao and all the choices can be overwhelming, any reason you picked the ones you did?
Oh yeah it can be tough to figure out what to get. I can hopefully help a bit.
I got the Duoteli black box because it was aged for 7 years in the factory before packaging. I generally prefer liubao that has spent at least 4-5 years in Guangxi where its hot and humid to get some age on it and smooth it out (and often give it more of a root cellar flavor) modern factory storage is usually fairly clean compared to tea that ends up in some local tea dealers warehouse. Anyway the black box should be pretty nice and smooth without much pile taste left and its made with high grade material. Its on the pricey side because of the long factory aging and its a popular relese with Chinese collectors.
The four gold coins i got because im considering getting a kilo, its supposed to be full on root cellar dirt, the smell of freshly harvested root vegetables.
The Shiguang Suidao i went for because its got some age on it, its light fermentation so there is room for the flavor to change some and they said it was stored in on of the old air raid shelters which amuses me. Several factories use the old air raid shelters to age their liu bao.
If you just want something clean tasting the osmanthus fragrance sounds nice.
I would avoid most of the cakes bricks etc, at least the ones purple cloud has, a lot of those aren't factory productions and they are just kind of pressed from material farmers had stored in their shed for years. Also that 2002 basket tea is pretty advanced stuff, wouldn't recommend starting with that.
Puerhshop has some three cranes bricks that are a great bargan, very clean tasting but can still brew up a bit bitter because of the dry storage.

>>18411363
>Can't wait to try the laochapo bricks I got
Should be good anon, i trust w2t to make granny bricks out of nice clean material and not the questionably rustic leaves a lot of the cheaper bricks are made out

>>18411356
Fuck, time to order even more tea.

>>18411389
>>18411427
Don't forget to email them and ask if they have pulled out any good cakes lately that they havent listed yet. They had a couple off menu 7542 for a while, i do think one of them is listed now.

>>18411414
I like rustic teas so it should be fine. Honestly some of my favorite teas have been the ugliest lower grade ones. They even include the disclaimer that there may be odd bits in there. When I was looking for reviews on the tea I found someone panicking on Reddit about it containing tea flower buds. I am an established Pu head at this point so I am not easily fazed by things like an odd stones or hair. I would much prefer not to get metal shavings or cigarette butts though.

>>18411443
I would but I probably am going to blow most of my whole budget on one of their liuan baskets. I hope it is good. anyone one here had it?

>>18411456
>tea I found someone panicking on Reddit about it containing tea flower buds
Lol, why are people like that ordering hei cha cakes in the first place? I blame w2t for being too slick. They need to put up some videos of factory workers wrapping tongs with their feet to bring people back down to earth.

>>18411400
Thanks, that definitely helps set me in the right direction. I love that earthy, almost mossy vegetal taste from liubao, it's something special. I know three cranes is pretty big, should I be aware of any other brands that are good or brands to avoid?

>>18411474
Godspeed, haven't tried it but my gut is that you are making the right call.
Raw liuan, proper professional traditional storage, the proper stuff from Sun Yishun. Checks all the boxes for what you want in a liuan and the price is reasonable.

I'd appreciate it if you more knowledgeable fellows pointed a few things that you liked the most. I'm willing to just take a gamble, but it'd be nice to know if you think there is something that stands out.

>>18411484
The only really common big brands I know of are three cranes and zongcha/cnnp's luibao sub brands. Both make good tea. Just about everything else comes from smaller producers which can good too. I don't think there is any brands to explicitly avoid but if you see some weird farmer tea or something priced "too good to be true" you should probably try a sample before buying in bulk.

https://purplecloudteahouse.com
And
https://www.threebearstea.com
are the two US based liubao specialists and both are very good options for higher grade liubao. If you want cheaper less aged big factory productions you can probably get better deals elsewhere. Plenty of the Chinese based puerh vendors also carry a selection of liubao.

>>18411484
The two major factories are Wuzhou Tea Factory aka three cranes and cnnp aka douteli aka cofco aka china tea wuzhou. They both make good tea, i guess overall the china tea factory house flavor tends to lean more towards the real earthy root celar vibe and three cranes tends to be a bit cleaner, at least right out of the factory.
Maybe one of the cheaper china tea boxes wpuld be a good pickup.
https://purplecloudteahouse.com/collections/china-tea-wuzhou/products/2020-zhong-cha-chen-liu-bao-tea-250g-box
Any way if in doubt shoot them an email, the owner is really friendly and helpful and im sure they would be happy to make some recommendations.

oh my god 4chan has tea people

>>18411658
You new here?

>>18411658
>the weeb website has people who have weeb hobbies
???

>>18411524
>>18411551
Thank you both for the information it helps a lot. I think I have a decent starting point now, I'll probably put together an order to start figuring out what I like and dont like

What do you do when you order a large amount of something you end up disliking?

>>18411694
Put it on the bottom of the pile and forget about it, let other people try and it and give it away if they like it, use it to season tetsubins, use it to cook, use it as a bludgeon to ward off unsavory characters.

>>18411694
If its anything that can age like black tea, oolong or fermented teas, i stick it in a corner and forget about it for a few years, this works for me most of the time and i like it more later because either the tea has changed or my taste has changed.
Alternately i will mess around with brewing it different ways like cold brewing to see if i like that more, that worked great for a Darjeeling i didn't like.
Making kombucha with it is a great way to put it to good use.
Sometimes even waiting a week or three after it comes in the mail will let it settle down some and i will like it more.

>>18411694
what >>18411694 said
Also you can also use it for cold brew. I have found that a lot of mediocre loose leaf actually is quite good cold brewed.

>Tfw tried hojicha for the first time and instantly bought 3 more 50g bags.
How is it so fucking good? I could never stand coffee because the caffeine hit had me jittery and it was always too bitter black, facilitating the need for fucktons of additives.
This is like everything I was expecting from coffee, a nice mellow bump of energy, smooth roasted aroma and flavor with just a hint of bitterness, and no need to add sugar or anything else.

>>18411683
i've started exploring boards other than b
so yeah

>>18411772
>this nigga gets a bump of energy from roasted sticks
bring the water to the same temperature at which you're brewing your chaff, drink it and report on energy bump. should be almost the same.
joking aside, WELCOME to the tea. you can enjoy it casually or make it one of your hobbies, like most of us here did.
ask the weebs ITT about sourcing good value hojicha, I'll shill ippodo because thats what I tried as an adamant chink tea dyke. maybe one of them will write the recc in nihon caligraphy lol

>>18411817
Wow, I'm shocked people still start on /b/. Enjoy your stay I guess, remember, you're here forever.

>>18411829
i've tried to quit 4 times already, always came back
fuck.

>>18411772
Based, roasted ass tea is top tier

>>18411865
this dude drinking ass tea

>>18412004
It all tastes like dirt
i spend 30¢ a gram on tea that tastes like dirt
I could probably save money by picking up leaves in the back yard and soaking them in hot water

>>18412024
>i spend 30¢ a gram on tea that tastes like dirt
Same but it's japanese goddess urine

>>18412064
>japanese goddess urine
*shrine maiden urine

How much yin qi would you get if you used >>18412149 to boil that tea picked by Chinese virgins and then stored between their breasts?

>>18411826
That's who I ordered from, got a box of teabags too figuring they would be good for muh /out/ings.
And yeah actually I do get a decent bump off it, I know caffeine content in black teas tend to be higher but I'm pretty damn sure I have a sensitivity to caffeine as I tried coffee and never picked it up again after the jitters I had.
>>18412284
Bout tree fiddy.

>>18411694
Stick it in the freezer if it's mediocre. Throw it away if it's bad.
Throwing expensive tea in the trash feels bad but after it's disposed the feeling becomes liberation. Also a greater caution for impulse buying.

>>18411694
You can compost it for some minerals.

Anything in particular you guys recommend from mountainroseherbs before I pull the trigger? I have the classics
>Rooibos
>Green Rooibos
>Honeybush
>Hibiscus

I've just started out with mate and got some union suave, which I'm really enjoying; what should I try next? I had rosamonte especial back in Argentina but didn't like it at the time.

Opinions on mugicha and that Korean roasted corn tea?

>>18412427
Throw some chamomile in there, it's cheap.

>>18412447
I always try to keep some on hand. It is good hot or cold.

The next /tea/ pastebin should have a section for ginseng, jiaogulan and kuding. Those are the Chinese tisanes that people are most interested in, but Mountain Rose only stocks super expensive ginseng and none of the rest.
Ma Huang too, but that might cause Pastebin to delete it since importing it is kind of a legal loophole in burgerland.

>>18412489
write the section and we will consider it
>>18412436
kurupi menta & boldo

>>18412447
IT"S

BORICHA

>>18412489
>but Mountain Rose only stocks super expensive ginseng and none of the rest.
Yeah, best to buy ginseng direct from the American ginseng farms, no need to go for the wild stuff.
Jingoan and kuding are both interesting, i can consider trying to add some tisane info in the pastebin. I will have to think about how to format it and what kind of info i should include.

>>18412447
Damaicha? Roasted corn tea is great, love it on cold winter days, what I do sometimes is boil it on the stove for a few mins to get a stronger brew, otherwise I basically drink it grandpa style

>>18409452
That needle really looks like a dead ferret to me