/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Some great teas for simmering include bai mu dan and other white teas (not silver needle) ripe puer, old raw puer, liubao and just about any hei cha. Black teas can also turn out pretty well especially when cooked with spices, hojicha or some bancha will also work but i wouldn't try it with most green teas.

>>18532727
>is tie guan yin oolong (iron goddess) the same thing as 'milk oolong'?
No, not at all. They are both greenish ball oolongs but that is about the extent of the similarity. "Milk oolong" is typically from Tiawan and is made from Jin Xuan tea varietal (金萱, literally "Golden Daylily"). TGY comes from a different varietal and is typically from the Chinese mainland. While the Jin Xuan itself can produce slightly "milky" teas I think the popular opinion is that many of the teas sold as "Milk oolong" have been artificially flavor enhanced. It is something of a matter of debate and I am not an expert on topic.

Tea is just better with milk.

>>18532821
I perfer it with butter and a pich of salt

I just tried YeeOnTea's Liuan for the first today and I am not sure how I feel about it. I think I may prefer the cheap aged mystery liuan basket I picked up elsewhere (but is sadly sold out now). YeeOnTea's Liuan is definitely made form higher quality material but it is not as pleasantly mellow as my other aged liuan nor does it have quite the same "herbal medicine" notes that I liked in my other tea. It is harsher on the gut and the wet storage tastes seems to overpower some of the subtlety. I think it may have been wet stored for longer than I would have liked and it may have benefited from a period of dry storage after a shorter period of cellar storage. That said it is not at all a bad tea but perhaps not the tea I was looking for. For example If you like YeeOnTea's other wet stored cakes like their "taste of Hong Kong" it shares a similar character so if you love that cake you would be right at home here. I am hoping it or at least my opinion of it will improve with time.

>>18532821
While I also enjoy it, it ruins the guilt-free aspect of tea for me.
Especially in the winter, I enjoy knowing I can just go for infinite cups without them really racking up any calories, which milk and sugar would change.

>>18532745
>>18532772

i hate you

https://www.ebay.com/itm/374303269369

>>18532919
plastic goyshit

>>18532859
Hmm, thanks for sharing your experience with it, i had high hopes. If the compression us fairly high you might find that the inside of the basket has less wet taste than the tea on the surface. Its also a really good candidate for tasting better after it has sat in your storage for a while. That might make a pretty dramatic difference in a couple months to a year. With the YOT basket being raw and the other one being fermented i would expect the YOT to have more potential for complexity but i can also see it being less smooth and harsher on the gut. Hopefully it just needs a little time outside of the stinky basement

>>18532800
okay thank you, another question it seems like raw puers are generally going to be more expensive than ripe puers, is this price increase usually going to be worth the flavour difference?

>>18532957
They are very different teas. Ripe is usually cheaper because its made out of much cheaper tea (and arguably its not really worth using super premium tea leaves to make ripe)
Anyway ripe is warm dark notes, chocolate, wood, soil, caramel that sort of thing, and young raw is green, sweet bitter fruity dried fruit flavors, aged raw is more mellow shifting towards ruoe flavors but never getting quite as dark as ripe.
Buy based on which if those sounds better to you and not strictly on price.

how do I time the gong fu correctly?
does it start when the water hits the leaf, or when the gaiwan is full?
do I pour when i hit ten seconds or before because the gaiwan doesnt instantly empty and adds another 5 seconds or so of shaking to get the droplets out.
should i rinse raw puerh?

>>18533007
I have a somewhat controversial take on gongfu, so read this as my opinion and not as me dispensing wisdom. I would recommend "dialing in" brew times for gongfu. The listed times and concentrations are a decent place to start, but I mostly don't follow them. Accept that you'll make some mediocre tea as you learn, brew some tea that is too strong for you, where it becomes too astringent, loses some complexity, or becomes too thick or unpleasant. Brew some that is too weak, and oscillate back and forth as you close in on what your ideal brew time is. This will change for each tea you brew, and will change as you brew the tea. You realistically will not be timing the tea closely enough to where starting when the water hits the leaves or the gaiwan is full is a meaningful distinction. If you can brew tea that exactly, you already understand tea enough to brew by feel and won't be brewing a timer. Overall, try not to worry about it too much. Experiment, try new things, as you keep brewing you'll figure out how to brew tea that you like, and how to quickly get the most out of new tea.
The most important thing is to focus on the tea and how it changes and develops as you brew it, and as you change how you brew it.

>>18533007
I usually start timing when the gaiwan is full. I also don't include the time it takes to pour out into consideration unless maybe if im using a really slow teapot with 20 second pours or something.
>should i rinse raw puer
I usually just do a very short rinse mostly to heat it up and because first brew is kind of weak flavor wise if i don't give it a quick rinse first. If you have an older raw that's a bit funky or has storage flavors you can give it a longer 20 second or so rinse.
The times given are mostly guidelines so adjust as needed, if the tea is too bitter do a shorter steep. Once the leaves are fully open if a steep is weak give the next one and extra 30 seconds or so. Eventually you will get a feel for it and kind of do it without thinking. The biggest thing to pay attention to is how fast the chunks of tea open up, especially with compressed puer or tightly rolled oolong, if they open really quickly you want to keep the steeps super short, like 5 seconds or even less for the first few. If the leaves take ages to open you might need to do 30 second steeps instead to get a good amount of flavor. So i guess that's one detaik you should try to pay attention to. Anyways always adjust to what tastes good, don't wory about trying to follow some timing exactly

>>18533007
I've wondered all the same things about timing. Ultimately the timings people give are just guidelines, so the best solution is to see what produces good tea with your own setup and leaves, since those things will affect your results. That said, I personally start the timer as soon as I'm done pouring water in, which I do as fast as I can pour without spilling or putting in too much water by accident. I start pouring out once I hit the desired time. Different types of tea have a pretty noticeable effect on pour speed in my experience (some leaves unfurl a lot and slow the pour more), so trying to account for when to start pouring would be pretty tricky.

My understanding is that rinsing is really just about giving the leaves a head start to separate and expand. If you don't get good results from your first infusion (i.e., weak flavor), then it might be beneficial to "rinse" it once first

>>18532957
Ripe puerh at least most recently is produced from lower quality material, and in my opinion, the smaller productions are usually of a far lower quality than the more traditional large factory productions, especially the ones assosciated with Menghai and the push to universalize shou puerh. The recent small-scale productions are usually a way to get rid of material that can't be used to make the now more desireable, and therefor more valuable, sheng puerh. They're consistently weak in terms of mouthfeel, body, and flavor, and are over-piled and broken down far too much. A more careful piling will develop new complex flavors that complement the tea that was used. Poor, excessive, and uncareful piling destroys the flavor of the tea and replaces it with an overwhelmingly unpleasant compost flavor.
There are deals out there in terms of ripe (shou) puerh, but generally it's not something that I would look at as being significantly less expensive. There is more cheap tea on the market because most of the cheap, low quality tea is turned into shou puerh.
If you're considering getting into puerh tea, I would try some of both. For ripe puerh, I would recommend trying a classic numbered factory production, or something specifically recommended by someone here. For raw (sheng) puerh, I would recommend trying a young tea from a specific mountain, a young blend, and a moderately aged (ten years or so) tea. Factory young puerh is generally good, but less terrible sheng makes it to the market so I don't think the focus on trying a factory tea matters as much here.
Soon, there will be a very competitively priced but polarizing sample pack of sheng puerh tea. If you're thinking of getting into puerh, thats a good thing to keep an eye out for.

>>18533072
>>18533075
>>18533078
Thank you for your advice!

>>18532772
I bought a small stainless steel saucepan specifically for this purpose. It was surprisingly hard to find a good one with pour spouts and a lid. It's great for sideritis. Some things just work better as decoctions.

>>18533120
so you reccomend that I look for Menghai factory shu pu-erh if I want good value?

>>18532727
>>18532800
yeah, most tea sold as "milk oolong" is just flavored. if you want real, naturally milky jin xuan, it'll usually be sold as just "jin xuan"
it's easy to tell the difference in person, because the flavored stuff smells very strongly of sweet milk, while actual jin xuan smells more like a normal lightly oxidized floral oolong and the milky note doesn't overpower the others once you brew it

>>18533521
>Some things just work better as decoctions.
Definitely, you should try chaga mushroom if you haven't. It has that kind if dark flavor profile you get with fermented teas or coffee

>>18534243
Not him buy menghai tf aka dayi aka tae tea is usually a pretry safe bet, they have been getting a bit expensive in recent years but they reliably make high quality shu.
7572 is their flagship factory ripe blend, but it's kind of pricey because of it's reputation.
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/2012-yr-menghai-dayi-classic-7572-ripe-puerh-100-quality-guarantee-taetea-chinese-puer-tea-for-gift-packing-150g-pc37-aged-puerh-best-organic-tea-p0140.html
And here is a more affordable blend cake
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/2015-yr-taetea-puerh-yuan-high-quality-dayi-shu-ripe-puer-tea-357-g-pc82-aged-puerh-best-organic-tea-p0153.html
And here is something small if you don't want to commit to a lot of tea
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/taetea-yunnan-puer-tuo-tea-2018-v93-shu-puer-tuocha-100g-p0592.html

I love machine translations of Russian tea reviews
I guss i should link the tea if anyone is interested
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/xiaguan-2017-shu-puerh-lao-pao-ripe-pu-erh-cake-357g-p0402.html

>>18532957
>raw puers are generally going to be more expensive than ripe puers, is this price increase usually going to be worth the flavour difference?
As the others have said it is better to think of them as different types of tea than as direct competitors. It is up to you decide which you prefer and how much you are willing to pay for it. While the absolute floor price of shu/ripe puerh is lower and the ceiling price of sheng is higher their is still plenty of good affordable sheng/raw puerh.

The price difference between the two is down to a few reasons. The production method for ripe puerh tends to hide some the difference between high grade and low grade leaves. Using fancy stuff therefore is not as important. Traditional shu production also requires using multiples tons of material at once to produce a batch which makes it harder to and more risky to use premium materials in case it does not come out superior. Raw puerh is generally considered more prestigious and ripe puerh considered less and the market supplies tea accordingly.

Raw puerh starts off a bit like a strong green tea and changes relatively dramatically as it ages. It is fresh for a few years, semi aged at around 10, and starts getting "fully" aged at closer to 20 years. Whether the tea was aged it wet or dry conditions will also change it dramatically. Aged and young puerh are practically different teas, same goes for wet stored and dry stored aged puerh.

Ripe puerh tastes like dirt and I mean that in a literal sense not a figurative one. It may taste good and have other flavors but I at least always find that it has a baseline soil taste. Aging ripe puerh does not change it as much but a few years of aging can really help clean up the "funk" left over from fermentation. Some productions need this more than others. Lighter fermented ripe puerh is said to age better and to require aging longer but is not very common anymore.

>>18534243
>so you reccomend that I look for Menghai factory shu pu-erh if I want good value?
I don't think dayi is necessarily better value (you can find better deals elsewhere if you know how to look) but it is a good recommendation especially to beginners because the quality is relatively consistently decent. There is a lot of truly rubbish ripe puerh out there and there is also a lot of ripe puerh that is decent or even good but probably needs a few more years of age to clean it up. A lot of the smaller but still reputable tea shops ripe productions are not as consistent and so require a bit more research. It is also harder to judge the quality of a ripe puerh by pictures alone than it is to judge raws.

On a related note and a word of caution some of the lower grade chopped big factory raw blends can be unpleasantly bitter and temperamental to brew correctly and are really much better with age. This is much less true for higher end end puerh made with large whole leaves that often taste really good when young (though still can be a bit temperamental to brew).

I don't agree with the other anon that said that smaller batch ripe puerh is merely an outlet for lower grade puerh. In fact it is the opposite the Idea, that using smaller batches allows manufactures to experiment with using higher quality materials, single source material, or different fermentation conditions. Big batch big factory ripe puerh is probably made out of lower grade material on average (though they make a range of grades) than the smaller producers. There are entire large factories that pump out almost exclusively low grade ripe puerh. That said I do agree with them that ripe puerh from one of the big factories known for good ripe puerh is good starting point and that Dayi's higher end productions are some of the most consistently good on the market.

>>18534572
In the next couple days (probably Friday or Saturday unless delayed) liquidproust.com will be selling his yearly puerh beginner packs. They are grab bags of various types and ages of puerh that contain 100g of tea for $5 plus shipping (you can pay more than $5 but you probably won't get more, certainly don't pay more than $10). They are pretty random and are typically a mix of decent but not exceptional teas (what I would consider as "daily drinker" grade) with a few higher end teas mixed in. Don't expect it to be a complete guide to the types of puerh but more of a quick way to get your feet wet. Be warned that if you get it he may take a month to ship because he runs the business as a part time thing and will get swamped when he gets 500+ puerh beginner pack orders all at once.

The rest of his shop is good (and ships quicker) but is mostly focused on selling expensive high end or unusual hard to get stuff. He does not stock a comprehensive selection of puerh. It is the sort of shop I go to for buying interesting things but not typically to buy my "daily drinker" teas.

>>18534572
>I don't agree with the other anon that said that smaller batch ripe puerh is merely an outlet for lower grade puerh.
I don't mean batch size, by "small scale production" I mean home or small private factory. These places have a much higher chance of simply not understanding how to produce shou properly, and a lot of the truly terrible stuff, in my experience, comes from them. It's a simple fact that nobody is going to process tea they could sell for fifteen cents a gram into shou and sell it for five cents a gram. Cheaper shou is cheaper because the quality of the leaf isn't acceptable to produce sheng. It takes much more time and effort to process.

2017 baozhong oolong
Has some kinda minty vibes

>>18534660
Eh its okay, this had a little bit of of a roast on it but i would say generally this isn't much of a tea for ageing, better fresh.

>>18534660
>baozhong
>>18534691
>better fresh
Indeed

>>18534691
>better fresh
I have some ancient ('70s-'80s) baozhong lying around and am in the mood for it roughly once a year. Kind of a fun gimmick and I get to tell people I have REALLY old tea lying around but if I had 2022 'zhong on hand I'd be drinking it way more often.
The aged ones taste more like heicha than anything, lots of peat and pine and loam.

>>18534243
Haiwan is better value but maybe just slightly less good, the factory is run by one of the old fermentation masters of dayi tea factory so theres some similarities.

I am broke and yet I must consooom

it's bigger and heavier than I expected

I'll enjoy this until the day I die, thanks anons who reccomended graceteawares

Also they gave me a 10% off coupon - code 56565

>>18535245
>the factory is run by one of the old fermentation masters of dayi tea factory
Seems every other big factory known for its shu claims that. That said Haiwan's ripe has a good reputation.

>>18535342
Looks nice anon

>I am broke and yet I must consooom
I know the feeling. I just found a antique kettle at an antique store that am trying to decide whether or not to buy. On one hand it is a really nice high quality piece, I think it is worth more than it is being sold for, and I like the look of it. On the other hand it is still over $100, I rarely use traditional kettles, and I am worried about lead considering its age.

What is your judgement of my character if this is my go-to morning tea?

>>18535433

>>18535356
Damn that was fast, cool cups anon

>>18535356
Nice lead glaze on that

heicha from chawangshop arrived, took 20 days not bad. no free sample unfortunately and i havent gotten one in a while also :(
how should i grandpa brew these?

>>18535433
You are a cute girl

Tried lapsang souchong for the first time today, this stuff is awesome. It's like drinking a campfire.

Black tea is better with Raspberry juice

>>18535591
I had Lapsang chibara and tried "black leopard" from mariage frères recently, african black tea lightly smoked you might like it too anon.

>>18535505
4.5-5.5 grams in a 12-14 oz mug
They shouldn't need a rinse. After the first brew cools down enough to start sipping grab a fork and flick all the floating bits of stem out. Usually those kinds of teas do fantastic with grampa style.

>>18535591
I love it, its so fucking nice to drink such a rich smokey tea. I really need to hit up the asian market for some more

>>18535591
I prefer to get the smoky flavor from a ripe pu'er but I use lapsang if I just wanna brew in a pot

>>18535433
I got into tea when my gf introduced me to harney. They have fun flavors. This is one of their best, I also love the citron green and peaches and ginger black

For me, it's Lipton Iced Tea

I bought the Portuguese green tea from the Azores. It’s good

>>18536222
Is it the bag that says Hysson? Gibe photo of tea leaves plox.

>>18536265
Different one I reckon. To my mild tasting vocabulary it has that deep herbaceous flavor of tea grown in very rich soil, along with a very pleasant flavor and scent of burnt sugar, and the slightly metallic taste that a lot of Europeans like in their tea (I’m thinking like in English breakfast)

>>18536341
Oh even better, this exact tea is on my wishlist, thanks. Was going to get 1 box to try but if someone's vouching for it I'll maybe get 2 or 3. Their teas are really affordable for the plucking grade. It's also all orthodox C. sinensis var. sinensis unlike most budget shit.

>>18535676
Thanks, just finished sipping on the 2012 CNNP 8238 tea, was really good and lasted about 5-6 refills before i got bored. kinda neat seeing how much larger the leaves are compared to ripe puer, they started sinking after i stirred the mug a bit also.
Got some actual chocolate notes early on not like the cocoa/malty taste from yunnan blacks for example when they say it has notes of chocolate, tea got very smooth after refilling cup first time but cant really describe the flavour, kind of in the middle of woody and soil taste. just finished eating and it felt very good on the stomach too.
How do i store these btw? just toss them with my other ripes in a pumidor?

>>18536385
I bought 3 boxes for it being so damn cheap, the biggest cost is shipping and then it’s not even that much. It took a couple weeks to get here but I forgot about it until it arrived.

>>18536389
>How do i store these btw? just toss them with my other ripes in a pumidor?
Yeah that's fine, as long as the bags a sealed up well you can just put em on a shelf but it doesn't hurt to put it in the pumidor to make sure it doesn't get too dry, as long as you have the room in there.
Looks good btw, i really agree about the chocolate notes, i frequently find that liubao tastes like what i wish ripe puer tasted like if that makes sense. It works really well for grampa style too, i think it works better that way the gongfu at least some of the time.
You should also you try simmering some at some point, about 5 grams to a litre and 1/4 of water, bring water to boil, add tea, reduce to simmer, simmer for 10 minutes or as desired, pour off into a mug. I just tried it the other day, you get a ton of the deeper warm flavor and richness out of it but maybe lose out of some of the complexity, still very nice for a cold winter day.
Im jealous you have some of that fancy three cranes batch, if its the one im thinking of its one of the best liubaos that ive had.

It arrived

>>18536493
Glorious. Where can I find one?

>>18536452
>You should also you try simmering some at some point
Might try it during the weekend if i dont have any other plans, ill try the three cranes one tomorrow maybe
>>18536493
Nice, if you've tried it yet did you notice any muting or added minerality from it?

>>18536493
Too big

>>18536493
I love how hand-carved the design looks. I love how it looks seasoned/polished from use but the lid has a subtle two-tone color. Pls put me in your will.

gonna cancel subscription after it gets here lol

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0098O8ONE/

Why I Boil My Tea NOT My Water

>>18536537
I do that same scam with the coupon to get cheap 12 packs of K.O. DEENZ. Haven't tried that particular tea but that's a decent brand.

>>18536493
Some notes:
-Volume is pretty low by Western teapot standards (~260ml). I expected this from notes about the time period (they were trying to match Yixing wares, and tea was more expensive so you were expected to brew less tea in general). It would compare to a larger shui ping however.
-It appears to have not been used for considerable time (no noticable tea scent, degraded or otherwise). I may be the first person to brew tea in this in ~200 years.
-Pour is excellent.
-No off flavors in the Keemun I brewed. Definitely muting.
-The lid does not fit perfectly and has a noticably lighter patina to the rest of the teapot. Replacement?
-There is a small chip in the spout, probably the reason I scored it for so cheap relative. Does not impact pour.
-Uncertain yet on what teas I should brew in this. I did Keemun to break it in with for obvious reasons, but I think Wuyi rock oolongs might be nice as well...
All in all I'm pretty happy about this purchase, it's a gorgeous teapot and it has a rich dark patina. Going to be brewing lots in this.

>>18536504
I lucked out from eBay. Auction sites have them but they're ludicrously expensive (~$5k and up).
>>18536536
Engine turning is kind of a lost art when it comes to ceramics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-7twF5_chU

>>18536566
Nice find anon, in my experience with other clays usually the muting settles down some after the first half dozen to a dozen brews

>>18536566
Keemun is what I would have gone for too. I would start drinking it all the time if I had a neat teapot made for it.

>>18536580
https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/dining-entertaining/tea-sets/thomas-whieldon-fenton-staffordshire-redware-oriental-molded-teapot/id-f_27044442/
This is actually the cheapest I was able to find, it's well below 5k but it's still expensive (you could probably get a really nice fully handmade Yixing pot off taobao from a good artist for $800).

Hang tight, jasmine tea respecter bro. I'll be joining you shortly.

So how about these black basalt ware engkish teapots? Are they just dyed clay? This one doesn't look glazed
https://www.ebay.com/itm/322005626063

>>18537162
Fucking ebay hates serving high rez images

Don’t buy fucking used clay teapots on ebay. Go find a new yixing

>>18537193
Im just interested in what they are made out of

>>18537193
soulless

Anyone else here drink god teir Russian tea?

>>18537222
What color bag is the best?

>>18537193
>don't buy used
Why not?
>new Yixing
Way too many fakes. Would rather buy taiwanese or chaozhou.

>>18537162
From what I read black basalt ware used coal slurry in part to give its color. Wouldn't risk it.

>>18537283
Lol figures, thanks anon

>>18537193
Not even Yixing afficinatos have a bias toward new teapots anon, LQER are highly prized teapots because the clay is considered of better consistency and certain processing techniques were lost during WW2/the cultural revolution.

>>18537262
My favorite is the blue, Reneissance. I've had the others in the past but don't remember their flavors too much. I think grey was my second favorite, Nostalgia I think it's called.

Chinese aristocrats: Silver needle, gongting, junshan yinzhen, yancha
Britbong aristocrats: Keemun
Japanese aristocrats: Gyokuro
What tea do I drink to LARP as an Indian aristocrat?

>>18537339
Indian aristocracy didn't drink tea before the Raj. After, it'd be Indian assamica varieties and Darjeeling.

>>18537339
Spring Darjeeling and high quality Ceylon, as well as a high quality chai

>>18537322
Thanks, i will remember that

osmanthus aroma liubao from purple cloud
is not a flavored tea, they are just describing the characteristics its supposed to have

>>18537790
Is the aroma reminiscent of osmanthus though?

>>18537790
Really nice tea for the price, has some savory notes to it which reminds me of some much more expensive liubaos ive had, not much in the chocolate deep flavor spectrum, more floral i guess you would say. Has some cooling on the inhale as well. Quite savory, some saliva production in the later steeps. Quite good for 12¢ a gram. If i had the budget i would grab a kilo and forget about it for a few years.
https://purplecloudteahouse.com/products/osmanthus-fragrance-liu-bao-tea-100g
>>18537829
I can see what they are getting at, it doesn't smell like a fistful of freshly picked flowers but it has some of the sort of leathery animalic aspects you get from an osmanthus extraction, some white floral notes as well, more reminiscent of dried flowers than fresh.

>>18537855
I will say its still showing its youth and like with most liubao and few more years in Guangxi would have done it some good.
It probably would benefit from being brewed in clay. I try in grampa style in the next few days and see how that goes, maybe im just in a good mood tonight

Chapoanon I haven't been paying attention lately. Did you ever get to try those cakes?

Huh, just discovered if I pour boiling water from the tea kettle to a mug or teapot it cools a lot faster than leaving it in the kettle and waiting for it to cool.

>>18538043
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volumetric_heat_capacity
:O

What the fuck fullchea... are these legit or pellets of wax?

>>18538043
My mom used to cool hot liquids by transferring them to different vessels (soup in bowls, coffee in cups, etc). Props for finding that out yourself.

I fucked up my popcorn by not using enough oil and now im simmering my unpopped kernels
Just to see what happens

>>18538154
Boiled for 10-15 minutes, stopped when it felt right
Cloudy oily yellow brew
Smells of boiled corn on the cob
It feels almost creamy in the mouth with the oils in there
Smooth and mild taste of roasted corn

Im gonna have to try toasting my own corn tea later on, its probably way better without the salt.

>>18537988
>Chapoanon I haven't been paying attention lately. Did you ever get to try those cakes?
Yes I finally did get them, will try to post about them soon.

>>18538144
>are these legit or pellets of wax?
It should be legit tea but probably a lower grade at that price. I would expect it to be perfectly drinkable but probably not as dynamic or complex as a fancier version. Fullchea has rather low markup and good prices in the first place so it could actually be pretty good. Though it seems nobody here has sampled their loose leaf selection much.

>>18538192
>Im gonna have to try toasting my own corn tea later on, its probably way better without the salt.
It will probably brew better (or at least faster) if you crush the corn a bit after roasting. The the stuff I buy from Korea comes that way.

>>18538144
that's really cheap. I wonder if it's any good

I need to use raw turmeric and ginger before it spoils.
How do you make turmeric tea?
I'm thinking about simmering the roots in a pot for a bit, then adding black pepper, throwing a teabag of black tea in there for 3 mins, then adding honey and coconut oil
I used to make spice teas, but I forgot how to do it. I remember loving the smell of the combination of pestle ground saffron+allspice+cloves

>>18538294
Did it as planned. Came out.. alright. The coconut fat feels a little icky but it's drinkable and ticks all the boxes for max absorption of the turmeric for benefits

I buy a ton of herbal teas + packed in sri lanka black tea extra large leaf and whatever green tea is on discount and then I blend it until it turns into powder and put it in a thermos overnight and it gives me so much caffeine energy but also so much theanine and herbal calm not to mention the flavonoids it's unreal

>>18538385
Actually, it was delicious. Just finished the entire pot.
I think my method qualifies as a Chai Masala. Though I could also have added anise and cardamom

>>18538144
>What the fuck fullchea... are these legit or pellets of wax?
Remember that one if china's favorite sayings is their version of "you get what you pay for"

>>18538294
>>18538385
>>18538420
Sounds good anon, it would probably be nice if you tossed the filtered tea in the blender to get it whipped up before you poured it in your cup.

>>18538404
What herbal teas do you usually use?

>>18538744
Why, just for the foamy texture?

>>18537210
>this is a 11/10 in bongland

>>18538154
>>18538192
this nigga drinking corn

>>18538757
Yes, it gets really creamy if you have some kind of fat or oil in the mix

Is the calming effect of l-theanine a placebo in the dose of a cup or two of green tea? Coffee often makes me intolerably anxious so I will have a cup of green tea and it helps bring me back to a tolerable state.

>>18538144
Based, I'll make an order

Does anyone order tea from Happy Mug? I'm about to order this.

>>18538932
Holy shit those are probably ass for the price

>>18538920
It probably has more to do with absorption rate of caffeine. I don't know if the L-theanine stuff has been conclusively proven.

>>18538920
I notice the same thing, im not sure if it is the result of l-theanine or something else but i can drink loads of strong tea without ever getting jittery the way a cup of coffee can make you feel.

>>18538144

>>18538855
Neat, though it also sounds like a bit too much work for someone lazy like me and I usually strain it directly into my cup.
Maybe I'll try it anyway.

>>18539004
Also it's a reason to use the whisk attachment on my stick blender. Fuck it I'll try it next time.

salted dark choc with tea

>>18538144
>>18538216
I feel kind of obligated to re-recommend this now that people are freaking out again over cheap tea. Cheap oolong is fine, I'm drinking the TGY II from this image right now. It's not exceptional, after brewing it a few more times it's more floral than I would like, but I'm pretty confident it's not scented or flavored. It's a decent cheap tea, this is about what cheap oolong costs.

Stockholm syndrome’d cheap tea drinkers get the rope

Buyers remorse'd expensive tea drinkers get the rope

>>18539287
This I only drink tea worth $1/g
Anything less than that might as well be pisswater swill. I only brew it with water heated in an artisan kettle and delicately poured into a 750 year old Yixing clay pot (historically verified and authenticated as a genuine article) after which it is poured into a fine Chinese tea cup inlaid with gold and lapis lazuli displaying a scene from traditional Chinese art.

>>18539287
you're just jealous im refilling my gaiwan 4+ times a day and tweaking on $9 kilogram chinese supermarket tea
the sippening is upon us

>>18539398
inb4 fluroide, i take 200mg of potassium iodide daily

rec me a place to buy teaware in the US, I need a new teapot basket and some cups (western + gaiwan cups to replace some I broke)

Good afternoon to everyone except Chinese nationals.
These strainers have become my most essential tool. Garbage quality though. The first one I ordered had pitting in it. The replacement I got has started getting a rust spot despite being "food grade stainless steel." Thinking about getting that Finum brew basket. Are those the only two options for super fine mesh screens that can filter fannings and broken tea?

>>18539516
I've got some aliexpress shit on the way from "ANPING OuShang Wire& Mesh Factory Store"

>>18539479
>rec me a place to buy teaware in the US
Amazon, ebay
If you don't mind that it doesn't have an infiser basket consider a brown Betty
https://www.amazon.com/Brown-Betty-Cup-Teapot/dp/B003U7SWYG/
Here is one of the last made in usa teapots, you can probably find them cheaper on other websites
https://fiestafactorydirect.com/products/teapot?_pos=1&_sid=c8c30a910&_ss=r
There is also whats left of the hall china company now owned by steelite, you will have to look a bit to find these but they are still being made, i only see them being sold in bulk unfortunately
If you search 2 cup teapot on Amazon you will find quite a few options
If you want modern fancy stuff you need to dig into individual brands a bit, there are usually a couple deals on fancy pots by pillivuyt on ebay
Just don't get anything too old
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304575462532?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234760103955?

>>18539516
You can get these stinless steel mesh infuser baskets of amaxon from a bunch of brands, look around a bit. I think mine is the for life brand but i didn't cost $20 when i bought one like they appear to now.
Here is a cheap one.
https://www.amazon.com/Vaincre-Tea-Infuser-Strainer-Strainers/dp/B0BFHHJYBC/
They aren't quite as fine as those strainers from your picture but they are good enough to get anything but the finest dust

>>18539516
There are also these things which come up when you search tea strainer or cocktail strainer. They are just mini sieves.

>>18539833
Yeah searching mini sieve gets a bunch of these

If I wanted to make a hibiscus hard candy I'd just need to make a concentrate and mix it with sugar that's been heated to around 310F, right?

>>18540049
Sounds right, are you talking about making an alcohol tincture or how would you make the hibiscus concentrate?

Best website to create a wishlist for CHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS. Really dont want to get an amazon "sampler" set when i put Tea on my Christmas list.
UK btw

>>18540249
I was just thinking of a ton of flowers and a lot less water. I could try cooking it down into a concentrate too

>>18540287
easiest thing is to just find links for specific stuff in a reasonable price range, meileaf tea samplers might be a good wishlist item, since it has a normie friendly website and is located in the uk

>>18540314
If you can turn simple syrup into hard crack candy the easiest thing to do would be to make a batch of simple syrup and simmer a bunch of hibiscus in it.

>>18539761
I said I need a basket not a teapot. I have that already. Not buying Chinese factory garbage.

I have a buttload of spent tea leaves, should I put it in a blender and drink it

>>18540567
Blend it with just enough water, load it into a food mill and then drink/eat whatever makes it through

>Top two favorite teas?
>Top two worst teas?

>>18540567
https://www.saveur.com/japanese-green-tea-leaf-salad-recipe/

the directions are completely wrong
use green tea temp water and steep for 1min
completely fucking astringent otherwise

>>18540622
>Top two favorite teas?
raw puer
wuyi oolong
>Top two worst teas?
neon green floral oolongs processed for aroma > taste
super malty tannin heavy black teas

>>18540687
Teabags love to have bad steeping directions on them

>>18540872
You can't handle my teabags. They're too strong for you.

>>18541110

>>18540622
Dahongpao
Anhui huo shan

Anything flavored that isn't earl grey variants
Generic store brand bagged green teas

How well does tea go with alcohol?

>>18541197
Eh, i kept trying to make hot toddies but warm whiskey is nasty, your mileage may vary

>>18541197
my grandfather used to add red wine to his tea if this helps

>>18541197
Lapsang souchong in an old fashioned is ace

>>18541226
>>18541234
>>18541247
Hmmm, alright. My tea consumption has greatly risen as of late thanks to seasonal allergies. I was thinking of ways to spice things up. Thanks

>>18539833
>>18539841
looks like a real pain to scrap the leaf back into your gaiwan unlike the flat >>18539516

I like bitter astringent tea

>>18541606
Welcome to adulthood and maturity.

>>18535591
The smell made me extremely reluctant at first but now it's one of my favorites
It goes good with fish, for the record

>buy yerba
>drinking via french press
>buy mate to make it more authentique
>bombilla immediately gets clogged with yerba
>can no longer use bombilla
Well fug.

>>18541843
This is why all bombillas come with brush

Are you supposed to take the teabag/tealeaves out after the suggested steeping time? I've always left it in

>>18541883
>Are you supposed to take the teabag/tealeaves out after the suggested steeping time?
Typically yes (though some brewing styles do leave them in), but if you are happy with how your tea is then you don't need to change what you are doing. The purpose separating the tea leaves from the tea is to help prevent it from over steeping and going bitter/astringent/acrid. It matters with some types of teas more than others. When using loose leaf tea It is pretty common to re-steep the leaves so it is not like they are wasted when you take them out (or leave them in the pot and pour all the tea off).

I brewed some osmanthus oolong today for the first time. pic related. It tasted way more floral-y than it did oolong. It had the sharp tang (I can't into tasting notes) of a flower tea, almost like a Jasmine tea.

Did I fuck up in brewing it somehow or did the tea makers add a bunch of osmanthus flavoring to it?

>>18540622
of the ones i have currently
> best
its hard to pick out top two, since a lot of tea ive had since starting out has been really good
"raw" liu bao from w2t, just love the cane sugary taste
"plum beauty" mengsong black from bitterleaf, one of the only standouts from bitterleaf ive had
> worst
2018 sunfu w2t
2021 purple kick puerh YS
coincidentally they have a lot of the similar notes going on despite being wildly different teas

>>18542044
Could be strongly scented, but I'd consider the temperature of the water, leaf portion to vessel capacity, infusion time, etc. A lighter infusion, especially for earlier ones in a session, can ease up the floral notes with teas like this. I've smoothened infusions with an alright jasmine green for the same reason before, and it helped a lot. Though, with a much more pungent jasmine green, it would still ball up in my mouth a bit. If you can't fix it with gentler initial infusions, may just be heavily scented.

>>18541309
IMO the way to go is just to take shots of mid-shelf vodka and spend your money on excellent tea to chase it. Maybe you can make a tasty tea cocktail but most attempts are probably disappointing.

>>18541843
Mine has never clogged in the past year of daily use, not sure what you're doing wrong. Do you try to clear out some of the dust before brewing?

>>18542132
Think I didn't wet the leaf enough before brewing. After that first clogging it's worked fine since.

>>18542137
>After that first clogging it's worked fine since.
Oh good. Enjoy the ride, anon.

After taking 250mg now and then I think I can recognize the l-theanine kick among the 'tfw the tea is damn good' state of mind.

>>18542272
I knew more anons would enjoy it if they gave it a few tries. Try a higher dose around 400mg too, you may find it cozy. I take higher doses for my needs and preferences, but regardless, it helps to settle into a nice session. Incidentally, also excellent for meditation. Remember to take it sublingually before swallowing if you want to maximize absorption.

>>18542165
>drink two cups of yerba in the span of a couple of hours
>feel like 6 drinks in tipsy
Am I going to die?

i might sipp some fine BMD later on cause i also wanna feel the coze

>>18542552
not him but i get body high from yerba too
drank it almost every day for months, gonna quit for a while and drink my gunpowder

Spent tea leaf smoothie, there's some oolong in there with the green tea, added some citric acid for digestion. Gonna slonk this on an empty stomach.

>>18542818
>for “digestion”
You’re not digesting an iota of that

>>18542818
This looks really dangerous. I'm worried for your safety.

>>18542818

>>18542835
>>18542822

I am now drinking green tea with sugar and milk, just as my forefathers before me.

>>18542925

>>18542925
anon no.... green tea is not for sugar and milk

>>18541600
The easiest way to empty a mesh strainer is to flick it with a finger.

Is Kirkland green tea from Costco any good? It's like $12 for 100 bags

>>18541197
If you can get this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga_Black_Balsam it goes great in hot black tea.
>>18542818
Add yeast let rise and bake

>>18542071
>2018 sunfu w2t
>2021 purple kick puerh YS
>coincidentally they have a lot of the similar notes going on despite being wildly different teas
what don't you like about them?

>>18543491
>Is Kirkland green tea from Costco any good? It's like $12 for 100 bags
ito en who makes those is a know Japanese brand of grocery store grade tea (best known for their premade bottled tea). Those teabags should be as good as sencha teabags are going to be.

i found some jin jun mei that i apparently had bought and forgotten about four years ago.
that shit is delicious

>>18543585
so decent and I won't regret buying it? Kirkland's products can be hit or miss so thanks for the info

>>18543491
Decent. Worth it when you consider loose leaf stuff comes from Japan with $25+ shipping costs and it's all like $18+ per baggie. Not at all comparable. For its price range it's the correct choice.

>>18542552
Yeba is potent stuff

>>18543621
Nice tea bucket

>>18543653
I personally would not drink green tea from teabags. Chinese green tea can be had for cheap and is an infinitely better product. If you absolutely need it to be Japanese, then you gotta pay up, but you'll at least end up with something with flavor.

>>18543708
its clearly a double glass gongfu not a tea bucket

just starting with chinese tea, wanted to try a little bit of everything, with some of the black teas going to my big sis

if the wu liang raw puer is any good i might get a cake

>>18544374
I'd get more than 10g of the duck shit dancong, that's a lil' baby sip. I'd grab some green and white tea too, and drop the shou tuos, unless someone here knows better they're most likely shit or shit adjacent.

>>18543663
>Japan with $25+ shipping costs and it's all like $18+ per baggie
>>18543993
>If you absolutely need it to be Japanese, then you gotta pay up, but you'll at least end up with something with flavor.
You can get Japanese loose leaf green tea for pretty reasonable prices.

>>18543993
>I personally would not drink green tea from teabags.
If nothing else they would probably be good cold brew.

>>18544407
>You can get Japanese loose leaf green tea for pretty reasonable prices.
I mean, I buy it, but reasonable? You can get quite good Chinese greens for under ten cents a gram, is there anything Japanese that comes close?

>>18544374
Godspeed anon
That xiaguan golden memory is pretty good

>>18544374
I would also probably drop the minI toucha. While those ones may be fine minI toucha in general have a reputation of being sub par. If you want to try a ripe puerh I would suggest this instead or something from Dayi tea factory.
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/ripe-pu-erh/products/2014-haiwan-golden-memory-ripe-pu-erh-tea-cake?variant=12116932001860

maybe consider trying a white tea as well.
for example if you want something cheap
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/white-tea/products/jing-gu-yang-ta-yunnan-bai-mu-dan-white-tea?variant=42378681843911

I presume you intentionally did not pick a green tea?

also don't forget to use a discount code
https://yunnansourcing.com/pages/free-and-bogo

Just bought a late qing early republic enamel decoration teapot
How do I clean/prepare it for use? Should I worry about lead?

>>18539800
I use one of these. The bottom inside rim will get a bit of buildup that doesn't wash off. Baking soda will help clean it up.

>>18544383
>>18544441
I went through the archives and a lot of anons really didn't like white tea, called it very medical tasting but I will try it some time

the ripe was just a vague curiosity as that sticky rice shit had a lot of great reviews, like white tea I will probably pick some up another time

>did not pick up a green tea
i' ve got a bit of green tea left from spring 2022 that will last me until next year - by the way how come yunnansourcing only seems to sell green tea made in the year you're living in? does the stock just go that fast or does green tea not age well?

>>18544471
Green tea doesn't keep very well at all. I'm unsure what large collection of anons didn't like white tea, but they were wrong.

>>18543491
Best cost/value in the low end price range.
If you have a Japanese food store, Ujinotsuyu Green Tea & Brown Rice Green Tea are my favorite mid-rage bagged green teas.

>>18544473
I store my green tea in a french canning jars. I have a large one for storage and a smaller one I re-fill for daily use.

>>18544493
It doesn't really matter. High quality green tea is nitrogen purged and sealed in small bags, but somewhat paradoxically that doesn't help that much either. It will hold up better than the cheap stuff comparatively, but if you're paying that much for green tea it's too stale to be acceptable in absolute terms.

zee green tea muzst be freeesh

>>18544508
Indubitably. That's why black tea is more popular.

>>18544471
>a lot of anons really didn't like white tea,
I don't remember that discussion nor would I describe typical white tea as "medical" tasting even in a positive sense. I like white tea and I know we have at least one other regular who really loves it. If you already like black, green, and oolong tea I highly doubt you would dislike white tea.

>the ripe was just a vague curiosity as that sticky rice shit had a lot of great reviews
They are probably fine then.

>does green tea not age well?
The popular opinion is that green tea is typically is better fresh (less than one year old) though there are probably some exceptions here and there.

happy sipping anon.

>>18544493
I also use canning jars or Mylar if i have a lot of tea to store and expect it to take awhile to use up. if it is just 50g or something I will typically just use the packaging it came in so long as it is resealable. I keep the little bags organized by putting them gallon zip-lock freezer bags which I figure also improve the seal a bit.

>drinking fresh green tea
>The idea that shincha shouldn’t be drunk, though, isn’t coming from me. It’s from a man called Kaibara Ekken, an authority on Japanese herbs who lived during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. In his work Yojokun (Instructions on Nourishing Life) he said a few things about tea drinking (translation mine).

>There are many people now who drink a lot of tea from dawn to dusk…drinking a little tea after a meal helps digestion and quenches thirst. Salt must not be added as it’s bad for the kidney. One must not drink tea with an empty stomach as it damages the spleen and the stomach. One must not drink too much of koicha, as it damages the qi generation of a person… People with weak constitution must not drink that year’s shincha at all. It will cause eye problems, anemia, and diarrhea. You should only drink shincha after the first month. For people with good constitution, drinking it after the ninth or tenth month should not be harmful.

>In case the time here is confusing, the months referred to here are the lunar calendar dates. So for normal shincha harvesting would happen in the second month, which is around April. When he says one shouldn’t drink it until the first month, that means the lunar new year of the following year – that’s about a 10-11 months wait before drinking the tea. Ninth or tenth month would translate to about November or December.
http://www.marshaln.com/2014/09/dont-drink-shincha/

>>18544501
I'm not getting the $20/oz stuff here.
I get 16oz of Sencha Premier ($60) about twice a year. Good enough for daily drinking.

>>18544640
Sure, regardless, green tea doesn't keep very well at all. That anon was wondering why there was only green tea from the 2022 harvest, the reason is that green tea doesn't keep well. If you buy cheap green tea and put it in a jar, green tea still won't keep well.

Has green tea processing changed dramatically in the last 50 years the way it has for oolong? Is there somone out there still processing green tea "the old way" ?

>>18544663
Depends on what you mean by green tea, and it depends on what you mean by "in the way it has for oolong". The answer is most likely yes though, but that's also true for oolong.

>>18544471
I haven't seen anyone call whites broadly "medicinal", or dislike them for it anyway. The closest I've had to that in a white tea was a young 2020 shou mei (still green-ish) years ago with some 'herbal' quality to it, but it was in no way off-putting, just fresh. Whites are what I drink most frequently. They are all different, but I've found all sorts of notes from buttery cracker qualities and malt, to light sugar milkiness and jammy florals. It's a surprisingly varied sub-category, often inexpensive and perfectly fine for long-term storage to boot. So, I think it's worth it for every person new to tea to grab a cheap cake of some samples of a few whites. Arguably one of the easiest to infuse in general as well.

>>18544626
This has been debunked by the science.
>who lived during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries
history is fake news from the past

>>18544663
Maybe not really but now all tea shrubs are clones made by grafting onto rootstock. That changes the finished tea I'll bet. China probably has ladies picking ancient trees still, but everything else is some clone cultivar.

>>18544666
Well with oolong specifically old methods of processing tended to emphasize its ability to keep well long term especially under less than idea conditions where as now there is a focus on very green processing combined with vacuum packaging and use of moisture absorbers to preserved freshness.
I'm not quite sure how that would apply to green tea unless green tea lets just say Japanese for the sake of this discussion used to be more heavily oxidized in the past than it is now. Im not really sure what kinds of differences in any there are in the shelf life of more highly vs lightly steamed green tea.

Anybody interested in trying special white teas should try a yue guang bai “moonlight” white tea. It’s made from a slightly different tea tree species and with a slightly different drying method that gives it a great unique character

>>18544651
Fuck if I can tell the difference from the last cup of my previous order and the first cup of my new order. There's a bigger difference in taste from using water from a new filter vs old filter.

>>18544749
I second this. Pleasant stuff, even in the lower-end price bracket. I have this really cheap one from Fullchea:
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/-p0751.html
Kind of floral-herbal with a light jam/bread aroma in the leaf. Modest sweetness, performs well with lighter infusion parameters. On sale right now too. There are surely 'better' ones you can buy, but it's so inexpensive that I think it's worth tacking on for anyone interested.

Grandness tea also has a xiguan moonlight white for about 10¢ per g
This is the best price i have found one of these xiguan white cakes recently
https://m.grandnesstea.com/2018-Xiaguan-Jinggu-Yue-Guang-Bai-Moonlight-White-Pu-er-Pu-erh-Tea-Cake-Raw-320g-p92359.html

late night honey

>>18544861
Late night fruit bread.

>>18544944
Nice, white?

THREADLY REMINDER
wash your damn gaiwan its nasty
thank you

>>18544966
Bada red (unfortunately OOS)
https://www.chawangshop.com/black-tea/2021-bada-manle-red-tea-100g.html
Such a great one, easily in the top 5 of my humble stash. I was going to go for a white after all the chatter earlier, but I had a yearning for this one tonight. There should be newer offerings if you're interested too. Same scenario for their (OOS), smooth and complex Bada white I have:
https://www.chawangshop.com/other-tea/2021-qiaomu-organic-white-tea-100g.html
I think his whites and reds are slept on since they aren't really the focus of his storefront, but they have been exceptionally good in my experience. I'll post a pic of his Bada white tomorrow. I took a new picture with less leaf to better show the color of the Bada red too (my gaiwan was too full). Pic related.

>>18544998
>I think his whites and reds are slept on since they aren't really the focus of his storefront, but they have been exceptionally good in my experience.
Yeah i think so too, he doesn't carry a lot of them and he seems to only grab stuff that really interests him. Kicking myself for not getting his smoked and unsmoked lapsand tea set last time i ordered. He has a new one this year but its like 70¢ per gram.

>>18544374
i didn't care for the king of duck shit, or dan cong in general, i find it sour. the 2 black above it however are very nice

>>18545092
Same, I've noticed his offerings in reds going up in price/g as well. However, he seems to be marketing them as higher quality offerings, so maybe they're worth a consideration, if only for a small amount to experience. They look appealing from a visual standpoint if nothing else.

Well /tea/? Do you have caffeine use disorder?

>>18545536
Sure, who doesn't?

>>18545536
i only recreationally do tea. amphetamine does the heavy lifting.

>>18544374
As others have said, those blacks are excellent and if you and/or your sis like black tea, you'll be satisfied. I've had most of YS's popular blacks and almost all have been winners.
Lots of people rave about that Duck Shit but I don't really like it, I think YS has better dan cong offerings and much better oolongs of other sorts (it's not that similar but their "AAA" Tie Guan Yin kicks ass, and if the TGY on your list is anything like that you'll love it).
I haven't had any of those pu'ers but they seem like a curious place to start. Maocha can be good but it hasn't historically been treated as a finished product, and you might not appreciate tasting a "middle step" like that until you have a better sense of finished pu.
The phrase "Lao Man'e Brand" confuses me a bit since that's the name of a region... LME teas are notoriously bitter, so if the material is actually from there, proceed with caution. It could still be very good, but be prepared for something strong and a bit divisive. If you get it and it's too much for you, feel free to tone down your dose or brew temp until you're at a sweet spot.
If you're willing to spend a little more on shou, I recommend getting a Dayi V93 instead of that mini tuo, it's a good example of moderate fermentation from the company that sets the gold standard for ripe pu'er. But what's in your cart is cheap and you say it has good reviews so don't let me stop you.

>>18544471
>a lot of anons really didn't like white tea
Curious, I haven't seen that; most tea fans seem to like it. It's cheap and durable so I highly recommend throwing a few bucks at a bai mu dan or shou mei sample/100g cake in case you like it. Silver needle is useful to have experienced as a reference point, but it's much lighter and more delicate, which may or may not appeal to you.

i dated this girl in college who was really into tea. it was pretty slick because she'd just offload all these samples and stuff onto me. kind of a waste since i didn't really like tea but i did like matcha. i bought some matcha on amazon a while back but it was pretty garbage compared to what i've had before.
what am i looking for when buying matcha?

Home made chai masala again and this time I'll froth it with a blender after filtering. This time with cardamon and cinnamon also. Let's see if it's better frothed or not

>>18543663
if you use a proxy like tenso you can get really cheap shipping prices and get teaware + tea at the same time, i got 15usd shipping to europe using one

>>18544703
low qi energy emanating from this post

>>18545608
Not bad, but the blender didn't change much except mix it well. Shit looks like a dark tea with half a centimeter layer of green-yellow fat on top. Used meh twinnings breakfast tea for the tea part, but it still tastes real good and I can't really taste the lots of black pepper in it this time.

>>18545563
>what am i looking for when buying matcha?
It should clearly state "ceremonial grade", which doesn't formally mean anything but implies it's meant for proper, traditional preparation. You can sometimes get good matcha from vendors that aren't Japanese tea specialists, but for the most part you should stick to such places. I've gotten most of my matcha through O-Cha's site, but if any anons have recs for other good sources I'd love to know.
You should have known better than to get a fancy specialty tea from Amazon, anon. We're disappointed in you.

>>18532772
I can confirm some autumn picked Darjeeling Black teas when boiled take on a very interesting grassier flavor. It's worth trying at least.

I tried cold brewing some shit. Pretty much only green tea works cold brewed. Black tea just tastes like unsweetened Arizona iced tea and I tried a few different types. I'm guessing some of the unique flavors just don't come out cold for black tea.

>>18545797
>I tried cold brewing some shit.
you fucking poorfags disgust me

>>18545797
>Black tea just tastes like unsweetened Arizona iced tea
That's not a bad thing

>>18544721
>Maybe not really but now all tea shrubs are clones made by grafting onto rootstock. That changes the finished tea I'll bet.
I wonder when the Chinese started grafting tea plants. Plant grafting has been known by a number of civilizations in including the Chinese for 100s if not thousands of years. It is not a new idea. A lot of domesticated trees such as the apple family can't be bred true from seed.

>>18544726
>Well with oolong specifically old methods of processing tended to emphasize its ability to keep well long term especially under less than idea conditions
My hunch would be that the initial roasting step of oolong flavor was always more of a flavor thing than a storage thing. Green tea generally dominated the Chinese market regardless of freshness or storage considerations. The re-roasting oolongs at the tea shop or at home to purge moisture and improve the taste of stale tea certainly is (or at least was) a thing especially along the humid southern coast. Over time it developed into its own style in a similar way to what happened with Hōjicha.

>>18545556
>Maocha can be good but it hasn't historically been treated as a finished product,
that's a cake not maocha. The name just points out that it was made from aged maocha.
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/2011-xiaguan-golden-memory-aged-mao-cha-raw-pu-erh-tea-cake
Honestly I don't think puerh maocha differs much in taste from the pressed cake. The pressing step was was for transport and also affects aging. It feels kind of wrong to call unpressed sheng "maocha". In other types of teas maocha typically means the tea skipped a grading/sorting step or a roasting step.

>The phrase "Lao Man'e Brand" confuses me a bit since that's the name of a region
They are a mid sized factory that has been around for quite awhile now though I don't see many recent productions of theirs on the western market. I think they own some plantations in the region but they sell tea from a wider area.

>>18545806
How the fuck am I a poorfag? I'm just fucking around.

>>18545853
he is making a joke by taking "shit" literally, but he should have realized the majority of the people here are autistic and wont understand it.

>>18545797
some anon here ice brews sencha, which i've always wanted to try but the only green tea i have is Longjing, i might give that a go

>>18545797
I concur. Green tea can work but black tea turns out so insipid.

>>18545865
I did longjing once too. Similar outcome. I currently only have this "Indian" green tea that has a similar smell to longjing. I just put cold water on the leaves, 12hr in fridge.

>>18545721
i don't buy tea, but i do lurk /ck/ and i see the tea threads sometimes, and i figured it couldn't be THAT bad. it was very disappointing though, very much like grass. i don't have the palate to put it into words, but it sucked nuts compared to what i'd had in the past. i'll look into o-cha and "ceremonial grade". i was hoping i could have some matcha wizard descend and give me the cheatcodes learned from years of experience.

>>18545937
All you need is matcha that tells you how they make it: it should be a good ratio of buds picked in spring of the current year from a farm in Japan

I drink nothing but Sencha.

>>18545937
Matcha just doesn't have a ton of factors to weigh in estimating if it's any good. Assuming it's reasonably fresh and comes from a decent source, issues like storage and aging are out the window, and you do have a lot to go off visually beyond "how green is it."

>>18545937
not a matcha drinker myself but I have heard https://ippodotea.com/ often recommended for its matcha. https://yunomi.life/ also has a good reputation but their selection is not as curated.

>>18545952
Not only is your taste impeccable, but I'm envious of your wealth as well.

>>18545949
>>18545962
>>18546061
thanks lads i appreciate the insight, a lot less mystical than i imagined, i'll do some more reading this weekend and pull the trigger on something.

>>18546141
lmao fuck off!

>>18546141
That appears to be mint, but assuming Pepe was a green tea, what green tea would Pepe be? What green tea would Apu be?