/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Fu Cha baby!
Drink that mulch

>>19039183
I got a chunk of some more premium fu cha production from KTM. it will be my first fu cha
is the cheap stuff much worse than than the expensive stuff?

Fu bricks made in the last 5-10 years are generally a lot nicer looking then the ones from the 2000s or earlier. They are still full of stems but the leaves tend to be less chopped and just nicer looking in general, the bricks look more vibrant and less moldy.
Now this absolutely does not mean you should buy fu bricks based soley on appearance, or that the rougher looking fu bricks are always worse, but if you are a bit squeamish about it you can get some more more appealing looking teas.

>>19039193
Cheapest ive tried was the black box brick from Bai Sha Xi and that was quite nice, sort of a mid range production. I did also try a really cheap hei cha brick that wasn't fu from Bai Sha Xi and it didn't do much for me, actually tasted like i was brewing leaves.
Pretty much every fu brick YS has is outside of the really low tier cheap stuff. If you decide to order some of the really rough bricks from somewhere like king tea mall.
I would expect older bricks like this one from the XiangYi factory to be pretty mellow and not up to modern standards
https://kingteamall.com/collections/dark-tea/products/2008-xiangyi-fucha-huang-jin-shui-zhi-lian-love-of-gold-water-brick-400g-dark-tea-hunan

>>19039222
*If you decide to order some of the really rough bricks from somewhere like king tea mall just make sure you know what you are getting into.

>>19039199
>>19039222
what's the difference in taste though between higher tier modern style fu and the old school stuff that comes in gray thin toilet paper looking packaging?
is it like old school factory sheng vs new school boutique where the older stuff can be a bit harsh?

>>19039266
The old stuff is half big twigs and branches so its very mellow, it's probably intended to be boiled if anything. I haven't had it be harsh but im sure that's possible. On the other extreme some of those super premium gao jia shan teas that use all whole leaves are supposed to be kind of soft in their own regard.
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/hunan-fu-brick-tea/products/2018-gao-jia-shan-fu-rong-mountain-fu-zhuan-wild-tea
YS has solid prices from the newer fu bricks, if you are buying the older ones i wouldn't pay a lot, some of them are kinda pricey on ktm others are priced around where they should be. They really still should be 5¢ a gram or so even if they are from the early 2000s.

You're not listening to me, I said MULCH.
https://www.puerhshop.com/new/index.php?route=product/product&path=35&product_id=110
This'll put some hair on your chest.

That's the good shit right there, gaze upon it you mongrels.

>>19039660
>so mulchy even the photo has artifacts
impressive, very nice

I hate how tea is often portrayed as soothing and calming drink, while actually being stimulant. Did those retarded writers never had pot of good tea or something?
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CalmingTea

>>19039659
Powerful
How do you usually drink it?

>>19039765
I have had some teas that i can't drink during the day because they make me want to take a nap.

>>19039769
Yeah? Like true tea-teas? Not herbal teas?
Which ones?

>>19039527
He's fibbing. Ceylon along with summer flush Assam tea is widely regarded as the greatest on the face of the planet.

>>19039765
>while actually being stimulant
its wierd though because if you drink a coffee and a tea with the same amount of caffiene you wont get a buzz from tea as hard, i think its because the l-theanine in the tea balances it out or something

>>19039831
Some ripe puers mostly
This one was pretty pronounced in its relaxing effect.
https://yeeonteaco.com/collections/puerh/products/2008-ripe-puerh-tea-brick-jinggu-factory

>>19039882
>if you drink a coffee and a tea with the same amount of caffiene you wont get a buzz from tea as hard
I don't drink coffee, but I was told coffee gives bigger boost, but also fades more quickly.

>>19039887
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

>>19039176
decided to try my hand at making crumpets for the first time in my life
What you lads think, good enough for my morning tea tomorrow?

>>19039919
Nice, would eat

>>19039852
have any brand youd recommend for that latter tea? or even just for regular ceylon? the brand i sent is by far my favorite, but if theres anything in particular youd reccomend id love to try it my brother.

>>19040021
Some guy posted this a while ago, not sure if you have seen it

>>19039766
Big cup, add boiling water.

>>19040021
This is a bit more pricey but it's a good value
https://www.vahdam.com/products/daily-assam-black-tea-16oz?variant=39454679466027

>>19039919
Jelly. No on here sells crumpets, and I can't bake worth shit.

>>19040293
crumpets aren't baked, they're more like pancakes.

>>19039852
I tend to prefer the sweeter Chinese black teas. And the light fruity Georgian ones. And this Taiwanese one I have is pretty great.

Best Indian black teas?

>>19040586
assam

>>19040021
Ahmad tea and Do Ghazal are pretty good

>>19040594
no shit dude

decided recently to get more into the tea world as a way to cope with dieting. my fist question as a neophyte is: tea eggs, infusers or something else? any brand that can be recommended

>>19041002
Bit broad, but tea bags should be fine while you're finding what you like. Any preference on caffeinated vs no?

>>19041002
gaiwan > mug infuser > teapot. plus a fine mesh strainer

How do I get over my "cat tongue" and handle drinking hot drinks like a functioning adult
They all hurt and I can't enjoy them

>>19041052
gongfu, a 100ml porcelain cup will cool faster than a large mug. it'll also cool while brewing in the gaiwan or green tea, steeped at 80c

>>19039765
very few things make me as clam and relaxed as tea.
stimulants can have a calming effect on some people

>>19041023
couldnt really tell you which teas I had were caffeinated or not. in terms of preferences, so far I struggle to see the appeal of black tea. they taste like... nothing? I liked the chinese green teas I had, though I their names escape me

>>19041082
Harney & Sons has black, green, and a bunch of others. Plenty of varieties infused with different fruits, flowers, herbs, etc. They're also pretty good about having tea bags and loose leaf. Also I like the tins.
I can't really describe what I like about plain black tea lol. I grew up with it I guess.

>>19041052
Hotter liquids have less flavor, get a gong dao bei to pour into, pour yourself a small cup and let it cool before you drink it.

>>19041157
Isn't it the opposite? That's why they started putting more sugar in coke when it became the norm to drink it cold instead of room temp

>>19041178
Cold liquids also have less flavor, somewhat unsuprisingly, humans taste things best in the range of most common temperatures.

>>19040293
They're easy, quite literally a bronze age recipe

Got a scale? make it easier.
>150 g all purpose flour, about 1 US cup
>200 ml water, about 1 US cup
>1/2 tsp salt
give that a mix for a few minutes, should be a kinda thin batter

on the side, add 1 tbsp warm water (not hot, like 38C) to a bowl, add in 1/2 tsp white sugar and 1 tsp year, give it a little stir with a fork the break up the clumps and let sit until it foams or bubbles.

Add the yeast into your batter, stir it in, then add 1 tsp baking soda and stir it into until everything is integrated.
throw a warm towel or plastic wrap on top and let sit somewhere warm 30 minutes to an hour, until the batter nearly doubled in size and is bubbly.

Here's the tricky part, they sell ring molds for them but I'm gonna guess you dont have them, I sure as heck didnt. It seems like its fine if you dont have anything, but they'll definitely not be as thick. What I used to get a round shape is I took some mason jar lids I had for canning and coated the inside with butter, if you have any metal cookie cutters that'll work great too.
Coat the inside of the mold with butter and sit in a pan of melted butter, turn heat to medium abd pour in 1/4 cup of batter into each mold and cook until bubbling kinda stops. It's hard to describe and you just kinda got to have a feel for it, the edges should have a noticeable drying, but not too much.
take out of molds (may need a butter knife to pry it) and flip to the bubble side down for 30 seconds to a minute, just enough to dry out that side.
Hopefully you should have some nice golden crumpets, but they gotta sit for awhile to develop the right texture.

>>19041052
You don't. Don't consume beverages over 55C it gives you cancer and potential nerve damage
This is why chinese drink tea out of tiny cups with no handle, cools it down and if its too hot to pick up its too hot to drink.

For me its cancer

how do I get iced oolong to not taste like mud

you're looking for the coffee general

>>19041002
mesh infuser, as big as you can find

>>19041002
which type depends on what kind of tea you want but i'd say get an reasonably priced tea set. it's really part of the experience and you are unlikely to regret it

>>19041002
gaiwan.

>>19041002
Don't buy anything other than tea, maybe a cheap IKEA thermometer. Tea sets and even gaiwans make no sense until you know what kind of tea and preparation parameters you enjoy most. I'm sure you have something to boil water in; use another pot iike you would a teapot (warm it up beforehand for best results) and a regular strainer to strain while pouring into a cup. That's it. Experiment with time/temp/ratio combos and figure out what you like.

>>19043189
>Tea sets and even gaiwans make no sense until you know what kind of tea and preparation parameters you enjoy most.
easier to figure this out using a gaiwan, theyre like 7 bucks its not like you can buy very much tea with that anyways

>>19043513
>theyre like 7 bucks
If you buy one on aliexpress and wait a month for it to show up. All the ones on Amazon are 250ml

>>19043516
There's quite a few nice 150 ml sub$20 gaiwans on pctc and ysus.

>>19041002
you vill pour ze 500ml gaiwan

drinking gunpowder with a yerba mate straw today

>>19041002
consider this also, most of these weaboo niggers here will tell you to get a gaiwan. that's fine and well, but do you like milk and sugar? if so, get a western set. it's worth it and they are all robbing themselves of beautiful sensory experience

>>19043604
novel but amusing

Anybody do retailing/reselling locally for your farmers market or downtown community events scene? I see a market for it and I'm mulling it over.

>>19043833
>gaiwan >weaboo
go back to rebbit

>>19039176
i live the the new england forest. any local plants i could forage for infusions? i've tried to infuse norway pine needles before.

>>19044930
Reshi mushrooms, birch polypores, chaga mushroom, nettle, wild raspberry leaf.

j-just one more month til i can buy this years shincha, right bros? i'm at the end of my stash, down to just drinking taiwanese oolongs for the closest grassy hit

>>19045105
Soon my friend, i already see early spring Chinese teas up if you want to gab a few g to tide you over.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304803999451

>>19044930
hemlock

White leaf night. COFCO/Butterfly - 2019 Zhong Cha White Beauty 5929. Used a bit too much material, so it didn't open up much yet (pic from ~2nd infusion), but still has pleasant flavor/aroma notes. Notable cacao note on the nose, some subtle fruit (blackberry?), more refreshing herbal on the tongue, smooth and creamy soft bitterness. Interestingly, checking my notes, less floral and more cacao compared to the past. It does still have those floral notes, but they feel merged in the bitterness/aftertaste, kind of like a huigan. Rather nice development for only ~1.5y. Storage has changed this cake a little; perhaps my tastebuds too. Not trying to observe it too strictly right now anyway, I just had a want for it tonight.

>>19043513
>>19043516
I don't recommend all the tea on their site, but for anons in the US, Verdant Tea has properly-sized gaiwans/cups and etc. Like $8 for a gaiwan, and you can get other stuff in a set if you want. Worth getting the tea sampler first if they still have it so you get the $5 discount code and can have some samples to mess with once you order teaware.
https://verdanttea.com/essentials-tea-set
https://verdanttea.com/simple-white-gaiwan
The $5 sampler:
https://verdanttea.com/five-teas-for-5
You buy it, get the box in the mail pretty quickly, and then you use the code in it for the rest or your order. It's what an anon recommended for me when I was starting out, and it helped me learn a lot.

Is there a way to tell what kind of metal a yerba mate straw is made out of?

I got it from a tea shop run by old ladies. It had been sitting in the store for so long, they didn't remember anything about it and couldn't even find it in their electronic register.

>>19045914
if it looks like absolute shit, it's silver. if it doesn't look that bad despite being forgotten for years, it's alpaca silver. and those are basically your only two options.

>>19044930
yellow birch twigs steeped overnight make a minty drink. it's the only local foraged infusion that i'd say is actually good instead of just a silly thing to do.

What do you think about rooibos? I always found it way too sweet (didn't add any sugar obviously) but today I used the rest for some cold brew, mixed with lemon verbena and it's great.

>>19045914
your options are basically stainless steel, nickel plated, alpaca or silver
it's probably not silver because silver isn't cheap and probably wouldn't be forgotten like that. you can use it for a while and see:
if it starts chipping or gives you an allergic reaction, it's nickel plated (worst option)
if it looks normal it's stainless. if it looks normal but a bit darker, it's alpaca
if it gets a black patina (tarnishing) in places or is lighter in hue than steel would be, it's silver

>>19046409
I've never had it, doesn't it have negative effects on hormones or something?
Knowing how much I overindulge on tea, I'd easily get the bad effects if true

>>19046409
I find it very sweet which is why I like it a lot. Since it has no caffeine I like making huge batches of it and sipping on it in the evenings. Also pairs well with stuff like cinnamon etc.
Oh and it's very efficient, I basically do like 1 tablespoon per 1 or 1.5l of water and it's perfect to me, and sometimes I actually resteep with more water later.

>>19043836
it's mostly cause I have a canker sore in my mouth. I get these quite often, don't know why. the straw helps me not agitate it
it is genuinely a very easy method for drinking any tea though. lets you grandpa brew basically everything, even BOP tea if you wanted

>>19047759
I frequently drink oolongs with a yerba mate straw, it's quite convenient

>>19043918
you're a cringe weaboo, just accept it faggot

>>19047759
novel, amusing,
and practical

damn i want to drink tea but its too late :<

>>19047892
if brewing tea in the best way possible makes me a weaboo then so be it

o-cha, YS, king tea mall, or vahdam cover pretty much everything

In general, are classic DaYi shou puerhs distinct from Xiaguan? If so, how distinct?

>>19049004
Classically xiaguan ripe was funky and had its own house flavor, but the biggest difference was that a lot of xiaguan ripes had at least some noticeable fermentation funk at least from thr older ripes ive experienced, i will say i came to enjoy their particular house funk and it was rarely nasty outside of the occasional fishy tuo. With more recent xiaguan productions say since the early 2010s they have cleaned up the fermentation significantly and their offerings are more in line with modern standards.
Again compared to dayi they have their own house flavor and i would say they are somewhat different but the exact differences vary from production to production. Don't let me scare you off xiaguan, i love the brand and they were exporting ripe tuos to france as early as the 70s. Their prices are typically much better then dayi as well.

Some of these pressed cakes are so aesthetic. 500g of Da Hong Pao for $18 USD some how on eBay. It's either a gem or awful quality. I have a hard time believing if I bought this on ebay, that this is what would arrive.

>>19049626
link it

>>19049626
Aren't these kinds usually more decorative, and not really the best quality for consumption?

>>19049626
looks like a decorative cake that's not meant to be drunk

What are some good online retailers for Korean teas?

>I got gifted some 'fancy' tea.
What should I know before preparing it. Do I just boil some water and put leaves in the teapot, then pour boiling water from kettle on my leaves?
What can I expect compared to tea from teabags? How much tea should I add for my porcelain teapot?
I almolst feel bad opening it, since the packaging and leaves look nice.

>>19048683
ippodo is nice for US shipping on the japanese end
I'd argue a case for Upton but Vahdam is good enough.
Taiwan Sourcing is also ran by Yunnan Sourcing but for some reason a different website, has better oolongs.

Otherwise yeah, outside niche stuff and higher end brewing equipment, these websites have everything you need for daily drinkers. Discord nerds will shill random tiny websites

>>19050738
what kind of tea is it? green, black, oolong? from a quick google I see this brand makes a lot of jasmine scented green tea. if it's green tea you might want to let the water cool down for a few minutes before pouring, if not just use boiling
but yeah if you're gonna make it western style in that huge teapot, 1-2 grams per 100 ml would be fine. could also try making it grandpa style as your average chinese person probably would - brew 2-3 grams straight in a tall glass and wait for the leaves to fall to the bottom, then enjoy

>>19050747
no, you don't get it, you NEED to buy that random moldy tea from Liquid Proust that has "trust me bro" as the only description.

>>19050751
It's black tea, but I don't see any obvious markings of what sort.

>>19050760
Or it could be jasmine, bit of a brainlet regarding tea. Anyway I'll take your advice.

>>19050762
a quick look and sniff at the leaves should reveal what it is. if you have doubts, post the leaves here

Is this okay for a start?

I tried Yerba mate (Playadito brand) at a cafe a few years back, presented Syrian style with lemon rinds and sweet biscuits as optional additives or snacks. It was okay but didn't know what to expect really. Now I want to try it again seriously at home, but don't want to cheap out on equipment.

>>19049965
https://www.ebay.com/itm/255776992545
>>19050482
>>19050483
Even for decoration it seems cheap.

>>19050782
Yeah it was jasmine tea. I found it pretty delicious.
If you want to infuse it again, should I add more leaves before adding water?

>>19050992
can probably do one or two more infusions. just make them a bit longer

>>19050880
interesting, I've heard that they drink yerba mate in Syria, but didn't know they serve it with lemon rinds. might have to try it some day - what did it look like?
it seems okay. what's the filter like on that bombilla? I find the ones that are more flat often filter a bit better. the triple filtration one I have filters the best of them all, but can get clogged occasionally (I don't find it too annoying though)
the cup is just personal preference. be aware that there is a little bit of upkeep with gourds, you should let them dry after each use or something so they don't get moldy, I'm sure you can find it all on the internet

bros there was a teeny silver spider in my tea cake. Will I die if I drink this? I was going to take a picture but the air blew it off the cake and now I can't find it.

>>19051211
trace amounts of chitins won't hurt u

It's the ides of march, what you drinking?
For me? it's koridashi

>>19051331
it's very perfumey, i like it

>>19039176
Yo /tea/
I been drinking tea since being a literal infant. Decided to try making kombucha. Is it worth it making your own scoby or should I buy some raw kombucha? Is my local chinese restaurant likely to have some or do I need to order it online? Anyone have some experience?

>>19051721
Just buy a scoby from somone.
I got my last one from https://kefirlady.com/ if you are in the US but they are a bit mpre expensive then they were a decade ago.
Any way try and get a fresh one and not some boxed kit that's been sitting around.
You can grow them from a store bought bottle but sometimes its a hassle.

>>19049626
>>19050957
yea imma just put a hundred grams into the 150ml gaiwan

>>19051849
Imagine the smell

>>19049626
>>19051849
aren't they mixed with glue to keep together? post a pic of the brewed leaves after a few infusions

I've bought lots of crazy stuff on ebay and they were all drinkable. I wouldn't buy that. I feel like my luck is running out.

>>19051897
Ive thought about buying one as a decoration but i wouldn't drink it

>>19048271
it's never too late fren

>>19049626
>500g of Da Hong Pao for $18 USD
that absolutely has to be awful quality but wow cool regardless

>>19048279
>brewing tea in the best way possible
only a weeb would think this. it's not bad, it's just novel, and usually much smaller quantity

>>19051045
I just hope they're okay as a starting kit as ones on Amazon all seem dodgy and I'm utterly clueless about the whole thing.
> I've heard that they drink yerba mate in Syria, but didn't know they serve it with lemon rinds. might have to try it some day - what did it look like?
Apparently it's for cleaning the bombilla when sharing. I forgot what I did with them, maybe I sucked on them a bit for flavour lol
https://yerbamatero.com/blogs/history/history-traditions-yerba-mate-lebanon-syria
>what's the filter like on that bombilla?
Flat I guess
https://www.mymateworld.com/product/spoon-style-curved-alpaca-silver-yerba-mate-bombilla/
>you should let them dry after each use or something so they don't get moldy,
If it's only to pat them dry with a kitchen roll then after rinsing them out then that sounds alright

>>19052113
yeah that sort of bombilla tends to filter pretty well and is useful for scraping out your mate after it's used up
one other thing that's nice to have is a detachable filter, makes it easier to clean. but it looks good other than that

I don't have a gourd, but AFAIK they're not too annoying to use, should be fine if you just don't leave the mate in there for days

What tisanes are good for drinking grandpa style? I want something mellow to drink at night, but I have become too lazy to brew tea traditionally.

>>19052673
>I have become too lazy to brew tea traditionally.
Powerful
This is why i shill brew baskets to people that want to get into tea, put scoop of shit in, add water, tab basket into the trash, wa la.
That said i know that's not what you asked for. Tisanes can be a little tricky to brew grampa style because litty herby bits are much more likely to float. One thing i always brew grampa style is chempi (dried citurs peel) you can get bags of it reasonably cheap from fullchea. You van make big batches of ginger tea once a week and then just heat some up in the stove or microwave. Cut licorice root makes a pretty nice tisane, i find you only need a pinch or its too strong. Get a big tub of American ginseng slices those are perfect for lazy brewing, and also they are some powerful herb, you can eat the slices afterwards too.

Has anyone tried any of those high end organic mates? I never see anyone talk about them.

>>19052909
the only high end mate brand I've considered trying was Meta Mate. most of the others just seem like a way to rip off newbies, while these guys seem to actually have some more interesting stuff like single farm mate and flash frozen mate
but I think mate is much like shu pu-erh is, or maybe used to be 10 years ago - mostly processed and packaged by local factories, which offer a good price to quality ratio, with not much of a legitimate premium market

>>19052776
:o

>>19051721
>>19051761
I'm doing kombucha(and water kefir) stuff right now. Always bought my cultures from kombuchakamp. She actually has a payment processor, you don't have to mail some random lady cash.
>You can grow them from a store bought bottle but sometimes its a hassle.
I'm not 100% sure this still works. You used to be able to start a culture out of a GT's bottle but then they had to change something because people were getting drunk off older still fermenting bottles in stores.

In other kombucha news, that tibet flame really comes through even after bottling with some ginger and lemon cheong. Crisp with a dry sweetness and slightly smokey. Very refreshing. Using the 2017 while the 2013 chills in the pumi for another week or so. I think the next experiments are going to be non tea extractions in the portafilter to see what kind of post ferment flavors I can pull.

Someone told me herbal fruity tea bags are a shit scam, is this true?

>>19055568
in what way? if you think you're getting serious health benefits out of them then yes. many of them are also overpriced. but beyond that, what's scammy about them?

>>19055568
Usually the fruit flavor is just some sprayed on flavor compounds, but they still taste good

Never made tea before but stole my wifes stuff and made a cup according to the direcgions. Smells good so far. Do you spot any mistakes I made?
Captcha: TNGGR (tea brother)

>>19055806

>>19055806
nah, looks fine. nice infuser, big and roomy, very useful for some teas that have big leaves or expand a lot
I take it the tea is some sort of green tea or greenish oolong with orange peel?

>>19055850
Yeah green tea with orange, papaya, pineapple. It was good but fairly one dimentional. I couldnt really pick out individual notes except for like bubblegum, ending tart on the tounge. All in all enjoyable and a nice little ritual. Youre alright tea brothers

>>19055866
>It was good but fairly one dimentional
yeah, that's how it usually is with those fruit mixes. I tend to prefer tea that is naturally fruity by itself, it's usually more harmonious and doesn't overtake the other flavors

Sup /tea/ how do you store your tea pouches? I have like fucking ton of them, because I collect more than drink lol.

>>19055970
I keep em in a small cardboard box on a shelf, one of those cheap plastic storage tubs with a lid works well too if you can find one that doesn't stink like plastic too badly.

>>19056002
Hah, so pretty much like me, cool and yeah maybe I will need some box with lid (similarly to my puerh's)

>>19050738
you should give it to me

>>19055806
if you have a fancy infuser like that, washing your tea leaves with cold water--or the water you already boiled--shortly before placing it into the cup/teapot will get rid of the majority of the tea dust you see accumulated at the bottom, and will result in a slightly less astringent taste.

>>19056232
Cool tip. Wont that wash away some flavour? I drink cof**e so am not so aensitive to astringent. I stole this tea cup from an outdoor cafe in the balkans when doing interrail

>>19056368
it wont, at least not if you do it right before. doing this wont really impact flavor as much as something like using the right water temperature or steeping time will, it will really only enhance it since there is less flavor coming from the tea dust and more from the actual leaves. if you wait too long though, then i can imagine it will "wash away flavor" (it will shorten the amount of time before more tannins are released, resulting in less flavor and more astringency). im not a professional though, so these claims are based off my experiences and what i know about tea.

what are some us vendors that carry (semi) high-end oolongs? i want to buy it as a gift for my friend so domestic would be ideal.
is purplecloud good?

>>19056853
https://oldwaystea.com/
The teas I've had from here have all been really good.

A tasty hoicha
life is good, for the moment
hot cup and warm heart

>>19056913

>>19056918
nice teacup. what brand is it?

>>19056934
old plant tuscan

>>19056918
Nice

>>19039176
any gaiwan sized teacup on amazon I could get sent here quickly or do I just need to give up?

I started a construction job and everyone drinks coffee but I like my green tea with 2 oat milks :) if you haven't tried oat milk in tea do it. Makes it really nice tasting, least it does for my Tim Hortons tea

>>19056853
I like teamasters in the Taiwan section of the pastebin.

Is there anything specifically tea related that any of you want to know more about? I have a pile of things to read about tea but I haven't decided where to start.

>>19057278
Im not personally endorsing any of the products, buyer beware
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BN8H6Y6W/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09WYHX16L/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B089M85WHY/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0B76SPMLJ/
You should be able to poke around the suggested stuff on those listings and find something interesting.

is this viable?
putting an entire lemon slice in tea?
what tea would it be?

>>19057344
Know anything about the concept of jianghu as it pertains to tea? I read it in Puer Tea Ancient Caravans and Urban Chic. It sounded very relatable, but quite abstract. I was going to effortpost about it when I got back from holiday, but if you're doing research for free, consider me interested.

>>19057278
>do I just need to give up
nooo

>>19057866
I do this with black tea when I'm sick, I add quite a bit of honey and a slice of lemon. Helps your throat.

>>19057344
I'm always interested in further tea water research.

>>19057933
>Know anything about the concept of jianghu as it pertains to tea?
I've only ever heard it mentioned in that book in relation to tea, "Jianghu" is sort of a wuxia / xianxia thing. She also cites at one point "Puerh Jianghu" which appears to be a magazine, but I couldn't find out any more about it. The best translation would probably be "The Wild West", but it's a specifically Chinese version of that idea. In a classic sort of Lous L'Amour style novel, if we said it was the Wild West, that evokes a sort of literal visual interpretation, horses, revolvers, dust, tumbleweeds, but it also sets off a kind of cultural expectation. It's very much an every man for himself situation on the frontier. There might be a Sherrif, but the Sherrif is without backup and the law comes down to his personal feelings on ethics. In a modern setting, if someone says something like "The startup industry is turning into the wild west", they're evoking that idea of lawlessness and dependence on your own personal skill. Jianghu is a very similar setting in that it focuses on this lack of central authority, any concept of "law" comes from individual personal responsibility and feeling. There's also this idea that a lack of structure gives you an opportunity to make a name for yourself, as things shift and change so rapidly there's a feeling that it's much easier to end up at the top of some social hierarchy then it would otherwise be if you were forced to climb up a very rigid and established social ladder.

As for how it relates to puerh, this lack of central authority is absolutely an accurate description, you can find someone who will argue strongly for pretty much any possible interpretation of what puerh is and how it should be drunk. Specifically from her book, she mentions the idea that certain teas are suited to certain characters, that the people from Hong Kong and Guangdong drink aged puerh and that this matches with the type of spicy and greasy food you might get at a yumcha place or a Cantonese restaurant, which together has a warm character. In contrast, the people of Yiwu drink fresh lightly processed puerh which matches their tastes and the food that the eat, which together forms their cooler character. This sort of tension and conflict is very Jianghu. It's not too far of a stretch to view the young sheng and aged sheng groups as members of two rival schools of martial arts. What gives puerh more of the Jianghu character than other foods is the near total lack of central authority. Something like puerh has been made for a thousand years, but there isn't anything like an unbroken line of tradition, the character of what "puerh" is is very unclear. The majority of people making tea in Yiwu are first or second generation farmers, who are making a product for a market that itself popped up only recently. In this book alone there are people who say that only young forest tea from Yiwu is authentic puerh, that only aged factory tea from Yiwu is authentic puerh, that only tea from Mengku is authentic puerh, that only shou is authentic puerh, and that the true authentic puerh isn't something that's currently for sale, that some combination of old trees taken care of properly by the farmers, and leaves processed and stored in some ideally authentic way will bring into the world the peak of puerh which has yet been unseen. The key Jianghu feature is that none of these people can simply tell the others that they're wrong at face value.

Wine, for example, has a much more established authority. If you say Bordeaux isn't suitable to grow wine, nobody will take you seriously. If you say only red wine is authentic wine, nobody will take you seriously. If you say good wine should be drunk the year it is made only, nobody will take you seriously. The culture has crystallized to a point where it's easy to immediately reject viewpoints that are clearly outside the established accepted view. Puerh has nothing like this. The battle for authenticity can be looked at as the struggle to find that authority, but that also is something that is undertaken by strong minded individuals who are looking to establish their own unique view of what puerh is. Everyone seems to be working with a different set of facts and arguing for a different view, I don't think there will ever been enough information to say clearly what "authenticity" is.

If you look at popular (in these threads) western puerh retailers, Yunnan Sourcing, Farmer Leaf, and white2tea it's easy to see this struggle for the personal idea. Yunnan Sourcing takes a light touch and sells a wide range of teas from China online, the idea being to open a sort of gateway to puerh and Chinese tea. What the factory or producer says about the tea is faithfully repeated, and some tasting notes are added. Farmer Leaf doesn't take that approach at all, it's a focus on communicating the character of the tea, the "authenticity" of the tea comes from where the leaves are from, but also how it was produced, the people who produced it, how the tea came to be. Farmer Leaf takes maybe the maximal information approach to tea, that the tea might be leaves, but in it is also the trees, the mountain, the water, the climate, and the people. White2Tea takes the opposite approach, that there is only the leaves and that all of the character of the tea can be found in the liquor that it brews. You could imagine an extreme version of this approach would be to only drink tea blindfolded. That everything that the tea is is contained in the tea, and everything else is a distraction. This clash of opposing ideas and the fight for the authenticity of puerh is the "Jianghu" of puerh, that as someone who drinks puerh you are participating in the struggle for what defines puerh and how it will be thought of in the future.

"Jianghu" in this case isn't something that's easy to define analytically, since the important features for puerh aren't the features that it has at the objective level, but that is how I would describe how I understand Jianghu and how it relates to puerh.
>>19058401
I'll do some tea water research, that might take a while though, so wait warmly for it. In the summer I collect water from a mountain spring for tea so I'll probably wait until then so I can do a comparison between bottled water, well water, spring water, and various recipe waters.

>>19059369
>>19059372
>>19059398
>Jianghu
Is this what you two are talking about?
>Jianghu (江湖; jiānghú; gong1wu4; 'rivers and lakes') is a Chinese slang term that generally refers to the milieu, social dynamics and/or political paradigm in which many Chinese wuxia, outlaw fiction and romantic fantasy stories are set.
Just trying to observe this convo lol

how can I make those soft drink teas like Lipton at home? Mine never tastes like that, do I need acidity regulators?

>>19059398
>I'll do some tea water research, that might take a while though, so wait warmly for it.
Much obliged fren. If we're a few scant miligrams of powders from further tea nirvana, I want to know. I've just been using the same water recipe I use for filter coffee.

>>19059687
Pretty much. If America has westerns, and Japan has samurai films, then China has wuxia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vXo-12duT8
They're sort of mystical martial arts films and they have a standard style of setting. When that guy flew through the air and ripped off the other guy's skin to reveal a demon of some sort, clearly it's not a literal historical setting. You would call that setting Jianghu, although it also implies all the other things that I described above.

>Mulch edition

>>19059955
nice, thanks for clarifying
>Pretty much. If America has westerns, and Japan has samurai films, then China has wuxia.
good analogy too

>>19060069
not too many stems tho

>>19060069
Mmmm

>>19050593
Note that traditional Korean tea is often expensive because they don't produce much of it and they tend to treat it as a luxury item. You can also find some cheaper more mass produced stuff if you google around.
https://www.tshopny.com/shop?category=Balhyocha
https://teasunique.com/
https://morningcranetea.org/
https://www.soochatea.ca/

>>19059369
>>19059372
>>19059380
>>19059384
>>19059398
This is a good breakdown. Anon, thanks.

>he drinks tea grown in 3rd world shithole full of heavy industries
enjoy your heavy metal poisoning LMAO

Is there such a thing as lapsang souchong ripe puer? I want to see the most mycotoxic, carcinogenic, Roundup Ready, pollutant contaminated tea in the world.

>>19059808
some people add baking soda to iced tea

>>19061161
Thank you.

Just preordered some Nokcha and Balhyocha from Morning Crane.

>>19039765
Stimulants don’t have fatigue you to give a soothing effect. Plus there’s herbal teas.

I steeped oolong 5 times yesterday (western style). Two times in a large pot, three in a cup. It still had flavor, and I feel bad for tossing the rest, but it was late, and I was unironically pissing myself, because a friend left early and left me with a teapotful of it (drank half before that).
Am trying to ask, is it ever ok to refrigerate the leaves?

>>19063000
Unless it's rare tea and something came up suddenly taking you away from your session, I wouldn't bother. Just pitch it and enjoy some fresh tea later. Life's too short to worry about minmaxing tea. Like many others, this question is answered with "drink more tea."

>>19062545
Tell us how it goes. I have had my eye Morning Crane Tea/Tea Buy Korea for a while now. Despite the website looking kind of unfinished (more pictures would be nice) the owner is a Korean American potter who has been doing Korean tea group buys off their blog for years. I plan to try their tea myself eventually.

>>19056918
beautiful teacup my brother

how in the fuck would you bring tea to a picnic? where would you boil water? if you bring the tea in the teapot, wouldnt it just oversteep? are you just supposed to use herbal teas or cold brew?

>>19062204
>Is there such a thing as lapsang souchong ripe puer?
W2T has some

smoked:
https://white2tea.com/collections/latest-additions/products/2023-stubb
https://white2tea.com/products/2021-smokeshou

charcoal roasted:
https://white2tea.com/collections/latest-additions/products/2023-predawn-dark

>>19063000
I leave tea leaves overnight in a gaiwan or teapot or mug at least multiple times weekly.

>>19063051
Boil water, bring it in an insulated bottle, or brew tea at home, pour the brewed tea into an insulated bottle and bring that. The tea wont overbrew as long as you brew it outside of the insulated bottle and thrn strain the leaves out. Or go hard and bring a camping stove with you to boil water in site.

>>19063051
What you don't have a camping stove?

>>19063051
>>19063357
>camping stove?

>>19063357
>>19063624
>>19063177
i dont. sigh.

>>19063624
Like a msr pocket rocket or something depending on poverty level.

the lac2b taragui was around $3/kg if you bought 25kg lol

>>19059384
interesting writeup. I do agree that pu-erh seems to mean different things to different people
I've also often wondered why is it that pu-erh of all teas seems to have the most dedicated and active fanbase in the west. I guess it's some combination of the ageing aspect of it and the fact that it's sold in nice branded cakes that look nicer in photos and are easier to discuss

>>19059384
>>19064662
the west always wants the exotic things they think they can't have
non-christians are interested in apocrypha, gnostic texts, dead sea scrolls, etc. rather than the mainline bible
puerh has both specificity and variety
it's also like pokemon cards

>>19039852
Indian tea is the worst quality. It’s always so broken up and full of tannins and half the spice drawer.

>>19064706
that theobromine tho

Is premium assam worth buying? Or is it pretty much the same as commodity assam?

You ever notice that puer drinkers often drive subarus?

>>19065743
vahdam does good assam, i cant drink the stuff used in teabags, not sure if that counts as 'premium'. their smoked assam is max comfy, malty and smoky

>>19066213
and wear birkenstocks, and have higher rates of domestic violence? yeah, I've noticed

>>19041002
I did this. My advice is cold brew a gallon at a time and never use sugar. Look for the Arab store and buy loose leaf tea. You get quality shit for bagged tea prices.
It's piss easy. 2 ounces(weight) of loose tea and a quartered lemon in a gallon of water overnight. The next day strain the tea out and squeeze the remaining lemon juice, then stir.
So far this has been the best shit for me.
But green tea works. Gunpowder is good if you really need caffeine. Earl Grey works and you don't even need lemon because it already has citrus (but it's weird.)
Again, DO NOT ADD SUGAR! You don't associate the taste of tea with sugar, and if you never develop that association, you'll never miss it!

>>19039765
>>19039882
>>19039904
Yes, there's research to suggest that tea suppresses the adrenaline reactions so you get less jittery effects or something. I read this a while ago and can't find specifically how, but there's lots of very wordy studies on lab rats you can find.
Personally, I've been a caffeine addict since I was left unsupervised with a Pepsi fountain drink machine as a child. Tea is the best stimulant you can drink IMO. The only drawback is that if you're accustomed to energy drinks or cooperate coffee, you'll need a transition period because your body is used to that trash you've been feeding it.
Also, fats such as cream will inhibit your caffeine reception, causing you to crash or need more.

>>19059384
Thank you for your autism.

>>19065743
Significant difference between BOP or better grade orthodox versus CTC.

>>19067111
Thanks how about bop vs single estate assams?

>>19067128
The grade is more important than where it's from since only the good farms in the north bother to make orthodox in the first place

>>19067139
Thanks, that helps a lot

Gonna try getting into teas
Is basilur an okay brand?

>>19067349
I think they're a bit overpriced. I remember liking their Magic Nights mix, though I haven't had it in a long time. Be sure to get the loose leaf one, I remember it being quite a bit better than the tea bags.
Generally I think good pure teas bought from specialist shops blow aromatised mixes like these out of the water, a lot of tea is naturally fruity or sweet in a more harmonious and complex way. But it won't hurt to try it if you think they sound nice.

what do you do with your used tea leaves?

>>19067624
compost bin

>>19067624
I just huck 'em.

>>19067624
white or green: eat them
the rest: compost

>>19065743
>>19067111
Even CTC, e.g. Tea India, in my opinion is very good

>>19067673
>white or green: eat them
tweaker

>>19067624
Throw them in toilet.
I don't want the wet leaves in my trash bin, because I am afraid of them leaking through.

>>19067680
Thank you for bringing cha-qi to the alligators

How much business would you guess Fullchea does?
>>19067680
>>19067690
You've killed us all

>>19067833
they seem to be popular with the Russians. I'm sure I'll buy there again at some point now that they ship to the EU again

>>19067859
They seem like a good place to explore Xiaguan and TuLin. They also seem pretty eager to do wholesale. That might be worth looking into.

>>19039765
Just like coffee, it can be depicted either way. Sitting down and having a hot cup of tea or coffee relaxes the character, having too much turns them all cracked out.

Im on pace to drink 7+ kilos this year. Im also broke
thanks for reading my blog

>>19068437
what is the tea veteran drinking?

>>19068493
Raw puer gongfu in the mornings. Oolong or ripe grampa style in the afternoons and hei cha grampa style after dinner. I must say it's been fantastic but im going to be drinking sleeves of xiaguan tuos in a few months at this rate.

>>19068552
how often are you brewing this shit, how big is the pot?

>>19068437
>>19068552
Yeah, I also drink around 30g a day. Gongfu in the morning, mug of tea grampa style, evening gongfu, another mug grampa style. It's pretty easy to drink that much tea in my opinion. That's why I'm always looking for cheap puerh though, or it gets expensive fast.

>>19068709
Yup, that's about where im at. Feels good man
>>19068678
I mostly just put leaves in a mug and add boiling water

>>19068709
this post just got me to weigh out my consumption for a day. 15g of tea and 8g of coffee
>grandpa style and gaiwan
damn, you guys are really roughing it

>>19068823
>8g of coffee
I use 20g for pour over, you doing french press or something?

>>19068831
moka
i cut back from a full puck daily in a six shooter, it was worth it

>>19068834
Ahh, good stuff

I'm new to pu erh tea. Is the stuff sold on amazon complete garbage or is it ok for newbs?

The legit tea shop here only has expensive pu's.. cheapest cake is like 200$ and I'm not there yet.

Anything /tea/ related I should get from Aliexpress during their anniversary sale? Maybe some obscure herbal infusions?

>>19069020
The taetea official store on Amazon is linked in the pastebin, anything from there is g2g and ships from an Amazon US warehouse. Outside of that its all pretty sketchy. Otherwise buy from fulchea or some other overseas vendor

>>19069020
>I'm new to pu erh tea. Is the stuff sold on amazon complete garbage or is it ok for newbs?
it's cheap af, i'd recommend experimenting. if nothing else you'll know what cheap shit tea is like and have something to compare with later

>>19069070
Teacups, gaiwans, puerh picks

>>19069020
I'd get a decent amount of samples when you're starting out, there's a pretty big range of things to try before you need to commit to 350g of a single tea.

>>19069116
I’m in Canada… but thanks

>>19069923
There’s a Canadian branch! Thanks anon

>>19039765
The act of brewing and consuming tea is very relaxing. The stimulant effect comes much later.

>>19069020
I haven't tried this, but you should be able to get some classics from Taetea on amazon if you're in north america

>>19069932
>canada
https://www.puerhshop.com/canada/
These are pretty great
https://www.puerhshop.com/canada/index.php?route=product/product&path=69_71&product_id=94
Any way the rundown for puershop canada.
Smaller selection then the us store.
Do not go for MGH/puershop/zenpuer branded teas, those are his house labels and they don't seem to be particularly good teas. He has some really solid deals if you don't mind taking the time to find them.

>>19069932
>There’s a Canadian branch!
Could you link it for me?

For me its Lao Man E

>>19071619
is that the one from Farmerleaf?
is it super bitter?

>>19071622
NTA but the farmerleaf LME sample I got was surprisingly not bitter. If anything I wish it had more of that bitter diesel intensity. Still good but not really what one reaches for in a LME.

>>19071228
https://www.puerhshop.com/canada/index.php?route=product/product&path=61_63&product_id=59
>Needless to say that this is not a genuine Mahei ancient tree tea per se

>>19071622
>is that the one from Farmerleaf?
Yeah the fall one
>is it super bitter?
Nah, if you push it it gets bitter, if you keep infusions short it's pretty well balanced.

>>19071750
>>19071923
cool, I'll be sure to get a sample if I happen to order from farmerleaf before it's sold out

>>19071912
kek

>>19071619
Looks like really nice material

If anyone wants to grab a couple cheap hygrometers i saw this ebay listing selling decent ones left over from shipping.
$12 for 6
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144046800814

>>19044930
do you have fireweed? leaves can be rolled and fermented

What is your guy's go-to place for bulk tea?

Is it Yunnan Sourcing? I'm trying to look for organically certified sources that are truly good for their core ethics and business practices. Anything coming out of China and India worries me, so I've been looking more towards Japan since they're the most evolved in the Asian world.

>>19072710
Organic tea is a meme
Anyway Japan is probably your best bet.
This is the only reasonably priced bulk Japanese sencha you will find sold in the us, otherwise look at the Japanese vendors in the pastebin, they all have pretty wide selections of organic teas.
https://www.sugimotousa.com/catalog/category/tea-collections/organic-teas/

>>19072710
Yunnan sourcing only carries organic tea to fill demand, the quality generally isint on par with his other offerings, which is probably true with most of the Chinese tea market in general. The market doesn't demand organic certs so the good farmers don't bother with thrm because their tea is already in high demand. Chinese farming practices range the gamut from intensively farmed conventional tea plantations to wild trees growing in the woods 10 miles from the nearest vilage. Organic certs don't tell you much about where the tea came from and its quality.

>>19039919
i could murder some buttered crumpets right now, they look great.

>>19041607
i'm gonna make this tomorrow

>>19072710
>I'm trying to look for organically certified sources that are truly good for their core ethics and business practices.
Good luck lol. Your options are zero to few depending on how loosely you define each of these terms.
>>19072811
This is correct, no one who is competently producing organic tea is shelling out for certification, it's a value add for people with a mediocre product. If by "organic" you just mean you want tea that is produced without pesticides (USDA organic certification allows the use of pesticides) or fertilizer (most CO2 from the production of fertilizer is captured and used elsewhere because it's relatively pure) you're pretty much stuck doing your own research. You correctly guessed that China is out in this case, as is India, unless you're willing to spend huge amounts of money drinking gushu puerh exclusively. "Truly good for their core ethics and business practices" is also out the window in that case.
Japan has the advantage of labor laws and is realistically the only country in the running if you have a relatively modern interpretation of core ethics and business practices. I would write down an explicit list of what sort of farming practices that you're okay with, and start looking into specific Japanese farms. I hope you like sencha and gyokuro and have a LOT of money.

If you want to start somewhere, I would look here first.
https://dmatcha.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEh697_p79I
My intuition is that this sort of thing is what you're looking for, they have the sort of explicit well-meaning founding dream, they're revitalizing a dying industry and making sustainable tea in a small down, they appear to practice organic farming but I believe lack certification, and they're focusing on the more modern interpretation of the "experience" of the product, you can purchase a tea tree of your own, they do tours, they host workshops, they have a cafe, and such. They're also willing to serve the international market in english.

>>19072989
>I hope you like sencha and gyokuro and have a LOT of money.
Kek yup
Also japan is very good at instesive conventional farming and has some of the highest pesticide use per hectar of farmland in the world. They live on a small island and do what they can to grow as much as they can in a small area.
I have some agricultural background and USDA organic certs are worthless to me, the rules are a joke. I'm not super familiar with JAS but i would imagine most Japanese tea plantations with organic certs are very intensively farmed with methods that look a whole hell of a lot like conventional farming.

>>19072989
So basically in other words we are all essentially drinking cups of hot pesticides, which is most soft killing us faster than it should. The question now remains, is tea even healthy to drink if we're just sucking up poisonous chemicals?

God I hate this world so much. I also hate poor nations too for fucking with my tea supplies.

>>19073156
if it concerns you so badly, you should really just kill yourself immediately because there's not a single thing on earth you can eat or drink that doesn't contain plastics, heavy metals, pesticides, mycotoxins, etc.
you're going to die someday, i suggest that you fucking get over it. sorry chinese leaves aren't the cure to death. if the only reason you drink tea is because people told you it's "healthy", stop.

>>19073156
You could try bug bitten Taiwanese oolong teas if that's your concern.

>>19073219
Just because they don't spray in the summer doesn't mean they don't spray in the spring and fall

>>19067624
I know this post was a few days ago, but I'm surprised nobody mentioned coldbrewing. I just toss my spent leaves in an eternally rolling jar of water in the fridge, mixing any and all leaf material in there after use. I drink it after several sessions and time have taken course, then remove most of the material and start with the newly spent stuff. I almost always come out with a flavorful, smooth result, and it has variety based on the mixture of leaf you use. Great way to reduce waste and get the most out of your leaf before tossing it.

matcha makes my tummy bad

>>19075162
Eat food first.
In the formal matcha tea ceremony they eat a full meal before drinking it

>>19073156
It's really questionable how harmful pesticides truly are, not in the sense that they aren't but in the sense that true consequences of their use are not analysed before adoption, but only after decades of use if harm to the consumer or, more likely, the environment is identified. Then they are banned or their use is limited, but whatever replaces them is yet another untested pesticide (again, you can't wait for decades to see what happens). And this happens for different groups of pesticides so each individual pesticide and a ton of combinations of pesticides would have to be analysed. Pesticides can also be taken by wind from one field to the other. Long story short, it's fucking complicated and no certification can help you and maybe, depending on a shitton of factors, the stuff isn't even harmful.

Honestly, I'd rather worry about lead as you can kinda do something about that; plants can't pick up lead if there isn't any in the environment. So just buy from anywhere but China; Japan should be best, I'm not sure about Taiwan and India, but I'd assume better than China. That said, there isn't exacly an epidemic of lead induced illnesses all over the world despite it being a known and unresolved presence in coffee, tea and chocolate so that might be overblown as well.

And lastly, never ever drink or eat something only because "it's healthy". People doing that is how we ended up where we are now both in terms of the tea market and the mess nutrition "science" is right now.

My fucking w2t package got stolen

>>19075506
Rip. My peak vultures got here yesterday and he threw in a miniwaffle. Need to make room so I'm going to bust off some chunks in the pumi to gift to a friend who tossed me a free 2070.

>>19074410
perfect, my brother, thank you. if only you had sent this earlier, i couldve already used quite a bit of leaves.

>>19075497
Taiwan has more consumer safety laws about pesticides and food contamination than the EU does and will routinely not accept shipments that don't meet their requirements.

OKAY I'LL DO IT. I will buy expensive teaware now.
I got a shitty ~30 bucks gaiwan, but the quality is shit and I hate the stains, what should I buy? I found this, is it ok?
https://www.tee-kontor-kiel.de/zubehoer/becher-cups-teeschalen/japanisches-teeset-3-teilig-gruen-isshin?c=150 or
https://www.tee-kontor-kiel.de/zubehoer/echte-unikate/seitengriffkanne-holzbrand-130ml-von-jiri-duchek?c=150

>>19075668
Depends on what you drink, the top one is for green tea, the bottom is in that gongfu sweet spot size wise. I will say i have a wood fired Japanese teapot and it's pretty fun, makes a lot of teas taste more sweet. Doesn't always work for everything but it works for most teas ive tried in it

>>19075894
Tell me more about wood fired, and does it really depend on the tea I like? I like green and black mainly.
>Doesn't always work for everything
How come? Are you saying I need to buy both.

>>19076163
Wood fired ceramics use a particular firing technique where the ash and heat from the wood firing the kiln deposits on the clay and creates those interesting surface color effects. It's kind of like a glaze but not not in the traditional sense.
Anyway like i said i have a small Japanese wood fired teapot. It seems to sweeten the taste of some teas that i brew in it.
Anyway the skinny is that any unglazed or raw clay brewing vessel. Including wood fired ones, will interact with the tea that you are brewing and will change the taste of it slightly. How a particular piece will interact with different teas is hard to say without using it.
I like raw clay and own a few clay teapots but i kind of see buying clay teapots as a separate parallel hobby to actually drinking tea.
Glazed teaware is more versitle qnd won't really change the taste of the tea that you are brewing.
Again of the two pieces you posted the larger one is sized for brewing Japanese green tea while the smaller one is more appropriate for brewing the say way you would in a gaiwan. You don't need to buy anything but i would pick out something based on the way you brew now. Thr sencha police aren't going to come after you if you gongfu sencha but if you mostly drink Japanese greens the traditional way you might want to get a pot specifically for that.
If you currently brew everything in a gaiwan then you probably want a teapot in that 100-130ml size range that works best for gongfu brewing.
I quite like that woodfired pot you posted, ive been looking for one like that for a while.
I can't think of what teas my pot didn't work with off the top of my head, probably some really sweet raw puer. But your mileage may vary since that pot is made with different clay by a different potter.

>>19075668
>I will buy expensive teaware now.
Wow, you were not kidding. I'd go with the first one since it's a set a little more affordable. I think it looks nicer too.

>>19076565
Nta but the only teaset I own is expensive, but it's porcelain though and not unglazed ceramic.

nobody who owns a "tea-set" even drinks their tea. they chug it. sometimes slowly.
if you don't own several individual and unrelated pieces of tea paraphernalia purchased and shipped from both of the continents to pick and choose from when you feel like some particular tea, you are a mental and physical pauper, you should feel ashamed of yourself.
fuck me.

Why do so many Americans seem happy to give disgusting middlemen money? There's tea sold for $100/lb that is less than 10% that price in China itself, and yet they don't demand the middlemen take less of an outrageous cut or just go around them themselves. It's so fuckign confusing to me.

>>19076814
I'm thinking about being a middleman. Sounds like you should too

>>19076830
Why would I do something so morally repugnant?

>>19076838
Repugnant in what way? Discerning good tea and selling it in your city? The middleman does the hard work so the informed spender may simply enjoy tea.

>>19076774
They can be nice, niggerfaggot.

>>19076814
why do you think they have the ability to demand anything? they buy it or don't. the market isn't big for anything other than dust in a shitty bag even in bongland.
still i like what i get and it doesn't cost anything close to $100/lb.

>>19075668
you can also try this site if you want to import some expensive japanese teaware. they have top tier stuff:
https://www.artisticnippon.com/

Any cheap chrysanthemum teas you guys recommend? Im looking at the ones on amazon right now.
I just need something that I can chug down in large quantities maybe there are better options?

>>19077838
>I just need something that I can chug down in large quantities maybe there are better options?
water. fruit juice.

>>19073156
That’s a true tea issue if you mean it sucks shit up. Which is only the case at certain places. You can just drink herbal teas (tisanes) to avoid this issue more. You can look around for better places to by tea at too.

this is probably a retarded question, but what is the practical difference between different brands of tea, but given the same type and/or cultivar?
example: looking at specifically dong ding qing xing cultivar oolong tea, there are cheaper options on amazon vs expensive ones from enthusiast vendors like nannuoshan. if my understanding is correct, this specific type of tea should all come from one mountain (dong ding mountain) in taiwan, and processed in the same way in order to be called dong ding oolong.
so are the amazon brands blatantly lying? or is there some other difference in these brands or vendors that Im missing.

>>19078015
>this specific type of tea should all come from one mountain
in theory yes, in practice no. dong ding is not a protected term and some of the cheaper dong dings don't come from there at all. some don't even come from taiwan
processing roasted, rolled oolong is actually pretty difficult and it requires an experienced tea master to oversee the whole thing. and there can be a lot of variation in the roasting process too. that's why there are competitions for oolong in Taiwan, it's one of the most complex teas to process and really requires a personal touch
so you're paying for better processing and often better teroir. dong ding tends to not be the most expensive tea out there though, so you can get decent quality at a good price usually

>>19076814
Typical markup form the type of shops /tea/ likes to buy from is 100%-150%, i consider that a fair price for not having to learn Chinese.
I keep an eye on taobao and if i could get the tea i buy for 1/10th the price i would.

>>19078101
taobao shipping can also be expensive from what I hear. so probably not worth the hassle unless you're buying several kilos of tea

i found this in the back of my cupboards, it's dated 2006. anyone know what it is

i got this too which i'm gonna crack open now and drink some.
these were bought something like 5 years ago from a hotel lobby in china, at random and no idea what they are

>>19078328
>anyone know what it is
Some raw puer, looks fine so drink some and see how it tastes. Brew around 3 grams in a mug, boiling water keep it short like 3 minutes and see how it tastes, sometimes if you brew it long it can get bitter. If you don't notice bitter notes you can brew it longer.
>>19078337
I would guess that's some kind of oolong post a pic of the leaves when you open it

>>19078383
>Some raw puer
thanks. i'll give it a go according to your instructions, i've not had puerh before.

>that's some kind of oolong
yep you're right. it's not bad but a bit weak tasting, which is probably to be expected really

>>19078409
Yeah looks like some tieguanyin or some similar style of oolong. If its weak you can always add more. It was sealed so it should keep okay but its not very heavily roasted so it won't keep as weel as those styles of oolong. Anyway if it's weak just use more. If you are really ambitious you can try roasting some. You can probably find instructions online for it

>>19078328
>2006 cupboard stored raw pu-erh
I wonder what it tastes like. should have probably lost a lot of its bitter edge by now, even in those dry conditions

>>19079024
it's my first exposure to puerh, the smell is a little crazy (but not bad) but the taste is really nice. earthy and a little sweet and mellow. there is a really tiny bitterness in the aftertaste but it's not unpleasant.
i guess i am a fan of puerh now, i will enjoy the rest of this cake

>>19079125
nice. you're kind of lucky that it was one of the few teas that get better with time lmao. 2006 pu-erh should be pretty nice to drink now. maybe it was even stored somewhere humid for some time if it's a bit earthy

When does fresh picked green tea start hitting distribution?

>>19079337
Chinese greens are already up.
White 2 tea probably has their limited green tea listings up
Yunnan craft already has several greens
That guy on ebay has early greens
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304803996559
I dunno about japan but soon if there isint some sincha already

Has anyone tried the book cover green from w2t in previous years?
https://white2tea.com/collections/latest-additions/products/book-cover-green-limited-time-only

i had the dahongpao light roast from yiwu mountain tea sampler
it's like perfume, much like the "dancong almond fragrance"
very good and complex, easy to taste

I have a new waterboiler/tea cooker.
It lists black as 100C and green as 80(85?)
Does that seem right?

>>19079666
depends on the type of green tea but p.much satan

>>19079666
>waterboiler/tea cooker
do you mean electric kettle?
>It lists black as 100C and green as 80(85?)
yeah that makes sense. I tend to use lower temperatures for Japanese greens (around 70) and higher for Chinese greens (90 is fine). 70 degrees for yerba mate as well. anything else you can just brew with boiling water

>>19079693
you can make yerba mate with pretty much any temperature water; cold, drinkable or hotter than drinkable

>>19079696
you can, but I find it's usually better to go too cold than too hot when doing the traditional brewing. it can get very bitter if you use boiling water. and that way you don't have to wait as long for it to cool down

>>19079696
I admit it does cold brew nicely though, I like it with iced water and a bit of fresh mint in the summer

Tea

>>19039176
new
>>19079880
>>19079880
>>19079880

>>19079666
Yes

Is there a reason that I cant taste tea? I brewed some last night, left it for three times as long as the brewing time, and used twice as much tea as recommended. It just tasted like water. I can generally only taste it if theres a shit load of sugar in it.

this was a really good thread

>>19080034
your water might be really hard