/ck/ - Food & Cooking

I wish i could just store my tea in a cabinet like that, its way too dry in the winterhere for me to leave tea unsealed

>>19334037
been drinking ripe pu erh from a vendor, its pretty good. then i started drinking another pu erh cake i had, and the taste is plainer less tasty pu erh. its good to have different qualities or flavor profiles. Been drinking very cherry/plum flavor pu erh.

these two i'm not certain about. i was told they were 90s period stuff but other than that nadda. construction looks alright, though.

>>19334103

>>19334079
Yeah i try to order around and get different teas from different shops to keep up the variety. With puer the storage can make a big difference and its nice to have teas that were stored in different ways on hand.
I love me some HK traditional storage funky stuff but i don't want to drink it everyday

>>19334108
I think ive decided i prefer single hole puts over the ones with 5-6 small holes.
I havent gotten any with that mesh filter insert you see sometimes, i don't really like how they are usually designed and installed. They look like they would leave you with 20ml of tea in your pot

The discussion on home puerh tea storage continues.
This is my new wine cooler pumidor, shortly after transferring the contents from the previous cooler, seen through the glass door. I'll eventually repurpose that again as a pumidor, maybe for non-puerh tea.
It took a solid month of cleaning and letting it air out, including outside, to remove this thing of some slight plasticy, new bin odors. I never did entirely remove it, but I came very, very close. Baking soda slurry wipe down -> vinegar rinse and sitting outside in shade proved to be the two most effective means of removing the odor. Note that the odor wasn't particularly bad to begin with. Choose your coolers carefully. I rejected another mini fridge after I couldn't get a terrible harsh synthetic smell out of it.
I'll probably put in a light blocker on the door, but in the mean time I like the way it looks. I'll probably find another home for it one day, but as it is now I like it on the island. I'm using Heartfelt humidity beads, 65% RH. I've heard some naysaying about using them, but I couldn't detect even a faint smell coming from new ones. That perhaps is my greatest concern for this new set up.
I also switched over to Govvee bluetooth hygrometers. Their in app graphing of the RH and temp is much, much better than that of my Boveda Butler. The price is right, too. The only thing I dislike is the app itself. It's put together well enough, but I can feel it harvesting whatever data it can get its hands on. The UX could use some improvements, but it's perfectly usable. The most important secondary features to me are the graph quality and the ability to export the data.

>>19334109
i have one cake from HK, its pretty basic pu erh taste. like not bad and was very full of flavor, but after drinking some strong flavored stuff, its very bland in comparison. but before, it was very strong taste. so yeah. its better to have more plain flavored ones around.

>>19334109
like the stuff ive been drinking recently is so full of flavor. what do you recommend from your stash?

>>19334037
Yall might hate me for asking this, this seems like more of a tea purist thread, but what's the best ratio of sugar tea and water for southern US style sweet tea? One of the previous times I made it, it was too watery. This time it was too strong and tea heavy and not sweet enough. For reference, I don't want to go full McDonald's diabetes sweet, but sweet enough for it to distinctly be sweet tea.

I used to be a pro with one of the previous pitchers I had, but funnily enough I only knew how to do it with the measurements that matched that pitcher.

bought some TGY oolong and I've had 4 cups of a day it over the past few days and my tummy is really really hungry I had 3 eggs, two slices of butter toast, a pint of haagen daas, a 1lb steak, half a pound of asparagus, 6 cookies, a glass of cranberry juice, cheese and craker plate, and a juicy pear and my tummy is still hungry what do i do?

Weird. After drinking the last batch of puerr I keep getting this phantom smell of sweet grapes, almost like wine. I know phantom smell of oranges/copper may be indicative of incoming heart attack, but I can't find anything about this.

>>19334079
what's that cherry pu-erh? I tend to like fruity ripes

>>19334495
huigan? some of the puerhs i've had still have a strong huigan an hour after drinking it

>>19334182
I don't have the answer to your question. But most fruits are around 10% sugar except grapes and pineapple (25%). Coke is also 10%. I'd try 7.5% sugar and adjust from there. As for tea strength, I can't help you on that. Measure and write down, taste, adjust. Do it again until your recipe is nailed.

>>19334485
I got it on ys yes, 85-90c like all my other black teas. I like it for it's mouth feel rather than fagrance. I do more than 2 steeping for sure though. Not incredible and not the best i have from ys but decent.

anyone get any of the "tea club" offerings on YS? seems kinda fun if you got the money to blow on it.

>>19335077
I don't know if the value of the pack is worth the price. I prefer to choose all the tea i'll drink get 100g of cheap ones and samples or the "expensive" ones but could be fun to do with someone i guess.

>>19335084
yeah the cynic in me says it's probably just a way to get rid of unsold stock.

>>19335100
I also think something like that is happening for the choice of the teas in those pack.

>>19334150
Looks good, im not surprised that getting the smell out was such a hassle, i bought plastic tote bins at one point that i still couldn't use after months of airing out. The guy that buys those restaurant food storage tubs has the right idea, but i don't really think they make ones big enough for a larger collection.

>>19335480
i mostly just use metal cake box containers now even if theyre a little small, i have a polycarbonate box too that has absolutely no smells but i hate that it uses bpa

>>19335077
I don't usually buy "tea club" type offering because I like picking my teas and those monthly tea often don't save much if any money. Fun if you got a flexible budget and just want to try new things or don't want to spend the time to pick them out yourself. The YS packs look like they have pretty varied offerings.

>>19335100
>yeah the cynic in me says it's probably just a way to get rid of unsold stock.
I don't doubt he occasionally puts in stuff he wants to down size on but a lot of the stuff in the packs was added to the store recently and the contents of the packs seem varied so I don't think they are really there just to get rid of stuff. Some people just like premade sample packs and I am sure they don't take that much extra work to put together as YS already sells samples. The classic noob complaint about YS is that they cant figure out what to buy because the selection is so big.

bros I need your help again.
https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Dispenser-Portable-Electric-Temperature/dp/B09RWFSX5G
does this look good for travel use? last time I traveled tea pickings were slim and finding proper water dispensing was non-existent.

this looks good too... a lot cheaper too
https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Portable-Boiling-Automatic-350ml-White/dp/B09Y3911BQ
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

>>19335905
I don't really have any experience with travel kettles, i think i saw some folding ones before but they were made out of some silicone stuff.
That secind one is all metql on the inside which is always a good thing. I dont like boiling water in plastic

picked up this puerh off fullchea. obviously it's a cheapo little thing so i didn't know what to expect (for my first puerh)
is the bitterness and astringency to be expected i.e. typical for raw puerh, or poor technique on my part? i was surprised at first but it has grown on me over a few sessions as i got the brewing parameters a bit better.

>>19336048
it is pretty typical for raw pu-erh, especially for the old school factory stuff like 7542. though the young stuff is even more of a kick in the face, the 10 year old one from fullchea shouldn't be super harsh

>>19336048
>>19336079
feel free to adjust your brewing if it's too much though

>>19336048
Its hard to give exact brewing directions for puer because they brew up so differently. Sounds like you get the idea, but basically shorten the brew time till you reach a leavl of bitterness that you find pleasant. As far as bitterness levels go in puer there is quite the range, there are some very mellow and sweet examples and some mouth puckeringly bitter examples. I like both.
The 7542 is essentially the benchmark for raw puer so consider it an example of the kind of typical average raw puer.

>>19336106
>>19336079
thanks for the info. i'm drinking some right now and i think i actually nailed it this time.
excited to try some more when my YS order arrives, i impulsively bought a tasting pack after someone raving about it last thread.

>try to buy tea from random chink site
>oh boy my favorite! PayPal
>I hope they do full page redirect and not that faggy pop-up "secure browser" that never works
>tfw
paypal should be illegal.

I guess paypal is protecting me from buying random shengs

The irony is this isn't the first time I had paying issues. Upton's website literally blocked me with 403 forbidden earlier this year, but at least their site had a support email at the footer and they fixed their shit.

>>19336048
>is the bitterness and astringency to be expected i.e. typical for raw puerh, or poor technique on my part?
Possibly a bit of both. Sheng is expected to be somewhat bitter and astringent but brewing technique can make a big difference as well. Try to use short steeps if it is too bitter for you. Also try to avoid breaking up the tea leaf too much when prying it off the cake will help too. Smaller tea leaf fragments brew faster and therefore get bitter faster. I did not like sheng at first but it grew on me and I got better at brewing it.

>>19336106
>The 7542 is essentially the benchmark for raw puer so consider it an example of the kind of typical average raw puer.
I wonder if it really still makes sense to call dayi 7542 the "benchmark" of raw puerh in the current market. It probably was more representative back when most puerh was made by CNNP (and dayi was part of CNNP back then) but these days such a wide variety of sheng is available including a lot more unblended teas. The dayi 7542 is still a prime example of midrange big factory sheng though.

>>19336148
I don't know, I like PayPal. It has always worked fine for me and I really like the protections it brings. Not sure why it does not work for you do you have an ad-blocker configured to block all third party scripts or something?

>>try to buy tea from random chink site
What site?

>>19336192
fullchea, farmer-leaf, yunnan sourcing.......

>>19336165
>The dayi 7542 is still a prime example of midrange big factory sheng though.
Yeah i guess benchmark midrange factory sheng makes more sense then just benchmark raw. I do think it hovers around a kind of average raw puer bitterness level

>>19336214
Farmer Leaf and YS are literally Americans. Nothing about those sites is Chinese except the products.

>>19336235
isn't the Farmer Leaf guy French?

>>19336214
>fullchea, farmer-leaf, yunnan sourcing.......
None of those are "random chink sites". Unless PayPal is currently down something must be screwy with your computer setup.

>>19336260
>isn't the Farmer Leaf guy French?
Yes, also I am pretty sure both Farmer Leaf's and YS wives are Chinese. Actually a lot of the western tea vendors are white males married to Chinese women. It is something of a stereotype. Makes sense when you think about it. InB4 TFW no tea GF.

>>19336289
If they didn’t have Chinese wives it would be pretty hard for them to stay in China honestly.

Opinions of Harney and Sons? Tried their Paris tea and now just bought a variety pack. Very new to tea And didn’t see it in the pastebin

>>19336297
Good vendor for things like breakfast blends, flavored teas, and other stereotypically western black teas. Generally not the best vendor for other types of teas.

>>19336317
Nice haul, you will have to do a tasting comparison.

>>19336297
haven't tried them, but they look overpriced. blended, aromatised tea shouldn't usually cost this much
it's also usually better to buy closer to the source or unbranded stuff from specialty tea stores, that way you're not paying for some british guy to put the tea in fancy packaging and let it sit in a werehouse for two years

>>19336317
Sexoooo

>>19336329
Gracias friend. Their Camomile tea was good too. If anything I’ll just buy their tea tins then store other teas I find in them.

>>19336343
They definitely seem overpriced. However the tea from my very limited knowledge seems good quality. Definitely willing to pay for their cool tins then explore other brands once I find what I like. Appreciate the knowledge

>>19336396
>Definitely willing to pay for their cool tins then explore other brands once I find what I like
fair enough, I bought some twinnings for the tins at some point as well lol

Anyone try cold brewing shu puerh? First time it was a disaster, it felt like I was drinking a moldy soup of dirt. Second time I did some quick hot steeps before cold brewing and results were better but I think I'll stick with sheng puerh for cold brewing.
>>19334037
I wonder if the average puerh drinker becomes like that pic. I have 14 cakes and 30ish little sample bags, and it's growing...

>>19336343
>aromatised tea shouldn't usually cost this much
$30/lb costs too much? what? That is a perfectly reasonable price.

>it's also usually better to buy closer to the source or unbranded stuff from specialty tea stores
How is your typical tea store any closer to the source? Unless you are lucky enough to have a really good local tea store they probably just buy their tea from a big wholesaler and maybe mix some fruit bits in for decoration. Harney & Sons is big enough they probably do a lot of their own blending and importing. The typical tea shop (at least in the US) that sells blended aromatised teas is probably not going to be any better on quality or price (or have fresher tea for that matter).

>paying for some british guy
They are an American company anon

>>19336427
There's a compulsive hoarder in me I can't afford to let out so I have to get through my stocks before buying more

>>19336396
>Their Camomile tea was good too.
Their herbal teas are probably fine too I just did even think of them. My point was if you if you want to say buy Chinese, Japanese, or Taiwanese tea, or higher specifically you should go to a vendor that specializes in that kind of tea (there are very few good vendors that try to carry everything). Green tea in particular you want to buy from someone who sells it fresh and tells you when it was picked (which Harney & Sons does not). Normally I want to see the date of production for all my nicer teas not just green ones. Typically shops that sell lots of flavored or blended teas are not the best shops to buy traditional teas from.

>>19336427
Simmering ripe is the way to go
7grams 1.25 liters of water, bring water to boil, turn down to simmer, add ripe and simmer for 20 minutes or so

>>19336438
>$30/lb costs too much?
for English Breakfast or some other generic blend of indian black teas? yeah, it's kind too much

>>19336427
>Anyone try cold brewing shu puerh?
I don't think it tastes good cold. Though I am not a huge fan of shou in general.

>I wonder if the average puerh drinker becomes like that pic.
Most people probably not, but likely not that uncommon among tea enthusiasts like us.

>>19336477
>simmering
That seems interesting, gonna try that

>>19336506
It's really interesting, it changes the flavor profile of the tea, smooths it out some

>>19334037
where in brazil can i get fine tea?

>>19336479
its actually only $23.50/lb on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Harney-Sons-English-Breakfast-Loose/dp/B0000CH4G9
You can probably grab some other brand on amazon for a few bucks cheaper but chasing a few dollars per pound of tea feels like penny pinching to me.

For the record I am not some Harney & Sons fan or shill, I have only ever had a little bit of their tea before but they have a reputation of being pretty good normie tea for lack of a better term. They are widely available and I don't see any reason to disrecommend them for your typical cheap flavored tea blends.

I guess I will ask you then what is your recommend vendors for western style blends that are significantly cheaper than Harney & Sons?

>>19336535
Do you have Chinese markets in the cities?

>>19336540
maybe in big cities

>>19336538
Thank you for asking these questions. The OP normie also wants to know!

>>19336549
funny how googling found me a place,
Which tea can be good for first timers?
this is the site i'm buying: chaye dot com.br/chas/

>>19336561
I'd get one of the chinese black teas. maybe the golden monkey or dian hong. and the "milky oolong" if they say it's all natural with no added flavoring
green tea I'd only get if the description says it's from this year or at least last year. green tea goes stale quickly

>>19336561
If you end up ordering from them tell us if they are any good, we have had a few Brazilians ask about where to buy tea.
Chinese black teas are always a good choice, also oolongs

>>19336561
and the white teas could be good as well

>>19336618
>I'd only get if the description says it's from this year or at least last year
the description says september 2021 :(
but no added flovoring.
>>19336639
as soon as I try it I'll come back here and report

tfw no tea gf

>>19336317
Oh dang can I come over

>>19336333
its my first time trying xiaguan. unwrapping and smelling all the tuos almost knocked me out. Smokey. its great! Starting with the 2007 Jia Ji. It'll probably take a bit for me to get an Idea of what its about.

>>19336789
sure, take a sip :)

>>19336959
I hope ya love it. I have a few kilos of the 2009 te je sitting around for emergencys. I love reaching for it when i crave that smokey sweetness

I'm drinking W2T's 2020 Camphornought. No photos tonight, sorry.
I'm surprised! I've never tasted a shou puerh that had so little sweetness or richness. Instead, this tea tastes and smells a little more shallow, but not necessarily in a bad way. It's tough to describe. Reminds me of pulling on a pipe that's half smoked, but went out and needs relighting. There's something else there I can't put my finger on but I'm sure will hit me right before I fall asleep. The price is right for what it is, but I do already miss that familiar plum and dough richness that I expect from most other shous I've had so far. It's interesting to have a round, but I wouldn't make it a daily drinker.

>>19336343
>>19336297
>>19336396
bad. harney and sons was the first loose leaf tea i tried (their early grey) and all you pay for is the brand name. i bought from them somewhat consistently afterwards--various different teas. it was definitely a huge step up from teabags but you are not getting what you pay for, you are just paying extra for the security of buying from a reputable western company. overtime i found more teas i preferred that were cheaper or just better quality.
>Definitely willing to pay for their cool tins then explore other brands once I find what I like.
this is a fine reason to buy from them i guess. it is why i bought from them as well. but do really branch out from them, do not just stick with them.

>>19336148
It seems like a browser issue. I usually run Pale Moon (Firefox fork) and Paypal doesn't work half the time, but it works when I try opening it in Chrome.

Why are mid twenties to mid thirties white Americans so obsessed with Asian cultural stuff? It seems like you’re trying to have sex with Asian women and are compensating for not being able to. It’s the same with anime fans.

>>19337533
this image should sufficiently answer your question in every way so as that nobody else will (you) (you)

>>19337533
They're fuckin losers and shut ins. When you have no actual personality, you latch on to one thing and pretend it's a substitute for it

>>19336289
Need Asian guys with British wives taking over Victorian teahouses to balance it out

>>19337533
>Why are mid twenties to mid thirties white Americans so obsessed with Asian cultural stuff?
what do you mean? whats wrong with liking tea? i want to get into coffee too, but i dont a grinder, mulitple bags of beans, and a new machine.

>>19337310
>Pale Moon
I don't want to derail the thread too much but I have to ask. People still use pale moon? Why do you prefer it over regular Firefox at this point?

Is there any reason why I shouldn't start making tea out of random flowers? I like chamomile, lavender, and chrysanthemum teas. Why not dandelion, violet, or daffodil tea? My parents have a plum tree and that thing has flowers so can I make tea out of those?

>>19336048
Water too hot

>>19336148
Stop blocking third-party cookies lol

>>19337908
https://spyware.neocities.org/articles/firefox
>firefox
>spyware level: high
https://spyware.neocities.org/articles/palemoon
>pale moon
>spyware level: medium
thats one reason i guess

>>19337972
not the anon you were replying too btw
in short use librewolf or icecat or just harden/unspyware firefox on your own

>>19337972
not the anon you were replying to btw
in short use librewolf or icecat or just harden/unspyware firefox on your own

>>19337908
I switched to Pale Moon a couple of years ago when Firefox updates broke all my addons. Never bothered looked into alternatives.

>>19337983
will look into these, thanks

>>19337913
>dandelion
you can do this one. i have this and drink it,

For a second opinion i recommend this
https://digdeeper.neocities.org/articles/browsers

>>19337972
>https://spyware.neocities.org
That site has always been a bit hyperbolic. Its not that hard to disable the basic telemetry nor was it that egregious. I use privacy configured mainline Firefox under the premise that it is probably slightly better from a security premise. More eyes watching and quicker updates.

You can can deal with most of the basic telemetry and privacy considerations easily enough. There is arkenfox https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/ if you want to go extreme privacy but you will get website breakage. librewolf looks like a nice option as well if you want more of a preconfigured solution.

simmering up some 2006 CNNP liu bao right now. nice, smooth and mellow stuff at a fair price

I accidentally filled my tea kettle with ginger ale and brewed a cup of tea with it. It's pretty gross!

>>19338490
Here it is in my professional Liu Bao set up consisting of a Rosenthal teacup and IKEA glass measuring cup
The flavour is very nutty, woody but mellow, with a bit of beetroot (more noticeable in the aroma) and a hint of caramel.
It has a slight sweetness but is overall more savory than most ripe, while still being smooth and mellow. Perfect tea for slamming down cup after cup on a cold day

>>19336427
>cold brewing shu
Did it last year no problem. I don't remember the parameters but it was probably 5-7.5 g/1L overnight in the fridge. 2 infusions. I have this particular shu that is very subtle, with caramel/burned sugar notes that worked better than hot. Otherwise black teas were more interesting, more fruity. White was good also. Oolong too. Green tea was trickier: easily too bitter.

Updates on green tea
Overall thoughts, this are all from o-cha, and far more than puerh I am now price insensitive in terms of buying green tea. These teas are all of varying quality in terms of price and secondary factors, such as the visual appearance of the tea, size consistency of the leaves after sorting, and presence of twigs and stems. In this case though, I would say that there is no real relation between price and actual enjoyment. Cheap oolong and fancy yancha are not comparable, similarly, cheap factory sheng and gushu are not really comparable. You can't really relate the experiences of drinking either. In this case, while I admit that o-cha filters tea for quality, and I did not buy any really cheap tea, I enjoy the cheap tea as much as the nicer tea. Later this year I will probably buy the two cheapest and two most expensive sencha on o-cha and compare them to increase the number of data points, but so far I think this is my biggest insight. Cheap sencha is good. Second insight which is more general and require its own much longer post is that you are wasting your time brewing with anything other than excellent water. I made a pot of tea with tap water to test this and it was just bad, any off flavor from the water overwhelms the tea. If you want excellent green tea, it would be better to buy expensive water and cheap tea. With Japanese green tea I prefer harder water, current lowest effort recommendation is to blend one part Fiji with three parts distilled water. I brew all of these teas with water that I collect each week from a mountain spring, which is softer than you might expect but still fairly hard water. I would probably dilute it if I was drinking sheng or oolong but it's perfect for how I like green tea.

>>19338794
Shizuoka Mio-
This one is the sweetest, and I would say it's the most balanced, and easiest to brew. I've tried a bunch of brew ratios and temperatures with this and it's pleasant at all of them. Gently floral, but nothing that stands out too much. I brew this at 7.5g/300mL and 75 degrees for 90s / 45s / then boiling for 90s
Shizuoka Sayamakaori-
This one is clearly more roughly processed, has a lot more stems and bits than the other two teas, but the leaves themselves are fairly large I brew this at 7g/300mL, 77 degrees for 60s / 30s/ then boiling for 90 seconds. This has a gentle sweetness, this tea feels the most powerful. The stems add a wonderful complexity and gentle bitterness, I would say this is the grassiest of the teas, but a drier height of summer grassiness than a new growth grassiness. It calls out to be made into genmaicha, which I may do later this summer.
Kagoshima Yutaka Midori-
Super spinachy, this was somewhat hard to figure out how to brew but I settled on 6g/300mL, 60 degrees for 60 seconds, 80 degrees for 60 seconds, and 90 degrees for 90 seconds.
The second and third brews are not excellent here but the first cup is a perfect fukamushi. I also made this as kooridashi which was excellent, the weather here has skipped straight from winter to being hot, humid, and still, and drinking cold thick jiggly spinachy broth in the sun was excellent. This tea benefits the most from the extraction of cooler temperatures, but I will also make kooridashi with the other four and mention how it goes, if people remind me.
Uji Aoi-
I feel that I don't know how to brew this tea well yet, but it is very good.

>>19338794
Thanks for the write up, i enjoyed reading it.
Ive heard good things about the daily sencha from o-cha (which is typically their cheapest sencha) so it would be interesting to hear it compared to some of the higher price point teas.

Recommend some nice teas to desecrate by turning them into southern style sweet tea with honey and cinnamon
Also something that works well for making Maghrebi mint tea
Thanks lads

>>19338798
thanks for the write-up. I got the Yutaka midori, but have yet to try it
I wanted to buy the Uji Aoi, but they didn't have it yet when I put in my order

>>19338935
>Recommend some nice teas to desecrate by turning them into southern style sweet tea
Java bop, ceylon, boxes of loose leaf Lipton if they still sell them
Actually just get this
https://www.amazon.com/Alwazah-Triple-Traders-Loose-Ceylon/dp/B07DZ4M75Z/
For mint tea its always temple of heaven gunpowder green
https://www.amazon.com/Special-Gunpowder-1000grams-Guaranteed-Authenticity/dp/B0009X65FC/
Also available at your local asian market
If possible you want to use fresh mint leaves but if you cant any dried mint will do.

>>19338986
these reccs look solid
I've only had black tea from Java once, but I remember it was surprisingly good for the price. light and fruity

>>19338986
and yeah, gunpowder is the most "canonical" tea used in maghrebi mint tea AFAIK

>蟲屎茶
Holy shit is this real?

>>19339504
The bug shit tea? Yeah its real, some guy posted tasting notes for it a while ago. Chawangshop has some if you want to try it.

>>19339529
wtf?! time to find that post

>>19336048
I bought the same one, and mine turns out smooth and sweet.

>>19336427
I've had mostly successes the few times I've cold-brewed shou, but one time it gave me a wicked tummy-ache for some reason.

>>19339504
>>19339529
>>19339543

Below are my old notes. I still have some more of the Chong Shi Cha. I will have to try it again.

tea:
2006 Guangxi Chong Shi Cha
https://www.chawangshop.com/2005-sichuan-chong-shi-cha-25g.html

brew parameters:
western style 3.3g/380ml for 2 minutes 1st brew, 150 seconds 2nd brew, and 10 minutes for a 3rd somewhat lighter but still tasty brew, the 4th brew is still steeping.

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

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

>>19334037
NIce cakes fren. I hope you have the temperature and humidity dial in.

>>19339700
i'll have to draw the line at literal poop tea myself. but, well done for braving it and thanks for the review.

what's some good value liu bao I can get from non-liu bao specialising stores? (like Fullchea, Kingteamall or YS)

How safe is cheap ripe puerh? I've been drinking ripe on a daily and it really irks me how there is a chance I'm drinking potentially unsafe tea. I do 2 boiling water rinses for all my ripes but I still feel like I could potentially drink dangerous stuff.

Either my stomach acid is neutralizing the bacteria and other crap or my immune system is fighting them off (is that why I sweat sometimes after a good session?)

I love ripes and I'll still drink more but I just have that thought on the back of my mind.
Especially when someone got sick like
>>19339563 it does worry me a little.

>>19339700
Brave soul for trying it I guess. I thought it was a tourist bait like the cat shit coffee ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I can't get over the poop component to try it, though bug shit is a little less off-putting than cat shit I gues.

Interesting taste note, since I like both hei cha and ripe puerh, I'd probably enjoy it if someone brewed it for me without telling me what it was.

>>19339890
King tea mall has the 2006 cnnp
Yunnan sourcing has a couple of three cranes bulk baskets that are a great value
Fullchea is mostly too expensive for liubao, their prices doubled on all of them a few years ago and they aren't worth the markup.
Purple cloud tea house in the us has a really solid liubao selection, highly recommended.

>>19339896
As long as you are buying teas from established factories they are fine. I drink 3-4 kilos of puer and other fermented teas a year and it's never been an issue. Just don't buy sketchy unkown brands from random ebay shops and you should be fine. Ive never encountered a tea that made me sick outside of drinking too much tea on an empty stomach which causes nausea in some people.

>>19339896
Basically no one knows objectively how safe it is. The chance of being infected by a microbe which grows in the tea cake is practically zero. The real risk is that you are consuming toxic metabolites and exudates (such as mycotoxins). Many of these are not deactivated by high heat or acidity. People haven’t been drinking this stuff for long enough for an observational study to be conducted yet.

>>19339909
I buy from known vendors like YS and Farmerleaf and recently awazon for some dayi and haiwan ripes but I do want to venture into taobao stuff. While I think big name factories are probably sanitary and safe I'm just not sure how sanitary the storage conditions are.

>>19339915
I had no idea heat and acids don't deactivate toxins... so its a gamble each time I drink this stuff?
It's scarey reading about mycotoxins though, some are supposedly carcinogenic and could be even fatal.
Do vendors regularly pull cakes and test for this?

>>19339992
i wonder if only wet aged stuff potentially has mycotoxins, can someone confirm if dry aged stuff is primarily aged through oxidation and wet aged tea through a form of fermentation like i suspect? if true then i would just stick to dry aged teas if you're scared of that sort of stuff

>>19340006
Traditional hk storage stuff probably has mycotoxins, but being afraid of mycotixins is a meme, that shits in everything, any grain theat comes from storage, nuts, coffee, it doesn't do anything. Old ass guys in hongkomg been drinking moldy tea in HK since the 50s and they are fine.
There is a long ass gay argument about mycotoxins in the archives somewhere if you feel like watching tards scuffle

>>19339992
Here's a paper examining wet storage that says the tested mycotoxins didn't exceed safety limits
https://www.proquest.com/openview/6561ed56cf24490f32a71a1b88173936/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2032177
I doubt vendors check cakes themselves but people out there are checking. Intuitively if this is a concern for you, I'd say the drier the storage the less mycotoxin, probably.
As the other anon said it's just another thing on a very long list of minor environmental toxons you're exposed to constantly.

>>19339992
storage is definitely an issue. im more concerned about bugs in the tea because even veggies i buy from stores have bugs on it.

>>19340029
>Traditional hk storage stuff
These are stored properly right? and not like in some hoarder style way?

>>19340029
hong kong is a humid place proper storage is going to require lots of AC and humidity things.

>>19340045
Mom found the tea cellar.

>>19340045
HK storage usually consists of several years in a very damp environment where the teas are regularly rotated to different areas of the storehouse, then when they decide the tea is ready its moved to dryer storage conditions and the tea is stored for several more years to allow it to air out and remove any harsh smells or tastes from the wet storage. Its has to be done by experienced skilled tea merchants and usually each tea shop has their own house flavor profile because of the storage conditions.
This ony applies to tea that you buy from specific vendors in hong kong, places like yunnan sourcing and other Kunming tea shops have a muvh drier storage environment.

If you're the kind of person who cooks their food to the FDA recommended temperatures, I would not read too closely into how puerh is produced or stored.

If your puer isn't frosty is it even real puer?

>>19340029
>Being afraid of mycotoxins is a meme
In general this is the case

You’re correct that in general dry storage is better than wet storage. Additionally cold temperatures seem to reduce mycotoxin production.
>>19339992
Don’t worry overmuch, if it caused serious issues regularly we would know by now.

>>19340060
do you have a link to where i can buy tea from hk? seems like a lot of pu erh is stored in hk.

>>19340082
Hit up my man yee
I put in a descent order with him a while ago and these two were the best quality to value.
https://yeeonteaco.com/collections/puerh/products/2008-raw-puerh-tea-brick-jiang-cheng
https://yeeonteaco.com/collections/puerh/products/2008-ripe-puerh-tea-brick-jinggu-factory
That ripe made me sleepy, good stuff
This is the real traditional HK storage experience, smells like a damp root celler filled with beets. Tastes smooth, easy on the gut. No untamed young bitter raws here, they would call you crazy for drinking that stuff.

>>19340106
interesting, thanks, some of the teas there are like 2000 bucks for a brick.

>>19340114
Yeah don't worry about that stuff.
It's not going to be some life changing experience that makes it worth paying hundreds for a few grams of tea.

>>19340114
that's just famous vintage reference tea for crazy rich asian collectors. yeeon has plenty of rather affordable tea as well

>>19340006
I think all fermented tea is contaminated to a degree. Dry aged is still fermented so a little less than wet.
>>19340029
nta but yeah I get it, literally fecal matter is also allowed in food and various nasty contaminants.
>>19340034
In the discussion it says the opposite "Our results showed that both AFB1 and DON induced contamination in different numbers of tea samples, and in some cases the toxin concentration even exceeded the safety limit by twofold."
Another newer study:
"Patulin was detected in 60% of the raw samples with a mean concentration of 1169 μg/kg, and in only 12.5% of the ripened samples at a mean concentration of 915 μg/kg. Patulin is of concern because it is produced by a large number of fungi and is suspected of being clastogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, genotoxic, and cytotoxic [76]. The US FDA has set an upper limit of 50 μg/kg for patulin in apple juice and apple juice concentrates. Although the concentration of patulin would be expected to be lower in a cup of properly prepared tea than the roughly 1000 μg/kg found by us in dry tea leaves, the patulin concentrations in prepared tea would be expected to surpass the limit set by the FDA"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4918958/

This paper cites that study as well "Wu et al. investigated 70 Pu-erh samples and found that all tea samples were safe regarding fumonisin B1 and T-2 toxin, however, 8 samples displayed higher concentrations of aflatoxin B1 than the safety limit, and 63 samples exceeded the safety limit for deoxynivalenol [28]"

They recommend for safe drinking just toss the first brew
>>19340078
Yeah, of course. I'm still drinking it and love them, but I wish the puerh producers were more transparent on which cultures are in their tea or something. I mean compared to western kombuchas where they list the cultures on the back and fermentation is more controlled.

>>19340166
>in some cases the toxin concentration even exceeded the safety limit by twofold
only twofold at most? sounds like a nothingburger to me
but thanks for the write-up anyway. I'm surprised they found it more in raw than ripe samples

>>19340211
>I'm surprised they found it more in raw than ripe samples
Yeah I was suprised at this too. I thoght ripe was going to be worse but I think it has to do with how the composition of fungus to bacteria changes as the puerh ages. Since raw has more fungus than bacteria, it'll produce more mycotoxins. Ripe has less fungus, therefore less mycotoxins. Does this mean ripe has more bacterial toxins? I'd think yes, but unfortunately, that paper doesn't cover them. I'd be interested to see how much bacterial toxins and other toxins end up in the tea after rinsing though. Testing the tea leaves directly don't necessarily translate to what's extracted in brewing.

>>19340130
yeah that two you recc'd seem like a good order. im gonna try a raw pu erh sample i have at home and try raw for the first time. but the description of raw pu erh sounds like a stronger green, oolong tea, which for those two, i dont drink. too astringent, dry, and leafy taste. would love to try that "hong kong aged smell" or whatever its called. "dusty cellar"?

>>19340392
young raw pu-erh tends to be more like green tea, the stuff that's been sitting in a wet basement in hong kong for years usually doesn't taste like green tea at all

>>19340130
>It's not going to be some life changing experience that makes it worth paying hundreds for a few grams of tea.
this makes sense.

>>19340412
currently drinking a rinse cup of 2022 Zu Xiang "Wu Liang Chuan Qi 888" Certified Organic Raw Pu-erh Tea . very floral grassy, and the tea leaves hasnt even broken up yet.

>>19340462
How does it smell?

>>19340468
smells like roasted rice. makes me think of green tea too. but i can defintely taste the underlying sweetness. as the website description uses the word "malty," im gonna use that too. Its a different flavor profile to what im used to. makes me think of tie guan yan.

Thoughts on the origami tea dripper? I've done similar brews before but I haven't had any jap loose to play with.
https://origami-kai.com/en/collections/dripper/products/origami_teadripper

>>19340477
Interesting, once you finish out the brew take a look at the leaves, i would be interested to know if you see some reddening on the stems

>>19340488
Its an interesting concept, ive seen some other ceramics designed for a sort of tea pourover but i think it is more likely to work/make sense in the context of Japanese greens. It would be interesting to compare the results to typical brewing in a Japanese teapot.
It does seem to add a lot of emphasis on technique and careful pouring that im not sure i would want to add to my tea brewing experience, but some people are into that sort of thing.

>>19340492
i broke out a 2cm x 1m flat piece and on 2nd steeping it hasnt broken up yet. but i see red on the stems. why? but yeah, this raw pu erh defintely is like what i kinda of expected it to taste. i assume people drink this so they can have a fermented oolong or fermented green tea lol.

>>19340506
actually read up on raw pu erh, and yeah, the mouth feel is thicker than green tea.

>>19340034
>Here's a paper examining wet storage that says the tested mycotoxins didn't exceed safety limits

The paper is a bit more nuanced than that.

>Results: We found that all tea samples were safe regarding FB1 and T-2 toxin (safety limit, 1 mg/kg and 0.1x10 -3 mg/kg,
respectively). However, 8 out of 70 samples displayed higher AFB1 concentrations compared to the safety limit (5x10 -3
mg/kg). Surprisingly, 63 out of 70 samples have exceeded the safety limit for DON (1 mg/kg).

>Conclusion: Our survey was the first time to find AFB 1 and DON contaminations in the wet stored Pu-erh tea in this tea
market. Although the FB 1 and T-2 toxin in these tea samples has not yet exceeded the safety limits, they were still
detectable, which should cause more concern.

>>19340510
>but i see red on the stems. why?
It gives some hints about the processing of the tea, i usually means the tea had a somewhat longer fermentation process then typical. It tends to introduce more of those malty type flavors into a tea and give it some degree of a black tea aspect. I was just curious because of how you described the taste

>>19340757
interesting about the red stem part. on the 3rd steeping, the leaves opened up and it tastes like a tie guan yen. i think im gonna pass on a raw pu erh cake. its literally too similar to tie guan yen

Newfag /tea/pleb here. Bought a bunch of loose leaf and have been using my coffee machine. Then It struck me. I can brew the tea with milk.... and make milk tea. So I heated up a pot of milk, sugar, and tea. Now, I'm straining it out. Big fan of Sangaria Royal Milk Tea so I'm curious on how this turns out. There's a coffee filter in the funnel so none of the tea leaves are remaining in the milk.

>>19339896
>How safe is cheap ripe puerh?
If you are buying from any even vaguely reputable factory probably as safe as any other ripe puerh. Maybe the big factories are better but it is hard to say.

>Either my stomach acid is neutralizing the bacteria and other crap or my immune system is fighting them off
Living bacteria or fungus is not generally what you have to be worried about. Most microorganisms cant infect healthy humans except those that are adapted to it and already live on animals. Hence raw meat and poop are dangerous but raw vegetables are not (unless contaminated with the above). The bigger concern is the toxins that microorganisms can produce, many of which are not going to be broken down by boiling water. The other concern is pesticides and heavy metals. Again probably not broken down by boiling water.

>>19339992
>not sure how sanitary the storage conditions are.
Unless they are spraying your tea with poop or pesticides it should be fine.

>Do vendors regularly pull cakes and test for this?
Some of the big factories may but as far as I know they don't advertise it. There is one Japanese company that makes a shou style tea with koji yeast that claims not to have any because they use a controlled strain for fermentation instead of a wild ferment.
https://www.y-nadesiko.jp/yamabuki_english.pdf

>>19340042
>im more concerned about bugs in the tea
Bugs are mostly harmless though. I think a bug bitten wrapper on a well aged cake can add character.

>>19340166
>They recommend for safe drinking just toss the first brew
And provide no evidence or citation in the paper to support that "washing" is effective.

Can I clean out a clay teapot that had mold in it at one point? What would be the best way?

It’s just hot leaf juice

>>19341605
>And provide no evidence or citation in the paper to support that "washing" is effective.
for washing or rinsing, i just do it for dust and dirt and those type of things, cause maybe the tea leaves were put on a table or a floor, and who knows how clean those are. Kind of like washing new bought clothes because they might have fallen on the floor.

>>19341655
>Can I clean out a clay teapot that had mold in it at one point?
Yes its reasonably easy, start by soaking in a 1/4 white vinegar and water solution. If that doesn't work soak it in dilute bleach, just make sure it's not thickened bleech and that it isnt scented or anything like that, yes really, yes its fine.
This guy writes about it somewhere
https://marshaln.com/?s=Teapot

>>19341369
>have been using my coffee machine
what? what do you mean? you should not be putting the loose tea where your coffee grounds would normally go if you are using a drip coffee machine or something
>leaves cant expand properly
>not long enough of a steeping time
>tea will not only many end up more astringent and bitter for the above reasons, but also because the water may concentrate in one area more than others, allowing more tannins to be released into your tea
not saying it is required you make tea the way everyone else does but i suggest you try anything else as it may improve the taste of your tea and you may prefer it

>>19339896
>>19341605
speaking of this, should I rinse my liu bao before I boil it?
and is boiling tea dangerous in general?

>>19341790
But it is the highest quality and most interesting leaf and juice.

>>19342256
>and is boiling tea dangerous in general?
boiling tea isnt dangerous in general. tea shops that make milk tea tend to boil their teas to make it stronger to stand up against the milk.

can't wait for my Awazon order to arrive

>>19340166
>In the discussion it says the opposite
>>19340628
>The paper is a bit more nuanced than that.

serves me right for only reading the abstract. nice to talk about something like this level-headedly however.

Where can I buy good blooming teas without having my wallet emptied?

I rarely see whites mentioned here so I'm going to review this 2018 Jing Gu white pekoe silver needles I got from yunnan sourcing. The leaf quality is good, with large intact buds; there is some breakage and a few buds show signs of oxidation but these are few in number. The aroma is sweet and floral with a hint of citrus aroma, like magnolia blossom. The flavor is sweet, delicate floral taste, delicate citrus taste, reminds me of asian pears. Brew color is a light tan. 1st infusion at 5 minutes, then 7m, 9m, 11m, 14m, 19m, 24m, 30m, with a cheeky final cold water steep that I'll let sit for a few hours.

Overall, I rate this tea a "good" out of a possible "very good", downgraded for leaf quality. I'd like to add more whites to my collection.

>>19343182
whites dont taste good. used to drink shou mei, and have some generic white tea bags i bought off amazon.

>>19343193
Whites are my favorite, I adore bai mudan and might just kill myself without it

>>19343193
I'm not into white tea, but some shou mei and shitty white tea bags off amazon don't seem like enough of a basis to judge all of white tea. at least try silver needles or something

>>19343203
i know enough about teas as in like base flavors and profiles. If the tea is too light colored and floral, i aint gonna put up with astringency. I dont mind it in a ceylon tea, or a black tea with milk. but in a light colored tea, no thanks.

>>19343204
>a basis to judge all of white tea
but cheap tea provides a base flavor. and whats wrong with shou mei?

>>19343246
nothing, it just isn't particularly similar to the bud white teas. it's like judging Wuyi oolong on the basis of only drinking unroasted Tie Guan Yin

what tea should i get for my gaiwan if i am used to drinking strong ctc black tea from my teapot without milk? as in, what is something similar?

>>19343330
you could try some chinese black teas. and pu-erh could provide a similar strenght of flavor, raw in the astringent and bitter direction, ripe in the dark and thick. I'm guessing you don't just want more CTC blacks

>>19342256
>speaking of this, should I rinse my liu bao before I boil it?
I dont, boiling it tends to take the edge off any storage odors so i don't find it necessary to rinse it first.
There is no risk to boiling tea.

>>19343330
Some loose leaf assam from vahdam
https://www.vahdam.com/products/daily-assam-black-tea-12oz?variant=39454679466027
Or this dian hong classic 58 Chinese black tea, it's on the more malty side of the spectrum for Chinese teas.

I had some tea after lunch. An Asian grocery store Temple of Heaven Special Gunpowder. It was nearly tasteless, but anything you can taste is awful. I remember disliking a high quality gunpowder a long time ago, but not thinking it was awful. Is it dank because its supposed to go with mint?

>>19343669
Gunpowder tea is kinda Smokey, its not fancy and its usually not super fresh, some people like that it's a little rough around the edges and some people think is gross. You can try rinsing the leaves in some hot water for 10-20 seconds before brewing and see if that helps, also keep the brew pretty short, like 3 minutes or so. Don't keep the leaves in the water for ages.

>>19343669
Also usually with mint tea you are using a lot of mint and a good portion of sugar which helps to smooth things out a bit. So it works a bit better

>>19334037
I bet I could store pureh like that in florida lmao although then you'd have to deal with bugs

One month without any shipping updates...
Feels bad man

>>19343971
and TEENS on spring break, amirte?

>>19343993
whats your address

>>19344270
Why do you want to know?

What's some really good matcha to buy while the yen is down? I want to try all flavor profiles except extreme bitter.

>>19343971
I'm going to do a Florida on-the-beach aged puerh experiment. Some inside, some in a garage. I expect failure but I'm doing it anyway.

What if I just want a really strong English Breakfast tea to drink in the mornings to LARP as an Englishman? wto
I'm going in blind pls help

>>19344795
yorkshire gold, its are made to be drank with milk, so its rough on its own

anyone tried aged oolongs? noticed a lot of the flavours on the colourwheel reference aged oolongs so probably worth trying,
found this fairly cheap one on taiwanteacrafts also but im probably waiting for new 2023 shengs instead:
https://www.taiwanteacrafts.com/product/2010-songboling-aged-oolong-tea/?v=c2f3f489a005

>>19345022
I haven't tried any, but I've noticed Fullchea has some really cheap aged oolong. I wonder if it's any good.
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/products/2009-aged-tea-anxi-tieguanyin-roasted-tie-guan-yin-chinese-tiekuanyin-oolong-tea-250g

>>19344513
https://www.o-cha.com/matcha-powdered-green-tea/koicha-matcha-manten.html
https://www.o-cha.com/matcha-powdered-green-tea/uji-matcha-taiko-san.html

>>19344756
please post about how it goes, ive seen a lot of people discuss it but seems like no one has posted long term florida storage results, not even mentioning that it failed or anything either

>>19345499
Absolutely. I promise I will.
It's understandable why someone might not report back. We're talking a timeline that is at bare minimum one year. Anything could happen between then and now. It's also possible you simply missed it. In my case, it will probably also be on a blog for posterity, but I'll post here about it here in addition.
In the mean time, I'd welcome feedback on what I had in mind: I have senpai in Florida, right on the A1A in a quality condo on the beach. It's pretty well conditioned in there and maintained at 45-55% RH year-round. They also have a brutally hot garage but its well protected from the elements. I was thinking about two cakes inside the condo, two in the garage, two in my pumidor (very far away) as something of a control group.
I'm able to get down there maybe once or twice a year, where I would bring some samples from my control group and then A/B/C test all of it.
As for the tea itself, 7542 makes sense but it's a little pricey. I'm not against some Xiaguan tuos or maybe something from Mengku Rongshi.

the Dayi lao cha tou is hitting good today. chocolaty, sweet and very thick
I'm almost out. any other lao cha tou worth trying? preferably ones that won't break the bank

Anyone have any experience with Fullchea brand?

>>19335480
>The guy that buys those restaurant food storage tubs has the right idea
Funnily enough, I'm also the one who's been pestering winecooleranon to switch to Heartfelt and Sensorpush/Govee.
>make ones big enough for a larger collection
My strat with the 18L cambros was they're cheap, they're available, and they stack. Super easy to scale if you fuck up and order too much tea or wanted an extra to mess around with different rh storage. I've done good so far at keeping myself restricted to one.
>>19334150
Looking good anon, glad you've made some progress.
>>19340506
I'll have to fuck around with it more. I've got some cheap old taiwanese green to burn through.

>>19346266
you mean the store and their loose leaf offerings?
I liked the Jin Xuan quite a bit, it's nice value. very milky and buttery. the Dancong was okay
they're mostly a good place to buy factory pu-erh. they tend to have pretty good prices

>>19346301
I thought it was a brand? It's also a store too?

someone mind telling me a good ripe pu-erh with lots of complexity?

>>19346313
it literally says "visit the FullChea store"

>>19346105
>preferably ones that won't break the bank
Favorite lao cha tou ever was a lao man e sample from YS ripe pack. Second one is from CLT. A bit expensive, unfortunately.

>>19346313
They are more known as a store than a brand. They don't grow or commission their own tea as far as I know. They also don't seem like the kind of store that directly sources from small farmers either. That black tea is something they probably bought wholesale and are now selling to you. Think of it like buying a bag of apples at Walmart, just because the bag may say Walmart does not mean they are really Walmart brand apples per say. Walmart probably just bought those apples wholesale somewhere and repackaged it. Tea is a lot like buying produce some of it is branded but a lot of it is sold semi-generically through wholesalers. Most of the tea Fullchea sells is either branded factory stuff or ships in generic bags. They did not used to put their name on the package. My guess is that they may have made some nicer packaging to help them sell on Amazon. Picture on the left is their typical packaging.

Here is their site
https://www.fullchea-tea.com/

>>19346420
Very hard to trust Chinese companies.

Their culture is too segregated from the rest of the world which concerns me. They're the kind of culture that has no problem dumping depleted uranium on their tea crops and selling it.

>>19346430
>eastern corrupt companies
:I
>western corrupt companies
:O

>>19346430
>They're the kind of culture that has no problem dumping depleted uranium on their tea crops and selling it.

It happens too. Thats the only way to reach the legendary AAAAAA grade tea. Something in the uranium gives the tea a level of quality you couldn't achieve otherwise. Toxic as hell of course but worth it to try at least once

>>19346430
>dumping depleted uranium
Hey Uranium is too valuable to just throw away
https://www.statista.com/statistics/260005/monthly-uranium-price/

>>19346452
>AAAAAA grade tea
I wonder if the Chinese interpret that as sounding as silly as native English speakers do.

>>19346355
maybe hard to find ripes with complexity but consider try a traditionally aged one, something like these from yeeon:
https://yeeonteaco.com/products/best-taste-ripe-puerh-loose-tea?_pos=1&_sid=98c3fad66&_ss=r
https://yeeonteaco.com/collections/puerh/products/2008-ripe-puerh-tea-brick-jinggu-factory
probably not the most complex and long lasting but the notes from the storage add a lot to the tea.
if you live in europe consider trying some of moychay's ripes, they are quite unique but seem to very woody compared to most standard factory ripes, super cheap too.
i also think white2tea's ripes are pretty interesting but maybe not so much more than the average.

any of you have experience or advice with pairing teas with tobacco? I enjoy a pipe of cigar from time to time and I'm just starting now to get into teas. have been thinking if it can be compatible at all, which is probably a very general and moot question considering the huge number of varieties of both tea and tobacco

>>19336477
that seems like a lot of water

>>19346536
no idea if tea would pair well with tobacco. my uneducated guess is it could pair well with the strong, dark flavors and thick body of ripe pu-erh
maybe the sharp astringency and bitterness of raw pu-erh could work as well. there is also some smoked black tea on the market, like lapsang souchong or that one they've started making in Malawi

>>19346537
>that seems like a lot of water
Try it, ive done it with more leaf and it ends up too strong

coldbrew green tea in summer is so nice
been drinking about a litre a day for a week

https://www.o-cha.com/organic-hojicha.html
Anyone tried this? I've never had hojicha before.

>>19346536
I don't smoke regularly, but when I do I always end up thinking about Earl Grey for some reason., so maybe.

>>19336477
Tried this out, and found that it works very well for (unsweetened) ice tea.

>>19346729
but how much tea leaves are u using?

>>19347517
15-20g per litre

>>19347536
>15-20g per litre
interesting. im still doing 5grams per like 100 ml. 30 seconds steep. might just start doing 1 minute steeps.

Am I brewing my tea too strong?
I'm doing 6-7g of tea in my 100ml gaiwan but I end up using only 50-60ml of water in brewing

>>19347615
>Am I brewing my tea too strong?
Not if you like your tea the way you make it. I tend to use 7-8g/100ml but I have used more tea somtimes.

>>19344470
sowe can be friends

>>19344470
sowe can be friends

>>19347112
yeah i've had that one, very strong definitely worth it for the price if you havent tried hojicha yet
hojicha is a type of green tea thats roasted after steaming (like roasted sencha), usually pretty low quality leaves so thats why its so cheap, you can make it at home also if you have sencha thats getting a little stale

>>19346549
>>19347220
thanks for the input anons. oddly enough when I usually pair my beverages with smoke sessions I tend to pick mostly opposite flavour profiles to what I'm smoking, in order to refresh the tastebuds and my mouth. ordered myself a gaiwan and some samples and very much looking forward to trying it all out

>>19347543
it's coldbrew, so it's in cold water in the fridge overnight, wouldn't apply any lessons to hot extractions

>>19346729
Never actually done cold brew, do you just use any old green?

>>19348613
yeah pretty much. best batch i've had has been sencha for 6-8 hours, but i usually just use good quality tea for hot stuff and whatever i have spare for cold since i find the flavours a bit lighter and less intense.

What is your opinion on portioning regular tea into teabags ?
I have been using them for a while and convenience is great, even taking it to work is an option now.

>>19348734
These plastic bags are filled with microplastics, I would avoid at all costs.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5295662

>>19348734
With the amount of estrogens leaking from these plastic bags you could as well just chop your dick off, same result.

>>19348734
I think a steel mesh basket is more convenient personally

I bought this cheap borosilicate teapot from H Mart so I could brew about four cups of tea at a time. There's one catch though, the lid fits the metal diffuser and not the actual pot, so if I want to have the lid on the pot, I have to have the diffuser attached. I also like to steep 2 or 3 times so just throwing the leaves out after brewing seems wasteful. Would it be preferable to leave the diffuser with leaves attached after brewing or to simply remove the lid entirely before serving?

>>19348734
i'd just take a jam jar filled with tea and eyeball it

>>19348991
>leave the diffuser with leaves attached after brewing
a lot of chinese brew like this, refilling with water once its 1/3 full, i used to use a small glass tea pot that's the same, id take the brew basket out and the lid only just sit in the opening

>>19349086
Thanks for the info. It's a Chinese pot so that makes sense. Their leaves are just constantly steeping though? I would take the basket out but the lid falls straight through without it.

>>19349125
>constantly steeping
yeah thats how they do it, i guess after a while the water becomes super saturated and cant dissolve any more flavour

>>19348991
I have something like that I have been using to make mint green tea for a few months. The diffuser is removable from the collar that the lid sits in though. I don't really use it in that way, usually I do three steeps back to back in the morning and empty it all into a 2 liter glass jar (reused pickle jar). Throw it in the fridge and that's my tea for the day.

>>19337533
Let me share some wisdom with you, this ancient passage was recited to me by my Tea Master, Poo Erh Tee, who translated this from sealscript (he happened to know it since he's an ancient vampire or something)
Ahem:
>Xie xie xie, a mocking jay butterfly whom searches for food near the streetlamp, truly hungry. Aiieeee.
After some cross referencing with shaolin monk scholars, I got a modern translation: someone who associates every action with sex is typically a turbo giga incel virgin.

>>19337533
it looks cool, simple as

what are the most refreshing teas to have on a hot summer day?
my vote goes for tie guan yin (the modern green style)

I suspect that my tea performance is being bottlenecked by my water quality. I run it through a filter though, is there anything else I can do? Should I be using bottled mineral water? Would it be retarded to run the same water through the same filter a couple times?

>>19348734
I used to use those, but I switched to pouring the leaves into a mug and using a bombilla instead.

>>19349484
What kind of filter? If you're using reverse osmosis you might want to add back some minerals. If you're not using a RO filter try looking at the pH of the tap water. Where I live they recently increased the alkaline minerals and I don't like the flavor anymore.

>>19349550
based. truly the peak of lazy brewing

>>19349481
young sheng or white tea. Sit outside while you drink if possible and prepare to SWEAT. Its very refreshing

>>19343182
I tried my first white tea recently, silver needles bulk from ebay. Look identical to those. Nothing wrong with the form. Very subtle power. The taste profile really feels 'whole', infused to the water, compared to my daily brewage, black tea.
I tried buying some white tea cake and loose and broken, too. Same experience.
The best white I have had admittedly was the needle one, but I probably will be dominantly drinking mostly oxidized teas from now on nevertheless, which surprises me continiously when I wonder about why I do so.

I wouldn't say the experience drinking black tea is a more 'clean' one, at all. Yet it feels much more easy to 'sully' white tea. It is hard to drink it daily as it really takes a lot of focus to feel out right.

Because I truly believe in the philosophy that nature dosen't need refining, in whites there still are a lot of additional taste layers that make me drift from the, probably, pure alkaline chemical complex that the black tea refinement of the leaf has laid bare, is extremely clear and easy to sense right away, already on the tounge, how it works with you.
That way, domesticated like that, the white tea is a 'return to the real deal'. Which, again, doesn't vibe with me as it already is dominantly a domesticated plant to begin with. Which, probably, is why my white tea experience hasn't been a pure one, yet, and I doubt that it ever will be.
It is, however, closer to nature as, I feel it is, intended to be as use to us.

I find the taste from some chinese, yunnan black or lapsang to be completely domesticated to perfection to a fault. I'm sure my green tea consumption never will never hit off, either.

Assam teas are the most native variant to themselves. Adapted to the region themselves, and have had enough thousand years to revert to their own form. My daily favorite. Black.

Green teas are amazing in social settings, however. Whites, properly used, should be able to excel greens I think.

Wtf do I get bros? I had this sheng in North Carolina that had this kind of tobacco flavor. Farmer-leaf has too many cakes and idk what's good.

>>19349481
I drink oriental beauty iced. It has a smell that reminds me of Venus fly traps and other exotic jungly smells. Good taste comes through iced too.

>>19350183
If you like bitter get that fall lao man e cake its my cake of the year (from last year) but you have to like bitter, it's not overbearing you just have to play with brew parameters a but, vwry satisfying sweetness on the longer finish

>>19350183
>I had this sheng in North Carolina that had this kind of tobacco flavor
Was it aged? I tend to associate "tobacco" flavor more with semi aged or aged sheng. Something like an aged Xiaguan Tuocha may be a better fit then nice young sheng.

>>19350222
Ok I bought it.
>>19350227
I honestly don't know but I'll look for aged stuff then.

2022 Yunnan Sourcing "Suan Zao Shu" Old Arbor Black Tea Cake . drank another cup of this. 5 grams of this and 10 grams ceylon tea. Boiled it for about 8 minutes and tried a sip black, rich thick mouthfeel. then added milk. the drink had a good kick to it and was really smooth.

Favorite bagged blends?
My work doesn't have the best quality water but it's better than nothing because I still need my tea fix during the late days so I don't want to bring in a little diffuser so bags it is.

>>19350296
i drank an Ahmad English Breakfast and I was quite impressed. But reviews say the quality isnt that high and stuff like that.

>>19350293
Did you get a whole cake or just a sample? That stuff is pretty pricey. How would you compare it to cheaper dianhong?

>>19350344
Just a sample.
>>19350344
>How would you compare it to cheaper dianhong?
Dianhong, never tried it. what do you think of jin jun mei?
The Arbor Black Tea has very thick mouthfeel. it feels like it encoats your tongue and mouth when you drink it. its really sweet too. first time i tried it, i wanted to try it british style steeping with milk and used too much steeping time and leaves, so it was pretty astringent. but yeah, its a good tea, it really hits your tongue and mouth and coats it with good flavors.

>>19350344
>cheaper dianhong
is that considered a good baseline black tea flavor/profile? I want a chinese black tea to add to my ceylon to give the tea better mouth feel and aroma.

>>19350354
>Dianhong, never tried it.
Someone correct me if I am wrong but I would call teas like "2022 Yunnan Sourcing "Suan Zao Shu" Old Arbor Black Tea Cake" Dianhong. Literately speaking "Dianhong" means Yunnan black tea but it does carry connotations of the type of tea as well. A lot of Dianhong comes from clonal bushes planted around Fengqing to make black tea but I also see the term regularly used to refer to black tea made from puerh tea plants and processed in a similar style. However Farmer leaf calls the latter "Shai Hong" and defines them by whether or not they are sun dried but I am not sure if that is standard terminology or not.

>what do you think of jin jun mei?
only had a sample once years ago so I don't have a strong opinion on it.

>>19350365
>is that considered a good baseline black tea flavor/profile?
I would think so. It is one of the main styles of Chinese black teas.

Hey, I found out /tea/'s gender.
https://www.lgbtqia.wiki/wiki/Fermleagender

>>19350674
I guess i shouldn't be surprised that autistic people edit lgbtqip wikis too

>>19348734
the leaves are not allowed room to expand properly, so you may get less flavor and more astringency than should be expected. if you like it, feel free to keep doing it, but idk why you wouldnt just grandpa brew. tea leaves sink to the bottom of the cup....

>>19350646
>I would think so. It is one of the main styles of Chinese black teas.
ok chinese black tea is new to me, but im sure i would be correct to say chinese black tea has a very good thick rich body and deep profile? it has such a thick body compared to british black teas.

>>19350674
>>19350724
This is soul poison

>>19350674
>>19350724
Don't fag up a good thread with this trans flaggot shit.

>>19348624
thanks, i managed to get hold of a jug that'll fit my fridge so i'll be trying out green once my next lot arrives.
threw in a random oolong for now we'll see how that turns out.

new rotation of 20-50% coupons on amazon rn

it's bugged

having some chilled Fullchea Jin Xuan right now
nice and refreshing. green and floral like a tie guan yin, but with that milky buttery sweet note as well

>>19352134
yeah pretty decent stuff makes a nice change. i cold brewed it today but think i didn't put enough in

Having Tea and Crump(et)

>>19353309
ID on that teapot? it's nice

>>19353321
got it at a thrift shop
I looked it up once, its some late 19th century production, but I don't have the data on hand.

Tried YorkShire Gold Loose Leaf for first time. 1 tablespoon with milk. its good, defintely a great everyday english black tea. Has good astingency even with milk added(can steep for shorter to reduce it), slight fruit/smooth undertone, and a bit maltiness to add a bit of body. There is a bit of body but not as much as a chinese black tea or pu erh.

this is good in black tea

Finishing off a box of sideritis tonight. Where do you guys get yours? I've been drinking Krinos brand and it's alright but I'm sure I could do better.

>>19353975
>Where do you guys get yours?
I have always got mine from:
https://kliotea.com/collections/tea
As a note I think you can get a coupon for signing up for their emails. They also occasionally have sales but only infrequently and not at predictable times.

Their greek lemon verbena is also fantastic
https://kliotea.com/collections/tea/products/shop-greek-lemon-verbena

>>19353975
>sideritis
what's it taste like? i google it and they're all just talking about health or some shit.

Fresh mint from my garden with dragon well tea is sublime

I came back nearly a day later and this thread only has like 5 added posts.

Is summer making everyone lose interest in tea?

I have a few tea bushes, and let me tell you, freshly picked unprocessed tea leaves brewed tastes pretty odd. Perhaps I'm just brewing them wrong, but it's not a pleasant experience. Interesting to think that people ever figured out how to make this palatable instead of giving up on it at the first taste

>>19348570
Went ahead and bought it, along with some shincha and matcha.

>>19355694
Could be other factors at play, like what fertiliser you use, to name one.

>>19355693
Idk I just drink more refreshing tea in the summer, like chilled tie guan yin or something

>>19355693
The tea thread can be pretty slow, sometimes it his bump limit in an evening, sometimes it takes a week or two. I would say its reasonably active righr now, i see quite a few people being helpful and answering questions.

just drinking this as part of one of YS's tasting packs. first shou i've tried. already i'm pretty astonished by the taste of this thing holy hell, i can see why people get big into shou.

>>19356045
Good shit huh? Dayi tea factory /tae tea are experts at making ripe on a huge scale, most of the tea they make is pretty solid, but sometimes it's a bit expensive for mass produced tea.

>>19356221
yeah really impressed. just exhausted the leaves.
i would definitely consider picking up a brick some time.
are menghai, taetea and dayi all the same entity?

>>19356356
Yep. If you want a dedicated order from them you can get some cakes for cheap on Amazon (with a W) and Fullchea
Their prices are inflated on some websites

>>19356372
>Amazon
I meant Awazon lmao, dumb autocorrect

https://spiceoflifeinc.com/shop/tea/herbal/blueberry-syrup-pancake/
talk me out of it

>>19356606
Its meme flavored tea but at $5 an oz fuck it.

>>19356356
Menghai is also a county with puerh significance and can be used to refer to that. DaYi and TaeTea are exclusively referring to the big factory.

>>19356833
Yeah i wish our friend at yunnan sourcing didn't refer to tae tea as Menghai Tea Factory

>>19356842
well that is one of their names
Menghai Tea Factory is not the same as "a tea factory based in the Menghai area". it is confusing, but at least their mark is consistent

>>19334037
Is dianhong really flavourless or am I just a tastelet? I like Qimen and Jin Junmei but Dianhong just tastes bland to me. Also I am western brewing because I’m lazy and cheap.

https://www.finumshop.us/collections/glass-cups-with-filters/products/traveler-zita-double-wall-tambluer
Is this based or cringe? I really can't stand how annoying it is to drink tea on the go.

>Buy some fellow Carter move mug
>Smells
>Buy chink gong fu glass brew thing
>Smells
>Contigo
>Tastes off, but doesn't seem to smell?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

>>19357052
Brew hotter and longer? Idk bro. It shouldn't be flavorless.

>>19354607
Nevermind it gave me an allergic reaction. Subsequent steeps are ok but the first one was making me sneeze and my throat felt sore or swollen.

>>19357100
I have a vacuum-see bottle. It only holds half a litre but it does keep it quite warm. Flavour seems to degrade a bit and getting the tea to actually cool down takes forever (I don’t work a job where I use a mug so I definitely can’t brew tea)

If I become a tea weeb can I get a yellow gf? How many of y’all have achieved the dream and got an Asian woman for yourself and how much did tea weebery factor in? Language is too hard, anime is gay, and Asian culture is too oppressive and patriarchal to get into so tea seems like an easy in with Asian women.

>>19357288
I drink tea with my granny Asian neighbor who's husband is basically dying. I guess it's a strategy. No I do not have sex with her.

>>19357100
Just use a ball glass jar, weirdo. If you want to put whole leaf in it, just get a bombilla.

>>19357052
I like western brewing too, but for english teas mainly and for when i add milk. if ur drinking plain, with western brewing, the flavors dont shine through as much.

>>19357316
What specifically do you mean by western brewing?

>>19357318
lol i thought you meant like steeping it for like longer than 4 minutes. like steeped tea. steeping for longer in hot water. pretty much how the british drink their tea.

>>19357100
I haven't used that particular product but finum makes nice stuff

>>19357288
There are legends of puer drinkers traveling to rural yunnan to find the fair maiden who left a hair in their tea cake.

>>19357331
I'm not who you were replaying to, I'm just not sure what method was being described and I was curious.

>>19353975
pastebin has a link to buy tisanes and herbs

>>19357343
true thats what i assume western style brewing is, british style aka granda style too. however, hong kong milk tea is brewed like longer and used with evaporated milk.

>>19357052
you dont even need a gaiwan to brew gongfu. sigh.
>>19357352
you can grandpa style in a gongfu way as well, i can imagine its just more difficult. i guess if you drank straight from your gaiwan that would be grandpa style too

>>19357383
isnt grandpa style long steeps? yeah you can i guess, but i assume grandpa style is something longer than 5 minutes.

>>19357339
Peasant Asians are gross and animalistic. I’m talking about the mega sex westernized Asian girls. Where do I start with boba? All the cute college Asians drink it constantly.

>>19357408
lol. so go talk to them

>>19357408
You get one of those stupid boba machines that will make them and also heat seal a plastic over the lid. Serious answer, it's just basic bitch strong "British" style black tea with milk and tapioca pearls as far as I can tell. Oh and food coloring.

>>19357438
By brit I mean like assam region, ceylon, Thailand, whatever Africa crap. Anything that is CTC'd and oxidized to the max and has a strong raisiny kind of natural sweetness.

>>19357438
No I think it’s Hong Kong style with evaporated milk. Some places make better than others. But now like many years after release, the taste is more suited to children and stupid goofy Asians

>>19357443
Yeah something like this. There used be be a place a while ago that made a legit milk tea then added tapioca. Nowadays, the stores are pretty much serving weak tea with milk and tapioca to appeal to teenagers.

>>19357438
You can drink it hot too.

>>19357479
Honestly wouldn't know. Everytime I had boba it was just generic dust or ctc like tea in sugary milk cancer. I hate it. But I also only drink my tea UNMOLESTED. Boba is only because women. Women ruin everything.

>>19357491
I don't doubt it.

>>19357501
youre right about the dust generic part. idk i just know the boba quality is shit and after developing a pallete, theres no way im paying 6 bucks for a cup of watered down tea with milk and ice and boba.

Boba is out. This is too autistic. What is a some obscure esoteric Asian tea I can name drop to impress the rich Chinese thots? Like “Do you want to get a cup of _____”?

>>19357610
it should be "do you want to get a bowl of snail rice noodle?"

>>19357392
grandpa style is drinking straight from the vessel youre steeping in

>>19357638
same thing lol. i see peasant chinese ladies drink it that way but from a jam jar.

>>19357638
that just fucks up the tea flavor.

>>19357650
>>19357648
not saying it's good or bad, just what it is. also same thing as what???

>>19357638
>grandpa style is drinking straight from the vessel youre steeping in
so this is pretty much long steeps. anything over 5 minutes is gonna mess up the leaves. i assume grandpa style is for those peasant ladies cause thats who i see drinking it like that. I see people drink it grandpa style but they keep adding hot water to dilute it.

>>19357686
grandpa style is great for some teas. I prefer drinking shou grandpa style

>>19357698
not really. too astringent. i steeped a first steep like two minutes once and it was too astringent.

>>19357722
>2 minutes

I typically do 5 minutes at 80C with my gunpowder and mint. Are you even trying.

>>19357771
I don’t drink green tea. Il try. Didn’t know Chinese ppl drank so much. When I think of green tea I think of japs.

>>19357783
well... the japs kinda like.... copied... the chinese. so..... 0_0

>>19357443

>>19357610
you can name drop Xihu longjing, (real) bi luo chun or Jin Jun Mei
these are expensive and pretty widely known in Chine afaik

>>19357686
grandpa style works great for a lot of chinese green teas. I personally almost always brew chinese greens straight in the cup

new thread:
>>19358244
>>19358244
>>19358244

>>19357052
Add way more tea.