/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>19555607
https://yunnansourcing.us/products/2018-mojun-fu-cha-fu-shen-fu-brick-tea?variant=43447558373609
this is what ive got
>>19555470
idk i have a big 400g brick and dont have much trouble prying out bunches of it just like puerh. it's tasty enough

>>19557981
>>19555475 meant to reply to this

>>19557761
is it still possible for burgers to order from moychay? or is there no way to process payment?

someone asked me to review the Ai Lao yesheng hong cha from TheTea.pl, so here goes:
>aroma
very fruity and a little funky. personally it reminds me of blackcurrant more than blackberries, and the "funkiness" reminds me of blackcurrant leaves, a strong scent that some dislike
>taste
light and fruity, in that forest fruit way. not as sweet as a shan cha. there is indeed a resinous touch to it as well, maybe pine resin? the long fruity-resinous aftertaste reminds me of some hops. the body is light. if there is malt, it's very slight and more of a pilsner beer malt than anything darker. in fact, it reminds me a bit of a light beer strongly hopped with modern fruity-resinous hops, but without most of the bitterness

all in all, a very nice, refreshing hong cha for the summer. kind of makes me wish I also grabbed the Ai Lao sheng they had

>>19558064
you can still order from their nl website
also currently grandpa brewing one of their ripes

>>19558757
Do you have a pic of the brewing by any chance? 11€ for 30g that's premium for ai lao, it's spring oolong price from same mountain it better be good.

>>19558894
Here's what the brewed leaves look like. Bit of a ghetto brewing with the mesh, sorry.
The liquor was light in color, yellowish amber. I'm no Hong cha specialist so no idea how to assess the pricing, but it was very tasty. Price includes VAT for what it's worth.

>>19557981
>mojun Fu Cha
Nice, I have been meaning to try them sometime.

How do people come up with all those elaborate tasting notes? I received some ripe puerh cakes , but besides woody, smoky, bitter, creamy, i have no idea how to describe them. Are there any taste buds cultivation techniques that i should be aware of?

>>19559255
Yeah, drink a lot of different teas, eat a lot of different foods and pay attention.

It's that easy.

You're not going to have good notes if all you eat are tendies and fries.

>>19559255
try tasting them comparatively and try to work out the subtler differences. it is challenging to get the vocabulary together though.

>>19559255

>>19559255
elaborate tasting notes are fun to do, but not always useful to read. some people get too carried away

BRB ordering some civet paste so i can fond out what it smells like

>>19559748
for some of those musk-type notes, you can also check out a perfume that features them prominently if you have a well-stocked perfume store near you. could be useful for flower notes too
popular fragrances with civet include YSL Kouros and Guerlain Shalimar, you can try them and see if you can smell the sharp animalic, slightly pissy faucet of civet

>>19559748
i unironically did this with indian ink and now i'm cursed with a bottle of indian ink for the rest of my life.

>>19559748
I did this with camphor essential oil.
>>19559789
Just get the Zoologist Civet

>>19557761
am I a retard if I always steep 3 bags of tea in a single cup? I have a regular sized mug and I feel like 1 bag of any tea simply doesn't do it, the tea comes out too watery.

>>19559865
How long are you steeping it for?

>>19559872
generally I just leave it for 10 minutes or more. though I'll say more expensive black tea feels ok with just 1-2 bags.

>>19559789
>>19559858
>Just get the Zoologist Civet
I actually have a few attars with different real animal musks in them. Would recommended Kasturi Qadeem and Black Spruce Musk from Scents by Skanda on etsy if you live in the us. Also pureoudh.com if you want to try oud oils
The sort of leathery notes i get in some bulag puer really reminds me of osmanthus flower absolute, its got some surprisingly animalic / leather facets to it

>>19559890
I hear jasmine can get a bit animalic as well

>>19559910
Oh yeah for sure, it can definitely go in the indolic / cat piss direction

>>19559748
>some civet paste so i can fond out what it smells like
Dad was a chemist making perfumes.
You do NOT want to smell that.

>>19559982
yeah it's one of those things that smell good when used in small doses in a perfume, but smells horrid on its own

>>19557761
How to bubble tea?

>>19560050
desu just go to your local boba joint and order some. Talk to the girls, but don't be a tea autist.

>>19560108
>don't be a tea autist.
how

>>19560050
>make tea
>add some milk
>add boba
ez

>>19560108
>go to your local boba joint
But I wouldn't know what to order. I never had bubble tea.
>talk to girls
I don't know about that, they'd think I'm creepy.
>>19560136
What's boba and how to make it?

>>19560149
boba is those balls

>>19560157
I know, but what they're made of?

>>19560169
Tapicoa starch, they are basically a firm gelatin

going to order tea soon. i'm thinking 250g sticky rice ripe puerh, some basic lui bao because i have never tried it, a basic semi aged sheng, and some fancy high mountain reds from yunnan sourcing. also i might get dried blueberries because i like some shitty blueberry flavored black tea i had and the real thing has to be much better

>>19560363
liu bao is a good idea to try if you like ripe and wet stored raws

>>19560172
>need tapioca startch
>can't get tapioca startch anywhere
It's over

>>19560678
Just get it at your local asian market

>>19560363
Sounds good

>>19560681
>local asian market
Not a thing where I'm from...

post hoard storage

>>19560363
I tried 50g of their sticky rice, initially I loved it but then very quickly turned off it and now don't touch what's left, 250g will get you a LOT.

one of my favourite suprised was their ning'er golden honey aroma black, it's absolutely breathtaking, and fairly cheap but you can only get 2 steeps out of it compared to other teas. (4 min steep then a 6 min steep.)

>>19560764
Here is my pumidor, my shelves with teaware are too messy to post

This is Haiwan 9908 in lao cha tou form pressed into a 500 gram brick. It's my first time drinking any lao cha tou. My initial impression is it's really overrated. Unfortunately, I also don't think much better of the tea itself. I'm not sure a cake would have impressed me. I wish this were a 9978, which seems to be more popular.
wtf is with these shitty captchas

Are there ANY electric kettles available in the US that don't have plastic in contact with water? I'm sick to shit of looking and finding literally not a single one.

>>19560989
Yeah
https://www.amazon.com/Secura-Electric-Stainless-Protection-K15-F1E/dp/B087BRBX4Q/
I own this one, bought it for that specific reason, it works fine
Found this one as well that has temp control, but i haven't used it and reviews say the controls counterintuitive
https://www.amazon.com/JOYHILL-Temperature-Stainless-Thermostat-Protection/dp/B09ZKHXMG1/

>>19561005
God bless, thanks. How were you able to find one that met the criteria? Ideally I'd like one that can contain 1.9 liters / 8 cups but I'll settle for one of those smaller ones.

has anyone tried brewing huckleberries? i think they would be very tasty with pine needles

>>19561054
I just spent an hour or two digging through amazon, i think i searched stainless steel kettle and looked at listings and reviews. Apparently there are more now then there used to be since ive seen some other ones posted.
This one is 1.8L
https://www.amazon.com/Secura-SWK-1701DBO-Stainless-Electric-Protection/dp/B07MQLDM67/

>>19561628
That's looking like me, thanks bud. Appreciate your time.

>>19561669
Enjoy, its annoying as hell how many kettles are made half out of plastic.

>>19560877
that's too bad. I was considering getting that one
have you tried pushing it more? I find lao cha tou takes well to being pushed
what about it do you dislike?

>>19561734
How does it taste?

>>19561743
I haven't tried it yet. I drink a lot of green tea but only the cheap stuff because i'm a poorfag. Will be interesting to see if this is significantly better

>>19555948
>i don't really have any vendors pinned as dancong experts
yeah I'm lucky to have found a guy selling it (and only it) irl but idk anything online

>>19560149
just get the standard 'boba milk tea' or whatever, boba shops usually have menus so you don't have to know the secret hidden knowledge

a place near me had rose-scented tieguanyin with boba on the menu

>>19561734
>>19561754
Bancha isn't a particularly high grade but a grocery store near me sells yuge bags of UjiNoTsuyu houjicha which is pretty good for the price

>>19561681
I was lazy reviewing yesterday. I'll elaborate more this evening or tomorrow. I was probably being a little unfair to the tea, too. Rough day.

Had a few sessions with the 2006 Mengku Rongshi "Te Ji" Ripe Pu-erh from YS. The main flavour that hits you is wood, followed by some light bitterness that fades quickly and then you are left with a nice after taste in the mouth, slightly sweet. The first few sessions with this tea also had some smoky taste and smell, but i don't feel that anymore.

tried the bigger samples from my thetea.pl order already:
>Ai Lao Yesheng Hong Cha
strong aroma of blackcurrant. forest fruit and passion fruit flavors, a bit of pine resin and hops, especially in the aftertaste
light body, refreshing flavor
>Tanyang Gong Fu
aroma of buckwheat honey and gingerbread. flavors of chocolate, brown sugar, malty in a "stout beer" way and an interesting aftertaste of rum and coconut. rum-soaked Bounty chocolate bar?
thicker body, intense flavor
>Duoteli First Grade Liu Bao
my first younger liu bao. still has a bit of that savory beetroot note I've gotten from older liu bao, probably due to several years of factory ageing, but it also has the dark chocolate and roasted wood flavors I expect from a ripe pu-erh. I like the balance between those two. feels very clean and brews up clear, unlike the musty aged stuff I had before. has a nice, short sweet aftertaste to it, quite pleasant.

I'm liking all of these quite a bit. might look around and see if anyone's selling them for cheaper.

>>19562230
that tanyang sounds pretty interesting. have you tried that 2007 sheng yet?thanks for the reviews, i'll check out thetea.pl some time.

>>19562250
I've tried it before, but I got another sample to remind myself. it had a great returning sweetness, very long-lasting sweet aftertaste. the flavour was clean with forest floor type notes IIRC, but I'll have to retry it

>>19562250
It's good if you like intense, chocolaty black teas. Feels like a premium counterpart to all the classic chocolaty, malty Yunnan blacks but more intense and with those odd stout beer and rum facets to make it more interesting.

>>19562214
Thanks, ive been wondering about those for a while

>>19561734
>>19561754
bancha is nothing super fancy, but it can be really nice if you like that savory japanese green tea flavor, brothy, seaweedy and all that. great stuff for the summer and usually good value. I'm drinking some right now and it's quite enjoyable

can't remember if i reviewed this or not. 2021 YS bindao 5 villages ripe.
at first i thought it was pretty shitty, but i tried it again after like a month and it's not bad. i guess what makes me feel like it's shitty is the fact it cost 50 cents a gram. this is for all intents and purposes pretty typical factory ripe. decent mind you but it's just not 50c/gram. it does seem to brew out pretty well though, i forgot how many steeps.
has anyone had any of YS's ripe cakes and found it worth the cost?

>>19560764
mines a rather embarrassing plastic box

>>19563283
>has anyone had any of YS's ripe cakes and found it worth the cost?
Each and every sub 50€ cakes I had. Menghai daily drinker is awful, though.

>>19563283
I think there are nice premium factory ripes out there that are worth a good 30¢-40¢ per gram but i think its really hard for these small boutique brands to actually make a production that stands out from cheap factory stuff.
With YS especially i get the impression that he mostly buys finished ripe from very small fermentation operations and sometimes blends a few together. Maybe there is some progress being made in so called small batch fermentation but its very new and there aren't that many guys doing it.
Anyway what im trying to say is a large factory can blend from hundreds of batches of ripe to make a premium production, and if a certain ferment comes out mediocre they can just work it into their cheap factory blends. These little guys are stuck with one small batch of tea and however it comes out they have to press it and sell it.

>>19563283
I've always been sceptical of premium ripe, especially by boutique brands. Honestly cheap factory ripe is such great value that I just default to it. Can't go wrong with all those sub 20$ cakes as long as they're from a reputable factory and with a couple of years on them.

>>19563388
interesting, i'll give them another chance next time i make an order.

>>19563396
it's just a risk of buying these small productions then. if you compare it against those ~10c cakes it's not bad but at 50c i generally expect something notable about it. but i'm fairly new to these things.

>>19560764
this is such a beautiful picture

>>19561681
It's a lot of brick. I'll admit I maybe let inexperience with lao cha tou cloud my overall experience. I still need to spend some time with it to really understand it. It's been my office tea so I've been blasting through it without putting much thought into the experience. You're right though you really need to crank up the time to get the good stuff.
Form aside, when you do manage to squeeze out proper tea, the 9908 is fine. I was being an asshole yesterday dismissing it so quickly. I don't want to be anon who makes somebody remove something from their shopping cart for something that's just fine. It's priced really well for what it is. The flavor seems like it's aiming for DaYi's vibe, but it still marches on it's own path. It's got that slight creamy richness like a 7572, but about 2/3 of the way. Maybe that last third requires more time with the nugz. I'm still working that out.
If you're debating between this and the DaYi lao cha tou that sometimes gets posted, get the Haiwan if you've already had a couple of DaYi cakes already.

>>19563283
I always wondered if that carp was painted on with depth shadows or if it was actually a relief. I've been waiting for that lid angles for months.
>>19563320
I'd still like to see it.
>>19563469
I'm with you. Ripes don't seem to have the same gamut of quality that raw cakes do. Wo dui replaces depth with consistency, to some degree. I'll admit I've never had a dank ass, wet-piling-gone-wrong shou before, though. Maybe the worst ripe is nastier than the worst raw.

Any cocktails you can make with tea? I like tea and I like drinks.

>>19564295
Hot toddy is the obvious one
Green tea highball
There are probably some good ones using spiced chai tea

>>19564295
Never tried it.

Decided to crack a sleeve of 09 xiaguan tuos tonight. i haven't had one of these in a while, wanted something smokey

i really fucking hate when i space out while doing gongfu and accidentally blast one of the early infusions to 50 seconds. Please tell me im not the only one that does this

>>19564790
Sipping on my last little bit of xiaguan 06 boxed ripe tonight.

>>19564145
>I've been waiting for that lid angles for months.
that's funny, i was squinting at a few different aliexpress listings and trying to work that out when i bought it
>I'd still like to see it.
couple cakes from FL gotta fit in here next week, need a better solution really

>>19564118
yeah the brick seemed like a good value proposition to me since it's cheaper for half kilo than Dayi lao cha tou. thanks for the review. I do like the creaminess of 7572 and Dayi LCT
they do brew really differently from normal ripe cakes, you need to really push them, but if you do that they will give you a lot of infusions. I might try boiling them at some point

>>19565176
how's that 7562? and what Haiwan cake is that?

Does anyone know what was the date of the release of last year oriental beauty on farmer leaf?

>>19565310
i'm a fan of that 7562, very comfy in the morning.
the haiwan is the 2019 9978 from fullchea that gets mentioned here sometimes, solid cake for the price.

>>19565452
This one anyone? https://www.farmer-leaf.com/collections/tea-archive/products/summer-2022-ailao-oriental-beauty

>>19565539
>>19565452
Around 2022-09-27 is what i get

>>19564848
Happened to me all the time when I tried to do gongfu at work.

>alright just 10 seconds more
>hey anon can you come help me with this?
>anon my emails aren't loading
>the server is down anon wut do?
>get back to my tea
>it's been infusing for 8 minutes
>well guess I'm drinking grandpa style today

Reviewing more stuff from YS.
2020 "Hui Run" Ripe Pu-erh: The first thing that hits is the bitterness, with some wood sprinkledon top. The bitterness takes longer to fade, compared to the 2006 Mengku. The after taste is characterized by the same bitter-wood taste, with maybe some hui gan after a while. Going by the description, i expected the sweet after taste to be more pronounced, but the Mengku wins here.

2014 Gu Ming Xiang "Bu Lang Tribute Cake" Ripe: For now i would describe this as a stronger, more potent version of the Hui Run.

2022 "Man Gang Gu Shu" Black Tea and White: I wasn't impressed by this one. It tastes neither like a white, nor like a black, the taste is just "flat" i guess. I first tried gong fu and then left it for 10+ minutes, but it was still kinda bland.

>>19566053
Forgot to add. I feel like the Hui Run loses it's strength quite fast. I like my ripe brew to be as dark as possible, but the Hui Run kinda lost its strength by the 3rd infusion. The Mengku,i could push till the 4th infusion, and Gu Ming Xiang was able to go till the 5th.
My favorites from this order are the 2014 dayi lao cha tou brick and the 2006 Mengku.

How long can I keep iced tea? I've been making sun tea and trying to keep some in the fridge for the summer, but it always turns cloudy/murky within a day or two. Am I doing something wrong or is that normal?

>>19557761
Is the DaYi 7572 from the 2019 vintage a good tea to give as a gift? What are some good tea gift ideas?

I found out YS is from texas and I don't want to give money to shit hole states and thus indirectly support their governments. Any tea vendor recs from places that are more civilized? I'm not unreasonable, nobody is perfect, but harm reduction is the name of the game. Allowed locations that are less barbaric than Texas:

-CA, NV, WA, MN, IL, NY, NJ, CT, RI, MA, PA, VT
-Canada, Ireland (NOT northern "ireland"), France, Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Luxembourg, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Baltics, the real China (Taiwan that is), Japan, ROK, Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Communist "china", the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Thanks

>>19565985
Yeah that sounds about how it would go.

>>19566293
>Is the DaYi 7572 from the 2019 vintage a good tea to give as a gift
only if you know the giftee likes ripe pu-erh
if you're a newbie you can just gift them some decent tie guan yin or dianhong and they'll be happy

>>19566317
Oh sorry I forgot DPRK, that would be an improvement as well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WKH_MQ1tSc

>>19566211
>I like my ripe brew to be as dark as possible, but the Hui Run kinda lost its strength by the 3rd infusion.
Yeah i have always hated how fast a lot of ripe loses flavor. I get why it happens but it still can be annoying.
I haven't really found a consistent way to make sure you are buying ripes with good endurance, unfortunately you are just kind of stuck with the vendors description, and reviews on the site to try and get a feel for it
I guess i can say that generally all bug or ripes that high a high percentage of buds infuse faster then ones with more larger leaves. So if you get gong ting ripes and push them they tend to make a few really strong cups that infuse quickly and then loose their vigor.

>>19566279
Just brew it in the fridge overnight with cold water instead of out on the counter or outside, it should keep for several days in the fridge.

Good to see more new posters making faggy politics shitposts for attention

>>19566346
>you are just kind of stuck with the vendors description, and reviews on the site to try and get a feel for it
True, and it is kinda hit or miss. People don't really put their brewing parameters in the description or review. I often read description that claim 8+ infusions, i even saw a raw puerh that claimed 20-40 infusions, and here i am with my 3rd or 4th infusion that tastes bland because i obviously brew ripe differently.
Thanks for the gong ting/buds tip, didn't know that.

>>19566346
You can try Lao cha Tou if you want ripe pu-erh that infuses slowly and lasts for longer. This seems to be common for them.
>>19566211
>>19564118
I also have the 2014 Dayi LCT brick. Well, only one portion of it left I guess. It's nice, very creamy but pretty similar to 7572 overall. Maybe more rich and milky with a better body, but worse aroma.
I've been thinking about those Haiwan 9907 beans... Is it similar to the Dayi Lao cha Tou, but with a bit of that burnt sugar and fruit vibe I get from 9978?

>mom found the golden flowers

>mom threw away the "moldy tea brick"

>>19566317
Purplecloud is in cali.

Don't give that retard attention, they just want to argue about politics

>>19566379
More woody than sweet. Fruit might be there but it isn't much.

Godamn, ive been drinking more cheap raw xiaguan tuo today. Its been a nice change of pance from all the boutique young raws ive been drinking recently. The combo of smokeyness and sweetness is just so nice to sip on. I was looking on kingteamall, i think i paid $20 a sleeve for these 2009 tuos when i grabbed them a few years ago. Now i can barely find any xoguan tuos from any year that are less then $36 a sleeve. Im still not sure if its just KTM getting expensive or puer getting expensive. I think i need to seriously start looking into buying from taobao. Really wish i spent an extra grand or two on ktm back when most stuff was 1/4 of its current price.

>>19567034
Typical puer lesbian. Wants to silence everyone she disagrees with.

Soooo, i'm looking into buying a Borosilicate beaker as my gongfu pitcher.

ChatGPT said it would be a very good glass to retain heat in... however, ChatGPT said a double walled pitcher would probably do better.

Do you guys think it's worth it?

>>19560764
Sheng wine cooler, shou cooler on right. The wine cooler is new but I've been using Ol' Reliable continuously since 2019.

>>19567779
How are you liking the heartfelt tubes? I'm finally about to snag another one soon. Just topped up the gars last night.

>>19567859
They seem to operate just fine. I also supplement with some 69% Boveda packs because I'd feel bad about letting all of them go to waste. The tubes are nice, but check out the nutsacks too. Just tie a knot in the pantyhose leg and slip it around the back of the cooler by the hinges to keep them off of the teas directly.

>>19567738
Boro glass beakers are pretty solid to use as a pitcher, price is nice and cheap, its not going to keep tea warmer longer than any other glass, it just has good heat resistant properties so you don't have to worry about it breaking if its really cold and you pour boiling water in it.
If your goal is to keep the tea hot longer a double wall will probably be better, i haven't actually tried out a double wall pitcher to see how much longer they stay warm.

>>19567779
The wine cooler setup looks great, how has it been treating you so far?

>>19567680
You will drink the puer
You will brew gongfu
You will develop a nice teeth patina

>>19567738
chatgpt is too scared to disagree with you

>>19568097
I think it's great! Surprising amount of space, but a little difficult to find things and then get them sometimes. I love having it on my kitchen island greeting me every day. I've been thinking about getting a PC fan or something to circulate air, same with the shou cooler. The govee hygrometers are good too. The graphing and data exporting have been much more helpful than what the Boveda Butler offered.
The wine cooler itself has proven to do very well to retain humidity and temps. It's nice as a conversation piece, just sometimes a little impractical to dig through. Worth it, imo, if you can get one cheap.

>>19568183
> just sometimes a little impractical to dig through.
Its pretty hard to avoid this with pumidors i think, im trying to picture how you could keep the storage dense while keeping it easy to sort through.

>>19567738
I use a Pyrex beaker because it has a flat bottom so I can use it with my hot plate.

>>19568322
Also I use it as a fairness cup it works great!

>>19567738
I just use a french press (without the press). A beaker like that would probably be difficult to hold with hot water in it.

My small Farmerleaf order just arrived! The packaging is nice. I got free samples for 2022 Jingmai Miyun and Moonlight White, which is funny because I've been considering those teas as well.
I'll try the Fa Zhan He and black tea today.

>>19568746
Also, I didn't know that they undervalued packages to the EU like KTM does, but they do and I didn't have to pay much VAT. Considering the free shipping it sounds like a great option for those in the EU.

>>19568753
That's good to know. Bloody hell, i had to pay like 50 euros VAT for my last YS order. I was expecting it, but it still hurt a little.

trying the Fa Zhan He. I like it!
I get some of that young raw greenness which reminds me of green beans, but also a citrus like a clean zesty lemon. nice balance of sweetness and medium bitterness, medium astringency. don't get any huigan, but a bit of a tart lemon and mineral aftertaste. it's changed quite a bit between brews, one of them was full on lemonade, but in most the citrus isn't that dominant

I think this would make a really nice, balanced daily drinker

>>19568746
What was the order total price? what did you get as your free sample?. William always undervalued my shipment for france it's great economy compare to yunnan sourcing i totaly agree.

UK so maybe it's different, but my FL order came in today undervalued to about 1/6th of the cost, what a lad

>>19568746
Nice toes anon

>>19564295
you can cold brew tea with gin or vodka and make something nice. i like this one
https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/685/earl-grey-marteani

are there any non-black teas made using C. sinensis var. assamica rather than -var. sinensis?

itd be interesting if someone had experimented with making oolongs or something with that

>>19569191
Pu-erh is made with assamica and so are many shou mei AFAIK

>>19569151
32$, just wanted to hit the free shipping limit
I got free samples of 2022 Jingmai Miyun and Jingmai Moonlight White, always nice to get a freebie even with a cheap order like this one

>>19569329
I hope i'll get a free sample next time i order :) What's inside the brown pouch top right?

>>19569329
I'm waiting for new oolong and black to make a new order, summer release hopefully or maybe have to wait until autumn. I really have to wait i have so much tea to drink already.

Anybody ordered the "Spring 2023 Ailao High Mountain Oolong" ?

>>19568874
Nice, om excited to hear what you think of the dong guo i haven't had a vhance to try it yet and it sound good

>>19569502
that's the 2021 Yingpan Shan Black
someone recommended it on here and it was cheap, so I got a 100 gram bag
the scent of the dry leaves reminds me of dried tomatoes oddly enough lmao, maybe some quirk of being shipped with all that raw pu-erh. I doubt it will taste anything like that.

>>19569578
I was asking because i think i was the one recommending it, i hope you'll enjoy. Might have got the last pouch of 100g it's out of stock for some time now might need next update of the site stocks to get it back outside of 1kg orders.

>>19569577
Jesus christ i need to proofread my posts

>>19569577
I might try it tomorrow. it does sound promising, though the Fa Zhan He seems nice enough already in the citrusy category
>>19569587
yeah, I noticed that I grabbed one of the last pouches

Waiting for oriental beauty from ailao to make my own order on farmer leaf i try to limit myself to 2 orders a year but it's hard...

>>19569747
Why two orders? Not dollar amount or certain weight?

>>19569828
I usually order the same quantity/price as one order Farmer leaf i get around 100-150e orders depending on the season. Weight doesn't really matter i'll drink it all anyway since i only order when i some space in storage. First one in spring second one if i "need" more tea before next spring usually if i didn't order a lot from other places just like this year.

>>19569838
You should treat yourself and go hard on a third order.

>>19569846
I treat myself a lot already if i really want something extra i'll just order it in the second order if i don't wait for oriental beauty to order i'll get it anyway because i really want it, last time it was 42e so the shipping is already taken care of with it.

>>19569857
>oriental beauty
how old was she and what was the mileage?

drinking GABA green tea. unique stuff, tastes strongly of vanilla, but in a different way to the creaminess you sometimes get in ripe pu-erh, more of a smoky, spicy vanilla. and that sour fruit typical of GABA stuff

>>19569871
also, it tastes nothing like a green tea, it's more similar to an unroasted gaba oolong. I think it was slightly overpriced, but an interesting experience. impossible to overbrew as well

>>19569868
Ok nice one. I like young virgin village girl working in tea fields with her grandpa and aunt if you know any.

>>19569838
>>19569857
>mfw i already spent 300e on tea, mostly puer, and i plan to order more in 2-3 months

>>19569899
About the same amount this year so far trying to not order again...

>>19569906
It's hard man. I had to stop buying lots of food and drinks because of greedflation, but i fucking love ripe puer. On the bright side, i lost like 6 kg these last two months because i stopped buying goyslop.

>>19569924
I drink only tea or water but eat nicely on the side too eating better but less same with my tea buying better but less quantity it's going great

>>19569846
Delete this

>>19569924
at least you love a tea that's relatively cheap. just think what all the poor Bai Hao, Matcha or dry aged pu-erh fans must be going through

>>19570066
Oh man, i haven't actually tried any aged sheng yet. I plan to get some samples from KTM and maybe some stuff from Yeeontea, since i'm also curious about HK storage.

>>19570111
Aged sheng is fun, would recommend.

>>19570111
I almost pulled the trigger on a Yeeon order when they had a sale just now, but I decided I'll wait until the next one, as I still have some aged tea left and I don't drink it that often
anyway Awazon has some cheap options for teas with a bit of age on them. the 2002 ripe tuo I got is quite heavy on that aged flavor

>>19570203
Will Yeeontea have another sale this year?

tea discord when

>>19570250
Yeah for 11/11 or whatever that Chinese shopping holiday is

>>19569871
>GABA green tea.
sounds interesting.

>>19570335
There are penty of tea discords if you want to join one, but there will never be a /tea/ discord

>>19570345
AMEN

>>19570345
idk i think it would work ok

its fucking tea, whats the worst that could happen

>>19570463
>its fucking tea, whats the worst that could happen
famous last words of a poor lesbian before being killed in a puerh-fuelled domestic violence incident gone homocidal

>>19570463
Personally i post in /tea/ because i want to talk about tea on a (mostly) anonymous imageboard. Ive seen generals make discords before and it results in people posting on the discord instead of it the thread and then usually turns into extreme levels of cancer and drama and then you end up with angry psychos spamming the thread constantly. Ive seen it too many times. Something about 4chan and discords mixing just attracts the absolute worst schizos on this website like catnip and its always a shitshow.
If you want to join a tea related discord there are a number that exist that have established communitys that you probably would enjoy. The one for liquid prost is easy to find and there are plenty of others as well with different focuses and different cultures.

>>19570563
put it better than i could have, plus i think tea is a slow topic by nature and really doesn't call for real-time chat, you're inviting retarded drama for no meaningful gain

>>19570463
just join the communitea discord if you want one, its pretty much what replaced steepster for tea reviews tbdesu so nice to be in for ktm orders and shit

>>19570342
I know that there's a bunch of GABA teas nowadays. I've even seen a GABA pu-erh somewhere

>>19570609
Apparently the Japanese really like the GABA teas. Gaba green does sound pretty interesting. I keep meaning to look for a roasted gabba oolong, i bet that would be nice

>>19570345
>discord
Discord is an information sink hole. You cant google it, view it without account, or easily back it up. Even IRC back in the day was better because at least it was an open standard and people mostly used it just to chat instead of pretending like it was a good way to store information. The important information used to mostly end up in more permanent places like forums, wikis, or text files. I really hate asking a question online getting told "its posted on the Discord" by people who know the answer. Additionally Discord's quasi-private nature combined with it being chat focused nature tends to cause annoying cliques to form and attract terminally online attention seekers often leading to lots of stupid drama. Another peeve of mine is that Discord requires a phone number to make an account and If I want to stay private (which I do) then I would need to buy burner phone numbers. Reddit is unironically better. Discord is fine for chat but I don't like it becoming the center of communities.

>brew gongfu for 2 years now
>drink a teabag tea and realize i prefer it due to nostalgia

>>19570756
did you guys stop drinking tea bags, it's a different drink essentially but i still enjoy them

>>19570882
As far as teabags go I mostly only drank herbal teas. I never was a fan of the sort of CTC black tea that is used in typical teabags.

>>19570882
I never drank from tea bags in the first place.

>>19570335
stop trying to pick up broads on /tea/ you fucking creepy puer lezz

>>19570111
I picked up the 2008 Taste of Hong Kong Raw from Yee on Tea and I'm drinking it for the first time today and I'm really liking it so far. I haven't drank enough aged sheng to give the best tasting notes, but it's pretty earthy, a bit of wood/ash, a little bit vegetal, and a bit bitter the first few infusions. Slightly astringent. Great value for $33 a cake.

>>19571884
I should probably mention that it smells strongly like a cellar or basement. If that doesn't deter you then I think it's worth trying.

>>19571942
Love me a good cellar sniff after a warm summer rain. It tastes the way it smells, yes?

>>19570882
I've been drinking loose leaf black tea long before I really got into tea

>>19570615
I hear all the permanently stressed out salarymen drink GABA tea because it doesn't make them nervous
I've had one highly roasted GABA oolong and it tasted more of the roast than the GABA flavor to me

>>19568746
trying the free Jingmai Moonlight White 2022 sample now
I haven't really enjoyed any leafy white so far, and this one hasn't convinced me either. mellow, herbal, fruity, slight floral honey sweetness. has some oxidation already, like a weak black tea
it's alright, but just not my preferred flavor profile, I like teas that are more bold. I wonder what the value proposition of this is compared to a 9$ moonlight white cake from Awazon

>>19572237
I'll say that the slight floral honey aftertaste is nice though, if I found a white tea where it was more intense and lasted longer, I think I'd really enjoy it

>>19571884
>>19571942
Thanks, i actually had my eye on that cake for my next order. I think i might enjoy that basement smell.

>>19572358
Also wanted to ask, how is hayslontea? I see it in the vendor list, but i don't remember seeing anons talki about this vendor.

>>19572416
>how is hayslontea
There really hasn't been any posts here of people ordering from them. I think they are somewhat known in the broader tea community. We were trying to find as many known HK tea shops as we could and they were one of them.

>>19571970
Yeah it does taste the way it smells, but I think it smells a bit more cellar-y than it tastes

>>19570756
>>19570882
I put my loose leaf tea into bags

Nice leaf from "Winter 2022 Ailao High Mountain Oolong" i wish i had the spring 2023 to compare the two i need to keep some from winter until my next order.

anyone know much about a dark tea called 'fu cha'?

I bought some years ago but never really looked into it—I presume its a type of heicha

>>19572928
There's a couple anons here who have dipped into fu bricks.

>>19572928
Yes, it's one of the more popular hei Chas. The one I had some time ago kind of tasted like an aged shou mei, but many are more smoky as far as I know.

We're so back?

>>19572928
Its a brick tea, partially fermented, its good, drink it.

Following up to the Yun Yuan Gu 1801 sheng cake that was awful, this is the 1802 shou sibling. It's better than awful, but not by much. It may be decent for what you pay, but just a tiny bit more investment in your tea will grant you much better and more interesting stuff. It's vanilla forward, but that's about it. It peters out almost immediately after that and doesn't leave you with much to think about. There are some balanced earthy notes, but it's not really worth digging into.
As is with the previous one, the perforations are the best part, but it seems to be something done to lesser quality tea in order to make it more interesting. That's just an anecdote from personal observation.
I'll probably end up finishing this cake, unlike the 1801, but I likely won't try anything from this factory again.

"Autumn 2022 Jingmai Gushu Black" back in the shop somehow on farmer leaf, found a lost back of tea? Or a mistake instead of the new 2023 autumn? Yingpan shan black available as 100g pouch again.

I hate trying to decide whether or not to stock up on a tea. There is a cake I want to grab a couple of because it is about to sell out and I know it will be hard to find a similar tea. On the other hand I am short on cash now.

>>19575225
what is it i'll keep it safe for u

>>19575225
Kinda depends on how much tea you have now. Some things to think about when making a purchasing decision. Do you already have a multi year supply of tea? Is the tea a good price?
Assuming it's a young cake will you still enjoy it in a few years or is it better young? How will it fit into your overall collection? Will your stash suddenly be 50% this particular tea? If so would you be okey drinking it daily (or pretty frequently) for half a year (assuming 3-4 full sized cakes)
On the one hand tea is not getting cheaper and if you find something you really like its a good idea to stock up. On the other hand tastes change, tea changes and not always for the better,

>>19575240
I will tell you what it is after I decide one way or another.

>>19575255
>Do you already have a multi year supply of tea?
yes
>Is the tea a good price?
yes
>Assuming it's a young cake will you still enjoy it in a few years or is it better young?
already aged
>How will it fit into your overall collection?
It has a distinct flavor profile that is unique and harder to find.
>Will your stash suddenly be 50% this particular tea?
no, I have a lot of tea.
>If so would you be okey drinking it daily
More of a special tea for me. I want to stock up for long term because it will be hard to find a replacement.

Help me understand these two recent listings at KTM. Classic Xiaguan Xiao Fa tuos from this year, for radically different prices. The more expensive option gets you a nice container tube with each tuo, but that can't be worth twice as much, can it? I'm aware there are occasionally different kinds of Xiao Fa, but there's nothing suggesting that's true between these.
Am I missing something?

>>19575371
I think the ones in the individual containers are always a bit more expensive. More collectible and also it makes sense that a factory 5 pack is cheaper than 5 individual tuo cha.

>>19575371
Its hard to be sure, xiaguan does this a lot with tuos and generally they are the same unless one is advertised as a special production or something.
Looking at the listings the tuos have different paper tickets on them, so they are seemingly from different production batches. The leaves also look different, maybe its just lighting but the paper box tuos seem to have darker leaves.
Im guessing they are pretty much the same
You can see these specoal production ones they made last year but these are clearly marked as being different from the regular ones
https://kingteamall.com/collections/2022-xiaguan/products/2022-xiaguan-xiao-fa-tuo-lan-biao-xiaofa-tuo-blue-label-updated-7663-recipe-100g-puerh-shou-cha-ripe-tea
You can try looking them up on xiaguans website to see if they have more info about the two productions
http://www.xgtea.com/mobile/cpdg_list.aspx?category_id=76

>>19557761
I do actually kind of like the look that teapot. Way too expensive for me to justify getting though.

Anyone tried yaupon holly or dahoon holly before? They're the only caffeinated plants native to North America.

>>19576923
Its been discussed a few times but nobody has posted about trying it. Seems interesting but it's pretty expensive. I think the experience is probably fairly close to drinking yerba mate

>>19576445
When you get some tea ready in that would you refer to it as prepping the bull?

Floor leaf

>>19577224
Vacuum now! pubes everywhere anon ewwww!

weed smoke lapsang souchong

Grandpa brewing some Farmerleaf Yellow Flakes today. Not sure what to think about them, they're a little boring. There's sort of a toasty nuttiness to them, but I'm not getting much else of note.

>>19577301
please

>>19577622
I don't have a lot of experience with yellow flake teas but they seem kinda lame. Maybe they are better with a bunch of age but they just don't have much flavor to give in my experience.

>>19575240
The cake in question is:
https://www.liquidproust.com/listing/1188363800/that-camphor-cake-raw-puerh-400g
It has a rustic camphor taste to it. The material is well aged, has plenty of big leaves but is kind of rough looking. I don't think I have found another sheng cake quite like it.

>>19576923
I have some of those exact same yaupon tea bags. I will try to post notes sometime.

>>19578139
I like Huang Pian. it can be kind of mellow but I like that it is easy to brew and drink. You can always push it harder if you want too. Great daily drinker material if you get it at an ok price. It sometimes has a unique sour taste to it as well.

is 'one river tea' any good? i was checking out their greens but it seems pretty pricy

I have a lot of extra tea bags sitting around. Is there a decent way to make a lot of extra tea with them? Like sitting them in a big pitcher for a day or something?

>>19578528
Haven't heard of them before, prices seem roughly appropriate if the tea is at the quality level they claim it is. Hard to say more without somone trying it. A bunch of the shops that offer premium green tea do it on a pretty limited/preoorder only basis because of the price.
Can't really say more untill someone trys them out.
Seven cups is a us based store that offers the fancy greens if you want to compare. Im not really sure where diminishing returns kicks in with Chinese green tea. It can get very very expensive and its popular as gifts in china so part of the high price has to do with rarity and prestige over the taste of the tea. You may be better off trying out mid priced offerings from somewhere like king tea mall if you dont already drink a lot of Chinese green tea. But don't let me dissuade you completely from trying a new shop.

>>19578528
>>19578788
I just made a really big order with them of a bunch of random tea I found interesting, I'll have to post reviews when it arrives

>>19578788
>>19578876
what did you get? I've ordered their green sample pack
he has a few youtube videos which seem fairly salesman orientated, but he still seems to have passion

Where to get a good tea tray? For years I've just been doing my tea sessions with the teaware on some paper towels. Looking into getting a nice but simple-ish tea tray. Preferably one made in Japan, as I drink mostly Japanese tea, use Japanese pot and cups. Something that won't mold if it gets wet, but won't break my bank either. Like the look of a wood/bamboo tray, but have heard bamboo molds after too much water exposure. Want to avoid plastic for obvious reasons.
Had some old hojicha today, and it was decent, just calming really. 2022 from Yunomi.life. Sweet and malty.

>>19578913
have you considered actually making one yourself? it makes a very fun carpentry project and you can design the tray to be EXACTLY the way you like it

This just came in today.

Borosilicate beaker. Designed for ultra temperature fluctuations, durability, and heat retention. Only a few degrees less for my tea compared to a double walled pitcher.

>>19578945
forgot the fucking image

>>19578927
NTA, but I've been thinking about it for a while. It's a bit of an intimidating subject to learn cut and waterproof it and whatever though. But I think it will be fun when I finally get around to it.

>>19578927
If you haven't owned a tray, chances are good you don't know exactly the way you like it.
>>19578945
>>19578951
Looks nice. Don't burn your fingers.

>>19578528
If you are looking for small shops that sell high end green teas there is also the sweetestdew.com. They dont have as large of a selection however.

>>19578913
I recommend getting a wood tray with a plastic inner water catching tray to avoid the issues with bamboo where it can warp or bend if you leave water in it. That way the extra water is sitting in plastic but its not touching your teaware or anything.
Some other options, you can find ones made out of pewter which are usually pretty nice but cqn be expensive, you can also find ones made out of clay. You can also find stainless steel ones and the occasional one with a slate surface.
King tea mall has some, but shipping is probably pricey. Its not unreasonable to search on aliexpress, amazon, ebay etc. You will find that most of the widely available tea trays seem to come from a pretty limited number of Chinese manufacturers unless you get into the luxury/specialty stuff.
Any way, amazon, bamboo slats, plastic tray in the bottom, whichever shop has the one you want with the cheapest price+shipping and a few photo reviews so you know what you will get.
Something like this
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GZLHPW2/

>>19578951
Nice, beakers are a cool thing to use for a tea pitcher

>>19578913
This is the tray I use. Just a standard walnut tray used for kitchens and such. I also purchased natural honey wax to help treat the wood to endure water better. The oil helps repel the water.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BQY728N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

>>19567779
How's that TAETEA “Sweet Wine” Ripe PUER Tea Cake? (The ones with the red wrap paper).

I'm considering trying all their cakes...

>>19579368
It's a fine cheap shou. You can add a cake to your Amazon order if you need a quick daily drinker to hold you over until your next proper order. I'll crack some open tonight or tomorrow for a proper critique, but you already know the best part of this production.

>>19579496
I thought the V93 and 7572 to be good by my standards... so if those are considered fine cheap, then i'm set.

>>19578174
Did one of you guys grab the last one or did someone else get it?

>>19579577
Sounds right to me. If you liked those two, Sweet Wine won't be far off.

Hey guys, I never go on /ck/ but I wanted to leave you with an awesome place to get tea. I think its local but they ship for free in the US and it's incredibly cheap (and good) comparatively. Their genmaicha and earl grey make me cum

https://savoytea.com/

>>19578910
This is my full order, I got basically whatever caught my eye, I am interested in particular in the yellows and the non-tea leaf tea

Just ordered tea, what am I in for?

>>19580700
What tea did you order and from where?

>>19580591
damn nigga ur rich af

>>19580591
Those are some crazy expensive silver needles. I wonder if they're worth the price.

>>19580591
>charcoal roasted tea seeds
Wild that's a new one
Im pretty interested in the yellow teas too, i rarely see them being sold and they usually aren't from shops i woild trust to have the good stuff. Seems like very little gets made and even less gets exported.
Im not even sure what the right way to brew yellow teas is

>>19580700
You are in for true flavor taste enjoyment of premium tea product

>>19580591
Hell yeah. Good order.

What does traditional teaware look like in your country? Where I'm at it's like this.

>>19581555
Another example of a teapot

>>19581555
Not much of a tea history here, except that of herbal infusions. Lots of coffee drinkers because of the Ottomans.

>>19581555
>>19581560
>>19581611
Where are you from?

>>19581694
I'm Romanian (posted the third picture).

>>19581555
we have 'brown betty' teapots, they're fairly simple things

>>19581555

Hey, i was recently gifted this Ten Ren company dong ding oolong.
Do any of you have any experiences with this tea? i havent had dong ding before but the price on it surprised me a bit. Im pretty sure its this one.
https://store.tenfu.com/Taiwan-Dong-Ding-Oolong-Tea

>>19581694
Poland
there is also a lot of classic western-style porcelain here, but the more distinct style of traditional folk ceramics is pretty interesting as well

>>19581869
the more eastern european looking teapots are cool IMO. too bad they're usually quite big

>>19580709
Just a box of yorkshire and another of english breakfast
>>19581288
Oh boy I'm so excited

>>19565985
I just saw a movie called Corner Office. i thought it was pretty good.

>>19566317
>I don't want to give money to shit hole states and thus indirectly support their governments.
lmfao. democrat and/or poc detected lol.

>>19566319
>if you're a newbie you can just gift them some decent tie guan yin or dianhong and they'll be happy
lmfao this is why i have so much tgy and oolongs lol

>>19567034
which retard??

Has anyone here bought tea from taobao before? I need some recs.

I'm drinking my $16 lao bai cha shou mei from KTM. What the fuck! It's actually excellent. It tastes exactly like honey. Brewing at 85 C. It's way better than this tea has any business being. I'm going to buy a tong.
There isn't too much depth, but it is fairly dynamic. Initially tastes like honey but it gives way gradually to more staw-like oxidization flavors. It's a simple tea and its very sweet.

>>19583256
There are a bunch of links for official brand taobao/tmall shops at the bottom of this pastebin
https://pastebin.com/twK4E6AM

tfw filtered by chinese captchas

>>19578951
i use the Bodum Pour Over Coffee Maker with Filter, New Cork, 34 OZ, because of the massive size.

>>19564848
I do most of my gongfu while watching movies, making it very easy to get distracted, so I've just relented to using a stopwatch.

>>19584371
Stopwatches/timers feel like cheating but they just work

I'm not really liking the 2021 Yingpan Shan Black from FarmerLeaf so far. That's probably on me though, I seem to be really picky when it comes to hong cha and this was really cheap. I'll experiment a bit more with brewing and if I still don't like it, I'll give it to a friend. Maybe I'll try to push it more, because it's coming out a bit bland.

>>19583601
I know 1 or 2 places that could be added to the australia section of that

this'll do me for the next 12 months

>>19584604
Check the regular pastebin in the op and let me know what they are if they arent in there

>>19584610
Nice, good variety of taiwan teas there

>>19584610
>that small amount of tea
>12 months
Fucking casuals, REEEEE

>>19584574
Are you brewing it gongfu or western style? Ive been drinking it western style. 3.5-4 grams in a mug for 3.5-4.5 minutes. Comes out fairly mild on the maltyness but with lots of fruity sweetness. I haven't tried it gongfu at all, i just don't brew black tea that way so i can't comment on how it holds up.

>>19584642
nah I'm just poor, I do gongfu like maybe one, twice a week

is it daily for you?

>>19584668
Yeah, i usually do 1-2 gong fu sessions per day, so i end using 10-14 grams of tea daily (i mostly drink ripe puer, so i use more leaf because it looses it's strength quite fast).

>>19584688
Forgot to add, on my research about taiwanese vendors, i found two that have some nice prices, but haven't tried them yet.
https://www.pinglintea.com dot tw/
https://www.just-tea.com dot tw/index.php?cPath=61&q=Tea%20Set&usrsid=i9146icmosv9pb8890bq5ablb0

>>19584610
I have that exact same GABA green tea, I've posted about it recently
I get a lot of vanilla out of it, and some sour fruit. it's unlike any green tea I've had, more GABAish but not quite the same as a GABA oolong. interesting stuff, very unique.

>>19584652
kind of in-between, but closer to western proportions. I'll try it full-on big mug western style next time
I get a bit of fruitiness and honey sweetness out of it, but hidden behind a whole lot of what I'd call generic black tea flavor with some tannins. but I'm comparing it to teas 3x its price, which is maybe a bit unfair

>>19584699
>my research about taiwanese vendors
Do you have any other links?

>>19584699
I know there's that one store that has really good prices but is not in english. the TeaDB guys recommended it. https://www.teahome.com/

>>19585054
they got some weird lookin stuff but i'm interested

>>19585054
Thanks, looks good, i tossed that in the pastebin

>>19584942
https://www.kumytea dot com
Also >>19585054
https://www.sumusen dot com dot tw (same guys as pinglin, but different tea i think)

I love genmaicha so much bros

>>19585236
Its a really top tier afternoon tea.

>>19585494
it really isnt.

>>19585617
Do you make it with breakfast? I think its great to drink after lunch or mid afternoon.

>>19585630
it doesnt have KICK. Have u ever tried hk milk tea?

>>19585630
I have it, been drinking it for 5 years, but it lacks kick. its kinda tasty, but its more like drinking flavored water. for afternoon, I think a good black tea or strong brewed ripe is better. Or perhaps an english black tea blend. Genmaicha is good anytime, but specifically for an afternoon kick, i think its too weak.

>>19585682
Ah fair enough, i usually drink more mild teas in the afternoon, i agree if you really want some energy its maybe not the best choice

>>19585679
>Have u ever tried hk milk tea?
Nope, im not a big milk tea guy so i havent gotten around to trying it

with all the teaware discussion i remembered there are a few potters in eastern europe making raw clay pots, i was looking for them earlier but had no luck, i will try a dig them up tomorrow. Its just a few individual artists but they have a somewhat distinct style that's kind of interesting.

I'm on the look out for 2023 DaYi 7572. Is it too early to be expecting ripes from this year yet? Where would you look?

>>19586665
Its not too early, they probably released some in the spring
>Where would you look?
https://dayi.world.tmall.com/

Black tea recs for iced? I'm making arnold palmers because I love them, and I like them with low sweetness

>>19586640
sounds interesting. I have a pot from an eastern european potter, but it's an entirely Japanese-style kyusu
when I think of classic eastern-european pots, I think of glazed ceramics decorated with folk motifs

trying the FarmerLeaf Dong Guo 2023 sample for the first time
getting a lot of lemon and a strong astringency. bitterness is low to medium, short and sharp. not getting a lot of upfront sweetness or huigan, it leaves a drying astringent-mineral aftertaste
it's tasty, but strikes me as a bit one-note. I've enjoyed the Fa Zhan He sample more. I felt that one had a similar zesty lemon note, but balanced with a green bean and more sweetness and was more interesting, as it changed more between brews
only had one session of Dong Guo and two of Fa Zhan He, but I'm liking the latter more so far, despite its lower price

I just tried gaba oolong for the first time and it smells and tastes very strange. I can't think of anything that tastes quite like it. Perhaps some sort of salad leaf?

>>19587812
roasted or unroasted?
unroasted GABA oolong has some similarity to autumn leaves for me. and usually apple pie.

GABAgool

>>19587825
Roasted. It tastes mainly vegetal and a little sweet and nutty. You can kind of taste the nitrogen.

>>19587508
Thanks for the reviews, helpful.
Im not a huge fan of teas that have more astringency then bitterness, it's kind of a weird place to be imo.

>>19588166
I find the astringency fairly enjoyable in this one. Maybe I'll like it more if I push it some more. It had a hint of spice in the aroma, could be nice if I got more of that in the flavor.
Only two samples left to try in my set. The Bangwai Small Trees sounds nice.

>>19588188
Im drinking the fa zan he this morning and im gettig upfront citrus that turns sweet pretty quickly and then has some beany Chinese green tea notes, kinda reminds me of dragonwell a bit. Maybe a bit of light floral notes on the finish as well but that might be reaching a bit. So im on the same page as your notes.
Small trees is solid, smooth, sweet, easy to drink without being boring. The first time i tried it i thought it was kinda bland but i think that's just because it was pressed so recently. Ive read that cakes need a few weeks after they are pressed for the excess water to evaporate off and for them to get their proper taste. But i haven't really had enough super fresh tea to offer an opinion on the matter

>>19588234
Yeah, that checks out. I remember one of the brews of the Fa Zhan He tasted like straight up sweet and tangy lemonade, some were more green beany with just a hint of the citrus. Really tasty and fun to drink. The rest of my order hasn't really been a standout so far, but that's okay, it's just samples. Still have the Bangwai and free sample of Jingmai Miyun 2022 left to try. Might sum it all up once I get around to them and try the Dong Guo some more.

now this is tea

pee pee likes tea

>>19588478
what is this from

>>19557761
NEW
>>19588494
>>19588494
>>19588494

>>19588485
Some documentary about a Chinese tea buyer who has gone to yiwu to buy tea, i completely forget what its called. Its up on YouTube somewhere

I'm not sure I understand the difference between bitterness and astringency.

>>19588485
Im pretty sure its from one of these videos
https://youtube.com/watch?v=r0_hz3Hz-w4

>>19588524
Bitterness is the mouth puckering bite. Astringency is that feeling you get in your tongue when you bite into an asain pear.
Bitterness id more of a flavor while astringency is more of a feeling in the mouth. To make things more confusing they frequently appear together and ive read the Chinese use the same word for both at least with tea.

>>19586824
Dianhongs are good iced, I always go for the all-bud ones as they are quite flavorful and fragrant

someone bought me strainer now i have to get into tea

>>19589657
Happy to have ya