/ck/ - Food & Cooking

What's the best tea?

KingTeaMall packaged just arrived. Didn't even have to pay VAT this time for some reason.

*barges into your thread*
*smears shit all over the walls*

Heh, enjoy your thread leaf-fags. Coffe-gang just stopping by to remind you that /ck/ is a /beans/ board.

COFFEECHAD, OUT!

>>19816604

>>19816608
Check paper on package might have lowered value of the content for you.

>>19816608
Got three of these little Jianzhan gong fu cups. They came wrapped in Chinese newspapers oddly enough. I'm new to this style of pottery, so can't really tell if it's trve top qvality jianzhan, but three little cups for 15$ and supposedly made by some presumably low level artisan sounded good enough for me.

This one is called on something at the bottom for some reason, I'll see if it comes off. They look quite pretty though and are surprisingly weighty.
>>19816615
The weird thing is it doesn't even look like an international package and it wasn't delivered by state-run mail like usual, but by a private delivery service. It says the package was sent from within my country. It almost looks like they found some loophole where they pay a company to act as a proxy or something, because I should have paid VAT for this, no matter how low the stated value was. Or maybe they lowered it and then pay the VAT themselves? Weird shit, but I'm not complaining.

>>19816629
>called on
*caked in

>>19816629
If the value of the package is put at 15 for ex in my country the import taxes of 20%+ don't apply, could also use a "local" company to have different laws and taxes applied before delivering to you yes. You have a paper attached on the box check on it the prices listed on it.

>>19816629
I had inter package, private delivery company and national company used to deliver my package from asia so doesn't really matter i think. Important part is when it enters your country.

>>19816629
That sounds interesting. Mysterious are the ways of chinese postal services.
Nice cups, hope you like them. I also have a pair of jianzhan cups, they are nice, but i enjoy drinking from thinner porcelain cups more.

>>19816608
nice. i wanna know about that purple xiaguan and the rou gui.

>>19816634
I think this was the local company solution, because the paper states it was sent by a local company. I hope KTM sticks to this, it's convenient and saves me a few extra bucks.
There is no tax exempt value where I live anymore, so even with a stated value of 10$ I still had to pay like 2$ of tax.
>>19816637
I'm having my first session with that Xiaguan Hong Cha in the cups now. It's a very different experience to drinking in porcelain indeed. They suck out a lot of heat from the tea but they're so thick you don't burn your hands. Good for chugging cup after cup quickly, or I guess you can heat them up first if you want a slower-paced session. We'll see if I prefer them to porcelain.
>>19816655
I'll be sure to review them soon.

I got hooked on Hyouge Mono from you guys and now I want oribe-ware. I already have a kyusu set though. It'd be redundant to get a second pot used exclusively for Japanese greens.

added support for kingteamall to my extension and it's now on the firefox store for easy install. chrome whenever they approve it
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/glodfinch-tease/
hopefully nobody minds me posting about this, it's actually pretty useful i think.

>>19816740
You could get an oribe chawan / matcha bowl, like this one:
www.artisticnippon.com/product/oribe/zohogama/oribekofukuwan.html

>>19816774
Thanks anon, it does sound very useful. Does it let you sort products by price per gram too? That would be god tier.

>>19816781
it'd be possible on W2T because they expose both weight and price information on the search page. but most websites don't do this, it'd take a more complicated setup.
maybe i'll add it for W2T over the weekend.

>>19816617
Really nice glazing. I wish I did pottery.

>>19816774
>>19816796
Pretty cool, nice stuff anon. Have you considered adding Chawangshop or Fullchea?

>>19816774
Nice, i will try this out this afternoon

>>19817129
The pattern is actually created during the firing process. When they put the glazed cups in the kiln they are just an even colour.

>>19816602
I don't remember the last time I drank green tea. Any recommendations?

>>19815436
Speaking of verdant tea's tisanes I decided to order some more. I want to see how their new varieties are.

>>19817486
Mid grade "dragonswell" from a decent shop, make sure it was harvested this year

>>19817486
whatever you buy, just make sure it's 2023 harvest. personally I like all the Japanese classics, even the cheaper ones. but Chinese greens can be nice too, generally milder and are usually way easier to brew

>>19816774
Ty anon. Great contribution. Think it would be useful to be able to "pin" a price to check for raises? Not even scraping every page for a graph, just a "you pinned this at 12c/g on xx/xx/xx. %increase"

>>19817200
chawangshop definitely, fullchea will take some thought about how to parse the weights because their listings are a bit less well organised. but probably.
farmer leaf next i think.

>>19817713
that's a cool idea, i'll have a think about it.

glad it's useful for some of you.

>>19817783
farmerleaf at least only exclusively sells standard size cakes
I think the teaware section on the site is broken though. various items seem to be in stock, but you can't find them on the site at all, just through google. I emailed them about it, but they have yet to reply

>>19817794
that's true not exactly top priority. though i've liked seeing price/gram and comparing sample prices.
maybe queries not directly related to orders are a bit lower priority.

>>19817491
not seen goji leaf before, how is it? i'm getting a bit tired of rooibos. the stuff on klio you suggested all looks really nice.

>>19817833
>not seen goji leaf before, how is it?
I cant remember if that is one of the ones I have had yet. I will see if I have some in my stash and right up some quick notes, if not I will order a bag and tell you how it is. They have made tea out of bunch of different plant leaves but they don't have them in stock all the time. For example in the past they have offered spiny zizyphus, sweet potato, and dandelion leaf teas but none of those are currently in stock. The all tend to have a savory green tea character to them but each one is different. I want to try to make some myself someday.

>klio you suggested
Their greek mountain tea (any kind) is quite good and I really like their lemon verbena. I need to try their sage tea again to make up my mind, the flavor seemed good but it is easy to overbrew and end up way too strong. I own the sea buckthorn tea but have not tried it yet and their Chamomile has been out of stock every time I have put in an order.

I went on r*ddit just to see how bad it was, it's bad. I don't even know where to start, so I won't. I love you pretentious autistic dykes, at least you're self aware about it.

Took the recommendation for the blue raspberry cake from the last thread, but has anyone else had the other cake before and what I'm in for. It's supposed to be smoky which is hopeful still there after all the time it's sat.

>>19818126
Yeah that old xiaguan tuo is probably still pretty smokey. Im drinking one from 2009 right now and its certainly smokey

I'm looking for a proper bottle for real grandpa style like they do it in the Orient. Any suggestions?

>>19818171
Also, I'm looking for good samples before I go whole hog on a brick of some shit. I have a general sense of good tea and don't like green. Unsure on puerh until I get a representative sample in hand. Other than whites and some mystery chink shop red from a few years ago, I've been unsatisfied but haven't ventured into whole leaf outside of what I mentioned. Forest floor and some fruity sweet notes sounds good on paper but I'm not sure if shou puerh is actually the solution, or what a representative sample is.

>>19818171
Empty coke bottle.
Preferably one that you've used to brew some coke liubao.

>>19818264
I was thinking a 'zona liter but that's what I use for film development, the traces of green and Arnold Palmer make my photos sparkle. Why coke bottle, it seems small.

Really wish i bought a travel gaiwan at some point. Im going on a trip for the weekedn and im stuck grampa brewing or drinking shitty coffee maker coffee

>>19818126
FT productions have a reputation for being a bit less smoky and higher quality than other xiaguans on average. you can always pick up one of the more basic ones if you want it extra smoky
I kind of regret not picking up that blueberry candy sheng in my last order, I forgot about it
I forgot that KTM even has taiwanese oolongs, no one seems to ever talk about them. hard to go wrong with a dong ding though

Imagine if you had $1,000 available to spend on whatever tea you liked or wanted to try. Which ones would you choose?

>1kg is a sample

>>19818747
where?

>>19818747
I have blind bought kilo bricks a few times, it usually works out pretty well

>drinking tea as usual
>out of nowhere my saliva starts tasting sweet
Is this hui gan?

>Verification not required.

>>19818703
I've found that even bad quality oolongs are okay as long as they are the actually tea described. They just become bitter quicker, after two or three flash brews, than the more expensive ones which I can easily brew five times before they lose their flavor. So even if KMT isn't known for their oolongs, for the price they should do the job well enough.

>>19816602
Wait should I be testing my puerh for lead?

>>19819103
No, you should relax and enjoy your life

>>19818718
I'd do a little tour of Lao Man E, probably. A bit of higher end Farmer Leaf cakes and maybe some Yee On Tea. It's funny how when you know where to look, dropping $1,000 really isn't difficult to do.

>>19818818
If you tasted something like bitterness (doesn't have to be harsh) first that evolved into sweetness, yeah. Otherwise, just normal sweetness.

>>19819445
Yup, an alishan high mountain oolong. Tasted nice with very little bitterness. Then all of a sudden after 3-4 cups in, my saliva starts tasting really sweet.

Just saw the first episode of Hyouge Mono and i love it. It's "Literally me: The Anime". Already getting an itch to buy a tetsubin.

>>19818718
I would split it between aged cakes from farmer leaf, essence of tea and teas we like, Maybe toss a nice example of a young yiwu. If im lucky i could get 5 cakes out of $1,000.
I would be tempted to sped it all on yancha, but really most of the higher end chinese yancha market is completely unavailable from western facing vendors. It would be quite a project to track down the good stuff from taoabo.

>>19817486
>Any recommendations?
tea of the green variety, i make a gallon at a time

>>19819475
Yup, that's hui gan

>>19817486
i'd second dragonwell, pretty much anyone who likes green will like it and decent stuff is readily available.

Has anyone made cold brew puer? I recently made cold brew green and oolong teas from some lower quality leaves and they both turned out nicely. Wondering if puer is worthwhile.

>>19819797
no but, i'll put some in the fridge to consume tonight

>>19818252
most representative shou sample would be something from one of the big factories, preferably Dayi or Haiwan. Dayi 7572 is the meme "benchmark" or "industry standard" for big production mid tier ripe pu-erh, so maybe that one
or just a few random samples from yunnansourcing or kingteamall

>>19819070
agreed, cheap oolongs tend to be fine. I even have some cheapo vietnamese si ji chun that's quite tasty

>>19816655
>>19816608
since anon was interested, here's my first impressions from the purple Xiaguan aka 2008 Xizi Happy Tuo. first session with a Xiaguan, so sorry if I'm ignorant:
smoke is clearly present, but not overwhelming or annoying, a bit reminiscent of a campfire. flavor is mostly woody-smoky with some prunes, a bit of mushrooms and pine resin maybe. has a bit of upfront sweetness, bit of astringency and dries out the mouth a bit, but not getting much bitterness. not much of a huigan either though. body seems to be medium

overall, tasty smoky forest prunes type of deal, more or less what I expected. bit of a rougher drying finish reveals that this is not expensive, but the tea has certainly mellowed out a lot already. what I didn't expect was that the tuo would be quite easy to break apart. I heard many people complain about rock-hard Xiaguan tuos, but this one seems to be medium compression, comes apart much easier than, for example, the 2002 6FTM ripe tuo I have, or the 2006 Dayi Spring of Menghai cake.
I can compare it to the 2005 Jia Ji and the aforementioned Spring of Menghai at some point if anyone is interested

I have a small box full of varied wood chips for smoking. If I want an equivalent of Lapsang Souchong, can I just hotbox the tea inside the smoke to absorb its aroma?

What's the best way to break leaves off a cake without damaging them?

>>19820151
Embrace the nug. Learn to feel them out in your gaiwan as they open up. That will maximize your whole leaf ratio plus it's easier to pick.

>>19820151
for more tightly pressed teas, use a knife and try to carefully break off a whole chunk
for more loosely pressed teas, you can sometimes just pull them apart with your own hands

>>19818718
I would buy a bunch of different puerh and heicha cakes, bricks, and baskets from a variety of vendors. I don't have one tea I want to hit hard yet but there is a bunch of teas on my mental wish list. It is a little strange how easy it is now to think of spending a $1000.

>>19820151
For a normal cake look for lose spots and go in with a pick from the side of of the cake perpendicular to the axis of compression. You can typically flake off small mostly intact clusters or chunks of leaves this way. You do not need to fully separate every leaf, just split it up enough that it brews properly. With iron cakes or tight tuochas you are going to use more force and accept more breakage. Go for chunks. Iron cakes can be a pain to split up sometimes and you may have to get creative. I have had to use pliers and a wrench on a particularly stubborn fangcha before.

>>19817486
>I don't remember the last time I drank green tea.
>Any recommendations?
At this point, just wait for spring.

>>19816608
trying the Jin Jun Mei
leaves smell intensely like dark bread with honey. when brewed lightly, the taste is light and sweet with light malt, corn and a bit of floral honey
but I much prefer the experience when pushed, which is more similar to the fragrance - dark bread with honey, intense yet not too bitter or astringent

I wouldn't say this tea is very complex, but I personally find this flavor profile very compelling, maybe because it reminds me of my childhood with homemade rye bread and homemade honey at my grandparents' farm
I like robust hong cha and when pushed, this reminds me a bit of Tanyang Gongfu, which is one of my favorites. I guess it makes sense, as they're both made from these tiny spring buds and look quite similar. this Jin Jun Mei is probably less complex, but it is cheaper and I'm quite happy with it after two sessions

>>19820033
>flavor is mostly woody-smoky with some prunes, a bit of mushrooms and pine resin maybe
Sounds like xiaguan to me

>>19819797
I've tried cold brew gunpowder. Aside from the long prep time, it's my favorite way to drink it.

>>19819797
Yeah. I've been doing it overnight for 2gal batches of kombucha and drinking the leftovers.

Tried some oolong today - is it normal for it to have lots of stems/stalks?

>>19821160
That's pretty rare for any oolongs I can think of. Most are so heavily processed, I feel like nonleaf material would get destroyed. What kind of oolong are you drinking?

>>19821171
Jin xuan

>>19821160
Picture?

>>19821171
What kind of oolong are you talking about, yancha? Taiwanese oolongs are pretty stem-y in general. Same with Tieguanyin

>>19821187

>>19821252
It's normal

>>19821160
>>19821178
Totally normal for Taiwanese oolongs

Should update the pastebin. Starcuck's green tea is acceptable.

>>19821252
Unfortunate, but incredibly normal.

>>19816611
Is this legit bros?

>>19821684
Some anon reviewed a loose version a while ago, think it was from chawangshop. It's a real thing.

I remember anons inquiring about Taiwanteacraft's Four Seasons light bake oolong (Baguashan)

Sadly I am terrible at reviewing tea, but I really like how good this is for the price they offer. Flavour is very floral with a lot of strawberry jammyness. The leaves take 3ish steeps to fully unwrap and start infusing, and the tea can go on for another 3 steeps before the flavour drops off hard.

Still, 50g of tea for 3g for a 100ml gaiwan goes for a long time

>>19821854
the gaiwan here was actually really nice for being super thin cheap porcelain - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003065209339.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.22.712318020dgch6

would recommend

>>19819797
it's not bad at all. i used a 7542 because why wouldn't i. i know from earlier experiments that cold water won't necessarily break up the leaves though so make sure it's not a compressed chunk.

>>19821632
>Should update the pastebin. Starcuck's green tea is acceptable
the fucking flavored shit in bags? Zen whatever? Nah shit sucks

Bah, I got sick and now sense of taste is messed up and I can't smell at all. What's everyone's favorite sick day tea?

>>19822340
Ma huang.

>>19822340
Ephedra sinca

fuck me im staying in an airbnb this weekend on a trip and the fucking water is so goddamn fucking mineal laden i just know its going to make dogshit tea

would loose leaf tea brew quicker and better if I grind the leaves to powder in a spice grinder? has anyone ever tried it? seems to work well for coffee

>>19822394
>>19822397
Know of any good sources?

Who has the most interesting and potentially value laden tea clubs?

>>19822464
Search mo huang on ebay, pick one that's not obscenely expensive.
At least in the us its totally legal to import for personal use, you just cant buy it for the purpose of resale. Or just buy bronkaid at the pharmacy

>>19822503
>most interesting
w2t
>value
Tea clubs are universally a bad value because you are paying shipping monthly on a small amout of tea

>>19822438
>brew quicker
yes
>brew better
not necessarily, it will likely change the flavor profile and make it easy to overbrew. Also if you wanted to make matcha I am not sure that a regular spice grinder would work well.

>>19822503
oldwaystea club looks like reasonable value if you want yancha.
https://oldwaystea.com/tea-club

>>19822516
Thanks

>>19822409
You could buy some water from the store. That is what I do in a pinch.

>>19821854
nice watch, nice tea

Any kombucha bros ITT?

Mine isn't getting very carbonated even if I had fruit during the second ferment. Will all sugar be turned into carbonation? I don't want to gain weight.

>>19821854
We posting watches now? Can't be bothered to make it not cursed, so here's my 1970s Raketa on a real lizard strap I got for 5$ because the store was glitched. Pictured next to dirty tray and dirty testing cup.
The tea is 2022 Dayi 7562. First session with this tea. Classic Dayi dark chocolate, creamy and doughy flavor, really comforting stuff. Can't really rate it Vs other factory ripes until I drink most of the brick though. I'll say for now that the lack of wo dui is impressive for a tea this young, Dayi seems to be really good at getting rid of any stank.

ima boilin mah libao

>>19823435
raketa do nice little numbers, good looking one there too

>>19822519
I don't know, some of the clubs seem like you get a fair amount of rare and old shit you wouldn't otherwise be able to purchase. I wouldn't call them deals, but they offload decent weight of pretty good shit from time to time.

>>19823375
Hard to tell. Give me more info. My bottles sound like a gunshot when I pop them.

>>19823581
yeah, that's why I got this one, the numbers catch the light nicely. also the fact that it's a complete factory-made model, not a frankenwatch. a bit of a bargain at 30$
>>19823497
definitely my favorite way of brewing musty old liu bao. really helps to soften the flavor

So you’re telling me that only dykes drink puer?

…I can’t do anything original, can I?

I will fucking kill you faggots if you drag one of the watch thread schizos over here

>>19817486
I know that feel, I stocked up on greens this spring but I haven't been reaching for them in a couple of months now. I fell into the pu-erh rabbit hole
anyway, I'm tired today which I find is the perfect time for some grandpa-style green tea. brewing up some competition grade Sanxia Bi Luo Chun. seems to be quite different from the classic mainland Bi Luo Chun, much less sweet and more savoury, brothy, vegetal. the standout in this one is some spicy and lime-like qualities it gets when brewed strongly, that part is kind of unique. almost reminds me of eating Pho or some other such soup. I think I like my Chinese-style greens sweeter, but this is fun to try, seems to be quite different from mainland greens

>>19823692
Apparently anon found dykes running most teashops where they sold anything but puerh, and he found this threads infatuation with puerh as gay. So he combined two non related things to create the lesbian puerh meme.

Feels good being an old arbor white tea chad. Although .40¢+ a gram is a hard habit to keep.

>>19823728
never had one of those. I assume it's processed in a moonlight white style? what's it taste like?

>>19823755
Somewhat sweet in a syrupy way, powdery, lightly floral, some fruit notes. The Yunan styles tend towards puerh, because many of them are from the same trees. Big nose and a pleasant body with none of the astringency of green teas, the degree of oxidation and aging dances around a bunch of styles without being any one of them.

My water kettle finally broke. I guess this is the opportunity to upgrade? Any with good temp control recommended?

>>19823852
All the classic good temp control kettles cost $100 now because of bat aids and none of them are worth that much.
Try this, the heating unit is good, the interior is all stainless, and they have a keep warm function. One review had a fautly temp control adjustment unit but mostly they seem fine.
https://www.amazon.com/JOYHILL-Temperature-Stainless-Thermostat-Protection/dp/B09ZKHXMG1/

>>19823900
>stainless
thank you anon, the one I was looking at was one of those 'gooseneck' which seem to be very popular right now, even in china? But this is more affordable and has the bonus of stainless as you mentioned.
had been looking at:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C32RTFLT/

Puerh time.

>>19823925
Gooseneck is better for gongfu, or at least a little more refined and easy to use. Somewhere I have an old iron pot for emergencies that weighs about 10 pounds, unwieldy, but a better spout than the one anon posted. It really is the littlest things that matter most, you can probably gauge temperatures by the sound by now.

>>19823931
>>19823925
Conversely, https://www.youtube.com/live/Drp3CBUxttk?si=i5WsrIxBoTm-l_yf you see some very large differences in technique and drug paraphernalia here.

>>19823789
where did you get it?
honestly, I've never had a white tea I enjoyed all that much. never had one this expensive either, but the ones I tried I enjoyed less than other teas of equivalent prices

>>19823852
I have a Fellow. Wouldn't really recommend, because too fucking expensive for a kettle. Works fine, though limescale build-up makes the temperature controls act up sometimes, which is annoying. I gotta descale it hardcore style this time.

>>19823852
I like my fellow. No issues in ~3 years other than having to pop off the knob and clean it a little. The gooseneck stagg does pour a little slow if thats an issue but you can just get the corvo.
>>19823952
That doesn't seem like the kettle's fault.

>>19823944
You'd probably have the same experience, they're very light and cooling and lacking something. It's like high end jap food where you're getting a barely prepared ingredient, but damn it's good when the ingredients are good. It's like a single plum dipped in salt water and passed through incense 7 times, then sliced into the shape of an octopus, you have to really like plums to know when you have a good plum that was barely fucked with.

Not worth it if you don't like white teas, otherwise get a sample of a 3 year old cake of something ridiculously expensive.

I usually shop for tea when I'm shitfaced drunk so I couldn't tell you what I got other than the word wild usually means that tumble of old trees at the top of a tea garden that no one wants to drag out a ladder to pick. That word saves you a lot of money and gets you some genuine old tree, just not from anywhere anyone cares about.

supertaster here, anything that doesn't taste like burned leaf water?

>>19824008
Moonlight white or anything shade dried. It's just fragrant leaf water. I do wonder if the intensity of flavors is a matter of some weird brain chemistry or limited horizons of perception. I went down a rabbit hole of fancy booze and after the filthiest DIPA, nothing else was bitter and I lost any opinion on what bitter even meant. There's a dichotomy of pleasant vs interesting at play that doesn't have much research.

>>19824008
try some good tea and not teabag shit. buy a sampler from yunnansourcing or something

>>19824004
>Not worth it if you don't like white teas
yeah I think I'm ready to mostly give up on white teas. maybe I'll grab one of the moonlight white minicakes next time I shop at Awazon, just because they're very cheap

>>19824054
I break them out in the morning or when I have to introduce someone to good tea. There's no drama and often a lot of caffeine. It's hard to find something light but enjoyable when you don't like green. It's like a cup of hot spring water when you're out in the mountains, there really isn't much there but what is, it's really special. I do it for the chi as much as the flavor, turns your inner experience into a placid lake.

>>19824008
Consider becoming a superbrewer as well.

>>19824080
yeah I understand, whites can be quite comfy
personally when I want to dazzle someone new with tea, I brew them up some sort of light oxidation oolong. I've gotten a bit bored of them, but I still have some left over

>>19823625
>My bottles sound like a gunshot when I pop them.
Mine don't. Geesh.

>Give me more info
I followed the online instructions. Bring water to boil, turn off, add 1 cup sugar, and steep organic tea for 5 min then lower to room temp. Let sit in covered jar for a week. I've been doing like 10 days and the flavor is right but the carbonation is not. It's a little bubbly but that's it.

The only way it gets more bubbly is if I do another week 2nd ferment and add like 1tbsp sugar. The fruit only adds a little additional carbonation.

>>19824100
Fragrant oolong is always a good pick for anything. The dazzling comes later. I'd rather go straight into mushrooms, forest floor and a hint of campfire, but that's bad form. White teas are like Virginia tobacco where it's very light, sweet hay flavors but the subtlety grows more apparent the more you drink it and the longer the session goes.

It's really fuggen hard to introduce someone to good tea. You literally have to show them where everything is, the flavors and aromas, and wait for them to make a map of that territory. Half the time they don't even know they had Wuyi rock tea but damn if they don't come back after a week or two.

>>19824120
>I followed the online instructions.
Usually a bad idea. I do a cup of sugar per gallon of liquid+ a shot of molasses every once in a while to keep things healthy. I posted earlier about cold brewing puers overnight. I think for larger batches its the way to go so you're not overbrewing or scorching out your flavor by long steeping at boiling. It'll make an even bigger impact with cheap loose leaf. I dissolve my sugar in the morning and toss it in.
>like 10 days
Just go by smell. You want that first ferment strong so the second ferment takes off with the bottle fuel.
>add like 1tbsp sugar
I do mainly use fresh berries preserved 1:1 with sugar now, but I'd still get bottle rockets back when I used fresh fruit or frozen berries from sam's club. I think you're just not letting the 1stferment get "active" enough before capping them off with fuel to eat. The idea is to make more than you drink so you always have bottles on hand. I've got a two gallon crock that I pull gallons off of so my "starter" is always strong. Just bled a little pressure of this bottle. Twoish weeks in the crock(I'll hear it bubble every once in a while), twoish in the bottle(1oz raspberry preserve, .5oz blackberry) at room temp with a burp every few days. I'm drank a few from this bottling already and there's definitely some alcohol, so that sugar is being fermented out. Its like a berry wine.

>>19824080
>I do it for the chi as much as the flavor, turns your inner experience into a placid lake.
do teafags really?

>>19816602
Puerh tea in the usa

>>19824253
Coffee gives me the shits inside half an hour. That's the inner experience I'm talking about, some of it. The gross side more than the subtle one. One even tards can appreciate.

2009 LaoBanZhang with Lishan High Mountain Oolong.
So fucking good bros...

>>19824253
it seems that if you get into tea enough, you start drinking for the mystical psychoactive effects
I'm definitely not there yet. also, I don't have the deep pockets to get there right now

>>19824288
I got this little guy >>19816617 because all the photos with your cup made me crave a jianzhan

>>19824298
Based. I keep holding myself back from buying more Jian Zhan because of how pretty they look. Pure autism.

>>19824289
Start meditating. Doing yoga. Shikantaza, or the Chinese version. The first thing many notice is that they want to fall asleep. Drink some tea and you don't. Drink different teas and you notice different effects. Because that's all that's there in your sphere of perception. You. Embodied. That's where you find chi and what they're talking about. It's not expensive or magical unless you pay high dollar for something that feels better.

>>19824298
I might have to join the club, it looks about right as far as what I've been looking for.

>>19824307
I might get a bigger one too at some point. these little guys are 55ml, untypical for jianzhan

>>19824243
It sounds like you're using more sugar than me.

I use 1 cup for like 3/4 gallon. I put the sugar in right after I turn off the stove at a boil and once it settles, like a minute or two later I added like 8 teabags for 5 mins to steep.

> think you're just not letting the 1stferment get "active" enough before capping them off
Explain pls

>make more than you drink
I only have 2 scoby pellicules so I can only make 2 gallons at a time

I'm probably revealing too much but I sell expensive tequila to mostly black women at my side job by telling them outright it makes them horny and mean in a pleasant way from their side of the experience. They come back and get more so it must work. That's qi. That's the qi of tequila. I don't touch that shit, it tastes like dirty socks and makes me want to mow a lawn. It hits people differently depending on their constitution.

What type of tea would be good for a blend with shou? I'm thinking something like a roasted oolong, where it can keep up with the long brewing times, and it adds to the chocolate/coffee tastes of the puerh.

rate my shulowe'en/black friday sample grabs fore I get a tong of the main course. Any additions and subs would be appreciated.

I fucking love Hojicha

>>19825012
I had it a few times a year ago in this instant powder form with milk. Recently just got some loose-leaf and man is it good

I was browsing for tea on Amazon and found some interesting results...

My guy from tea expert put up a bunch of funny tourism photos with his loose leaf puer listings from this year.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304980385607

Is fullchea still the only decent seller with an Aliexpress store?

>>19825012
Bought and brewed some recently and found it disgusting. What did I do wrong?

>>19825364
Yeah, aliexpress tea is fucked because they randomly ban sellers on there since food is technically not allowed, so you end up with shitty stores that come and go all the time and no way to tell what ones are good and which sell garbage and fakes

>>19825327
The blue roof conspiracy strikes again! Why are all the roofs blue? What are they planing?

>>19825410

>>19825427
I don't think they look like tarps.

>>19825452
There must be a better explanation!

>>19825457
>>19825452
>>19825410
this took about 2 seconds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_roof

>>19825369
Powder or loose leaf?

Does anyone have a good simple electric kettle recommendation? It's for my non-tech savvy boomer parents. No need for temperature control, only need quick boil and automatic turn off.

I got them a Hario V60 that they really liked, but it broke recently. I think it's still under warranty but need a recc just in case.

>>19825563
Loose. Tastes like toasted cardboard. It was cheap so probably a quality issue idk

>>19816608
trying the two Xiaguan tuos side-by-side. just vague impressions, not really trying hard to keep same exact ratios or analyze steep by steep
Xizi Happy 2008: more wood and tobacco, darker flavors. getting a nice cooling sensation in the later brews
Jia Ji 2005: more plums, more minerals. seems trickier to brew, astringency can get more unpleasantly sour if overbrewed, rather than the "licking a wooden plank" experience from the Xizi

for now, I find myself prefering the Xizi, but it could be that I haven't gotten the brewing on the Jia Ji quite right, I'm only two sessions into these tuos. interestingly enough, the Xizi seems more aged-tasting to me, even though it's younger

Thoughts on GABA tea? Any good distinct flavours or is it only a thing for its snake oil qualities?

>>19825740
Honestly not too far of from what I'd describe it as. I like it though.

>>19826111
I would say it does have a distinct fruity sourness to it. easier to detect in unroasted GABA teas
some of them are quite tasty. don't know about the GABA stuff, but they're certainly more calming than stimulating in my experience

>>19823375
If all sugar was gone your kombucha wouldn't taste sweet,now would it? It'd be like vinegar. Can't help you with the bubbles. Are you doing the second ferment with lid on?

>>19824008

"Supertaster" is such a retarded word. "Flavonically challenged super Autist" seems more fitting. You literally can't even handle cilantro, an herb that even Mexican peasants have adapted their palate to.

You are a flavor virgin. Like the bible belt soccer mom that thinks miracle whip is too spicy, or that one child everyone hated for being a picky eater.

>>19824453
I wouldn't even buy tea with that awful naming/branding if someone held a gun to my head

Fuck that marketing team, they can all go to the gulag

>>19826265
you know, i can probably taste flavors that you (nor any of those mexicans of yours) cannot taste.

>>19817129
Yeah, I was thinking of getting into it myself. The thing keeping me from it is that the only accessible workshop with kiln, turning wheels etc. is on the other side of town.

>>19825740
Toadted sounds about right, cardboard doesn't. Try some Kyobancha if you want something lighter roasted.

>>19826258
>taste sweet
It doesn't really taste sweet though

>Are you doing the second ferment with lid on?
Yeah I was putting them into my old GT bottles

Tried out this cheap xiaguan ripe brick, very tasty, I'm on my second pot already.

>>19826447
nice cup

Thoughts on mixing tea? I combined some bai cha with a hong cha at 50/50 ratio and it came out decent

>>19825410
Based knower of the blue roof secrets
>>19825483
Crinng unrelated wikipedia article reader

>>19825567
Secura kettle on amazon

>>19826793
I think tea blends are interesting and can probably be tastefully done but I have never tried doing it myself. I have a few blend ideas but I would need to buy a bunch of teas to make them happen.

goddamn, this 7562 is really hitting the spot right now. creamy, thicc, lubricating vanilla chocolate burnt caramel goodness. only a year old, but no stinky
very similar to the 7572 cake I have. maybe could be a bit more mellow and caramelly? it'll take a lot of sessions to learn what the differences between them are

>>19816611
Based and Schwab pilled !
You'll own nothing and be happy !

>>19827184
Where can I get some?

>>19827184
I like that brick too. Whoch year did you get?

>>19827215
>>19827237
I got the 2022 one at KingTeaMall. 18$, which is I think the cheapest price for this recipe right now

>>19827277
My bad you did say it was 1 year old. I tried an older one from KTM but nice to know the newer stuff is good too

>>19827286
yeah I don't know what kind of magic Dayi does to their ripes, but I don't get any wet pile aroma from this. it's very clean for year old ripe

>>19826447
I really like the raws from that line.

>>19826447
I've always wanted to try that Baoyun brand. I might be misremembering the name.

>>19827327
yeah that was it. or "tibetan flame".

>>19827321
nice, i see YS have an '04 one, i will have to try it out some time.

>>19827299
>yeah I don't know what kind of magic Dayi does to their ripes, but I don't get any wet pile aroma from this. it's very clean for year old ripe
Allegedly dayi ages all the tea they ferment as loose leaf for 1-3 years before they press it. I don't think they advertise this or make specific age claims but letting ripes air out for a year or three before pressing is getting more popular among some of the larger tea factories.

>>19827381
yes, I've heard this as well
whatever they're doing, the sheer consistency is impressive.

>>19826793
Once I'm halfway done with my pot of tea, I add in more leaves to keep it going. Since I have a lot of oolong, I just mix it in with what I already have.

/tea/ i have a confession to make. Been drinking puer for nearly the last decade, drink lots of it, gone through at least a few 7542s over the years, had one or two dayi ripes but i have never tried 7572. Always felt weird about telling people its THE ripe to try to get an idea of what ripes are like when ive never had it myself. Never felt like spending $36 for a factory ripe. Anyway finally got around to tossing one in an awazon order so now i will actually know.

Has anyone tried making tea out of Panadol plants? Apparently it's related to king and there's a bunch growing in my garden for some reason. Also have some Cuban oregano

>>19828059
Never tried it but apparently its a relative of mint and the leaves contain camphor. I didn't run into any medical warnings but i wouldn't suggest making tea with it daily untill you do a bit of research, but if you want to try making tea with it and maybe have some once or twice a week it should be fine. Once you can confirm it doesn't have anything toxic in it you could drink it more often. It's probably good with a sort of strong medicinal flavor.

>>19828103
Panadol or Cuban oregano? I imagine the former

>>19828117
Panadol yeah

>>19827367
I've snagged a stack of 2017 from ktm and a stack of 2013 from awazon over the years. The kombucha webm I posted earlier is actually made with the 2017.
http://www.pu-erhtea.com/TeaDetails.aspx?TeaID=796

>>19828103
Are there any kits being sold that test harmful substances in tisanes? Barring sending samples off to labs.

>>19828181
I mean in general it shouldn't be necessary. Most tisanes you will find available are made with herbs that have a long history of human consumption without issues. I do tend to be a little hesitant myself about drinking asian herbs or tisanes that don't really have any history of consumption in the west because it can be hard to find info on them in English and if you somehow did get sick from one doctors probably wouldn't know what to do about it without having to look up whatever it is. But to me that means drinking them once or twice a week instead of multiple times a day. It general is probably excessively cautious on my part but there can be different cultural attitudes about what is safe or maybe Chinese people will know you only drink this herb once or twice while you have a cold while the vendor that's selling it doesn't give you that info. I do occasionally see herbs sold in the west where they say something like "do not consume for more then a month without taking a two week break" or something like that.
But again if you are just buying herbal tisanes form mountain rose herbs or something like that they aren't going to use anything that isn't safe to consume regularly. And if you are making tissanes with some western herb you found its usually very easy to see if it conflicts with any medications or has any other warnings about it with a quick search online.

>>19828213
The only time ive ever had a weird effect from consuming herbs i had a big jar of reshi mushroom tincture from a friend who is a trained herbalist. I forget what it did exactly but it was some known side effect that people can get from reshi. I never had problems just making tea from the reshi ive foraged so i assume the ticture was really concentrated and maybe i was taking too high of a dose.

How do you select good sencha? I had some that was very vivid, almost a pine taste, ton of cha qi, it would literally brighten my day.
Since then it's been pretty much luck of the draw, some have been good but some have been underwhelming, and it's all marked "sencha", sometimes "premium sencha" but that doesn't help. Is it just a case of "you get what you pay for"?

>>19828181
>Are there any kits being sold that test harmful substances in tisanes? Barring sending samples off to labs.
No there is no such thing as a cheap at home "harmful substance" test. You can buy tests for certain things like lead but not comprehensive pesticide tests. I would not worry too much about contamination (and you can buy most herbs organic) unless you are buying sketchy Chinese herbal remedies. Mystery boner pills really are sometimes spiked with drugs. What are you concerned about in particular?

>>19828213
>just buying herbal tisanes form mountain rose herbs or something like that they aren't going to use anything that isn't safe to consume regularly.
As a caveat to that they do sell some herbs that are not meant for consumption or have side effects in the bulk herb section. Read the precautions section and do your own research if you are unfamiliar with a herb.

>>19828213
>>19828564
Honestly, it's important to do your research. I was getting bad hand cramps and I thought it was early onset arthritis or something, turns out the bergamot in Earl Grey was fucking with my potassium.
>in an industry dominated by the Chinese, my worst poisoning was because of the Limeys.
Also, my spell check knows what a Limey is but not bergamot, kek.

>>19828564
>What are you concerned about in particular?

Say for example you wish to create tisanes out of a certain type of plant. You would start by being sure if that plant is non poisonous and such, but if it requires fermentation to remove toxic chemicals, is there a list of tests done to determine that cheaply?
I've been watching videos of Icelandic fermented sharks and Japanese noodles. So the concept of fucking around with toxic materials in order to make them safe to eat is fascinating.

>>19828046
Never too late to get back to basics. Have you ever watched Farmer Leaf's video On Elitism? It has some good arguments and mindsets that maybe would speak to you.
I think it's one of his best talks in terms of depth.
https://youtu.be/gWSWNWASfMg?si=MFm7rvZXjqzfFZ_S

>>19828046
I have the 7572 from Awazon, it's nice.
I have yet to try a 7542 because shit is fucking expensive if you want some age on it

>>19828556
personally I enjoy almost every sencha I try, as long as it's fresh
do you have any preference for steaming level or cultivar?

Which water do you use for your tea? I living in rural area in france tap water is atrocious so i'm using bottled water instead. Volvic or mont roucous depends on the tea i drink.

The OP image is missing a fundamenntal part of puer lesbianism which is becoming violently teadrunk and equipping Sock'em Boppers to beat your lesbian partner with.

>>19829285
Bottled spring water mostly, choosing stuff with TDS around 70. Luckily half of my country is just mountains so i have many options to choose from.

>>19829296
I have mountains too but it's hard to find good ones, you have pesticides, micro plastics, drugs molecules even in those. It's honetly hard to find one.

>>19829324
It is hard to find and i stopped caring. If i search online, everything that i drink or eat has something harmful. I mostly try to choose the lesser evil and most importantly avoid stress.

Some comfy Farmerleaf Fa Zhan He in the morning. Fun contrast to yesterday's old school raws.

>>19829341
I got the two water and didn't try any other in years. I just enjoy trying new ones when i travel.

>>19829370
Well here's stuff that i like here in Romania:
Calimani, Izvorul Minunilor, Devin, Sant' Anna
Higher TDS, but good taste:
Borsec, Bucovina, Perla Moldovei

Another choice for a tourist would be going to a mountain resort and drinking water straight from the spring (if the bears don't kill you)

>>19829393
The bears want good water for their tea, but i wouldn't touch the one on the pic neither should the bears. Thanks for the recs

what would your tea preferences tier list look like?

>Favorite tier
Sheng, Shu, Japanese Greens
>Great tier
Liu Bao, Chinese Blacks, Yancha
>Good tier
Oolongs, Chinese Greens
>Meh tier
White tea, non-Chinese Blacks

Any recomendation for white cakes?
Had some cheap from ebay way back, was nice fruity.

>>19829399
No problem. That in the pic is just a puddle left from the rain. I was with a group and i guess those little guys were curious and approached us from behind. You can imagine how much we all shat our pants.

>>19829413
>Favorite tier
Any kind of heicha, aged sheng
>Great tier
Greens (both Chinese and Japanese), Aged white tea cakes
>Good tier
Green oolongs
>Meh tier
Black tea, anything roasted or smoked

>>19829599
they're not a thing where i live so i thought they were cute until a heard a podcast describing how one ripped some dude's face off

>>19829413
>Favorite tier
heicha excluding fu, yancha
>Great tier
everything else
>Good tier
heavily floral green oolongs
>Shit tier
non-chinese black

>>19829620
They're more afraid of you. https://youtu.be/z7_pVrIshxA?si=sxWZP0Yz493l56bk

>>19829656
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij3wbx67zwY
>Just be loud they are scared

>>19829413
>Favorite tier
Sheng, hei cha, yancha
>Great tier
well made "old school" oolongs (high fermentation, charcoal roast) , good smokey lapsang
>Good tier
chinese red teas, second flush Darjeeling.
>Meh tier
I don't necessarily think teas i haven't listed are meh, i just don't drink them.

Any legit chink store with close to free shipping?

>>19830224
farmerleaf and cspuerh have free shipping. both very legit stores that mostly sell raw pu-erh under their own brand
fullchea has cheap shipping. good store for bargain hunting

>>19830224
Lapsangstore has free DHL Express shipping.

>>19830287
Nothing better than buying 27 grams of Jin Jun mei with free shipping!

>>19830258
>fullchea
Sadly, it looks like they don't ship to my location.
>farmerleaf
>$46 a cake
I don't know if it's cheap/expensive but still, I don't want to spend that kind of money on something that I might not like.

>>19830322
Yes, real jin jun mei is expensive, what's your point? They've got lots of other stuff.

>>19830337
You could get some samples. I think some of the 40$ cakes are good value considering the free shipping and the fact they cheat on duty by lowering package cost. But that store is better if you already know you like young raw puerh.
White2tea also has kind of cheap shipping as far as I recall and I think they'll be doing some Halloween deal soon?

>>19830224
Fullchea charges like $2-$3 per item
Farmer leaf has free shipping over $30
w2t has flat rate $10 shipping

>>19830339
Just mildly amused that you can hit the 60$ free shipping with a sample. Actually not that expensive for a genre-defining tea though, could be a fun treat.

>>19830337
>Sadly, it looks like they don't ship to my location.
EU? They will ship but you have to email them a list of stuff you want and then they will create a custom listing on aliexpress and you have to pay VAT

>>19826793
I want to do black + smoked black at some point. Probably no more than 20% smoked.

>>19830400
That's basically what Russian caravan blends are. But im sire you can make something nicer then those with more premium teas.

>>19830365
I wonder if the catch with the cheap shipping is that they can't cheat on VAT for some reason or there's some problem with declaring value. All the other stores send to the EU just fine. Many of them don't give a shot and lower the value as well or send it through some weird proxy company.

>>19830425
My impression is that the software they use for buying/pricing/printing shipping doesn't support the new vat tax system and they don't want to upgrade/change software. Aliexpress does all the vat stuff automatically including calculating it and collecting the money from the buyer upfront, printing the relevant tax forms for the package and making the vat payment to the relevant postoffice/customs/whoever collects it.
As an aside i run a small business and i basically refuse to ship to the EU now because the new vat system is a tremendous hassle, the web storefront software i use doesn't support it, you practically need to hire somone to figure out what codes items need to be characterized under and in general it's just a huge pain in the ass.

>>19830363
Oh sorry, misread your post's meaning. Yeah, they came up with several cheaper jun mei by using material from other regions, but can't say how they compare to the real deal.
I was really impressed by their shipping. Free dhl express, order placed on a thursday, arrived on my doorstep on the next tuesday. Didn't even have to pay VAT.

gonna be going to the sf international tea festival in a few weeks, looks like a lot of different kinds of vendors. Bot as into blends and stuff, but I get people like them. They have some tea from nepal which might be cool to try, as well as a lot of oolong and japanese teas it seems. The puer aged in wine country seems interesting too. Ill try and take pictures if anyones interested
heres a list of all the vendors.
https://www.sfitf.com/tea-market

>>19830506
maybe i'm a pessimist, i can't help but imagine stall after stall of mediocre flavoured blends. old ways is there though which is pretty cool. i'd like to see some pics

>>19830506
Seven seas organic has that greek mountain tea. Probably worth trying if you haven't before.
Judt keep hanging out at the old ways tea table and keep drinking their tea all day.
Pure puer tea, ive heard of but never ordered from, too rich for my blood. They have been around for quite a while.

>>19829275
That's the thing, the places I've gotten it from (including the really good one) don't give me that kind of info. I guess step one is to find a more informed store that doesn't charge an arm and a leg.

>>19830555
>i can't help but imagine stall after stall of mediocre flavoured blends.

I mean thats what im expecting too, im just glad to see at least a few stalls offering more "niche" stuff. were still a far ways away from something like puer becoming mainstream in america

>>19829413
>Favorite
Japanese greens, Golden Monkey, good white tea
>Great
Lapsang Souchong, bold Assam, shou puer, all but the worst white tea
>Good
Darjeeling, non-Japan green, light oolong
>Meh
Anything toasted or too astringent
Keep in mind I'm a cheapskate so puer and oolong would probably be higher if I sprung for the good stuff.

>>19830740
for steaming, you can tell by how cloudy the liquor is. if it's cloudy as fuck, it's deep-steamed (fukamushi). if it's not, it's lightly steamed (asamushi). that's the most commonly exported version I think. if it's slightly cloudy then it's in-between (chumushi)
tommorow I'm going to open my last packet of fukamushi sencha I got in the spring, Yutaka Midori from O-cha.com. I'll be sure to post some first impressions

>>19830772
sheng is too astringent for you, right?
also, why is golden monkey a favorite in particular?

>>19830756
Good, supplies are tight and prices are high enough. I'm glad that loose tea gatekeeps itself. More local sources for higher end standard fare would be nice, but the puer market is already getting pricey.

>>19830506
The tea at bardotea.com looks decent but the prices are high. That's California for you.

>>19830781
I haven't tried sheng desu.
Golden monkey is really sweet. Best black tea I've ever had.

>>19830775
I see, thank you. I think I prefer a higher steaming level.

>>19830772
Another whitefag, how rare in these parts. You tried any aged whites? It sacrifices some floral notes for a deeper stone fruit and body.

>>19830805
Not yet, I've been meaning to try an aged white cake but I just bought 2 bags that will last me a while.

>>19830817
I can't say I like it more but it brings something you get from puer and red teas that's lacking in whites. Sometimes it manifests as malt. You never know what you're going to get though so yeah, it's still very white tea in that regard.

I'm curious, would this be drinkable? I buy their assam as my daily drinker and I'm tempted to get this generic cheap green with my next order just to see what it's like. Anyone had it before?

>>19830915
>would this be drinkable?
Maybe? I think freshness matters much more with green tea but depending on your expectations and what you want out of it it might work for you.

>>19830915
there's no way this will be good. just get a box of gunpowder if you want some dirt-cheap green tea

>>19816604

>>19830915
I tried some of the Ahmad Gunpowder green to try next to the Temple of Heaven, which is my current cheap tea that I goto. The Ahmad Gunpowder was more expensive, and less good.

R*ddit pls. I almost caught a ban for saying loose leaf gatekeeps itself perfectly fine, no need to make my sides orbit.

What are some fucked and difficult teas to troll your friends with? I'm thinking fu, but don't know besides golden spores. Cunt would probably like it, fuggit, gib difficult teas in all styles.

>>19831144
Kuding.

>>19831144
The 2002 wild liubao that YS has tastes like brewing pencil shavings. Took me 8 yeas of drinking weird tea before i enjoyed it. But i still wouldn't call it good tea or recommend picking some up except as a novelty.
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/guangxi-liu-bao-tea/products/2002-aged-wild-liu-bao-tea-803-from-guangxi
If you want something that you are more likely to enjoy get one of the smokey tian jians he sells.
Or get some of this three cranes liubao with a few good years of wet storage on it.
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/guangxi-liu-bao-tea/products/2014-three-cranes-45007-recipe-traditional-liu-bao-hei-cha-of-guangxi
The fu bricks are ugly looking but taste good. I don't think the golden fungus really has any discernable flavor of its own

>>19831209
Eh, sounds like a warmup act. Imagine trying to impress a man with a vagina, that's where I'm at. Canned fish and cheese stank wouldn't do shit to her.

>>19831259
The best i can do is that lacto fermented Japanese tea, prepare it the traditional way by boiling it. A couple of the Japanese shops in the pastebin have it, its under the category of bancha and its little squares of tea.
If you just want something terrifying looking get a tibetan kang brick off of ebay, pic related

>>19831267
It may tame her mongol blood, I'll try it at that price.

>>19831267
>480g
>39 USD
That's worth any heavy metal poisoning, not even joking.

Found a store full of fakes of old puer on ebay, if anyone was wondering what that looked like
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ssn=19hundred
This is for learning, please don't give them money

>>19831289
Unfortunately its hard to say if the pictured teas are actually fakes or if they stole pictures from a legit vendor somewhere. Either way im sure whatever they send you is not actually old teas especially the ones pictured which include a bunch of popular old productions.

Here is another nice tibetan mulch bomb
https://www.ebay.com/itm/404349442634?

>>19831209
>The 2002 wild liubao that YS has tastes like brewing pencil shavings
That sounds good to me. Thanks for the rec.
>>19831303
>https://www.ebay.com/itm/404349442634?
Its not aged like the title says but it appears to be legit ya'an. I swear I have seen the brand logo before but I don't remember were.

>>19816604
Does anyone know where I can buy this mug?
>not submissive or breedable btw

>post caught in my own filters
Damn it. Where can I buy one of these?

>>19831854
>>19831861
jfc

>>19831854
lol. This toe thumb weirdo is either a puer lesbian or they're a guy who gets beaten by his gf when she goes into puer berserker rage.

>>19831861
>post caught in my own filters
Wat?

>>19816602
does anyone have the tea vampire/health tea house .jpeg?

>>19831144
Worm poop tea maybe?
https://thesteepedleaf.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/china-1980s-chong-shi-cha-insect-feces-tea-chawang-shop/

>>19832060
I think that's Yee On Tea. Check the about page or similar on their website.

>>19832007
He has submissive and or breedable in his filters, i don't even wanna know what boards he frequents to need something like that

Whats a good tea for the tea virgin? I just drink sleepy time bear but want to move to loose leaf

>>19831861
seems it's a russian style
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gzhel
more specifically that type of mug design is a bit of a thing but i can't find a way to buy one

>>19832060
it's from yee on tea. the go-to store for traditional hong-kong wet storage

>>19832242
get an assortment of samples at some tea site
something like
>oolong (one lightly oxidized and unroasted, one more oxidized and roasted)
>some Chinese black tea
>some classic green tea, maybe mid-tier longjing
>some ripe pu-erh

>>19830775
I've opened the Yutaka Midori. Yep, classic deep-steamed thicc murky experience. Getting something almost buttery out of it, aside from the usual savory, brothy, grassy Japanese green tea flavours. I'll say that it doesn't seem to get bitter as quickly as most sencha. But the Saemidori was more of a stand-out with more sweetness and green banana sort of flavors. Perhaps it was simply more fresh, as I had it basically right after harvest.
I find sencha to be tricky to brew just right and the fukamushi stuff is a real teapot clogger too.

>>19832582
sounds nice. they always look interesting but i never got around to trying one.

>>19832597
Definitely fun to try if the lack of body and intensity is what puts you off other green teas. Japanese greens in general are nice, but the package cost and full VAT from O-cha killed the value a little bit for me. I think I'll just buy my Jap greens from a local store next spring, comes up to a similar price without the hassle.

Was thinking about finally making a white2tea order but then I noticed that their cheapest raws are like 70$ per full-sized cake (thanks to anon's plug-in). For mystery material called "epic bacon" or something... Is there some trusted reviewer who has rated most of their teas and doesn't blindly overhype them like the people on Reddit do? What are the value standouts?

>place order on Taiwan tea crafts
>estimated 20 days to arrive
>30 days later it arrives at customs
>CUSTOMS DECLARATION MISSING
>fucking hell
>YOU'LL RECEIVE A LETTER THAT YOU'LL HAVE TO SEND BACK WITH THE DECLARATION
>come the fuck on
>nothing happens for 15 days
>ffwd to today
>my tea arrives with only €4 to pay
fuck the hell yes finally

>>19832713
What did you get?

>>19832722
Organic Pre-Qingming Red Jade T-18 Curled White Tea - Spring 2023
Organic Sanxia Bi Luo Chun Green Tea - Spring 2023 (the last 50g they had)
Organic Dong Ding Oolong Tea - Spring 2023
Yuwen's 2022 Spring Competition Jin Xuan Dong Ding Oolong Tea, 3 Flower Grade
Organic High Mountain Heritage Wuyi Oolong Tea - Spring 2023
Baguashan Lightly-Baked Four Seasons Oolong Tea - Spring 2023

>>19832757
Review that Sanxia bi luo chin plz. I also bought some this year, from a different vendor

>>19832818
everything's packed air tight and I'm not going to open that one before spring next year, sorry

>>19832681
okay I just decided I'll get the snoozefest cake if they do that promo again, and probably a lumber slut because I'm curious

>>19832681
>Was thinking about finally making a white2tea order but then I noticed that their cheapest raws are like 70$ per full-sized cake
And that's why i still haven't ordered from w2t
I had a sample of one of their older productions of "pussy" i wanted to dislike it but it was pretty interesting.

>>19832713
Jeez, customs shit sucks

>>19833314
>And that's why i still haven't ordered from w2t
the fixed shipping price also makes me avoid them for now, maybe when I have a lot of cash for a big order
I will totally make use of a free shipping promo though

>>19832681
>doesn't blindly overhype them like the people on Reddit do?
Why do they live rent free in you?
>What are the value standouts?
If dirt cheap is your thing W2T is probably not your place. Go buy some Haiwan shou cakes or XG tuochas instead. While not always the absolute best value W2T does seem to make up for it with their reputation of being pretty consistently good quality and having interesting blends. I have not had that many of their teas but they were all good. If I were you I would look at cakes in your preferred price bracket and pick ones with descriptions that match you tastes. The smoked cakes in particular look fun if that is your thing. I wish I could give you more specific advice but I have only sampled a few of their cakes.

>>19831008
not even close. I tried the black tea from earl greys and haven't turned back

What tea would pair good with opiate medicine? Fucked up my foot and want a good proper high

>>19833785
Any kind of heicha or ripe puer imo.

>>19816692
>There is no tax exempt value where I live anymore

Sounds like EU, fuck that shit. I loved the times when tax exemptions was under 20€, would always ask the tea vendors to declare it lower and they would oblige.

One time I got a mail from the customs to send them some kind of confirmation that the price for my 150€ order was the 18€ that was declated on the package. So I photoshopped the screenshot from my order history on the vendor's website and photoshopped the bank invoice to say 18€. Dumb fucks didn't even notice it so I did it 4-5 more times before the tax exemption was repealed

>people who live in the EU pay 30% VAT tax on everything they buy locally every day
>people in the EU refuse to purchase things online because they will have to pay a 30% tax on it
I don't understand you people. Is the fact that the vat tax is included in local advertised prices enough to make you forget you are paying it?

>>19833694
I struggle to choose one, so I think I'll just go with the snoozefest when that pops up, since it seems to be their cheapest raw by far. Will probably throw in a lumber slut and whatever else sounds good, maybe a Green Hype or 222222 or whatever.
I hope the snoozefest won't make me shit myself like it did this poor guy.

>>19833863
>Anon doesn't understand the difference between paying tax once and paying it twice.
The tea's already been taxed locally.

>>19833863
it's more that some stores are good at lowering the value of the package. this is why I prefer to shop at KTM or Farmerleaf vs YunnanSourcing

>>19833877
Their small batch shou puerh is probably their most unique thing, followed by Waffles and some of the sheng, then weird smoked shit in bamboo. It's mostly shit done with uncharacteristically high quality product. I think people are looking for low prices and now low prices on midrange and above.

>>19833877
lol, 2020 snoozefest is one of the W2T cakes I actually have. Its not that aggressive compared to other young sheng, I just had some not too long ago. I think the snoozefest cakes are good value for young sheng, the flavors of the ones I have had tended towards apricots and jam. They are not mind blowing but are quite nice for the price. One of these years I will grab a tong or two to age.

>>19833900
>Anon doesn't understand the difference between paying tax once and paying it twice.
Buy tea locally 30% of the price is vat tax
Buy tea from china, 0% of the price is vat tax, pay 30% vat tax when it enters the country
Where is the double tax?

>>19833933
>Their small batch shou puerh is probably their most unique thing,
they also sell roasted and smoked puerh and have some interesting fu zhaun puerh blends.
Some examples:
https://white2tea.com/products/2023-harlequin
https://white2tea.com/products/2023-firebat
https://white2tea.com/products/2022-shufu-shufu

>>19833900
>>19833945
For example if i buy tea from france and have it shipped to the US, and the listed price is 100€ i pay 70€ because i don't have to pay vat tax.

>>19833948
That's the kind of stuff I also mentioned. Weird shit and niche roastings and ferments done with high quality leaf. And some nice oolongs and black teas you save a lot on because he goes and hunts for that shit. It's hipster shit in more ways than one.

>>19833863
>I don't understand you people. Is the fact that the vat tax is included in local advertised prices enough to make you forget you are paying it?
The funnest tea story I saw back when I regularly used Reddit was some euro who spent $1000+ dollars on a big order of overpriced hipster matcha and had it shipped to family in the US in an attempt to doge VAT. The had planed to pick it up when they came overseas to visit and bring it back with them. The problem is they somehow managed to have it shipped without insurance and it went missing. They then went to Reddit to rage post about the vendor. I think the tread ended up getting jannied because OP was trying to smear the vendor but it was not clear whether they had properly tried to work things out with the vendor first or if OP was just sperging out.

>>19833969
I hope it was actually matcha and not some overpriced mata late mix poder or something

>>19833945
>from china, 0% of the price is vat
China has a 13% VAT.
>>19833951
>if i buy tea from france and have it shipped to the US, and the listed price is 100€ i pay 70€ because i don't have to pay vat
I'm gonna assume you're trolling.

In case someone who isn't trolling wants to learn; VAT means value added tax, it is redundant to say "VAT tax". The highest VAT rate in the world is 27%. Not a single country has 30%; most have way less.

>>19833939
I tend to like young sheng a bit on the punchier side, but whatever, for 15$ I might as well grab one. I hope it's not too boring. jam notes sound nice

>>19834002
>I'm gonna assume you're trolling.
Okay i have to pay 72€
Really a pointless thing to squabble over

>>19833993
It was legit Japanese matcha from some hipstery US vendor. Probably good tea but at the price it was I would probably go for a trusted Japanese producer instead.

>>19834004
There's nothing too funky to round off and turn into a sublime experience, so it's best relatively fresh. Aging tea is a total meme unless you're a distiller or have tried fresh and aged sources of the same thing and know what is going to happen to some degree.

>>19816602
NEW
>>19834030
>>19834030
>>19834030