/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>19980483
turns out they were out of stock on the ripe I ordered, so im getting the 2012 varient instead. I doubt the cakes would be drastically different, but it is nice getting a $25 cake for the price of a $20 cake

>>19981675
nice. yeah it's probably not that different. your selection looks pretty good.
i think it's liubao time

>>19981678
>i think its liubao time
liubao is real nice, esp this time of year.
what're you drinking?

>>19981675
That's neat, getting 3 years of aging at a $6 discount. Shou and liu bao with a little age on them are so good this time of year.

>>19981710
that same 06 KTM one.
this is actually the only one i've tried, i need to expand my horizons a little more.

to top off a cozy morning, the new teaware has arrived. no more grubby old cooking pot on the desk for me

>>19981791
I like your tea pot, its quite cute.

cracked into the 2023 Snoozefest. getting a straw/grassy and fruity character, decently thick body. pretty soft, bitterness is on the low side. got some hints of vanilla and a sort of soapiness. aftertaste is a bit drying
nothing special, but totally an easily acceptable tea. I wonder if it might improve in a couple of months. it's too bad that I finished my sample of Bangwai Small Trees, it would make a nice comparison

why do you have to replace moisture packs in a container for aging puer? If it is completely airtight, shouldn't the moisture just stay in there forever?

>>19981791
Something about those wide, flat, rounded pots is so..."comfy"-looking. They remind me of a chill toad or something. How's the pour?

>>19981889
>>19981812
it took me quite a while to pick one, i got that one for that comfy blobby shape. the pour is much much smoother than my clunky old pot, it's kind of amazing how the water just falls out without much drag

Has the French farmer-leaf store been down for long?
Has anyone ever bought from there?

>>19981816
Fruity in what way? Is the cake easy to break off? That sounds pretty satisfying right now. Wish mine would get here this week so I could compare notes.

>>19981959
in-between apricots / peaches and maybe mango. nothing super pronounced or unusual so far, but I wonder if the fruit and sweetness might intensify after it rests for a while.
the cake is more compressed than I expected actually, but not too bad. just means you have to use a knife and not just your hands

I wonder where the material for this comes from. maybe some autumn Yiwu in there? or perhaps Jinggu

Suspicious looking teas have arrived at the warehouse. One of the tins has the seal broken, the other one is completely different than what i ordered and the brick looks like something taken out of the gutter. I unironically can't wait to try them out.

>>19982146
Really pretty looking picture on that can. Why is it all rusted though.
I guess taobao has its quirks...

>>19982146
looks fucking gnarly, good stuff

>>19982173
Supposedly those are from the 90's. The vendor doesn't even have the green can listed on the store.

>>19981791
Nice little tea set, faggot. Did your mommy buy it for you? Just drink your tea normally. You look like a fucking woman with that setup. Or like one of those coffee spergs with their Rube Goldberg machines just to make a pot of coffee. And don't even try telling me about how it "feels" or "aesthetics". It's a drink, not art.

>>19982244
Imagine being so desperate for the approval of others that you allow other people to dictate to you what you can and can't drink tea out of.
Bitch behaviour, drink out of whatever makes you happy.

>>19982258
>drink out of whatever makes you happy.
You say that but people give me funny looks when I drink from my realistic looking scrotum mug in public.

>>19982258

>>19979573
Email sent.

>>19980650
I tried to send you an email but it bounced back. I tried forwarding it again.

>>19982272
Hey anon, I got the forwarded email and responded earlier. Did you get my reply? If not, I'll try a different provider.

>>19982258
This is tea. Just a pot, tea, and a mug. Not your sissy little kettle and cups like you're having a pretty princess tea party. Have a little self respect for yourself.

>>19982244
Fuck off

>>19982324
i bet you look just like your thumb

How do you anons like to "set up" for a session of tea? What do you do that makes it that extra bit cozier? Just got my old inherited surround sound setup connected in the early morning. Got Bark Psychosis albums on repeat. Dim color mood lighting throughout my room, L-theanine supplement taken, just the perfect mood for a nice meditative session. I need a few more hours of sleep, but I'll definitely enjoy this later today. Have some nice tea today, anons.

>>19982316
I didn't get anything. Can you please send with a different provider?

>>19982244
I would ask what the optimal packing of dicks into your mouth is, but going by your post that's something you've investigated thoroughly.

Can I boil tea directly in milk? If so, what tea and amount would be good for this?

>>19982382
Thanks for being patient, I had to recover my old Proton account. Sent you a new email a few minutes ago.

>>19982446
Got the email. You can expect your tea sometime between now and early 2024. Cheers.

>>19981759
purple cloud teahouse had a pretty good selection. I really liked the three gold coins liu bao they had, as well as the black box zong cha liubao. the three gold coins was heavier on the storage/aged side, nice and beety. the zongcha was much cleaner with light chocolatey notes. I dont think they sell tea anymore tho so im not sure where to get them now. If any other anons know where to find them that would be helpful

>>19982788
>I really liked the three gold coins liu bao they had
>If any other anons know where to find them that would be helpful

It's still on there, but their site doesn't have a link to the tea section anymore for some reason. You have to search for the tea for it to show up.

https://purplecloudteahouse.com/products/2005-si-jin-quan-four-gold-coins-liu-bao-tea

Can confirm they still have it. I bought some 2 weeks ago.

>>19982827
oh thats really strange they dont have a section for it anymore. thanks for comfirming, im glad they didnt decide to just sell teaware, their liubao selection is pretty nice.

>>19982146
I still would try it. Looks like a fun adventure.

Would anons drink Li Yilin's loose leaf ripe puer?

>>19982890
Or perhaps the more experienced Aunt Su's ripe puer would be more to your liking?

>>19982903
For all of you young sheng fans out there Li Xian is ready to satisfy your needs.

>>19982272
>Email sent.
I have sent a reply as well. Thanks anon!

>>19982890
how's the wo dui?

>>19981614
Thanks for being on top of making new threads, sorry im slacking

>>19981791
Nice, the abstract pattern on the pitcher goes well with the design on the cup.
Also simple white porcelain teapots rule.

>>19981816
Interesting thanks.

>>19981948
French farmer leaf store is pretty much done, it was something he was doing during covid but it hasn't been restocked in at least a year at this point.

>>19982380
Get some incense,
This is the good Tibetan stuff from tibet proper and not the Tibetans that have been displaced to India, hard to get at all in north America. Fair warning its potent, start with like 1/4 or 1/8th of a stick, it's probably enough
https://incense-traditions.ca/shop/tibet/holy-land-incense/
https://incense-traditions.ca/shop/tibet/tibetan-therapeutic-incense/dzongsar-tibetan-incense/
If anyone else is interested in some real different and interesting incense check it out

>>19981614
Good fucking morning god damnit, red tea to start the day. Bonus points if you can guess whats in the gold tin. Either way, hope you all have a good day

>>19983100
Ginger root?

>>19982324
yoooooo this niggas thumb fat as fuck

>>19983103
Its instant tea! One of these lil guys makes two cups of strong tea. Its a powder but it dissolves. Was a gift.

Been trying out teas western style for awhile now and I've decided to try gongfu. Can anyone recommend a decent, cheap 60-120ml gaiwan. I'd prefer something on amazon since I have a gift card.

>>19983126
Lemme take a look one minute, Amazon can be kinda tough, most of the ones on there are 180-250ml

>>19983123
It's good? That seems weird and I've never heard of it before.

>>19983149
Thanks anon. That was my problem when I was looking on there. I guess I could just fill it part way, but that seems a bit inconvenient and I doubt I'd ever use the extra capacity

Tried 2 more teas from my Viet Sun sampler today. I’m really liking the stuff I’ve gotten from this site so far. I think it’s a good option for anyone who likes a good bit of high quality novelty.
>Lao Cai Black Tea
At the outset this tea was very creamy and very sweet. This tea is fruity and not malty. No noticeable astringency or bitterness. Later infusions had less sweetness and creaminess and were more of a high quality black tea taste. I prefer the first black tea I had (Huang Su Phi) but it’s hard to compare, they’re quite different.
>Lung Vai White Tea Cake
I think this is a moonlight white style cake, and it’s one of the more economy options on the site (15c/g). The first couple of infusions had some creaminess, a melon-like fruit taste, and good sweetness. As it went it picked up a citrus flavour and lost the creaminess. Good but not as much of a stand-out as the other teas I’ve had so far.

>>19983155
Its good but loose leaf will always be better. Its a nice solution if you want tea but are in a place where you cant whip out your tea pots

>>19983126
That was easier then i expected
When they sellers list a size of say 100ml that's filled to the very brim of the gaiwan so the usable capacity is lower.
https://www.amazon.com/Emoyi-Chinese-Gaiwan-Porcelain-Kungfu/dp/B07SDKZTS5/
https://www.amazon.com/Gaiwan-Porcelain-Teacup-Service-Decoration/dp/B081T33T26/
The 120ml size one will probably have 100ml usable capacity, i find thats perfect for a single person, smaller then that just doesn't seem to cut it, doesn't hald heat well and is kinda fiddily.
I like the lid fitment on this one.
https://www.amazon.com/Emoyi-Teacups-Pattern-Porcelain-KK-544/dp/B09YR5TFFK/

>>19983164
>I guess I could just fill it part way, but that seems a bit inconvenient and I doubt I'd ever use the extra capacity
Yeah i would advise against that, ive used oversized gaiwans and its a hassle, its hard to remember to fill them to the right level

>>19983170
Damn these teas all sound great

>>19983183
Thank you tea fren. Very helpful. I've yet to master the art of getting relevant search results on amazon

>>19983170
very cool. did you happen to get any of the ones that were a non-sinensis varietal?

>>19983198
That’s what I think at least. I’m impressed.
>>19983230
I did indeed. Yesterday I had the Lau Chai green, which I posted about. I also have the Lau Chai black and the Lau Chai moonlight white. I will try the black and perhaps also the white tomorrow. If I don’t try the white then it’s because I decided to try the ‘2017 Gushu Ripe’, which is probably more interesting for others because it is still in stock. For reasons I won’t blogpost about I’ll only be getting to the raw cake samples and the oolong in January.

>>19981791
that setup is clean anon, love your cha hai too

>>19983255
God damn it’s Lai Chau not Lao Chai sorry

hey anons, was hoping for some storage advice. I picked up these little tin containers for packing gifts into, but realised they might work for storing tea too, since a friend mentioned tin is generally unreactive. Only issue is that they're not air tight at all, and even water won't stay inside with the lid on. Is there a good way to make the seal on them tighter, or at least close to air tight? Or would it be better not to bother?

>>19983296
Don't bother. Easiest and cheapest way to store tea is just to keep it in the orignal pouch or box you got it in.

>>19983255
nice. it seems like a really worthwhile sampler. that ripe is interesting too

>>19983296
You can get airtight tea tins but they can be kind of tricky to find, they usually have a second inner lid and you still need to make sure they actually seal since the edges are just crimped.
The ones that you have are typically way far from airtight. You can put the tea in it's original packaging inside the tin as a way to keep it organized but unfortunately they just aren't good for loose tea

>>19982558
Awesome, cheers anon!

>>19983018
Is the experience kind of like using an essential oils diffuser? Incense seems pleasant, but I've been wary mostly for practical reasons. I'm not sure how it may affect asthma, and I wonder if the intensity of the aroma may impair my ability to perceive notes in tea. That's one of the reasons I don't use my essential oils so often either. Though, I would still like to try incense sometime, with or without tea. I wonder how the preparations differ.

Drinking Jingmai Miyun. Farmer Leaf describes it as having a mineral forward flavor. I think that's pretty on the nose, but I would have struggled to come up with that without the suggestion. Still has plenty of sweetness, but not quite as interesting as Fa Zhan He. It's a little more relaxed.
>>19981888
Regardless of how you're storing, it likely isn't completely air tight. Some air exchange is needed anyway. Especially if you're accessing your tea once in awhile, the total moisture will eventually seep its way out into the world.
>>19981816
Thanks for the review. I'd like to see a photo of the cake, if anyone else intends to review theirs.
>>19982380
You have the right idea. After work and a workout, nothing beats some sheng with nice tunes, dim lights, all at my desk.
>>19982558
God DAMN
>>19983018
I can't imagine burning incense inside. I'm afraid of permanent odors, the smoke. I am curious, though.
>>19983123
Oh rad! Is that cha gao? I've always wanted to try it. Whenever I get around to making my first Fullchea order, they have some I'll throw in.

I understand the opposition to a discord server for tea (I'd like one however to the anon who suggested one) but what about a tag map? That way we could possibly have anons brew some tea together (and murder one another over puerh)? As a side note, perhaps I sound silly asking this but do you guys ever feel wrong using a guinomi cup that's not really teacup looking for tea? I don't (and can't) drink sake, but I have a few guinomi cups from artistic Nippon and I feel guilty using them for tea.

>>19983649
Eh burning incense definitely puts fine dust in the air. I can't really provide medical advice as to how that will or will not affect asthma.
Any way there are basically two kinds of incense, one type has sticks coating with a fine binder material that's mostly odorless, then the sticks are sprayed or dipped in fragrance oils that provide the aroma when burned. These sticks are usually pretty mediocre quality wise and these days i usually avoid them.
The other kind of incense is a paste made with various fragrant ingredients that is extruded and then dried. Ita made up of some soft of flammable binder and the various aromatic compounds. The tibetan incense i linked is the second kind. Its pretty potent stuff with strong musky and herbal odors so maybe not the best place to start if you arent into inscense. That said it's quite nice and its much more affordable then high quality Japanese inscnese that's made in the same style.
If you want to try something more accessible this Japanese sandalwood incense might be a better choice. The sicks are very small and narrow so they don't put out a lot of smoke and the scent is more mild. You just need a cup with some sand in it or something like that to hold it while it burns.
https://www.amazon.com/Minorien-Japanese-Sandalwood-Incense-Byakudan/dp/B07QFMK8TC/

>>19983666
>I can't imagine burning incense inside. I'm afraid of permanent odors, the smoke. I am curious, though.
The chemically cheap stuff is nasty. The good quality stuff is much more pleasant. It will scent the room for a day or so, maybe a bit of residual oder for another day after that but it won't permanently stink up the place. (I wish i could permanently scent a room with some of my nice agarwood or sandalwood chips)
If you wanna try something more mild and accessible try Japanese Minorien fuin sandalwood
https://www.amazon.com/Minorien-Japanese-Sandalwood-Incense-Byakudan/dp/B07QFMK8TC/

>>19983123
Oh cool, I have seen this sort of tea posted once before. I have the impression they may be sour, but honestly have no idea. Bet they'd be great for anons out camping or in a workplace.
>>19983170
How are the prices on the site and shipping? You've been speaking pretty highly of their offerings over the past few days, so maybe I will keep them in mind for the future.

>>19983666
Checked dark lord and no its red tea! >>19983729
It has a little sour tang to it but its quite mild. Speaking of camping, i cooked red tea over a wood fire and the smoke infused with the tea, it amazing and was an different world of flavor i havent experienced before.

>>19983729
The prices are I would say intermediate. Everything is between 0.15 and 0.4 cents a gram, with most options on the low end of that. Luckily the shipping fee is not bad and appears to be a flat fee (probably based on location) which is waived if your order is 88 dollars or more (the good fortune number). I think the quality is worth the price, for me at least; at the very least for black teas it contends very well in its 'price class'. The teas have also been interesting and novel, and I think that's worth something in its own right.

>>19983666
Checked. I and a lot of other anons seemed to go for the Fa Zhan He instead of the Jingmai Miyun. I kept hearing the same general statement that it's good, but "less interesting", but it still seems like good material. Personally, as nice as the Fa Zhan He may turn out to be, I'm looking forward to the Cang Yuan more. The notes about it having excellent aromas are certainly of interest. I don't know how many other anons got one, but I'll post about it eventually so we can get some live impressions out.
>>19983691
I feel 50-50 about it. On one hand, many of the anons here are amiable and good-willed. I think they'd be pretty accommodating. On the other, I'm not the most socially skilled or inclined, and it'd probably stress me out, or at least feel a bit awkward. The thought of it alone makes me feel somewhat anxious. I nearly always drink alone, and in a way, I think it's perhaps a vulnerable, private experience for me as a result. Maybe I'm just autistic, I don't know.
>do you guys ever feel wrong using a guinomi cup that's not really teacup looking for tea?
I don't use one, but I've used similar things or even 'worse'. Ultimately, what matters is your personal tea experience. You have nothing to prove, just have a good time and enjoy your pretty 'tea'ware.
>>19983787
>Speaking of camping, i cooked red tea over a wood fire and the smoke infused with the tea
BASED. Just imagining it with my favorite red I've tried (Chawangshop Bada red), and it sounds so damn good. That sounds like s'mores territory of delightful and comfy.

>>19983820
The minimum for free shipping seems pretty reasonable for that pricing bracket (you'd hit it with a few teas anyway). Been neat reading your impressions so far. Might be worth buying into next year when they have a sale.

>>19983864
If you do decide to buy, you can do what I did and go for the 'Viet Sun sampler', a mystery box of samples basically. I got a 100 USD mystery box and got samples of almost every tea in the store (by my reckoning I only didn't receive samples of the out of stock Ya Bao, a white tea, and an oolong). It's not as 'efficient' as buying in bulk but its pretty cheap as samples go - I got 375 g of tea.

>>19982244
STOP ENJOYING THINGS THAT HAVE NO EFFECT ON ME OR ANYBODY ELSE ASSHOLE

>buy tea from china
>misc. heavy metals, plastic, random twigs, string, and human teeth
>buy tea from vietnam
>agent orange
>buy tea from korea
>japanese war crimes
>buy tea from japan
>bits of dead salarymen
You can't win.

>>19983949
>Not absorbing the remnant qi and memories of the fallen in every session
Ngmi

>>19983949
Buy wild tea, all I get is spiderwebs so no bugs and the occasional string of Chinese hair. All the twigs are attached to the leaves and it is overall an extremely pleasant experience.

>made earl grey earlier
>didn't taste like anything somehow despite it being a dark color
>now brewed two bags of english breakfast
>accidentally overbrew for like 15 minutes
>doesn't taste like anything
>ask wife to taste it
>nothing
what the fuck?
the only thing I did differently this time is add liquid cane sugar
how the fuck does that nullify the taste of this stuff?

>>19984390
cane sugar has a much stronger flavor than most teas.

tried some hojicha for the first time today, quite nice

>>19983666
>>19983830
admittedly the Miyun is described as being a baseline young raw that does everything it's supposed to, and I guess that's accurate
but personally for 60$ I'd want something that stands out more

>>19982324
pictures you can smell

>>19984390
You are either using shithouse tea, have a shit palate or COVID.

>>19984613
All roasted teas taste really similar to me.

>>19984390
I like adding sugar to my tea

Why tea drinkers are so pretentious?

>>19985288
why is it pretentious to use nice porcelain

grandmas do this

How often should you wash your tea towels?

>>19985288
What do you mean? I haven't seen a single person be pretentious about their tea or teaware here, except for that one asshat (you?) who felt compelled to shit on an anon's new porcelain yesterday for no reason. Even the dude(s) talking about crazy expensive tea gifts in the tens of thousands didn't put on airs.
>>19985403
As needed depending on your rate of consumption and messiness. You can probably get by with leaving it over several sessions if it isn't completely smothered.

>>19985403
never

My 2022 7562 just arrived, how will I like it?

Do you drink your rinses, /tea/?

>>19985433
you will love it

>>19985442
nah usually they're pretty tasteless

I like delicate teas, like greens and oolongs. Maybe when I'm older and my stomach shrivels up I will enjoy the taste of shu and other heicha.
So I dedicate this portion of my life to the sweets.

>>19985433
I have the same brick, same year
nice and clean, no funk, classic Dayi vanilla pastry dark chocolate flavor. strong tea flavor along with depth in flavor. totally an easily acceptable tea
I recommend pushing it hard, I find it can be too mellow otherwise. doesn't have the stronger sweetness of my older 7572 cake, but has some nice fruitiness instead

>>19985475
I liked green oolongs too once upon a time. now though, it's sheng, shu and sencha, all pushed hard
gotta get into fu brick too, I only tried one and it was pretty great

>>19981816
actually when smelling the brewed leaves today, I am getting some delicious strawberry jam aroma
I'd like more of that in the cup

>>19985476
Speaking of vanilla flavor, would adding some twigs be an improvement in that regard, since they contain more lignin which degrades to vanillin (think of old books)?

>>19985524
well many ripes do contain twigs. but I don't think it's the main vanilla-making element in ripe

>>19985530
I don't know if ripes have any vanillin in them, I think it's just an association. But this would be a way to create actual vanilla flavor in the tea. I think it would take a few decades to become noticable though.

>>19985558
some people do note "old books" as a flavor note in aged tea. I think I've heard it for oolong, not just pu-erh

>>19985560
anyone had much aged oolong? i know next to nothing about it
maybe that anon who went to taiwan a while ago had some

>>19983296
You can get stretchy silicone seals to make them close to airtight, but it might be more trouble than it's worth. pic related.

>>19985524
>lignin
Lignin nuts gottem

Lumber Slut hitting with some of that basement / beetroot funk. something I associate more with aged ripe. interesting

>>19985690
Some balloons with rubber bands. And done.

>>19985699
Then your tea will smell like latex.

>>19985738
Would soaking the balloons in some tea concentrate beforehand remove the smell?

Haven't slept. Had some good sheng with a nice texture last night, still in my gaiwan. Odds, I infuse my sheng and show a picture. Evens I go to bed and the /tea/ Fairy brings my Snoozefests in my sleep.

>>19985442
>Do you drink your rinses, /tea/?
Yes, I use enough tea that the first steep is still flavorful.

>>19985442
I'll usually just drink it. Maybe if it's really dusty or odd, I'll toss it, but a rinse is just that...a flash of water and out. Not a big deal, and then I get to smell the fresh aroma from my gaiwan.

>>19985442
nope. I always make them as short as possible and toss them

Show me your travel setup, anon.

Did anyone have this?
https://kingteamall.com/en-cz/collections/2019-xiaguan/products/2019-xiaguan-ling-long-wan-gu-shu-exquisite-old-tree-357g-puerh-ripe-tea-shou-cha
The description sounds nice for a ripe

>>19984390
Do you have really hard tap water?

>>19986316
i used bottled water

is there literally any reason to use mylar bags over ziplocs assuming you arent using it to store cakes for like 3+ years

>>19986332
cane sugar syrup is not refined sugar, it still contains molasses. It has a pronounced flavor. It will overpower tea.

>>19986406
wait you store cakes in ziploc bags? i usually keep them in their normal packaging in a dark dry drawer.. i thought transparent packaging was somehow bad for the tea

>>19985818
Good sleeps bro

>>19986413
in my experience w2t/ys/fl/ml/te all use some sort of ziploc-like bag, so i assume they leak as much oxygen or close to it anyways.
I know storing it in the vendor bags is generally fine, or more than fine, but at what time interval would it start making sense to use mylar bags for "short-term" storage over vendor bags / ziplocs.

With mylar-bags in "long storage" you still have to open them or air them at times right? hence i dont really see the oxygen leaking of nonmylar baggies as an issue, but it has to become an issue at some time right?

>>19986406
Mylar is airtightish, ziplocs are not, tea in ziplocks will dry out quite quickly if the ambient air is dry

>>19986436
Most of the vendor bags are aitightish, more airtight then ziplocks.
Letting some dryer air in occasionally when opening the bag is pretty different from storing the tea in something the is moisture permeable and not airtight since it will constantly be trying to equalize with the external humidity level.

>>19986436
fl does use mylar bags to ship cakes in, unsure about the others though

>>19986413
also, transparent packaging is only an issue if they are exposed to sunlight right? but any kind of storage in sunlight would cause temperature fluctuations anyways, so as long as its out of the way it should be fine afaik.
>>19986442
i guess it'll always be dependent on how dry my air is
>>19986449
gotcha, the samples i have from fl use the same bag as w2t cakes (some paperybag with plastic insides), but i guess they dont use that for full cakes.

>>19986469
>>19986436
yes, FL uses standard mylar bags for whole cakes
that being said, I'm not sure if these white paper ones are worse or not. I'm guessing they're better than transparent ziplocks

any genmaicha recommendations? also any quick guide to japanese tea variations?

>>19986554
>any genmaicha recommendations?
>cheap
Sugimoto tea company, ships from US available on their website and Amazon
https://www.sugimotousa.com/catalog/category/tea-by-type/genmaicha/
>premium
Something from one of the vendors in japan listed in the pastebin.
>QRD
Sincha, premium spring tea
Sencha, deep steamed, umami vegetables soup
Sencha, light steamed, slightly less instense, still good
Genmaicha, sencha with popper rice, warm crisp flavors
Bancha, summer harvest bigger leaves, soft mild tea, sometimes roasted or fermented

>>19986565
appreciated!

>>19986565
There's also gyokuro and matcha, the two most premium jap teas. Both shaded for dat sweet and savory flavour
Gyokuro is often brewed in extra low temperature and extra high leaf to water ratio. Matcha has the whole extremely old and autistic ceremony around it, but most westerners still buy the cheapest onee available and make it into a patte

How does caffeine content vary based on the type of tea?

>>19986681
the fresher and greener, the more caffeine. The further you get from that the less caffeine you have. Roasting, aging, fermenting, and basically all processing reduces caffeine.

>>19986688
In my experience sencha does nothing to me but strong black tea and my eyes just refuse to close.
Not even recordings of boring lectures were able to overcome this phenomenon.

>>19986681
It seems pretty random and highlty variable desu

How do teas from Sri Lanka compare to the teas from china/japan?
Are there any really good Ceylon teas/green teas from there?

>>19986741
Most of it is bulk commercial grade stuff for blends and that sort of thing. Im sure there are some facy versions out there somewhere but im not sure where.
Their black tea is generally more on the Indian black tea side of the spectrum vs chinese or capanese blacks

>>19986406
>is there literally any reason to use mylar bags over ziplocs assuming you arent using it to store cakes for like 3+ years
Depends on the risk of odor contamination. For example you can smell a really smoky tea even though multiple ziplocks after not that long. You don't need Mylar but they do work well. Tightly sealing glass jars are also good. Many teas already come in foil lined bags that are better than regular ziplock bags.
>>19986413
>i thought transparent packaging was somehow bad for the tea
The only problem with transparent packaging is it does not protect the tea from uv light. If it is stored in a dark place it it does not matter. Foil lined bags like mylar are better not so much because they are opaque but because they are much more air-proof.
>>19986436
>but at what time interval would it start making sense to use mylar bags for "short-term" storage over vendor bags / ziplocs.
Whenever you feel like ordering some mylar bags. I actually like using big mylar bags because I can put a few cakes in with one boveda pack.
>With mylar-bags in "long storage" you still have to open them or air them at times right?
That is a subject of some debate. Mylar bags are not 100% airtight and it is not clear how much oxygen you need for aging tea anyway. For teas you want to keep fresh you don't want any oxygen. For aging teas I think just opening the bag every now and then when you get tea out is enough to keep adequate oxygen in there. That is what I do at least. As the tea gets older it probably needs progressively less oxygen as it is already mostly oxidized.

>>19986741
The ‘problem’ with non-East Asian tea growing countries is that most of their tea production is concentrated in huge estates which focus on wholesale bulk. This reduces the amount of high quality teas. In East Asia it’s different because there are a lot of smallholders farming leaves, often with access to processing equipment so they can sell direct to consumer if they make something good. There as estates as well of course, and they mostly make mediocre bulk tea.

Wit earthe commen to for here byth whæt ic were--forthfom alles be kinde ond kinder.

Let's see if this sample is worth hir freedom.

>>19986946
This one is worthy. Don't know about the price but he is worthy.

Talk me out of my cart, please. They're all so goddamn expensive and absolutely worth it.

can anyone traslate this,

just want to know the region and date of this shou

>>19987204
Why are you like this?

>>19982316
>>19983626
>>19982446
>>19982925
I got the tea all packed up. I'll ship it out to your respective addresses sometime next week (probably).

Newfound respect for the Liquid Proust guy. It was more work than I anticipated packing samples for 2 guys. Can't imagine doing it for 400 R*ddit sycophants while not making any profit for it.

>>19987165
fuggit, tea is lvoe, tea is life.

>>19987205
thanks,
how do i do that?
is that a app?

>>19987207
Thanks anon. I will look forward to it.

>>19987229
>is that a app?
google lens, you can also use it on google.com when you use the "search by image" feature.

>>19987207
>it's real
Bugger. I suppose this is what I get for my lack of trust.

>>19987320
Skepticism is understandable.

>>19982244
lol based
>>19982258
you got owned faggot

>>19987370
Fuck off samefaggot

>>19987405
suck my 2 dicks and lick my 4 balls

>>19985442
Depends, if it's a green yea since I enjoy the lighter flavor from it and I don't have to worry about caffeine, or if I'm making tea at work I'll also drink it since there's just nowhere good to pour it out. Otherwise I'll only taste the rinse if it's a tea I've never had before

>>19982244
Are you the EV shitposter from /o/

>>19981614
What is the deal with Japanese barley *tea*? I didn't see the word 'barley' anywhere in the paste.

There is some dude (American autismo) who has a hyper snobby tea shop near me. Wife and I went in one time and he made her some because she was pregnant and didn't want caffeine at all.

She really liked it and the dude swears it is 'everywhere in japan' but I've had shit luck getting more info and the dude doesn't really divulge where he gets his stuff. Any ideas?

>>19987682
Barley tea is popular throughout Asia. They make roasted corn tea as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barley_tea
I always buy picrel at a local Korean store but I am sure there are other good brands.

>>19987735
Thanks. I have seen the wiki before, but was having trouble sourcing it. Your brand call out really helps.

>>19987808
I am pretty sure I have had Sempio brand (picrel) barley tea as well. Both products I have pictured come with big 10g teabags that make a quart jar or large teapots worth. If you don't over-steep it the first time you can often get a second steep from the same bag. You could probably do a single 2l steep as well but I have yet to try. Finally I will note that the tea works well either hot or cold brewed.

>>19986409
fuck I have a bottle of it
what should I use it for then?

>>19987974
I don't know what the other anon is on about. Cane sugar is fine in a cup of strong malty black tea (the sort of tea you would actually use sugar in).

>>19987987
huh what should I use for green tea and chamomile then?

>>19988009
Drink it you donkey

>>19988009
Huney

>>19987207
Wicked, thanks again anon. Exciting to see so many kinds to sample and journal about.

>>19986429
Thank you, fren. I slept most of the day. I will resume infusing my sheng from yesterday (pic related) while listening to comfy music on my speakers in dim lighting.

>>19985560
>>19985590
I did have a couple over there, and I brought 50g of one of them home, thanks for the reminder. I don't really know much about aged oolong, I'm usually a puer drinker.
This one is supposedly from the 1960's. It has notes of roast and warm spice, maybe nutmeg or cloves, and I do get some old books and dry wood. There's also a little bit of raisins and plums, but I get those more in the aroma of the wet leaves than in the taste.

Okay tea confession. I clear spigot clogs by blowing into it instead of using a tool. Don't worry, I never do that with guests present...not when they're looking anyway

/tea/, call me a philistine but do you know anything about Koro?
They're selling 1 kilogram of chinese organic (EU label) sencha for just 17 pounds and I'm trying to understand if it's just utter shit.
https://www.koro-shop.co.uk/organic-chinese-sencha-green-tea-1kg

>>19988413
Does that work? I might try it

>>19988618
never heard of it
>selling tea by the kilo
>17 pounds

there is absolutely no chance that shit is anything but grass clippings lmao

>>19988413
ever done this?

>>19988413
Why is your spigot clogging so frequently that you need to blow it? Do you not have a filter in your teapot?

>>19988618
>chinese sencha
>leaves don't even look like sencha and clearly contain big-ass stems
do not buy, looks like utter slop
if you want a cheap jap green, get some random bancha. just make sure it's from Japan and harvested this year and you're good to go

>>19988618
It's gonna be meh at best. I mean if you aren't a tea snob and just want to buy a bunch of cheap tea maybe it will be acceptable. But it's incredibly cheap, especially in the EU with vat tax on it. You are basically paying 01 cents per gram typically i consder cheap tea to land around 8-10 cents per gram, maybe 5 if you are lucky.
Chinese made sencha is all bulk commercial tea from large plantations.
Compared to a nice Japanese sencha like pic related it doesn't even look like the same kind of tea.

>>19988632
The traditional Chinese clay teapot designs have a single large hole for the spot. Tea likes to go in the hole and get stuck.

>>19988643
>>19988646
>>19988627
Thanks anons, I wanted to order some other stuff from the place to get free shipping but that does look pretty terrible, best not to take the chance.

>>19988648
You can get insert filters that go into the spout of your teapot for a few dollars.

Pouring technique could also be a factor. My kyusu would always get backed up and I didn't know why. I figured out the reason was because I was going as fast as possible trying to pour it out. When I poured slower and more methodically, there wasn't any clogging. Many aspects of tea ceremony autism has a practical purpose, even if it's not obvious or gets brushed up in the "it's tradition" talk.

>>19988659
if you ever want a kilo of cheap-ass tea, this should be pretty good. traditional tea for the tibetan market: http://www.pu-erhtea.com/TeaDetails.aspx?TeaID=796

>>19988682
I'll go milk my yak, thank you anon

I can put 8g of ripe puer into my 80mL gaiwan that I normally put 4g of tea into.

How has your preference of teas progressed over time, /tea/?

Why does every white tea description mentions how sweet it is?
I've literally never had a sweet white tea.
I've had black teas that were sweeter.
I'm feel like this is some white tea psyop how to sell shit tea to beginners.

Right now I did cold brew of some moonlight and it's OK, it muted the herbal flavors, and it's kinda floral, but not in a sweet way.

>>19988704
I'm in my black tea phase, currently waiting for puers to arrive and opening whole different can of worms.

>>19988704
the steps were something like this:
>I like my tea sweet and cold
>loose leaf black teas, Ahmad, Dilmah etc, no sugar
>discover trve high qvality tea, love all the light oxidized oolong, start drinking japanese greens
>get into pu-erh, start drinking pitch-black ripe, craving some bite in my raws and enjoying the basement beetroot funk of wetter stored tea
>now light oolongs, whites and chinese greens taste like water to me (japanese greens still get a pass though)
that's it for now. I might get more into different heicha in the future, especially fu brick
>>19988709
white tea usually has some sweetness, but I also don't get trve intense candy flavors from it. that's more a thing for some raw pu-erh or black tea. I've never had a white tea I really loved. though the Jingmai moonlight from FarmerLeaf was okay
what order are you waiting on?

>>19988732
>what order are you waiting on?
Some FL samples(also two black teas not from FL)
Fa Zhan he, Dong Guo, and other cheap fan favorites.
It has been 24 days in transport, and still in Shanghai.
>2023-11-29 10:16 上海市, 送交承运商
>2023-11-20 16:31 上海市, 邮件离开【上海市国际互换局】,正在发往【上海市国际交换站】

I'll give it a few days and might contact Will, cause I'm losing my mind over here.

question about the faq
the western and gongfu style of brewing seem drastically different, and if oversteeping leads to bitterness, seems like western style would be awfully bitter every time. seems like gongfu is a much better idea, unless i'm missing something. do most teaheads use gongfu or is it an even split?

Yes yes keep drinking tea..

>>19988709
White tea is often described as sweet due to its natural sweetness and delicate flavor profile. Several factors contribute to this characteristic:
1. **Minimal Processing:** White tea undergoes minimal processing compared to other types of tea, such as green or black tea. It is made from young tea leaves and buds that are simply withered and dried. This minimal processing helps preserve the natural sweetness of the tea leaves.
2. **High Antioxidant Content:** White tea is rich in antioxidants, including catechins and polyphenols. These compounds contribute not only to the tea's health benefits but also to its subtle sweetness.
3. **Lower Caffeine Levels:** While white tea does contain caffeine, it generally has lower caffeine levels compared to black or green tea. The milder caffeine content can allow the natural sweetness of the tea to be more noticeable.
4. **Terroir and Cultivar Influence:** Factors such as the tea plant's cultivar, growing conditions, and terroir (environmental factors like soil and climate) can influence the flavor of the tea. Some white teas may naturally have sweeter notes based on these variables.
5. **Floral and Fruity Undertones:** White tea often exhibits delicate floral and fruity undertones, contributing to a nuanced and naturally sweet taste.
It's worth noting that individual preferences play a role in taste perceptions, and not all white teas will taste equally sweet to everyone. The emphasis on sweetness in descriptions is a way to convey the unique and desirable flavor profile of white tea.

>>19988751
it depends on the ratio of water to the leaves weight.
i guess you can think each tea leaf has some amount of bitter in it and that's diluted into all the water volume when you brew western style, so you pick the amount of leaf that won't make it unpleasant.

>do most teaheads use gongfu
a lot of people do though when you get experience i think the exact nature of the brewing gets less important and more intuitive
it's all just ratios and duration really after all.

>>19988769
ah okay i thought the bitter flavor was just a function of duration, not water ratio too. i mean i understand more water would reduce bitterness but i thought bitterness itself only manifested if you "overcooked" the leaves so to speak.

>>19988818
it is a function of duration as well, the bitter and astringent get extracted slower generally. that does lend a different character to western brew or grandpa style compared to gong fu, when you use the same tea. but the unpleasant parts are mostly offset by the increased volume.
unless you have dogshit tea in which case you bring out the milk and sugar (maybe it's fannings so the extraction is really fast from the surface area)
there's a lot of variables so it's not too easy to summarise. give it a try and you'll pick up a feel for it.

>>19988756
great babble, ChatGPT. maybe stick to taking away my job opportunities instead of trying to write about tea, you're much better at the former

I don't want my mom.
I want your mom.

>>19988769
You can make decent tea using western brewing if you reduce the temperature a little, although some teas will give you more astringency this way anyway. I think the main appeal of gongfu, to me anyway, is observing how a high-quality tea can shift over a session. If a tea is one-dimensional I’m not going to waste my time playing with a tiny teapot.

>>19988938
Sorry meant for >>19988751
My bad

>>19988704
here is my tea journey:
>regularly drink cheap lapsang souchong and herbal teas
>consider getting nicer tea but decide its too expensive
>stop drinking tea regularly after a few years
>several years later
>somehow I get interested in tea again
>research tea online
>incidentally find tea communities
>buy a Chinese tea sampler and gaiwan
>start gongfu brewing
>enjoy it
>get interested in puerh because it is unfamiliar and everybody is talking about it
>try some, find it compelling
>originally like shou over sheng but eventually shift to preferring sheng
>start buying lots of puerh to expand my understanding
>eventually branch out into other heicha and compressed non-heicha teas
>build up a large collection
>still more teas I want to get
>keep buying more heicha
>mostly drink heicha but also some black and white tea cakes as well as some oolongs
>like both young and aged teas
I intend to branch out more but there is always more heicha I want to buy.

>>19988709
>>19988732
>>19989093
Thanks for posting your journeys anons

>>19989093
How in your opinion does shoul puer compare to other heichas?

There's something labeled "2012 cultural ripe puerh brick" in my LP beginner package. Any idea what this is or what the "cultural" part is supposed to mean? The only relevant thing I can find on google is pic related, cultural revolution tea.

>>19988704
I started out drinking various whites and pu'ers, alongside several samples from different sources. I mostly ignored reds and greens (had sampled some oolongs), mostly because I didn't want to feel pressured to drink them before they deteriorated in quality. I had a great fondness for whites, though most of them were very cheap budget cakes. I eventually tried more heicha, and found that I came to quite like it, especially liubao and tian jian.

I haven't bought any whites in a very long time now, but mostly bought pu'er and reds. I'd like to slowly branch out of my existing preference zone because I want to be 'challenged' and experience new things with my sessions more often. I would like the opportunity to try more greens, for instance. Expand my understanding, so on.
>>19988709
I've had multiple sweet-ish whites. Try flash-infusing less material. May work to bring it forward a bit in some whites (not all).

>>19989281
It probably just means it was a tea with vintage CCP propaganda art on it. The tea itself should just be shou from 2012. It is not uncommon find to find teas with cultural revolution themed throwback packaging, especially from smaller no name factories who don't have a strong brand image. Hopefully its decent, mystery shou can run the gamut from awful to excellent.

I got my LP puerh pack as well. I will try one of the samples today and post about it later.

>>19988704
Still a newfag to good tea but I drank black tea bags with milk and sugar growing up, over the years became interested in other kinds of tea(bag) but no favorites. Rode the matcha, boba, and kombucha waves for a while, then randomly learned about gongfu brewing and decided to try it. My initial favorites were a jasmine white tea that so sweet even my inexperienced palate could pick it up, and the first shou puer I tried because it tasted so unlike every other tea I'd had. Lately I've been liking green, the bright taste cuts through the winter weather, but I also tried a new sheng sample that smelled so much like cigarettes, and tasted so sharp, it was really interesting.
I'm still expanding my tea knowledge and improving my ability to taste different notes but I'm enjoying the journey!

>>19989331
The tea ended up being pretty lackluster. Not great, not terrible.

Just got back from walking the dog in sub freezing temps with a pipe full of Escudo Navy De Luxe. Warming up now with some random GABA oolong. When I was at my local tea shop recently I had mentioned I have very little experience with oolongs as the owner grabbed some leaves, threw them in a bag, and just wrote "GABA 2022" and said "try this." The creamy sweetness left over from the the Virginia tobaccos are pairing really well with the smooth cinnamon vanilla sweetness I'm getting from the tea.

>>19989505
Using around 12g in a 150ml easy gaiwan.

>>19989331
>I got my LP puerh pack as well. I will try one of the samples today and post about it later.
“random 2002 CNNP sheng puerh” from LP
Appearance: good quality medium sized mostly intact leaves, not chopped like some factory sheng, no rubbish in with the tea, leaves are a dark brown and appear their stated age, some patches of shiny trichomes visible, small buds probably, likely moderate humidity storage, liquor is dark orangish brown
Taste: conspicuously and pleasantly smokey, quite savory, fire roasted corn and green beans?, some mild musty basement notes, perhaps it did have some humid storage at some point, a hint of something animalistic or musky on the back end, moderately tannic, drying and astringent finish,
Thoughts: Finally I get to try an old school smokey sheng like the ones I have heard about, this tea has a different flavor profile from the aged sheng I have had so far, not sure were it sits exactly on my hypothetical tea tier list but it is definitely a worthwhile experience, I would consider grabbing a cake if I knew where to get it and if it were relatively inexpensive
>>19989405
>The tea ended up being pretty lackluster. Not great, not terrible.
Not a bad outcome for a mystery shou all things considered.

I’m a bit of a noob to this and my first post. The mug is from the 20s I think and the cup is an old family heirloom from 1820s.

This is some pretty good English breakfast. It’s prebagged but the leaves are high quality

>>19989594
Forgot pic

Had some 2017 Underworld Ripe Puerh from Crimson Lotus yesterday. Easy to drink, slight herbal taste and fairly sweet. Kind of reminds me of pepsi or coke that's gone flat. Might be a good choice for puerh beginners. I think the soda-anon would like it.

webm unrelated

>>19983580
> they usually have a second inner lid
Aren't you just describing jars used for pressure canning (pic related) or is that different? I can find those at my local supermarket. That's what I use to store pipe tobacco, works pretty well.

>>19988752
Okay.

>>19989594
Based heirloomer, looks very nice. Is the plate a set with the cup?

>>19988752
Oh my gosh is that TwoDog, owner of White2Tea?

>>19989672
They probably mean a tin like this. With two tight fitting lids. Canning jars work well for tea also though. I use them myself.

>>19989730
Here is another pic.

in case anyone is as colossal of a nerd as myself and wants some long-form reading, please enjoy this thesis on the history of modern tea industry and culture in china. the focus is on how it emerged from taiwan after mao, it's pretty interesting
http://dspace.unive.it/bitstream/handle/10579/19074/876839-1247774.pdf?sequence=2

>>19989505
>>19989511
I don't even smoke, but that sounds quite pleasant. The leaves look nice as well. Do you find the tobacco to impair your senses when it comes to the tea? Can't wait to drink oolongs again soon.

>>19989821
nta but smoking a pipe can "burn" your tongue if you smoke too fast.

>>19988750
all my FL orders ship from Guangzhou, China, probably because I'm in California. my CSpuerh was in shanghai for a couple of weeks and was just handled to US custom a couple of days ago. shipping from china slows down by a lot during the November and December.

>>19988704
I dove straight into the deep end and got into puer. I still mostly drink puer, but I've had to back-track and try other kinds of tea to make sure I'm not missing out on other teas I'd enjoy. I've branched out into yancha. Still a lot left to try.

>>19988701
Yes

>>19988704
Started liking semi aged factory sheng, now i like young raws.
Didn't like beety wet storage liubao, now i love it.
Used to like creamy green anxi oolongs, now i like the high fermentation roasted ones.

>>19989892
>dived into puer, branched out into yancha
Based

>>19989511
The whole gabba oolong processing is interesting, i wonder how the hell that guy came up with the idea to try doing primary fermentation in a barrel filled with nitrogen

>>19989513
Sounds fun

>>19989598
Nice Wedgewood teapot anon. We don't get this style of pottery here often.

>>19988750
I liked both fa Zhan he and dong guo quite a bit

>>19988750
I get shipped by Guangzhou too and i'm in eu. Left mainland on the 4th no update since and it took only 3 days to arrive at the airport.
Last time it took 10 days to get an update after leaving Guangzhou so will see this time I just hope to get the tea before christmas.

>>19988682
After another 6 agonizing days, my snoozefests are finally moving again. I think I'll celebrate with some.

>Wake up and feel gross and have a sore throat
>Drink tea
>Feel better
Thank you tea.

>>19989821
Not in general, like how cigarettes dull your taste over time, but tobacco has some very strong flavors so if you follow up a pipe with a tea session you're definitely approaching it with some carryover. I wouldn't do those back to back if I'm trying to have a pure experience, but for just enjoying how some different flavors meld together it's quite nice.

>>19990090
nice. how are you liking that brick? we can compare notes on the snoozefest once you get yours, I lucked out and got mine early

Any recommendations for good Indian tea retailers? I'd like to buy some good chai as a Christmas present.
I have some Vahdam earl grey that's pretty good, but I haven't tried their chai.

>>19989758
Thanks I will check it out when I have some time.

>>19990209
Mellow, smokey, pleasant, comfy. 4g in a mug, hot water. Some flashes of "green" pop through every now and again but nothing really vegetal. Not too bitter or astringent at all, it just has some of that nice drying element that makes you want to go back for another sip. I think I'm down to 3 bricks each of the 2017 and 2013. I've been gifting out chunks for a while and everyone seemingly likes it. If nothing else its great drinkable pumidor filler. I've been actively trying to switch to hf beads since march but I've been good off the same big boveda pack since like Jan 22.
>Totally an easily acceptable tea.

>>19989598
get your teapot off your book, youre going to warp it, its stressing me out. if youre drinking from satchets why use a teapot anyways? just put the satchet in your cup.

>>19990288
>sachet
Stop being british

Drinking all my green tea since I never stored it properly. Hopefully this next year I'll learn and freeze it.

>>19990090
What brick is that?

Okay I have now finished trying my Viet Sun teas for this year. Here are my opinions.
>Lai Chau Forest Black
I think it is a decent tea. It seems similar to other ‘high mountain’ black teas I’ve had, with a sharp citrus taste with a fruit-‘forest floor’ flavour and a very faint smokiness (I don’t it’s actually smoke, but it reads as this note). The citrus note builds significantly towards the end, the last infusions are basically citrus fruit. Sweetness isn’t as high as the other two black teas but it is there. I’d recommend getting a sample because I think this flavour might be polarizing. I can’t see myself drinking this every day. I would recommend getting the Hoang Su Phi or the Lao Cai if I had to pick.
>Gushu Ripe
This is really good. Extremely clean, with the chocolate/wood taste predominantly. A helping of cherry flavour on the side.
>Lai Chau Forest White
Honestly this wasn’t to my taste. No matter how hard I pushed it I never got a significant flavour. I would much rather have drunk more of the Lung Vai white cake.

>>19990288
>satchets
Excuse you those are bio tea pyramids.
>>19990363
Decade old xiaguan tibet export brick. Literal floor sweepings. Pic is from the middle of the cake after I busted off and drank the better looking cover mat.
http://www.pu-erhtea.com/TeaDetails.aspx?TeaID=796
>5th grade tea leaves on outside as cover.

>>19990008
Thanks I love it! I have the whole set but the horse cup is too beautiful not to be used. It’s hand painted Spode
>t. old money fag

>>19990346
Don't freeze it. If it comes in sealed foil bags keep it in the fridge, if it comes in ziploc vendors bags just drink it faster.
Also if you have stale green tea try roasting it. It can come out really good.

>>19990288
I like having a teapot. It’s keeps the tea I’m not drinking warm and I like the ceremony of it. And the book is just and ok music theory textbook I just use it to as a coaster or to break weed down on

I have questions
For example I see people pouring tea on little piglet statues and such and I don't quite understand

So you steep tea a few times and the first one is no good like with moonshine so you pour it on the statue?
Is this only green tea or all varieties?
How long do you steep it for the first time?
Aren't you worried about leaving flavor on the table?

>>19989513
Finishing up the tea from earlier. It seems to have good longevity. I am getting some more of the humid notes in the later steeps so it probably did have at least some humid storage in its past. However, it is not overly "wet" tasting.

>>19990845
>For example I see people pouring tea on little piglet statues and such and I don't quite understand
Those are just what are known as "tea pets". It's visual flair which you pour your first rinse of tea on, as if you're feeding it. As it is a rinse, you don't need to really wait. You basically do a flash pour, and it will get rid of any dust/particulates. You don't really need to do it, it's more of a ritualistic or fun thing to do, but I guess maybe more important with more...crude material. Type of tea itself does not matter.

>>19990865
so If I do this with earl grey am I just wasting the bergamot oil?
I want to pour tea on a piglet but I don't want to be wasteful

>>19990845
>Aren't you worried about leaving flavor on the table?
You're "waking" the leaves up so the first brew you taste isn't diluted. The tea has been sitting there potentially years dry. Like the other anon said its a quick rinse for dust/wrapper paper/bug shit, but you're also hydrating the leaves a bit so your next steep water has an easier time working its way into the leaf.

>>19990900
>>19990917
I do have a bunch of questions too. So let me get this straight.
>I put my infuser/tea triangle with my Earl Grey or Irish Breakfast thing into my pot
>Pour my hot water into the pot
After I do this do I let it steep for a second or do I just immediately pour the tea out onto piglet and then refill it with hot water and thats what I drink.

Like the other anon said, I want to pour it on piglet

>>19990900
I wouldn't bother wirh something like earl grey. Rinsing serves two purposes, removing dust and the like from weird Chinese brick tea that was fermented on a concrete floor somewhere, or warming up compressed or slow brewing tea so thenfirst real brew is stronger. For something like earl grey in a teapot what you should do is pour some hot water in the teapot and swirl it around a bit to warm up the pot, then pour that on the piglet. Also if you have some leftover tea in your pot or your cup when you are done drinking it you can pour that on the piglet.
>>19990945
See above

If you are looking for teapets you can find tons of them on aliexpress. There are also a bunch on Amazon.
I would link some from aliexpress but their website is pissing and shitting everywhere for some reason.
Just search tea pet and the name of an animal you are interested in. Or just search tea pet and see what comes up. They are usually quite cheap since they are fairly simple little things.
You can find some cool stuff like big tiddy women ones

>>19991085
well as long as I can pour something on the piglet I'll be happy
>some leftover tea in your pot
ah, the dregs because there's always a little more than my cup can hold and then I always drink it at the end and end up regretting it because it's so bitter by then

>>19991102
I've seen those teapets. Part of me wishes I could have a simple cute girl teapet, but most of the ones I see are just the big breast women that are lined to drip tea out of their tits or peeing Buddha babies. I have some uncut rocks and crystals I could use I guess. Though, I don't even have a drain-style tea tray, so maybe not worth it.

First impressions of the Firebat cake I picked up with my W2T Black Friday order.
Strong and punchy smoke, duh. I'm getting more smoked meat/ bbq than tobacco right now. The underlying puer is pretty soft, no bitterness, a bit of citrus on the finish reminds me of a grilled lemon.

Overall pretty good, comfy on a chilly night. If you like lapsang and puer you'll probably at least find it interesting.

>>19991192
You can always just put the teapet in a bowl

>>19991194
I love puer that ends up with that bbq smoke profile. Yunnan sourcing did some purple tea ages ago with weird ass processing, the leaves were all brown and it tasted heavily of hardwood smoke, fun tea.

>>19990412
>xiaguan tibet export brick.
Thanks anon, I still need to try one of those.

>>19991192
> simple cute girl tea pot.
Wtf. Get your t levels checked.

>>19982324
I have a tea kettle because it looks classy and it keeps tea warmer longer. The ceremony of making it is relaxing too. That's the whole point of doing it.

>>19991192
I use a little clay statue and just put it in a plant. It gives the plant some water and I get to feed my teapet.

>>19991257
Not everyone wants to have a big tiddied bar slut when they are trying to relax in the morning you fucking coomer.

>>19987682
Mugicha. you can get big bags cheap as hell on Amazon.

>>19991194
nice. what else did you order?

>>19991985
+snoozefest and 941.
I tried 941 the other night, thought it was pretty decent, a bit basic but easy drinking. I felt similarly about the lumberslut, not very complex but good to grandpa style while working or otherwise preoccupied.
Looking forward to trying the rest, especially the 2002 huangpian.

>>19992014
I see you like your smoky stuff
I'm curious about The Nameless One. TeaDB hyped that tea up quite a bit. I've never had a super premium ripe like that
I got a free sample of 941, will try it sometime soon. I tend to prefer a bit more agressive raws though
snoozefest is not knocking my socks off so far, but does seem like good value. I hope the fruitiness becomes more pronounced in a few months, if I can get more of that strawberry jam thing I will be really happy with it. lumber slut lives up to its name well enough, almost makes me think it had a bit of wet storage, but I guess it's probably just a really high degree of fermentation coupled with big leaf material that gives it that bit of basement / decaying wood funk

Where do you get info on cakes?
Looks like steepster is dead, in my experience from other hobbies reddit is full of clueless people, only good for memes, YouTubers usually have to shill to survive...

>>19992050
>I'm curious about The Nameless One. TeaDB hyped that tea up quite a bit. I've never had a super premium ripe like that
Same here, it's been on my list since seeing his video on it a while back. I'm planning on tasting it side by side with the Mengku Bo Jun which is the best and most high end shou I'd had so far.

>>19992060
Search a /CK/ archive (I use warosu), Google for "name of cake + blog + review" to see if some boomer reviewed it
As far as YouTube goes, pu-erh tea is so niche in the west that shilling is rare. It's not like with perfumes or watches where shilling is the norm. TeaDB is a good source of reviews, they're quite prolific and still active
And steepster does sometimes have reviews too

>>19992060
the teadb guys are safe, though the chances they covered the exact cake you're interested in aren't super high it's nice when they did

>>19982324
Lose weight, fat faggot.
Also, what script did you use to rename files?

>>19982324
Do they make special types of keyboards for these fat fucks? How do they type on a smartphone? Surely this needs to be considered a disability, probably even worse than not having legs.

thanks for making fun of that retard everyone

My taobao order is now ready. Here's some stats:
- Value of products: Around 150$ (out of which 20 were agent fees)
- Shipping: SAL, 59.8$ (out of which around 10 were agent fees).
Now i just have to wait. I think taobao is worth using sometimes. You can find a HUGE amount of stuff compared to western facing vendors and some great deals for more expensive cakes (the cakes in the 100 - 200$ range on KTM can be found with prices 2 or 3 times lower).

>>19992331
Which forwarder did you use?

>>19989221
>How in your opinion does shoul puer compare to other heichas?
The most similar heicha is liu bao. Both typically go through the same type of wet piling, Shou production techniques were based off of modern liu bao processing. Though the details such as fermentation time differ between the two. Other types of heicha are mostly dissimilar to shou.

>>19992684
Pandabuy

>>19992331
Nice!, It looks well packed. I like seeing that they used those plastic box corner protectors
>>19992684
The pics they posted in the last thread were labeled Pandabuy .

Breaking in my free teapot from KTM with some cheap tie guan yin from my local tea shop to test what effect the clay has. Think I'm going to make this my dedicated oolong pot.

>>19992714
I paid 20 yuan extra for waterproof stretch film and corner protectors.
>>19992734
What was the defect that made John give it away for free?

>>19992737
>I paid 20 yuan extra for waterproof stretch film and corner protectors.
Seems worth it to me.

>>19992737
https://kingteamall.com/collections/yixing-teapot/products/yixing-he-dou-teapot-120cc-zhao-zhuang-zhu-ni-mud
>* Left in stock with 2-3 scratched lines on surface

All the scratches seem to be on the inside. It looks fine from the outside and works fine, so I'm happy with it. Shout out to the anon here who linked it here.

do water filterers work/worth it?
my tap water tastes weird

>>19992734
Looks good, it's a nice shape too.

>>19993007
I'm glad someone who could actually use one got it, my inner consoomer was screaming to grab it when I really haven't got a purpose for it.

>>19993054
It makes my water taste not weird. Like what you'd get from a water cooler at work or something. But it seems to have a relatively small effect on TDS.

>>19993054
Depends on what kind of weird. To my tongue filters remove the slight chlorine taste of tap water, but do nothing for the mineral taste of hard water.

>>19993142
i dont know if its chlorine, it has a very noticeable chemical, kinda sweet taste
i just want my water to taste plain, like spring water

I like green tea, mostly and greener oolongs, but I don't understand maofeng. It's just sort of weird. sweet and dainty. Maybe it would work better with some jasmine flavoring.

>>19993054
If you can install one of the two or three filter undersink filtration systems that's ideal, they work well. If you can't i have had good luck with the pur plus filter pitcher. Its somewhat slow and occasionally i have to resoak the filter in a glass of water for 5 minutes or so to get it primed again but it works to remove the off chlorine taste from my water and even softens it slightly.
The regular pur filters are okay but don't soften the water as well as the plus filters.

>>19993157
have you tried pushing it more?

>>19992331
>Shipping: SAL, 59.8$
How heavy was it?

so from what I gathered, its kind of like this?

>>19993199
4230 grams

>>19993180
push how? higher temp?
wondering if I should just get jasmine and shove it in there. most good jasmine shit though the teagirls pick them out.

>>19993238
Higher temp and or longer brews
If you find a good place to get Jasmine post about it here

>>19993201
pretty much
some people like to get autistic about tea too, but most agree that you can often brew perfectly good tea with nothing but a cup and a kettle and that the tea ceremony is more about pouring on the pige than vgh... trve tea optimvlizvtion...

>>19993201
You can trigger the tea autists out of their hibernation by posting
>gongfu brewing is just a waste of time

>>19983018
Is backflow incense a meme?

>>19993285
Its also a completely fake tradition that didn't exist before the 60s

>>19993293
The concept of backflow inscense is cool. The problem is nobody makes good quality backflow incense cones, so if you want the facncy shit and not the stuff that's made with fragrance oils you need to make them yourself. I had some regular incense stick burners that would backflow sometimes and it was cool to have the smoke trail across my table

>>19993201
I really need to buy a tray and a tea pet to shower with first rinse.

trying to branch out and try some more teas, what should i try? i usually just drink green tea
have enjoyed
lushan yun wu
dragon pearl (mo li long zhu)
some dan cong oolong i forgot what it was

>Get a ping on my phone from Shop (order checkout/tracking app) for my Snoozefests
>Check it, "review your order from W2T!"
>Think they arrived
>They didn't, and in fact, according to shipping, dispatched AGAIN
>Mfw
>>19993201
There are giga-autists in both camps, but I'd gather that the people who get stressed out by it and pay more are coffee drinkers. I've visited the coffee gen a few times, and they seem consistently more wound up in my opinion. Maybe it's the combo of more troublesome methodology, possibly higher equipment and base material costs, significantly higher caffeine values (excessive stimulation?), et cetera. In comparison, tea is "mmm, leaf water nice, boobie lady tiddies go pew pew".

>>19993285
>gongfu brewing is just a waste of time
I mean, you can accomplish the same results in a lot of different ways so I'm not sure what you mean. I struggle to see any more efficient means of accomplishing the goal though. even the "ISO Conforming professional cupping sets" are basically doing the same shit.

the least time wasting is probably grandpa style.

>>19993322
try more oolong. and japanese green tea, and young raw pu-erh if you're more adventurous but still want something crisp and refreshing

>>19993332
tea is definitely much less autism. really the worse you get are the TCM retards and the people drinking dubious aged shengs

>>19993332
>they seem consistently more wound up in my opinion
It's just mostly dipshits over there. If you had a dedicated subsection of Lipton shitposters here it would be largely the same behavior. Defying all logic, coffee is more 'accessible' than importing nice teas so we get the bottom feeders.

>>19993345
>dedicated subsection of Lipton shitposters
honestly don't even hate lipton, it's just somewhat boring flavorwise.

>>19993349
Which makes ongoing discussion of it pointless. Imagine months of nothing but ketchup and dilmah anons.
>Guys I finally managed to save enough for a $30 aeropress. Does Trader Joe's have good pregrounds?

>>19993322
Drink Taiwanese oolongs.
Get some samples from taiwan tea crafts
Get some baked dong ding. Some green high mountain oolong, maybe some Oriental beauty or baozhong.

>>19993296
the modern version is derived from the taiwanese who cultivated it in the 60s, but they got it from the chinese before them, in a different form. it's modern but not "fake" in any meaningful sense.

new thread coming up

NEW
>>19993397
>>19993397
>>19993397

>>19993340
>>19993370
thanks