/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>20007568
Does that include ground mulberry leaves?

Anyone made tea out of lippia alba or Cuban oregano?

Drinking Yunnan sourcing 2014 Three Cranes 45007 liubao tonight. Smooth, sweet and chocolatey, a little bit of medicinal bitterness on the finish but no fermented funk at all. I need to try more heichas.

my black friday orders finally made it out of customs, v excited for them to finally arrive :)

>>20007847
Are you in eu anon? Mine is still in the aiplane... for 7 days now...

>>20007849
my cspuerh order hasn't had an update for two weeks now... might very well still be in Shanghai

2023 Jin Xuang Milk Oolong Formosa (from Red Blossom Tea) journal notes:
___
5.2g/195F/8s

Dry leaf aroma smells of sweet barley or corn. Wet stoma holds a corn quality while shifting a bit more green-vegetal...some kind of sweet cruciferous green.

Medium texture, low bitterness, low-medium astringency. Liquor is generally sweet and smooth ('milky' in texture), starting with a very brief and modest green bitterness that washes into a soft floral huigan in the mouth after each sip. Yet, not excessive or overstated like some floral notes that ball up in the mouth unpleasantly.

Aftertaste lasts for a fair while. I wasn't really sure what to expect with this one as it is rather subtle throughout, but I do like it. Pushing it isn't preferable; I find the note balance is better with lighter infusions. Though, I taste something spinach-like in the aftertaste of a stronger infusion. That may be the aforementioned cruciferous "vegetal/green" quality in play. Interesting.

I want to explore oolongs a bit more but don't know what to buy.
Here is what I have had so far:
Bunch of green Tie Guan Yin. They all basically tasted the same so I think I'm good there.
Taiwanese milky green oolong. It was a nice novelty, but I think the milkiness was artificial flavoring, maybe a bit too sweet for my taste.
Some "organic" wuyi. Very disappointing. Tasted like old leaves, that were roasted. It was dusty, twiggy, some roast, just not my thing.
Some "orange" green oolong in teahouse. No idea what it was but it was quite citrusy, maybe even orange, kinda nice.
I don't want to spend more than let's say $0.20/g until I find something that I like.

2023 Jin Xuang Milk Oolong Formosa (from Red Blossom Tea) journal notes:
___
5.2g/195F/8s

Dry leaf aroma smells of sweet barley or corn. Wet leaf aroma holds a corn quality while shifting a bit more green-vegetal...some kind of sweet cruciferous green.

Medium texture, low bitterness, low-medium astringency. Liquor is generally sweet and smooth ('milky' in texture), starting with a very brief and modest green bitterness that washes into a soft floral huigan in the mouth after each sip. Yet, not excessive or overstated like some floral notes that ball up in the mouth unpleasantly.

Aftertaste lasts for a fair while. I wasn't really sure what to expect with this one as it is rather subtle throughout, but I do like it. Pushing it isn't preferable; I find the note balance is better with lighter infusions. Though, I taste something spinach-like in the aftertaste of a stronger infusion. That may be the aforementioned cruciferous "vegetal/green" quality in play. Interesting.

>>20008043
Try some oriental beauty from this summer. Either from taiwan or imported trees in yunnan

>>20008044
I posted "Jin Xuang", but that was a typo. It's "Jin Xuan". I figure it's silly to delete a second time.

drinking a white2tea 941 raw dragonball I got as a bonus with my black friday order
the site says this:
>This is a light and relaxing blend, easy drinking. No frills, no stress. Sweet, soft and easy. It will age beautifully, or it’s fresh sweet grass Yiwu character is a pleasure for a soft session the day it arrives
I guess that checks out, though honestly "sweet grass, savory green tea-ish, slight bitterness" is the only tasting note I can get out of this. maybe some florals. I find it quite boring. I definitely liked the Veldt dragonball better and the Fa Zhan He I had yesterday did the whole green teaish sheng thing while being much more interesting and engaging

>>20008043
>Some "organic" wuyi. Very disappointing. Tasted like old leaves, that were roasted. It was dusty, twiggy, some roast, just not my thing.
twiggy, dusty and organic certified sounds like some shit quality wuyi. don't discount the whole genre.
try some more Taiwanese oolongs (non-flavored this time) and also a dancong

I like the ceremony more than the tea itself.

>>20008066
by the way, while looking up reviews of this tea I found a gong fu tea twink vtuber:
https://www.youtube.com/@DaiShimaVT/videos

tried to watch some of the video but damn, I am not the target audience for this

>>20007799
I really gotta try some of that three cranes shit, heard nothing but good stuff about it
>>20008129
You need better tea anon

>>20008043
I had an oolong yesterday from Taiwan Sourcing that had been roasted and aged a year, it was much better than other oolongs I’ve had before, which is not a massive number and I’ve never had a roasted oolong before. That said the prices on that website are a little eye-watering, and so my advice is to look for something that is roasted, it balances the floral notes quite nicely.

>>20008130
I saw someone post about him recently. The setup is okay, but he himself, I find a bit annoying. Something about his inflections and pacing of speech...I don't know, and I'd honestly prefer a more stereotypical fruity lisp than whatever his voice is. His presentation on notes and such feel 'eh' too. Don't hate it, just find him mildly offputting for some reason.

Are your teeth stained from drinking so much tea?

>>20008319
I prefer properly seasoned.

How did you get into tea, /tea/?

>>20008353
I didn't really care about tea at all until I spent a week in taiwan and even the mediocre tea was pretty solid and the "good" tea blew my mind

was by no means my first time in asia either, taiwan is just tea paradise for some reason

>>20008353
I had been drinking whiskey every day and decided to stop, and I wanted something to fill the void. I tried espresso, but the gearfaggotry and 20 step process required to make a beverage when I'm not yet caffeinated was too much for me. I had enjoyed cheap tea bags before, and after reading that tea can be so much more than that I took interest and went to a local loose leaf shop. Haven't looked back

>>20008353
I always liked loose leaf black tea, wanted to explore, ordered some different varieties from a local specialist store and got more and more into it since then.

>>20008319
Yes, I got em polished yesterday actually. Kinda annoying

>>20008364
whiskey is a gateway drink

>>20008353
I was bored, browsing the internet and eventually ended up here.
Read the pastebin, orderd some tea, talked to a friend about it, then had a long break and now I'm trying something new again.

Any good organic unsmoked yerba I can get on Amazon?

>>20008066
yeah it was a bit too on the green tea-ish side for my taste. maybe i'd acclimate to it with more sessions.

>>20008447
Try Kraus. It's one of the few organic unsmoked yerba mate brands that isn't just made to scam rich hippie Americans.

Could someone kindy point me in the direction of a good rooibos

>>20008353
Had some good tea while working at a Chinese restaurant and tried some different shit over the years, then coffee started giving me the runs all day.

>>20008491
The fa Zhan he did green teaish flavors so much better desu. Way more going on both in terms of taste and texture.
Snoozefest I'm not loving so far, but at that price it's good enough. Iike it better than the 941. I feel like it might still settle and improve if I leave it for a few months.

>put sweet lime concentrate in my bottled kombucha
>sweet lime overpowers the kombucha flavor
God damnit.

>>20008533
>it might still settle and improve
I think they're definitely prime agers worth grabbing a few to kick back every year. I'm really liking my single cake of 2021 and don't want to run out so I snagged 3 this time. Also
>航空公司启运
fucking finally.

>>20008554
How do they change with time? I'm hoping for more sweetness and fruitiness

>>20007568
Damn they get to wear a cape?

>>20007799
Hell yeah. Im slowly becoming convinced the liubao is better then ripe puer. I know they don't offer quite the same thing but i think liubao does the warm chocolate tones better.

Drinking tgy. Tried drinking coffee again and it just isn't the same.

>>20008043
I would try some tiwanese oolongs,
https://www.taiwanteacrafts.com/
A lightly roasted dong ding
Some oriental beauty
Some four seasons if you want to try a value tea
Take a look around and see what appeals to you

>>20008044
The milky oolongs that arent flavored sound interesting to me. I wonder how milky they can get without the flavoring.

>>20008066
There definitly seems like white2tea makes some teas that are too damn soft sometimes. Maybe he is going for something else with these blends but i wonder if part of W2Ts appeal is that they make some teas that arent challenging in the slightest

>>20008519
>of a good rooibos
The rooibos mostly all comes from the same farming collective so your goal should be finding a retailer who sells a lot so their stock is fresh.
For the us mountain rose herbs is probably a good choice, they have honeybush too which is a closely related plant.
https://mountainroseherbs.com/red-rooibos-tea
https://mountainroseherbs.com/honeybush-tea

>>20007568
well since you say herbal infusions, i'm gonna make this about weed now.
Here's my basic recipe for making bhang. Here, it's scaled for 2-3 servings (about 800 mL of liquid total). I use ~2 grams of dried and trimmed flower, though you can feel free to adjust to your desired potency.
Ingredients:
800 mL milk (whole milk works best, you can sub coconut milk if lactose fag)
2 grams cannabis flower
30 grams white sugar (adjust to your sweetness)
15 grams almonds
5 mL rose water
2.5 grams fennel seed
2.5 grams ground cardamom
1 gram ground cinnamon OPTIONAL
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 105-110 Celsius
Grind cannabis and spread onto baking sheet
Bake 15 mins
Throw all dry ingredients and roasted cannabis into blender. Add 400 mL milk. Blend until smooth
Add 400 mL milk, blend again
Transfer mixture to saucepan
Simmer on low for 15-20 mins
Strain and serve warm

>>20008650
Most hygienic bhang recipe
You need to grind everything with rocks and use unwashed containers for the authentic experience

>>20008558
Mine is all sweet apricoty florals right now. I think you're going to be happy. While we're on the topic of limited w2t shit I guess its finally time to crack into this. Dry Leaves smell heavenly. First steep smells...aquatic? Oceanic? The wet leaves are almost kelpy? Taste is very faintly herbaceous but its almost sticky. Coats my mouth and stays there.

>>20008519
>good
>rooibos
no such thing

>>20008669
Rooibos is good,
Everyone tells you to brew it wrong and then it tastes like shit.
Boiling water 60-90 seconds max, tastes great.
If you brew it for 5 minutes or whatever it just tastes like bitter sticks

Recently bought the following from Yunnan Sourcing, I feel like I always order from them, I wonder if there is another website/vendor I should try.

>Premium AA Tie Guan Yin of Anxi Oolong Tea of Fujian
standard Tie Guan Yin, checks all the boxes
>Zhong Ping "Jasmine Aroma" Dan Cong Oolong Tea
first time having a "jasmine aroma" dan cong, and honestly it is a cheap Dang Cong, but still enjoyable. Some forals, creaminess, mild roasted flavors.
>Premium AA Da Hong Pao Wu Yi Shan Rock Oolong Tea
Good Da Hong Pao, some roasted, chocolate notes but also some good frutiness and florals too.
I'm addicted to Oolong, it is like all I drink, I want to branch out. After this is all done I will try some Pu'er again. I tried to get into it years ago, made one big order, finished it and never bought any more.

In the mean time I ordered some Japanese tea from Yunomi to switch things up, ordered some gyokuro, and ceremonial grade matcha from Uji, and a Yakushima cedar smoked hojicha.

>>20008686
I pretty much stopped drinking tea when I found out they were from texas and finding another site with a similar catalogue got exhausting

>>20008681
confusing, i simmer mine, it doesn't get bitter

>>20008614
>$20 for 50g
Wtf? This better be good shit

>>20008686
If you are into oolong you should branch out to some different vendors.
https://www.taiwanteacrafts.com/
Try some roasted stuff, some not roasted stuff, oriental beauty etc
If you wanna go deeper into wuyi oolongs
Try some of the stuff on the more affordable side of https://oldwaystea.com/
For puer, $30 worth of samples from farmer leaf would be nice, free shipping, fa zhan he, maybe the Spring 2023 Lao Man E small trees if you are okay with bitter, bangwei small trees, maybe a sample of one of the aged teas he has.

>>20008707
Some of their teas are cheaper then others, you gotta look around for what works for your budget.

*Ahem* Chicken bamboo basket filled with liu bao toucha. That is all.

>>20008712
Taiwantea crafts is great, if I am in the mood for a Taiwanese oolong I will order from there. I believe I have also used https://www.mountaintea.com/ and https://beautifultaiwantea.com/ if you or anybody reading this has an opinion on them.
https://oldwaystea.com/ looks interesting I love Wuyi teas so I will check it out. Any other sources for Wuyi or Fenghuang oolong would be amazing.
Farmer leaf looks good. I have ordered Pu'er from White2tea and Yunnan Sourcing I think. Will give them a try.
Thanks!

>>20008765
>Any other sources for Wuyi or Fenghuang oolong would be amazing.
Ive had good luck with essence of tea for wuyi ollongs but it isn't cheap. King tea malls more expensive wuyi offerings might be at a good point on the cost/quality scale.
Dancing oolongs are tough. I don't know if there is really a dancong specialist store we are aware of. Hojo tea seems to be really into them but they are a Japanese tea shop so prices will be higher since the tea is changing hands more, there is also an older American oolong shop whos name escapes me at the moment, but they are in the ultra high price range for the most part $1/g or more

>>20008353
I was finishing up university when my chronic illness came upon me, I wanted to finish anyways but I was exhausted so one day I decided to steep one of my mother’s teabags for half an hour for the caffeine. It really sucked but I saw the promise.

The aged slut is growing on me, it has a briny quality to the soup. A kind of salty huigan. Man that fresh ball was bad.

>>20008601
Different anon here but I’ll have to keep that in mind. The chocolate notes sounds so good.

>>20007568
I would rape that slut in the asshole so hard. She'd be all like "Japanese words and moning"

English breakfast tea is too mild for me
Get Irish breakfast tea and like that one more
See extra bold English breakfast tea and decide to try that too even though I'm not sure how exactly that's different from Irish

Tastes like hot artichoke water

what's the ultimate cookie(or biscuit for you brits) to eat with black tea?

>>20009230
Rape

>>20009150
Its a bit pricey but the black box liubao from purple cloud is such a great example of a smooth chocolaty liubao.
https://purplecloudteahouse.com/products/2015-2008-200g-black-box-liu-bao?_pos=1&_sid=552a5835b&_ss=r&variant=13157611634731
For something more affordable. I would get samples of a few different three cranes offerings from yunnan sourcing and see which ones you like. He has a few from the big 40 kilo baskets, one with more traditional humid storage and one without which is nice for a comparison.

>>20009165
Try some ctc irish breakfast. Or just irish breakfast in general.

>>20009230

>>20009296
yogscast

>>20009334
I can't believe how long ago that was

Best tea to cure a hangover?

>>20009345
Gay sex with random dudes in public bathrooms. Get aids

^ didn't ask about your last diary entry

>>20009370
It was about you.

>>20009345
hot sweaty liubao

>>20009230
I like dreams aka drömmar. Shortbread in general is good with tea. Scottish shortbread, cinnamon cakes, raspberry snits (preferably without the icing), vanilla wreaths, etc. all are good.

>>20009357
Best tea to cure AIDs?

>>20009430
white tea, itll help build up your white blood cell levels. red tea is good if youre anemic

You have to drill into these things for like 2 minutes with boiling water to get them open for proper steeping. It's an odd design.

>>20008353
I sat in the local tea house for a few hours everyday for a couple of weeks, reading comic books, sipping white iced tea, and trying to get the cute lesbians who worked there to notice me. The manager asked me not to come back because I was making staff “uncomfortable” whatever that means. I never even said anything to them other than politely ordering my drink. Now I have developed a taste for basic bitch whites and greens.

>>20008353

I wanted an alternative to coffee for awhile and I had some tea that was okay in the past. Then I saw K-ON (yea) and got curious about tea again. Found this thread and gave the Pastebin stuff a try. It was really good. Still a lot of stuff to try. Definitely need to try Japanese greens, Sheng, and White tea.

>>20008857
Yeah I figured with ripe it's always better to go a few years old unless it's Dayi. The 2021 lumber slut I have is quite nice. Not an assault on the senses by any means, just a tasty ripe with some extra forest floor spice.

>>20008353
I'd always been curious about tea but I was too scared to try it. Then one day a friend of mine asks me to hold onto a bag of bi luo chun for him, just for a few days. I brewed a little bit to try it myself and next thing I know, I'm sucking off coolies for a cup of sheng puerh

>>20009284
I'll have to get some at some point. I have yet to find a Liu bao that's as good in terms of "price to enjoyment ratio" for me as factory ripe.

>>20009726
The secret is to do a like 1 minute or a bit less rinse then cover and leave it in the gaiwan for like 5-10 minutes, it will open up while its sitting and then when you go to brew it keep em real short at first since they will open right up

>>20009834
Yeah that's fair, liubao got expensive all of a sudden, used to be much cheaper 5 or so years ago

Does anyone have any good kettle recommendations? Preferably without plastic.

>>20009855
Get a tetsubin if you want to ascend

>>20009855
Non temp control
https://www.amazon.com/Secura-Stainless-Electric-Shut-Off-Protection/dp/B07HLPVR45/
Temp control
https://www.amazon.com/JOYHILL-Temperature-Stainless-Thermostat-Protection/dp/B09ZKHXMG1/
Both use good quality heating elements and are 100% stainless steel on the inside with no seams, plastic windows or silicon gaskets

>>20009852
I admit I did like the more premium Liu bao I tried. But I'm not in a hurry to buy more 20 cent per gram Liu bao when I enjoy 5 cent per gram ripe to a pretty similar degree

>>20008621
I wouldn't say this was really milky in flavor or aroma, but it was milky in terms of texture. Maybe other unflavored milky oolongs may be like that, but this one was still sweet and pleasant for what it was.

>>20009959
Interesting thanks. The creamiest tasting oolong ive had was some random tgy from sea dyke, one of their slightly more premium productions, i liked the taste but didn't know where to find more oolongs with that flavor profile that weren't flavored

>>20009959
>>20008621
yeah I would say the unflavored ones tend to be subtly milky or creamy

I forgot I ordered the sample pack from LP, but it showed up today. I'll probably dig through it tomorrow. Have other people gotten theirs?

>>20008353
I had an intrinsic thought after often trying bland or harsh bagged teas that "there must be something better". Coincidence of being on /ck/ once or twice lead me to the /tea/ general, as well as some YT tasting videos, eventually getting the advice of anons and starting by diving into mostly whites and pu'er (I was concerned about having to manage freshness) and quite liking both. Samples or tiny portions of others too, but otherwise, my range of selections were somewhat limited to pu'er, whites, and heicha. I am branching out further and learning even more. Ultimately, it's the intrinsic interest of the unknown and desire to learn that attracted me to tea (and still does).

https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/new-products/products/1980s-liu-bao-tea

Jesus christ...

Some notes on the 2022/2023 genmaicha From Mitsuboshien Kabayashisannyu Honten
___
4.2g/175F/5s

Dry leaf has the clear aroma of the rice alongside a sweet, slightly savory corn note. Wet leaf smells of a 'brighter' corn, roasted rice, and fresh greens.

Medium texture, low bitterness, low-medium astringency. Very smooth and pleasantly sweet both initially and long into the aftertaste. Fairly mild savoriness. I initially thought the rice/corn notes may be overpowering, but they comfortably blend into the grassy quality of the tea (perhaps easier to tell if you chew a piece). Not excessively complex, but certainly a refreshing profile.

>>20010109
I just wanted to add, I left aside a bit of the green leaf bits in a separate mug when I was portioning it out, and poured in my water used to heat my teaware initially. I just tasted it now, and can pick up a bit of a kelp/seaweed note, but it is subtle. Pretty neat.

>>20010109
Genmatcha fucking rules
The epitome of cozy tea

>>20008665
Oh man I always really love this stuff. Just finished my little 2021 mini cake. I saw that a bunch of oolongs just went up on the site that I think I'm gonna have to snag.

>>20008650
>>20008661
pls be remember sirs - left is for wiping, right is for stirring

also I like the recipe on the holi festival website, that shit is killer. No need for an oven roast on the herbs, boiling it seems to work just fine, and it was absolutely the most powerful edible I've ever had, I'm californian so my tolerance is rekt and I normally hardly feel edibles at all even strong ones but damn dude bhang is the real deal. Sipping on a shot glass' worth was enough to get a strong buzz

>>20009296
CREE

>>20010109
> (perhaps easier to tell if you chew a piece)
The brewed leaves are good eating. Toss 'em in a bowl of rice for a quick and easy struggle meal.

>>20010366
I'll have to try that next time, thank you. I just left the leaves in my cold brew jar.

Ball anon back.
Depression resolved via ego death.
I never fitted in. This made me blame myself. One day I discovered /pol/, and /pol/ taught me to channel my hatred of myself into other people. All this did was push people away. A viscous cycle.
I have extreme contempt for other people now, and despite how much I want it to go away it will always be there, because it is engrained into me.
I will never be able to apologize for my actions to all the people I cut off, but I can move forward.
Everyone has insecurities and problems don't let this manifest as haltered for yourself or others.
The only way to move forward is to accept the good in you and the bad.
I know this is some hippie bullshit and barely anyone is gonna care, but it's love man. This is the way.
Cheers, and keep on drinking!

I would like to have a friend over for tea but I don't know how
bags or loose?
what kind of snacks should I serve?
do I provide multiple tea options or just choose one?
how long do we sit there and drink tea for?

we are both autistic

>>20010439
Loose leaf tea, drink something more normal like oolong, don't go straight into the young sheng gongfu session. Serve biscuits or small sweet snacks like wagashi. Just pick a tea. Drink tea until it loses it's strength, this should be obvious. If you can't tell, stop drinking it once it becomes noticeably weaker in color. At this point you can either brew more tea or do something else.

Tea roaster is neat. Roasting some tieguanyin with tealight candle.

>>20010439
Loose, and don't offer a selection to the guest either. You want this to be as simple and painless as possible, so select a single one. Pick something like a wuyi oolong, buddy white, or a fruity red; stuff with an easier appeal to most, and do so based on what you think you'll both like. Do it for however long you feel is suitable. You can spend time discussing your impressions of notes in the tea, or unrelated topics as you wish. As for snacks, I personally prefer not to, but if you wish to, light crackers, biscuits, pretzels and pretzel sticks, and so on are all fine.

>>20010472
Interesting, from where? How much? I thought most anons would just re-roast on a wok or pan when necessary.

Is there a tea equivalent for something like a wine sommelier certification/WSET for wine/spritits/sake? I love getting certifications in things.

>>20010475
https://www.amazon.com/Gazechimp-Tealight-Fashioned-Stovetop-Japanese/dp/B0CCV1TQNB

Approximately 22 dollars.
I got it for the convenience of not leaving my desk.

>>20010472
The heat from the candle cooks the tieguyanyin

>>20010483
I see several offered but i don't know if any of them are recognized in the same way that those other certs are. One of the groups says it was founded in 2018.
I found a post by some tea blogger complaining about the current state of tea sommelier certifications.
https://www.killgreen.io/main/problem-with-tea-sommeliers/

>>20010483
I don't think there are any that matter. India has a fairly serious professional tasting coalition, but I don't know if I'd care about that sort of thing.

>>20010541
>>20010548
Interesting. I wouldn't really need the cert for any employment reasons. I don't like to reveal personal information but frankly I am already a certified wine/spirits profressional and don't intend to switch careers. For me it is just something I would do for fun/to increase my knowledge on the tea that I love drinking and to further inform myself regarding my future purchases.

>>20010550
Fair enough, so im not personally familiar with the programs available but there seems to be a range from a few lectures and some coursework to some with a larger time commitment. So i can't really advise beyond suggesting you look into what's available and see what seems the most useful for your interests.

>>20010483
Perhaps it is time /tea/ develops its own program. Now you too can be a certified puerh lebian.

>>20010614
1st rank: Redditor
2nd: Puerh Lesbian
3rd: Bald White Buddhist Guy With Asian Wife
4th: Tea Vampire

>>20007742
ANSWER ME

My sense of smell is still busted from having the coof ages ago, what are some teas that are still good even if you can't smell very well

>>20009334
holy FUCK that's what I remember jaff cakes from?
I knew I heard of it before I just assumed it was mentioned in doctor who a lot

>>20010896
They built a jaffacake factory on a server for like 200 eps.

>>20010072
I wonder how this compares to the cheap 1980s liu bao from KTM

Kcups are where it's at

What is this obsession with Liu bao?
I though puers were all the rage these days.

>>20010791
>1st rank: Redditor
white2tea, yunnan sourcing
>2nd: Puerh Lesbian
teaswelike, kingteamall, fullchea
>3rd: Bald White Buddhist Guy With Asian Wife
awazon, tuochatea, yeeon, taobao
>4th: Tea Vampire
his own store in hong-kong, freebies from his friend Vesper Chan's Best Tea House

>>20010837
when I had the coof and couldn't smell for a month or two I was mostly drinking shu pu-erh, brewed really strong. it's nice because you can still enjoy the thicc body / mouthfeel and whatnot
I think other hei cha would also work

>>20011525
Forgot FL.
Also why is W2T so hated/recommended by reddit?
Are they overpriced or is it the hipster angle?
I personally don't want to buy blends with funny names where I don't know what it's made of, therefore risking being vendor locked in if I like something.

>>20011446
is there an obsession with liu bao?
I think it's more that liu bao got a bit more popular as a result of the popularity of pu-erh, since it's probably the most similar tea to ripe and people wanted to try it

>>20011533
they're just very popular on reddit, if you ask for any puerh recommendations on r/tea or r/puer, the most upvoted answer is likely to be praising w2t
I guess it's the marketing drawing many newbies to the store. and also the "vendor locked in" aspect you mention, resulting in a rabid fanbase that mostly buys from w2t

>>20008627
I'm sure their marketing draws many newbies, so it makes sense that they have some mild, accessible newbie-friendly raws on offer.
of the three I tried from my last order, I'd say my preference was Veldt > Snoozefest > 941, though it's close between Veldt and Snooze (despite the 2x price difference).

>>20010817
i haven't

Bit of an update.
I ordered this from Taobao.
The final price is $110 for teas and $37 for shipping.
Considering KTM would charge me another $30+ for shipping, I should save about half.
Let's hope I don't get hit by customs and the package won't get lost.

>>20011676
Top item shows 0 units. Did you not get it?

>>20011682
I did. There must have been some graphical bug in this old cart.

>>20011676
nobody's got the wrapper game down quite like xiaguan

yeeontea "Tea for Connoisseurs 8 Ban Zhang Old Arbor Tree Pu-erh Tea Cake 2013"
immediately much better than the yiwu spring i tried the other day, has some good flavour and character to it and i actually want to write something.
wet leaf has some of that smell of dry old wood, not musty but more like you'd smell from the beams in your attic. it's not beety at all, the storage seems much less strong on these "connoisseur" ones compared to the other yeeon stuff i tried.
the liquor has a nice rose tint which i liked the look of on the rinse.
it's bitter, but it's a oxidised-tannin bitter you'll enjoy if you're in the mood for something strong. and classic fruity aged sheng notes which i don't have the vocab for. some huigan.
by steep 7 it's mellowing out a bit, into a different profile... these are the best steeps.
called it after steep 12
this one can do with some more age i think but was enjoyable. i can't recommend it, it's too expensive and it'll only get pricier . i think i'll leave it at that with this series of teas.

>>20010791
>3rd: Bald White Buddhist Guy With Asian Wife
This just Scott
>>20011548
>>20011533
>risking being vendor locked in if I like something.
Isn't this a really weird thing to worry about? If you like the tea you like the tea no? Is non-vendor-locked tea even a thing? (Factory tea is just "factory locked", and places that give full info are also just locking you in 'cause nowhere else will you actually get the same tea no??)

>>20011890
>Is non-vendor-locked tea even a thing?
well if the tea you're buying states the exact terroir down to the village, then you can try to substitute it for something else in the future. if you like the Naka from FarmerLeaf, you can get one from Chen Sheng Hao and so on. there will always be differences in gardens and processing, but you can still get something in the same ballpark a lot of the time

of course with blends this type of info is rarely stated. but it would still be nice to see a vendor that states where the blended material comes from
with big factories at least you can usually get the tea from many different sites, if you like "pussy slut literal cocaine" from white2tea, you have to buy it from them and are shit out of luck if it ever sells out

>>20011890
Let's say you like some jingmai or lao man e cakes, from one vendor.
You can try other cakes from other vendors from those locations and have an idea of what you are getting into.

Let's look at the first cake I see on W2T
>2023 Interceptor
>A blend for raw Puer drinkers seeking intrigue on a budget. Thick bodied, sticky and sweet with depth of bright fragrance and flavor for young Puer lovers, or a diamond in the rough for patient tea agers. All with minimal damage to the old bank account.

I have no fucking idea from where this tea is, if it was from a natural garden, big trees, or what.
I guess this is my personal problem as I want to understand the hobbies I'm into so, in this case, I want to explore regions, different conditions, the age of trees, etc.

>>20011916
Paul addressed this in a tea tasting of his I went to a while back. His claim is that in basically every sought after village, there's a strikingly larger amount of tea being bought from it than being produced in it. If it's good tea it's good tea, but the idea that your single origin ultra specific terroir cake is actually that is pretty low.

For what it's worth, he has tea on the website where he does make claim to larger regions (like Yiwu, for example) or that it's from old arbor trees, but yeah, he definitely purposefully leaves out sourcing details, and I can't totally blame him given what he's described of his extensive time actually out in tea production areas.

>>20011968
There is a reason why some tea areas are more sought after than others and therefore more expensive.

Paul can say whatever he wants but leaving out this information is dishonest in my eyes and I shan't be buying into it. I might as well get blends from some other bigger manufacturers that will probably offer better bang for the buck(mengku, xiaguan, dayi etc.)

Nobody will pay the same for fa zhan he as for lao man e sweet gushu.

>>20011996
The point I was making was that the demand for tea from these places is so high compared to the actual production capability that a lot of tea being marketed from these places isn't actually from there. Again, this is on Paul's word, but he says it's very common for growers in these places to supplement their product with leaves they buy from other friends in the larger area that can't get the same high price for their tea because they arent in the little pocket of hype that people have decided is the best tea ever. The farmer in the village gets to sell more tea, his friend down the way gets in on the action that he wouldn't have been able to otherwise, and people like you and me are generally none the wiser for it.

If you've found a vendor that you trust and you think has a good enough relationship with producers to actually get what they say they have, then more power to you and I'm glad you're happy with your tea. I just don't think White2Tea's approach is underhanded in any way.

>>20011866
Thanks for posting notes on these. I was interested in seeing what the connoisseur series has going on. I get what they were going for but i think the prices ended up higher then they really sould be.

Drink old liubao

>>20008325
Gotta get to that yixing-level patina seasoning somehow for more complexity lmao

>>20008601
I agree

>>20009345
GABA Tea honestly.

>>20009855
Best to get yourself a cheap stovetop stainless steel kettle and, if you don't already, an Induction Plate (I suggest Xiaomi cuz u can program temp control).

>>20010434
that is a wonderful journey of self-improvement! I believe that you can change the things that are engrained in you with enough time and work, neuroplasticity n all. <3

>>20010439
Offer atleast 2-3 teas so they can taste the dfiference, no bags. I suggest offering Red, Oolong and another oolong or red to show difference.

>>20011968
He's right, but it's way too far in the other direction. Everyone in the "modern western" tea space knows most of the information that comes with tea is fake, just tell me what you know and let me figure it out. The only people I have a problem with are crooks like Mei Leaf and the tea cultists.

>>20012111
+1
Mei Leaf and Puerh.uk

just never take any info about tea at face value, and buy tea you think tastes good, simple as

I think just calling all tea mislabeled is a big exaggeration. Sure there is a lot of that going on, especially with the hot in demand puer villages. But its easy enough to say that a tea is from the banzang region or lincang or something. The rules that apply to tea "from" lao banzang or bing dao or the hot yiwu villages dont also apply to tea from some random village on Mengku.

>>20012026
>a lot of tea being marketed from these places isn't actually from there
Sure, that's an issue, but I think the solution should be to be more transparent about where the tea is made and more hands-on with the production, not to go the other direction and deny the consumer any information because "dude, you can never be sure. just trust me bro, it's the good shit."
look at the Jingmai teas FarmerLeaf makes - you can see photos of the gardens, videos of how they're processed and you can be sure that's what you're getting

also, even if a tea is supplemented with leaves from cheaper villages in the area, that's still representative of that general area. even if you buy a tea with sussy claims, like an oddly cheap Bingdao, you can still expect it to have a vaguely Bingdao area or at least Mengku character. which is still better than a total mystery tea

I think more information is always better for the well-informed hobbyist who can judge the likelihood of any claims

>>20012111
>crooks like Mei Leaf
Care to elaborate?
>>20011968
>not all info is 100% so let's just not provide any
I'm curious how it will work out for jingmai since they are unesco, so it should it much more strictly regulated if some cake wants to claim it's from jingmai.
It's like champagne vs sparkling wine

>>20012164
Lied about a tea being from a 1000+ year old tree.

For Jingmai I would assume how nothing will change, considering the way business things are done in China.

>>20009345
ripe pu-erh
genmaicha is also good

>>20012164
>Care to elaborate?
selling unverifiable "1500 year old tree" pu-erh, making bogus claims to health benefits and peddling alternative medicine

>>20012164
>Care to elaborate?
Most of the information he shares is stuff that he knows is wrong. There's a zero percent chance he's spent this much time selling tea but is still totally naive and is innocently selling tea with blatantly incorrect location labels, blatantly incorrect year claims, blatantly incorrect health claims, etc. He's careful enough to only ever be repeating things he's told but there's no possible way he actually thinks it's true so I don't really care. He's the sleazy used car salesman of tea.

the very last of the YoT purple half ripe whatever the fuck. I have never had a tea from the daily drinker part of my stash fail the speed test this badly. This thing has been languishing in my storage for years when latley i go through a fresh cake in a couple months.
The definition of mediocrity, not bad enough for me to throw away but ive never been excited about drinking it.

>>20012255
in other words he is just your average western-based vendor.
at least the few teas i've had from them taste good.

Does anyone here know of a quality loose leaf vendor in the usa? Trying to up my tea game thanks.

>>20012042
Drink fossilized liu bao.

>>20012324
check the pastebin in OP

>>20012111
>>20012151
>>20012157
>>20012164
To each their own, I suppose. I totally get wanting to have some sort of idea of origin when it comes to the tea you're buying, and I sometimes order from other well regarded vendors if I'm trying to go in that direction. I just don't think the obfuscation at W2T is in any way duplicitous. I've met Paul and like him, and I appreciate that he's extremely involved in both the production and storage of basically everything they offer. I've had fewer duds from him than basically anywhere else, too.

Speaking of, gonna try out some of his dancongs, plus I just saw that the laochapo from a tea club a while back that is maybe the most unique tea I've ever tasted is on the site in bricks.

>>20012324
What kind of tea are you looking for? Also you can save some money if you order direct from producer country.

>>20012340
The tea in the very center of that lump is probably really good

>>20012340
i would give anything just for a SNIFF

>>20012342
Thanks I'll do that
>>20012372
I'm not too knowledgeable about teas but I'm interested in teas that dont have much caffeine. I like decaffeinated green. Also interested in calming teas.

>>20012372
And ok I didn't realize I can save if I go direct thanks for the tip

>>20012495
>Also interested in calming teas.
Check out thr loose herbs and herbal blends from mountain rose herbs.
For low caffeine teas try out hojicha, its mostly roasted stems. Sugimoto has some affordable versions, they should be on amazon too
https://www.sugimotousa.com/catalog/product/enrich-hojicha-loose-leaf/
Also look for mugicha or roasted barely tea

>>20012495
Death Roasted Oolong should do the trick.

>>20012520
>>20012534
Thanks :)

>dislike coffee
>need more caffeine than the tea at my local grocery store provides
Can anyone recommend a good highly caffeinated tea?

>>20012579
are you short on time? if yes, yerba mate, otherwise consider getting into matcha

>>20012579
Seconding yerba mate, you can probably get it at the grocery store. Tea even with a good caffeine level doesn't have the same jolt that coffee does, yerba mate is really stimulating and gives you a nice energetic caffeine buzz.

>>20012157
Am I misremembering or didnt FL just sell a mislabeled cake?

>>20012026
>a lot of tea being marketed from these places isn't actually from there.
I know I read an article suggesting that the amount of wine sold each year in China claiming to be from certain famous French vineyards exceeds the total annual production of those vineyards. I would be surprised if the same thing does not happen with puerh. That said I think most puerh is still vaguely correct in its labeling if you interpret things with a healthy of skepticism and I think Paul goes 2 far in the other direction. He should strive to give a bit more info. As an aside the one time I asked him questions about some teas he was frank about the cheaper tea being better overall value and did not try to up-sell me so I will give him points for that at least.

>>20012157
>you can still expect it to have a vaguely Bingdao area or at least Mengku character. which is still better than a total mystery tea
True to an extent but there is so much variation in tea even from the same area that you can't just buy a random cake from the same area and it expect it to always taste the same as another cake from there you liked. Categorizing puerh after locations also has its faults because in practice everything tends to get forced into being compared to the few locations everyone remembers instead of being described on its own merit. Not every puerh is a "Bulang" or "Yiwu" or "Jingmai" and cramming everything into those categories is overly reductive. Being too attached to names whether they be locations or brands can bias your opinions on the tea. The ultimate proof is always in the cup.

>>20012352
Nice to see I am not the only laochapo enjoyer. I want to hear how the dancong brick is when you get it.

>>20012495
>I'm interested in teas that dont have much caffeine.
If you like herbal teas you should try Greek mountain tea. https://kliotea.com/collections/tea is where I get mine. I like their other teas as well. I also second the recommendation to try roasted barely tea.

>>20012579
yerba mate, japanese green tea and sheng pu-erh are my go-to options for a solid kick

>>20012589
>>20012598
>>20012657
Thanks anons.

>>20012650
>Am I misremembering or didnt FL just sell a mislabeled cake?
Unless we are thinking of separate things it was a goof not an intentional deception. If I heard correctly he accidentally listed a fall tea as a spring one but corrected it when he noticed the mistake.

Let's chase some tale owo.

I'm already getting some chocolate oolong notes off the rinse water.

apologies if this topic has already been done to death, but i'm looking to place a farmerleaf order of young sheng sometime in the near future. i prefer a sweet-leaning profile and am tempted to just blind buy a cake of the jingmai miyun as a daily drinker, but i'm open to suggestions. any recs for samples of the high end stuff would be appreciated too. thanks yall

>>20012665
uwu

>>20011890
>3rd: Bald White Buddhist Guy With Asian Wife
>This just Scott
The Crimson Lotus guy and the Old Ways guy too. If you take out the bald requirement, then the number shoots up a lot.

>>20012665
Quite dark, quite comely, hint of camphor and strong chocolate nib with a very classic ripe base. A bare hint of fermentation on the dry cake disappeared into dark things on the nose and an unusually textbook tea flavor, of all things. Tastes like a good Chinese red tea under the oolong and puer treatments.

>>20012667
I preferred the Bangwai and Fa Zhan He to the Miyun. not sure which one of them is sweeter, but I thought they were both better value than the Miyun. Fa Zhan He is more savory green tea-like with some lemon and sometimes honey, while Bangwai is more of a classic sheng fruity profile but with some nice creamy floral aroma. I found Fa Zhan He a bit more fun to drink, but Bangwai is a great replacement for the Miyun too

the Yellow Flakes is definitely pretty sweet. I haven't tried Tang Fang Liang Zi, but it's supposed to also be sweet and soft, similar to a Yiwu and seems to be highly recommended

>>20012662
Seems like a big oopsie for a vendor who prides himself over all on accurate description. I guess his whole schtick is terroir, not harvest season tho. Did he reimburse people or just give out a coupon for another order?
>When trust is lost, it is hard to rebuild. Some people even only trust once.

>>20012667
>. i prefer a sweet-leaning profile
Bangwei small trees is a great choice for that. Affordable, sweet, decent endurance.
I got a sample of this years miyun and it was fine but i don't fond it exciting and probably would pay $60 for a cake of it. It was just pretty light flavor wise.
Can definitely recommended a sample of the fa zhan he, citrusy, very nice.

>>20012691
Sounds good, looks nice and dark

>>20012701
>making a typo is the same as going just trust me bro
W2T shills go home

>>20012718
I pushed it a little hard there to see what it would do on the second steep, it's oolong territory with added body. Not quite the intensity of a rock tea but definitely a ripe puer version. Somewhere I have the predawn dark, if I hadn't already spent waaayy too much on tea, this would be an immediate buy. It's not afraid to be bitter and weird but remains entirely pleasant and has a base sweetness that some other w2t ripes I've had lack.

>>20012693
>>20012709

just what i was looking for, bangwai seems to be the move. i'll throw in a sample of the fa zhan he as well since i've seen it get a lot of love on here

thanks fellas

>>20012733
A typo would be putting it up as an autumm cake. I'm not sure how poorly you'd have to type to get spring out of those letters. Just seems odd. Hopefully he made it right to those who purchased it without requesting more money for his error.

>>20012795
What's up with this aggressive concern trolling?

>>20012795
Did Paul pay you or do you do it for free?

>>20012823
If we're holding vendors liable for what they present, I really don't see any difference between meileaf(or the jessesteahouse guy) misrepresenting age and anyone else misrepresenting the harvest. Its a fuckup. It should be treated as such and not brushed away because you like the site.
>Sorry we accidentally sold some of those small trees in the big trees wrapper. Just a typo tho, here's an expiring 10% off your next order
>>20012826
All free.

>>20012650
>>20012662
He did do that, yes. It was the Cang Yuan, listed as a Spring cake before being swapped to an Autumn one.
>Pic related, my Shop invoice showing the typo entry.
I don't like that this happened, but I bought the cake because I liked its description and visual quality, not because of the season, so I'm not too bothered.

>>20012878
>If we're holding vendors liable for what they present, I really don't see any difference between meileaf(or the jessesteahouse guy) misrepresenting age and anyone else misrepresenting the harvest
you don't see any difference between a vendor mistakenly listing something as a spring harvest then changing it after several days vs a vendor stating impossible shit like "2000 year old trees" and standing by it even though everyone knows it's bullshit?

>>20012910
he genuinely has to be a shill

The guy is technically right, if you provide no info, nobody can call you out for providing wrong info.
That being said he is an idiot lacking any nuisance.

>>20012910
>a vendor stating impossible shit like "2000 year old trees"
>The place is famous for a single huge tea tree, thought to be 1700 years old.
Now he's not saying that those cakes were pressed from the 1700 year old tree, just that you should care about the tea because the 1700 year old tree is an alumni of their old school. Pollinated their older sister. Same shit different bottle.
>>20012885
>I'm not too bothered
To be clear I'm firmly on the
>just drink the tea
side of the argument. Have you got a chance to taste yet? When the focus is on transparency, its just a red flag to me when theres a fuckup like that. Spring/Autumn isn't a typo. Its probably a sorting error. Shit got put in the wrong spot and labeled as such until noticed. Hopefully it doesn't happen again. Also looking at that listing
>We haven't visited the area
I thought his whole shit was boots on the ground sourcing? I'm going to need some hardcore shilling of fl over the next year to convince me to order.

'00s Heavy Roasted Aged TGY from KTM. Basically what it says on the label. Roast is the first thing you taste in the early steeps but some greenness and sweetness is starting to come through in a really pleasant way 4 or 5 steeps in here.

>>20013042
Nobody cares what skinny faggot with a chink wife you by tea from

>>20013192
Wet leaf looks decent, those super heavy charred roast tgys that you see sometimes that were some kind of Chinese weight loss fad look horrible but that still looks like tea and not burnt bits of leaf.

>>20013192
are those christmas tree reflections? looks very comfy.

>>20007599
>no reply
I guess I'll discuss my ground mulberry matcha in a different thread

>>20013214
Yeah the leaves definitely still have some life in them.
>>20013222
Yup. Cozy Sunday night cooking chili and cleaning the house after a hike.

>>20013224
Sorry anon, yes we are here to talk about any hot water and leaf combos your heart desires.
What does that taste like? How does it smell? How do you prepare it?

>>20013233
No need to patronize me, I know when I'm not wanted...

>>20013246
Don't be a faggot, tell me what the leaf water tastes like

>>20008650
how potent is this? is this anything like a 10mg THC gummy?

You should always have a minimum of $1k to spend on teas each year.

>>20013278
Considering that 7 kilos is a moderate amount of tea, 1k seems way too low.

>>20013257
Haha, alright. You make it like you would matcha, whisking it into hot water. It's got a mild vegetal flavor that has a bit of a sweetness where normally you would expect bitterness. The texture is smooth with a certain milkiness to it, owing partly, I think, to the fact that the leaves contain latex (which is also why I wouldn't drink a bunch of it in one sitting). It's not an explosion of flavor or particularly complex, but it's pleasant and can be a nice drink to have at night when you want something matcha-like without the caffeine

>>20010439
>what kind of snacks should I serve?
get a few teas and server chinese moon cakes.
>>20010439
until your friend offers to blow u for that good tea and moon cakes.
>>20010439
>I would like to have a friend over for tea but I don't know how
>bags or loose?
definitely loose. and youre gonna need a kettle near by and a proper gong fu tea set.
>>20010439
>multiple tea options
black oolong and pu erh. and a scale.

>>20013270
Say your cannabis flower is 25% delta 9 thc, throw in a conservative 40% loses from decarboxylation (the oven roasting step that converts THCa to the bioactive form of THC) + an incomplete extration from the flower and you are looking at about 300mg of active THC actually going into your mouth.

>>20013293
That's interesting, in reference to some other leafs that contain latex ive seen it suggested that roasting might help break that stuff down and make it a bit less harsh on the gut. This was in a discussion about gayusa iirc or one of those other plants that's native to the americas that contains caffeine. So maybe if you could find a roasted version of the ground mulberry it would have the same effect. It would also probably taste roasted of course which might not be what you are looking for.
Its always nice to have some noncaffinated alternatives for when you want a hot beverage in the evening and its too late for tea.

>>20010473
>, light crackers, biscuits, pretzels and pretzel sticks
not really. i suggest pu erh. and get moon cakes. or double the steep time and and milk for milk tea.

>>20013300
>300mg of active THC actually going into your mouth.
ty. damn. lol. so a shot glass is good enough.

>>20013332
Sounds like it, i usually cut the 5mg gummies in half lol.

>>20008650
il do this, but with 2 percent milk, and maybe a bit of butter during the simmer. and 1 gram only. and oolong tea 5 grams. wont be adding sugar, rose water, fennel, ground cardamom or cinnamon. so its pretty much a oolong tea with cannabis infusion.

How do I get better at judging steeping times for a tea I've never had before? I've been using the pastebin as a rough guide but my tea keeps coming out too weak or too strong

>>20013350
Basically practice makes perfect. If you are brewing in a gaiwan watch for when the chunks open up and keep throse brews really short. Try to keep an eye on the color of the tea and see if you can get a feel for how strong it has brewed that way.
What teas are you having trouble with?

>>20013230
i couldn't help but get some roasty toasty yancha even though it's late

>>20013350
drink more tea.
i dunno how to explain it but there's a point where your arm just knows what to do

why do you guys call them tisanes instead of herbal teas

>>20013340
>5mg gummies in half lol.
5mg pure thc must be a trip. never had pure thc before. always had some cbd with it.

>>20013367
cause we are cultured first worlders. now go back to re ddit.

>>20013371
It's probably better that way desu
>>20013367
Good question

I've been keeping this at work to have grandpa style as a gut punch to get me through work, but I really need to bring it home and gongfu it to see what's hiding in there. This tea is an assault on the senses but in a way that makes me keep trying more. The Double Hopped IPA of puerh with all of the baggage that comes along with that association.

>>20013418
Sounds good, and also sounds like the wrong tea for grampa style, switch it up with something brown for the office

Got a piece of bamboo charcoal swimming in a liter of water. Let's see if this thing actually works.

I need to make a black tea syrup for an ice cream base, but I'm not sure if I should brew tea on the stove or make cold brew.

which will yeild the best smooth tea flavor?

>>20013042
>I thought his whole shit was boots on the ground sourcing
William said it's a weird outlier in his catalogue. IIRC his kid's teacher showed up one day, shilled him some tea from a remote location, he said "damn, that's good" and just bought it. that's why this one has no photos and had the listing error
normally he's much more hands-on, as evidenced by all the photos, videos, constantly visiting farmers and whatnot

>>20013367
to differentiate them further from proper tea from the Camellia tea plant

It's been a long while since I've tasted such a vague tea that I liked, but couldn't really describe in any meaningful way. My notes on the 2022 Jingmai Purple Beauty Black Tea of Simao:
____
4g/195F/6s

Dry leaf has notes of something sweet and toasted (grainy?) and a subtle woodsiness. Wet leaf smells of sweet grain, as well as subtle, vague notes of stewed berries and something floral.

Medium thickness, low bitterness, low astringency. Sweet flavor that's vaguely grainy/woodsy, but as with the aroma, it's a bit ambiguous. The only thing I find interesting is how the listing mentions bitterness, but I don't really taste much of that at all. Tried to push it, but nothing really changed. Overall pleasant, but the notes are indistinct, and I can't really comment in much detail about it.

I think I'll put my 2023 Snoozefest away for half a year or so. something tells me it has the potential to become better than it is right now

>>20013346
who the fuck asked you?

>>20013371
Retard. Whether you have THC with or without CBD won't affect how high you get. You Gen Z are retard

>>20013354
>What teas are you having trouble with?
Sheng puerh. My first couple steps taste good and then after that it's like chewing on a sock. I've been doing a 10 second wash, then a 10 second infusion, then increasing the time by 3-5 seconds each time, kind of like what the pastebin says.

>>20015133
it sounds to me like the leaves are opening up from compression then you're suddenly overbrewing. so, try shortening it after the first couple and keep it short until you notice the taste get weaker. then start creeping up

>>20015133
experiment. try increasing the times further in the later infusions, or reducing it if you think it's coming out too strong
you've got to adjust on a brew-by-brew basis, some cakes open up slower, some faster etc. the pastebin is more of a rough guideline

My mother got me a tin of sencha flavored with hibiscus flowers. Surprisingly it's really good. Looks like I'm going to enter my green tea arc soon.

>>20015133
you're probably not using enough tea leafs and/or you're trying to get 10+ infusions. 7g of tea on a 150-180ml gaiwan is only going to give you 6 good ones.

try adding more grams,temp always at 212f and shorter infusions.

>>20014839
sounds a bit meh for the cost, or do you mean you like it despite that?

>>20014673
Cold brew 100%, brewing on stove will easily get you an overly bitter or malty taste and excessive tannins unless you carefully brew it perfectly (requires tests batches to figure out how that tea should be brewed)

>>20010541
Great article. I wish I was at a keyboard to make some longer points. The short summary is this: tea in the West is not taken as seriously as wine and there is simply no standardization. I agree on both fronts. However, the lack of standardization is a feature, not a bug. Ancient Caravans and Urban Chic elaborates on this more, referring to it as the jianghu of tea, especially puerh tea. Depending on where you go and who you ask, puerh tea can have radically different definitions. Imagine a tea sommelier academy in Hong Kong. Their cultural background predisposes them to favor aged and may even laugh you out of the room for suggesting a fresh raw puerh. Contrast this with a similar establishment in Kunming. They would have a more focused program on young raws.

Wine has the distinction of having a documented, defined pedigree that took shape along side the cultivation and production of it. Tea has no such lineage. It's the Wild West, the jianghu. While there are obvious parallels between the two, the untamed nature and the sheer scope of tea precludes a sommelier existing in the same way one might for wine. To me, this is a very appealing characteristic. I don't want to dip into intellectual nihilism territory, but there is a greater degree of appreciation of tea at a subjective level. Every tea drinker you meet will have different perceptions of what tea pairs with what meals, seasons, moods, or whatever.

Certification in tea understanding would be interesting, but the term sommelier should not be used. It's a nickel-thin translation at best.

>>20015347
I mean that it's pleasant for what it is, but the notes are too indiscernable to be exciting or interesting. The aroma just wasn't pronounced, to the point that I pre-heated my gaiwan twice trying to sleuth out the notes, and still had trouble with it. This also translated into the infusions. So, not bad or anything (it had some breadsy sweetness I liked after all), but yeah, kind of meh-ish mostly because it was just so unclear, with notes being difficult to isolate or perceive. It became more monotone as infusions went on too. I still appreciate the experience of drinking it regardless.

>>20015392
A lot of the article focuses on what the employment value of these certs is vs recognized wine certs. The differences in the rigorousness of the programs and the sort of lack of internationally accepted standards.
Certainly there is a lot of things at play here, if you wanted to be a master of Japanese tea ceremony you would go study that in japan, you probably wouldn't learn muxh of anything about Chinese teas while doing it. Like you said if you studied in Hong Kong you would learn completely different cultures and traditions then you would if you studied in Beijing.
Plus like the article concludes there aren't really tea sommeliers the way there is wirh wine. A restaurant doesn't need a guy there every night to tell people what tea to order with their dessert.
My own biggest complaint while looking at the various programs available was a lack of detailed information about what the actual courses contained. One group is offering 3-4 different certs that cost $2,500 each, and beyond one being a tea blending course, and another being a tea tasting coruse etc i couldn't actually figure out what i would be getting for my money. Maybe they are just oldschool and i need to call somebody and talk to them on the phone to get the skinny but it makes it harder to do initial research of the options that are out there.
Anyways i don't know where im really going with this other rhan agreeing that tea and wine are different and that the term tea sommelier is not really appropriate

>>20015403
maybe it'd be fine to idly drink grandpa style while doing something else. there's a place for that kinda tea

>>20015663
I agree, that's kind of what I meant by that long-winded explanation. I still have a little of it, so it'll be nice for a late night while I'm occupied with something.

>>20015166
I just had some grandpa style Taiwanese bi luo chun and enjoyed it quite a bit
Not usually a big Chinese green tea guy, but this one is kinda nice. Tastes like some brothy soup with lime and spices

>>20011866
That's a nice glass pitcher

which tea is the most christmassy?

>>20015901
Pine needle

>>20015901
Masala chai made with Christmas-y spices.

Do you/what are your daily drinkers?
Does it differ based on moods/weather/activities?
Do you have something you drink at work?
Currently waiting for bunch of teas, thinking I would bring something to the office with me but gong fu would be pain in the ass.

>>20016088
I grandpa brew ripe puer at work most of the time. currently been drinking peak vulture from white2tea for my ripe. Ill grandpa brew young sheng as well, though it can get bitter a little easier

I have from tea forward in late 70s China. Can I still enjoy?

>>20016088
>Do you/what are your daily drinkers?
most mornings a drink a pot of whatever factory ripe i've got on the go
lazy grandpa style while working is that yeeon oolong or left over longjing right now
>Does it differ based on moods/weather/activities?
i'll drink anything any time, but i shift towards cold brewing and iced stuff in the summer so also tend to shift towards greener stuff. and there's something special about roasted oolongs and dank ripes when it's cold out.
>Do you have something you drink at work?
work from home so n/a i guess

don't be afraid to just chuck some leaves in a thermos, most decent tea will tolerate it if you get the amount of leaf right. especially ripes you really can't go wrong.

>>20016088
>Do you/what are your daily drinkers?
sencha, raw pu-erh or yerba mate in the morning for a nice caffeine kick and a strong flavor
ripe after lunch
later in the day it's usually black tea or some GABA oolong

if it's really hot, I'll want something refreshing like sencha or unroasted tie guan yin

>>20016104
you can enjoy

>>20016088
I typically drink based on my mood, but I do find that liubao can be excellent when sitting down to read something. The depth of flavor and aroma without blasting you in the face feels just right for that, if that makes sense. Not distracting.

>>20016139
Ty. Good I thought it would it be bad.

>>20016104
>>20016215
honestly I have no idea what your question is, but I'm sure it's good
if you have authentic 1970s tea it could be worth something if it's one of the kinds of tea that age well

>>20016099
how are you liking peak vulture? will you write a review?

Tea so thick it feels like I'm drinking my own saliva.

KTM A+ Grade Wuzhou Liu Bao. This is the stuff that smells and tastes like straight up loam. Not overpowering and not complex, it's a very straightforwardly one note, pleasant tea if you're into this flavor profile. I need to try more liu bao. I've really only had this and the laochapo from W2T, which stands completley in its own category.

>>20016334
try some more modern, higher grade production if you get the chance. they can be quite different, much more clean and chocolaty

>>20016314
Wuyi black teas rule, sometimes the kind of staddle the line with wuyi oolongs

Random thought: do you anons think a thicker infusion of tea may be better at clearing phlegm/mucus than lighter ones? Or, perhaps there's some other quality that makes a bigger impact? I sometimes decide to have a session when I'm congested to help with the symptoms, so the thought came to mind.

thicc

>>20016282
I like it. I dont have too much experience with ripes, but I got two cakes of the 2023 stuff when it was on sale, and am about half way through my 2nd cake. I like it better than the waffles, and the problossom from white2tea. doesnt get bitter at all, real easy to drink, and very clean. Ill give a full write up next time I sit down with it. I havent had any factory ripes so im not sure how it would compare to those, but I got some on the way. for $15 a cake I think its worth it to pick up a cake or two to try out.

When tea directions say "steep X seconds" does the time start when the water hits the leaves or when you put the lid on the pot

>>20016667
It doesn't matter

>>20016671
I thought the extra 1-2 seconds would make a difference in gongfu style

Is there a consensus on freezing cakes for pure storage? My home environment is as dry as it gets and since it works for coffee it should work for tea right?

>>20016760
it doesn't

>>20016847
there isn't really consensus for much on puer, too much variables autism and the differences happen over decades. to me it seems easier to put it in a plastic box with bovedas.
freezing will preserve stuff like greens though.

>>20016847
Don't freeze tea
Just don't
Freezing tea is just not practical and if you had all the shit you needed to possibly do it without fucking up the tea you would already be able to store it at room temperature anyways
buy some mylar bags and some bovdea humidity packs.

>>20013278
That sounds about right. Maybe a little more for friends.
>>20013760
What did you think? What was your approach, exactly?
>>20014849
Be sure to write up when you crack into it again.
>>20016088
Ripe puerh in the morning, raw in the evening. I like to have a lot of variety on hand. I'm not sure what influences me to pick a tea in particular. I just listen to what calls out to me. Sometimes I hear it hours from tea time, sometimes I have to see what's on tap. But only vary rarely do I have to "convince" myself to pick something, rarely do I have indecision. Something always calls out to me. Just trust your gut, anon. I buy tea in a similar way, too.
>>20016671
Words of wisdom.
>>20016760
Gongfu is a little different. It's a style rooted in repetition. A couple of seconds typically does matter on the earlier steeps. However, you can adjust the next infusion as need be. If you're attentive to your tea, if you're familiar with your tea, all of this becomes second nature. You don't have to measure or think about it, good tea just happens.

Tonight I'm drinking 2015 Haiwan 7548. I don't know much about this tea. It's likely a Dayi 7542 analogue. I have had a cake or two of that, but they were only a few years old at best. They were also some of the first cakes I ever had so I don't remember them particularly well. I really should revisit.
Anyway, this tea is nice. Slightly smokey in a way that reminds me of an aged Xiaguan tuo. A good deal gentler on the palate and stomach than it, but I must note some similarity. The fragrance is a little unusual. I swear I detect leathery or perhaps raw rubber notes, especially when smelling the gaiwan. I'm using a bit more material than I typically do for puerh but it's still friendly. There is a bit of bitterness there trying to come out. I dunno. Nothing amazing, but at .073 cents per gram at KTM it's hard to talk shit. On most days, I would prefer this over the cheaper XG tuos I had a few months ago.

>>20016944
Thanks i always wondered what the more recent haiwan recipie # raw cakes are like

>>20016334
Pure loam sounds fun, the four gold coins liubao i had was off in that general direction

>>20016954
I will say this photo is a little overexposed. The leaves are as dark as they should be for an eight year old tea. I do recommend it if you are studying factory classics or flankers.

How do you anons know if your nose is too clogged to smell notes in tea properly? I'm drinking something right now, and am a bit congested today (not sick), but this one tea is pretty bland, and I'm not sure if I'm the problem or not. I tested smelling other stuff in my room, and I pick them up fine, but not sure. I don't know if I should post my session notes or not.

>>20016967
Im always interested in finding cheap gets the job done kinda factory teas to keep around for rainy days. Would just buy 7542 but for those prices i could get much more exciting tea, usually just grab random xiaguan cakes to fit the bill but was wondering what haiwan had to offer.

>>20016976
I say post them if you're in the mood, with a proviso if you think it's needed. You can't remove that subjective bit from them anyway, language doesn't map well to tastes after all, so unless I'm outright sick I don't worry about it too much.
I swear some days my tongue is determined to fuck with me.

>>20016976
I guess you just have to try it again in a few days. It's had to quantify how good your schnoz is working unless you just cant smell anything at all.

>>20016986
It splits the difference in this case. Especially with a cleaner storage that KTM has, it's closer to the Dayi side than the Xiaguan side. For my money, that's the right side of the slope to be on.

>>20016667
I would use time after I put the lid on for gongfu brewing but in practice I typically just use approximate time anyways so it does not really matter. Using fixed brew times is useful for evaluating teas, finding optimal brew times, and as a guide when starting out but I don't think it really matters for typical day to day gongfu tea brewing. Timers are nice for western style brewing however.

>>20016906
>Don't freeze tea
>Just don't
Someday I plan to pick up a super cold scientific freezer for tea and you can't stop me.

>>20016989
It's just...weirdly tasteless. As in, it's like I can taste my water more than the tea. Mind you, I tasted my food this morning just fine, and had an acidic supplement earlier which I also detected without issue. My sinuses also feel a touch less congested some minutes now after that post, but the tea continues to be as it is.
>>20016990
I'll try again in a few days. I have another one from the same group to try, so I might just post two on the same day instead. I hope anons don't see it as blogposting.

>>20016944
>What did you think? What was your approach, exactly?
I prepped the charcoal the way suggested by Tea Habitat.

>gave charcoal a light scrubbing while it was submerged in water to wash off the dust and tiny flaky bits
>left in clean water (I used reverse osmosis water) for 1 day
>drained it and added tap water for the charcoal to purify overnight

Did a straight taste test comparison of water from the tap and the charcoal water. The bamboo charcoal water was less metallic than the tap water, though still a little more metallic than I'd prefer for tea. Note that my tapwater is already drinkable on its own. If I lived in an area with particularly hard or bad tapwater, I wouldn't even bother with the bamboo charcoal and go straight to a real filter.

The effect might also change with a different charcoal preparation. The other common way I've read to prep bamboo charcoal involves boiling it for 15 minutes. I might try that at a later date. For now, I added another bamboo charcoal chunk to my pitcher and topped it off with water. I'll check on it tomorrow.

>>20017004
If it's that anomalous I would agree with the other anon and come back to it some other time. Or brew it really hard and see what happens.
I don't think anyone minds frequent reviews or at least I hope not. I try not to "fill" the thread though.

>maifan stones
>shungite stones
>charcoal
>storing water overnight in copper or silver pitcher
>boiling water in cast iron
>boiling water in chaozhou clay kettle
>tea curious recipe
How many of these actually work for watermaxxing

drank some tea today bros

>>20017218
The last one

Is there a tea equivalent to something like Black Rifle Coffee? I’m sick of giving my money to ‘angs and ‘jeets for mystery tea harvested by slaves.

>>20017286
Is this a meme? black rifle coffee is owned by cynical kikes who hate their customers and laugh that they give them money.

>>20017292
At least they’re solid American folk.

>>20016510
yes, I do think that thicker tea helps get the job done more effectively. also, robust flavor helps

>>20016847
except for pu-erh freshness doesn't matter as much. many would argue it's a negative for many cakes
freezing could make sense for japanese green teas (though I just keep those in the fridge), not for pu-erh

>>20016944
always nice to see more Haiwan reviews. a pretty big and reputable factory, yet not much info on their cakes in the anglosphere

I think my package is doing a world tour in the airplane. 10 days of travelling and no update, might be refuelling in the air. I won't have it before christmas that's sad.

>>20017683
mine was just sitting around in Shanghai for 18 days with no updates
now it's still in Shanghai, but at least it's on the move again

>>20017688
>sitting around in Shanghai for 18 days
It's 21 for me and no sign of stopping.
Contacted William about it and apparently he used some shipping method that will take 2 months.
The reason was that my country doesn't support epackets or something, but literally every cheap chink shit with free shipping from ali still manages to get to my place sub 3 weeks so I find this reasoning rather weak.

>>20017688
>>20017711
Are you guys in US or EU? Mine left Guangzhou so at least it's travelling to my country. It's the longest shipping so far this year.
>>20017711
Aliexpress shipping doesn't work like small "private" package does that's why. 2 months is a lot tho I agree.

>>20017731
I'm in Europe.
If I order some cake from ebay right now there is a good chance it will arrive before that.
2 months is just too much, kinda not wanting to get anything from FL no matter what arrives.

>>20017741
I had 2 weeks, 3 weeks and now 1 month+ from FL to eu. Not sure why it's getting worse and worse. I thought ordering on black friday I would have the tea for christmas but apparently not.

>>20017741
I'm also in EU and my last two orders from Farmerleaf came within three weeks
this time I'm waiting for a cspuerh shipment, it's been almost a month and it has yet to leave China
I think it's more the fault of December shipping from China being absolutely fucked than the fault of the vendors

In wine the it doesn't make sense to pay more than $20 per bottle.
Everything above that is either extremely small improvement or just straight up worse. It's all just dick sucking snob faggotry.
Audio is similar.
What is the magical price in teas?

>>20017936
it really depends on the type of tea. I think with some teas, like yancha or raw pu-erh, that point is a lot higher than for some other teas
on the other hand, for ripe pu-erh, for my tastes the point of diminishing returns is as low as 10 cents per gram
I would say it's also pretty low for green tea, I don't really understand the people who buy 1$ per gram longjing or whatever

>>20017936
>What is the magical price in teas?
It depends on the type of tea production and country/region of origin. It differs greatly, as do the teas themselves. Most people (at least here) look at tea as a $/g pricing. As an example, imagine you have a typical 357g cake selling for, say, $50. That is approximately $0.14/g. Say you'll have servings of exactly 5g; that becomes $0.70 per session, of which if you used each bit of leaf, would be 71.4 sessions for tbe $50 investment. So, while you may buy a $20 bottle of wine, the investment of tea is good for a handful of servings at best.
>TLDR
There is no real "magic range" except what you deem acceptable to pay per session for the experience you want. You define that yourself.

>In the middle of composing a reply to an anon in the general
>About to use FL's Cang Yuan as a pricing example
>Check shipping to make sure I got the price right; both it and my W2T shipment arrived late yesterday, and the boxes were rained on.
I'm so lucky their internal packaging is top-notch, or I'd be fucked. I'm gonna post some quick pics. They're my first hauls from each vendor, and I haven't bought tea in something like 1.5 years now, so it's exciting. Waiting on a Yeeon order that is in my area too.
>Pic related, misc W2T swag

>>20018065
My Snoozefests and two sampler balls. I think one is the 941, but not sure about the other. The one Snoozefest I took a quick whiff of smells quite fruity!

>>20018067
My FL haul. They hooked me up with a nice Spring 2023 Bangwai Big Trees sample (a hefty portion at that) and an extra cake wrapper for some reason. The ying pan shan and Jingmai gu shu bags look quite filled...so much so that I think they overfilled me a bit on both. FL seems pretty generous in that regard.

Everything sounds undescribably scrumptious. So many fruity notes of varying kinds especially. I'm most excited for the Autumn Jingmai gushu...I didn't expect it at all, but on a quick sniff, it smells like acai berries! Never experienced that note before, so I am looking forward to it quite a bit. I am tempted to drink it now, but I think it will have to be my first infusion some time later today.

>>20018077
Did you order at black friday? Lucky anon who gets his order before eveyone else. You always get an extra wrapper with orders. Bangwai big trees is also a lucky sample hope you enjoy it.

>>20018079
Yeah, I ordered from both vendors during their respective BF sales. I agree the sample is really lucky: the Bangwai Big Trees cake is over 2x the Cang Yuan (most I ever paid for a cake), so even a 20g sample is listed at $13. The full cake would ordinarily be far beyond my target price range, so I feel fortunate for being able to try it at all.

Everything just looks and smells amazing. I think my Yeeon order may be coming later today too. I'm looking forward to experiencing and sharing my journal notes with everyone. The temptation to devastate my sleep cycle even more and drink it now is great...

>>20018067
>>20018077
Nice, I'm especially curious about that Cang Yuan
Looks like you got the same samples I did with your w2t order. The other Dragonball is Veldt, I quite enjoyed that one.
My snoozefest has a sort of mango and gasoline smell to it that's quite nice. Flavor-wise I feel like it might be better after it ages for a year though.

>>20018077
Niiice haul.

NEW:
>>20018391
>>20018391
>>20018391

>>20017936
For Chinese tea, the best tea I have ever had was around 0.115$USD per gram. Have had some good and decent teas in the 0.05-0.08$ per gram range. I'm suspicious of anything over 0.20$ per gram, it better be top of the line quality