/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Tea is gross

>>20170099
You're gross

>>20170091
I've tried to replace or supplant ToH gunpowder as a daily drinker, but haven't found anything acceptable really.

>>20170096
Thanks for making a new one
Also Rentry for the op
https://rentry.org/teageneral

>>20170186
Based rentry user

>>20170186
have links been updated?

What tea should Aryans drink?

>>20170271
>have links been updated?
I will check them all tonight, its still missing a few from the most recent pastebin. I did start working on the taoabo shopping guide but i still need to grab all the taobao store links and add those

>>20170323
Wuyi oolongs

>>20170419
Not that anon buy why?

>>20170423
Historical tea varietal
Completely unrelated to the tea drinking habits of anglos
Its good

>>20170323
Silver Needle

>>20170436
I'm that anon, why?

>>20170102
Vahdam is kinda meh
Upton has a better selection

Tea reviews comin to you from outside aldi. It's the frankenstein mini from shulloween, I felt this is really pretty good. I hope there's something similar in the W2T catalogue, anyone know?
Taste quite a bit like chaga mushroom tea, with that vanilla and cardboard-in-a-good-way profile, but more body and less vanilla. Nice thick soup that goes smoothly down the throat, this is totally an easily acceptable tea.

>>20170535
The liquor looks so dark.

>>20170535
I think those were a special batch for rhe Halloween sale. I would email w2t and ask them what's similar. Maybe its just one of their standard ripe recipies like waffles or something but make into balls

>>20170102
I'm beginning to question all the fancy teas, the Pu-erhs, the oolongs...do I really need anything other than a good quality strong black tea? Are we over thinking this shit guys?

>>20170821
>Are we over thinking this shit guys?
Yes, of course.

I got the rentry updated with the shops it was missing and added the taobao shop links.
Now i just gotta poke through the extended vendor list to see if anything didn't make it over that should have.

>>20170821
Need? No all you need is water
However, tea nerds tend to spec hard into a certain category of tea after a certain point. We learn what we like and try to go deep enough into it to appreciate all the factors which influence it and all the ways it can taste different. Tends to go Puerh in internet circles but traditionally it was Oolong and black blends. Greens are also pretty valid and there's getting to be white tea specialists now.

Anyone know of any sites where you can buy ceylon tea directly from ceylon. I found a few but i don't like them

Just dropped a benny on chamomile flowers

>mindlessly made high caffeine tea before going to bed again

>>20171144
wtf where did u get it

>>20171247
One option:
https://www.frontiercoop.com/search/?q=chamomile%20flowers&productListPgNo=1

>>20171209
For a while i was used to drinking tea at like 9pm and sleeping fine, can't do it right now.

Finally found some usa grown chamomile
https://fosterfarmbotanicals.com/products/chamomile-matricaria-recutita?variant=548705271829
its not cheap
i might try some, its annoying a fuck trying to find chamomile from small farms

>>20170444
It's the whitest tea

>>20170907
maybe you just don't like ceylon tea? it's not that interesting desu compared to chinese blacks

Can someone recommend one of the japanese shops from the pastebin? I'm looking to buy some sencha. Also looking for recommendations on what to buy.

What are we doing travel for work bros?
Same ass Starbs Yun Wu (Clouds & Mists) for me.

>>20172150
Controversial perhaps, but the Yamato blend on Upton tea is ok. Usually when I feel like a dirty nip, I just get that.
Link if you're interested https://www.uptontea.com/japanese-green-tea/japanese-loose-leaf-green-tea/p/V00201/

>>20172150
I buy from O-cha, I liked both of these from this year.
https://www.o-cha.com/loose-leaf-green-tea/sencha/organic-sayama-greentea.html
https://www.o-cha.com/loose-leaf-green-tea/sencha/shizuoka-sencha-mio.html

>>20172352
>>20172343
Thanks. Should I wait for 2024 teas to order or are the 2023 teas still fine?

>>20172343
why is your photo 11kb sir

>>20172413
Because I'm retarded.

>>20172405
They're still fine, they're sealed, but I generally buy in the spring as they're picked. You could also buy some of the cheaper stuff like the daily drinker sencha to hold you over while you wait.

>>20172405
I guess. It's almost picking season, but it will probably take some time from that to flow down. Honestly a year in some bin isn't going to hurt, even though it is green.

>>20172426
it's okay i forgive you
>>20172150
i like yunomi.life

Doesn't Japanese tea require special pots?

>>20172568
idk, a shiburidashi is basically just a gaiwan, and the other pots are just containers with some kind of strainer. I'm planning to just use a stainless steel strainer in a small cup.

>>20172568
No. I use gaiwan for jap shit too. Same shit.

>>20172568
Matcha requires special tools to prepare, but otherwise. no. The average person uses a glass kyusu, which will have different shapes than Chinese styled pots but function the same way. Japanese tea enthusiasts do have their own specialized teaware called hohins (like a gaiwan but taller and with a filter) and shiboridashis (tiny, squat gaiwan that is only really usable for delicate green teas, anything else will burn you).

>>20172579
>Matcha requires special tools
I literally use a milk frother.

>>20172607
Which is a tool, that is specialized and selected for a certain task relative to matcha. Aka a special tool.

Today I am drinking some high-roasted shui xian oolong made by Fukien Tea House in HK. Really good stuff. Roasted coffee and chocolate vibes. Sweet and easy on the stomach. The high-roast does really give it a distinctive character. I am glad I got some when it was available. Supposedly LP is planning on bringing in more tea from them sometime in the next couple months. I will post about it when it happens as it sold out fast last time. If I could I would love to visit the shop itself in HK someday.

>>20172799
Good looking out. I'll pick some up too, if I'm able.

Sploosh

>>20172799
Oh, I bought some of this this fall, it was pretty good. Little expensive for what it is, but that's how it goes I guess.

>>20172568
no
just have a small glass teapot (~150ml) for general use, its good for 95% of all teas

>>20172799
For those of you considering taobao in the future, you can also find some of these HK oolongs there.

>>20173022
Isn't taobao in chinese?

>>20173027
Yeah, but you can use a shopping agent to buy stuff. I bought twice from there.

What's the best tea to pair with spicy food?

>>20173042
What's a shopping agent and where would I find it?

>>20173051
I used Pandabuy and Superbuy. Foreigners can't buy directly from taobao, so these agents but the stuff you want for you, store it in their warehouse and then ship it to you.

Thoughts on this Amazon one?

>>20173136
just make sure it's this year's harvest. looks like the right kind of packaging for good japaense greens

>>20173054
>Foreigners can't buy directly from taobao
Taobao offer there own shipping service now so you really can buy from taobao as long as you aren't ordering anything that isn't supposed to be exported like weapons or fake purses.
>>20173051
There are links to a good quality taobao guide and info about shipping agents in the rentry
https://rentry.org/teageneral

>>20173136
Gyokuro isn't anything like sencha, totally different tea.

>>20173266
I wouldn't say it's totally different, it's still a steamed, needle-rolled japanese green. you even have the half-point between them in kabusecha if you want it

>>20173280
You brew it at a low temperature with a much much higher leaf to water ratio. The end product is vastly different. It's also like four times the price.

>>20173043
With foods, especially spicy I generally pick things that have strong taste and not too complex.Since the tastes of the food can overwhelm anything too subtle.
Cheaper roasted oolongs or ripes. Some HK ripe can be really nice. Types of stuff you'd get at dim sum.
In summer I might have some cold brewed longjing or maybe a green oolong, greener tastes can be a nice pairing too.

>>20172839
>>20172837
pretty neat anon

>>20170096
Who is this semen demon?

>>20170860
thanks anon

god i love oolong

>>20172837
>>20172839
That's a very interesting glass full of milk with a splash of tea.
>>20173771
What do you like about it?

Pastebin anon here i dug through the extended vendor list and added the 1 or 2 okay shops to the rentry. The rest of the stores that i didn't move over are dead links and kinda meh looking sites.
I think its pretty much ready to go now.
If anyone wants to look at the taobao section i added and give me some feedback on it i would appreciate it.
Rentry.org/teageneral

>>20173916
>extended vendor list and added the 1 or 2 okay shops to the rentry.
Which ones were added?

>>20173924
https://kuura.co/ Australia
https://www.o5tea.com/ canada
Tea urchin which i had added a while ago
I think that was it

>>20173771
Wuyi oolongs are the perfect autumn tea, I'm already planning my next order.

>>20173959
What's it taste like?

>>20173959
Wuyi oolongs are THE perfect tea (im too broke to drink them regularly)
Have you tried lazy cat teas?

>>20173042
Nice find! does Fukien have an official shop there or is it just people buying it at the store and reselling it?
>>20173238
>so you really can buy from taobao as long as you aren't ordering anything that isn't supposed to be exported like weapons or fake purses.
I thought food (including tea) was prohibited?

>>20173965
>Have you tried lazy cat teas?
I haven't, anything you'd recommend? Their tasting set looks tempting.

>>20173645
here's her feet

>>20173984
>uses the word "cat"
yeah i'm thinking i'm sold

>>20173976
>food (including tea) was prohibited
I think that was for aliexpress shops?

>>20173965
>lazy cat teas
Why is everything over expensive as if it's a western retailer marking it up?

Made zavarka for the first time (10g/400ml), and it was alright, but I wouldn't brew like this unless I had to serve a whole family on a tight budget. Does anyone here actually prefer this method?

>>20173976
>I thought food (including tea) was prohibited?
Fuck yeah i forgot they won't ship food.
Okay so the official taobao shipping service is out

>>20174004
Wuyi oolongs are expensive.
Im happy to hear suggestions on where to get nice yancha with better pricing. I know king tea mall sells some but most of their yancha is cheap both pricewise and quality wise.

>>20174046
You might be the first person that's tried it since i added the recipie.

>>20173984
I haven't tried them yet but they are pretty popular in some corners of the internet. I really like the teaware they make and ive been meaning to try them out.

Granted that both the british and indian traditions of having tea mostly with milk originated in British India, which of the two peoples was responsible for popularising it? This question has bothered me for ages.

>>20174476
There's a bit of info from a book "Tea: A Global History". It would seem the brits brought that practice to India, since they didn't begin cultivating it there until the 1800s and it didn't get very popular with Indians until the 1900s after a big marketing campaign. In "Curry: a tale of cooks and conquerors" I read that Indians had pretty much no interest in tea for ages and had to be forced to grow it in the first place, while Europeans were drinking black tea with milk before this.

>>20174619
Although the chai tea style was an Indian thing, to make it more like lassi. The brits hated it since it meant they were using less actual tea leaves in the recipe. That's probably what you meant in the first place.

>>20174619
Cheers, didn't know that. I should probably read that whole book.

>>20173976
Unfortunately it's just people reselling these, but still a nice option to have.

>>20174619
>>20174771
Is there a /tea/ reading list yet? I want to learn more history like this.

where can i get some good japanese sencha? it was reccomended by another anon as tasting very seaweed-like. really any teas with a strong seaweed taste i would like to try if anyone has something in mind.

>>20170096
whats better to replace coffee yerba mate or matcha? Need something to wake me up in the morning and not drop me down at noon.

>>20175088
Yeah sencha or other japanese green tea is the way to go if you want that savory seaweed profile.
If you are in the us https://ippodotea.com/ is good but a bit pricey.
Lots of Japanese shops in the pastebin, tea is much cheaper but shipping is more.
If you want something on the cheaper side that ships inside the us you can try https://www.sugimotousa.com/ they sell their teas on amazon as well.
Make sure you look at brewing instructions, you don't want to use fully boiling water for Japanese green tea.

>>20175160
Yerba mate is powerful, would recommend. Get a bag of rosemonte especial if you like a bit of smokeyness, get cruz de malta if you want something with a more mild taste. Tons of mate on Amazon. There are a few blog sites with a bunch of yerba mate reviews if you are having a hard time deciding what to buy. The grocery store stuff is okay but pretty mild tasting usually.
Matcha is good but the quality stuff is expensive and annoying to source.

>>20175184
Oh yeah and if you want an organic yerba mate get porongo, sweet.

>>20175189
Actually scratch that porongo is not strong caffeine wise.
Yerba Mate reviews
https://www.yerbamatelab.com/category/yerba-mate-reviews/

>>20175023
I bought a copy of picrel a little bit ago but haven't gotten around to reading it yet

recommendations for good budget yancha?

>>20166712
>RIP. How much is your bill?
$97 so below $150, which is where the real trouble starts.
Yesterday I tried to do the online customs clearance, but their website is broken so I have to show up in person in my lunch break. On the phone they said they'll just add 19% VAT and no tariff.

>>20170433
>Completely unrelated to the tea drinking habits of anglos
It's not. Wuyi oolongs predate keemun/English breakfast tea as the default for export to the UK.

>accidentally left my earl grey steeping while I ate
>tea is now lukewarm
I'm afraid to see how this tastes. God knows how long it was in there.

>>20175160
mate is way cheaper. good matcha is fucking expensive, too expensive to just chug 3 bowls of it in the morning

>>20170323
Golden Monkey

>>20175328
The eagle has landed. They made me pay 6€ for VAT (reduced rate for groceries lol)
I had to unbox infront of them so they could see its not heroin. One of the officers made a friendly comment that he doesn't like pu erh at all.

Got two free samples: Spring 23 Bang Wai Big Tree and Spring 22 Huey Wa plus two unrelated 357g wrappers for no reason.
I'll try the Autumn 23 Ying Pan Shan black first, smells good so far.

>>20175583
they always throw in wrappers
good choices of cakes, both some of the best value from the store IMO
comparing Bangwai small trees and big trees sounds fun

>>20175583
William gives wrappers quite often in package. Yingpan shan still smell and taste like young fresh yunnan black or evolved a bit?

>>20170323
yorkshire gold, milk and half a sugar. brewed strong

>>20175583
>One of the officers made a friendly comment that he doesn't like pu erh at all.
I imagine if he liked it, he'd have hoped you didn't show up so he could drink it. It's cool that he's had it before though! I wonder if working in customs makes people want to try the weird items they see. 6 euros isn't too bad. They didn't make you open the bags too?

Drinking some supposedly 1990s liu bao. Material looks rough, a sexpected.

>>20175691
Old tea really does look like tree bark.

>>20172343
microplastics triangle water

>>20175691
fuck off cunt there's no way that is 30+ years old

>>20175691
>sexpected
Please do not sexo the hag tea.
Offtopic: I fucking the capcha. Not only do i spend an eternity wait for Cloudfare to fucking work, but since yesterday it's randomly making me wait 60 seconds before i can type the capcha. Thanks a lot Hiroshima.

>>20175726
It's completely random but I've been unable to post on some days. I'm about to drink some assam.

>>20175604
I'll do a review of the Yingpan Shan propably next week. Dry leafes smell like any other black tea. Greens smell more interesting I think.

>>20175673
Good chances that he got the experience from some stuff that didn't get picked up. He said his colleagues tried it as well.
>They didn't make you open the bags too?
Nah, my tea autism talking was proof enough I'm not from a drug cartel.

>>20175726
>>20175729
Posting on this website got worse and worse this year. Captcha broke all the apps (Clover -> Kuroba -> Kuroba dev -> KurobaEx -> ???).
And I'm having browser issues as well. 60s captcha wait and image posts get rejected with "privacy mode does not support images".

>>20173965
I placed an order with them mid January but I think it’s stuck in china right now. I’ll update once I get my order

Did anyone here try the Zhu Tang?
I remember some anon a few threads ago said something about it.

>Ceylon tea selling at $3/kg in Colombo
>German reseller sells it for €40/kg
>local shop resells it for €70/kg
>every online shop listed on the OP asks for at least €100/kg
how can I buy tea from Sri Lanka? any anon could help please?

>>20175748
Yes I got the yingpan shan end of december and it had the classic smell and taste but the previous years evolved over time and got much better (imo) Mine got a month at home and changed a bit already.

>>20175764
Nope.
>>20150079
>>20039805
>>19959687
Someone asks about it pretty often though.

>>20175691
smells of beetroot and old wood. flavor is much more delicate and mellow. nutty, foresty, cedar, slightly vanilic like old books. had a spicy wood mouthfeel. not bad

>>20175775
Apparently this is good, there's at least one anon who drinks it a lot.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alwazah-Tea-100-Pure-Ceylon/dp/B00886E4K0

>>20175775
breh, you can get 500g of "western style" Ceylon for 13€
https://www.teaworld.de/schwarzer-tee-ceylon-highgrown-orange-pekoe-aktions-tee-500g

With "turkish style" Ceylon things get even cheaper at 8€/1000g. But this stuff only works for turkish style brewing (simmer it at 5x strength in a Caydanlik and watering it down for consumption)
https://cici-home.com/tuerkischer-tee/tee/803/tanay-ceylon-blatt-schwarzer-tee-1000g

Personally I wouldn't buy either of these

>>20175583
I recently pulled out the Bangwai Small Trees out of storage and thought it had really improved. Maybe I was just drinking worse teas since last tasting it, but I like to think I'm experienced enough to not be biased like that.
I'm a little skeptical of myself though since I feel nearly every tea I've let rest in a well regulated pumi has improved. Is it really improving to my tastes? Is it a distance-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder situation? Nostalgia? I wish I could be sure.
Part of me is screaming to be confident and say confidently: yes, the Bangwais have gotten better since harvest. On the small trees especially, there was a sharp edge poking out of the flavor profile. Something a little unpleasant and aggressive. Now that's been hammered back and the whole cake has been tempered. Sweeter, smoother, huge body and great huigan.

Your samples are also good picks. William definitely hooked you up.

My sampler set from YS finally got here, and I'm trying the Hairy Crab oolong for the first time. Very similar taste to Tieguanyin on the first brew, but I think the flavor is a bit less sour. Overall I like it a lot so far, it's surprisingly fragrant with a very rich and earthy kind of aroma, especially when pouring it. Really excited to try the other oolongs now!

>>20176005
are you the anon who asked if his full gong fu set is good enough for gong fu?
glad you're enjoying it. the hairy crab is a top seller which is kind of interesting because it's nowhere near as well known as tie guan yin or jin xuan

>>20176005
That's funny, I just started drinking some of that too.

>>20176023
Yeah that was me. I'm surprised it got here so fast, it was only a little over a week since I placed the order. I'm used to waiting like 3 or 4 weeks for stuff to ship off Aliexpress.
>>20176031
Nice! I really need to get some white teaware so I can appreciate the color better.

>>20175913
>out of storage and thought it had really improved.
>I like to think I'm experienced enough to not be biased like that.
>I'm a little skeptical of myself though since I feel nearly every tea I've let rest in a well regulated pumi has improved.
I have a similar experience with my teas. My options of teas go up and down but it seem more often then not that I think "this tea is better then I remembered!". I am not sure how much of it is the tea aging versus the subjective nature of taste. Finding that the tea tastes better then expected is always nice.

>>20175726
>but since yesterday it's randomly making me wait 60 seconds before i can type the capcha.
I hate the new captcha delay as well. I keep forgetting to hit the captcha before I type my post so I don't have to wait a minute afterwards. If they really need to keep the delay then they should at least have the timer start to count down automatically as you type.

>>20176023
>the hairy crab is a top seller which is kind of interesting because it's nowhere near as well known as tie guan yin or jin You got to consider most western tea buyers start off not knowing the names any famous teas and instead are going to buy based off recommendations and reviews. Mao Xie is a pretty popular tea in its own right as well.

Got my piece of mammoth ivory today, so drinking cheap organic grocer matcha to celebrate

>>20175764
>Did anyone here try the Zhu Tang?
I got a sample of it.
Only brewed it twice. First brew didn't do much for me, second session was nice.
Can't say much other then i recommend sampling before getting a cake. At it's price point its not an easy obvious recommendation like the fa zhan he or bangwei small trees.

>>20173916
Have you looked at teahookup.com, I think it's semi-curated and has a lot of stores as well as a way to filter by what they sell. Just heard of it today though, so don't know if it's any good it not.

>>20176734
Haven't heard of it, i will check it out thanks

How do I tell people that I like them young, raw, and with a thick body and not have them look at me weirdly for describing tea that way.

>>20176828
Talk to other faggots like the ones from our wonderful website. Alternatively, use a thesaurus so you sound like less of a lolicon.

>>20176828
Call them new/unaged, green, and full tasting. But to be honest if the person you're talking to knows about tea is fine to say that.

>>20176828
Preface it with "I like my tea like I like my women..."

>>20175253
>recommendations for good budget yancha?
Yancha is expensive. I really haven't tried enough of the more affordable ones yet to give advice. I would say not yunnan sourcing.
If you want a big bag of cheap yancha you can get this sea dyke shui xian, it's sea dyke so it's going to be heavily roasted and strong in charcoal flavor. This brand is popular among older Malaysians.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/305366131667
If, and it's a big if, you can find good prices on wuyi star brand oolongs those are much less roasted, i woild maybe say not roasted enough.
King tea mall has some pretty affordable yancha, maybe email him and ask what he recommends. John is pretty friendly

>>20176884
Here is a 250g bag of wuyi star da hong pao for $30. Ive tried one of their dhp offerings and it was nice.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/363817059712

>>20176863
The sun is still up, why are you awake?

>>20176828
Doubtful you will find normies knowledgeable enough to understand you're talking about Puerh. Most "tea aficionados" still regard chai and earl grey as the peak of tea making. BTW this place is filled with lolicons so you wouldn't be out of place.

>>20176922
Yup, anon is right. I've met tea snobs that drink "Bigelow Vanilla Chai" Red Rose is another boring brand I see people obsessed with, probably due to the little collectables in the boxes.
>black tea, spices, natural and artificial flavors (soy lecithin)

>>20176922
>putting chai and ea*l gr*y in the same bracket
This user can't into masala chai. Drag him along the shitting street.
...unless, of course, you're talking about that swill that white women drink.

Threadly reminder that Indians can't into tea. White w*men copy brit boingers which is basically India 2.0

>>20176942
>...unless, of course, you're talking about that swill that white women drink.
Not that anon but that's what "normal" people believe. I make it at home sometimes but I don't really consider it real tea but instead sweetened and spiced ginger tea with black tea added for caffeine.
>>20176968
BASED

>>20176983
Oops, I meant that I make the homemade stuff that's basically ginger soup, not the bagged or powdered shit white w*men drink.

>>20176968
>indians can't into tea, the white women are copying the indians in england instead of india
bitch

>>20177003
>Cover up the taste of tea with spices
Isn't that what the bongs do with tea but instead it's milk and sugar?

I heard you guys want flavored tea blends themed on gibli movies and star wars
https://www.fridaytea.com/pages/winter-fandom-blends
Pretty lame presentation but i have to say they are significantly more ambitious then most flavored tea blends i see.

Okay i looked through teahookup.com
Here are thw shops i found interesting that are not in the pastebin, several of these are ones that have already been discussed here, a few are new. If you feel like looking at some of these and giving your opinion on them i would appreciate it.
https://www.yiwumountaintea.com/all-products?currency=USD
https://songtea.com/ (fucking expensive)
https://beautifultaiwantea.com/ (ships from us)
https://mountainstreamteas.com/
https://artisticnippon.com/ (dunno why this isn't in the pastebin already)
https://hatvala.com/ (vietnam teas)
https://floatingleaves.com/ (taiwan oolongs ships from us)
http://www.tokoname.or.jp/teapot/tokoname.htm (this also should be in the pastebin already)

>>20177206
Lichen in anything is fun. I used "stone flower" lichen in Indian recipes, it has an interesting earthy taste that really punches through other flavours, so I wonder what this tea tastes like.

moonlight white cake I ordered arrived today, can I just leave it stored in the paper in my cupboard or do I need to store it something air tight?

>>20177293
if it came in a mylar bag keep it in that, if it's just in paper you can put it in a plastic tupperware. Though if you don't care about ageing it further it probably doesn't matter too much.

>>20177316
ok, it came with a bag, I'll keep it inside, thanks anon

>>20170605
Nice idea, they suggested this as a lower ferment shu, with the proviso it's in a high price bracket. I'll give it a try some time. The mini wasn't unlike v93 but I think it's a bit better.
https://white2tea.com/collections/2020-ripe-puer-tea/products/2020-the-stranger

>>20176933
bigelow vanilla chai is all my mother drinks these days, i can't get her to like any of my teas. i don't get it.
she did sorta like houjicha though
>>20177329
yeah just press the air out before you close the bag of course. if you're autistic you can also double fold the bag and hold that closed with binder clips

>>20177402
Flavorings ruined the human race.

>>20177419
forgot to mention that she puts two packets of sugar in it too. the black tea she makes tastes like hummingbird water

>>20177428
My mom does the thing. As does every woman that drinks tea that I've met. My mom probably puts a tablespoon of sugar into her tea. I wish I was joking. For regular black tea all she drinks is bag red rose.

>>20175023
Ancient Caravans and Urban Chic is arguably the deepest dive into what puerh tea is in English.
>>20175252
I ought to get off my ass and put together a /tea/ torrent with books and articles and videos and stuff.

>>20177454
Maybe post it on >>>/t/ if you do.
>Ancient Caravans and Urban Chic
Are they good?

>>20177476
Sorry, I wasn't clear. It's a single book. Lengthy name, I was trying to be cute. It's recommended once in a while here.
>ISBN-10 : 9780295993232
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17740311-puer-tea

>>20177230
Half of the stuff you listed is already in the pastebin.

It's a rentry now you fools!

i can't belive i got bullied into switching to rentry (its better so i can't complain)

>>20177492
yeah the rentry needs to be acknowledged
whoever makes the next thread please remember to swap it and that will help

>>20177494
You're welcome! I love rentry.

>>20177494
It is better but my inner curmudgeon needs some expression.

It's much better that we switched now before pastebin has another purge.

Is kava good for you? I know it's really not tea, but it seems appropriate.

>>20177532
Its kind of a nice buzz. Making it is a pain in the ass, you really have to do that shit with putting it in a mesh bag and then dipping it in a bowl of cold water and squeezing it out over and over for 20 minutes to get the actives out. Also there is that other species of kava that some kava products are adulterated with that's known to cause liver damage.
If you are bored it might be fun to buy a few oz and make a batch with some friends and get "drunk" off it. I couldn't imagine putting the effort in to drink it regularly.

>>20177532
As far as long term heath effects the science seems unclear so far, it doesn't seem to be immediately harmful or a proplem if you use it infrequently, but i regularly see it recommended that you take two week breaks from using it after a month or so of regular use and that you get your blood tested yearly to look for liver issues.

>>20177532
I didn't get around to trying it but this stuff was recommended to me by somone who likes kava.
https://www.nakamalathome.com/collections/stone-kava

>>20177230
I've really enjoyed the oolongs I bought from
https://beautifultaiwantea.com/
The Muzha Tieguanyin in particular is expensive, but it's really good. Very well balanced between the roast and regular TGY notes.

>>20177648
I was looking at that earlier that. Those roasted tgys are the good stuff

>>20170323
Chamomile.

I really want to try some good yancha. Yunnan Sourcing had one or two good examples but my personal favorite from 2021, a Fo Shou, had a pretty terrible harvest in 2022, it's kind of overly grassy and under roasted. Nothing else on the site matches up to the flavor profile I fell in love with.

The Fo Shou I had had a strong dried stone fruit flavor, kind of like raisins mixed with a hint of fresh good tobacco. It was amazing, and then it sold out.

I was going to place an order to Old Ways Tea, but before I do that, I wanted to consult /tea/ to see if that's really the best place to buy good yancha. I'm just a little concerned since they don't really post decent tasting notes on most of their teas, so I thought it prudent to ask about any competitors before I buy a dozen shot-in-the-dark samples.

I know it's an expensive style no matter what, so I'm looking for quality over quantity. That said, I live in the US and the free shipping and such is definitely a perk.
Thanks in advance.

>>20177963
Try teahong, they have a sale right now and are pretty good. Someone mentioned lazy cat tea earlier in the thread but I don't know much about it. Never tried old ways tea so if you go through with it, post when your tea comes.

>>20177532
Most tea is healthy. Unless you buy the claims it’s full of flouride. Which is generally wrong, as it’s not full of flouride, it’s just receptive to absorbing flouride from soil. Even then, most tea isn’t full of flouride usually from my knowledge. But despite my tangent, tea’s healthy unless it’s full of some pesticide, which doesn’t get used for the plant tea comes from much.

>>20177963
Essence of tea has good yancha but it's expensive. Probably too expensive if you havnet drank much yancha beforw.
I was happy with the yancha from chawangshop. He appreciates a proper roast, a lot of his yancha has several years of age on it too he likes to hold onto it a while before he sells it to really let the roast settle. He has some nice stuff, his shipping is a bit expensive though.

should I get a gaiwan or a teapot for gong fu brewing? all the yixing teapots are kind of pricey, where as gaiwans are cheaper, but maybe one of you can recommend an affordable teapot idk

>>20178389
what are you drinking? a gaiwan will be fine; get a 100ml one.

>>20178389
you can get porcelain teapots too. like this one, which seems paricularly easy to clean: https://www.taiwanteacrafts.com/product/everyday-smaller-teapot/?v=9b7d173b068d

>>20178422
puerh and white tea, but probably will get some other tea as well
>>20178424
thanks for the link, I'll keep this in mind

>>20178389
You don't need fancy chinaware to brew gong fu. You can use any other kind of glassware that fits in size. It's also possible to brew gong fu in a mug with a strainer but most of the time you'll be waiting until it's cold enough to drink so some intermediate jar makes sense. For that you could for example use a zylindrical 200ml chemists jar with units printed on the side. Once you're comfortable you can upgrade with whatever equipment you like.

>>20178422
100ml is only two sips man

>>20178576
>100ml is only two sips man
thats unfortunate because usually when i make tea i too just make one infusion of tea in my gaiwan. i suggest 100ml because its more wieldy and allows for less interference in temperature, not because you should be drinking 100ml of tea.

>>20177963
I’ve enjoyed most of the teas I got from old ways tea. Only downside is they come in individual 8 gram packets so you are kind of forced to drink 8 grams whenever you want to have a session. I found that their teas could be a little too strong so I like to brew using flash steeps for the first 3 or so steeps and then slowly start increasing time. I really liked the old tree Rou gui, the 2020 da hong pao (seems out of stock now), and the shui xian. The wild style black tea was my favorite and I didn’t like the ban tian yao, although I’ve only had it once so I need to give it another shot.

Best way to brew genmaicha? I tried 95c as the bag recommended but it tasted pretty weird. I’ll try 80c next time. Also not sure how long to do the first and second steeps for.

I'm revisiting old leftover teas with my last 'westernfu' method:

500 mL, 4min
ripe pu erh: 14/15g; others: 7/10g
1) 70/75°C, 2) 80°C, 3) 90°C, 4) 100°C/simmer.

I didn't remember that this black gold bi luo Chun from 2021 was this enjoyable. Yesterday's Qimen was very nice too. I needed to take a break from ripe anyway.

Yerba mate is the only tea that I can consistently drink. It's like having an energy drink, but with a more subtle taste. It also works great if you want to lose weight since you can drink it while fasting and it'll make you less hungry.

>>20179268
>it'll make you less hungry.
Isn't that most drinks with caffeine in it?

>>20179268
What type do you drink? The pajarito I tried is quite strong tasting.

>>20179325
NTA. I love Pajarito and other Paraguayan brands, the smoky dark green flavors are nice. Try something like a Cruz de Malta or Kraus if you want more gentle mate without the smoke

>>20179347
I do like it, but I was just surprised since I'd assumed all mate was like that. Thanks I'll try out one of those brand.

>>20179396
There is a bit of a flavor range to mate. I'd say it goes from "grassy, fresh green lawn clippings" to "herbal, woody, smoky, grainy"

>>20179279
Yes, but for me drinking yerba eliminates the thought of eating food altogether. It also increases GLP-1 in your system(You can watch andrew huberman if you want a better explanation).

>>20179325
I've only tried 2 yet Taragui and Selecta, both of which are good. I'd recommend trying out brands and experimenting on what suits your tastes.

>>20179213
Increasing the temperature instead of the steep time sounds interesting. How does this alter the taste?

I’ve got a gaiwan now, I’ve got a more western style tea pot, I know the difference between raw and ripe pu erh, etc. Think I’m ready to try some green tea and some oolong. Where and what should I buy?

>>20179548
buy some japanese green, if you've never tried it. It's a completely different experience.

>>20179396
If you want relly mild mate the various ones labeled suave like CBC suave are pretty mild flavored. Unfortunately they are also mild caffeine wise so that may not be what you are looking for.

>>20179268
Stop posting ana-chan tips here, skelly.

>>20179678
Not that anon but what's ana-chan tips?

if anyone in the EU wants some fancy teas, TheTea.pl is having a -11% sale for this weak
they have a lot of expensive aged oolong, some hei cha and various shades of sheng and black tea

why does my sugar sink to the bottom?
shouldn't it dissolve equally if I just stir it while it's hot?

>>20180115
Stir for longer periods of time until it is dissolved. Stirring faster doesn't help much in my experience.

>>20179473
I find the taste more consistent throughout the whole 2L. Less strong on second quarter, less weak on the last ones. With traditional gongfu I don't enjoy the second liter as much, it all seems to be gone with the second 500 mL. Which I often find too strong and might dull my taste buds. I tried to gongfu with increasing temps but westernfu is just more convenient for me.

>>20179760
Girls sharing tips on how to be anorexic. Used to be lots of pro-anorexia (pro-ana) forums. Weird old internet stuff. Praise the Goddess Ana and shit. I think they used to recommend drinking a lot of tea.

>>20180196
Huh, strange. I was too busy looking at nerdy forums to even realize that existed.

>>20179268
how do you brew it?
I tried it twice and it was too fucking bitter
do you use the meme straw or teabag it?

>>20180235
Not that anon but when I drink yerba, I use 60°c water and yes, with the bombilla.

I gave up caffeine maxxing with tea
I'll just take a 100mg caffeine pill with it unless i do my 1 liter earl grey chug jug

>>20180196
I bet Ana's hot. Great hips.

>>20180626
I made the mistake of making coffee today. I want tea but I've hit my max on caffeine for today.
>>20180639
Bone sticking out like a compound fracture is not hot.

>>20179124
95C is too hot for many Japanese greens. Try 80C with a 1 minute steep +30s for subsequent infusions.

my current rotation

>>20181185
Critique it.

>>20181214
haven't had the black tea yet. the other two taste like how you would imagine. not overpowering

How frequently do you brew when you gongfu? I've stopped bothering to pre-heat my gaiwan, because by the time I finish sipping the first brew the wan is already cold again anyway, and that happens every subsequent infusion.

>>20179213
Large-batch gongfu is comfy and underrated.

>>20179213
>>20180182
What you are referring to is basically Japanese style. They do 3-4 progressively hotter steeps. Steep times below 1 minute mostly tho

I got some of these that I haven't finished apparently they are those herbal tea things and they aren't technically real tea? Dunno, not a tea expert. Tea all taste very similar to me. Thoughts on these? But real tea is supposed to be pretty caffeine, right?

>>20181426
>How frequently do you brew when you gongfu? I've stopped bothering to pre-heat my gaiwan, because by the time I finish sipping the first brew the wan is already cold again anyway, and that happens every subsequent infusion.
I usually have a comple minutes between brews.
Whe i sit down and really focus on drinking tea i can keep everything hot between brews. It probably does make some difference in my experience. Easiest way for you do decide if it matters to you is to sit down and focus on drinking through a session quickly for a tea you are familiar with as see how if its any different

>>20181607
I don't think artichoke has any caffeine.
The bag on the left seems to be black tea if im reading it correctly.

All the smug redditors IDing yixing in their tiny little subshiddits are retarded and don't know the first thing about what they're talking about

>>20181657
The left one is just an herbal blend I think. Some of the ingredients that they said online for this type of tea are:
Artichoke, Mum, Sweet grass, Ginseng, Green Apples, Red Apples, Anise, Liquorice, Colocynth, Nenuphar (Water Lily), ...

>>20179213
>>20181442
>>20181534
gongfu is historically something localized to south china and really chaozhou specifically, 'western-style' brewing was actually the default for most of the rest of the eastern world before ~1950 and domestic teapots could get anywhere up to 1 liter and beyond in volume

https://marshaln.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/GFC1601_06_Zhang-3.pdf

>>20182003
ps: there's still huge amounts of variance in east asia in how you brew your tea, it's not all gongfu or brewing in cup 'grandpa style'

I finished up my cake of this years Jingmai Miyun. I think I was too harsh initially, it's still not great for the price, but it's a solid daily drinker tea. The sort of one-note minerality faded a bit as it aged, and it became a bit sweeter and more of the complex notes came through. It's not exceptional, but if you've been wanting to try a lower end Jingmai tea that still has pretty strong Jingmai character, it's a decent bet.

>>20182323
I'm starting to thing jingmai is actually overrated and every neighboring village has better tea.

>>20182412
I would probably agree with this. I think a lot of the difference comes down to the quality of the starting material and the care taken to produce the tea. If you take a step back, it's much less surprising that the best tea comes from places that have access to the most high quality material and can sell for the highest price. In this case, it should be profitable to hunt for deals since the name of the mountain just indicates a cluster of high quality tea, it doesn't directly cause the tea to be good. This has also pretty much been my experience.
Terroir certainly does affect flavor, and I do still buy tea from famous mountains, but I buy it because I want tea from that mountain, not necessarily because I expect the quality will be higher in a way that matches the price.

>>20181607
>>20182412
They're the most famous one in the area by far so it makes sense you don't really get bargains
I also thought the miyun was mid af no cap

Packing the mate into a little teabag like this is working well. I don't like having disposable stuff involved so much maybe I will get the meme straw.
Low temp water is a real game changer though, drinking it strong was fun but doing basically grandpa style with cooler water makes it something I'd happily drink every day.

>>20183309
yeah I'm of the mind that temperature doesn't matter that much for most teas, but it does actually matter for yerba mate. it's really bitter if you use boiling water

>>20183309
Mate Cocido, very nice. Maybe get some Cruz De Malta on amazon, or if you're going for the more traditional approach (which is what I recommend) try Taragui, also on amazon and very cheap

I have returned. Over the past however many days, I have tried the following bag teas:
>twinings english breakfast
>bigelow english breakfast
>equal exchange irish breakfast
>equal exchange oolong
>tazo wild sweet orange
My methodology is to use four tea bags in a very large mug (liter size), let steep for a bit, then pour that into a half gallon container and fill up with boiling water and chuck it into the fridge. I then make lemonade (no powdered shit, just good old fashioned southern buck breakin' lemonade) and chuck that into another half gallon pitcher.

Of those I have tried, since it takes me a bit to get through a gallon of Arnold Palmer since I am not a range groupie, the best Arnold Palmer bag tea so far is actually equal exchange irish breakfast followed closely by their oolong.
>why
A few threads back I mentioned that my mom dumped a fuckload of bag tea off on me since her office was getting rid of it because nobody drank it. I decided to make a lot of arnold palmers. All in all, they were all very pleasant and I have no regrets thus far.

>>20183827
Irish breakfast should have some kick to it. Im guessing it stands up better to the lemonade then more mild teas do.

Yummy yabukita. Tastes like green ocean water. Apparently my brother's cafe threw out about 10 of these last week. Told him to snag me more if they're just going to be wasted. May '22 harvest so not the freshest but it hasn't faded to baby shit yellow yet.
https://www.hugotea.com/products/sonogi-matcha

>>20184502
Gosh matcha is expensive.

>>20181534
I guess it was my initial inspiration indeed, tweaked to my taste and my autism about getting 2L of enjoyable tea from the same leaves.

Hey Tea posters, I came here to ask if Loose Leaf tea is a meme or not, because im new to this and I bought some Organic green tea in the little bag form at TJmaxx and I looked up how to make cold brew tea because that sounds tasty. But then I saw a lot of videos saying Loose leaf tastes better so I wanted to know. I'm assuming that it's not a meme due to how expensive it is on Costco compared to Itoden's green tea bags for like $15 usd.

>>20171144
Why not just grow the flowers at this point? Is it that hard? Genuinely asking I know nothing about tea.

>>20186500
It's not actually that expensive, and I don't have the space.
I bought two pounds, that's why it cost so much. It's only $0.10/g

>>20186472
Those types of blends tend to be really low quality tasteless stuff sprayed with flavourings. Maybe you'll like it, they're popular.
I wouldn't really buy tea at all from supermarkets, you're gonna get overcharged for poor quality. $10 for 20 teabags or whatever, you're paying 25 cents a gram for poo dust.
Anyway nah it's not a meme if you like tea.

>>20186472
Loose leaf tea is usually better quality then the stuff in bags. Of course the tea needs to be good quality and well processed and itf its been sitting in storage for years it's still going to be bland even if its fancy looseleaf.
If you are looking for Japanese green tea then try out https://www.sugimotousa.com/
They sell their tea on Amazon too. Its on the affordable end of the green tea spectrum but should still be a step up from ito en teabags. That said the costco ito en teabags aren't bad as as far as teabags go. You could do a lot worse.

>>20186472
Follow up post, I will take any and all recommendations for teas from you all because I like you. I generally look for anything flavorful. I always look for alternatives to the usual american lifestyle and try to always look for drinks I can have that won't turn me into a bloatlord. I recently bought a lot of TrueLemon stuff, the kids strawberry banana one is the best.
Here is the link if you're interested, no i'm not a shill nor am i paid to sponsor this, uhhh the raspberry one is meh so there, should be enough proof.

https://www.truelemon.com/collections/all-products?page=3

Truelemon is like crystalized lemon with stevia leaf (no erythritol). Btw i recently bought two pounds of monk fruit + allulose to accompany my drinks. I drank a teaspoon with some of the green tea I mentioned. I just want to be healthier.

>>20186472
Now I would suggest you go for specialty store stuff, but for that price consider that 16 oz is 1 pound (or 454 g), and you are getting thrice that (1362 g, 1.36 kg) for 70 dollars, which is 5 cents a gram. I'm not sure how many tea bags you are getting for $15 but let's be generous and say 50 and that they all have ~2.5g for a total of 125g. The price is 12 cents a gram which is more than double the loose leaf.

>>20186472
Loose leaf isn't a meme, it's better than bags. The bags will do okay for cold brew though you'll get a more complex flavor from whole leaves. I'd recommend against buying screenshot, you can find cheaper and fresher (for green tea ideally you want it harvested within the year) teas from the shops in the pastebin.

>>20186472
As far as the heavily flavored teas go like in your pic im not really sure it's worth the effort to seek out looseleaf versions.

>>20186533
>>20186532
>>20186531
>>20186526
>>20186519
>>20186505
You all are genuinely a lot of help, thank you for your kindness and taking the time out of your days to answer. I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR HELP!

>>20186472
As someone that has purchased (not this brand pictured) but other fruity teas from the supermarket or amazon, the tea is probably going to be stale and the flavorings or dried fruit MIGHT cover it up but possibly not. Other anons will give you more helpful advice but I'd suggest always reading ingredients and maybe going to a specialty store or ordering online. Avoid anything that has flavorings. Remember that "artificial and natural" flavorings are fairly similar and natural does not mean juice or something, it could mean chemicals from an animal for example.
The link in this post >>20170186 has helpful links and you can always ask the thread too.

>>20186529
If you enjoy roasted flavors try hojicha. Its roasted Japanese green tea stems, is sweet with toasty flavors and fairly low in caffeine so you can drink it in the evening.
https://www.sugimotousa.com/catalog/product/enrich-hojicha-loose-leaf/
I also quite enjoy hojicha which is sencha with toasted rice mixed in, its a nice mellow afternoon tea. I suggest trying one that doesn't have matcha powder added as i think the matha powder tends to make it more bitter and higher in caffeine and distracts from the mellow flavor.

>>20186562
>I also quite enjoy hojicha
*Genmaicha

I was thinking of getting my mom some tea from mountainroseherbs but some of them have sage in them and she's allergic. Do you think there's a possibility of sage contamination if I order a herbal tea blend that doesn't have it?

>>20186567
Yeah, how allergic is she? I would also check what other plants are in the same family as sage. If she doesn't need an epipen or anything I would just order a small amount and she how she does.

>>20186572
I think her throat swells up and she has to go to the hospital. She's not cautious so she doesn't have an epipen.
>same family as sage
>basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, thyme, lavender, and perilla
Basil, mint, rosemary, oregano, thyme in food are fine. I know lavender scents don't bother her. I'll think on it more, thanks.

>>20186584
If you email them about it they should give you a helpful answer like "we blend teas in the same containers" or "we keep everything separate" or something like that. See what they think.

>4chan is eating my posts again
Sick of this shit

>>20186638
Start typing it in a text editor like Notepad++. It's what I do.

I have been chugging the logan roasted legend of tung ting from teahome. Good stuff. I would say it's different from the roasted TGYs ive had, different tea varietal obviously and the roast is different, i don't get much or any charcoal taste in the legend of tung ting. The leaves open up say 2/3s of the way when brewed so it's not a crazy roast.
It's just a nice pleasurable oolong. Im looking forward to trying some of their other teas. They do a dong ding fermented in the style of oriental beauty that i bet is really good. And they do roasted versions of several of their other varietals as well.

anyone have recommendations for a good earl gray? ideally something that isn't scented or sprayed with artificial or natural flavors and just contains actual pieces of orange peel

>>20186567
Don't buy herbal tea blends. Buy individual herbs and blend them yourself.

>>20186567
I emailed them for you, heres their response pt1

Thank you for reaching out with your question! While we do take every precaution to avoid any cross-contamination whenever and wherever possible, we do handle and process multiple varieties of Sage, so it is not possible to guarantee that there is no chance of cross-contamination.

That being said, I would be happy to provide more information about the precautions we take so that you can make an informed decision. When it comes to pouring herbs, we pour them from single lots in small batches and we only work with one herb at a time. We pour herbs alphabetically, starting with organic herbs, then non-organic herbs, and FDA Class 1 Allergens are handled in an entirely separate area. In between herb pours, the entire station undergoes sanitization. Once sanitization is complete, our Quality Control Team inspects the station to ensure that the station is properly prepared for the next herb. If there is any concern that the sanitization has not been properly completed, the entire area is re-sanitized and inspected again.

>>20187520
pt2


Some of the products that are processed before and after Sage Leaf or our White Sage are as follows: Safflower, Summer and Winter Savory, Rue, Red Clover Sprouting Seed, Rehmannia Root, White Peony Root, and White Willow Bark. Based on these being poured before or after our Sage products, these are the most likely to have a chance, though it would be small, of cross contamination.

The only tea blend we carry that include Sage are Flashes Tea, 21st Century Tea, and Wise Woman Tea. The only spice blend we carry that features sage is Mesquite Seasoning. The same process is used when blending teas and spices. All materials and stations are completely sanitized from top to bottom before another blend is processed.

Depending on your level of sensitivity, or the sensitivity of your family members, we encourage you to use caution as our precautions may not be enough protection for every individual. I hope that this information on our production methods helps. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance in this or any other matters and have a fantastic day!

>>20187529
I figured they would give a helpful answer, they probably get that question a lot

>>20187520
>>20187529
>>20187761
I was too busy today to email them, thank you very much!

>>20188558
Rolf Harris chillin at the back there thinking I wouldn't notice.
What is this anyway, looks awful.

>>20188565
it's a teahouse in some resort town for millionaires

>>20188558
Me in the front, sipping tea with my cult followers.

>>20188558
I am perhaps unreasonably pissed off about how bad that lampshade looks in this drab little room. Why are rich people so often cursed with the inability to style their spaces? I bet the tea a big fat nothing, too.

>>20188558
I hate every single person in this picture.

>>20188565
>>20188585
>>20188604
>>20188619
>>20188647
>>20188558

Do ya'll know of a good online store for Taiwanese tea?
From a cursory look https://www.teafromtaiwan.com/ seems like a good start.

I might just wait until I can drive a few hours to a Taiwanese-American owned grocer and see what they have.

>>20188707
taiwan tea crafts for fancier stuff
tea home for cheapies

what the fuck do I do while I wait for my tea to cooldown?

drinking some Jin Xuan from Fullchea today
quite nice for the price

>>20189127
Breathe.

>>20189180
how do i do that again?

>>20189186
Poorly, sounds like.

Why is there a 2k characters limit on post?
I'm cooking some puer blog post and I'm already at 7k.
It's gonna be ugly.

>>20189127
Carefully pour it into progressively smaller cups, when you're done it'll be cool.

>>20189166
Yeah it really isn't too bad. Not the real deal of course but bretty good for what it is.

Haiwan bros, our response?

>haiwan
>old gay puer
Sounds about right

>>20189727
Puerh lesbians are real, I can't believe it.

>>20189199
It took me like 15 posts to post my full Vahdam vs Upton comparison when we were having the debate which belongs in the pastebin

>>20189763
>literal flowers on the wrapper
thanks, but I'll stick with my classically masculine Crane

>>20170096
Anyone got anything special to drink for the new year?

>>20188731
Thanks fren

anyone got any tips for holding thicker gaiwans with high temp brews? I just picked up a really nice heavy 170ml gaiwan but whenever I get into the later steeps for a high temp brew it gets too hot to actually hold for more than a few seconds without burning myself

>>20190511
You can employ old man style grip, in theory I think this is actually the more "correct" way to do it.

>>20190511
Sorry if any of this is obvious.
Hold it by the outside rim nut with your fingers under the edge of the rim touching the body of the gaiwan, put your finger or palm across the knob on the lid instead of sticking your finger into it. Maybe reduce the water level slightly. You can also try the "stack" grip where you pick the gaiwan up with the saucer and hold it by pinching it in your fingers between the lid knob and the base of the saucer. Usually with your thumb on the lid and a few fingers at the base under the saucer. Just make sure you practice it before you put boiling water in it to make sure you have a feel for how to hold it that way.

>>20190545
>Hold it by the outside rim nut with your fingers under the edge of the rim touching the body of the gaiwan
Hold it by the outside rim, not with your fingers under the edge of the rim touching the body of the gaiwan

>>20190542
>>20190545
ty for the advice, i actually tried the old man grip but the heat retention is so massive for this gaiwan that even the dish underneath ends up hot enough to burn, as does the lid top. Think this may be a sign to just drop the steep temp after the 10th one

>>20170096
I'm a noob and not big fan of warm beverages.
I like jasmine, how do I make it work?

>>20189727
>lao tong zhi
Right?

>>20191143
you could try cold brewing some jasmine green tea and see how it works out.
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/green-tea/products/classic-jasmine-pearls-yunnan-green-tea-1

What's your favourite bulk tea brand for 1lb+ bags? I've been drinking Taylor's Earl Grey for years, but I'm looking to try something else. How is Davidson's, particularly their Sencha?

>>20191487
>How is Davidson's, particularly their Sencha?
Ah yes, the traditional Japanese tea producer David-san.

I am new to tea.
How many days can I keep the leaves after I use them for the first time? I am worried that mold will show up.
I steeped the leaves 4 days ago and I've resteeped them 7 times now, the flavour is still strong so I don't want to throw them away but I am afraid of potential health hazards.
I kept the leaves in the fridge each night and I rinsed them with water before I wanted to use them again.

>>20192004
usually people would steep several times within a day
I've sometimes re-steeped ripe pu-erh from the previous day, but I can't see several day old leaves tasting all that good

>>20192004
would i personally do that? no
but sometimes we pave our own roads and if it works for you then screw it

>>20192004
Are you brewing it western style? What kind of tea are you using?

You should be fine though. My parents would brew a pot of tea and leave the leaves out at room temperature. They'd grandpa style the leaves for at least 2 weeks before throwing it out and never had any ill effects from it.

Are all aged puers smoky?
I tried some 2006 toucha and the taste is ok, the cup smells really sweet but I hate the smokiness.

>>20192004
Use less leaves and use less liquid, so you can do more steeps per day and don't remain sitting on a pile of leaves for days.
From a food safety perspective as long as you use water above 80°C, I think it should kill all germs over and over.

>>20192117
>They'd grandpa style the leaves for at least 2 weeks before throwing it out
what the fuck

>>20192234
>add bunch of tea leaves to big porcelain teapot
>add boiling water from kettle
>drink a big glass
>next day
>add boiling water to teapot (still holding whatever leftover tea from yesterday)
>drink
>repeat next day
It wasn't always consecutive days either. Sometimes they'd brew one pot for the day, not drink for a few days, and come back to it later.

They're just built different I guess.

>>20192004
I have had mould show up after 4 days, but they were quite wet and the ambient temperature was about 25 degrees. In the fridge should be fine, the cold should also slow down the oxidation which over time changes the flavour, usually for the worse.

>>20192339
>>20192339
>>20192339
bump limit

new thread

>>20192162
>Are all aged puers smoky?
No, but its more common

>>20192162
no, not all of them are smoky. but most big factory tuocha are

>>20190511
Remove the lid and blow on the underside of it for a few seconds if your thumb gets too hot.