/ck/ - Food & Cooking

tea

>>20278533
isn't lao cha tou pretty much always more expensive than normal ripe? I agree that that price is too much though, it actually comes out to more than just buying 20 bricks of Dayi Lao Cha Tou, which is stupid

Living in your thread
>Rent ry

yep, I don't post here

drinking the Fa Zhan He after a bit of a break. really getting a lot of that citrus character today. lacks a bit of depth in aftertaste and mouthfeel compared to more premium cakes, but the flavor and aroma is very nice

sources for aged white teas?

P
>>20279621
You won't find many that are older then 2010 or so.
Yunnan sourcing has a few.
King tea mall has some.
Purple cloud has a 2009 cake
https://purplecloudteahouse.com/products/2009-bai-mudan-white-tea-cake?_pos=3&_sid=11e514796&_ss=r
Beyond that you probably need to do some digging on taobao.

Getting some new tea today, nothing too exciting, but new tea is new tea so it's a good day.

>>20279777
Nice, tell us how the jade oolong is

>>20279803
They usually deliver around 2pm so 5-6 hours at most probably

Tasting Date: Mar 7, 2024
2017 Yunnan Sourcing "Yi Wu Rooster" Ripe Pu-erh (Sample)
5.7g in 120ml teapot. 15 sec rinse. 10+5 sec steeps
Music: Advanced Dreams - Island of Memory (Dub Techno / Ambient)

Aroma, Dry leaves: wood shop and fallen pine log covered in mushrooms
Aroma, Post-Rinse Leaves: dried cherries (strong), leather, stone fruit
1st Steep: Mild. Leather and oak, a slight pleasant metallicness. Lingering aftertaste opens to mild fruitiness.
(Water amount reduced for further steeping)

Steeps 2-5: Metallic flavors transformed into pleasant minerality, wet cement and black pepper. Fruity flavors (dried cherry) fill the flavor backbone, soup develops strong fruity aroma.
Leaf aroma shifts from leathery to craft store and tobacco leaf with subsequent brews.

Steep 6-10: Surprisingly hard drop-off in flavor. Brew times increased and water reduced to try and get more flavor, to little success. Whats left is minerality and blue jeans. A subtle chamomile-like floral note develops in final brews.

Qi: Cozy and Drifting

>>20280427
Final final steep was left for several minutes. Yielded a surprisingly complex and stronger soup. Dried cherry, chamomile, blue jeans, and damp soil.

Overall experience: 6.8/10. Found it to be an interesting balance of flavors, while they lasted. Would like to use more leaf next time. It might actually do better with western or grandpa style brewing, to front-load more of the flavors.

Anyone here has experience with higher end raws than the crowd favorite fa zhan he?
Interested in other vendors than FL just mix things up.
Dayi/xiaguan/haiwan etc.

Had some Taste Of Hong Kong from yeeon today, ive left it in the pumidor for like 6 months since i lost a little interest after an odd session with it but it was great today especially since ive only been drinking sweet young shengs and oolongs recently. Tasted like newspaper, dirt, and watered down coffee. The cellar aging taste has disappeared which was what i liked the most about it but i think its still a nice tea, probably wouldnt buy it again though

>>20280566
I love the 2022 Naka from Chen Sheng Hao. Great aroma and aftertaste. You could also try the minicake sampler they have on their cspuerh website, it's pretty well priced and contains some pretty high end teas.

>>20280566
I've got a Bangwai Big Trees in storage. Also one remaining session with Lao Man E Sweet Gu Shu. It's been a while since I've visited the Bangwai Big Trees, but if it's anything like the Small Trees, a few months in storage has done wonders. As for the Lao Man E, it's the best tea I've ever had, although for whatever reason, my last session was less than satisfying. I generally go higher end with FL and cheapos with factory puerh.

>>20280427
Nice writeup anon
Yeah i agree with possibly trying grampa style brewing. Also going heavy on the leaf will also increase the intensity. I find that ripes pretty commonly drop off hard like that but i also usually brew ripes more aggressively, like starting off with a 30 second steep and then adding another 15 seconds or so.

>>20280566
Had a cake of this a couple years ago. I thought it was quite good, noticeable age but still vibrant.
https://teaswelike.com/product/2004-nanqiao-bada-nannuo-blend/
Their selection is pretty well curated so if you want to try some semi aged teas they are a good shop to check out.

Wtf! $120 for 357 grams? Is pu-erh supposed to be stupid expensive? Unless that's a 6 month supply of daily use or something...wtf.

>>20280992
120$ for a cake is nothing in the world of puerh. Single session is between 5g and 8g usually so between 71 and 44 days if you do one a day. Stupid expensive is 100k+ cakes but I think a once in a lifetime 10k+ can be a thing.

>>20280992
it varies in price wildly. you'd get like 2 months' supply if you drink a session a day (could even be 10 cups, the expensive stuff usually lasts for more brews), so it's not too pricey per cup
you can get much cheaper stuff though of course. for ripe pu-erh especially it's easy to find good stuff for around 20$ per cake, for raw pu-erh it's a bit harder but there are some good picks too if you search around a bit

>>20280992
Its 20 years old, old well stored tea gets expensive. Its about 47 sessions worth of tea
Puer can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be, its easy to drop $5,000 on a single modern cake, or 10s of thousands on a 40 year old cake. Its also possible to buy puer for like $20 a kilo.

$120 for a good cake doesn't even seem that bad to me, 30 cents a gram ey

>>20281069
Its not, fucking dayi was selling "special edition first batch" 7542 for that much in 2021, not that i would buy it at that price.

>>20281053
>for ripe pu-erh especially it's easy to find good stuff for around 20$ per cake
Examples?

Does anyone have a recommendation for a dancong source. I know tea habitat is one of the best but I can't bring myself to spend that much on tea. Was looking at yunnan craft and they seemed good. One river tea is also on my radar. Will probably wait until mid/late spring to order so I get this year's tea instead of last year's, but anyone who has an opinion I'd like to hear it.

If anyone here ever gets to drink a $10,000+ tea cake please come back and tell us how it is. I will likely never be in that position, and I am deeply curious.

>>20281086
safest bets would be the numbered recipes from Dayi and Haiwan, like:
https://kingteamall.com/en-pl/products/2022-dayi-7562-brick-250g-puerh-shou-cha-ripe-tea?variant=43781056757990
https://kingteamall.com/en-pl/products/2018-laotongzhi-9978-cake-357g-puerh-ripe-tea-shou-cha?variant=31574684106855
https://kingteamall.com/en-pl/products/2020-dayi-7692-cake-357g-puerh-shou-cha-ripe-tea?variant=32807302332519
The Fuhai cake from Awazon was also tasty, at only 12$
honestly white2tea also has a decent number of cheap ripe cakes. I've only tried the funny slut cake and it was honestly really good

>>20281103
Wasn't a cake but I had a few cups of auctioneered Da Hong Pao during a session. It was bought at 760 a gram. Most expensive I ever tasted

>>20281127
>Doesn't describe the tea in any way other than it's ridiculous price
Enough said.

>>20281147
I think the long discriptions for teas are mostly bullshit and from a session to another you can taste different things and enjoy it more or less that's my opinion. I enjoyed the session and have a good lasting memory of it can I say it's the best in the world of the best I ever had from 4 and half years ago? I have no idea.

>>20281096
Fuck this site ate my post again
Expensive but probably well sourced
https://hojotea.com/indexe.html
Local to the region
https://www.bitterleafteas.com/product-category/tea/non-puer/oolong
Some more affordable offerings
https://www.jingteashop.com/collections/dancong-tea
Big selection
https://txs-tea.com/collections/dan-cong
I still don't know who should be the go to vendor to point people to for dancongs. They get expensive quickly and have much less availability from western facing vendors then wuyi oolongs.
I wouldn't start out with anything too expensive but i have seen a few claims that really cheap dancong tends to get bitter.
I would brew it chazou gongfu style minus the part where they toss the leaves after 3 flash steeps.

>>20281302
When it starts to get well over $1/g I start to reconsider. I've had "dancong" from KTM and yunnan sourcing but they don't compare to the ones I've gotten from higher end shops. More of a special tea that I don't mind spending extra for since the cheap ones are more bitter and don't last as long. But honestly I should just buy taiwanese oolongs since they are pretty good and not as expensive. Even yancha is less expensive than dancong on average from the shops I've seen. Thanks for the recommendations, will check them out later in the year when the new year teas come on.

>>20281376
Yeah when ive looked into them they seem like they get expensive quick.

>>20281103
Someday, someday, someday.

Now that's fucking expensive god damn.

>>20281617
How could something from 1983 still be ripe? That's bullshit

>>20281617
But think of how much better it works as traditional chinese medicine because its old

just barely on topic but i got sick of buying hot cocoa mix so i bought a tub of dutch process coco and ive just been mixing it with white sugar. Its comes out pretty good but its not the same as hot chocolate mix. I think i need to get some powdered milk and add some of that to get the full effect.
Also i got cheap Hersheys brand dutched coca and it's not great, it tastes a bit ashy, i guess i have to order some better coca powder online to get the real premium experience.

>>20281693
I tried making hot chocolate with regular cocoa powder a while ago but it didn't dissolve very well and its too acidic. I was hoping i would be able to drink it without sugar but its just not very good, maybe when i buy better cocoa powder it will taste better without the sweetening

>>20281069
God damn it, fine. I'll make a fucking meme folder for tea. Help me out if you have any essentials.

>>20281708

>>20281708

>>20281708

>>20281737
>>20281743
Lol

>>20281708

Sherpa Tea finally won me over.

>>20281708
i think you're missing a category

>>20281708
haha
go brew something
>>20281708
forced meme coming through

Even when it feels like I have nothing else, I can enjoy some nice tea and look forward to drinking tea in the future.

Thanks tea.

>he doesn't grind up 3000 year old oracle bones to blend with his tea
ngmi

>>20281693
>>20281703
You both need high fat cocoa powder. Powdered milk and caster sugar are also good here -- the latter is a lot more fine and dissolves better, but isn't as much of an inhalation hazard as powdered sugar.

>>20281693
>>20281703
>>20282127
Try adding malted milk powder as well.

>>20281693
If matcha is a tea, then hot chocolate must be a tisane.

>>20282221
Seems logically true.

>>20281708
Can it?

>>20281703
>too acidic
Try dutch processed cocoa powder, like Van Houten (they neutralize the acid).

Second taobao order came in.
This will cost you $240 at KTM btw.

>>20282221
If you make it with water like a heathen, then yes.

drinking the funny meme Lumber Slut cake
it's nice. slightly smoky and with a different kind of sweetness to the factory ripe I usually drink. some spicy dry wood and a tiny hint of beetroot make me think of a clean modern liu bao

>>20282496
How are they?

>>20282723
I really wonder what they do to the ferment to get that taste. I've had it a bit in other places and assumed it was an age thing, clearly not.

>>20282723
>Lumber Slut
I tended to think of tea people as harmless autists but I realize now they are intolerable hipsters stuck in the "twee" stage and must be destroyed

>>20282731
>How are they?
Don't know yet. Will give it couple of sessions.
I'm interested in hekai vs jingmai comparison since now I have both from roughly the same time and the same company.

First time trying yellow tea. Mei Leaf Yellow Tea "Amber Mountain"

Initial infusions taste like broth and pumpkin, kind of like a squash soup. Color of the liquor is pretty light. Later infusions get sweeter and less broth-y. Not bad/10.

>>20282778
dry leaf/brewed leaf comparison

>>20282780
And some meals with the leftover leaves after my tea drinking sessions.

Left is from the other day. Tamago kake gohan with genmaicha (the heat of the leaves cooks the egg) and natto. Miso soup made with the hot rinse water used to clean my teapot and cups.

Right was a side dish tonight. The yellow tea leaves tossed with green beans and gomae dressing.

How do the chinks do it?
Lung jing,
Chun mee,
Mao feng
are all so wildly different.

>>20282794
>And some meals with the leftover leaves after my tea drinking sessions.
Based
I have never tried yellow tea. The concept seems interesting, but its usually pretty expensive.
Thanks for posting some notes on it and some good pictures

what's the best lapsang souchong have you guys had?
I've had some with no flavor and some with a nice smokey bite.

>>20282780
what ching chong scale is that?

>>20283629
I had 15 samples of lapsang from the tea expert and I wouldn't buy any of them again.
Just ok, nothing special.
The smoked one almost made me vomit.

Anyone tried dry scooping matcha?

Tea resin opinions? Im interested in trying it. But at the same time i feel like its a good way of selling low quality tea.

>>20283670
what does this mean? not a match PRO btw.

>>20283683
most I heard from sinoboos is it's like instant coffee, but tea. so it's just mediocre and only good for cases like if you're on the go.

>>20282496
if I am in the us, do I need to go through a taobao agent or can I just buy it directly off their site?

>>20283683
Ive wanted to try it but haven't figured out who has the good stuff. Dayi is selling instant ripe puer packets which probably have the best chance of being good but they aren't cheap.
https://www.amazon.com/TAETEA-Instant-Crystals-Powdered-Beverages/dp/B0BDF7T5RM/
For most chao gao i think they just boil tea leaves and then strain them out and then cook the tea untill it turns into paste

>>20283694
It means putting the powder straight into mouth. It's more known from /fit/ where you dry scoop creatine.

>>20283758
If you don't want to make tea with it then dump the powder in a small amout of water in a glass, swirl untill there is no dry powder left and then drink it in one gulp and chase with water. Don't do it on an empty stomach and make sure to drik at least 8oz of water afterwards. Putting the dry powder in your mouth will not be a pleasant experience.

>>20283758
but why?
sounds dumb as hell

>>20283769
When you just need a hit quickly.

I've never bought loose leaf tea, should I order a bunch of samples from Yunnan Sourcing even if I'm not sure I like it? I've picked out several different varieties of Yunnan gold and raw pu-erh. I'm thinking I can just stick it in storage and save it for guests if I don't like it. I really want to try a bunch and hope to find one that will augment/replace my coffee drinking, but my cart has gotten kinda spendy for something I'm not sure I'll like.

>>20282723
>with a different kind of sweetness
i thought the same thing, its weirdly sweet like citrus, tastes kinda unnatural but maybe thats just because im being influenced by the retarded name and wrapper. either way its nice and i reccomend it by itself and ill think about getting it again.

Hey /tea/, do you guys have any recommendations for a high-volume thermos? I want to have an absurd amount of hot water (and even better, tea) available while I'm out and about. If it has a tea strainer included that's even better.

>>20282794
>And some meals with the leftover leaves after my tea drinking sessions.
me and some other anon have been wondering ways to eat the leaves, im glad to see someone had figured out had to repurpose them. could you go more in depth into the recipe please? how is the taste?

>>20283805
i was literally just about to ask this question right now. to add onto yours, im looking for a thermos that will keep water boiling or as close to it as possible for the longest time possible. i like to go out into the woods and do gongfu sessions; right now im using a hydroflask to keep boiling water and tbdesu its worked completley fine i guess but i have this paranoia that its not keeping the water hot enough and also its only half a liter.

>>20283783
>I've never bought loose leaf tea, should I order a bunch of samples from Yunnan Sourcing even if I'm not sure I like it?
you can always gift the tea to someone if it turns out to not be your thing. I think a set of samples should be fun to try for anyone though

>>20283783
If you're just starting out I'd just get one representative of each kind you're interested in, multiple yunnan golds won't really gain you much, versus trying a couple more distinct black teas.
Raw puerh is pretty variable, but can be a bit shocking with bitter and astringency, I'd try one at a time until you know you like it (and have a feel for brewing it which can be finnicky).
Shipping cost scales with the weight of the order, so you don't lose much by making multiple smaller orders.

>>20283805
>>20283823
Zojirushi, Takeya, Hydroflask

>>20283800
yeah I got the 2022 version this time and the Vulture cake, should arrive within the next two weeks. maybe could have gone for one of their other cheap ripes instead, but most of them seemed kind of boring. Waffles, Prosbloom, Old Reliable... Gingerbread Man and Camphornought sounded like they could stand out a bit more though
personally Lumber Slut doesn't remind me of citrus, but I got some association with a vanilla-scented candle, maybe because of the slight smoke. and the sweetness feels like it's more "separate" from the other flavors than in factory ripe, IDK how else to say this

First infusion, this white tea has no flavour, but it has a distinct texture.

>>20283924
Which white tea?

>>20283839
>>20283805
I agree with anon, try the major types of tea. Raw puerh can be an acquired taste, it tends to be more challenging.

So I've been making my own iced-tea like brew: I take the supermarket green tea bags, twenty of them, and let them in a seven liter boiling point for like 12 minutes. Add cut up lemon fruit and juice while cooling.
It's pretty good, especially mixed with sparkling water before consumption.

So, I'm well aware that I'm using probably the worst tea out there, and I'm absolutely going too hot for too long. Since I was thinking of ordering a tea egg for brewing this stuff, I was wondering what kind of green tea you guys would use for a drink like this, how much and for how long you would brew it for.

Also, if you have other ideas for drinks, I'd love to know them. I tried white tea and orange juice one like this, wasn't nearly as impressed.

>>20283948
one I am drinking

>>20283963
2021 Yunnan Sourcing "Meng Song Village" White Tea

Received my order from Yunnan really quickly, pretty cool. Competition Grade Qimen Black Tea and Feng Qing Classic 58. I haven't tried the former yet because I'm getting a little burnt out on Qimen, so I opened the latter first. Tastes really good!

>>20283862
have you used a zoji bottle yourself?
i love my zoji rice cooker so i was curious about them. for those that were asking the original question, agreeing with with takeya i like it

>>20283683
>>20283732
>For most chao gao i think they just boil tea leaves and then strain them out and then cook the tea untill it turns into paste
I have been wanting to try it too. I suspect the long simmer of classic cha gao changes the flavor so its not just "instant tea".

>>20283805
>Hey /tea/, do you guys have any recommendations for a high-volume thermos?
A 64oz thermoflask.
I actually have a 64oz yeti rambler and its great but i got it at a huge discount and apparently they retail for $65 normally.
The quintessential American solution is the 52oz big bubba insulated mug, preferably purchased at wallmart for maximum murrica but that is plastic on the inside so only good if you want to xenoestrogen maxxx.

>2024
>still no off the shelf tea storage solution and have to diy tea storage
Man, I thought by now we'd have some fancy climate controlled box like wine and cheesefags

>>20284026
I had 5 infusions of oolong in my zojirushi mug today and it was too hot to drink after 5 hours. It does what it says on the tin.

>>20284119
The off the shelf tea storage solution is an appropriately sized humidor. Typically walk in humidors are custom jobs tho.
The roll your own cigar guys just use coolers too iirc.

>>20282221
If you would please consult the chart.

Did anyone try the 2024 Peak Vulture from w2t? how is it?

>>20281708

>>20281708

>>20283783
Make sure you're buying cheaper stuff when it comes to black tea, return on investment drops significantly after 10 cents a gram.

>>20282778
>>20282780
>>20282794
Nice tea. I've never had yellow either. Nice photos. If you don't mind me asking, what camera are you using?
>>20283683
Cha gao! Both Fullchea and Yunnan Sourcing carry it, last I checked. Didn't see anywhere else from the vendors that I visit. I don't think I've seen that photo before. Where is it from?
>>20283696
I'm not sure it can be fairly compared to instant coffee, which is a soulless overengineered way to produce coffee in a lazy form factor. It's more of a respectable ancient tradition being rediscovered in the globalization of puerh. In this era, it can mean a wide range in gamut from shit material to artisans using respected terroir. Maybe that's overselling it.
>>20283683
Either way, if you drink enough tea to be even aware of cha gao let alone be interested in trying it, you basically owe it to yourself as a hobbyist to pick some up.
>>20283783
Hell yeah we ain't here for nothing. Go spend $100 on anything that sounds interesting. After you go through that order you will know if you want another hit 100%.
>>20283812
Pardon me sir /ck/ is for fast food and MREs.
>>20283873
I love Waffles and Camphornought. Prosbloom I think is a little weird and not very good.
>>20283999
I like black tea, but I don't drink it often. I think of all the genre I could daily drink, they'd be near the bottom. I'm at a point where if I don't have some excellent black tea, I might give up on it for a long while. Have any recommendations for damn good stuff?
>>20284292
I just got my shipping notice on Thursday. I'd be surprised if anyone has received it yet.

Any reccs for white teas? I've never had one that really impressed me. Maybe the closest was the free sample of Jingmai Moonlight I got from Farmerleaf, that had some nice florals to it.

>>20284440
Any descriptions for Camphornough and Waffles?

>>20284296
That chasen stand looks a bit too big...

>>20284473
nta but whit is white tea meant to taste like? i got some dragonballs from chawangshop awhile ago and i didnt really understand them. it just tasted like a mild, characterless oolong sometimes closer to a black tea if i accidentally overbrewed it. is it meant to taste like that, sweet with very little character? maybe its just not my thing.

>>20284296
Forbidden pumidor

>>20284481
Sure! Waffles is a default daily drinker w2t shou for a reason. It's approachable and pretty dark with vanilla and custard notes on top of the usual earthy profile. It's pretty rich, actually. Maybe that's just because I tend to use more material given its perforation. It's one I don't get sick of. Not as dark in taste as Peak Vulture, maybe that has a heavier ferment? Or lighter? I'm not sure how that relationship with fermentation time works.
Camphor nought is a cake I value a little more. It has more dry, woody flavors, but nowhere near as pronounced as the Lumber Slut. It's also more like wilder woods than it is outright 2x4 pine lumber. Maybe I should become more familiar with camphor essential oil.

Thoughts on Kuuracorp?

>>20284146
>humidor
There's a humidor without the cedarwood shelves?

>>20284473
Ive only had two white teas, of the two the farmer leaf one was much better.
>>20285008
Somebody from here tried a few of their teas and was nonplussed.
They do that same no orgin information thing that w2t does that im not really in love with.
As far as those hipster wrapper vendors go i find bitter leaf more appealing, since the give reasonable terroir information. But i haven't actually tried them.

>>20285063
What's wrong with a little cedar in your puer storage ;)

>>20284296
What does blue bird flavor taste like?

>>20283632
https://teahabitat.com/products/cha-he-electric-scale

>>20285008
I have two of the cheaper Kuuracorp cakes. They're alright but they don't really stand out to me.

>>20284440
I'm just using my phone camera. Galaxy S23.

I have dedicated cameras, but not sure if it's worth the effort to break them out to take pictures of tea at my old computer desk at 3 AM for strangers on a Balinese noodle making forum.

>>20283632
https://teahabitat.com/products/cha-he-electric-scale

>>20285008
I have two of the cheaper Kuuracorp cakes. They're alright but they don't really stand out to me.

>>20284440
I'm using my phone camera. Galaxy S23.

I have dedicated cameras, but not sure if it's worth the effort to break them out to take pictures of tea at my old computer desk at 3 AM for strangers on a Balinese noodle making forum.

>>20283812
>how is the taste?
Depends on the leaves you're using. Genmaicha leaves post-brew retain some of the sweetness and savoriness. Something like a deep steamed sencha can be bitter and needs to be dressed up more to be palatable.

>could you go more in depth into the recipe please?
Eh, I don't think you really need one. Don't overthink it and just toss it into stuff. Treat it like an herb or filler green. But if you must have a recipe:

Tamago kake gohan
>have hot rice (nuke it in the microwave if it's not freshly made and been sitting awhile)
>crack a raw egg into it
>mix it up
>add whatever you want to it
>I added the genmaicha, natto, nori, furikake, and some soy sauce

Gomae
>blanch or boil some green beans
>3 tablespoons of sesame seeds (grinded in a spice grinder or crushed with a mortar & pestle)
>1 tablespoon of soy sauce
>1 tablespoon of sugar
>add used tea leaves
>mix

This might go without saying, but I've only tried eating green/yellow tea leaves, i.e. young , (relatively) fresh, minimally processed.

I’ve literally been meaning to make a tea order for like 4 years. I think I’d be happy with any decent loose stuff, but do you think it’s worth it to go crazy with samples, or spend a little more on a bag of higher end darjeeling or something and call it a day?
t. American

>>20281708
milk coke laobanzhang.

>>20285381
MOOOOOOODS

>>20285377
Get this cheap small sampler and see if you like any of it. Then you can try some more of the kinds of tea you like.
https://verdanttea.com/five-teas-for-5
Or just get some second flush Darjeeling from one of the nicer estates.
https://www.uptontea.com/second-flush-darjeeling-tea/loose-leaf-darjeeling-black-tea/p/V01174/
https://www.uptontea.com/second-flush-darjeeling-tea/loose-leaf-darjeeling-black-tea/p/V01166/

>>20285381
adding milk to tea is the only sin being committed here

>>20283823
I just use something like picrel when I go /out/

>>20281708
I was going to feel bad for being bottom left, but then I remembered I started maybe two weeks ago. I guess I have about 258 weeks left before I have to worry.

>>20285381
This looks good, does it have to be lao ban Zhang? It seems kinda expensive, for me at least

>>20283951
I've heard pu erh can be gross so I carefully picked out samples of about five kinds with good reviews. I picked out some black, gold, oolong, green buds, silver needle white, and raw pu erh. I'm certain I'll like something. Not sure about ripe pu erh, there seems to be a greater chance of something gross with it. Should I try a sample of lao ban zhang? $22 for 10 grams at YS

>>20285706
>Should I try a sample of lao ban zhang? $22 for 10 grams at YS
I would hold off on something so expensive until you know whether or not you like raw puer. Even then I would suggest you get more experience with puer first or you might not really appreciate it.
I think you should try a ripe instead. It's earthy and probably pretty different from anything you've had before, but lots of people like it. Get one with good reviews, you may find it gross but if that's the case then you probably just don't like ripe. They all have pretty similar flavor profiles.

>>20285725
You're totally right, thanks for talking sense into me

>>20284822
>is it meant to taste like that, sweet with very little character?
mild, sweet, grass / straw has been my experience. they're also usually kind of boring to me, but maybe I should give them another chance

>>20284967
thanks. looking forward to the Vulture, I hope it's drinkable already

>>20285381
>milk coke
Very bad for your insides. Makes calcium phosphate.

Is bangwai or any of the other cheap cakes worth if I liked fa zhan he sample?

Hello I'd appreciate some recommendations as to what to try next.
So far I've fell in love with Yunnan gold and Gyokurou.
I've also tried some oolongs, pu erhs and darjeeling but their flavours never really stood out to me, could it be that I've just haven't grown a taste for them? (I tried relatively small 10g bags of each)

>>20285873
bangwai small trees is good too, but not too similar IMO. softer and more apricoty. I like the autumn lao man e, but it's not for everyone, really savory and mineral with a noticable bitterness

>>20285896
oolong has a lot of variation. a wuyi oolong and a light tie guan yin will taste basically nothing alike. so I would try some more varieties of it
for pu-erh, the major categories are young raw, ripe and aged raw, you might like one but not the others. Darjeeling is more samey

try some more Chinese black teas and Japanese greens. let's say Keemun and Jin Jun Mei for the former, Sencha and Fukamushi for the latter

>>20285932
>darjeeling is more samey
ah so I wasn't insane when I couldn't tell the difference between two different kinds of them, anyways thanks for the answer I'll look into those

dark rolled oolongs my beloved

Low on tea, mixed sheng with black..

>this thread
Mhmm yum Chinese pesticide water.

>>20286042
some of us like Indian pesticide water, I'll have you know.

>>20285570
but im not going /out/, im just going on like an hour long walk

>>20286042
>pesticide water
...
>japanese pesticide water
!!!

if I drink 2 litres (half a gallon) of green tea everyday, is there a health risk guys ?

>>20286042
im fluridated calcified and lead poisoned and i think i feel pretty awful

>>20286229
Most of the caffein content, which I think is the only thing that could be considered unhealthy in big doses, of green tea is released during the initial steeping so it depends on how much you re-steep.

>>20286252
thanks anon. this is re-assuring. I discard the first one altogether, and the next two steeps is what I drink (2 times 1 litre)

More adventures in the "cooking with tea leaves" saga. Chinese bacon stir fry with longjing leaves. Not pictured: the liter of longjing tea I drank so I had enough leaves to cook.

>>20286348
I've seen some teashop's blog show scrambled eggs with fresh tea leaves he was served while staying with a tea farmer in Yunnan

hello frens it my first time posting in /ck/ i was wondering what kind of tea I should try to get into the "tea-drinking hobby". i'm a disgusting 4 teaspoons of sugar-coffee drinker trying to get rid of all sugars in my eating habits. I have read the link in OP, I just don't know where to start. I've been drinking regular store brand green tea (pickwick) with zero sugar but my palate is definitely degenerated. any input would be helpful, thank you

>>20286443
one place to start is, how do you heat your water, and how long do you steep your tea for?
also cut back 1tsp of sugar each week (assuming you drink daily, otherwise do it over a longer time period)

>>20286465
I heat my water with a waterboiler, and I just keep the teabag in the mug. I don't use a teapot or anything I just drop the green tea bag in the mug and leave it there, and take sips whenever. i'm completely uninformed, im a zoomer and I just got out of poverty

>>20286662
green tea in particular gets oversteeped easily, leading it to become astringent and bitter. you only want to steep the teabag maybe around 2 minutes, and 170f/75c water instead of boiling. these things might help to make it more palatable with less sugar (but because tea bags use low quality little "dust" particles of tea instead of leaves this usually leads it to oversteep no matter what you do).
this may be an unpopular opinion(?) (since you can control the temperature on your own by transferring the water between room temperatures cups to take some of the heat out) but i'd personally recommend getting a kettle with temperature control as your first step

My tea supply is really low
How far away are we from the harvest again?

>>20285873
The spring naka small trees is solid, some bitterness but not punchy like the lao man e good fragrance. Just a tiny hint of smoke but it's not prominent at all.

>>20285981
That's the good stuff

>>20286443
UK?
Get some green tea from what-cha.com
Try 50g of this
https://what-cha.com/collections/green-tea/products/vietnam-fish-hook-green-tea?variant=32620346826
Some of this
https://what-cha.com/collections/green-tea/products/japan-obubu-genmaicha-green-tea
And some of this
https://what-cha.com/collections/green-tea/products/india-nilgiri-dragon-well-green-tea
Maybe some Chinese black tea as well.
Some roasted oolong might jot hurt either.
https://what-cha.com/collections/oolong-tea/products/taiwan-ali-shan-heavy-roast-tie-guan-yin-oolong-tea
If you like some of these teas you can source them more directly for better prices but ordering in country is convenient for now.
Make sure you brew those greens with lower temperatures, boiling water will make them quite bitter.
As you cut down on sugar intake and your taste buds readjust you will find lots of teas has natural sweetness too them and don't need sugar.

>>20286443
Are you drinking shitty coffee? I only add cream and sugar to shitty coffee. Burnt dirt isn't real coffee.

>>20286792
Two months from the first harvest hitting vendors shops. There are probably some really early Chinese greens you can get now, i think tea-expert stocks them.
Here it is, this is the earliest green on the market from some southern Chinese island.
https://tea-expert.net/magazin-kitajskogo-chaya/zelenyj-chaj/70007-baisha-lvcha

>>20286224
You can buy organic Japanese tea and actually trust the certification.

>>20286855
Organic certified pesticides and fungicides are still pesticides and fungicides and boy do they use a lot of them

>>20286443
I'm also decently new to tea, around 3 months drinking loose leaf stuff (but I've had like bagged black tea all my life because Br*tish), I've tried around 8 types so far, mostly cheap to medium price, usually in 50g samples, which is enough for me to get the feel of the tea (desu you can get to know if you like a tea in less than that I've found, but if ur like me you probably do dumb shit like using the wrong water temps, wrong steep time etc so the first few times you try to make it the brew is either weak or bitter). I've just made 2 larger orders, 1 from Yunnan sourcing and another from a Taiwanese shop. Taiwanese shop order has arrived, what I ordered is low/mid price (i got a milk oolong and an oriental beauty oolong, really like the oriental beauty even if the flavour isn't huge - again maybe I'm still messing up the brewing). Try to get some white tea, green tea, a couple of oolongs and some black tea. Look up online the recommendations for the types you got, and follow the brewing recommendations closely to make sure you get what the tea is *supposed* to taste like. Avoid going too cheap to make sure you get quality, don't go too expensive either.

>>20286830
I went for Tealyra.com for my first tea order, also UK. Quality was decent and the prices are cheap, I wouldn't go for them now but they were alright for entry

>>20286867
Neem oil isn't dangerous

>>20286850
Was it a bad growing season this year? Usually get the first stuff in at the end of march and the later japanese stuff at the end of april.

>>20286842
That'll get you crucified over in ctg.

>>20286900
I might just be wrong but i recall it taking a few weeks after harvest to actually hit the shelves.

>>20286891
>Neem oil isn't dangerous
There is a lot more then neem oil that's approved for organic use.

>>20287169
https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/notices/view/133
>Appended Table 2
which one do you have a problem with? it's a lot better than chinese indiscriminately spraying whatever they want

>>20287199
The standards for quality Chinese teas are actually surprisingly high, as far as pesticides go. These trees have been there for hundreds, if not thousands of years, before pesticides were even known of. High altitude has significantly fewer bugs, too.

>make lapsang souchong in my plastic tea pot
>It smells like lapsang souchong and everything I make in it tastes like it
Now I know why people use porcelain.

>>20287268
Highly mechanised Japanese productions tend to use a lot of pesticides or have some contamination. Meanwhile, the Chinese have super cheap laos immigrant labor and all the high mountain plantations and wild growing forest yesheng shit. But weebs will still think Japanese 1000 time folded tea has less pesticides somehow.

>>20287284
>plastic teapot
what the fuck are you talking about

>>20287313
They do exist, but i dunno why anyone would use one, there are plastic gaiwans too

>>20287313
Something like this.
It's convenient desu.

Anyhow I just went back to my oversized porcelain gaiwan for now. I can just wipe the lapsang smell off.

>>20287310
I don't think Japanese necessarily use less pesticides. I just think what they can use is actually regulated and codified in law and I can trust something labelled organic is going to be of a certain standard which I'm okay with consuming. I can't do that with Chinese tea.
>But weebs will still think Japanese 1000 time folded tea has less pesticides somehow.
lol as seen from this thread it's sinophiles who live in a fantasy land where all the tea they are buying is from some magical ancient mountain far above the clouds and farmed by virgin girls with plantations that are thousands of years old and they totally don't use whatever pesticides make them the most profit because...reasons.

>>20287365
Yunnan Sourcing tests most (if not all) teas for pesticides, passing strict EU laws.

How many pesticides in this?

>>20287427
fucking erotic picture. i love when my puerh still has its foreskin.

>>20287460
Tea is stored in the balls.

What we drinkin niggas?

>>20279363
Where to buy tea in the UK

>>20287427
I only see mold.

>>20287515
Don't most of your "kind" buy from Mei leaf?

>>20287512
today was:
>2022 cspuerh Naka
>cheapo Fuhai ripe from Awazon
>KTM Jin Jun Mei

>>20287365
>I just think what they can use is actually regulated and codified in law and I can trust something labelled organic is going to be of a certain standard which I'm okay with consuming. I can't do that with Chinese tea.
This is my thoughts on the matter as well. If you really want the best assurance that the tea is pesticide free buy organic tea from Japan. I would expect most Chinese certified organic stuff to be better than not. The problem is in developing regions you are more likely to see people doing flagrantly unsafe stuff to make a quick buck. See gutter oil for an example. And I say this as someone who almost exclusively drinks non organic certified Chinese tea.
>>20287408
>Yunnan Sourcing tests most (if not all) teas for pesticides,
only their house brand puerh last I checked
>passing strict EU laws.
I am not sure if they actually test for a required pesticides. They get the limits fron the EU rules but I am unsure if they are really EU complaint.

>>20287518
Apparently its crystalized d-limonene.
>To produce white frost, it is necessary to ensure the activity of the oil glands on the surface of green mandarin orange. Once the oil glands are destroyed, then it is difficult to produce white frost and the value of green mandarin orange will also go down. That is to say, the white stuff produced only through the repeated sun exposure and low-temperature long-time baking processes. If you choose high temperature to bake them, then it will be very difficult to produce white frost as most of oil glands will be destroyed.

Anyone else here get stun-locked when making a new tea order? I've been shuffling my YS cart around for 2 weeks now... trying to decide what I want. (Limited budget makes it even harder.)

What's your methodology for choosing whether to blow your budget on a new tea to try vs something you've had before and KNOW you like?

>>20287163
Yunnan Sourcing dropped their first 2024 greens today

>>20287735
Its hard to shop for tea when you are broke i feel that, i usually just buy lots of cheap tea in those situations.
For how to decide what to order or if to reorder. I always like the speedtest. The faster you end up drinking though one kind of tea you ordered, the more you like it and you should consider ordering more. If you have a tea you like but don't drink often, then maybe you don't need to reup.

>>20287735
buy some stuff you like and samples of some new stuff

Has anyone here tried W2T's smoked or roasted puerh?

>>20287833
i have the 2021 smokeshou but i havent tried it yet. i guess ill post about it here whenever i do (i have no idea when ill get around to it)

>>20287833
Buy it buy it buy it
(I haven't tried either)
They sure made a bunch more of it this year so it must be at least somewhat successful.
But i think some posters have tried a few of them before so hopefully they chime in with some actual experience.

>>20287679
Oh, that's a relief.

>>20287735
>mfw reading this post and looking how much I spend on tea.
How do I stop?
I literally do the opposite of this anon, I just add random shit to my cart and hit buy without even thinking. The worst is I haven't even drank it all.

This gaiwan travel set advertises "car mounted". https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805739372954.html
Fellow gongfu drivers, where we at? I'm considering replacing my dashboard with a draining tea tray.

>>20287750
There's 2024 black teas, as well

>>20287735
Nah not really, but when my budget is limited I don't buy expensive tea.
It's rare I rebuy a tea, I do have a mental list of ones I would rebuy, but mostly I try new stuff.
I guess at this point I basically know what I like and what the tea is like, and picking stuff by gut feel doesn't really feel like a risk.

>>20287879
>Can gong fu while driving
Based? Imagine the Cha qi.

>17Track is down
goddamn puer lesbian tea all over the servers

>>20287911
What do you like?

>>20288023
I found stuff I like in every category so I'll just talk about restricted budget buying.
Heicha as a category is safe for me, I can buy pretty indescriminately. There's cheap shu that's way better than it has any right to be.
Roasted oolongs too, taiwanese particularly have some good deals.
I can get at least some enjoyment out of almost any boutique young raw after fiddling with parameters, for semi-aged factory raw I just pick xiaguan tuos. I've been disappointed by other cheap factory raws it's a bit more of a tossup so I check those out when I've got the money for experimenting.
And I always like having some cheap white tea and longjing for easy sips or coldbrew.

>>20286178
It's just an idea if you want your water as hot as possible. It's not that much more hassle if you're already setting up gongfu imo, I'm probably weird but I use mine for shorter hikes as well.

My w2t order has been on plane arrived for days, is that the extent of the tracking? The USPS tracking gives less info.

>>20285220
bird

>>20288754
You don't taste any blue? What about in the smell?

>>20287878
Change the shipping address to mine next time

>>20288670
Yeah it can sit there for a week or two even. Chinese shipping tracking doesn't really tell you all that much.

>>20287833
I have the Firebat. It's basically all smoke.

im basically the 100 pack nigger that drinks a lot of tea. i brew it in an old pickle jar thats about a liter size. i should like to change my tea game now that my budget is like >zero.

i go through about one a month

>>20289142
Is there something you're dissatisfied with? What are you looking for?

>>20289154
i dont know
>flavorful, the basic shit is fine but very boring
>cheapish, i dont need some top shelf stuff i wouldnt even appreciate it
>a better way to brew a large batch of tea that doesnt fucking spill everywhere

>>20289142
Yeah, buy a tea basket off of Amazon, a one like pic related
And then buy a box of this alwazah looseleaf black tea
https://www.amazon.com/Alwazah-Triple-Traders-Loose-Ceylon/dp/B07DZ4M75Z/
And brew in a mug
Just use a spoonful and steep 3-5 minutes depending on how you prefer it to taste.

>>20289169
>>20289162
Agreed, if you just want an upgrade on what you're doing, that's the way to go.

>>20289162
>a better way to brew a large batch of tea that doesnt fucking spill everywhere
https://www.amazon.com/Hario-Cha-Kyusu-Maru-700ml/dp/B0007WTBQ0/
Pull the besket out and stick it on a plate or dump it or whatever after its brewed. Don't leave the tea in the water in the teapot all afternoon.

>>20289169
Double the tea and brew time and add evaporated milk.

>>20287833
I've got about half a cake of Boat Captain left. I'm not a fan of smoked teas, but this one hits the spot. Tobacco notes and smoke that's "fresh" as opposed to "stale." Hard note to describe, sorry. I'm always glad I have it when I want it, but I need my sessions with smokey teas monthly at most. Lots of time between them.

>>20287735
>new tea to try vs something you've had before and KNOW you like
This is actually a pretty general problem:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration-exploitation_dilemma
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-armed_bandit
The simple human-applicable solution (you're probably not interested in optimality) is to start by buying a lot of new stuff and then gradually shift to buying known stuff. When you are young and predict that you'll live for another 50 years, you explore a lot. When you are grumpy old man, you mostly drink known stuff. In the interim - interpolate between this two extremeties. Obviously, apply common sense.

bump

>>20287460
nigga watt

Anybody try Tibetan butter tea? I love butter

Still drinking some 2023 spring oven baked Dong Ding from Taiwan Tea Crafts, see
https://www.taiwanteacrafts.com/product/organic-dong-ding-oolong-tea/
I'm not thrilled about it, though I get the feeling I could be preparing it better.
>preparation
Warm up the teapot that holds 280ml, put 6g of tea in, first steep 50" @ 95-100°C, then 15" and adding 5" to every subsequent steeping, with water always @ 95°C or so.
>aroma
The first two infusions have that characteristic, buttery steamed bread aroma with just a hint of nuttiness, though it's already weaker by the third infusion and pretty much gone by the fourth.
There's also a toasted almond note and a slight yellow and white flowery scent that's easier to detect in subsequent infusions, without any significant herbal note, and with barely any of the fruity and citrusy character of high mountain tea.
I've tried steeping the leaves at a lower temperature, around 90°C, and it just made the buttery steamed bread aroma less noticeable, with nothing else really coming to the fore, or at least nothing I could detect.
>taste
Nothing much, which is the biggest let down.
There's the nuttiness which is a bit fuller than in the aroma, and there's a slight aftertaste that resembles jin xuan a bit.
Steeping the leaves at a lower temperature produced no improvement here at all.

The reasons I feel like I might be preparing it wrong are that the taste is underwhelming compared to even a dong ding sample I got years ago from health tea house/fullchea, and the liquor color on the website looks a lot paler on the website compared to my cup, which you can see in pic related despite the low artificial light.
Also, if you're buying from Taiwan Tea Crafts be sure to sign up to their newsletter first, I only discovered after placing an order that they regularly offer discounts like 20% off on every order above €50, or cheaper shipping... so don't be like me and don't pay the full price.

>>20289574
6g for 280ml seems low to me, maybe try to do 8g and or 10g and don't get too strict with steeping time, taste and adjust as you go. If it's too weak for your taste just wait longer. Try to over steep it for your taste to know how long it take. Rest sounds fine maybe one question, which water are you using?

Had a great session with this naka earlier
https://www.farmer-leaf.com/collections/menghai-area/products/spring-2023-naka-small-trees
If you squint hard enough the huigan is reminiscent of cotton candy.

>>20289698
I've been drinking the Zhu Tang today. Very floral stuff, both upfront and in the throat.
I think Naka is a great terroir in general, so at that price the cake is tempting.

I got into this maybe a week ago with a JTH travel set and a sampler. I've bought maybe three different kinds of black tea since. Do you guys "wash"/pour out the first steep for everything, or did I just pick up a bad habit from him? I looked it up and it seems people are split when it comes to doing that. I've heard some people do that more for greens/oolongs and don't do it for black, I've heard people don't do it at all, I've heard the most caffeine is in the very first steep, etc.

>>20289609
Thanks for the input.
I'm using bottled water with a very low residue, around 20mg per liter.

>>20289876
I think "washing" makes sense for compressed teas just to break them apart quicker and it makes sense for aged teas that have been sitting around in some werehouse for 20 years
but I don't really get the point of it for black and green teas, I don't wash these. for rolled oolongs or whatever it will get them apart a bit faster

>>20289876
I typically only do a rinse if the tea is some funkey stinky puer or is dusty or otherwise seems like it needs it. People that drink a lot of tea, especially vendors and reviewers like to do a rinse and toss it sometimes even a quite long rinse so they can get to the heart of the tea flavor faster and skip the often weak inital pour. If you do a quick rinse, like 5 seconds you aren't really missing out on any flavor usually and it helps to warm the leaves and gaiwan.
So really its all personal preference or whatever you feel like. You only "need" to rinse if the tea is dirty/dusty or has some funky fermentation or wet storage flavir you want to get past.

>>20289876
I only rinse teas with lots of debris, like pu-erh leaves that I just broke away from a cake.
For other teas I just leave the leaves in to steep for as long as needed the first time, though it's up to your own preference.

>>20289884
Can you give the brand? Water should be fine. One or two sessions to test and you should be fine.

>>20289876
To add to what the other anons said, most of the caffeine being in the first steep is a myth, it takes much longer to extract the caffeine than a 10-15 second rinse.

drinking some Jiuqu Hongmei from Kingteamall. quite nutty, maybe a bit marzipany. the black teas I've gotten from KTM have been surprisingly solid, the Jin Jun Mei and 2012 Shai Hong are not pricey but both very enjoyable

Writing a short review of my taobao tea haul affter 3 months:
1) Fuhai Yuanzhen ripe brick (100% Bulang material)
My favorite of the bunch; lovely bitterness and slight huigan. Would buy again.

2) Dayi Dragon Pillar
Second place for me. I think this is a blend with some Bulang stuff in there and lighter fermentation. Don't think i would buy again; didn't impress me that much.

3) Dayi 7562, CNNP 7581, Xiaguan Xiao fa Blue label
My recommendation for daily drinking ripe.

4) Tulin 8502, 803 and 701
Honorable mention for the daily drinking ripe category. Kinda boring.

5) Fuhai Jin Yu (100% Yiwu), Yunxia (100% Menghai) and Run Fu (70% Menghai and 30% Yiwu)
Back of the storage with these, very boring, not worth it.
I don't think Yiwu works too well as a ripe. I tried a 2006 Yiwu sample from YS and loved it but this ripe is just barely worth a mention.

6)Tonqinghao Yiwu bricks from the 90's
Sweet, little bit of medicinal herb and smoke. Tastes just like the 2001 Yiwu ripe basket from YS (but WAY cheaper).

Still didn't build up the courage to try the gutter trash sheng brick.

>>20290430
Also biggest twigs i've ever seen

>>20290430
Do you remember what the price diffy was on those?

Somebody rec me a cheap but aesthetically pleasing gaiwan/teacup. I'm getting tired of the boring one I got from Aliexpress.

>>20290758
teaware.house is good for that, if ~20 usd is cheap enough for you

>>20290758
I like these jianzhan cups I got from KIngTeaMall

>>20290665
Here's the prices:
Dragon Pillar: ¥195
7562: ¥58
7581: ¥73
Blue label: ¥58
Jin Yu: ¥150
Yuanzhen, Yunxia, Run Fu: bought together at the special price of ¥199
803: ¥100 / 500g
8502: ¥ 59 / 500g
701: ¥90
Tonqinhao bricks: ¥85 / 500g

>>20290290
Damn i really gotta dig into his looseleaf next time i order, it seems like a pretty good value.
>>20290430
Thanks for the notes, im amazed some of those old ripe bricks worked out, maybe im a touch too cynical. Nice massive twigs.

>>20290912
Good shit tyty. I'll be asking for tao specifics here in a few weeks. Decided to go technics 1200 hunting for a while instead of reupping on cha.

>>20289999
Sure, it's Sant'Anna.

>>20291027
Ph a bit higher than the one I drink. Never had Sant'anna but i'm sure it's fine.

>honey-orchid phoenix oolong
more like roasted mushroom soup lmao what do people like about these

>>20287512
Trying out XG shou with cream. I prefer it without desu.

>>20289429
I've tried making some at home, but wasn't thrilled by it. Give it a go yourself.

>>20289429
I also love butter but I wasn't impressed by it. Felt like it was less than the sum of it's parts. But if you do want to try it use cultured butter.

>>20291305
The bulletproof coffee meme guy had the right idea, clarified coconut oil is the way to go.
Pro tip the $5 bottle of clarified coconut oil at the grocery store is the same stuff as the $20 bottle of MCT oil

After you open a brick, how do you store it?

>>20291788
Wrap it back up as best as I can, maybe throw it in mylar, huck it in the pumidor.

>>20291126
what oolong are you having that tastes like mushrooms

Any recommendations for a budget sheng to throw in my DTH cart? https://dragonteahouse.biz/pu-erh/?_bc_fsnf=1&Process=Raw&sort=priceasc
(Under 15$usd/100g)

I still don't understand afternoon tea!!

is it supposed to be a lunch replacement or a snack?
it looks like there's different courses which seems like a lot at any time
and why is everyone wearing such a big hat!!

>>20291950
ge this
https://dragonteahouse.biz/xiaguan-brand-cang-er-pu-erh-tea-tuo-2009-100g-raw/

>>20292586
What has your experience with it been like?

>>20292694
The wrapper looks pretty

>>20291020
>technics 1200 hunting
Why? For any hifi purpose I'd at least get a semi auto one. It sucks to remain steady when the tomearm is through the runout and goes *ppfttssptppffpstfpt*.
Denon DP-300F with Nagaoka MP-110 and couldn't be happier. Set and forget.

>>20290436
Damn. Chop it up and do a twig brew.

Beginner that was asking about Hong Kong milk tea here, a few threads ago. I tried going to a tea specialty place but they didn't seem to have any Ceylon CTC, only Assam. I passed up on the Assam but now I need to find Ceylon online. I bought some China Yunnan Pu-Erh - pic related - in the hopes that it correctly matches this recommendation in terms of teas to have without milk, which is what I've been accustomed to for my whole life.
>Try some high quality Chinese black teas, they tend to be less astringent and more sweet
>Shu pu-erh brewed strong could also work if you want a thicker, milkier texture
I'll try it in the morning because it's late here.

>>20293168
>>20289429
You can try Anon's scaled-down Tibetan tea recipe.

>>20293168
I hope you enjoy it. mystery cheap shu pu-erh can sometimes be pretty bad, sometimes it's good though, it's a little random. if you want consistency it's good to go for a bigger brand with good reputation for shu pu-erh, such as Dayi or Haiwan or one of the pu-erh specialist boutique vendors

Baozhong attempt #2.

I've discovered that the clay cup I normally use was significantly more muting than I previously thought. I drank out of my second clay cup (which I only use for guests aka virtually never) on a whim and noticed a wider breadth of flavors than before. Then I compared both cups back to back and definitely noticed the difference.

I'll have to go back and re-evaluate some of the other oolongs just to see how my cup was affecting the tasting.

>>20293095
>Automatic
Exact opposite of what I want. It's going to sit next to my traktor s8 and pull double duty.
https://youtu.be/VNuonBzGcBs?si=XbdAbisnbjxESHIC

>>20293265
I never understood the muting thing. do you guys cleanse palate before & after testing?
I usually down a glass a water at a minimum because I find it helps with flavor in either case.

I understand how clay can fuck with flavor, but still.

Do you use soap to clean your stuff? I've been told not to, that the boiling water is good enough, but my little cups are starting to get a little stained.

Where can I learn more about the different Grades of tea? I ended up buying some Competition Grade Qimen from Yunnan Sourcing, but I saw they had Imperial and Premium as well. I've also heard of people using stuff like AA, AAAA, other combinations of letters/abbreviations, etc, so it seems there's quite a lot of different ones.

>>20293451
I wouldn't worry about it much.
Everything is superior/nonparalel/Imperial but then you get something that is meh.
Same with the number of As.. sometimes 4A > 5A so like what's the point?
I wanted to say price is the only thing that matters but sometimes cheaper stuff tastes better than expensive stuff so I don't know.

>>20293451
yeah there honestly isn't a sensible system for grading tea. the Indian / British SGFTOP or whatever system is designed for grading mid black tea and even then I've had lower rated stuff be better than higher rated. the AAAAA system some Chinese vendors use is just total bullshit I think, just a way to say "this is the more expensive and possibly better version of that other thing"

>>20282496
>>20282731
>>20282772
The cake on the left
2012 XiaGuan "Yi Wu Bing Cha"
This one is very mild even If I use a lot of leaves. It is very similar to generic white cakes, with just mild flavor and sweetness. I can't believe I'm saying this but I miss some of the punch of young raws. It gives the tea a lot more character

The cake on the right
2021 XiaGuan "Xiao Hu Sai - Gu Shu"
I wanted to compare it to the xg jingmai cake I have and when I started to write things down, I realized I had the same thoughts as when I was comparing the jingmai cake to the fa zhan he sample.
Basically, the hekai is a sweeter, fruitier version of the jingmai.
I would say it's like 90% the same as the fa zhan he, just a bit milder.
The main two differences are:
1) fa zhan he, made me salivate, this hekai doesn't do that.
2) the hekai has more of that menthol/cooling feel on the tongue.

>>20293534
>2021 XiaGuan "Xiao Hu Sai - Gu Shu"
My mistake, its of course the 2020 Xiaguan "He Kai Gu Shu"

hey im a little new to tea and opened the link in OP, but i wasnt really getting much out of it. I like green, puerh, and black teas, so wheres best for those? also, do i need to get an actual brewer? ive been making my tea with a microwave because i live in a dorm and it tastes pretty good so it should be alright. pic rel.

>>20293574
the fuck?

A friend has been recommending Czar Nicholas II Russian tea to me. Any of you try it?

>>20293407
Use the rough side of a sponge.

>>20293407
I periodically use a melamine sponge and water on my porcelain and glass. Otherwise I mostly use my fingers under running water.

>>20293574
>I like green, puerh, and black teas, so wheres best for those?
yunnansourcing has noob-friendly product descriptions and a huge catalogue, so not a bad place to start. fullchea is good for cheap tea with cheap shipping as long as you stick to known pu-erh brands like Dayi and Haiwan and some of their better loose leaf. kingteamall is kind of in-between the two, good place for pu-erh and their other teas seem to be decent too

>>20293574
Mmmm microplastics and xenoestrogens with a hint of pressure bomb.
Keep it up anon, you're doing great.

>>20293407
yes. if it's glass/porcelain, it won't linger. If you're a clay autist, don't use soap or anything because your shitty wet sponge and soap's odors and shit will linger and will be a hassle to clean off.

>>20293641
>Mmmm microplastics and xenoestrogens with a hint of pressure bomb.
shut up retard. jesus christ I'm sick of these literal retards shitting up this board with their delusional garbage about plastics.

>>20293679
normally I'm not a fan of the microplastic schizos, but heating up liters of water in an old gatorade bottle in a cursed-looking old microwave every single day seems a little spooky to me

>>20293679
This matter concerns everyone's well being. Take your dogma and shove it up your arrogant ass.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222987/

>>20293574
Electric kettle with auto shut-off, that's the first upgrade you should make.

>>20293407
If a sponge won't cut it try baking soda and citric acid in water, put you tea ware in the water, let it react, then clean of with a rag or sponge. But unless it's caked on just a scrub with a sponge should be ok.

i love black tea and a bit of weed in the morning

>>20293641
i dont taste it so i think im okay. the sink water might cover it up tho so idk.
>>20293719
its not everyday but usually when i make some i end up boiling water 2-3~ times. its really not as spooky as it looks.

>>20293822
dude tea

>>20293679
They're annoying faggots most of the time but as soon as you add heat into the mix I'm with them, especially when it's easily avoidable anyway. They could just be using a mug or something of the sort instead of a plastic bottle.

>>20293822
I love a stoney session too. I try not to make it a habit, however. If I do partake, almost always my top shelf raw puerhs accompany it.
>>20293836
Do you detect any residual Gatorade notes when you brew in this way?

>>20293994
i got notes of gatorade but it kinda tasted like when you have vanilla extract and its bitter.

>>20294208
>notes of gatorade
idk why you guys are trying to get this retard to stop microwaving a gatorade bottle when we can get quality reviews/descriptions like this. please start reviewing more tea boiling water in a gatorade bottle.

>>20294362
we've seen pepsi and milk in Lao Banzhang, how about Lao Banzhang with the gatorade bottle?

>>20281708
>>20293574

>>20294429
please update with notes of gatorade >>20294208

>>20279363
How oxidized would you say this oolong tea is?

I'm a week new to tea drinking, I asked my mom to get me Green tea(I'm a neet) and they got me this, they said oolong was a type of green tea(it's not). I assume this is pretty heavily oxidized compared to green tea.

It has a very woody flavor/smell.

>>20293534
Thanks for the notes, nice to see more taobao buys on here

>>20293605
Its probably decent, we have had people mention it here as liking it from when they were younger, just don't overpay for it. I think you can get big bags for like $10-20 on ebay

>>20294480
Looks really oxidized, yeah. Light oxidized oolongs are a bit more like green tea, but not really the same. I find they're usually more floral and not as savory as green teas tend to be.
Does it taste roasted?

>>20294480
Looks pretty oxidized, depends on how you brewed it, show us a picture of the wet leaves after brewing for a more definitive answer. If teabags then yeah its pretty oxidized.
Her heart was probably in the right place, there are some extremely green oolongs these days.
Try brewing for only 2 1/2 minutes for a lighter flavor.
Just ask he to get a huge box of ito en green tea bags from amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Kirkland-Matcha-Blend-Japanese-Tea-100/dp/B000WB1YSE/
Or sugimoto if you want something a little more premium
https://www.amazon.com/Sugimoto-Tea-Award-Winning-Antioxidants-L-Theanine/dp/B0C1HK9VQ6/

>>20294534
>Her heart was probably in the right place
I'm aware, I'm not mad at her about it. I do appreciate her getting it for me even if it's not what I wanted.

>Looks pretty oxidized, depends on how you brewed it, show us a picture of the wet leaves after brewing for a more definitive answer. If teabags then yeah its pretty oxidized.
Yeah it was tea bags, but I don't use the tea bags because of microplastics I cut them open and use a strainer. The instructions say 3-5 minutes, I went for 5 minutes because I want to get as much as I can out of the tea.

>Try brewing for only 2 1/2 minutes for a lighter flavor.
I don't really have a huge problem with the taste, I was just curious about how oxidized it was.

Also can't blame her too much for getting it wrong because the damn box says that oolong is a premium type of green tea, lol.

>https://www.amazon.com/Kirkland-Matcha-Blend-Japanese-Tea-100/dp/B000WB1YSE/
This is literally what I texted her to get me last week, but they decided they wanted to get something at the store instead. Again I appreciate it, just wish they got me that instead.

>>20294480
you sure this isn't some cheap ass extreme Shou?

>>20294577
>oolong is a premium type of green tea
I think that comes from a translation error or smth. I've seen the word 青茶 (qing cha) used for teas processed as oolongs but are not really considered orthodox oolongs (still confused about this), and that could be translated as green tea, or blue, or blue-green. A type of classification used in China that didn't translate very well in the West.

>>20294452

>>20294599
>>20294612
IDK, this is the box it's from.

>>20294625
Yeah, looks like a shitty translation.

>>20293675
where does ruyao fall into this? i was under the impression that anything glazed would be alright to wash with soap but then i saw how ruyao actually is a little bit porous, so evidently not. now i'm wondering if i ruined my one of my gaiwans and cups

>>20294705
Ruyao is porus in the areas where its cracked. I don't think you ruined anything unless you teaware smells like scented soap or tea you drink out of it tastes like soap. Outside of vlay the no soap on teaware thing is a big autistic, xthen again i use unscented soap in the kitchen. But i put mugs in the dishwasher and the dish soap is scented and they never pick up weird flavors from it.

>>20294616
thank you for your service

neuthread
>>20295005
>>20295005