/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Can anyone suggest a jassid bitten tea to try? Is it mostly oriental beauty in this category?

>>20330778
https://pathofcha.com/products/red-oolong-tea
This is the best one I've tried, but it is expensive and their "old sage describes tea to student" gimmick is annoying.

>>20330818
Thank you, I've been thinking of ordering from them for a while. That schtick is pretty silly, at least they have some good articles.

>>20330778
Oriental beauty is great.
This shop is expensive but it should be a proper example of a traditional Oriental beauty.
https://www.tea-masters.com/en/jassid-bitten/1714-1594-2023-summer-oriental-beauty-tradition-from-hsin-chu.html#/1-weight-25_gr
Taiwan tea crafts have some considerably cheaper options but i haven't tried their teas myself. Several of these are from different regions then the traditional Oriental beauty or use different tea varitals.
https://www.taiwanteacrafts.com/shop/product-category/taiwan-tea/tea-by-type/oriental-beauty-tea/?v=7516fd43adaa
One thing worth mentioning is that generally with these teas you will see them actually being bitten by the leaf hoppers is generally advertised more as a possibility then a guarantee.
The ones from tea masters do they are are actually bitten in the listings. Tea masters does have some offerings that are a few years old which is probably fine for higher oxidation roasted oolongs but i would avoid the green oolongs that are older then last years. The ones from Taiwan tea crafts are all available with a 2023 harvest.
https://www.tea-masters.com/en/33-jassid-bitten

>>20330846
Thanks anon, there's so much tea to try. This'll form into my next oolong stockup eventually.
I wonder if they intentionally release jassids into the fields.

I had a dream I made green tea (some '24 harvest) and then ate the leaves with rice. It was good, but I'm blaming you guys for this.

>>20330755
>Afraid of the plastic Edition.
do people really eat spent tea leaves? I've seen some photos here.

100ml gaiwan is too small

It's almost April which means new harvest is just a few months away.
Make a wish!

>>20330949
I thought i was using a 120ml gaiwan for like two years until i measured it and realized its 150ml usable capacity.
100ml is good for absolutely packing to the brim with yancha

>>20330961
New harvest is already up in stores.
At least the earliest Chinese greens.
Not sure about Japan

>>20295045
SAUCE

>>20330961
I wish it were 3 weeks from now so I could be sipping on my early greens.

Teaware and Spring 2024 Yingpan Shan in farmer leaf shop.

Found a blonde reddish hair in my puer cake

>>20331007
I wish he would offer these stoneware ceramics.
I found it in one of his video and it was from some Ukrainian dude that due to war no longer sells shit.
Haven't seen anything like this elseware.

>>20330987
i replied to you in the last thread, sorry i didnt see a new thread was made

>>20331042
It was a gifted to him and the ukrainian guy is only doing handmade stuff would be hard to get the same unless you ask for it. If you can spend a lot of money I'm sure you can find a japanese guy and give instructions for a custom made gaiwan cup or anything. I don't fancy those kind of ceramics I'm into transparent ones but crystal is also expensive. I have a stoneware kyusu you could look into it maybe they sell other kind of tea related things in that style from japan.

>>20331089
>find a japanese guy
>>20331042
Maybe you could email artistic nippon and ask if they can source anything similar, Toru there is pretty safe

>>20327862
I prefer kyobancha, it's extremely good in my opinion
>>20331055
I need your catincomputer collection

>>20331099
>I need your catincomputer collection

>>20331097
Japanese artisan website to contact them and ask for what you want yes.

>>20331104

>>20331109

>>20331112

>>20331042
Yeah I've been mirin those ceramics too. Never seen anything else in that style.
Could look into Japanese Hagi Ware I guess, they also use thick uneven glaze but I haven't really seen colors like these.

>>20331104
>>20331109
>>20331112
>>20331113
Godspeed, your contribution will not go unrecognized. 500 years good fortune for you!
>>20331097
They stocked a kyusu I like, thank you for indirectly reminding me to check their site again. 499 years good fortune for you!

>>20330251
For white2tea ripes I've only had Lumber Slut and Peak Vulture so far, I'd recommend them for sure. Especially LS, it's very very good. Almost has some similarities to a clean modern liu bao and can even be surprisingly dynamic sometimes. And the price point is like a Dayi 7572 for something quite unique. Never went through a ripe cake so fast before, I might buy a tong at some point.
The Moon Waffles is lovely so far, I hope they press it again cause I see they're out of cakes. Made me want more milky, thick and sweet whites like that. Maybe I'll sample some more higher oxidation moonlight whites.
For their raws, I wasn't too impressed with the ones I've tried. 941 and Snoozefest are pretty simple and just fine for the price. Veldt was better. Maybe I'd like Green Hype more. But the Fa Zhan He and autumn Lao Man E from FarmerLeaf mogg them all for my tastes and on sale they are a bit cheaper.

With spring starting, remember to harvest your local Lindens

>>20331195
I saw you asking for more white tea recommendations last thread, sorry i cant contribute much but im also interested.
Xiaguan has been making moonlight white cakes for a while now that ive been tempted to grab. Im hoping if i look on taobao the prices will be a little more palatable since they are overpriced on KTM.
https://kingteamall.com/products/2017-xiaguan-yue-guang-moon-light-cake-360g-bai-cha-white-tea?_pos=1&_sid=e1301673b&_ss=r
https://kingteamall.com/collections/white-tea/products/2018-xiaguan-bai-cha-white-tea-320g-yunnan-yueguangbai

>>20331228
Neat, we call them lime trees for some reason, I wasn't aware it's edible. How's it taste?

Speaking of king tea mall my man just put up a bunch of boxes and tins of recent cnnp and three cranes liubao.
Prices are pretty tempting.
2kg basket of three cranes for $70, looks like a reasonably high grade too. He is also breaking these up so you can get a kilo for $40
https://kingteamall.com/collections/home-page/products/2024-sanhe-21031-te-ji-special-grade-2kg-basket-liubao-loose-leaf-dark-tea-wuzhou-guangxi?variant=44388769956070
Red box cnnp liubao, aged by the factory for 7 years before packaging, $15 for 100g box
https://kingteamall.com/collections/home-page/products/2020-sanhe-liu-bao-cha-liubao-tea-1st-grade-loose-leaf-100g-tin-boxed-liu-pao-tea-dark-tea-wuzhou-guangxi?variant=44404963868902
400g semi aged 3 cranes cakes for $55, material is pretty rough. Im pretty sure chawangshop has a similar cake for like $150.
https://kingteamall.com/collections/home-page/products/2014-sanhe-chen-nian-bing-liubao-aged-cake-400g-liu-pao-tea-dark-tea-wuzhou-guangxi-province
Some more interesting ones beyond that.

>>20331036
>>20331235
Thanks for the replies. I'll grab both the white teas from theTea.pl for now to satisfy my newfound white tea cravings.
The world of white tea is confusing to me, but Moon Waffles looks to be on the more oxidized side, right? So I guess higher oxidation stuff is what I should look for. The Jingmai Moonlight from FarmerLeaf I thought was pretty good, but not quite this good IIRC.

THREADLY REMINDER
get a tongue scraper
use it daily
enjoy your tea

>>20331664
From your last threadly reminder a dozen threads ago, I picked one up and started using it daily. Solid recommendation.

>>20330778
Some second flush Darjeeling teas are supposedly bug bitten. Its what is purported to give them their muscatel flavor.

>>20331664
I have one, I don't use it often, are you implying that it improves your ability to pick up on tastes? Haven't really tried looking out for that difference before so I'll give it a go.

>>20331243
>>20331243
>we call them lime trees for some reason
The first time I saw that it confused me as to where euros where getting so much "lime" wood from. We call it basswood in the states. I will try to collect some for tea this year.

https://white2tea.com/products/2022-tale-chaser
https://white2tea.com/collections/hybrid-teas/products/2023-predawn-dark
Anyone here have experience with these, or any other roasted shou? I'm not fond of W2T, but the concept intrigues me.

I almost always brew 200ml of tea at a time, do you all think a 220ml kyusu is probably too small? My current one is too big (430ml) and I generally want to replace it, but I wonder how small is too small?

Anyone else drink nettle tea? It's bretty good and really fucking cheap (even free if you can find nettles with no pesticides or dog piss on them)

>>20331015
Probably from a horse lol

>>20331015
Tocharian tea

>>20332005
it came back R1b

Putting together a pu'er order from Awazon, and I'm thinking of adding some black tea. Is theirs decent at all?

>>20330755
we beetles here

Can tea make you itchy?
I got a box of green tea + lemon teabags, and every time I drink a cup I get itchy all over my body.

>>20332456
It could be pesticides or literally anything but I would not drink something that makes me itchy.

>>20332456
Anon you can potentially develop an allergy to literally anything, I mean anything. Perhaps stop drinking that tea.

name one good tea
you can't, can you?

>>20332511
i got some wild mountain mint growing in soon. It's good because it's free.

>>20332456
If your tea has pollen and you are allergic to pollen you might be slightly allergic, for example.
I get itchy if I eat cherries but never goes past that

>>20331243
Like linden tea, honestly havent had it in over a year now so its a bit hard to describe from memory, but I like it. It can be very strong

>>20331261
Nice, it's good to see more quality liu bao choices from a vendor

>>20331930
If you brew 200 ml, then 220ml should be perfect

>>20332511
Tesco tea bags simple as

Do any of you use an osmosis machine? I feel like the tea is too astringent when it shouldnt ve and there is severe calcium residue in the kettle after just one month

>>20331055
Thanks anon

>>20332748
All the table reverse osmosis machines I found all have proprietary filters which are fucking expensive. Anyone know of a better alternative?

>>20331055
>living in euroland

>>20332461
>>20332478
>>20332530
I've been drinking this shit all month, and scratching like a louse infected crack head every evening. Took me so long to realize the connection cause I never had an allergy before and drank green tea since I was a kid.
Wtf does Tetley put in their tea? Since when do adults spontaneously develop allergies to mundane things?

>>20332892
if you got the mrna shot or are sorrounded by spike shedding mrna cattle, it's about time you should get used to such sudden immune reactions to mundane things and other bodily malfunctions.

>>20332892
>Since when do adults spontaneously develop allergies to mundane things?
All the time.
People in food industry have to wear nitrile gloves instead of latex ones for this exact reason.
The are plenty of other examples but you get the idea.

>>20332902

>>20332920
The gloves are to keep the wagies shit spackled hands from contaminating the food. Touching food doesn't make genetically healthy people allergic. If that were true, everyone would be allergic to everything simply from eating.

>>20332949
>Touching food doesn't make genetically healthy people allergic
No but wearing latex gloves all day does make you allergic to it.
Nitrile gloves are much more safe.

>>20332902
two more weeks and the bodies of the dead and dying vaxxes will fill the streets. Two More Weeks!!

Drinking some oolong from a local teashop. Not so impressed. They are from both taiwan and china supposedly. I have to say they both taste pretty much the same. Mostly roasty black leaning kind of notes. The most common kind of oolong in europe, I have found. Kinda bitter, even at low temps. Not much else. But then again maybe it's my shitty water thats ruining all my teas, who knows.
I ordered a tds, ph measurement probe, so will be interesting to see how that turns out.

>>20333144
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(23)00221-1/fulltext
"Many countries, including the UK, have continued to experience an apparent excess of deaths long after the peaks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.1,2 Numbers of excess deaths estimated in this period are considerable. The UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) has calculated that there were 7.2% or 44,255 more deaths registered in the UK in 2022 based on comparison with the five-year average (excluding 2020).1 This persisted into 2023 with 8.6% or 28,024 more deaths registered in the first six months of the year than expected.1 The Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) found a similar excess (28,500 deaths) for the same period using different methods."

"The greatest numbers of excess deaths in the acute phase of the pandemic were in older adults. The pattern now is one of persisting excess deaths which are most prominent in relative terms in middle-aged and younger adults(...)"

>>20333233
clean your fucking gaiwan it's digusting.
you're drinking limescale infused with the tannins
>taste pretty much the same

>>20333256
Lets be real, Anon. As if that bit of tea crust has any impact on taste.

>>20332949
based retard

>>20333262
hard water that causes the scaly shit buildup sure does have an impact on taste. imagine.
brita pitcher isn't that expensive when on sale. try it if you have hard water. some people are immune to slop, I know, I have a family but please use soft water in your kettle for hot drinks.
clean your teaware ne kettles you slobs, jesus
>at least it's not microplastics tee hee

>>20331885
>I have one, I don't use it often, are you implying that it improves your ability to pick up on tastes?
Yup

>>20332892
>Wtf does Tetley put in their tea?
You are probably developing an allergy to one of the flavorings they are adding. Since you said its lemon flavored it could be whatever they are using for that.

>>20332748
I don't, I use bottled water, I recommend it
>>20333251
>these descriptive statistics about data, which wasn't tested to verify whether there's a statistically significant difference between the expected numbers and the actual registered numbers, could only be explained by a conspiracy to [...]
oh wow

>>20332748
>Do any of you use an osmosis machine?
I used to use a reverse osmosis system. It's generally believed that it removes too much mineral content from the water and its no longer great for making tea.
The best solution is to get a 2 or 3 stage under sink filtration system like poc related. If you have a space for a second tap or soap dispenser on your sink its easy to install a separate faucet for filtered water.
If you want to use reverse osmosis you can get remineralization filters you install after the ro unit to add a small amount of minerals back into the water.
Or you can look at the custom water recipes in the pastebin, and make your own custom mineral blends for water.
If you own your house and have hard water look into getting a whole hose water softener system. They are annoying to refill with big bags of salt but they make a huge difference in water quality.

>>20333316
Why would you want to taint your tea with minerals ? Reverse osmosis is the best option for tea and coffee. Explain why you think it isn't.

>>20333332
based retard

>>20333334
See you don't know, you just parrot bullshit.

So i have been drinking the legend of tung ting oolong from tea home.
Here is a quick comparison between the standard grade legend of tung ting and the selected charcoal roasted grade.
The standard grade uses more basic leaf material, some larger stems.
The standard grade is also a slightly higher fermentation level, maybe a 5% or 10% difference.
That said the standard grade is deliciously mellow with warm roasted baked good notes, smooth with lasting sweetness.
The selected grade has a bit more complexity but it doesn't really have any actual charcoal taste like i was expecting.
Both are solid options for enjoyable mellow sweet oolongs, easy on the stomach, tasty, just a solid daily drinking oolong. You can't really go wrong with either.
If you just want the smoothest easiest drinking roasted dong ding i would go with the standard grade. If you are more picky about leaf quality the selected grade is nicer with somewhat smaller leaf grades but still is not destemmed so neither will be a beauty queen kinda oolong.
Pic related is the standard grade after a few brews.

>>20332768
>Anyone know of a better alternative?
Drill a hole in your sink and mout one of these taps so you can use a standard undersink unit.

>>20333233
the other anon is pozzed your gaiwan looks cool

>>20333233
Interested to hear your testing results.
Can you post a picture of the dry leaf of both oolongs if you get a chance, i wonder what they look like.

>>20333332
>Why would you want to taint your tea with minerals ? Reverse osmosis is the best option for tea and coffee. Explain why you think it isn't.
There are very few people who agree with your viewpoint. The international specialty coffee association has specific recommendations for mineral profiles for cafe shop water for making ideal coffee. Tea works best with similar mineral profiles, see the water recipe section of the rentry for more information on the subject.
https://sca.coffee/sca-news/2023/1/19/the-quest-for-coffee-perfection
Do not confuse water with any mineral content and so called mineral water purchased in bottles with a strong mineral taste.

>>20333332
farmerleaf says that high mineral content will mute the flavours of your tea, while low mineral content will make your tea push too foward or be too harsh in taste, which is not how it was really intended to be drunk, and this is something i agree with, as just changing mineral content causes a substantial difference in taste to me. reverse osmosis will also strip the water of oxygen, which is also said to strip flavour from the tea, however i have never ever noticed a difference in taste when changing dissolved oxygen content, but it doesnt mean you wont too. if you like the taste of your tea using the reverse osmosis process more than feel free to do it, but people are criticizing your stance that its the 'best' only because weve heard that it will do these things that will generally make tea taste worse for most people.

I accidentally posted this in the old thread yesterday.
One last KTM shill post, they have a dayi nugget brick that's $30, looks to have a pretty high nugget content
https://kingteamall.com/collections/home-page/products/2020-dayi-lao-cha-tou-old-tea-head-brick-250g-puerh-shou-cha-ripe-tea?variant=43687244595430

>>20332892
Humans developing spontaneous allergies is unfortunately a relatively common thing. Our bodies are a little stupid.

>>20332949
Some things sensitize us over time to their exposure and provoke an immune response. Poison ivy is one such example. Many people are not allergic to urushiol, the chemical on their leaves, at first, but develop the sensitivity over time as a result of repeated exposure. Minor allergies can also worsen through repeated exposure with time, such as with bee stings. I know being retarded and anti-science is the new meta, but throwing common sense completely out the window doesn't benefit anyone.

>>20333401
Nice looking brick. I've been trying to resist buying that kilo of liu bao all day.

>>20333414
My thoughts on the liubao
Three cranes usually makes nice stuff. It's not a top echelon product but its much above the super stemmy leafy lower grades.
According to my liubao code cheat sheet a current year batch with the recipe 21031 means is started aging in 2021, its made with grade zero (smallest leaves and buds) from factory 3 (san he/three cranes) and its the first batch (and likely only batch) of tea from that production run.
So it spent about 3 years ageing in the three cranes warehouse.
Im bullshitting a bit here but i would expect a tea like that to be more on the chocolatey side without prominent storage notes and the tippyness might mean it gets a bit bitter if you push it.
The listing says fermentation is moderate so it shouldn't be too bitter or have green aspects to it like younger light fermentation material can.
A few years in the warehouse is nice, some of the cheaper productions only get like 6 months.
I might get like half a kilo and toss in a couple of those cnnp red box liubaos for that extended factory aging.

>>20333409
I think the true answer is more nuanced. Developing new allergies can happen but is not that frequent. It can also happen in reverse to people sometimes "outgrow" allergies or are desensitized to them. Objective food allergies in general appear to be much less common then self reports from the public. The evidence also seems to be shifting towards encouraging early childhood exposure to common allergens in order to help prevent the development of allergies.

Urushiol is also kind of a poor example because it is both a uniquely irritating compound and it causes a type IV hypersensitivity which is not the same as a traditional allergy (a type I hypersensitivity). The biologic pathway is quite different.

>>20333488
I do own some CNNP liubao but I like the three cranes method better.
then ther's this tempting cake: 2014 Sanhe "Chen Nian Bing" (Liubao - Aged Cake) 400g which I may actually pull the trigger on.

the Peak Vulture is so damn thick and heavy. something about it makes me think of custard
the flavor itself isn't super complex though. I wonder if it will develop in a few months

How is cold raw pu'er? I'm curious how it would mix with gin.

>>20332748
I have a Berkey water purifier, so I don't need to pay for water for the rest of my life. You should look into one.

>>20333488
Very tempting, haven't tried any three cranes stuff at all

>>20333855
Based berkey enjoyer.
>>20330987
>>20331055
>>20332813
$1gaiwanon inspired me to snag some shit last night. Hopefully I didn't get fucked too bad on the strainer.

>>20333316
I have made tea from deionised water and it was fantastic. What minerals do you believe improve the taste of tea?

>>20334013
The other two, the ones which you don't like.
Stay on the deionised water then, you paid for it and it tastes fantastic. Good for you.

>>20333399
maybe I should invest into this thing. It has it's own reminerilization system. It's freaking expensive though and the filters are proprietary.

>>20333290
>brita pitcher
But this may be something I might look into first before just lavishing out 500€ for proprietary E-Waste

>>20333290
there are so many options. which one would be the way to go for my use case?

Now its time for the teahome selected roast alishan oolong. I should be doing some of these in my wood fired Japanese pot, ill try to remember it next time.
Sorry for the shitty lighting

Take the tetsubinpill. Hard water is actually beneficial because the excess minerals bind to the iron to make it stronger.

>>20333855
kinda hard to get in euroland I'm afraid

>>20333666
>then ther's this tempting cake: 2014 Sanhe "Chen Nian Bing" (Liubao - Aged Cake) 400g which I may actually pull the trigger on.
Yeah that's a pretty solid price for one of those old liubao cakes.
2008 material, aged for 5-6 years before pressing. Its a bit in the stems and big leaf size but i bet its good. It certainly has a good amount of age on it and the description written by chat gpt sounds nice.

>>20333893
>haven't tried any three cranes stuff at all
Three canes liubao is very nice, its typically got much less strong storage notes where the cnnp stuff sometimes goes full aged beats in a soil root cellar. A few three cranes productions are definitely a must try if you want to explore liubao more.

>>20334170
https://support.berkeywater.com/find-authorized-berkey-dealers/authorized-international-dealers/

>>20334034
>The other two, the ones which you don't like.
Not sure what you mean, >>20334013 was my first post in /ck/ ever.
>Stay on the deionised water then, you paid for it and it tastes fantastic. Good for you.
I wish. This was from a deioniser for scientific work and semiconductor fabrication. The plant was very expensive and huge, rather unsuited for a home. My point is taht this was an experiment in extremely clean water, and the result exceeded my expectations.

>>20333855
How often do you have to replace the filters?

>>20334245
About every 8000gal if you're running a pair. Some people go way over and say its fine. The black berkey filters are a dense ceramic like matrix so a couple times a year you have to scrub them and expose fresh pores when your flow starts to slow down.

>>20332195
*are theirs

>>20334108
None, get an inline water filter. They can last 5 years for much cheaper and then you don't have to dick around with filling a pitcher all the while they filter more. Brita filters are just carbon filters as far as I'm aware.

>>20332195
If anyone's tried it I don't think they posted about it. The pics look ok, but the 2/3c a gram stuff might be not so good.

>>20330755
Ive been drinking yamamotoyama tea bags for a bit and want some fresher loose leaf green teas. Anyone have recommendations for a more or less casual drinker? I saw some shit on ebay for bulk loose leaf tea but I dunno how fresh or legit that stuff it.

Also looking for teas that have earthy, spicier, bolder tea flavor

Do you guys really tell people you enjoy drinking "poo air"?

>>20334411
Yes, and then I tell them I keep my poo air in my poomidor.

>>20330755
How do people drink green tea? I'm using 80 celsius water and 3 grams in a 90 ml gaiwan and shit is bitter as fuck.

>>20334403
For Japanese green teas you can get bags of sugimoto loose leaf sencha on Amazon or their website. It's not a super premium sencha but better then teabags.
Avoid buying teas on eBay unless you know what you are doing, so much bad stuff on there.
https://www.amazon.com/Sugimoto-Company-Japanese-Package-ASINPPOSPRME18669/dp/B00DDGRE0M/
You should strongly consider getting some Japanese tea from one of the Japanese shops in the rentry like o-cha. Even their base daily drinker sencha will be pretty nice.
Its almost tea harvest time in Japan and ideally you want to wait until this years teas are harvested and make sure you are getting 2024 teas. Japanese greens are best within about six months of harvest but they can be okay for up to a year if the vendor stores them properly.
>Also looking for teas that have earthy, spicier, bolder tea flavor
You might enjoy a fairly standard ceylon black tea, something like this.
https://www.amazon.com/Alwazah-Triple-Traders-Loose-Ceylon/dp/B07DZ4M75Z/
Or possibly some assam, vahdam is decent and accessible
https://www.amazon.com/Assam-Leaves-Golden-Tips-3-53/dp/B00VLOCBHE/
They have some single estate assams on their website
https://www.vahdam.com/products/halmari-clonal-assam-second-flush-black-tea-or-480-23?variant=40817371578411

>>20334423
What tea, how long are you brewing it?
I guess you could try 70°c, it might just be bitter tea.

>>20334471
do the harvest years really make that much a difference in the flavor? I don't think I've explored teas enough yet for me to notice the difference but I'll wait and keep drinking my current stash of yamamotoyama.

I've had assam tea and find it quite pleasurable. What do single estate assams have over the typical stuff.

>>20334411
I got a bunch of friends and coworkers drinking it, too.

>>20334511
>do the harvest years really make that much a difference in the flavor?
For Japanese green teas and other green teas yes.
If you just wanted to try some of the sugimoto it would be fine to order now, they should store their tea properly and its a blend of many different fields tea and different harvests from last year. But yeah the fresh Japanese green teas are pretty wild flavor wise rich savory flavors and a thick brothy texture.
Single estate assam is going to generally be a bit higher quality then what you find in blended assams. Nothing vahdam has in is the super premium category but high end indian teas get stupidly expensive and they aren't really worth it unless you are really into indian teas.
But when you say you are looking for something spicy i tend to think of assam or other orthodox black teas. Chinese black teas tend to be lighter and more fruity.

>>20334553
Great thanks tea anon. I am gonna browse the rentry for the green tea you suggested. Do these websites usually update their items from a new harvest like "New 2024 harvest tea" or is it just on a whim.

>decided to give up alcohol and get into tea instead
>thinking about how much money I'm gonna save
>turns out that I have to buy really fucking expensive tea, a bunch of chink teacups and apparently now water filters as well in order to fit in with the internet cool kids
god damn it

>>20330778
How are jassids treated in the process? Are they kept, controlled, specifically bred, killed in a way or is it more comparable to how pollinators are attracted to crops and such?

>>20334607
Even pretty pricey tea will cost less per session than a drink at a coffee shop. And there's enjoyable cheap tea too.
Don't worry too much about the other stuff, just solve problems as they come up for you. Or develop a crippling ceramics addiction

>>20334607
The most authentic way to have tea is to heat up tap water, storing it in a thermos, and then dumping it on leaves in a mug

>>20334595
Yukki cha has it under the specifications tab for each listing
Yunomi life lists it for each listing
So does thes du japon
Sazen tea has a Best by date that's like 8 months after harvest so if you order teas that are still within their best by date they will be from 2024
O-cha im not sure
Anyways bookmark this too for later, you don't need any special teaware for green tea, just too cups and a metal strainer, keep it simple.
But you gotta brew it correctly for best enjoyment
https://www.o-cha.com/make-green-tea.html
They go a little too hard the most important stuff is using the right amount of water and the right temperature of water, you can just boil water and then let it cool for 5 minutes if you don't have a thermometer handy.

>>20334638
They are just natural pests that are normally kept away with pesticides, i don't think anyone is farming them the let loose on their tea fields.

>>20334730
Okay got it. I'll be sure to wait for a bit then. Thanks tea anon.

>>20334770
Cheers, don't rush to buy the very earliest harvest sincha, wait for the standard sencha, you absolutely don't need to start out with expensive teas, the normal grade affordable sencha is still gonna be really nice. And the early sincha and gyokuro might be a little overwhelming in terms of both flavor and added complexity in brewing

>>20333893
which liubaos you did tried?
the liubao database is very scatterd. and importing heicha is getting dumb expensive.
I import scotch malt whisky because it's often cheaper here due to UK HM Taxes robbing the producers off. our vat is 19% on alcohol lowest in the whole European Union. I fucking revere in this shit as long as I can. plus we're decriminalising the Veed on April the first. up to three bushes in your domicile, 50g in your pocket on the street. calls for celebration.

>>20334245
I haven't replaced them and hope to test the water quality in a few years, the issue is that the tests are expensive as hell. Two years so far and the water tastes better than 3 week old blue brita filters with my heavy usage.

>>20334860
>and importing heicha is getting dumb expensive.
Yup, stuff has quadrupled in price since 2016 or so. I even checked three cranes official taobao store and it's not any cheaper there really. I will have to look into third party taobao vendors, hopefully some money can be saved there.
I guess other hei cha has always been sort of tied to the puer fever. You can see it with the explosion of ultra premium fu brick productions in the last decade where before then most fu bricks were half stems and roughly chopped old summer leaves.
Some of the best liubaos ive had have been from three cranes. Chawangshop used to have a basket of some gold metal winning batch that had a savory cured meat flavor to it, really impressive stuff.
Also the cnnp black box liubao, aged by the factory for 8 years before boxing in 2016, i guess its a recreation of a product that was popular on the Japanese market. Extremely clean smooth and chocolaty. Im assuming the lack of storage taste was to cater to Japanese tastes.

>>20334935
what i meant by database is probably just me and you here. that;s definition of scattered.. maybe a third liubao poster, but I'm not sure.
get the green liubao basket from w2t if you haven't yet. worth it for the education. 100 euros for a gram of very pure coke seems reasonable now somehow to me. helluva drug. you quickly get addicted to turning everything up to 11. suddenly I understand fatties from america.

>>20334971
Damn, will do, you have always recommended good teas

>>20334984
I didn't mean to big up the product too much but it's different enough for the tea anoraks to mull over it.
>you have always recommended good teas
thank you

>>20335005
Cheers
Crank up some cheesy dub and enjoy a little less paranoia
https://youtube.com/watch?v=qx2CYOkig4s

im sure this has been asked 40,000 times, but tell me the truth about these yixing teapots, does this shit matter at all? 170 bucks for a tiny little pot?

>>20335114
Consider collecting teapots to be it's own sperate hobby from actually drinking tea.
Do they make your tea taste different? Some do. Do they make your tea taste better? Debatable.
Buy one if you think it looks cool and you would enjoy using it. Absolutely don't buy one for any supposed benefits in terms of flavor or the quality of your tea. Regular old porcelain is the best way to brew tea

https://artisticnippon.com/product/kimekomidragon.html
Not really tea related, but look at this cute thing artistic Nippon is selling.

Why is it impossible to find bottled green tea in US grocery stores without added flavoring? I'm lazy and just want to grab a bottle out of my fridge on the way out the door.

>>20335114
I would say that the effect yixing has on tea does not (on it's own) make it worth the price. It can have an effect on tea, but it won't necessarily make your tea better and it might make it taste worse.
IMO, you should only buy a yixing pot if you like the aestetic and appreciate it as a work of functional art. The min/maxing aspect of muting/ altering flavor should be at most a minor consideration when deciding whether or not to buy one.
I like my yixing, but I don't think anybody is missing out or not reaching their tea's full potential without one. I just like them.

>>20335179
You could cold brew some in a bottle overnight I guess.

>>20335179
Asian markets usually have some.
Just do coldbrew, or do like the Chinese do and just dump a bunch of green tea in a plastic water bottle and refill it before you head out the door, it will be ready to drink sooner then you think and you can keep topping if off with more water.

Im so used to gongfu brewing raw puer im having a hard time remembering do do longer brews for these Taiwan oolongs. I keep doing like 5 second brews and then wondering why the taste is thin lol.

>>20335160
>Do they make your tea taste different?
Some are supposed to mute the flavours since you know, they are unglazed, ceramics is just fancy dirt and dirt is full of minerals.
The same people then scream about hard water muting flavours, since hard water is full of minerals...

>>20335114
You can get them for much, much cheaper if you know how to identify them. But that's a big if.

>>20334740
Thanks. Wondering if it works well from a vegan point of view. From your answer it would I guess. I assume the jassid lays eggs on the leaves.. but in general bugs will be killed in growing crops as well.

>>20334156
post pot

>>20334373
Welp, I got some, so I suppose I'll have to be the one to review it a month or two from now, when it gets here.

>>20334350
But I live in ze pod and cant make any modifications to the sink

>>20335553
According to my research tea jassids store their eggs internally.

>>20335553
If non-domesticated bug deaths count then basically all food is off limits.

>>20335864
That being said I don't know if that means inside the stalk or inside the insect.

>>20334156
Please link it when you post notes. I have trouble navigating that site, even with translators.

I love these little buggers like you wouldn't believe

>>20335854
For $2 why the hell not. Those little white bricks are ok, nothing special so odds are the black is similar.

>>20336208
Are you growing tea anon?

>>20336362
I wish! My growing season is short here on the lowland plains. I was thinking about getting some ginger started for tisanes, though.

>>20336377
Nice, it's a bit too cool here outside of a greenhouse unfortunately.
I really wanted to take a crack at sideritis, but I'm betting the wet and heavy soil will kill it as its from high elevation. I'll just stick some chamomile somewhere I guess.

>>20334423
>bitter
Did you buy macha tea (super bitter, meant for tea ceremonies) rather than sencha (normal tea)?

>>20336377
>My growing season is short here on the lowland plains.
Why is that a problem?
I'd like to grow a Camelia Sinensis Sinensis but there are no threads that seem relevant even in /an/. I can get Camelia Sinensis seeds here, so I hope this indicates the climate is fine, though I don't know what variety this is, Sinensis or Assamensis.

I got some tea from Nepal, describes as "oolong type" but it was like Darjeeling. They just cannot use that name since it is a geographically protected indication. It is fairly expensive but the taste is most excellent. From what I understand, the Sinensis variety is used for this type of tea.

>>20336598
Growing tea is pretty easy, ideally you want to find somewhere that ships lve seedlings. You can grow tea from seed of course but its not a super easy seed to sprout, if i understand correctly it needs to be fresh from the previous fall and then properly cold stratified before it will sprout. Maybe the seeds are more hardy then that and im misunderstanding things a bit.
Definitely give it a shot, it takes a few years for the bushes to become established but they will grow pretty quickly as long as it doesn't get too cold where you live.

>>20334208
Apparently these filter systems don't filter calcium at all and are only indented for water detoxification. so I don't really see how this could benefit us in our tea drinking business...

>>20335179
As a eurofag I have yet to find a bottled ice "tea" that tastes like tea at all and not like mere sugar soution with flavour.
Imports in asian import stores really do taste like the flowery green tea sorts from china.

>>20336806
Unfortunately filtering calcium requires this
And you need to regularly refill it with 50lb bags of salt

God i wish i had a brine tank

>>20336825
Or a reverse osmosis system??

>>20334479
>>20336474
sorry for late response but it is dragonwell, maybe it is just the wrong time of year for this tea. I have heard people say you are supposed to get green tea right after it's harvested and drink it pretty quickly. I was probably steeping it for 15 to 20 seconds, is that too long?

>>20336838
Oh yeah that too, im too lazy to make my own mineral blends for water.

>>20336857
Im far from an expert in green teas but last time i had dragons well i brewed like 4 grams grampa style in a tall glass with probably 90° water and it tasted fine. Dragons well really shouldn't be bitter, being older shouldn't make it more bitter either.
Maybe you are brewing it too strong, like too much leaf for the amount of water you have or maybe its just a mediocre batch of tea. Some Chinese greens like bi lo chun have a reputation for having some bitterness but i found dragons well to be a pretty smooth tea with soybean and roasted nuts notes
Maybe someone who drinks more greens can chime in

>>20336863
for sure, I'll try grandpa style

>>20336859
https://berkey-waterfilters.de/products/travel-berkey-wasserfiltersystem
I might look into that.
For now I'd try some bottled water brands. Any europeans here? which brands would you recommend?

>>20336870
All the lists of good bottled water to use are about us brands.
I would just pick a bottled spring water with a clean taste (not a mineral water) and avoid stuff like Dasani that is just bottled treated water.

>>20336646
>as long as it doesn't get too cold where you live.
Since these grow in the Himalayas, i thought these had to survive harsh winters. I just checked an even at 5000 m above sea level, it is about 20 C. Where I live, winter temperatures reach normally -20C, though this year we had -30C. I guess I will keep them small so I can keep them indoors during winter.
The idea of drinking tea from my own tea trees is really appealing.

>>20336885
Yeah once it gets below -10 they tend to die back quite a bit. Doing them in containers is definitely viable ive seen that mentioned quite a bit on the site where i got my tea plant.
Some varietals are much more cold hardy then others. So its worth looking into what kind of conditions the plants you get your seeds from can handle.
https://camforest.com/collections/tea-camellias

>>20336908
Super interesting, especially this one:
https://camforest.com/collections/tea-camellias/products/cs-small
The small leaf description matches what I heard about var sinensis, and it is promising it has survived -9F (-22 C). Unfortunately I am in Europe, so import will be close to impossible, but the information is nevertheless valuable.

>>20336930
Yes it's very annoying one can't just buy tea bushes from china or korea or something. But there definitely are more cold hardy varieties that can be found.

>>20336857
I always brew it grandpa style. If it's butter, just add more water, but it's usually not bitter

Holy shit qi is real bros

are those gongfu travel sets with a gaiwan, chahai and cups any good? they seem pretty useful desu and super cheap

>>20337044
They are fine, make sure it's cheap, they shouldn't be much more then $15 shipped.
Make sure the gaiwan isn't like 80ml and you are good to go.

>>20337044
yeah this looks completely fine.

>>20336870
Are there any table reverse osmosis systems that dont use proprietary filters?

Prices for porcelain are strange. You can find $1 gaiwan and teacups on aliexpress but seemingly the same products are also sold for $20 to $50 from other vendors. How do you judge quality of porcelain?

>>20337329
>How do you judge quality of porcelain?
Very carefully
It's unfortunately one of those things that you have to learn from years of experience (i don't know shit about porcelain)
How to tell if something is handmade, how to evaluate the quality of the glaze, what characteristics you are looking for in a piece in that style. All confounded by the fact theat there can be very little difference between mass produced cheap porcelain and mass produced expensive porcelain other then the stamp on the bottom and the strictness of quality control.

I have a glaring issue as I'm getting more into gongfu brewing. My gaiwan comfortably holds 100ml water + 5g of leaf. But by the 3rd brew, the leaves have expanded to the point that the gaiwan + expanded leaves can only hold 50ml of water. How does one account/compensate for this? Is this just the expected behavior with leaf to water ratio recommendations (like in the rentry)?

>>20337329
Traditionally porcelain was judged by its thinnes and whiteness. Nowadays, these are not as relevant, but the really thin stuff is still more expensive

>>20337379
Yeah though one time I measured it at about 20% of the usable volume lost, 50% seems pretty high.
If I was losing so much I guess I'd use less leaf and greater steep times. What are you brewing?

>>20337379
>Is this just the expected behavior with leaf to water ratio recommendations (like in the rentry)?
Yeah

>>20336817
I like the ito en but I can only find it sometimes at Costco and never at any of the other stores around. Supposedly there is a pure leaf brand green tea but I've never seen it

>>20337329
You buy it, it arrives, then you look at it and hold it in your hands.
>how do I judge that online
You assume that the picture you're seeing is of the exact item you're buying, you look at the texture and try to get a sense of the thickness, thigh with small stuff like cups it's imposing to judge how thick they are from pictures.
For a gaiwan the only difference porcelain quality makes is aesthetic though, the flavor won't be affected by it, so if you're looking for something cheap just buy something cheap.

>>20337561
>For a gaiwan the only difference porcelain quality makes is aesthetic though, the flavor won't be affected by it,
the flavor may be affected by how well the gaiwan retains heat though

W2T order arrived. Waffles cake is giant and cool. Got a bunch of white and some ripe. Life is good.

>>20338012
I hope mine arrives soon bro, it got to the us and then it's just been sitting there for like a week

This YS gaiwan may be a nice entry point. Easy to use, easy to clean, 160ml

https://yunnansourcing.com/products/dragon-kiln-duan-ni-clay-easy-gaiwan-160ml

First time trying balhyocha. This one is from my Morning Crane sampler and was made by Kim Jeong Yeol.

Dry leaf picture.

>>20338814
4 g, 90C for 1 min for first infusion. 95C for 45s and 2 min. for second and third infusion.

I wish I was better at tasting notes because it's unlike any other black tea I've tried so far. It tasted sour with a bread taste, kind of like a kvass. 2nd infusion was more of the same with a little bit of sweetness. 3rd infusion was better balanced between the sweetness and sour and there was more fruit detected (persimmon maybe?).

>>20338838
I did a 4th and 5th infusion, but not much changed in the taste. Pic is leaves after post-brew.

Also found this blog suggesting to cold brew the balhyocha in milk. I'm giving it a shot and have a glass jar with some balhyocha sitting in milk right now. I'll let it brew overnight and have some when I wake up.

https://teainspoons.com/2021/07/15/an-introduction-to-korean-balhyocha/

The waters I bought. Volvic is more expensive than most juice. This certainly won't be a long term solution.

>>20336881
(You)
It says "mineral water" on all of them

>>20339123
Volvic is decent but you can find better in your country, just check every bottle in your supermarkets.

>>20339152
This is much cheaper

>>20339156
Yes it's cheaper but not good for tea. You neede to find one with lower mineral content. Depends on your taste but the general range is 20-150 mg/L for "good" water.

>>20337621
That has to do with the temperature, not with the vessel, and while some vessels may be more convenient to steep certain teas you can control the temperature by putting the gaiwan in a shallow plate filled with boiling water or by poring boiling water over the lid, before and/or during steeping.

>>20339156
>Germans flouridate their bottled water
yikes

>>20339213
Pretty much all of the water that you drink naturally contains some flouride. They almost certainly did not add any, it's just naturally present in the source water.

>>20339156
calcium is borderline high, propably visible teaware stains already

>>20339169
Max acceptable calcium content for tea is around 35mg/l

I rec getting a distiller and cutting the distillate with tap water to get the mineral right again. There are also recepies for remineralization in the Renty for those who want to go full autist.

>>20337260
>>20339325
>calcium is borderline high, propably visible teaware stains already
Propably still much lower than the tap water.
I propably ruined kilos of tea by using this shitty water all the time
>
>I rec getting a distiller and cutting the distillate with tap water to get the mineral right again.
Thats actually a great idea. And will be my next solution before throwing out my money for overpriced plastic water. I just need to find a source of food grade distilled water.
>There are also recepies for remineralization in the Renty for those who want to go full autist.
I might try that if I get a reverse osmosis machine.

>>20339325
Are there distillers that don't use overpriced filters?

I'll report back once I actually try the water. At "work" rn

>>20337329
Once upon a time it was relatively easy to judge Chinese sloppa compared to handmade pieces. But they've gotten a lot better about QC over the past couple of years. In general pieces with more intricate decoration/glazes will be more likely to be artisan-made. Rub the unglazed base of the piece (this is called the foot). Higher quality pieces will have sanded the rough surface of the foot after firing. On the best pieces, it should be almost as smooth as the glazed region. But this isn't a universal, and even manufactured stuff will have the foot sanded to some degree nowadays.

tfw you keep finding yixing first factory stuff sold by clueless people on auction sites for minuscule prices (inb4 fake, it's not, I'm extraordinarily careful with how I ID pieces)
tfw you can't help yourself but click buy
tfw shelves flooded with pieces worth hundreds of dollars and you're terrified to use them

>>20339362
my distiller does not use any filter, what would be the point of that?

>>20339417
Post pics of shelves

>>20339418
I dunno. Whats the difference between reverse osmosis and destillation?

>>20338814
>>20338838
RARE TEA
thanks for the notes, i think your description is pretty good

>>20339126
>It says "mineral water" on all of them
Might be a EU vs USA thing.
In the US typically stuff like perrier is called mineral water where
>>20339645
>Whats the difference between reverse osmosis and destillation?
RO uses a series of filters water distillers boil the water so clean pure water vapor is separated from whatever else is in your water, then condenses the steam in a separate container.
It takes longer but you can buy a water distilling unit for like $150-250 and then you don't need to change filters or anything like that, you just have to occasionally clean the part where the water is boiled using citric acid or coffee pot cleaner or whatever.

>80mg/l Calcium
>310mg/l total dissolved solids
I'm not gonna make it, am I?

Teahome Selected Ali Mountain Golden Hemerocallis (roasting)
This has lighter fermentation then the legend of tung ting but still a good amount for my tastes. Roasting feels a bit stronger.
Taste is good, a combination of fruit sweetness (the listing calls it pineapple) and some roast notes. Lasting sweetness on the tongue.
Tea is smooth and easy to drink.
Easy recommend for fans of roasted oolongs.
https://www.teahome.com/product/ao202700/
No picture because my lighting is shit.

>>20336806
There's no calcium or lime buildup on neither kettle or pots I use, when they used to be with unpurified tap water. I would say the Berkey filters out plenty of excess metal and minerals. They even make a shower filter for those with hard water.

>>20339417
>it's not fake
it's fake

>>20339690
>It takes longer but you can buy a water distilling unit for like $150-250 and then you don't need to change filters or anything like that, you just have to occasionally clean the part where the water is boiled using citric acid or coffee pot cleaner or whatever.
Thats awesome, Anon!
How did I not know about this?
Are there any major downsides to this besides the slowness of the process?
Like doesnt boiling water deprive it of oxygen?

I was surprised when I went to japan and saw how commonly the restaurants were giving free self serve tea with the little box of matcha on the table
I've decided I want to start doing that too, because that's just more classy than giving tea bags

my question is really economically, it needs to be something people would actually drink and when I look at commercial stuff it doesn't seem like it's intended for people to drink it straight, its supposed to be dusted like a garnish or mixed with milk and sold to white girls

what's the minimum acceptable drinking quality? I'm finding either premium stuff you wouldn't give away for free, and glorified green food coloring powder

>>20339690
Any recommended distiller? The ones I found so far are cheap chink devices which I fear could lead to house fire

>>20339933
>what's the minimum acceptable drinking quality? I'm finding either premium stuff you wouldn't give away for free, and glorified green food coloring powder
It's still technically cooking grade but you can try sugimoto organic daily matcha, i think they sell it on Amazon too
https://www.sugimotousa.com/catalog/product/all-tea/organic-daily-matcha/
There is also the powdered sencha from o-cha and their cheaper drinking matcha isn't too expensive, but the shipping will knock the price up some.
https://www.o-cha.com/matcha-powdered-green-tea/organic-powdered-sench.html#product-details-tab-specification
They also sell a cooking grade matcha that is $20 for 300g which anons have said is drinkable in the past. Probably much better then most of the "ceremonial" grade matcha from western vendors
https://www.o-cha.com/matcha-powdered-green-tea/cooking-matcha.html#product-details-tab-specification

>>20333409
>good things induce tolerance with exposure and stop working
>bad things induce sensitivity with exposure and fuck you harder over time
it's not fair...

Is black tea only good for one steep. I suppose that's why puer drinkers don't care for it.

>>20339908
>>20339690
>>20339954
The distiller I posted cost 70 bucks, pic rel. It's not terribly done but I wouldn't leave the house when this is running.

>Are there any major downsides to this besides the slowness of the process?
The electricity consumption and the fan noise.
Upside: you can use it to make booze

>>20340027
Danke Bernd. Ich glaube ich investiere dann ein paar mehr €. Dieser hier hat auch eine Zeitschaltuhr integriert:
https://youtu.be/vlx1yUFlh1o

>>20340039
*
https://www.vevor.de/destillierte-wassermaschine-c_10700/vevor-wasserdestilliergeraet-wasserdestillierer-4l-1750w-1-5l-std-wasserfilter-p_010574534774

Interesting how a sheng can be plain on the second steep, but on the seventh steep it's wonderful with a refreshing aroma.

>>20340047
Some of them do get better in the later steeps, yeah. I feel like you get more sweetness then.

anyone have opinions on this w2t 2022 boat captain stuff?

>>20339123
Taste difference doesn't blow my socks of, but there certainly is a difference with the cheap teas I have right now (they still don't taste great)

Is raw pu erh supposed to taste like seaweed?

>>20340201
No. It's supposed to be bitter, sweet and green.
Seaweed is sencha territory

Decided to retire my old instant water heater and replace it with a cheap chinese kettle + cheap chinese electric hotplate and i can actually taste a difference (for the better) with the ripes i've tried until now. I don't think my old heater was actually able to give me boiling water.
Also glad to be rid of stainless steel touching my water. People have called me a schizo for this, but i swear i can taste a difference if my boiling water touches stainless steel.

>>20340201
Sometimes really young raw puer can kinda get in that range of flavors but like the other poster said sencha or other Japanese greens are really the standard for that savory seaweed umami taste

>>20338851
Here the anon who recently asked about the use of oxidation/fermentation in the tea making process.

This blog says the following: "In the Korean language, “Balhyo (발효)” means “fermentation” which technically means both “oxidation” and “fermentation” in the tea processing. The word “oxidation” is not often used in the Korean language when food is in the process of being made because “oxidation” itself is usually reserved for a negative aspect like an apple is oxidized at room temperature and turns brown or metal rusting."

>>20339156
I also live in germany and mix [pic related] with my normal tap water. there are website where you can calculate the best mixture. in my case its 630mL tap water and 370mL of the water in the picture

Does shou grow mold way easier then sheng? This is the second time I have fond mold in my shou pumidor. My sheng stored next to it never has had this problem.

>>20340201
Usually not, but it can happen. It does tend to have some green and savory elements.

>>20340283
What's the humidity in your pumi?
Is it a light white surface mold or is the middle of the cake turning black and green and shit?
I keep my ripes and raws in the same pumi and haven't had problems with mold but i keep the RH at like 55-60

>>20340273
>there are website where you can calculate the best mixture
senden sie uns ein beispiel bitte

>>20340350
https://wasserdatenbank.de/

>>20340027
>The electricity consumption and the fan noise.
Negligible. If you made 4L of water every day it would come out at around 5€ after 6 months (30ct /kwh in germanistan)
That would still be less expensive than a reverse osmosis machine which has to have its filters replaced every 6 months for at least 60€.

>>20340364
*more like 20€ per 4L, but still...

how do i go about figuring the difference between these different years of 'lumber slut', is older just better? do they change the composition year to year?

>>20340428
with these blends they try to keep them tasting as similar as possible
it doesn't hurt to go a few years old for most ripe. I doubt I could tell the difference between the 2021 and 2022 Lumber Slut cakes I've had. I feel like the 2021 had a bit more vanilla, but I don't really know

>>20340437
thank you.

>>20340027
Is it noisy enough you'd find it annoying if it was in the same room as you?

>>20340301
>What's the humidity in your pumi?
~65% but I do get some temperature swings.
>Is it a light white surface mold
Yes, I know its not as bad as the other stuff but I would still rather it not be there.

>>20340497
Keep the humidity below 60 if you can, especially if you have temperature swings. Getting up near 70% is when things get risky

Man I love v93. Young old. It's all good

>>20340497
Honestly if it's a light white mold it might be what people in the exotic pet community call "bio-fuzz" and it's less of a bad mold and more just a sign that your material (in our case substrate or mosses) are still alive and bio-active (which is often what you want in our case!) Especially in fermented products this isn't uncommon. It's not ideal, but I don't think it'll kill you (that said, if you're sensitive to molds or allergic to penicillin I'd not risk it.) That said,

>>20340535
This anon is right. It's hard for things to grow and thrive if you dry things out a bit.

Maybe useful, I found this article a little while ago on identifying moulds on tea. Translates well enough.
https://m.sohu.com/n/470993698/?wscrid=95360_6

>>20340756
>bio-fuzz
Holy shit i kept seeing that in some ABG mix i got from josh's frogs, i thought it looked more like mycelium then mold.

>>20340841
It can be mycelium! If you have a bioactive enclosure, your springtails will be thrilled at the exciting new thing to feast on, whatever it is.

Back on topic, I've been very much into greens lately, so I'm excited for the first flush to start coming in earnest.

>>20340535
>Keep the humidity below 60 if you can
>>20340756
>This anon is right. It's hard for things to grow and thrive if you dry things out a bit.
I will consider pulling the boveda pack out. It is just strange that I have never had trouble with any of my sheng or other heicha under the exact same conditions.

>>20340756
>Honestly if it's a light white mold it might be what people in the exotic pet community call "bio-fuzz" and it's less of a bad mold and more just a sign that your material
The question is whether or not it makes mycotoxins (and how much that even matters with shou)

>>20340787
>Maybe useful, I found this article a little while ago on identifying moulds on tea.
In this case it is probably something closer to "white frost" the mold did not visibly run deep and does not seem to impact taste.

>>20340738
With you there. I have one 2015 tuo remaining. It's funny how you can pound through a tea without thinking much about it but then cherish the last one.
What's the oldest tuo you've had? Do you know much about its history?

>>20340787
Cool find
That's an interesting article
>>20340879
>I will consider pulling the boveda pack out.
I wouldn't sweat it too much but consider getting slightly lower RH boveda pack next time you need to replace them. I use the 58% ones

>>20340862
>I've been very much into greens lately, so I'm excited for the first flush to start coming in earnest.
What are you planning on going for for this spring? Japanese, Chinese, gonna try some of those Vietnamese fishhook greens?
I wanna get a half decent dragonswell style tea this year im kinda in the mood for that toasted bean vibe.

>>20340882
>Do you know much about its history?
Not him but v96 is a relatively recent recipe iirc im pretty sure it came out in 2005 if the ktm listings are correct. King tea mall recently added some 250g tuos of it from 2005 but they have the typical old dayi markup. $99 for 250g
Also i think i remember reading that the second batch from that year was more popular than the first i think they tweaked the fermentation a bit after the first one.
https://kingteamall.com/collections/home-page/products/2005-dayi-v93-1st-batch-501tuo-250g-puerh-shou-cha-ripe-tea

>>20340882
I got to try a 2009 at a buddies house. It was pretty good :). I enjoy old ripe in general but this still retained that v93 goodness.

>>20338851
Tried the cold brew balhyocha milk. Some tea flavor infused in the milk, but not a lot. I only did 12 hours instead of the recommended 24 hours from the blog, but not sure if it'd have made a ton of difference. Just for kicks, I gave the same leaves a good rinse and grandpa brewed them. Got a strong yam/sweet potato taste to 'em.

>>20341073
Nice experiment i wonder if the fat in the milk would extract anything from the leaves that you don't get with just water

How do I humidify my tiny cakes easily within a day without spending lots of money

Placed my shincha order, now we wait...

>>20341492
boveda+ziplock

>>20340364
breh whats up with your math
That thing needs around 3 kWh per 4 liters.
So with 4l every day for half a year and 0,30€/kWh you'll be at 164€.
Also change your electricity provider, current market prices are below 0,30€/kWh

>>20340473
yes certainly

>>20340273
based. I've had that water before and was doing the same. But its not available in my area anymore, the kept the same brand but changed mineral content.

Finishing teas to get some space for spring harvest. Menghaitian oolong black in kyusu. Good fragrance but taste doesn't have the depth of the fen shui ling

>>20342028
Laughs in 0.04 USD per kWh

>>20341581
where did you order from? I bought from O-cha last year, but expensive shipping + full VAT has me looking elsewhere. might just buy from some euro store
>>20342054
cool kyusu. I bought mine at a thrift store, was a really cool find

>>20342117
If you haven't looked at shipping costs this spring o-cha finally has a slightly cheaper shipping option again. Other stores might as well i haven't dug into it.
https://www.o-cha.com/resumption-of-cheaper-shipping-options

i ordered some stuff fro w2t for the first time which is exciting, but I am dumb and didnt realize it will take like a month, where do I order in the meantime to get something sooner? amazon again?

>>20342350
what did you get?

>>20342350
Amazon if you want I guess, or some tea shop in your country. Yunnan sourcing has a US site if you're over there.

>>20342350
It probably won't take a month, my orders from china take about 2 weeks door to door.
If you wanna get something sooner you could order a bit from yunnansorcing.us ships from texas (assuming you live in the us)

>>20342117
Ordered from yunomi, unfortunately I doubt they'd be doing you any favors in that regard

>>20342378
25g firebat
25g 2022 boat captain
200g 2023 lumber slut
7g smokeshou
25g alienist
25g 2023 waffles

i really dont know, but i am unreasonably excited for some reason.

>>20342418
heavy on the burly, smoky stuff I see. nice
lumber slut is probably the one must try budget ripe from w2t, so good choice for a cake

>>20342418
>2023 ripe
prepare for the fishfest

Cang yuan, I really like this, it's gentle and fragrant, but full bodied. I hope FL will source it again this year.

>>20342589
Sweet cup

>>20342589
it sold out fast this year and I've seen some very positive reviews, so I'm guessing it will be back
is it soft and yiwuish or something different?

>>20342590
Thanks it's my favourite cup.

>>20342616
I haven't drank enough yiwu to feel like I can confidently make a comparison unfortunately. It's low bitter, no astringency, not much mouthfeel but good fragrance that lingers, and still some thickness in the liquor.

I have drank nothing but teahome oolong all week and it's been pretty nice.
I really want to try this one next.
Its the other tea that's in the legend of tung ting listing "Handmade private room good tea"
Its a blend of dong ding and i think alishan oolong( im still not sure what Hemerocallis is supposed to translate to), lower fermentation level then the legend of tung ting but an aggressive 65% roast.
https://www.teahome.com/product/upteah/

I'm relatively novice when it comes to sheng puehr. Most of my experience is from cheap xiaguan and YS samples. It's time to go bigger. Have ~$120 usd to invest into 1-2 cakes + samples.

Do I go with Farmerleaf, Bitterleaf, or Yunnan Sourcing? Leaning towards FL, loving their mindset and approach. BUT, I've also really enjoyed the YS samples I've had over the years. BL seems a bit meme, but could be interesting. Any thoughts?

>>20343626
Between YS and FL, you can't really go wrong. However, at your budget, pick only one to avoid DP from shipping. Sounds like you're picking up the Farmer Leaf vibe, go with them. Pick up some Spring 2024 or 2023 cheapies and be happy. I respect a budget, but also remember that life is short and you should drink good tea and put in ~$240.

>>20343626
Farmer leaf has some nice affordable cakes right now, the 2023 spring naka small trees, the 23 bangwei small trees and the 23 fa zhan he are quite good for the price, the 2023 fall laoman e is good too but maybe not something i would suggest getting a whole cake of until you know you like punchy bitter teas.
Ive had full cakes of all 4 and can recommend them.

Best place to buy duck shit oolong?

>>20343697
>I respect a budget, but also remember that life is short and you should drink good tea and put in ~$240.
Least addicted puer lesbian

>>20343626
I would wait for spring release and take choose a cake on farmer leaf lower end. Bangwai small trees, fa shan he, lao man e small trees or a new ones in that price range. So you spent around 50-60$, you wait for the cake to arrive with the free smaple (or more) and do multiple sessions over few days to get an idea of what you like and don't like about the cake you just got then ask or choose a second one depending on that.

>>20343626
go for FarmerLeaf if you want young sheng. pick something from the cakes people recommended. they'll have a sale when they add new spring teas, but that's still like a month or two away I think?
for samples, definitely try one of the Lao Man E teas

drinking some Kraus yerba mate. mild and sweet, quite nice

>>20344420
>Best place to buy duck shit oolong?
https://teahabitat.com/collections/single-tree-private-stash/products/2023-ya-shi-ding-dong-jiao-duck-shit-2-oz-pk
https://teahabitat.com/collections/single-tree-private-stash/products/2021-nai-xiang-ya-shi-milky-duck-shit

We will get a fa zhan he 2024 it's being processed right now. Hope it will be as good or better than last year.

>>20345773
Fucking nice, gonna insta buy one for sure.
Any other snippets of info wise anon?

>>20345789
No, just Yubai supervising it like last year. It's a post with pictures on their facebook/instagram if you want to check.

how long does... say , 300g of daily use tea last you? i am new to this and was saddened that it only lasted me 2 weeks, I think I may have been using too much however and being all heavy handed and all.

>>20345843
21g a day seems a lot to me anon. How many sessions a day? Drinking tea 3 times? What tea did you drink 300g of?

>>20345843
2 weeks is a bit hardcore yeah. If we assume a single big-ass 10 gram session a day, you should get a month. But for most tea I would use less material, so more like 2 months

>>20345773
I'd love to try the 2024 version, I wonder if it will be any different

>>20345859
>>20345870
okay, I must be buggering this up for sure then, i bought TAETEA 7542 Classic Raw Pu-erh Tea and the ripe version off amazon, I am not exactly weighing the amounts. i am using a water boiler with temperature options, and a french press because that is all I have for now.

I have been throwing in an amount of tea, then doing several infusions throughout the day from that one bit.. if this is my phase 1 tea discovery venture, I can say it has been a success, I have very much enjoyed these and I am now trying to shift gears into becoming a tea person. tell me if it is very important that I grab some different tools. I will definitely be putting less in there now, I think I really was fucking it up especially at the beginning when I just got it. Thank you.

>>20345883
It's on my potential buy list so will see but if I get a cake I will do a side by side with the 2023 for sure.

>>20345843
Are you brewing gongfu or Western? If you are brewing gongfu style are you doing multiple brews with the same leaves? You should be able to do at least 5 up to maybe 10 depending on the tea.
If brewing western style i typically use about 3.5 to 4.5 grams to brew one mug of tea.
I usually do two gongfu sessions a day for a total of about 15g of leaves and about 2-3 litres of tea.

>>20345931
Nice! Im glad you enjoyed that tea. It's definitely not for everyone so its good that it worked for you.
The way that you are brewing it seems fairly reasonable, i guess it might be helpful to get one of those little cheap gram scales from Amazon so you can see how much tea you are using with how much water. It doesn't really sound like you are wasting tea it just seems like you brew a lot of strong tea to drink. It's possible you could be getting more brews out of each chunk of tea you are loading in the French press but im guessing you brew it till it tastes bland and then clean it out and add fresh leaves.

>>20346330
>>20346330
>>20346330
New