Tea general

[Anonymous No.]

I didn't see one active today so how about a good tea general for some fuzzy feelings with our waifus?

[Anonymous No.]

Is there somewhere I could get samples of various green tea?

[Anonymous No.]

Don't make more generals kudasai.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17562878
Go take that rotten lettuce which you are calling a brain and STOP posting, newfag.

[Anonymous No.]

too bad there doesn't seem to be interest
would like to see commentary on some jp sourced sencha

I personally drink looseleaf yamamotoyama because I consume a large amount and would rather not spend more on the smaller local japan based producers.

[Anonymous No.]

What do you guys think of houjicha? I'm curious about it.

I've had genmaicha before and really liked it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17562757
Den's Tea has a sample pack for 3$ if you live in the united states.

>>17569106
I know those get compared a lot, but I do not think they tastes all that similar. That being said houjicha is a nice tea to end the day with.

I agree that generals are dumb, but this thread could have easily been made without that word "General"

[Anonymous No.]

Are we talking about Japanese tea or tea in general? Because I'm in love with Chinese teas, especially puerh.

Puerh is basically fermented aged tea the point being that with age (assuming the storage is done properly) the tea will develop stronger and more complex aromatics.

It's amazing how different this tea can taste when stored in slightly different environments (like humid or dry climates), picked up in different areas from China (mostly and mainly Yunnan province) or being processed in different times of the year (spring usually making a fresher and more complex brew while autumn picked tea tends to be deeper and more mineral).

Since this tea essentially gets better with time, it has a collector's value as it gets more expensive in time and relatively cheap teas stored on some random shelf for 20 years can get famous and skyrocket in price over night, making this tea the to-go otaku tea.

I'm sure that I might as well be the only one on /jp/ knowing more than the mere existence of this great tea but I shall keep my fingers crossed. What pu is /jp/ drinking?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17569937
Oops, I forgot to post the pic. This is how the tea looks like stored in a cake (Bǐngchá) form, making it less voluminous for storage purposes and making the aging of the tea a more controlled thing.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17569937
I have some pu lying around, but the fact that there's no rush to drink it means the samples and cakes accumulate faster than i care to drink them.
My favorite is still higher quality sencha. Nothing I've ever found in tea could beat the taste of a well done highly concentrated brew, the slight tea-drunkenness and the flowery aftertaste that lingers on the lips for hours after the fact.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17569937
The red tea is my favourite. The stronger the taste and smell, the better. I'm a pleb, I know.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17570797
Well, if you like strong stuff, you might like ripe puerh. It's like the normal pu, but the aging process is fastened resulting in a very dark, thick and powerful liquor. It's also cheaper and almost impossible to mess up while brewing. The caffeine in normal (raw) puerh is more potent though.

[Anonymous No.]

It's nice to see these threads once in a while.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17570797
I'll be honest, I never had any top shelf Japanese tea but from what I heard, they are lighter than Chinese ones. And I'm not a fan of that weedy, vegetal taste in green teas. I had some good longjing and bi lo chun which are Chinese, I know, but nothing compares to that pungent bitterness quickly followed by huigan of puerh. And I don't think there's any variety that can get you more tea drunk than puerh, maybe some very good aged white tea.

Also, you can brew a good puerh up to 15 times while with green you're lucky if you're getting 6 good brews. I'm also considering this while buying tea so I just end up getting another cake instead.

But again, puerh is the reason I really got into tea, so I'm comparing curated puerh to boutique loose leaf green tea. If you know any good source for good Japanese tea, preferably that ships Europe and won't cost a fortune, hit me up.

[Anonymous No.]

oops, this >>17571515 want meant to be a reply for this guy >>17570137

[Anonymous No.]

>>17571515
I find getting decent puerh for a good price exceedingly hard these days, the market has gone up so much in price and not being in china makes it even worse. That being said a decently aged sheng is wonderful, but I worry about age ability with these new cakes coming out these days, they are so flat. White2tea sent out some decent samples this month though before that I had pretty much stopped drinking sheng unless I had a tea buddy.

These days I have been drinking a lot of sencha, specifically fukamushi, that deeper steam really ups the potency and kind of knocks off the more vegetal/grassy notes. The lingering sweetness is sublime.

You could try o-cha, I believe they ship to europe. No idea on cost though.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17574731
I am literally drinking the 2008 Often right now! White2tea has very good quality/quantity/price ratio and Often is a bargain considering it's a 250g semi-aged, pretty much good to go now tea. I found it's softer than most puerhs I had and still has that young bite to it but that's fine for a daily drinker. Repave is also good for it's price, it aged much better, probably because it was in maocha form for some time, although it's woodiness is a bit too intense in mid sessions.

My best find so far that fits in my budget is a 2003 Bu Lang brick from Yunnan Sourcing, that tea is incredibly pleasant to drink, being very sweet and spicy paired with an irish cream / cappuccino aftertaste.

And yes, young pu seems very flat overall and investing good money into it then having to store it in what is most likely suboptimal storing conditions seems too risky unless you have a pumidor and that's too much already. And even if you do everything good from your end, if the tea is bad you won't get much from it anyways.

Another thing keeping me away from green tea is the troublesome shipping. Green tea is best fresh and if an order usually takes 3-4 weeks to get shipped from China to my country, it stays another month stuck in customs until it reaches me.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17574826
Often is a good tuocha, I also really like the 2004 Jianshen Tuo on white2tea. I really enjoy the woody side of pu especially when it has a little bite to it, it makes the sweetness come on strong.

Lately I have not been doing as much shopping around, I stick to white2tea and yunnan for everything except Japanese teas.

Storage wise I doubt my cakes have aged well considering how dry my climates have been, I almost feel like I am ruining otherwise good cakes. Alas I do not live in China/Taiwan so it will probably never be all that great.

That is pretty fucking brutal for shipping. Most japanese companies are pretty good with using nitrogen and sealing bags properly. I rarely drink chinese greens, too scared of pesticides.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17569937
I have some loose puerh lying around, but I don't know about any details of just how it was made. It definitely has that sort of earthy taste to it that makes it an interesting alternative to other teas every once in a while.

If we're competing for just how pleb our tastes can get, lately I've been drinking a lot of jasmine green tea, darjeeling and chamomile. The first one is the stuff of the gods, honestly. I need to buy a larger amount of it before I run out. As for darjeeling, it's actually a little tough to get the brew just right, if you leave it be too long it gets slightly bitter and if it's too short then it ends up a bit too light. Chamomile is for variety.

[Anonymous No.]

Kava(Contained in teabag )/greentea(prince of Peace Premium Green Tea)/Milk (Organic milk) /kratom (Contained in tea bag)/doTERRA serenity restful complex dietary supplement (2 capsuls mixed into drink)/CBD oil/garnished with a lemon/ = CURRENT RECIPIE Heated to 170 degrees and shaken well, served with stirer. Stir as you drink, Contains Non water-soluble ingredients.

Made this recipe my self, made to sedate/produce euphoria/reduce anxiety/and help aid sleep. but also maintain alertness.

Never got to try it my self though. Would take a long time to prepare, and would taste very... strong.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17575803
Would probably be cool to serve with sugar added, and maybe some boba.

[Anonymous No.]

Can anyone recommend me a variety of japanese tea that is bitter?

[Anonymous No.]

Matcha

[Anonymous No.]

>>17577290
Matcha

[Anonymous No.]

What's mugicha like? What would you compare it to?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17575803
That sounds absolutely vile, but it would probably feel pretty good.

[Anonymous No.]

Drinking some shitty assam, probably should have made some sencha.

>>17578566
Never had it hot, but I make it cold brew in the fridge every summer. It reminds me of coffee, but without the astringency.

>>17577290
Normal Sencha is relatively bitter, depends on how you brew it. That being said I have had some stale old sencha and it has almost no bitterness at all, really not a whole lot of flavor. If you really want bitter tea just brew decent, ie current year, and brew it strong and hot.

>>17575602
IIRC Jasmine scented tea started in the Chinese Imperial Palace, so godly is not wrong.

[Anonymous No.]

I drink bagged green tea infused with vanilla aroma all day, every day and I love it. The taste of vanilla is very subtle and rounds off the aroma of the tea quite nicely, I think.

Do I win the pleb race for worst taste?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17579548
The pleb award goes to people who drink tea that is mostly sugar. You've got a long way to go.

[Anonymous No.]

Espresso master race.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17579568
That's herbal berry tea at best. The stronk aroma is nice, but it lacks subtlety. Not something you can drink all day.

>>17579553
Reminds me of my brother, who is a self professed "lover of coffee". Half his cup is usually milk and sugar.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17571515
>>17574826
I've dealt with and can recommend the following sites, all of which ship internationally from Japan:
zencha.net - good variety of teas from all over Japan, free shipping (untracked), beautiful but expensive teaware
o-cha.com - huge variety of teas, including cheaper stuff and affordable teaware
maikotea.com - Uji tea of all types including some seriously dank gyokuro, also tea snacks and teaware

As for pu, how do you recommend to approach it? Ordering samples off random sheng cakes hasn't really served me well as far as developing a taste and an eye for it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17581488
>>17581488
Thanks for the suggestions, I will try to sneak in some samples at least from one of these.

As for puerh sampling, idk, for me it did not go that bad. I even found some of my favorite teas from random samples. Samples can be tricky though as different parts of a cake can taste differently depending on compression and air exposure. Also, as a rule of thumb, you should let the tea rest from the shipping at least 2-3 weeks before trying it out; you will be surprised much tea is affected by shipping conditions and packaging.

For starters, you should try white2tea. I've only tried the cheaper stuff and everything I got did not fail my expectations. The seller's philosophy is to only sell what he would drink and he seems to live by it. Don't think you will go wrong with anything you'll get from him. If you're in doubt, get Big Leaf Bamboo Sheng Puer. For 3.5$/50g! he might as well give it for free and it's absolutely delicious.

Yunnan Sourcing - this can be overwhelming with a seemingly endless collection of teas and wares. While you might get a dud from time to time, none of then will be bad. While the focus is on puerh, there are many other types of tea available.

Crimson lotus tea (US only) - never bought from them actually because they don't ship in my country but I've only heard good things about them. Simmilar to white2tea, they seem to only sell what they would consume and apparently they have pretty good tastes.

[Anonymous No.]

Anybody made your own tea before? I had a camellia plant once. Leaf after leaf turned brown and died and nothing I did seemed to slow or halt this process. So I pulled off all the leaves (mature and hard, no soft new growth) rolled them, let them sit for an hour then pan fried them. It was pretty good, almost as good as the dragon well tea my brother bought in West Lake. I guess freshness makes a big difference.
I've also made mint tea from catnip, which I have read was quite popular in colonial times.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17585991
That pan frying was actually what served to fix the tea in its green state. Waiting before you heat the tea or bruising it before you heat it actually makes it less like a green and more like an oolong.
It's also possible to achieve this fixation by steaming the tea, which is what the Japanese do with sencha.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17574731
I find puerh pretty tasteless.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17586453
What brewing parameters? The majority of new cakes are pretty shit, especially the "single farm" ones.

[Anonymous No.]

Is buying from ippodo good for japanese tea?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17584943
I am pretty sure I have that exact gaiwan, is it the Ge Yao Celadon from YS?

>>17589325
I had trouble with ordering my credit card got flagged immediately, never happened before. The selection looks good though and they have some nice kyusu if a little expensive.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17589451
It's the 130ml Cracked Celadon gaiwan actually, also from YS. I see your point though, the lighting in my pic made it look gayer than it is.

160 ml is a bit too big for me, as I sometimes prefer drinking two teas in a session and smaller quantities help me not get fully bloated after I'm done. It also helps when trying out samples; with the way I brew 25g is usually just enough for 3 sessions.

I'm actually looking for something even smaller, like an 80-100ml zisha teapot. The damn things are hard to find though, as mostly westerners who drink tea alone would need such a small pot.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17589577
I meant grayer lol. I should really read my replies before posting

[Anonymous No.]

I really really like loose leaf Jasmine tea and the peach tea from vending machines in Tokyo

[Anonymous No.]

>>17589325
Never shopped there, but their site has the best copy I've ever seen in a tea shop.
Usage suggestions and brewing instructions aside, they actually describe how their different grades and varieties differ from each other, which lets you make buying decisions that are more educated than eyeballing the tea based on a broad category and a price level.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17589577
That is probably the reason I have largely stopped drinking pu all my pots are to big. That being said currently I am on a quest to find the perfect cup, if I could mix the two cups I have pictured it would pretty close.

The porcelain on is ~180ml and the stoneware one is ~250ml. If the porcelain had a lip and was made of stoneware it would be pretty close to perfection.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17593470
I just ordered this beauty from YS and I can't wait for it to arrive. I have to keep my hype in check because I don't bee seeing it in a month and a half from now sadly. This will be my first clay teapot and I'm really curious to see if it really affects the tea's taste and in what regards.

Why don't you buy a smaller gaiwan? They are suited for every type of tea and hell, you can even use one as a cup. Actually in China many folks just don't bother with decanting the tea in a separate vase; they just drink it "grandpa style". And they're quite cheap, you can get a nice one in the $10-20 range or for less than $50 you can still get a very fancy one.

[Anonymous No.]

Just popped some hot water in my kyusu with puerh leaves waiting to hatch

Never done puerh before, it's okay. Expected it to be more bland.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17579553
What if I drink herbal tea with a modest amount of sugar?

[Anonymous No.]

coffee masterrace

[Anonymous No.]

And the pleb award goes to: >>17613597

Congratulations gentleman! Your prize is a year worth(while supplies last) of the flavored decaff coffee of your choice!

[Anonymous No.]

More tea, please.

[Anonymous No.]

Less tea threads, why? /jp/ getting filled with /a/, therefore no real /jp/ lifestyle threads, just anime pictures. It's sad.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17613597
>>17614878

Energy drinks and coffee don't have much effect on me but boy did one pot of gyokuro keep me awake few hours longer than I wished to.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17622315
I just got 7 of these Fengqing raw tuocha as a part of an experiment I'm trying to make: testing how aging affects the tea. I purchased one about a year ago when I was new to puerh and although the taste of this tea is nothing to write home about, it's chi, qi, tea drunk-ness, whatever you want to call it, was very powerful. It's not that caffeine buzz or the usual mellow energy and meditative state you usually get from drinking tea, this was more like weed or alcohol or a light psychedelic. The taste was also decent: over-ripe fruits, wet stones but a bit dusty and too much allover the place.

The tea is from 2006 but you can't really tell that, most likely because of the dry storage and tight compression. It's very hard to get a decent chunk of this tea without making a huge mess and breaking many leaves. Not like the leaves quality is that good to begin with, most of it is broken leaf material. This is educational tea anyway, and I spent very little on it, so I don't care that much.

The first time I tried this tea from the new order, it kindof tasted like disappointment. Part of it was my fault, I used too much broken material and even dust. Don't do that, it will ruin the session for very little gain. It also happened the same day I received the tea, and the tea did not had time to air out at all. It's strange energy that made me buy the tea again was still there. My mind was in too many places at once; I felt prone to contemplation but too agitated to focus deeply on one thing. Hopefully this will improve and mellow out in time. It is said that puerh fundamentally change once in 7 years. This tea is 11 years old and I plan on having at least 3-4 tuos intact for the tea's super sweet fourteen.

Now I'm at the second session from the new batch and the taste improved considerably. It's not as dusty and muddy it was in the first session a few days ago and now it had a pleasant sweet, fruity taste. Something between ripe bananas and black grapes. The smell is surprisingly bland but it's quite thick in the mouth. The tea is still mediocre right now but I think it has potential to get much better in the future. It's semi aged in many books and it's said that dry storage makes a more complex tea if given enough time. 88 Qing Bing never forget. I'm not sure about zip-lock in a wooden drawer dry storage though. I might get something tasting like hay and old books in the end. At least I'll get me high a little.

[Anonymous No.]

How much have you all spent on tea this year?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17625899
I was afraid to do this... just shy of $1300 so far and going

[Anonymous No.]

Is adding milk verboten? I really like milky teas, but I only drink Yorkshire Gold at the moment. Which loose leaf teas can I add milk to without being labeled a disgusting laowai?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17626678
The only people who will call you that are pretentious Orientalist Westerners.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17626678
>>17627372
I consider milk in tea just a weird idea since it just covers the taste of the tea itself unless you brewed it to be *really* strong, but what do I know.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17626678
Masala chai
Suutei tsai
Hong Kong-style milk tea.
Matcha lattes are pretty common in moonland.

[Anonymous No.]

Can someone explain the appeal of rooibos?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17641121
Provides antioxidants while being low in caffeine if you're trying to avoid it, while having the health benefits of curing: headaches, insomnia, asthma, eczema, bone weakness, hypertension, and allergies.

[Anonymous No.]

I drink costco matcha

[Anonymous No.]

>>17579589
>Half his cup is usually milk and sugar.
In Burgerland, """coffee""" is a pound of sugar, ice, water, and creamer
If you want canned foam and syrup out of a barrel that means you're paying 10USD

[Anonymous No.]

my favorites are Tai Ping Hou Kui, Dragon Pearl jasmine and Bi Lou Chun. tried only Dragon tea house store and they seems Ok

[Anonymous No.]

How big of a difference in taste is there really between all the different types of green tea?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17632259
>Hong Kong-style milk tea.
Seems interesting. How do you make it exactly? Google seems to mention a lot of different ways. Evaporated milk only comes in small containers here so I'm not sure how I feel about filling 1/3 of a cup with it, but if the taste is good I'll try it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17655255
very notable difference

[Anonymous No.]

Are teapots worth bothering with?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17658651
Matter of preference, I suppose. Depends on how you want to prepare and enjoy your tea. How do you currently?

And in case anyone is wondering, the Rizon channel still exists. Feel free to stop by.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17659767
Name of channel?

[Anonymous No.]

I really want to order some new tea, but I have lots of mediocre oolong from Taiwan left that I don't want to waste by letting it get too old. What do?

Also check out Mei Leaf on youtube. Very knowledgeable people and it's nice to hear them talk. They have a shop in London and I have been wanting to order something online of them for a while now.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17678796
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaHBABJFMRAtnKhQp2Cu5BQ

[Anonymous No.]

>>17669500
#teahou
>>17678796
Have a tea party!

[Anonymous No.]

>>17678796
Having some tea to waste is the best time to widen your tea brewing horizons. Brew it a little hotter than you're used to, use some more leaf, alter the steeping time. Challenge your preconceptions the way you wouldn't dare to do with a tea you treasure enough to conserve.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17562705
I like Lipton Black Tea.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17687342

[Anonymous No.]

>>17641121
Tastes nice, especially when drunk around wintertime coupled with some honey.

[Anonymous No.]

Is ochazuke an accepted topic of tea general?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17688146
I think so. Do you prepare it often?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17569106
I very much like Hojicha after a nice warm meal.
Try it at least once.

[Anonymous No.]

I like roasted green tea.

[Anonymous No.]

What do you do with the tea leaves in the infuser if you're going to brew with them again?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17697380
I just keep them there.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17641121
It's a poor man's honeybush.
Green rooibos is delicious, but kind of rare, and I can only find it online. Try it, it's light, grassy, and a bit tart. Great with orange or lemon.

[Anonymous No.]

Where do people get their tea in Canada?

[Anonymous No.]

anyone use an electric kettle for boiling/brewing? I'm looking for one but worried about that plastic aftertaste which is so common.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17707251
You can get one where the water sits in metal and/or glass. If you get one like that and descale regularly, you should be fine.
Another option is to get a small desktop hot plate and put a real kettle on top of it. The footprint is even smaller than an electric kettle, and you can use a small kettle on top of it.

[Anonymous No.]

Heh.
Pic related got me thinking that I don't actually have a cosy for my teapot, although one honestly might not be necessary given how it only holds about two large cupfuls of tea, which is easily drunk before it has a chance to cool too much.
>>17707251
I use one, when it was brand new (so, a couple years ago) it had a slightly suspicious smell to it which seeped into the water you boiled with it, but it promptly disappeared after the first few times of use. You just have to break it in, so to speak.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17707251
If you live in the United States it is a waste of money, our outlets don't output enough juice to heat up water in a kettle any faster than you can on a stove. Assuming your stove isn't 40 years old and works properly.