Tea Thread

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

Q&A is up, as promised. http://pastebin.com/T0gS2pAX

New tea thread. As usual, if you have questions, someone here probably has answers.

It's mid-April. The harvest is upon us and the pre-Qing Ming period has passed. I am drinking delicious pre-Qing Ming green tea and waiting warmly for my shincha to arrive in early May.

[Anonymous No.]

Thank you for making this thread, I've been checking the catalog for days now for a tee thread.

[Anonymous No.]

Any good sites for ordering tea you guys would recommend?

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8875150

You're welcome!

>>8875164

Refer to the Q&A, the answer is there.

[Anonymous No.]

I just go to a little local store that sells different types of herbal tea, all locally grown ingredients. Currently brewing some hibiscus tea to study with, even the wait is relaxing. I guess its not quite as fancy as that whole Q&A you posted but its very soothing - somewhat reminds me of how a relaxing day at a Pacific Northwest beach feels.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8875177

Tea is like anything else. The value is in what you get out of it, not what other people do.

[Anonymous No.]

I'm sorry for being so off-topic, but I've been wondering what kind of keyboard it is that you're using.

Would it happen to be a Das Ultimate?

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8875230

No, it's a Topre Realforce. I do own a Das Keyboard Professional, though I don't use it much because I'm not a fan of blue cherry switches for playing Touhou.

[Anonymous No.]

I tried out genmaicha for the first time last weekend.
The taste really surprised me for good, but I think I really like it.

[Anonymous No.]

I wish I had nice waboo stuff to show off but sadly, I don't.

[Anonymous No.]

What should Gyokuro taste like? I am quite sure that the tea I have is genuine and I followed the instructions but it tastes like warm water.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875380
Why not just make it to taste? There might be a correct way of doing it, but why not make it however suits you best.

[Anonymous No.]

I've been buying from teavana for a while and only seem to like their Maharaja Chai. Everything else tastes like it was artificially sweetened or just plain horribly mixed. Anyone know of any tea that is actually spicy? Teavana's suggestions were absolute shit.

[Anonymous No.]

I have never tasted any tea since I was a child. I am new to this.

Give me something mindraping. Not some entry-level shit. I want DA BESTO!

[Anonymous No.]

Is there a tea with concentration properties as some nootropics? I can't concentrate for more than 5 minutes in anything. I can't even read a book or play my Touhou for too long ;_;

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875407
Don't go in expecting too much. I would say 'real' tea is somewhat of an acquired taste.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875422
You might want to just seek medical advice from a doctor if it is that much of an issue. I don't think you're going to find help with tea alone.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875437

I don't trust online doctors and won't leave my house. Anyway... is there a tea that makes you concentrate better or not?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875395
My mother ordered some...it was blueberry something and strawberry lemonade, or something, to make iced tea, from them. I got a really bad feeling about them looking through that catalog.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875442
Yeah, it's called Adderall.

[Anonymous No.]

> Since the nutrients have already been extracted from them by repeated hot water infusion, I see no reason to eat them.

It is good for your intestine, acts more or less like fiber, I believe.

[Anonymous No.]

Taking adderall just so you can concentrate better at Touhou...

Stay classy /jp/

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875442

All tea is beneficial to your mental health, because of caffeine.

Tea has caffeine, and caffeine is a central nervous stimulant. CNS drugs are things like caffeine, amphetamine (Adderall), meth, coke, Ritalin, nicotine and so on. All of these work really well to help you focus on things.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875461

Is there a hardcore concentration tea or are they all the same, regarding this field?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875474

Written down. Thank you. I will definitely try it soon.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875466
Steep 10 bags of default red rose black tea for 10 minutes, it'll be incredibly strong but it'll definitely get you going.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875474
And as you might expect, it'll be the worst tasting thing ever and likely make you throw up if consumed on an empty stomach.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875474

Wouldn't it need much more water to dissolve 10 bags of tea? Or would a default recipient suffice?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875386
Because the store clerk, the instructions in the packet and almost every website told that it will not end well. It was quite expensive so I wouldn't like to waste it. But maybe I should try to prepare it as normal green tea is prepared.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875466

Over all, tea doesn't have much caffeine. Coffee has way more, about 150-200mg or more a cup. The averages in tea are about (in a an 12oz serving)...

Green or White tea: 20-50mg
Oolong tea: 50-75mg
Black tea: 75-150mg

According to a military study of "subjects who hadn’t slept for 48 hrs showed that 600mg of caffeine improved alertness and mood as much as 20mg of amphetamine." 20mg amphetamine is a pretty decent dose of speed itself.

If you want to focus you'd probably be better off drinking coffee.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875483
I've seen a few people swear by infusing them with a default travel mug worth of water. I can't stomach doing this personally, get sick every time, but people use to do this to study in college.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875486

I don't like coffee. Is caffeine the only compound of teas that make you more concentrated? Isn't any teas out there that consists of other stimulant substances?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875490

Caffeine is about the only actual thing in tea that really has an effect on you mentally (its technically a psychedelic).

You might be interested in trying some herbal '"teas" (usually not called tea because tea refers to a specific bush). One that comes to mind that has direct nootropic effects is Ginkgo leaf.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginkgo_biloba#Medicinal_uses

I don't know how well it works though. I only "trust" actual caffeine, not that weird herbal stuff.

[milk !!Hx9evYBkk8E No.]

I don't get how some of you can drink bagged tea.
Maybe it's just because every time I pick up bagged I just look at the local food store, but after starting to drink loose leaf and blooming teas, I can't stand the taste of bagged. I can't really put my finger on it, but it just has a very odd flavor it to...

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875499

I will mix 5 red rose black teas with some Gingko leafs.
Thank you.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875504
You can mix my dick with your ass. No but seriously, tea won't help you concentrate. Actual medication will.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875506

It's only to play my Touhous, I don't want to go too far... Also, my autism government buckets of money are very small, I can't spend too much on medications, even less on tasteless medications. At least tea will give me some pleasure.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875501
The tannins from the teabags maybe?

[milk !!Hx9evYBkk8E No.]

>>8875501
Actually, I lied because I just recently picked up Green tea with lavender I really enjoy.
Does anyone know if there's a difference as far as health benefits when it comes to choosing loose over bagged tea?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875501

It's just leaf quality. You need to imagine tea production like it's wine production. There are so many minute and crucial conditions and steps that all play a part in making tea. This is also what lets us alter tea flavours, by growing at different altitudes or angles, or in shade or in partial shade etc. The picking is also very important, as is the after process of drying, rolling, oxidizing, and other stuff. Change one tiny percentage of any of this and you create a "different" tea.

Knowing that, it explains the differences in bagged or loose tea. The tea you get in bagged tends to be bought from larger tea estates at cheaper prices, resulting in a more mass produced product. It's also usually "crushed" or cut up really fine. Loose tea can be cheap too, but it's more often than not of a higher quality due to more care put into it and the fact it's full leafs, not a bunch of broken shit.

[Anonymous No.]

“                    TAZO

                                ZEN

                 Green Tea

 [...] with lemongrass
               & spearmint ”

Bagged tea is cheaper than loose tea, right? I'm suffering from “good enough” syndrome where I keep buying the same bagged tea all the time.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875530

Tazo is pretty crappy. It's owned by Starbucks so it is quite literally Starbucks tea.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875530
The last time I had Tazo green tea it tasted like hot water with lemon.

[Anonymous No.]

That FAQ was pretty bad.

I hope too many people don't rely solely on what's written in it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875530
>Bagged tea is cheaper than loose tea, right? I'm suffering from “good enough” syndrome where I keep buying the same bagged tea all the time.
Not necessarily. This would depend on the quality you buy and where you live I suppose, but in my personal experience for the same quality loose can be cheaper. In the end a box of bagged tea can have quite little tea for the price of the package, buying loose leaves you may get more tea for the same price (of same or better quality).

Thanks for the Q&A, Non-Directional. Do you have an opinion on Milk Oolong? I drank it at a local tea room and it was delicious, but for buying leaves to make it at home the price was 5 euros for an ounce, which is damn steep... do you think it is reasonable for this tea, or are they ripping me off? I live in North Europe so tea is generally overpriced here.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875602
By milk oolong do you mean an unnamed oolong with milk added to the infusion, or a house blend they call milk oolong?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875667
I'm not sure what you mean by those alternatives, but I think this doesn't have any actual milk in it. Isn't the milk just in the name (to describe the milky taste)? So I suppose I mean the latter.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875104
Where in the world you get your stuff from? I bet that's not supermarket.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875694
Oh, I see. A quick google shows it to be Jin Xuan Oolong, which I have had and enjoyed.

So I'd say as long as it's fresh, 5 euros isn't too bad per ounce. If the price really seems high for you, you can always order online.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875694
Actually when you want to produce oolong tea it has to be steamed and of course water is used for that. However so called milky oolongs are steamed in milk or in a mixture of water and milk.

Here is a German online shop where you can buy milky oolong.(medium quality, 100g : 12,20 €)

http://www.teagschwendner.com/DE/de/publish/shop_edmon_s.aspx

(Look for 'China Milky Jade Oolong' on that page, can't link direct because of javascript)

[Anonymous No.]

About time a nice tea thread pooped up!
Your Q&A seems to gloss over a lot of things, but then again unglazed teaware would necessitate it's own write up. But if it gets people stop buying bagged, it can hardly be a bad thing.

Anyway, due to some anons mentioning redblossom as a reputable teasource, I decided to try some of their stock for myself. And I don't hesitate to say it was a let down from all corners. The first thing I noticed when it arrived (which took twice as long as shipments from Japan) was that the bags were not vacuum sealed. They seemed as though they were simply closed "tightly" and that was that. One bag even had a slight hole in it. Opening the bags I was met by little to no aroma and very brittle leafs. Moving the tea out to my usual canisters I found they also included no silica packs in their poorly sealed bags.

The quality of the infusion matched the quality of the leaves I received, brittle, tasteless, and stale. Overall I was reminded of my experience with teavanna, only they had actually properly packaged their stale tea. The pricepoint was very disagreeable, and what seemed like a mild markup was quickly shown to be a completely unreasonable price hike once I saw what they were actually sending out. The experience wasn't completely negative however, in addition two half a dozen different teas (three oolong, two black, one green, all bad) from their selection I also included one of their budget model gaiwans. For the $10~ I paid for it, I am very much pleased with what I got.

In closing I would heavily caution against buying anything from that company aside from their budget teaware.

After I find a goat to feed my current supply to, I will be trying http://www.houdeasianart.com for their selection of pu erh.

[Anonymous No.]

I've had some "real" green tea before and it tasted like piss. Maybe it was just that particular type, I don't know. I still want to try out more types of tea, because I stopped drinking soda/juice and water all the time is boring.

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

Some Pu-Erh from a sampler gotten from Seattle's excellent international district. It's pretty neato.

>>8875251
why you always gotta be leaving like that?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875948
With green teas it's important to know how to make them. They taste horrible when brewed at too high temperatures and/or for too long times.

[Anonymous No.]

I like my tea and coffee too, but this thread is just to homo for me. Damn, that's an achievement on /jp/.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8876262
...?

[Anonymous No.]

I'm British and I really like tea. I keep seeing you guys talk about
all these weird sounding teas and have to admit that I never had
anything that wasn't a black tea of some kind.


Do you have any recommendations for someone who wants to broaden their
horizon a bit?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8876475
Keemun would be a good place to start if you want to stick with blacks, but still try something not Indian.
Formosa blacks are also a good place to look.

Mi Lang Xian is a good phoenix oolong to start out on, if you don't know a whole lot about oolongs already.

Gyokuro is good if you want a Japanese green with some punch to it.
If you'd rather a lighter green, you can hardly go wrong a nice Sencha.

Lapsang Souchong is also a good, if a little unique black, if you want to try something a little different.

I think that about covers the basics, hopefully someone else can catch it if I missed something.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8876475
Earl grey is the best tea there is, don't let them lead you astray.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8875380

Tea is sort of like tech support. When posters don't post their rig and every bit of information they can about the problem, people who want to help have no idea where to begin guessing how to help. What temperature were you brewing it, what type of water were you using, etc.

>>8875407

Gyokuro if you want Japanese, Bai Ji Guan oolong if you want Chinese or Ujeon if you want Korean. Bam.

>>8875422

They all have caffeine, so I'm pretty sure they all qualify. Tea may not be the answer to that though...

[Anonymous No.]

>>8876909
Where are you buying korean oolongs?

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8875518

Loose tea is generally fresher and made from more potent parts of the plant. Tea bag tea is generally made of what is left over from the sorting process for loose leaf tea, and the lousy graded tea that wouldn't get sold anyway.

>>8875598

I hope they don't either? It's not intended to be a comprehensive guide. Just what is most commonly asked.

>>8875602
>>8875667

Milk oolong is considered an inexpensive 'daily' oolong in general. There are some merchants that actually add milk ingredients or artificial milk flavouring to it, but the real stuff has no dairy or artificial flavour. A reputable merchant would sell milk oolong 'au natural'. It isn't a flavoured tea, but simply a cultivar of tea that was selectively bred to produce a taste that is reminiscent of milk or cream. I like it a lot.

>>8875717

Online stores.

>>8875881

Again, it's not intended to be comprehensive, just a list of frequently asked questions. I would not have recommended that vendor either. I've never tried Hou de, but I have heard some good things about them.

>>8876056

Sorry myonmyon.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8876262

How is this thread "homo"?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8876981
OP's increased grandstanding since he's taken up a tripcode.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8876981
Tea is homosexual. No real men have ever drank tea. For the past however many centuries, it's just been nancy boys sitting around in frilly clothing sipping from pink teacups and discussing rainbows before sodomizing each other.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8877001

That I can agree with.

[Anonymous No.]

Barley tea is pretty much all I drink nowadays. I want to try out other stuff, though. What brands should I get for some nice teas?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8877035
Speaking of barley tea, does anyone know if it has carbs or anything of the sort? Whenever I drink it at night I have a hard time falling asleep.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8877006
Okay you have 2 days time to explain how this does not fit perfectly in /jp/.

[Anonymous No.]

What tea should I drink to feel like Cirno?

[Anonymous No.]

Enshu Sencha

>>8878614
Is it not obvious?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8878615
...Ice tea?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8878619

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875483
>>8875474
This just reminds me of some news story about a ghetto woman brewing like, 20 bags of tea at once and then ended up vomiting blood.

[Anonymous No.]

How much teaware do you actually have OP? I've seen three different teapots now.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8878660

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8878683

I have about 8 or 9, but I generally only use 2-3 of them on a regular basis. I have a 'danmaku' kyusu that I'll use when I get my shincha order in May... it has a 'meteor shower' pattern on it.

Brewed some pre-Qing Ming Long Jing this morning. Pic related. Not authentic, but I'm enjoying it more than the low grades of the genuine article I've had before.

[Anonymous No.]

(っˇ◡◡ˇ)っ

[Anonymous No.]

Are there any good teas with Sakura in them? Where can I get them?

[Anonymous No.]

What's the best way to measure water temperature?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8882770
some sort of thermometer

[Anonymous No.]

>>8882770
Some kind of thermometer, or if you've got money to blow there are water dispensers that keep water at specific temperatures. I think there are also induction plates for tea pots.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8882770
experience as a chemist.
or experienced with boiling water and making tea would make do.

protip: add cold water after boiling to 100°C, and then cold water temperature * cold water weigh/total weigh + hot water temperature (100) * hot water weigh/total weigh.
You can asume your tap water temperature is 10°C.

A good workaround is to work on total quantity 100ml, and then multiply.
if you aim for 100ml, you use the temperature you want to reach as a base hot water weigh. Say you want to reach 80°C, you use 80g (or ml, same as 1g = 1ml since water density = 1) of water in your boiler.
so you have 80(100) and you add 20(10) which result in 100ml of 82°C water. Now, you may say that 80°C is not 80°C, but since when you boil water, some of it may evaporate, it evens itself out. the temperature of tap water however add a 4% error range, but seriously, electrical thermometer have at least a 5% error range.

Of course, if you use more than 100ml total, the evaporation have less and less impact as quatity goes up, but you wouldn't brew half a litter of tea in one go.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

Today is a very important day. Around the world, people are celebrating the joy of expensive, fragrant dried green leaves and buds enjoyed for their relaxing, psychotropic effects.

drink tea erry day

>>8882717

Most places are just about sold out now. Sakura sencha has an extremely short window of a few weeks from sometime in mid-March to mid-April, when it's usually sold out. You could try Den's or Ito-En, though.

>>8882770

Use a kitchen thermometer. That's what I use.

[Anonymous No.]

Anyone can recommend some good ebay tea sellers?

thank you

[Anonymous No.]

>>8884643
That's a lot of leaves.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8884946

It was 5 grams.

[Anonymous No.]

https://www.o-cha.com/sakura-sencha.html

I just bought that tea. I have never ordered tea online before, so I hope it is good and legit. The price was really good.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8885336

I used that vendor a long time ago. Their tea wasn't bad, but the guy who runs the company has made some really questionable moves. They were based out of Iwaki City, which is in Fukushima... the same place as the power plant that melted down. He sold off his stock of potentially irradiated tea, has tried to downplay the radiation issue (especially considering most of his tea sources are in and around Shizuoka, which has had serious problems with radioactive fallout), and generally makes a lot of troll-ish posts on tea forums talking about how his competitors want to do him in and whatnot. As far as I know, as of February, they resumed operations in Fukushima. In light of all of this, I no longer buy from there.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8886687
Oh god I don't want to get cancer. I'm so scared now. I don't even want to touch the package now!

[Anonymous No.]

>>8886927
Don't worry, the radioactivity isn't a big deal, I drank a good but of stuff harvested from around Shizuoka right after the accident, and absolutely nothing happened.

The guy is still really an asshole though, but since you already gave him the money, you might as well enjoy the tea.

[Anonymous No.]

>mfw my mother brings me tea when im sick :D

[Anonymous No.]

damn teafags

[Anonymous No.]

>>8886927

If you just ordered it, you can probably ask for a refund if it hasn't been shipped yet

[Anonymous No.]

Did you guys know there is an ISO sub-committee for tea?
http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_tc_browse.htm?commid=47918&published
=on

[Anonymous No.]

(っˇ◡◡ˇ)っ

[Anonymous No.]

I like mugicha on warm nights. I need to get an iced tea glass... Maybe tomorrow.

[Anonymous No.]

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8889247

I've never tried it. Maybe I'll pick up some this summer.

Here's a sip tip for you, /jp/, and what I've been working on. I've been using filtered water for a long time to brew, but because filtered water has lost so many minerals, it's never ideal for brewing. Tap water, on the other hand, may be better, but it's chlorinated, which severely affects the taste of the tea.

So here's the solution I found: keep your water on a strong boil for two minutes before you brew with it. In my experience, this boils off about 50-75ml (depending on temperature, power of appliance, etc) off, so add that to the total amount of water you boil. This will boil off the chlorine.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8889411
Not really sure why, but I do ice/cold brewed teas with drinking water and hot teas with spring water.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8889411
Just add a little high end mineral water to increase the quality of your brewing water instead of adding in raw sewage to it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890224
High end mineral water sounds so weird.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8889411

You should actually use filtered water, especially for green teas. I learned this when I lived in Morocco and they are bigger on green tea than anyone else.

[Anonymous No.]

What tea cup thing would you guys recommend

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890486
I wanted this, but never found it anywhere

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890547

Make it yourself?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890547
Something like that is horribly awkward to drink from.

[Anonymous No.]

I tried some Twinings Earl Grey for the first time, and it was a bit disappointing... Maybe I steeped it too long or something.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890593
Oh god I can't even spell 'oh god' right.

[Anonymous No.]

I got I just absentmindedly poured boiling water into my sencha. I hope it's not ruined.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890593
It really is ruined. Tastes like nothing now. ;~;

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890622
This isn't the place for emoticons.
Back to /a/.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890632
Take it easy, friend.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890635
Mind your business, buttface.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890652
How rude.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8890593
>>8890622

I know that feel.

Picture is my afternoon tea, long glass brewing of Long Jing. This is for sure the most economical way to brew tea... I can get nearly a liter of tea out of this brewing method with 3 grams. For comparison, this morning when I brewed Long Jing, I only got 750ml out of 8 grams of leaves before they were exhausted.

As long as you don't mind blowing leaves out of the way before each sip, of course. It's neat too, you get to watch the tea leaves dance as they float from top to bottom.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890632

;-; or ;_; is an acceptable /jp/ emoticon. Lurk a little more

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890690

No, YOU lurk moar. ";_;" is acceptable. ";-; or ;~; or ;o;" faggotry is not.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890701
They're all the same. Now stop discussing this in such a nice thread.

[proREMIRIAt Elite Force Commander !rSDMROXTB. No.]

To the anon who told me a few weeks ago not to drink that cheap green tea... you were right, I had to dispose that shit.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890701
And the one he posted was neither.
Pay a little attention, officer.

[Anonymous No.]

i got this oolong tea thursday that i heard about over at http://cerealexperiments.com/tea/wakaba.html

it's pretty cheap price wise, and i don't know if it's really top tier or anything but i love its aroma. the flavor is very light too.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890833
The person who runs that site is known to be involved in various raids against /jp/ and irresponsibly handled personal information of people who visited the site.

Carefully consider going to such places.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890833

oops i forgot the name of the tea. it's "tieguanyin"

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890857
shut up Brandon or I'll mail you more anthrax

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890833
Reported for advertising your half assed /bun/.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8890939
shut up baby dick, we all know /bun/ is terrible just like you jones.

[Anonymous No.]

Some iced se chung oolong. Too hot to have the window open today, but it's the thought that counts.

I'm really looking forward to some shincha, but like always I'm short on cash.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8891339

I've actually never heard of iced oolong, but it sounds good. The colour looks very appealing, too.

I have that problem too. I've been looking forward to the 2012 harvest and was hoping to sample shincha from a bunch of different places, but as it turns out, I can't afford it. So far it looks like the only shincha I'm going to get are the two packages of kyomushi sencha I've pre-ordered.

If only shipping weren't so expensive from Japan...

[Anonymous No.]

>>8891430
Hey you, how is the stuff from Den's anyway?
I'm thinking of giving them a try. Also where would you suggest buying reasonably (all things considered) priced sincha from?

I've never really gone into Japanese greens too much yet.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8891458

Den's... not bad, although I personally don't buy from them anymore.

I'm going with Yuuki-cha for shincha this year. Their shincha ranges from $12-25, which for 100 grams is a steal. I'm getting two packages of the Shimofuri. D-don't misunderstand, i-it's not like the pretty pinku package with sakura on it had anything to do with my choice.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8891562
Wow that is a good deal.
Looks like I know who I'm buying from next.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8891562
I'd love to buy directly from Japan but I really can't be bothered driving to my customs office every time and paying them money because I import things.

[Anonymous No.]

Had a nice set-up and then realized the overturned box of strawberries was still present in the background.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8892163
What kind of tea? I like the color of it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8892170
Green tea with dried strawberries. I've mainly been drinking infused teas but I think I'm going to try the real deal™ after reading the FAQ.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875104
This otherwise cute and cozy picture is completely ruined by your gaymer mouse in the corner.

[Anonymous No.]

Where do you get your tea?
I've been reading about some nasty pesticides on popular brands in asia and the west.

[mqn No.]

>>8891562
Time for an intervention, my good sir, I believe there are things in life other than tea. Like Shinki doujins and ribbed sweaters, or even better, DFC.

[Anonymous No.]

More mugicha! It never ends!

[Anonymous No.]

Making some more ghetto-matcha as we speak.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875104
tieguanyin is very nice

[Anonymous No.]

>>8893379
Of course I forget the picture...

[Anonymous No.]

I know teas from the supermarket are bad, but is there anything someone would recommend?
I'm drinking Lipton Green Tea Asian Gunpowder, so far it's the less shitty I've ever drink coming from the supermarket

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8892298

Yuuki-cha and 05 Tea, mostly. I'm in the process of trying new vendors at the moment though, and I'm having mixed results.

The pesticide issue is very concerning, especially because I've actually bought and brewed one of those products on Greenpeace's test list (Ten Fu sells their tea through their subsidiaries in the West 'Ten Ren'). I don't think people need to stop consuming Chinese tea entirely, but you should be careful about where you buy your Chinese tea.

China could be the most polluted country in the world overall, but it's also one of the largest countries in the world by land mass, and safety in agriculture probably ultimately comes down to local farming conditions more than anything.

I don't think Chinese organic certifications are worth anything because, let's face it, there isn't much professional credibility for regulatory organizations in developing countries. Unless it has a European organic certification, which some of the better Chinese tea gardens actually do, it may be questionable. To make matters more complicated, even some teas that are grown without pesticides cannot get organic certifications because of run-off from neighbouring farms, which is particularly an issue in Taiwan.

The places I buy from get around this issue because they are small-scale farming operations, generally which are family-owned and operated. In the case of the Korean some of the Chinese tea I buy, it's considered 'micro-farming', essentially done on semi-wild tea plants on someone's rural property by a single farmer.

So in general, I would recommend tea from small-scale farms.

>>8893386

For the love of Hakurei?, buy yourself a matcha set. They cost less than $50, so if you can afford matcha, perhaps you can also afford something to brew it in so you aren't wasting your money.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8894058
The only thing I'm lacking is the whisker. Right now it just becomes a greenish soup that doesn't taste bad but it's nothing special either. How much do you think would a proper whisker change the flavor of it?

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8894070

I'm not sure, I'm no matcha expert, but if you aren't dissolving it completely, then I would imagine it would taste nasty. But if you are dissolving it properly (you don't technically 'need' a bamboo whisk, it just gives you weeaboo street cred), and it still tastes lousy, then you probably have old/lousy matcha.

What I know about matcha is this: it's one of those things that isn't worth it unless you get the really good stuff. Otherwise I wouldn't suggest anyone bother, unless you want to use the cheaper stuff for baking and making smoothies, which you don't need 'ceremony-grade' for.

[Anonymous No.]

Where do you guys keep your tea stored?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8894630
I store it in my butt. Butt tea flavor is the best.

I am so sorry, I couldn't help it...

[Anonymous No.]

What do you guys think about this? 58€

[Anonymous No.]

>>8894644
It's okay Anonymous, sometimes we all get the urge to shitpost.
Since you apologized, I'll let it slide as at least you know you did something bad.
Please try to keep tea threads clean and pleasant.

[Anonymous No.]

I've decided to give green tea another chance because of this thread. I love oolong, but I haven't liked any of the few green teas i've tried, they always seemed sort of tasteless. However I never used any proper brewing technique and I have no idea what sort of teas i've tried before other than 'green'. So I got myself a kyusu and a nice cup and i'm waiting warmly for the den's sampler to try out a few and see if i like them.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8894913
Where'd you buy the kyusu and what is a "den's sampler"?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8894913
Buy samplers will usually yield old stock.
Den's prices are pretty low too, you would have been better off just buying a few you were interested in and expanding from there.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8895552
Not that guy, but the sampler's like 3 bucks. It comes with no less than five items, free shipping. I think it also comes with the monthly sample that ships with regular orders. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, especially for what it is at that price.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8896018
Never mind then, good on you.

You should still grab some shincha though, since it's available anyway.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8895510
I got it at a small shop inside a Japanese goods supermarket (Mitsuwa marketplace). It's just an inexpensive plain brown one that was on sale, but it seems nice enough. Sorry I can't recommend an online shop or anything. The sampler is from den's teas.

>>8896023
OK, I will, thanks! I didn't realize this was new harvest time, I don't think I've ever had any kind of remotely fresh green tea. Looks like it doesn't ship until May so I'll try out the sampler first and then pick a couple things to order.

[Eatsfalconpunch No.]

so, I'm somewhat interested in loose tea and have been in the market for a teapot, I was hoping to get a cast iron one off of Amazon, rust is an obvious side affect but are there any other bad experiences that /jp/ has gone through with metal pots? another question: for the process of infusing, do I need a basket to hold the leaves in or could I just throw the leaves in my pot and poor the tea into a cup? read the entire QA and didn't find my answers, thanks in advance!

[Anonymous No.]

If I order tea right now, will I be getting stuff from this year's harvest, or will I have to wait a little more?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8897679
The shop should state that. If it doesn't, it's probably not a very good shop.

[Anonymous No.]

Is there a thread somewhere for tea newbies to look at?
The only tea making I've done is cheap chinese tea through a coffee maker.

Clearly I'm missing out on a lot of what tea could/should be.

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>8897673
>rust is an obvious side affect
Not if you keep it clean. The inside can't rust, at any rate.

>do I need a basket to hold the leaves in or could I just throw the leaves in my pot and poor the tea into a cup?
It helps a lot to have a basket. Mine came with one.

>>8876970
So, does that mean you're not gonna be on Steam any more? ;_;

[Anonymous No.]

>>8893528
Still no answer for this?

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>8898695
Stash orange black tea is pretty decent, and Tazo Darjeeling is also acceptable.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8894645

[tripcode servers unavailable No.]

>>8898776
Oops, meant peach black tea, not orange.

The box is orange...

[Anonymous No.]

>>8894645
Guys, what do you think? Too cheap? Too expensive? I don't want to import or I'll have to pay customs.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8899332
You'd be paying like $80 for a glazed pot.
I don't see the point at all.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8894645

I don't really know anything about it, so I can't really say. Is it a obiami filter? Sasame? Glazed inside? Not glazed inside?

The Den's sampler is excellent for the price, but yes, I will echo what has already been said: this is the time of the year for shincha, the first harvest of the year. If you're going to try tea, this is the best it's going to be all year until harvest time next year, so go for the fresh stuff if you can afford it.

>>8897673

I've owned an iron tetsubin before and it began to rust almost immediately. They're also very large and heavy, so unless you're serving 4+ people, it's probably not a very good idea. To compare, most 'solo' teaware ranges between 150-300ml, with 300ml even being a lot.

Every decent vendor I have bought from either includes hard copy instructions on how to actually brew the leaves in the pot, or has a detailed explanation on their website with pictures. Either should tell you what you need to know, but if you're still unsure, I'll write up something with details for you.

>>8897679

Unless you order shincha/first-flush specifically, it'll be a previous year's crop.

>>8898376

Through a coffee maker? That sounds unimaginably bad. Until you can get a teapot, try brewing your tea 'farmer style'. Apparently, this is how the majority of Chinese drink their tea: take a mug or long glass (tempered glass, not ordinary glass or it'll crack), throw in some leaves, pour in hot water, let it brew until it's cool enough to sip, and then each time you want to drink, blow the leaves that haven't floated to the bottom out of the way and drink. In fact, I posted an image of my doing this brewing method in a long glass a day or two ago, if you want to see what it looks like.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8899914
It's glazed and no idea what filter it is.

I was looking at http://www.yuuki-cha.com/kinu-shudei-japanese-teapot?zenid=3c4502754cf3a76fea48d6d524364c7f as well. Can you gauge how much shipping that would be with EMS?

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8898685

Nope. I'm on IRC though sometimes, but I don't want to do the Steam thing anymore.

>>8893528

The last supermarket tea I drank regularly was Four O'Clock brand white tea. If you can find an upscale supermarket with an organic section and whatnot, you might be able to find some loose leaf sencha.

You might be able to pick up a decent rooibos at the supermarket, though.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8899933

Not really, because I don't know where you live, silly!

There may be a chart on the site though with an estimated shipping charge table. If there isn't, you can always email for a quote. EMS is depressingly expensive, but they're lightning fast, update their tracking fast and it's insured.

If it helps, I live on the Eastern seaboard, and shipping a 100g package of tea cost me $12 USD.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8899979
Oh my, that's really expensive. I can't find shudei teapots in any European shops, though. Everything else I feel I'm overpaying for.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8899989
EMS is almost always around $30 for me.

[Anonymous No.]

Fuck the police

[Anonymous No.]

Does anyone here recommend a particular water heater? I've been looking around but none have really caught my eye.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8902719
I've had a Zojirushi CD-WBC30 since 2009. It does its job nicely. Make sure whatever you get holds the water at the temperatures for your favorite teas.

The pink model with flowers on it doesn't hold water at 175F... Dissapointing.

[Anonymous No.]

I still can't find a nice place that sells kyusu pots that is Europe based ;_;
It either provides poor information or is too expensive and does the same.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8902747
Seconding the Zojirushi CD-WBC30. I've had mine for a couple of years too, and have no complaints about it. Great little machine.

[Anonymous No.]

The shincha I ordered arrived today. Better be worth those 18 bucks.
Well, I probably won't taste a difference to my usual stuff anyway, but at least I tried

[Anonymous No.]

>>8903767
Make sure to brew it correctly. Makes all the difference.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8903871
What exactly would be the correct way? Anything more special than with normal green tea?
I don't have any fancy kyusu pot or anything.

Already made some just now and, well. Definitely tastes good, but I'm not enough of a connoisseur to really say much about it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8903917
I just meant the temerature.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8904013
Temperature*, sorry.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8904015
Well, alright, that's kind of a given, though.
I'm still always afraid I'm doing something wrong / could do better.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8902719

I'd like to know this too. I haven't been happy with any of the boilers I've had so far. Wasn't happy with my Zoji.

>>8902747

Like sakura, it's fleeting

>>8902929

http://www.thes-du-japon.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_9&language=en

Though I've never tried them personally.

>>8903767

That's a pretty reasonable price for shincha. If you got a 100 gram package, that means it works out to 18 cents a gram, or about 90 cents per pot of tea (assuming 5 gram infusions). For less than a dollar a day, you can sponsor a /jp/ anon in need of tea..

>>8903917

Shincha has a higher water content and it's more potent, which means you need cooler temperatures and shorter infusion times. Unless you have specific instructions from the vendor (which I always recommend over general guidelines), try 160 degrees for about 45 seconds.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8902719
>>8904098
Zojis are nice for the convenience, but you won't find one that doesn't muddle the taste of the water a little.

My best answer is to just keep doing it the old fashioned way when you need water for your better teas, and just use the Zoji for your more mundane stuff and when you don't want to get up.

Given that Zoji is more or less the best on the market, I don't think you'll be finding a water heater that has a neutral or positive effect on the water unless one is made specifically for tea, and the people who care about that sort of thing. And I'm sure it would cost more than an arm and a leg.

[Anonymous No.]

Question:
is there a Patchoulithe plant tea?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8904098
It didn't come with any instructions, sadly, of course I'd follow those first if there were any.
160 Degrees is already what I usually shoot for with green tea, so I guess I pinpointed that, but I also let it infuse like usual, which is about 2-3 minutes for first infusion and 1-2 for second.
I'll try a shorter infusion time next time, thanks!

[Anonymous No.]

>>8904209
I've never seen once commercially marketed, but you can always make one. I wouldn't recommend it though, patchouli isn't exactly the greatest tasting thing in the world, and I'm not entirely sure it's safe to consume regularly.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8904226

so, that means I can drink my waifu?!

[Anonymous No.]

>>8904296
Yeah, bottoms up anon!

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8904209
>>8904226
>>8904296

From what I can gather:

>Patchouli is an herb that has been used for its medicinal qualities since ancient times. It has been used to treat colds, diarrhea, indigestion and skin problems. Dried patchouli leaves can even be used as an insect repellent. Using patchouli is simple and inexpensive, according to patchouli enthusiasts.

I would exercise caution with anything that is not from a commercial outlet. Some plants have toxic alkaloids which could potentially transport you to Gensokyo.

A possibly safer alternative might be lavender tea. It probably tastes better than patchouli tea would, and is commercially available.

[Anonymous No.]

Not touhou.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8904344
Tea threads are fine; mod agreed, don't bother him about it.

[Anonymous No.]

Got a Kukicha (also called Karigane) sample the other day. It contains lots of stamps and looks like its the worst possible quality of tea you can get. However after tasting it, well I was really surprised. There was a real 'wow-effect'. One of the best teas I ever tasted. Going to try some more of these types.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8904416
I actually like Kukicha. It's great if you want to drink obscene amounts of tea on a budget too.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8904416

As far as I understand it, karigane is a little bit different, although the terminology is a little muddled in the West. Kukicha is mostly stems and other assorted material that didn't make the cut as sencha, but it's usually made from nibancha (second harvest sencha, low grade stuff) or bancha (latest, lowest value harvest of the season). It's almost always sold roasted.

Karigane is most often made from high-quality ichibancha ('first harvest') sencha stems, but the better karigane is made from gyokuro stems. Sometimes it's roasted, but I like even better 'green', meaning unroasted.

Karigane is a gentler, sweeter flavour than sencha, but is generally looked down upon in the world of tea. Actually, because it's sweet, cheap and difficult to overbrew, I think it's something we should start recommending to beginners.

Captcha: Japanned sraeruc

[Anonymous No.]

>>8904536
People who share their captchas are the worst.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8904536
Good to know thanks. The wrapping said Karigane.

>Karigane is a gentler, sweeter flavour than sencha.
Exactly. Didn't had the bancha/roasted flavor.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8894630

Just noticed this question.

I use stainless steel canisters covered in wazome washi paper. They're not air-tight, but nothing really is unless it's actually sealed, but it's just about as close as you can get.

My favourite way to store tea is in its original packaging. If I can fit the packaging in a canister, I do it. I prefer buying tea sold in resealable bags for this reason.

When you take tea out of its original packaging, whatever else you put it in will absorb some the tea's moisture, essential oils and fragrance -- not good. That's the stuff you want in your tea liquor, not sticking to the inside of a container or dispersing throughout the air. This is why if you can avoid taking it out of the packaging, your tea will stay fresher significantly longer.

Don't keep your tea in the fridge unless it's unopened. Avoid freezing tea. When you want to use some tea that has been refrigerated, leave it at room temperature for 24 hours first. Finally, keep tea away from strong smells, which the tea will readily absorb, particularly if it's unroasted.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8905908
I wish I had (somewhat) airtight clips with which I could seal their original packaging. Right now I just roll it up and hope for the best.

 
What is everyone's opinion on Pu-erh?

[Anonymous No.]

Some half and half action hell yea boy

[Anonymous No.]

>>8905916

I love the smooth energetic taste of puer tea. I stopped drinking coffee entirely because of puer!

pic related, the glutinous rice flavor is my favorite.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8905908
I use this method too. There are some really nice sakura bark canisters out there, and I would love to switch out to a set of them, but they're rather costly.

>>8905916
Pu-erh is good stuff, but might be a little much for most people just getting into tea. There variety of flavor is pretty unparalleled, and it's a really fun thing to explore. Buying cakes at a time will put it out of most people's price range, and buying parts of already broken up cakes will yield an unsatisfactory result. Also, I've yet to find a supplier that I'm really satisfied with, but then again I haven't been looking very hard either.

If anyone has recommendations on that front, I'd love to hear them.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8906005
How does Pu-erh work anyway? It's just tea rolled up in a ball and you break stuff off and brew your tea normally or how does it work?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8906021
Well, there are like micro cakes and other "set serving size" varieties, but you won't see too much of those.

Otherwise you're buying a cake (which can be pretty large), and breaking off chunks, weighing out what you need, steeping that, and putting the rest back away.

Of course a lot of normal tea sellers carry pu erh too, which you can use to buy smaller amounts. But you'll usually end up with less than ideal stock which has already been broken up and aired out, but will already be in pieces when you get it.

Either way you'll end up needing to break apart very tightly packed chunks to fit your needs, but from there you steep as normal.

[Anonymous No.]

there are some eBay sellers based in China which sell the single serving puer cakes in a sampler bag.

other vendors have 100g or 200g big cakes, of both raw or ripe, this can be a good way to find a mid-grade puer selection to please your palate

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

I can't really say much about Pu-erh, since I am not a fan of it. It seems to be increasing in popularity though, and the whole 'brick and icepick' thing seems like a quaint throwback to another era.

Whole cakes may be expensive, but then again, you're getting a lot of tea. There are a lot of benefits to buying tea in bulk. I recently bought 600 grams of Dong Ding oolong to stock up with and it only cost me $145. $145 is a lot of money, but it works out to just under a quarter ($0.25) a gram at that price.

Because of the high price of shipping from Asia, perhaps buying in bulk should be something everyone should consider, at least once they find teas they like and want to drink every day.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8906493
Agreed, second to maybe certain green teas, pu erh is probably the most economical way to go about stocking up, this is considering the amount of tea you're getting, and the re usability of the leaves themselves.

As for the method of delivery being "a quaint throwback to another era", that's a part of tea in general I've always found endearing. That difference in stance also shows in your vessels of choice, for what I imagine are much the same reasons. But one can hardly fault what works.

As for bulk shipping, I agree it's an absolute must for staple teas, and that's compounded by the fact most sellers do pass on the considerable discount you get for buying in those amounts, let alone the difference in shipping. The only flaw in the system being that a hefty stock of one's usual standbys always being at hand, while smaller samples run dry. Of course the simplest way to counteract this is to buy your daily teas and teas you're simply trying out at different times, typically by cycling the latter as your stocks run dry and ordering a new batch all at once. While simply maintaining your favored stock on it's own, and ensuring a constant supply.

[Anonymous No.]

bmp

[Anonymous No.]

Don't even think that the mugicha madness will ever end! It won't!

[Anonymous No.]

Guys, this is stupid. Just drink some good old working class tea and be done with it. You know, most Japanese folks think the tea ceremony and tea snobbery are silly. Soseki gets it right when he calls it ostentatious and over concerned with appearance.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8908247
>Guys, this is stupid. Just drink some good old working class tea and be done with it.
But why stop there? For most of us, tea preparation and consumption is something of a hobby; surely you wouldn't tell someone taking up cooking to just "be done with it" after they learn how to fry an egg?

>You know, most Japanese folks think the tea ceremony and tea snobbery are silly.
Surely. But do you see us preforming elaborate tea ceremonies or acting like snobs? We're just enjoying properly-prepared tea and sharing our experiences for our mutual benefit.

Soseki gets it right when he calls it ostentatious and over concerned with appearance.
Given the lifestyle of the average /jp/ native, I'd say that being concerned with appearances is a nonentity for the people in this thread.

Also 10/10 if you're a troll; the nuance involved was refreshing and I wish to congratulate you on a damn fine job.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8908393

The joke is, there was no nuance.

[Anonymous No.]

< Tea scrub and I don't care. with plenty of milk and sometimes sugar is best!

[Anonymous No.]

>>8909879
Not here, /v/.
Go home.

[Anonymous No.]

Sure is green in here.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8910040

Green as HELL.

Fukamushi?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8911205
Tried to add some matcha to my sencha for some reason.

[Anonymous No.]

So I've only ordered from o-cha until now, but I wanna try something new this shincha season, what would /jp/ recommend?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8911750
Yuki-cha doesn't seem like a bad bet.
I had stuff from them ages ago and it was alright. And OP seems to have a hard on for them.

I actually ordered some from them myself too, but it will probably be another few weeks before it gets here so I can't say anything accurate about them.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8911246

You might consider 'dusting' it if your sencha is relatively fresh and thus moist. Put the matcha in the bag or container your sencha is in, mix it up by shaking it gently for a while, and you have some homemade 'Extra green'.

>>8911750
>>8911768

Pretty much. Although I also like Zencha for Japanese tea, though they're more expensive. Zencha would probably be a better bet for gyokuro at any rate.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8912107
Thanks for the tip but that was just a one time thing. I really liked the color of it, though.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8912107
Is there any reason you didn't mention Zencha in your Q&A?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8900773
where'd you buy that

[Anonymous No.]

>>8902719
I have this one I think:
http://www.amazon.com/Aroma-AWK-115S-X-Press-2-Liter-Cordless/dp/B000KDVTJI/
It's pretty epic as hell
I don't think it matters very much as long as you are not using the microwave.
I wouldn't spend anymore than this on a kettle for a beginner though.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8912243
Actually now that I think about it you should just spend the extra $50 and get the zoji one that others were talking about.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8912167

I did recommend it in the Q&A. I'll also recommend another place that just came to mind: Hibiki-An. Their prices are very reasonable and it's been a pleasure doing business with them for me.

>>8912243

That's a pretty good price. I'm still holding out for an all-stainless steel internals one. That feel when hunting through kitchenware shops.

Zoji is king if you aren't concerned with plastic safety issues. It is by far the most convenient to just stick your teapot under the dispenser and have water come out at the right temperature.

If you go the water boiler route however, this is where the yuzumashi ('water cooler') comes in handy. It's basically an open-mouthed kyusu, designed that way to help cool down the water. Pour the boiling water from the water boiler into the yuzumashi, stick your thermometer in, and when it's the right temperature, pour into your waiting kyusu.


Does anyone drink tea at night (only applicable if you're on a diurnal schedule, of course)? How much, and what type of tea, do you find you can consume without it affecting your being able to sleep?

I'm running out of Patchouli pictures...

[Anonymous No.]

>>8912500
>I did recommend it in the Q&A
You only mentioned them when talking about teaware.

>Does anyone drink tea at night (only applicable if you're on a diurnal schedule, of course)? How much, and what type of tea, do you find you can consume without it affecting your being able to sleep?

I drink more tea at night then I do during the day for whatever reason. I never really kept count so I can't say exactly how much, but usually three or so cups an hour. As for what kind, sencha and light roasted oolongs mostly. It doesn't interfere with my ability to sleep at all as long as I stop about two hours before bed.
My afternoon nap either is a little more sensitive to it though, so I have to watch when drinking higher caffeine blacks earlier in the day.

[Anonymous No.]

Went home over the weekend and my parents unfortunately don't have any fancy tea so I'll have to make do with bagged stuff or low quality, mixed loose tea ;~;

[Anonymous No.]

Kind of off topic but,
How many of you are, along with drinking tea, dieting/cooking properly and doing martial arts or sports seriously?
I know this is /jp/, but IDK about those stereotypes.

[Anonymous No.]

The great thing about drinking tea isn't enjoying it, it's showing everyone online that I did.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8915327
Which stereotypes? The stereotype of the average /jp/sie, the average weeaboo or people that drink tea for the health benefits?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8915350
Of the average /jp/sie.
>IDK
I meant "I don't care". Maybe I should go back to my bed.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8915357
>>8915371
I dunno; I don't really think we're misrepresenting ourselves here. That we're loners that who order Japanese tea through the internet and spend all day lurking a specific thread on /jp/ seems to fit rather well with out established image.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8915389
Oh well, thanks for answering. Have a nice day.

[Anonymous No.]

Are there any Dutch tea enthusiasts here? I'm kinda wondering about where to order online, or if I should go to the tea store in my town.

I want to get started with some real tea but I have no idea if what that tea store sells is fresh or anything. And I'd like some good cups and all. But I'll buy tea before i buy expensive pots 'n cups.

Last thing(for now), I've been drinking Lipton black gold tea in those piramid bags lately. Its not that bad, since I don't really know any better, but I want to know how tea like this compares to real black tea and what I should expect?

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8915510

Read the FAQ and scroll up for a link to a tea shop in France I posted. It shouldn't cost too much to ship from there to you.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8915547
Well jeeze. I literally spent 10 minutes going through that FAQ over and over again to find that French link trying to understand what you meant by scrolling up since you start at the top. Just too tired.

After reading your post for the third time I finally got it. Probably is why I missed that link in the first place since I read the entire thread.

Thanks, I'll check out that, and other web shops too. But i'll be back with questions later I suspect.

[Anonymous No.]

Mmm it seems that that French shop is located in Japan and ships from Japan too. So it wouldn't make a much difference in shipping costs if I'd do it from there or from Yuuki-cha or something. I'll continue looking though.

[Anonymous No.]

Haven't checked the website yet but If you need any French translation, do ask.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8916096
Mm no, don't worry. They have a button that changes their site to English. Thanks though!

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8915808

I did not know that... well, there you go, I've learned something too.

I finally found what I have been looking almost two years for... a water dispenser with all-stainless steel internals. Salton water boiler, pic related. It's a complete rip-off of the Zojirushi boilers, and there are no temperature settings but it's only $60, has about a 5 liter capacity and a keep-warm setting, and seems to perform flawlessly.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8915808

I did not know that... well, there you go, I've learned something too.

Was at a kitchenware store again today. I finally found what I have been looking almost two years for... a water dispenser with all-stainless steel internals. Salton water boiler, pic related. It's a complete rip-off of the Zojirushi boilers, and there are no temperature settings but it's only $60, has about a 5 liter capacity and a keep-warm setting, and seems to perform flawlessly.

Planning to use a yuzumashi to cool the water off before I use it for brewing green tea. Will post pics of the process next week when I get my shincha.

[Anonymous No.]

Rained and got a bit chilly today, so I prepared it hot. I was beginning to second guess keeping the water dispenser topped off and plugged in.

[Anonymous No.]

Ok to get this straight, Shincha is tea from the spring harvest right?

As a newcomer to tea of this quality, is it worth to get a tea like that?
Also how long do these teas stay available? Say I'm very much into them, can I just order more whenever I feel like it or should I order a shit ton before it's sold out?

[Anonymous No.]

just drinking this.
please, tell me sencha is actualy 10 times better than this.

I'm newfag here. I am deciding if I should get some tea from Japan to finally taste something great, because in central europe it's really hard to find something good.

Can you recommend me something for starters?

Also, what are /jp/'s thoughts about teas like this? I saw a teekanne Pu-Erh for the first time today, but I didn't buy it. Anyone had it?

Btw, somebody was asking about measuring temperature. I think infrared temperature meter could be good idea.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8920135
>>8920135
I got that same teapot, got it from o-cha.com

[Anonymous No.]

>>8921670
>tea that isn't Chinese or Japanese

ya blew it

[Anonymous No.]

>>8921670
>>8921670
get your sencha from o-cha.com or yuuki-cha.com and yes there is sencha way better than normal store bought. the main thing is with green tea is that it goes bad easily, and quality is paramount, the fresher the better.

the stuff you buy at the store generally sits on the shelf for months, and its already most likely months old before that. not only that they dont properly store it. Your in luck if you want some good quality, its actually Shincha season meaning new tea, its the best tasting you will get all year.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8921670
>>8921670
you want to brew your sencha anywhere from 165-180. i prefer 165. the trick is to boil the water, poor that boiling water into your teapot, then into your teacup, add the leaves to your pot, and throw the water in the cup , into the pot. it will be about 165f. Also the best Sencha comes from Japan

[Anonymous No.]

>>8921794
I'll just ignore that

>>8921784
Yeah, I was looking for something there. Can you recommend me something?
If I remember correctly, someone in here said he'll buy this - yuuki-cha.com/2012-organic-kagoshima-shincha-shimofuri

also, what teapot should I buy? I want it just for myself

[Anonymous No.]

>>8921909
Why ignore it? its perfectly good information. Any teapot will do, get one that holds like 10-12oz water. The Sae midori is good from yuuki-cha. stay away from yuuki-chas kabusecha. With the sencha, think of it like sushi, just try different stuff every time unless you really like a certain tea.

couple pointers are
>Fukumushi = Deep Steamed (alot of little tea leaf particles, bolder taste)

>Asamushi = Light Steamed ( Not so much leaf particles and a lighter taste

there is a in between one that i cant think of but yea, if your new id say goto some easy brewing asamushi sencha, you can fuck up your brewing really easily with green tea and have it turn really bitter, water temperature and quality is uber important with green tea, ONLY USE FILTERED WATER, or a better quality. 175F is the typical suggested sencha brewing temperature, but as i have said i like mine at 165.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8921981
(sorry for double post)
Oh yea a little heads up with yuuki cha, since they are all organic their teas tend to run a little bitter and more grassy than normal since they dont add nitrogen to the soil. nitrogen is the main thing that makes green tea taste better. You want the 10-12oz teapot cause the tea leaves will absorb quite a bit of water, if yours only holds 6oz, you maybe only drinking about 4oz liquid. since im american, i like to drink around 8oz lol

seems to be that japanese drink their tea in smaller quantities which is why their cups hold so little compared to american.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8920135

So swirly~

>>8921184

Shincha is the first harvest of the spring, yes.

>As a newcomer to tea of this quality, is it worth to get a tea like that?

It all depends on you. If you've never experienced 'real' tea before, then, yes, a previous year's tea may be as enjoyable as shincha is for someone who has. The difference in price though is not staggering, and there are flavours in shincha that are not present in tea at any other time of the year... even if you buy enough shincha to drink year-round. So I would recommend going for shincha.

>Also how long do these teas stay available? Say I'm very much into them, can I just order more whenever I feel like it or should I order a shit ton before it's sold out?

That's a good question, and I wish someone would have told me that last year when I knew very little about tea. Tea is harvested between March and June, with the majority of it being harvested in late April and the first half of May. In general, I've found that by June, most places are sold out of shincha.

I would not recommend buying shincha in bulk. I had that idea too, but it turns out that shincha does not keep its spring flavour. Ideally, you should buy tea in small quantities as you need it, because the vendors you buy from (hopefully) have special facilities at their disposal for storage, which keeps the tea fresher than it would be sitting sealed in your house in a cupboard or the fridge.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922012
Well I've been drinking supermarket grade tea for quite a while and I'm just more and more disappointed by how it tastes.

Right now I think I will get some shincha indeed. Going to yuuki-cha there are a couple of shincha one can buy. There probably isn't a "best" one but how do you find out how the different shincha taste? I have no idea which one I should choose. Besides just randomly getting something.

And one last question. How long does 100g last in terms of cups? On average.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8921670

Imitation sencha has a reputation for being awful. I've only heard of 'Chinese' sencha, but it doesn't surprise me it's being made in Indonesia too.

There seem to be a lot of EU anon who are interested in tea. I recall one place I had messaged last year about Korean Ujeon being in Europe. Here's their site, it may be of use to you and other Euros. http://www.darjeeling.cz/en

>>8921909

Pretty sure that was me, as that was the shincha I chose to start the season with. It's currently being shipped to me and I'll post my thoughts on it next week, if you want to wait before ordering it.

Look for a teapot under 300ml.

>>8921981

I ordered some Kabusecha with my shincha from there. Is it not very good?

Also, filtered water isn't always the best way to go. Depending on the filter, it may strip too many minerals from the water, leaving you with flat-tasting tea. I have personally made the switch back to tap water, and my tea tastes a lot better now. I just make sure to keep it at a strong boil for two minutes to boil off the chlorine. Spring water is best, of course, if you can afford it...

The teas grown without heavy nitrogen fertilizer treatments do have less umami, but they also have much stronger flavours in subsequent infusions than conventionally grown teas. They don't grow as fast without that extra nitrogen, so they have time to suck up more minerals, which, if the farmer knows what he's doing, results in a more flavourful tea.

[Anonymous No.]

Anyone have experience with ginseng tea?

I tried doing a little bit of research and found out there's like fucking tons of different kinds of ginseng, and reports of it causing bleeding and other shenanigans.

[Anonymous No.]

What kind of cups do you drink from? I only have these ikea ones.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922086
>>8922086
LOL BLEEDING!?!? WoW , okay well i have alot of experience with ginseng. you just need to find a ginseng extract and put it in hot water and bam , theres your tea. ginseng is only good for 40+ people in age. if you want a good ginseng google Cheong Kwan Jang. its expensive, but the best quality you can get.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922103
Mm yea, any tips on how to pour a good cup of tea with westernstyle cups without ruining it?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922056
Their kabusecha is BAD, but i find that O-cha.com has better tasting kabusecha. kabusecha is my fave sencha tho, love the l-theanine >.>

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922056
thanks, I'd be glad to hear your thoughts.
unfortunately, I am away next week and I don't know what internet access I'll have so please, e-mail me, if it's ok with you.
thanks

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922123
I had no idea that "western style cups" ruin tea.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922112

Ginseng is beneficial regardless of your age. You DO need to be careful with ginseng though. There's over ten kinds of ginseng, but there are two that are the most common (and mixed up by people).

Panax Ginseng - This is the shit that makes you hot and awake and is often jammed in energy drinks, sometimes tea. It can and will make you bleed if you take a lot of it.

American Ginseng - Is still technically a form of panax but it isn't as crazyparty. Consider this Diet Ginseng or Ginseng Lite.

Also avoid ginseng if you're on autism or assburgers medication. Seriously, ginseng can interact all wonky with meds. Treat is as a med.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922127
i ment to type ISNT THAT BAD, sorry to mislead you.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922142
yes you are correct, i guess i should have elaborated and said that with ginseng you get the most benefit if you are 40+. Korean red ginseng is the most stimulating for sure, and yes its good to be carefull with it. The stuff made me SUPER HORNY , waaaay to much desire and also gave me a sort of restless leg syndrom in that i couldnt even get comfortable in bed and was always tossing and turning.

>Bruce lee loved to do ginseng, royal jelly with black tea combo.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8922052

I've tried some of them, so you can ask me, it's possible one of the one's you're interested in will be something I've tried.

How fast you consume tea depends on you. Some people drink tea all day long, others only have a pot every other day. The best answer I can give you is looking into the math. The average pot of tea is going to be, say, 5 grams. If you drink one pot of tea a day that's 35 grams. At the rate of one pot a day, 100g will last about three weeks.

Hey, it's cheaper than drugs

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922148
What do you consider "a pot of tea"?

and I'm not a heavy drinker, I probably won't even drink daily because of not having very much time on my hands. I just want to want to come to my senses in the few free minutes I have with a superior cup of tea.

As for the tea, yuukicha only has 3 in stock right now, magokoro, shimofuri and saemidori. I can't really find any info on how they taste so, if you feel like it, elaborate if you can. Either of those three, or maybe even all three is what I'll get for now.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

My brew setup.

What I do is dispense the boiling water into the yuzumashi. By the time I move the yuzumashi over to my desk, the water has cooled to about 85 C. Using a thermometer (forgot to include it in the picture) lets me know when the water reaches the magical 80 C I use for most of my tea.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8922177

150-300ml, infused 2-3 times.

I have Shimofuri in the post, and I've never tried it before. I haven't tried Magokoro, but I have tried Sae Midori. It's intensely sweet and smooth, brews a very bright clear green, with virtually no bitterness (unusual for Japanese green tea) and relatively little astringency. It sounds perfect, but I do not enjoy it myself, however, as I find it to be too sweet, lacking a balance of flavours.

[Anonymous No.]

I checked my tea order today wondering why it was taking so long, only to see I forgot about a last minute addition.

Some of my shincha won't be ready for another three weeks, which means it'll be over a month until I get my order. I guess the shincha in that order that's already ready won't be so fresh when I finally get it.

Lesson learned, don't buy tea in the early hours of insomnia driven morning.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922201
Alright. Well I'm ordering Shimofuri and Magokoro then. I'm not particularly fond of sweet tea so I'll pass that and be adventurous with those two.

If I really get into tea I'll go and buy pots 'n cups.Lets hope this is as good as I hope it to be.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8922248

I'm sure it's happened to a lot of people. You could always email and ask if you could have part of your order refunded so you could get it shipped quicker.

>>8922265

I would strongly recommend buying at least a cheap kyusu and a cup or two to go with it. I'm not sure how you're planning to brew it, but it can be very difficult to brew Japanese tea without Japanese teaware. The aestheticism can also be a big part of the experience.

However, you might want to pick the actual ware up locally to save money. If there's an Asian market near you, you can probably get stuff far cheaper than online. If you like it, then you can order 'the real stuff'.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922284
Well with the tea already being around 50 bucks with shipping, the pots 'n cups would cost me a fortune, which I don't have right now. Its either tea or china.

I do plan on buying proper teaware though if I really like tea like this. And there are asian markets and a japanese porcelain shop near. So maybe I'll order, maybe I'll get something there. We'll see. I'm just going ghetto right now.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922301

>Its either tea or china.

Y-You'll choose me, won't you, Anon...?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922301
The main thing is to get a good teapot, the cups dont really matter, just not plastic or metal.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922103
My current 'herbal tea' cup. Courtesy of last years TGS.

[Anonymous No.]

any easy way to breed shincha without teapot?
i don't have that much money to spend

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922505

Why not plastic or metal?

I have a 'to-go' tea bottle I sometimes use, it's about 500ml. As long as I wash it every week it stays fresh.

[Anonymous No.]

holy *, I meant brew

[Anonymous No.]

Made my first pot of oolong just now. Now I understand why it's called something between green and black tea.
It tastes really good.

Also, a question. I often read how brewing tea in bags is _really_ bad because it should float freely to create the best flavor, but I really can't imagine how it should be that bad.
Picture is what I usually make my tea with (all kinds) since I don't have any fancy tea-gear. It's not like is press the leaves to a block and throw it into the water or anything, especially this oolong expanded really well even though it's in a bag.
Any tea experts who could share their opinions on this?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8925076
>brewing tea in bags is _really_ bad because it should float freely to create the best flavor

That's not really the main problem, however. The tea in teabags is almost always composed of the worst, most broken bits of the tea leaves in question. To draw a comparison, tea is a bit like hot dogs - the best, top-tier tea is like the organic, free-range, grass-fed kosher 100% beef hotdogs that cost more per pound that some steaks, most teas are like the name brand hotdogs that range from almost as good as the best to "decent", and the tea that gets put in bags are the hot dogs whose packaging is covered in fine print and cartoon animals and priced at $1.50 for 12. You probably don't WANT to know what's in them and you're either buying them because you're poor as hell, your tastebuds are dead, you don't know better or you're serving them to someone that isn't worth the good stuff.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8925217
The person meAns putting loose leaf tea into a bag yourself. Not buying bagged tea.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8925219
Indeed, I thought that was kinda obvious. I know about the horrors of pre-bagged tea.
I'm just wondering if I really would profit of buying a tea pot with a steel inset instead of using these filter papers, since I can't really imagine that.

[Anonymous No.]

I'm still on the looks for a Kyusu, preferably without having to import it. What do you think of this?

[Anonymous No.]

Is there any hallucinatory tea?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8924949
i find that pooring hot tea into a plastic cup or container changes the taste of the tea, a more plastic taste, likewise with metal

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8925076
>>8925217

Yes. That's pretty much it. Also:

>or you're serving them to someone that isn't worth the good stuff.

This is an excellent way to recycle tea. I keep a bag of old 2010 Den's Guricha around for this purpose.

>>8925602

Teaware is all about personal preference. That being said however, I really like that piece. It has a classic look without looking boring.

>>8925614

I'm sure there are, but... I'm also sure there are much better places to ask about that. Maybe erowid has forums?

>>8926378

Plastic leeches carcinogenic chemicals into water, yes. As far as I know, there are no 'safe' plastics, even if they're BPA free.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8925076
>>8925217

Yes. That's pretty much it. Also:

>or you're serving them to someone that isn't worth the good stuff.

This is an excellent way to recycle tea. I keep a bag of old 2010 Den's Guricha around for this purpose.

>>8925602

Teaware is all about personal preference. That being said however, I really like that piece. It has a classic look without looking boring.

>>8925614

I'm sure there are, but... I'm also sure there are much better places to ask about that. Maybe erowid has forums?

>>8926378

Plastic leeches carcinogenic chemicals into water, yes. As far as I know, there are no 'safe' plastics, even if they're BPA free.

[Anonymous No.]

why is thsi thread stil here tihs is oTAUK CULTURe1 bord!! nto tea bord

i dnot undrestand deelte this fking siht tread and saten adn waht u doin today tread hoirrble janator jsn jp only 2hou and vns otherwise its v//

[Anonymous No.]

>>8927017
Did you have to think about this?

Or is there some generator or something?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8926979
Regarding that Kyusu, can you tell me something about the sieve?

[Anonymous No.]

>>8875104
That is one weird looking dildo

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8927103

It's good for Chinese tea, which is why that's all I use it for. The filter isn't fine enough for sencha, which has a lot of broken leaf bits and small particulate.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8927206
Oh no, I meant my potentially to be Kyusu in >>8925602.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8923473
cute
I like the green cups but that's a bit too lime.
I like the darker forest green colored cups.

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8927226

Oh, in that case, I can see that the pot would be very good for fukamushi, precisely for the reason that my pot I described wouldn't be. The fine stainless steel mesh will probably do a very good job of filtering out fine particles. You should be able to brew anything you'd like in it, without a problem.

The only thing with stainless steel (or any type of metal) is that tea purists in Asia tend to frown on it. It goes back to the ancient Chinese metaphysical belief in elements. In this particular case, they don't like mixing earth elements with metal elements, which is one of the reasons earthenware (like clay) is preferred for tea.

I have never noticed any difference myself and very happily own several teapots with stainless steel filters and boil my water in stainless steel. From a health perspective, it's also nice to have something inert.

>>8923473

I wonder if Touhou teaware exists.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8927348
I see. What about small pieces getting caught up in the sieve? Is that a problem?

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

>>8927359

Not as long as you clean it out after each tea session, no.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8927391
Alright, thanks for your answers.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922103
Mostly glass cups, but they're boring. I've always wanted a nice yunomi.

Had some sweet iced tea and now I feel dirty.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922103
I have some clay cups of unknown origins that make light oolongs taste really good. I don't know anything else about them, but it's not like they're special or anything either.

But for everything else, it's little ceramic ones I pick up here and there. ArtisticNippon had some really nice ones last year, so I'm hoping I'll have the money this time if they pop up again.

[Anonymous No.]

My Den's Tea 'novice' sampler just came... 10 grams each of:
- Houjicha Gold (Roasted Bancha) (Standard)
- Genmaicha Extra Green (Standard)
- Sencha Fukamidori (Standard)
- Fukamushi Sencha Maromi (the extra one they threw in)
- Sakura Sencha (the seasonal one they include in every order)

And also a couple teabags (genmaicha and sencha)

So 50g of tea total for $3 with free shipping (and it comes with a $3 coupon). If anyone hasn't ordered from Den's Tea before, you really should try it, it's practically free tea. No idea about the actual quality of these teas, but i'm impressed by the amount of tea, I was just expecting one pot's worth of each.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8922103
I'm getting a Japanese set soon. Green tea doesn't look good in a burgundy cup.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8928632
Just got it. Thanks.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8928686
Get a yunomi with a very light interior. They make your green teas look fantastic.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8928632
they ship it only to US. what a shame

[Anonymous No.]

bumpness

[Non-Directional !LaserEWlCA No.]

Here's what I've been working on. Chinese tea experiments.

I have been wondering for a long time if Chinese green teas might be brewed best near boiling temperature. This seems to fly in the face of what I've said, and what everyone else says, about Chinese tea. But I'm wondering this because I have heard that this is how Chinese farmers drink it.

I have been experimenting with it, and I've had mixed results. If I brew over 80 C, it doesn't come out very good, but if I brew it near boiling, it sometimes comes out with a lot more flavour than brewing at cooler temperatures, without any excessive bitterness.

Just something to think about. I know there are a lot of Anon here who are starting with Japanese tea or waiting for it to arrive, but there are also a lot drinking Chinese tea. I'm probably not going to post much about Chinese green tea when the first of my shincha arrives, so now's the time to experiment.

FYI: if you're going to try near-boil temperature brewing of Chinese green tea, be sure to use filtered (thus soft) water. The tap water I was using turns it brown at this temperature because of the high mineral content.

[Anonymous No.]

You have already poured.

[Anonymous No.]

>>8932092
I'm jealous. The shop I usually order from will only have Shincha available at the end of May. Then I might finally get my Kyusu.