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ThatOneGuy posted:The chai vendor on SA Mart is still around. And he posts pretty much daily with updates. This chai is incredibly good, but I do recommend getting the extra spicy version. The plain version is still very nice, but a little flat for my tastes. You can't go wrong, since the extra spices come on the side, so if you wind up not liking them, you don't have to use them!
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Feb 21, 2014 21:02
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I've recently discovered Pu'erh, and I'm intrigued. I thought it was delicious, but I'm a little wary of buying things grown in China. Should I be worried? Is there a brand that I can be less worried about? I bought one of these and though it does say USDA organic on it, I'm almost positive it was still grown in China. I prefer loose tea, not bags.
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Feb 22, 2014 05:56
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If you're buying tea there's like a 75%+ chance of it being grown in China. You shouldn't be worried.
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Feb 22, 2014 06:00
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AreYouStillThere posted:I've recently discovered Pu'erh, and I'm intrigued. I thought it was delicious, but I'm a little wary of buying things grown in China. Should I be worried? Is there a brand that I can be less worried about? I bought one of these and though it does say USDA organic on it, I'm almost positive it was still grown in China. I'd be more worried that you're buying a sub-par product from a large distributor than tea being grown in China. They do a very good job of growing tea in China, and buying puerh can be sort of like buying good wine. There's a lot of different tastes and flavors that accompany the fermenting process. So not that the one you have might be bad, but I'd go so far to say find something without a USDA stamp on it (because what do they know about growing tea anyway), when we don't grow much in the way of tea in the states anyway.
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Feb 22, 2014 17:04
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I am looking for a particular brand of tea. It's called 888 and it comes from Malaysia. I've been looking for this tea literally for years and have found a website for their company but no information on how to order the tea. I'm looking for it because it's the brand of tea leaves (I should probably say "tea dust" because it's not really leaves, it's a loose tea which is very crumbly and fine) because it has a very unique flavour that I have never found in another tea and it has some sentimental value to me. For the moment I'm just trying ordering other brands of Malaysian tea to see if I can find anything that's similar, when I find something I will know. In the mean time, are there any Malaysians in the house who can know anything about it or who can hook me up? I would gladly pay you the cost of the tea, shipping and handling, and whatever inconvenience you happen to undergo in advance if someone is capable of shipping me some of this tea.
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Feb 22, 2014 18:03
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AreYouStillThere posted:I've recently discovered Pu'erh, and I'm intrigued. I thought it was delicious, but I'm a little wary of buying things grown in China. Should I be worried? Is there a brand that I can be less worried about? I bought one of these and though it does say USDA organic on it, I'm almost positive it was still grown in China. Any puerh not specifically labelled as being from somewhere other than China is from China 100% of the time. If grown in China is a dealbreaker for you, you'll have a very difficult time finding puerh to drink. You can easily and reliably get loose leaf teas grown in countries like Japan, Taiwan, India, less traditional places like Kenya and Nepal, and so on. That's just a matter of doing your shopping at the right places, which is easy to do online. The problem is that the amount of puerh style processing done in those countries is very close to zero. All that said, close to is not actually zero. I have seen a few places selling puerhs from other countries, mostly shops that appeared to buy their tea from wholesalers instead of doing their own importing. I think (but am by no means certain) that this company was ultimately the source: http://www.tealux.ca/buy_puerh_tea_online_store No idea about the quality or their reputation in general; I've never bought anything from them. Also just a word of warning, if you do buy Chinese puerhs, there is an enormous amount of total crap out there. The good stuff is rarely cheap and the expensive stuff is often fake. In short, finding and buying good puerh is an unbelievable pain in the rear end. If you decide to go down that route I really recommend finding a vendor that you can trust to figure all that poo poo out for you.
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Feb 23, 2014 01:07
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AreYouStillThere posted:I've recently discovered Pu'erh, and I'm intrigued. I thought it was delicious, but I'm a little wary of buying things grown in China. Should I be worried? Is there a brand that I can be less worried about? I bought one of these and though it does say USDA organic on it, I'm almost positive it was still grown in China. Quite a few traditional Chinese Tea varieties are produced in Taiwan. The climate is suitable and they have the expertise. I'm not sure how much of their production is available for export. If you happen to know any Taiwanese personally, that would be a good place to start.
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Feb 26, 2014 03:03
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If you have trouble using Taiwan as a search term, teas from Taiwan almost all end up being called Formosa teas because the Western part of the tea industry is still stuck in the 1890s as far as naming conventions. (Sri Lankan teas are called Ceylons for the same reason.) In "what I bought yesterday" news, I ended up going to this little hole-in-the-wall Thai grocery store and getting a $4.00, 14 oz. bag of "Thai Tea Powder" (which was actually loose leaf), and which was actually the kind of tea used to make Thai Ice Tea like you get in restaurants! It even turns that same lovely orange color when you stir the milk in.
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Feb 26, 2014 17:35
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Does anyone have any blooming teas they enjoy? Might be a bit of a silly question, but I got a clear glass teapot as a gift with a few starter balls, and I've grown to like watching my tea bloom.  I also couldn't remember if anyone had this asked before.
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Feb 26, 2014 22:58
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Niemat posted:Does anyone have any blooming teas they enjoy? Might be a bit of a silly question, but I got a clear glass teapot as a gift with a few starter balls, and I've grown to like watching my tea bloom. Adagio has a whole blooming tea section, but gunpowder green tea is fun to watch, too!
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Feb 27, 2014 04:02
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I've only ever had Teavana's peach momotaro but I remember it being tasty. Expensive though.
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Feb 27, 2014 04:59
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Niemat posted:Does anyone have any blooming teas they enjoy? Might be a bit of a silly question, but I got a clear glass teapot as a gift with a few starter balls, and I've grown to like watching my tea bloom. Mandala tea has some blooming teas, as does David's teas I think (or they used to). Palais des Thés sells some nice green tea ones in their shops (and probably online, but I always find their online shop annoying to search for specific things). If you like watching tea in your glass teapot, you should look into more greens and oolongs as well because they are fun and beautiful to watch. Jasmine pearls are lovely to watch unfold, especially with the smell.
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Feb 27, 2014 22:18
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Enfys posted:If you like watching tea in your glass teapot, you should look into more greens and oolongs as well because they are fun and beautiful to watch. Jasmine pearls are lovely to watch unfold, especially with the smell. I thought about just letting some of my normal leaves hang out loose in the pot (it doesn't have a glass strainer), but I was worried they'd oversteep.  Am I off base...? Because I do have some pearl teas that would probably be quite lovely in a glass pot!
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Feb 27, 2014 23:18
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AreYouStillThere posted:I've recently discovered Pu'erh, and I'm intrigued. I thought it was delicious, but I'm a little wary of buying things grown in China. Should I be worried? Is there a brand that I can be less worried about? I bought one of these and though it does say USDA organic on it, I'm almost positive it was still grown in China. If you're going to get Puerh, buying chinese is basically a must. The vast majority of it comes from Yunnan province & all the really good Puerh does to the best of my knowledge. Also my personal opinion is that if you have a taste for raw/aged Puerh(less so with cooked), you need to be going whole-hog gung fu tea. ie small yixing teapot, small cups, fresh spring or at least filtered water and proper preparation. It may seem abit much, but it makes a huge difference to both the flavour and the number of infusions you get out of your leaves. breaks posted:Also just a word of warning, if you do buy Chinese puerhs, there is an enormous amount of total crap out there. The good stuff is rarely cheap and the expensive stuff is often fake. In short, finding and buying good puerh is an unbelievable pain in the rear end. If you decide to go down that route I really recommend finding a vendor that you can trust to figure all that poo poo out for you. This x1000
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Feb 28, 2014 02:23
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Niemat posted:I thought about just letting some of my normal leaves hang out loose in the pot (it doesn't have a glass strainer), but I was worried they'd oversteep. I brew loose in a pot, and decant all the liquid either into my drinking vessel or a second, warmed pot. I pour through a mesh strainer and dump any leaves that come out back into the brewing pot. I thusly avoid oversleeping and can save my leaves for reuse.
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Feb 28, 2014 05:42
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Hey everyone, I'm the chai guy in SA mart! I had literally no idea that you guys were interested in our chai until detectivemonkey told me today! Thanks so much for your support & interest, and please don't let me interrupt the conversation! We still have a number of 10% off coupons available for "sagoons", so if you want to give it a try, by all means let us know what you think, and I'm happy to answer any questions I can!Bobo the Red posted:Anyone know of similar loose leaf available in the US? I'm reluctant to just try buying up every vague 'Chai' tea, since so many of them have black pepper (which is a deal/heart breaker) Our masala has black pepper in it, but if you put a note on your order, we will totally send you a package that is JUST the black tea with no masala at all in it. We sell the masala on the side too, so you can snag a packet if you want to taste-test. Your satisfaction is literally the only thing we care about so if there's something we can do to accommodate you, we'll do it, cross our hearts and hope to die. Chaos Motor fucked around with this message at 06:03 on Feb 28, 2014 |
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Feb 28, 2014 05:57
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I'll vouch for the chai that Chaos Motor sells.. I was converted from almost exclusively drinking overpriced coffee concoctions daily to chai (I went with adding soymilk after dicking around with milks) and have been quite happy. I dropped a few pounds as well since the coffee drinks were loaded with sugar, whipped cream and all the other drizzled things they use not to mention it saved me from having to buy five dollar coffee beverages twice, sometimes three times daily. I experimented a lot with the first couple of bags getting the flavor just right for me which was another thing I enjoyed which you cannot get with that double shot venti caramel macchiato. demonR6 fucked around with this message at 14:35 on Feb 28, 2014 |
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Feb 28, 2014 14:33
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milpreve posted:I brew loose in a pot, and decant all the liquid either into my drinking vessel or a second, warmed pot. I pour through a mesh strainer and dump any leaves that come out back into the brewing pot. I thusly avoid oversleeping and can save my leaves for reuse. This post makes a lot of sense, and this did not occur to me (I think it's been a long week). I was imagining just leaving the tea leaves in for the duration of me drinking the pot when I posted last. 
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Feb 28, 2014 15:28
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Niemat posted:This post makes a lot of sense, and this did not occur to me (I think it's been a long week). I was imagining just leaving the tea leaves in for the duration of me drinking the pot when I posted last. I'm glad it made sense. I realize now I use fancier words when I'm tired, and I wrote "sleep" instead of "steep." I can blame that on autocorrect, though.~ So, guys, I got a job at Teavana. I'll try to disclaim my future posts whenever I talk about them, but there's your notice. I still hate most of their tea and sales techniques, but the people at my store are cool and we're overall a laid-back location. Best part is free tea to drink while you work!
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Feb 28, 2014 15:55
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milpreve posted:I'm glad it made sense. I realize now I use fancier words when I'm tired, and I wrote "sleep" instead of "steep." I expect most of the people who dislike to hate Teavana have nothing against their employees. Just their tea and possibly business practices. I just find it sad that Teavana thinks that they need to mix herbal ingredients into so many different concoctions that the tea leaves and quality of their flavor just seems lost. Then again, what else could I expect from a chain that shows up in malls but catering to a distinctively different crowd. I'm just sick of hearing, "Hey, you should try this new tea I got. It has peaches and vanilla in it!" Mostly because it instinctively makes me want to throw it on the ground. (Because I'm like that.)
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Feb 28, 2014 16:34
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I don't even mind herbal blends for the most part but Teavana loads up on artificial flavors and sweeteners (rock sugar anyone?)
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Feb 28, 2014 16:53
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I was surprised at the above post, since the tea I got as a gift was really nice, but it turns out it's from a company called Teance not Teavana. In which case, let me recommend the one I had, especially to Neimat: http://www.teance.com/Immortal-Peach-Hand-Tied-Jasmine-p/gc121.htm Is Teance known for being any good? It isn't listed in the OP.
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Feb 28, 2014 17:47
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I've never heard of Teance before, but if someone is willing to vouch for it I'd be happy to include it in the OP. Just looking at their website briefly it looks like they specialize in sort of boutique single-estate teas so everything is super pricey (about $10 an ounce at the cheapest). And things not being listed in the OP isn't any sort of value judgement. It's just because no one has recommended or mentioned that particular vendor yet. I think I've put most of the suggested ones from the thread in, but there's a good chance I've missed some, so if anyone feels like something should be included that isn't there, go ahead and let me know! 
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Feb 28, 2014 18:23
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Nah, I meant it more in the sense of "it's not in the OP so I couldn't get any info or opinions about it at a glance". Since you're about and it isn't there already, can I make the suggestion to include Clipper teas under the UK section? http://www.clipper-teas.com/ Really nice teas, wide variety, also do hot chocolate etc. These are my go-to for everyday black tea bags, and we have loads of their lemon and ginger too.
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Feb 28, 2014 18:35
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Battle Pigeon posted:Nah, I meant it more in the sense of "it's not in the OP so I couldn't get any info or opinions about it at a glance". I'd second this - great everyday teas and loads cheaper than teapigs.
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Feb 28, 2014 19:33
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milpreve posted:So, guys, I got a job at Teavana. I'll try to disclaim my future posts whenever I talk about them, but there's your notice. I still hate most of their tea and sales techniques, but the people at my store are cool and we're overall a laid-back location. Best part is free tea to drink while you work! I actually did a stint at Teavana myself before I left it for the local tea shop in town... and then went back to Teavana a few months later for the holiday rush because money was tight (you definitely don't strike it rich in the tea peddlin' business). I didn't feel like people that hate Teavana hated ME--they hated the business practices. I hated that every day was a competition, and your paycheck is partially based on how well you sell. I feel like their target customer isn't a repeat customer--it's an impulse buyer, so there's no focus on building relations with people. Coming from the coffee shop atmosphere, I definitely thought it would be more laid back, hanging out, drinking tea, and helping people (who are also laid back, hanging out, and drinking tea), so I was a little culture shocked my first few days. The best part is definitely getting to drink the tea for free! You also used to get a super steep (HA) discount on products (although I hear Starbucks lessened the discount  ), so I would always pick up gifts for people there.The worst part is sampling. I hated sampling. I felt like the people that are always trying to get you to buy ~special, ancient secret lotion with dead sea salt~ in the mall, and I also got a little sick of drinking the actual samples with people like my store required. All this being said, I'll still pick up a thing or two on their biannual clearance.
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Feb 28, 2014 20:58
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DurianGray posted:I've never heard of Teance before, but if someone is willing to vouch for it I'd be happy to include it in the OP. Just looking at their website briefly it looks like they specialize in sort of boutique single-estate teas so everything is super pricey (about $10 an ounce at the cheapest). teance is a fancy tea bar that treats tea like wine and uses the same type of terminology back on the west coast. I've mentioned them before and they are situated in Berkeley, California. They have good service and their teas are well-sourced, but can be expensive. Waiting for teas to go on clearance and scooping them up can still run your tab pretty high; I also got my first water dispenser from them. They have a curated selection of yixing pots and such too, and if you want to pay way too much money, you can try a "flight" of teas there. Overall, probably better than Samovar, but you might find that they have an air of elitism.
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Feb 28, 2014 21:46
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Niemat posted:This post makes a lot of sense, and this did not occur to me (I think it's been a long week). I was imagining just leaving the tea leaves in for the duration of me drinking the pot when I posted last.  Niemat posted:The worst part is sampling. I hated sampling. I felt like the people that are always trying to get you to buy ~special, ancient secret lotion with dead sea salt~ in the mall, and I also got a little sick of drinking the actual samples with people like my store required. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Feb 28, 2014 |
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Feb 28, 2014 22:08
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DurianGray posted:I've never heard of Teance before, but if someone is willing to vouch for it I'd be happy to include it in the OP. Just looking at their website briefly it looks like they specialize in sort of boutique single-estate teas so everything is super pricey (about $10 an ounce at the cheapest). I've mentioned it a couple times as my go-to place to get tea, but http://www.teasource.com is quite wonderful. It's not overpriced for most things. While they do carry some of the high grade stuff, for the most part the stuff they have is solid tasting and un-blended. They do have some blends, but my favorite part is the ability to find unblended teas for cheap that don't taste like dirty sock. They're not a large supplier, and have all of three stores in the Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota area. They don't go in for the over specialized teas, and the prime goal is to drink tea that you like, how you like it. Also, flat rate shipping via USPS.
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Mar 2, 2014 00:58
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I'm just getting into tea, have currently mostly tried greens, and am looking to try out some of the different varieties of teas. I'm planning on just ordering a bunch of sample sizes from adagio, any particular teas you guys really like from there that I should try?
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Mar 2, 2014 22:55
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Their coconut flavored black tea is not particularly high brow but it is delicious.
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Mar 2, 2014 23:17
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Hummingbirds posted:Their coconut flavored black tea is not particularly high brow but it is delicious. That does sound good, especially for a grand total $2 a sampler
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Mar 2, 2014 23:25
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Guys, there's sticks in my kukicha! Serious question: where does Yamamotoyama tea rank among Japanese tea brands? I love their genmaicha and hojicha, but is that just because I don't know any better?
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Mar 2, 2014 23:48
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mmm11105 posted:I'm just getting into tea, have currently mostly tried greens, and am looking to try out some of the different varieties of teas. I'm planning on just ordering a bunch of sample sizes from adagio, any particular teas you guys really like from there that I should try? I remember having their Irish Breakfast and enjoying it a lot. It was a while ago though (like 4 years), so it may have changed since then. It's a blend of Ceylon and Assam. I think people usually take it with milk, but I just drink it straight. You could also try just plain assam, which I find favorable. If you want to go really out there, it looks like they have lapsang souchong, which is a black tea smoked over pine fires.
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Mar 3, 2014 00:09
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mmm11105 posted:I'm just getting into tea, have currently mostly tried greens, and am looking to try out some of the different varieties of teas. I'm planning on just ordering a bunch of sample sizes from adagio, any particular teas you guys really like from there that I should try? I liked the oooh Darjeeling much more than I should have. Its in the oolong section.
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Mar 3, 2014 00:51
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I like the Yunnan Noir, but I think they are out of it right now.
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Mar 3, 2014 04:42
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Watermelon City posted:Guys, there's sticks in my kukicha! Serious question: where does Yamamotoyama tea rank among Japanese tea brands? I love their genmaicha and hojicha, but is that just because I don't know any better? I say, if you like it, prestige doesn't really matter. (Unfortunately I know nothing about specific Japanese tea brands so that's the only advice I have.) mmm11105 posted:I'm just getting into tea, have currently mostly tried greens, and am looking to try out some of the different varieties of teas. I'm planning on just ordering a bunch of sample sizes from adagio, any particular teas you guys really like from there that I should try? If you're looking at trying a variety of specific styles some of their sampler packs are a pretty good bet. Yunnan Noir is one of my go-to things from them, too, really nice and malty/tannic if you're into that. Irish Breakfast is solid, so is oooh Darjeeling (though last time I had that was a while ago). I remember liking their ali shan, too, if you're looking into oolongs. I personally stay away from their artificial flavor heavy stuff just because I had bad luck with one or two. I still have about 3oz (out of an original 4oz) of Earl Grey Moonlight sitting around from about four years ago that I ended up pretty much hating every time I made it  That's the only thing from them I've had that I've disliked.
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Mar 3, 2014 07:29
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mmm11105 posted:I'm just getting into tea, have currently mostly tried greens, and am looking to try out some of the different varieties of teas. I'm planning on just ordering a bunch of sample sizes from adagio, any particular teas you guys really like from there that I should try? If you're a fan of ginger, don't get anything from adagio involving ginger. It'll just be disappointing in taste. It smells nice, usually, but there just isn't much ginger flavor to it. Seconding being wary of things with lots of flavoring, as some of them have a bitter chemical flavor (that smells really good). It's not true across the board though, I've gotten the 'orchard' sampler before and while not tea they makes a nice cup of whatever you'd call it. Reminds me of hot cider. I'm also not a fan of anything they add lavender into.
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Mar 3, 2014 10:53
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I'm a junkie for the Adagio flavored blacks. My favorites are the blueberry, the oriental spice, the coconut, summer rose, and hibiscus. I also like the jasmine greens they have (not as much as the oolong they used to) and the ginseng green. To my surprise I also love the Lapsang souchong and may start drinking it more than any of that. I did not like the Earl Grey Moonlight either, but Earl Grey Bravo is decent. It's the tea that started me loose leaf, but I eventually got bored with it and started trying other flavors.
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Mar 3, 2014 13:08
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What are people go to teas when they just want a cup of tea?
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Mar 3, 2014 13:15
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