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I think the only thing I've gotten almost no particulates with was some of those paper disposable "tea bags" like these http://www.adagio.com/teaware/paper_filters.html I've just gotten used to those particles for the most part. I do tend to shake my mesh filter over the sink a bit after putting the leaves in to get some of that extra dust out and that helps to a degree.
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Mar 12, 2014 00:24
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Massasoit posted:I just made my first loose leaf tea in a teapot I got that came with a ceramic infuser. I noticed that some of the tea leaves got through the holes in the infuser and ended up coming out into my cup. Is this normal or did I do something wrong? It quite normal with infusers with larger holes, as literally everyone before me has said, haha. It really annoyed me so I use one of these and haven't gotten any "particles" in my tea with it. Although I've been drinking mostly whole leaf black teas lately so YMMV.
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Mar 13, 2014 06:00
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Adagio got me on their $3.14 shipping sale today. I bought gifts, and bagged lapsang souchong for myself, mostly for traveling. Edit for typos.
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Mar 15, 2014 06:06
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I bought a couple ounces of loose leaf tea from a shop at the market today and a metal tea infuser. How do I brew it? I know roughly 2-3 minutes at 180 ºF for green tea and 4 minutes with boiling water for black tea sounds about right, but how much water to grams of tea leafs should I shoot for? I bought sencha and English Breakfast for what it's worth.
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Mar 15, 2014 19:44
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General rule of thumb is about one teaspoon of leaves per cup (or 8 oz.) of water. If the leaf is really densely packed, maybe a little less. If it's not dense at all, then maybe a bit more than the teaspoon-per-cup ratio. Adjust according to taste more than anything else though. If grams works better for you as a measurement, you'd probably need to experiment and figure that out on your own. Unfortunately almost everything uses teaspoons instead of weight.
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Mar 15, 2014 19:51
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Boris Galerkin posted:I bought a couple ounces of loose leaf tea from a shop at the market today and a metal tea infuser. How do I brew it? I know roughly 2-3 minutes at 180 ºF for green tea and 4 minutes with boiling water for black tea sounds about right, but how much water to grams of tea leafs should I shoot for? I bought sencha and English Breakfast for what it's worth. Tea making procedure: Put kettle on. Go do something. Put water in mug with tea Do something else Take tea bag/leaves out of mug (Add milk) Drink Tea If you forget about your tea at some point in this procedure then start again.
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Mar 15, 2014 20:17
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DurianGray posted:General rule of thumb is about one teaspoon of leaves per cup (or 8 oz.) of water. If the leaf is really densely packed, maybe a little less. If it's not dense at all, then maybe a bit more than the teaspoon-per-cup ratio. Adjust according to taste more than anything else though. Upton suggests 2.25 g/6 oz of water for most teas, which seems like a reasonable place to start.
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Mar 15, 2014 20:24
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And if it tastes a little weak to you, just add more tea next time, don't increase the steep time which can lead to bitterness, especially in greens. I really do find it helpful to measure in grams as opposed to tsp because of how dense or loosely packed different teas are.
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Mar 15, 2014 20:30
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Hmm, looks like "Add milk" is in the wrong spot. pointsofdata posted:Tea making procedure:
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Mar 15, 2014 20:31
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So it really doesn't matter how much I use unlike coffee?
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Mar 16, 2014 18:08
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Boris Galerkin posted:So it really doesn't matter how much I use unlike coffee? It does matter, but only so far as more leaves = stronger tea. If you make a batch and it's too weak, add more next time (or brew hotter/longer, but those will also make the tea more bitter, adding more leaves won't). If you like a lighter flavor, use less leaves.
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Mar 16, 2014 18:23
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Got my shipment of four sheng puerhs from mandala tea! Broke off a few pieces from my first cake, I need to get a proper tea pick as I didn't do a good job of keeping the leaves intact. Just brewed up a cup of 2012 Wild Monk. drat, this is one surprisingly smooth cuppa. Zero bitterness and a straight up sweetness already on the first steeping, really surprised with such a young sheng. The smoky-sweetness just clings to your tongue after sips. Seriously impressed with this.
hope and vaseline fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Mar 17, 2014 |
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Mar 17, 2014 14:53
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Well, this is clearly all your fault, tea thread: I just bought a Yixing teapot.  It's dark zi ni, 180ml, and made by Chen Zhongxu. I will post pics when it comes. I'm thinking of using it for oolongs, but I haven't decided yet.Edit: In a slightly related question, I read that lapsang souchong can be a good tea for Yixing pots, but it seems to me the smoke would "ruin" the pot. Does anyone have perspective on this? milpreve fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Mar 19, 2014 |
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Mar 18, 2014 15:15
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I was gifted some ginseng oolong and it feels like trying to brew gravel from an aquarium. The taste is a bit strange but pretty good, with an odd floral after taste. Of oolong teas, I've also had tung-ting (this one specifically: http://www.teapigs.co.uk/tea/shop_by_category/all_tea/tung_ting_oolong_tea.htm ) and milky oolong from two different places. The milky is my favourite but the other was good too. Any recommendations for other kinds of oolong to keep an eye out for?
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Mar 20, 2014 00:43
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milpreve posted:Well, this is clearly all your fault, tea thread: I just bought a Yixing teapot. I'd only use it for lapsang souchong if you decide to use it for that because you'd end up imparting smoke flavor in anything else you brew in it. I still haven't dropped any money on a yixing, I think I like gaiwans too much :/ Battle Pigeon posted:I was gifted some ginseng oolong and it feels like trying to brew gravel from an aquarium. The taste is a bit strange but pretty good, with an odd floral after taste. Check out a high mountain taiwanese oolong if you like milky oolong. A Jin Xuan (milky oolong) is actually a low altitude cultivar of these types, same with tung ting/dong ding which is usually grown below 1k. TeaDB has a good breakdown of what's what. http://teadb.org/taiwanese-oolong-compendium/ An Ali Shan or some kind of Four Season is a good entry point. hope and vaseline fucked around with this message at 01:22 on Mar 20, 2014 |
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Mar 20, 2014 01:16
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I just received some Adagio teas, and I have to say I'm disappointed by how artificial most of them taste. Looking at the ingredients, most of them are flavored with "natural" flavors, rather than the actual ingredient they're supposed to taste like; e.g. a tea with a strawberry element contains strawberry "natural flavor." Does anyone have any recommendations for sources for flavored teas that actually contain the things they purport to?
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Mar 21, 2014 00:58
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Uh, pretty much all major retailers use "natural flavors" for their blends, cause dried fruit pieces and flowers don't actually impart much favor when steeping.
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Mar 21, 2014 01:06
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I'm was excited to see New York City is having their Coffee and Tea Festival this weekend when I'll be in town, but sadly it appears completely sold out. Anyone know any good tea shops in Queens or nearby, though?
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Mar 21, 2014 01:14
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hope and vaseline posted:Uh, pretty much all major retailers use "natural flavors" for their blends, cause dried fruit pieces and flowers don't actually impart much favor when steeping. Yeah, it's a fascinating science, really. I know David's Tea uses actual pieces of fruits and whatever in their flavoured teas too, but they use natural flavouring too, because as cool as it is to have slices of dried peach in there, it's not going to make it taste appreciably peachy.
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Mar 21, 2014 01:33
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Metonymy posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for sources for flavored teas that actually contain the things they purport to? What hope and vaseline and neongrey said. Apple pieces do nothing at all. If you want tea + flavor sans flavoring, stick to things like chamomile, lemon verbena, lemongrass, spearmint, peppermint, eucalyptus, hibiscus, etc. or go for scented teas, like jasmine anything.
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Mar 21, 2014 01:39
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Of course you could also try a spiced tea like ours, the only flavoring in ours is vanilla and spices but it tastes like chocolate.
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Mar 21, 2014 02:35
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Metonymy posted:I just received some Adagio teas, and I have to say I'm disappointed by how artificial most of them taste. Looking at the ingredients, most of them are flavored with "natural" flavors, rather than the actual ingredient they're supposed to taste like; e.g. a tea with a strawberry element contains strawberry "natural flavor." In my part of the world, even the finest loose leaf sellers do this. Try getting your own ingredients together. Assembling a chai the way you want is very cheap and rewarding ... although, chai is usually all natural, if you want a delicious and reliable tea. Even though I think no one puts in enough rose  Earl Grey has been good to me like that, but it's best to read the ingredients. Seconding that one-ingredient herbal teas are usually 100% peppermint, 100% hibiscus or what have you.
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Mar 21, 2014 03:19
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I understand what you mean about flavoured teas that taste "artificial" - it's the problem I have with a lot of stuff like David's Tea. But it's not because of the presence of flavourant ("natural flavour" and "artificial flavour" are pretty much the same thing really), it's in how it's used. I find that teas that smell the most amazing tend to come out overwhelming and "chemicaley" brewed. But there are good, subtly flavoured teas and shops that deal in them (or are at least more hit than miss). They can be really hard to find though. I'd even say it's like hunting for good pu erh, except it doesn't get that expensive. "Brazilian Guava" is one such mix that I've seen at multiple places - the one that has some colorful fruity looking pieces in it. I remember Upton's Earl Grey Creme Vanilla being pretty good, though I'm not a fan of most of their other flavors. Some of my other favorites are pretty cheap stuff I found in some Russian stores. My favorite tea cafe will combine flavored teas with some of the "real thing" to a really wonderful effect. Like mango flavoured iced tea with mango preserves, or a red date herbal tea with some dry dates thrown into the pot, various bits of fruit etc. That's a great way to get a full and very natural flavour to your tea... but I'd still recommend adding this to tea that has a good subtle matching flavour, especially if you're using black tea. Otherwise plain tea can result in two clashing flavours (tea & additives) rather than a smooth gradient from one to the other. But if you're really adamant about avoiding flavourants, then looking up various chai mixes would be your best bet.
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Mar 21, 2014 05:57
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Goddamn posted:I understand what you mean about flavoured teas that taste "artificial" - it's the problem I have with a lot of stuff like David's Tea. But it's not because of the presence of flavourant ("natural flavour" and "artificial flavour" are pretty much the same thing really), it's in how it's used. I find that teas that smell the most amazing tend to come out overwhelming and "chemicaley" brewed. We sell a lot of tea based on smell at Teavana. I have a few old potpourri teas sitting around that smelled great but tasted awful. I didn't know this then, but you can return your tea with your receipt. Back to smell, the smell of the pure teas can give you an idea of their character, especially the green teas. But with the fruity "teas," the pieces of fruit and the smell are the only way to sell them. Teavana has dumb tea blend names. If you ask the person at the tea counter to see the ingredients on the back of the house tin, they should show you. If not, don't buy from that person. Buy a cup to drink before you buy the loose leaf if you're unsure. Sometimes, if you end up buying a bunch of stuff, we'll give you the drink on the house. If you want to avoid confrontation, the ingredients are listed in the Teavana app and possibly online somewhere. For online vendors, Adagio lists their ingredients partway down the page. I'm sure the others must as well, but it might take some digging. Sometimes the artificial flavor is delicious, too. Teavana's Six Summits Oolong is "traditionally grown next to raspberry bushes," but is oolong tea with raspberry flavoring. I thought I'd hate it, because I hate fake raspberry. It was actually really good, but you CAN NOT sweeten it or else it tastes like those horrid candies. The peach flavors tend to be added, but still taste quite good. Cinnamon is the one that kills me if it tastes artificial. Most of the cinnamon teas I've tried these days are fine, but Teavana used to be really bad about cinnamon. I hope that was more helpful than rant-like. 
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Mar 21, 2014 15:33
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Hey Teavana employee, I'm just curious, have you noticed any changes since Starbucks bought it out? If it's even ok to talk about that from your position.
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Mar 21, 2014 17:20
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Teavana products always struck me as being intended for people who don't really like tea. It seems like they make an concerted effort to hide the flavor of the Camellia sinensis leaves.
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Mar 21, 2014 21:54
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hope and vaseline posted:Hey Teavana employee, I'm just curious, have you noticed any changes since Starbucks bought it out? If it's even ok to talk about that from your position. I haven't been working there that long, but yes. They used to sell tea for its health benefits, now the only thing employees should talk about is catechin antioxidants (because those have been evaluated and are in the printed booklet). The sugar used to be marketed as being low on the glycemic index, now we're only supposed to say it has a delicate flavor and 25 calories per teaspoon. We do get a discount at Starbucks and a free pound of coffee each week, which is nice. Not a whole lot has changed on the surface. taters posted:Teavana products always struck me as being intended for people who don't really like tea. It seems like they make an concerted effort to hide the flavor of the Camellia sinensis leaves. A lot of the teas are flavored and/or gimmicky, but a lot of what you see in the store depends on what you say upfront. Most people buy the sugary, fruity teas we sample first because that's what they liked. These are the people who say our monkey picked oolong sample tastes like bath water. Some few people, my favorite customers, actually want pure teas and I get to show the real stuff. We have a downy white tea, a few nice greens (including a Korean one at the moment), several nice blacks, and two pure oolongs. I also like our jasmine scented teas, the green pearls and the jasmine oolong especially. Some of the teas are blends of a several pure and/or scented teas. Some employees are really process/sales focused, but some of us are tea nerds. If you ask me, I will tell you which teas are from which Chinese provinces and at what elevation the tea is grown. That information is available, and I know I can't be the only employee who cares about that stuff. So, in general, I agree. But the pure teas are actually pretty good in both quality and taste.
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Mar 22, 2014 02:52
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I enjoyed Teavana's jasmine oolong but the flavored blends are hit or miss, really. Not a fan of a lot of the herbal ones I've tried. Blueberry kona pop (?) can go straight to hell.
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Mar 22, 2014 03:16
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milpreve posted:These are the people who say our monkey picked oolong sample tastes like bath water. I don't buy much from Teavana, but I got some of that monkey-picked oolong for Solstice and I think it's fantastic. It's pricey as gently caress, but it's a good drink.
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Mar 22, 2014 03:30
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Hummingbirds posted:I enjoyed Teavana's jasmine oolong but the flavored blends are hit or miss, really. Not a fan of a lot of the herbal ones I've tried. Blueberry kona pop (?) can go straight to hell. Blueberry Bliss and Pineapple Kona Pop! is the iced sample in the back of the store that tastes like Kool-Aid. I completely agree with your opinion of it, but I can sell it really well to parents with small children because they love it and it's cheap upfront. XBenedict posted:I don't buy much from Teavana, but I got some of that monkey-picked oolong for Solstice and I think it's fantastic. It's pricey as gently caress, but it's a good drink. In the store I'd tell you it's one of our cheapest per cup because it's highly resteepable, but I agree that it is both expensive and heavy. I like that I can drink it for free on my shift now. I'm hoping Starbucks expands our markout from a free pound of coffee to include 2oz of tea!
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Mar 22, 2014 03:56
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hope and vaseline posted:Hey Teavana employee, I'm just curious, have you noticed any changes since Starbucks bought it out? If it's even ok to talk about that from your position. I know I'm not the person you asked, but as a former Teavana employee who left about when Starbucks took over, I can say there's definitely a difference. Starbucks cut the Teavana discount (which used to be pretty substantial), but they now offer a lb of coffee a week (which Starbucks employees receive) or a lb a tea a month in a certain price range (unless they've since changed that, too). There's a bigger focus on things like coupons and short term sales (like, the "this weekend only!" or "20% off spring teas!" sorts of sales). I get mailers from Teavana almost every week advertising their new products or deals, which I never received before Starbucks. In addition, like milpreve said, they're definitely marketing their teas differently and focusing on different points to sell tea. Post-Starbucks purchase Teavana is also focusing on seasonal teas a lot more, so their tea wall changes a bit every season, where it used to be fairly static. Those are the big differences coming to my mind... Although I'm guessing their training materials have changed quite a bit as well, based on what my training materials were when I worked for Starbucks and how different they were from what my Teavana materials were. However, Milpreve would be better able to speak to what training is like at Teavana now. Edit: milpreve posted:I'm hoping Starbucks expands our markout from a free pound of coffee to include 2oz of tea! So it sounds like they nixed the pound of free tea every month option then... Bummer! Niemat fucked around with this message at 04:07 on Mar 22, 2014 |
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Mar 22, 2014 04:03
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That's good to know, my biggest pet peeve with Teavana (aside from the pushy sales) was all the dubious health benefits that they use to push their teas.
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Mar 22, 2014 04:21
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Niemat posted:So it sounds like they nixed the pound of free tea every month option then... Bummer! I'm jealous it used to be an option! I can't drink coffee anymore, so I give my markout to my parents. Fake edit: Oh, you can earn and redeem Starbucks rewards at Teavana now. If you're gold level, you can get free drink refills if you don't leave the store. You can also redeem your free beverage for an ounce of any tea or a drink. Real edit: hope and vaseline posted:That's good to know, my biggest pet peeve with Teavana (aside from the pushy sales) was all the dubious health benefits that they use to push their teas. Mine too. The pushy sales is actually a scripted process we're supposed to follow combined with incentives to have good sales (over $60/hour average at my store). milpreve fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Mar 22, 2014 |
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Mar 22, 2014 04:22
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hope and vaseline posted:That's good to know, my biggest pet peeve with Teavana (aside from the pushy sales) was all the dubious health benefits that they use to push their teas. Yeah, there was this weird, fine line you had to dance, where you were supposed to SUGGEST there might be benefits, without actually saying there were benefits, because legal stuff... And then everyone would rush in after Dr. Oz suggested some sort of amazing, life-changing tea, and customers would want something with the same benefits as that tea if we didn't have the tea Dr. Oz suggested, which got weird. milpreve posted:I'm jealous it used to be an option! I can't drink coffee anymore, so I give my markout to my parents. How does markout work for a Teavana employee? When I worked at Starbucks (and I swear it just sounds like I've worked everywhere under the sun!) we would pick out our pound, give our employee number to the manager, and the manager would do the mark out through the till. Where you don't have Starbucks coffee hanging out, I'm guessing you have to travel to a Starbucks and then do something similar...?
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Mar 22, 2014 04:45
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Niemat posted:How does markout work for a Teavana employee? When I worked at Starbucks (and I swear it just sounds like I've worked everywhere under the sun!) we would pick out our pound, give our employee number to the manager, and the manager would do the mark out through the till. Where you don't have Starbucks coffee hanging out, I'm guessing you have to travel to a Starbucks and then do something similar...? Basically. We have a 3-digit number for markouts on a card with our name. Anyone can ring us out, not just a manager. Usually they ask for my numbers, but they have to mark it as a Teavana markout, so I usually give them my card so they know.
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Mar 22, 2014 11:06
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I'm really liking black tea and I'd like to try more. The only one I know for sure I've had is this English breakfast, but I've had others too that I don't remember the names of. What are other black teas (don't have to be similar) for me to try and where do I order them online?
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Mar 22, 2014 15:37
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Boris Galerkin posted:I'm really liking black tea and I'd like to try more. The only one I know for sure I've had is this English breakfast, but I've had others too that I don't remember the names of. What are other black teas (don't have to be similar) for me to try and where do I order them online? Try some Earl Grey it's really great.
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Mar 22, 2014 17:12
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We sell an Indian chai made with Assam black tea, you can get a free sample from our website at chai-me.com. We have a 5 star rating, 100% customer satisfaction, and a money back guarantee. Give us a shot if you like black teas, I am certain you'll like ours. edit: Here's our thread in SA-Mart. Here's the free sample, makes enough for 2 smaller cups or 1 large one. We say 10g but usually you get more like 14-15g so it could make 3 cups depending on how strong you like it. I like it strong. 
Chaos Motor fucked around with this message at 18:38 on Mar 22, 2014 |
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Mar 22, 2014 18:11
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Boris Galerkin posted:I'm really liking black tea and I'd like to try more. The only one I know for sure I've had is this English breakfast, but I've had others too that I don't remember the names of. What are other black teas (don't have to be similar) for me to try and where do I order them online? Yorkshire Gold http://smile.amazon.com/Taylors-Harrogate-Yorkshire-Gold-160-Count/dp/B000XEV9YE/ This is about the best English blend black tea you can get in bags. No flavorings or other adulterants. Hard to beat without getting into full-leaf brewing. Best with a bit of milk.
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Mar 22, 2014 18:40
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Boris Galerkin posted:I'm really liking black tea and I'd like to try more. The only one I know for sure I've had is this English breakfast, but I've had others too that I don't remember the names of. What are other black teas (don't have to be similar) for me to try and where do I order them online? Adagio has several black tea sample packs that you can order, I'd recommend trying whichever of those strikes your fancy. Or, you can usually order samples of their teas individually, also.
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Mar 22, 2014 20:32
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