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I treat my cast iron tea pot the same way I treat my ceramic tea pots. The cast iron pot seems to hold heat better and, of course, is nowhere near as breakable, which is the main reason I bought mine. I don't boil the water in the pot. I got mine at Cost Plus: The Wold Market, and I use a cast iron tea light heater thing with it (the thing that holds a tea light to keep the pot hot, I'm blanking out on the name) platedlizard fucked around with this message at 23:03 on Jul 11, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 22:59
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So you boil water and then pour it in? Or you exclusively use the tea candle thing?
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Jul 11, 2013 23:12
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I don't think there's any tea pot you want to expose directly to a heating element? That's what kettles are for...
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Jul 11, 2013 23:35
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I haven't ever used them, but I can't imagine direct exposure to heat would hurt a cast iron pot. Honestly it'd probably be fine for most ceramic pots if you're careful or are willing to lose the pot if necessary. The cast iron isn't going to break or be damaged in any way - there's no way the fire will get hot enough to melt it or anything. With ceramic I'd just be worried about scorching the coating, or if the pot's exterior did a poor enough job transmitting heat that thermal expansion led to cracking. Plastic pots, obviously, don't do it.
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Jul 11, 2013 23:41
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Molten Llama posted:If anybody else is interested, Verdant Tea's currently running a 5 for $5 special for new customers.  . I'm experimenting with different ways of brewing, since their website gives a bunch of guidance for brewing in the instructions.Looking forward to trying the others. They're pricey but the teas have been so far fantastic. At least with the Laoshan Black I think the price is right for a Sunday morning or special occasion tea (unless you're rich I can't imagine using them as daily drinker...)
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Jul 12, 2013 00:19
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ante posted:So you boil water and then pour it in? Or you exclusively use the tea candle thing? I use an electric kettle to boil water. Most tea pots will boil over if you try to boil water in them, and it ruins the tea. The tea candle is just to keep the tea hot.
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Jul 12, 2013 01:25
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Arcturas posted:I haven't ever used them, but I can't imagine direct exposure to heat would hurt a cast iron pot. Honestly it'd probably be fine for most ceramic pots if you're careful or are willing to lose the pot if necessary. The cast iron isn't going to break or be damaged in any way - there's no way the fire will get hot enough to melt it or anything. With ceramic I'd just be worried about scorching the coating, or if the pot's exterior did a poor enough job transmitting heat that thermal expansion led to cracking. I think the problem with that is that a lot of "cast iron" teapots now come with enamel coatings on the inside, and sometimes paint on the outside. I honestly have no idea what kind of effect direct heat might have on the enamel. I guess there's a chance it could crack if the outside metal is heating differently than the enamel inside. Ante, just keep in mind that tea pots and tea kettles are different things with different purposes. Think about it like this. You cook stuff in a pan, and serve it and eat it off of different plates. You don't put a plate on the stove to cook a steak. So, you don't put teapots on the stove either, only kettles. So yeah. Heat the water in a kettle of some sort (electric, or stove. Don't put an electric kettle on the stove.) THEN pour the hot water into your teapot, or even directly into your mug or cup with the tea leaves. Tea light candles usually come with glass teapots (at least that I've seen) and the idea is that they just keep the tea warm and look nice. They're not intended to be used in brewing anything. e: And if you're still in the market for a cast iron kettle, antique stores usually have some (at least where I live), but they might need some work before they're clean enough to use. Just make sure that the inside is cast iron and not coated in some way and you should be fine. DurianGray fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Jul 12, 2013 |
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Jul 12, 2013 01:58
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I'm about to leave my office but you want to look into Artistic Nippon and read about "tekki" - basically, there are kettles that are unglazed on the inside and are intended expressly for boiling water. The iron activates and does chemical stuff with the water and makes it softer which is beneficial for brewing tea or I guess regular drinking?  
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Jul 12, 2013 02:34
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DurianGray posted:I think the problem with that is that a lot of "cast iron" teapots now come with enamel coatings on the inside, and sometimes paint on the outside. I honestly have no idea what kind of effect direct heat might have on the enamel. I guess there's a chance it could crack if the outside metal is heating differently than the enamel inside. It does. Also, the exterior coloring can burn and get funky on a gas stove. Fortunately, it wasn't my pot that got ruined...
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Jul 12, 2013 03:28
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They don't use the same type of enamel the Le Creuset type enameled cast iron stuff does? That enamel is stovetop safe. But I guess they could use a different type, I have no idea.
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Jul 12, 2013 06:58
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Ghost of Reagan Past posted:I got this recently. I tried the Laoshan Black and the Yunnan White Jasmine. I don't know poo poo about white tea (I've literally never had any before this) but I liked it, though there are no real comments I have since I don't know what I'm looking for. But the Laoshan Black is really fantastic. The leaves smell like loving cookies, and it tastes rich and almost sweet without much astringency. I'm already out Glad someone liked it. I tried the Laoshan black and thought it smelled awful, and only tasted okay-ish. It was kind of chocolatey, but in a bad way, like something that had been left out and collected all the funky smells from the fridge or cupboard. Kind of smoky, too. It was just.. weird, and kind of off-putting. I haven't tried the green yet because it smelled even stronger when I opened the bag. I guess I prefer my teas to smell like leaves and flowers and grass clippings and stuff like that. Chocolate cookies don't really have a place in my cup. The jasmine, on the other hand, was extraordinary. I would definitely buy that again. For now I have it sealed in a glass jar in a dark place, like I'm hoarding treasure, otherwise I would drink all of it in one go. The oolong and tiegaunyin were also pretty good, but not good enough to covet like that white jasmine. 
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Jul 12, 2013 08:55
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Eeyo posted:They don't use the same type of enamel the Le Creuset type enameled cast iron stuff does? That enamel is stovetop safe. But I guess they could use a different type, I have no idea. It wasn't a one-go sort of thing. I think, over time, the pot weakened. Also, Le Creuset pans aren't supposed to be used over high heat, but that poor little pot got used repeatedly with the burner on high.
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Jul 12, 2013 13:11
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I just got a gourd, a bombilla, and some yerba mate. I'm trying it the original way. To be honest it's very bitter although I'm getting used to the taste. I do like all the caffeine though, seems to be waking me up without making me wired like coffee.
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Jul 15, 2013 03:30
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Just a tip for anyone looking for good ways to store their tea: use small mason jars. For like $8 you can get a dozen at any hardware store. They look nice enough and do a great job of keeping your tea in good condition
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Jul 15, 2013 14:30
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platedlizard posted:I just got a gourd, a bombilla, and some yerba mate. I'm trying it the original way. To be honest it's very bitter although I'm getting used to the taste. I do like all the caffeine though, seems to be waking me up without making me wired like coffee. Hmm, it shouldn't be bitter unless you accidentally put the mate in boiling water. Boiling water + yerba mate = bitter mate.
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Jul 15, 2013 16:01
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DanManIt posted:Just a tip for anyone looking for good ways to store their tea: use small mason jars. For like $8 you can get a dozen at any hardware store. They look nice enough and do a great job of keeping your tea in good condition If you go through tea really really fast, I could see that working, but I seem to recall it's not a good idea to expose tea to light more than necessary. Just a word of caution.
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Jul 15, 2013 16:11
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Hummingbirds posted:If you go through tea really really fast, I could see that working, but I seem to recall it's not a good idea to expose tea to light more than necessary. Just a word of caution. Yeah that is a caveat. I keep mine in cupboards so no light hits them anyway but that's very true for people looking to use mason jars as a way to display their tea.
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Jul 15, 2013 16:54
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This is a thing that is technically not tea and I cross posted because we don't have a dedicated fermentation thread. I was looking around for a fermentation thread and was directed here as one of the closest things. I'm in Korea and trying to make the various Korean fermented fruit teas and I'm using fruits that aren't traditionally used like cherries and prickly pears. I'm running into the same problem as I do with most Korean cooking in that most of the recipes aren't written down yet and are handed down verbally or in family notes. Finding information in Korean is difficult and in English is nearly impossible. I'm hoping someone else has some experience or with something similar. The basic idea is to use ambient yeast and bacteria in the air or on the fruit to ferment it. For making japanese apricot tea you layer the unripe apricots (maesil in Korean and ume in Japanese) with sugar, you close the lead of your clean container and put it in a cool dark place for 100 days. The sugar pulls the liquid out of the fruit and bacteria and yeast eat the sugar and make it a little bit sour. It's not a strong fermentation usually, nothing like kimchi. It seems a way of making a syrup that will keep for a very long time and have some slight health benefits. The problem is I have no idea what bacteria is in it and apparently nobody has ever thought to ask. My biggest problem now is that I'm using some wet fruits and it's summer. My cherry fermented tea is almost violently fermenting, I have a hankerchief over it and then closed the lid so a little bit of air gets in and out but no bugs. I closed the lid all the way for a few hours and when i opened it all the gas released and then when i stirred it it bubbled over. It doesn't smell rotten so I'm saying it's fine, but my friend's mother said I should keep it there for 40 days, but she's never made it, it's just a guess. Anyone have any suggestions, I was a former bio major and I've been fermenting things for a long time, but I'm still sort of flying blind. Maybe if someone knows of a type of fermented product similar that is made in another part of the world.
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Jul 15, 2013 18:41
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When I was making Kefir, I put it in the fridge for most of summer to slow down the fermentation to manageable levels. Can't help you more than that. I am suprised that you don't need a starter culture. When I started reading your post I was imagining something like Kombucha.
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Jul 15, 2013 20:27
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Jared592 posted:Hmm, it shouldn't be bitter unless you accidentally put the mate in boiling water. Boiling water + yerba mate = bitter mate. Okay, I just tried with lower temperature water, like for green teas. Still bitter, but I'm wondering if its the type of yerba mate I'm using. Chimarro is super powdery, almost like macha but with bits of twigs in it, I think the bitterness might be coming from the powdered leaf itself. I had some leaf points left at the Tao of Tea so I just ordered a variety of things. It's not a bad bitter, more refreshing.
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Jul 15, 2013 22:28
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I actually didn't know that you could even get powdered mate. I've only ever had it in sort of a crushed leaf looking form before and it never really struck me as bitter, just really earthy. Wikipedia is saying that the "Chimarro" is also called "Bitter Mate"*, so that's probably the cause of the flavor rather than just the preparation. Good to know it's not a deal-breaker for you though. I know it would be for me. *Sort of? I guess it's a regional name too or something. DurianGray fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Jul 15, 2013 |
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Jul 15, 2013 22:38
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Hmm I've never had Chimarro, but I can tell you that Guayaki's Yerba is definitely not bitter and is available loose if you want to give that a shot.
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Jul 16, 2013 14:01
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Yeah I don't understand how the fermented fruit tea works, I mean I sort of do but I assumed there would have to be a starter, but kimchi works that way too so...
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Jul 16, 2013 14:28
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DanManIt posted:Yeah that is a caveat. I keep mine in cupboards so no light hits them anyway but that's very true for people looking to use mason jars as a way to display their tea. I use the tins from Harney and Sons or David's Tea. Then again, I rarely buy more than 4 oz at a time since my wife and son only drink tea on occasion.
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Jul 21, 2013 08:48
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I don't know if this really affects anyone here or not, but Adagio just got a Cease and Desist from Warner Brothers over all the Harry Potter themed 'fandom blends' on the website. They're encouraging people to rename and change the artworks on the effected blends. I wouldn't be surprised if they get more C&Ds in the future from other IP rights holders. Personally, I thought it was really weird and kind of off-putting when they suddenly went whole-hog on embracing the fandom stuff with the custom blends (and the 'shipping' discount thing, what?). I'm not even sure if you can find a blend that isn't part of some fandom or another the way they have the page organized now.
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Jul 23, 2013 06:48
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DurianGray posted:I don't know if this really affects anyone here or not, but Adagio just got a Cease and Desist from Warner Brothers over all the Harry Potter themed 'fandom blends' on the website. They're encouraging people to rename and change the artworks on the effected blends. The fandom blends had some interesting flavors, but yeah. I can't say I'm surprised.
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Jul 24, 2013 06:14
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So I just picked up some Tie Guan Yin from Anxi and some Dragon Pearl Jasmine tea from my HK trip. What's the best way to prepare it? I'm in Korea ATM without my PID kettle, but I do have some nice teapots. Are any of those two teas very temp-sensitive?
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Jul 25, 2013 05:43
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Jasmine Dragon Pearls are usually greens from my experience, so make sure your water is around maybe 180-190F or so. I'd start on the lower temperature end with the Ti Guan Yin as well, most of the ones I've had are oolong-ish, so if a lower temperature isn't doing it for you try a slightly higher one. TGY should give you maybe 2-3 good resteeps (at least), so don't be afraid to experiment with subsequent steeps.
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Jul 25, 2013 18:23
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I'm sort of new to loose leaf tea and want caffeine-free (or low caffeine, like green) recommendations. I've had four different fancy green teas and my favorite was Sencha. I didn't like the ones with roasted rice that smelled like popcorn. I've ordered a variety from Davidson's that come in huge 1lb bags. The cranberry orange was gross (jesus I have a pound of this) and tastes like potpourri, Spring and Flowers was ok, still a potpourri-y, and the Chamomile Flower was quite good. I also like lemony stuff, and Earl Grey is good but too much caffeine. I dislike mint, ginger, and anything chocolatey. I also like the black tea used in iced tea but I think those tend to be high in caffeine. I prefer cheaper stuff because I don't think I've ever brewed a cup of green I thought tasted off despite drastically different steeping times and temperatures. I think anything fancy is probably wasted on me. hayden. fucked around with this message at 06:22 on Aug 1, 2013 |
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Aug 1, 2013 06:20
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DontAskKant posted:My biggest problem now is that I'm using some wet fruits and it's summer. My cherry fermented tea is almost violently fermenting, I have a hankerchief over it and then closed the lid so a little bit of air gets in and out but no bugs. I closed the lid all the way for a few hours and when i opened it all the gas released and then when i stirred it it bubbled over. It doesn't smell rotten so I'm saying it's fine, but my friend's mother said I should keep it there for 40 days, but she's never made it, it's just a guess. From my experience just cherry and sugar ferments into a cordial/liquor when sealed from air(probably to vinegar if aerated), it's yeast fermentation not lactic and didn't need a starter. Fermentation stops by itself in about a month when alcohol content gets high enough. Hope you removed cherry pits, because you don't want cyanide in them to end in your product  Cherry cordial made that way tastes great, doesn't spoil when stored at room temperature, but have to be careful drinking it since it's a fair bit stronger than you'd expect from taste. If you expected something more like pickling I've no clue how to do that with cherry - check that thread maybe http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3437802 Pyromancer fucked around with this message at 09:33 on Aug 1, 2013 |
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Aug 1, 2013 09:29
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hayden. posted:I'm sort of new to loose leaf tea and want caffeine-free (or low caffeine, like green) recommendations. It sounds like you just don't like the flavored blends, so how about trying some more greens? There's actually many variations of sencha and you have a lot more choice if you order direct from a japanese supplier like o-cha. You might want to give gyokuro a try, a green tea similar to sencha but cultivated a little differently and is usually pricier. Japanese greens also benefit from being brewed at slightly lower temps than chinese greens, usually around 160-170F, and you want to do about a minute long initial steep, then reduce the time to 30 secs on the second, and add 15-30 secs on successive steeps. They might be a bit higher in caffeine than greens, but oolongs, especially those on the greener side of the spectrum can have really surprisingly sweet and citrusy notes without being infused with orange bits or whatever. I'm a big fan of Ali Shan varieties, Four Season is my daily drink nowadays, it's fairly low on the price point compared to other ali shans and still has a wonderful taste, and can be steeped many times in succession.
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Aug 1, 2013 11:59
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I used to just buy the decaf versions of all the teas when I wasn't having caffeine v v I'm pretty sure any loose leaf tea seller has a decaf earl grey. I know Adagio does.
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Aug 1, 2013 12:35
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hayden. posted:I'm sort of new to loose leaf tea and want caffeine-free (or low caffeine, like green) recommendations. Just so you know, quote:Despite what many erroneously believe, green teas do not necessarily have less, or more, caffeine than black teas. Some will argue that green tea has 1/3 the caffeine of black tea while oolongs are slightly more caffeine-rich with 2/3 the caffeine of black tea, but this is simply not true. Caffeine content is not related to level of fermentation; instead, it is more closely aligned to the type of leaf used. This quote is from Upton, found here. There is also a section on the last page of their "Brief Guide to Tea" that explains how it is extracted across multiple infusions. Also, gyokuro is delicious. You might be able to trade your unwanted tea on Steepster. Try smaller samples until you figure out what you like, and get hot cups to go from Teavana as a nice way to try some without having to buy 2oz. milpreve fucked around with this message at 14:11 on Aug 1, 2013 |
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Aug 1, 2013 14:08
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milpreve posted:There is also a section on the last page of their "Brief Guide to Tea" Oh drat, that thing says to consume in 3 months. Does anyone take longer to finish their teas? I store them all in mason jars in the back of my cabinet so they're pretty air tight. Edit: Does anyone know where I can get a Thai tea blend?
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Aug 1, 2013 15:10
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hope and vaseline posted:It sounds like you just don't like the flavored blends, so how about trying some more greens? There's actually many variations of sencha and you have a lot more choice if you order direct from a japanese supplier like o-cha. You might want to give gyokuro a try, a green tea similar to sencha but cultivated a little differently and is usually pricier. Japanese greens also benefit from being brewed at slightly lower temps than chinese greens, usually around 160-170F, and you want to do about a minute long initial steep, then reduce the time to 30 secs on the second, and add 15-30 secs on successive steeps. I'll give some more greens and oolongs a try then, thanks. milpreve posted:Just so you know, Thanks for the heads up (thanks for ruining my placebo effect jerk!) Shnooks posted:I used to just buy the decaf versions of all the teas when I wasn't having caffeine v Does this not affect the taste at all? Also what's all this steeped in succession stuff? Can I really use the same tea leave over and over? Does it matter what kind of tea it is?
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Aug 1, 2013 15:48
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Yeah, loose leaf tea you can steep multiple times, usually the higher the grade the more you can get out of it. The first steeping tends to give off the strongest aroma, the second has the strongest flavor, and you can keep steeping until it starts to taste weak. Generally you want to increase the steep times as you go on, and you get more leeway with the water temperature as well, you can experiment with hotter temps. Gongfu style brewing in particular, where you use a lot of leaves with a lesser amount of water with very short steep times (you start anywhere from 5 to 30 seconds), results in up to 8 or 10 resteepings of the same batch of tea. (I've heard that Tieguanyin can go up to 15 or more) hope and vaseline fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Aug 1, 2013 |
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Aug 1, 2013 15:58
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I've done steeped some of my nicer darjeeling upwards of 5-7 tomes before I got tired of it. My Boseong Korean green I get a out 2 maybe 3 out of. My generic cheap puer I got from a shop in Guangzhou gets me about 3 or 4. That's one of the great benefits of loose leaf tea. I usually do that for southern sweet tea too, but a lot less sugar because I'm not killing the leaves with boiling water. I'm having a hard time replicating Taiwanese and Japanese bottled unsweetened iced tea. I have no idea how to even start. Maybe a cold brew?
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Aug 1, 2013 17:33
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http://ratetea.com/topic/caffeine-content-of-tea/21/ This page also looks like it has some more detailed information on caffeine amounts in different types of tea. At any rate, no tea leaf is going to have nearly as much caffeine as a typical cup of coffee does. Oh man, a pound of tea is a lot to have laying around when you don't like it I usually never get more than 4oz (a quarter pound) at a time and even that can take me a while to get through. You might be able to swap it with someone else. There are a few tea-specific forums I've seen where people do that a lot. As far as the Thai tea, it looks like they mostly just use a really strong ceylon brew and some sugar and canned milk or coconut milk is added to the top. (I'm assuming you mean this stuff http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_tea ?) The local Thai place I get it from just uses sweetened ceylon and coconut milk I'm pretty sure.
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Aug 1, 2013 19:04
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Pyromancer posted:From my experience just cherry and sugar ferments into a cordial/liquor when sealed from air(probably to vinegar if aerated), it's yeast fermentation not lactic and didn't need a starter. Fermentation stops by itself in about a month when alcohol content gets high enough. Hope you removed cherry pits, because you don't want cyanide in them to end in your product Didn't your jars develop really high pressure. Mine felt like the cap was going to burst.
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Aug 1, 2013 19:55
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Recently I bought a pound of cheap black tea at a Chinese corner store because it was lychee flavored and only  and came in a cute tin. The lychee flavor isn't very strong but it smells amazing. I also bought a pressed cake of tea there recently, but I haven't tried it yet. I was hesitant about it since I've heard cheap pressed teas taste like barfy lawn clippings, but the cashier said he drinks the stuff all the time, so I have some hope for it. He also says it's good for digestion if you eat too much, but people say that about a lot of teas.Shnooks posted:Oh drat, that thing says to consume in 3 months. Does anyone take longer to finish their teas? I store them all in mason jars in the back of my cabinet so they're pretty air tight. I take forever to finish my teas, and keep buying more. I have a few glass jars of tea that have been in my cupboard for years, and they still taste fine to me. They're also whole-leaf teas, so that might have something to do with it. E: I even have a couple tisanes from Dragonwater Tea, and they haven't even been in business for several years. I think I have a tea hoarding problem. 
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Aug 1, 2013 21:37
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