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What you described is an herbal tonic, really - there's no actual "tea" in it. "Herbal tea" (though the term is misleading), or more appropriately, tisane. Regarding your tea garden, you certainly could, but you will find your expectations to be quite different if you intend to harvest the tea bushes and trees for personal consumption the way you are thinking of. You could still press the leaves for oil and they'll probably just as nice as any other plant in the garden aesthetically, though!
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Nov 13, 2012 07:04
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Mr Kapu posted:Does a blend of lemongrass and lemon balm count as making my own tea? We dried a ton of both and have been drinking lemony-deliousness for a month now. What can I plant next year if I want to start an actual tea garden? Can you do that? You can try to grow camellia sinensis. Ideally you would get a 2-3 year old plant grown from a cutting. Less ideally you can try growing from seed. I got 20 seeds and ended up with about 15 that germinated although 7 of them were runty. It takes several years before you can harvest them. I found this paper to be a good start: http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/nph-9.pdf I think they have a few others on their site that are related.
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Nov 13, 2012 22:25
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Thanks guys! I'm glad I asked, I really don't have any formal knowledge about tea, what makes tea tea, or anything else tea related. I can still steep tasty things in water and call that delicious!
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Nov 13, 2012 23:59
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In tea news today, Starbucks is buying Teavana for $620 million.
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Nov 14, 2012 21:51
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Hey, tea thread! I posted in here quite a while ago about buying some tea from China Town. Unfortunately I totally forgot to go to China Town because I was busy with some stuff. But this past weekend I stopped by the Wegman's up here and noticed they had a proper tea section. All the loose leaf "by the oz" teas were in big metal bins. :/ I didn't get a chance to take any pictures, but I did buy about $4 of English Breakfast. More importantly, I had to replace my IngenuiTea teapot because the filter seems to be stained. If I make a cup of Irish Breakfast it tastes overdone even though I'm pretty precise with my times. The same day I made a cup with the new wegman's teapot I picked up and it tasted great. Does anyone know of a way to replace the filter or get the residue out?  I suppose I should have looked into the maintenance of the tea pot before I got it.
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Nov 14, 2012 22:02
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Sirotan posted:In tea news today, Starbucks is buying Teavana for $620 million. drat, and Teavana just bought out Teaopia here in Canada. Guess that means even fewer tea choices for us up here.
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Nov 14, 2012 22:11
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GenericGirlName posted:More importantly, I had to replace my IngenuiTea teapot because the filter seems to be stained. If I make a cup of Irish Breakfast it tastes overdone even though I'm pretty precise with my times. The same day I made a cup with the new wegman's teapot I picked up and it tasted great. Does anyone know of a way to replace the filter or get the residue out? I'm sure there is a greener way of doing this but I routinely just throw a little bleach into mine then fill it with water and let it sit a while. I always run it through the dishwasher afterwards. Clean and stain-free. Edit: I do this with the kind that comes with the removable filter but I don't see why it won't work on the new design.
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Nov 14, 2012 22:40
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Sirotan posted:In tea news today, Starbucks is buying Teavana for $620 million.
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Nov 14, 2012 23:14
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There is a super easy way to remove stain and residue from tea things and that is white vinegar. Vinegar dissolves the residue leaving the thing like new. Just pour the vinegar into the pot, put the filter in there, and wait for a few minutes, then you can gently rub with a rag and external buildup will come right off. Pour it out and rinse it and the stains are gone too. I feel like I'm pitching an as seen on TV product, so if you call today, you can also use this to remove coffee stains from cups and pots.
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Nov 14, 2012 23:20
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From what I've heard baking soda and boiling water, then letting it sit a little while before rinsing will help as well (though I haven't tried it yet).
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Nov 15, 2012 00:13
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I'm a huge fan of green tea, and I have a question regarding that. I absolutely adore having some honey in my tea. I have a collection of honeys from different types of plants, because clover honey is the devil. I've got Raspberry, Blueberry, Star Thistle, Oak, Lavender, and Wildflower. What other honeys do you think would go well with green tea? Lighter honeys seem to do the best from my experience.
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Nov 15, 2012 17:50
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Orange blossom? Don't know if it's available where you live but it's pretty light. Grew up with that stuff as I'm in Florida.
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Nov 15, 2012 18:08
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I've tried the semi-expensive orange blossom honey at Safeway. It was disgusting. Do all orange blossom honeys taste roughly the same? Couldn't stand the stuff, and I love exotic honey.
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Nov 15, 2012 20:14
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Hey guys. Thought I'd pop in and pimp the tea blog I just started up - if you're in the DC metro area you might find it of particular interest, I've got interviews with local tea shop owners coming very soon. I'm also completely open to submissions of any sort, reviews or photos or historical features or whatever the hell you'd feel like doing regarding tea. I haven't quite decided if I want this to be MY THING or not, ideally if this actually goes somewhere I'd have some other regular writers, but for now I'm encouraging anyone with a passion for tea to submit some content! If you do, lemme know if you have a web site or anything you want me to credit you with in the post. More on topic (i guess?), I got a Breville One-Touch Tea Maker for my birthday a couple weeks and it may be the greatest gift I've ever been given. Waking up each morning to a perfectly-steeped Darjeeling with absolutely no effort on my part is just fantastic, cleaning it's easy as could be, the steep basket is big enough for even the largest oolongs, and it seems super-sturdy - feels like it's going to last me a few years. It's expensive as hell, actually probably the most expensive small appliance I own and I doubt I would have bought it for myself, but I'm sure as hell glad someone else did. TXT BOOTY7 2 47474 fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Nov 16, 2012 |
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Nov 16, 2012 02:39
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Ah, I should have checked all those wonderful replies BEFORE I went to wegman's again. In my defense, I totally went there on impulse. And everytime I opened a tin it seemed like it would be a waste if I didn't buy some. I picked up ~$1 each of "Pai Mu Tan White Peony", Matcha Green Tea, and a "Bold Leaf Pu-erh Tea". My question this time is, should I be on the look out for the warning signs of an addiction to buying teas? They all seem like they would be good choices, which is weird since I seemed pretty adamant on only drinking various blends of black tea before I discovered the teas in wegman's.
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Nov 16, 2012 02:43
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GenericGirlName posted:My question this time is, should I be on the look out for the warning signs of an addiction to buying teas? They all seem like they would be good choices, which is weird since I seemed pretty adamant on only drinking various blends of black tea before I discovered the teas in wegman's. Well, if it smells good in the shop, you just have to get some. I can't really talk though, I have a problem. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knew of any good temperature control kettles that are available in the UK? There are hundreds of the things on Amazon, I just don't know which are considered good, and I trust Amazon reviews about as far as I can throw them.
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Nov 16, 2012 02:54
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TXT BOOTY7 2 47474 posted:Hey guys. Thought I'd pop in and pimp the tea blog I just started up - if you're in the DC metro area you might find it of particular interest, I've got interviews with local tea shop owners coming very soon. Yo, as long as I can get credit for it (get at me via PM or btcostales at gmail) you can use any of the stuff that I posted in this thread some time ago.
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Nov 16, 2012 04:13
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Amazon is having a pretty awesome deal on tea through their Amazon Local thing. You buy a 35 dollar voucher and get 70 dollars worth of tea, or a 50 dollar voucher and get 100 dollars worth of tea. I have no idea how good, http://www.espemporium.com/ is but it is for that vendor.
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Nov 16, 2012 12:47
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TXT BOOTY7 2 47474 posted:More on topic (i guess?), I got a Breville One-Touch Tea Maker for my birthday a couple weeks and it may be the greatest gift I've ever been given. Waking up each morning to a perfectly-steeped Darjeeling with absolutely no effort on my part is just fantastic, cleaning it's easy as could be, the steep basket is big enough for even the largest oolongs, and it seems super-sturdy - feels like it's going to last me a few years. It's expensive as hell, actually probably the most expensive small appliance I own and I doubt I would have bought it for myself, but I'm sure as hell glad someone else did. Congratulations on your teabot! There is one thing to watch out for: be really, really careful making any rooibos, especially if it's flavoured rooibos (DavidsTea definitely has some culprits). As in, if you want to, pour it into another container and rinse your machine out shortly after you're done. I don't know why, but it's the one and only thing I've seen that can stink it up hardcore. And I've been a  and made things like eggs and miso soup in mine, or forgetting leaves in for a week while I'm out. It's otherwise been totally unreactive.
Culinary Bears fucked around with this message at 17:50 on Nov 16, 2012 |
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Nov 16, 2012 16:58
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Colt Cannon posted:Amazon is having a pretty awesome deal on tea through their Amazon Local thing. You buy a 35 dollar voucher and get 70 dollars worth of tea, or a 50 dollar voucher and get 100 dollars worth of tea. I did this awhile back, they are fine and also they have decent customer support from what I remember. Regarding the tea itself, there is a range, low to middling quality, some of the stuff I still haven't touched yet, but their Russian Caravan is pretty decent, so I might hop on that since I didn't get the offer in my email.
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Nov 16, 2012 19:51
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Just got a job at DAVIDsTEA. Excited would be an understatement. 
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Nov 17, 2012 05:47
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I was nuts just working in the same building as a tea shop..I can't imagine working in the shop itself. I never get tired of tea.
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Nov 17, 2012 14:46
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jazz babies posted:Just got a job at DAVIDsTEA. Excited would be an understatement. Congratulations, I am sure neongrey is going to be knocking on your door trying to push you for employee-discounted girly teas now. 
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Nov 17, 2012 17:31
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Wow. I bought an actually tea maker for loose leaf tea a few days ago and it was delicious. When I first read the OP it made it seem like, ya bagged tea would be bad but it wouldn't be awful. After tasting the difference I feel really bad about myself for spending the money on the bagged tea that probably won't ever get made now.
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Nov 18, 2012 00:29
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^ You can still use bagged tea to make sun teas. It's a nice thing to be able to reach into your fridge for a quick mug of chilled tea. I'd like to know the correct way to add honey to tea. Usually I brew my loose leaf green or black tea in my little Le Creuset 24oz pot, pour the tea into a mug and add honey into the cup while it's still hot. Even if I stir the honey in, I still end up with a big glob of honey that settles at the bottom of the cup. I can taste a bit of the honey as I'm drinking and I wonder if I'm adding too much honey or maybe drinking the tea too fast and not giving it enough time to properly dissolve. I love drinking and learning about tea and this thread has turned me on to some new teas I'd like to try. Currently I'm drinking a blend I made myself out of Davidson's Green Tea Garden and a package of authentic Japanese green tea that lost its label  I really like the Davidson teas, and Giant Eagle (a Penn-Ohio area grocery chain) sells the loose leaf teas by weight (self-serve) in their larger Marketplace-branded stores. You can also get Davidson teas in bulk off Amazon. My favorite is a powerful green tea blend called Sun, Moon and Stars.
mistressminako fucked around with this message at 07:27 on Nov 18, 2012 |
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Nov 18, 2012 07:21
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aldantefax posted:Congratulations, I am sure neongrey is going to be knocking on your door trying to push you for employee-discounted girly teas now. Or to try the more expensive less girly ones, hehe.
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Nov 18, 2012 07:31
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neongrey posted:Or to try the more expensive less girly ones, hehe. I sold a guy one of our most expensive green teas today...Butterfly Jasmine...each piece is hand rolled to look like little butterflies. it smells like heaven.
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Nov 18, 2012 08:48
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mistressminako posted:honey To be honest if I am drinking tea with straight honey I just stir the poo poo out of it. Add the honey after the cup and spoon have warmed up and stir for a solid thirty seconds or so. It also depends on if the honey has thickened up because it was in a cold place or something like that; personally, I find it easier to let honey sit somewhere at room temperature away from a window and then it is more agreeable to work with. If you work with other additives in your tea like some kind of citrus (lemon, kalamansi etc) then that also helps to break up honey in the tea. In some Asian stores you can find honey premixed with citrus in .5L bottles that are quite liquidy but very good for cold weather and treating sore throats.
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Nov 18, 2012 18:58
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jazz babies posted:Just got a job at DAVIDsTEA. Excited would be an understatement. did you get that it support position i applied for because if so i'm going to neongrey posted:Or to try the more expensive less girly ones, hehe. Drink those girly teas with pride, DavidsTea's delicious blends are a big part of what got me into loose tea in the first place and I STILL drink tons despite mostly being a straight man (..?) now. Can I help with the knocking? TXT BOOTY7 2 47474 fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Nov 18, 2012 |
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Nov 18, 2012 19:51
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Green tea is the only tea I'll sometimes add honey too, everything else is straight tea. You probably just need to stir it more. It doesn't take much heat to melt honey but it's not going to mix without a little help. I keep some bagged tea on hand just in case I end up going somewhere that I won't be able to make loose leaf for whatever reason. Those are the places that will have 10 year old bagged teas if they have anything at all.
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Nov 18, 2012 20:41
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If you're having problems with your honey not mixing in I would definitely just mix it more or even keep stirring it every now and then as you're drinking the tea. If you let it get too cold there's a chance it could separate out again, too. I just noticed recently that at least with some of the honeys that I have, the locally made/unprocessed ( and of course more expensive) honeys tend to do better with mixing and not crystalizing than the more processed, cheap, store-bought honeys. Just wondering if anyone else has found that to be true in their experience.
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Nov 19, 2012 00:04
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TXT BOOTY7 2 47474 posted:did you get that it support position i applied for because if so i'm going to Seasonal Sales Associate, possibly staying on afterward.
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Nov 19, 2012 00:56
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DurianGray posted:I just noticed recently that at least with some of the honeys that I have, the locally made/unprocessed ( and of course more expensive) honeys tend to do better with mixing and not crystalizing than the more processed, cheap, store-bought honeys. Just wondering if anyone else has found that to be true in their experience. I was talking with the owner of the Sky River Meadery earlier this year. She used to work in the honey business before starting the meadery. She said something about it having to do with how many times the honey crossed a particular temperature. I imagine the processed stuff has much more chance of being heated and cooled several times.
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Nov 19, 2012 00:59
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Personally I use about half a teaspoon (erring on less) of raw honey in almost every single tea I drink - some dessert ones get more, but still not much. Raw honey's much thicker than the processed stuff but it still dissolves pretty quickly with a bit of stirring. The tiny amount I use probably has lots to do with that, to be fair. In other news, some of aldantefax's posts and photos will be appearing in my blog soon (the first will be tomorrow) and in the future! Again, if any of you guys want to submit anything tea-related, feel free. I even got the thing a legit domain now.
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Nov 19, 2012 02:50
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TXT BOOTY7 2 47474 posted:Drink those girly teas with pride, DavidsTea's delicious blends are a big part of what got me into loose tea in the first place and I STILL drink tons despite mostly being a straight man (..?) now. Can I help with the knocking? Oh yeah I'm not down on the girly fruity tea, I like the untainted stuff too, but when you hang with the tea spergs, you expect some rightful ribbing for drinking these Frankenstein's monsters that are more fruit than tea. (oh god I bought a tassimo from a friend at work and I have been drinking nothing but a) lattes and b) tea lattes ever since, I have betrayed both the coffee and the tea gods if I never post again here it is because they have struck me down  )
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Nov 19, 2012 04:04
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neongrey posted:
Before you're smited, please explain how you make a tea latte in that thing. I've never used a Tassimo. Do you use one of the prepackaged tea cups or make your own? I have a Senseo (got it back when the free offer was going around here) that's been packed away somewhere but blaspheming with tea sounds like fun.
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Nov 20, 2012 05:56
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DurianGray posted:
Crystallization have very little to do with the quality of the honey, and more with the composition of sugars and how the honey has been treated. There are products that can't legally be called honey that have added sugars from other sources that keeps the honey liquid. In Scandinavia, nearly all domestic honey is sold as smooth but crystallized. It's pretty much impossible to keep in a liquid state just from the composition of the sugars that are determined by the plants that the bees have harvested.
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Nov 20, 2012 18:38
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Devi posted:Before you're smited, please explain how you make a tea latte in that thing. I've never used a Tassimo. Do you use one of the prepackaged tea cups or make your own? Tassimo has it's own proprietary t-disk's, which are small disks with a bar code that the machine reads, and it know's how much water/how hot the water should be shot through the disk and whatever is inside the disk, I'm guessing the person you quoted is using a tea t-disk and a latte t-disk from a different package
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Nov 20, 2012 21:41
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Renzuko posted:Tassimo has it's own proprietary t-disk's, which are small disks with a bar code that the machine reads, and it know's how much water/how hot the water should be shot through the disk and whatever is inside the disk, I'm guessing the person you quoted is using a tea t-disk and a latte t-disk from a different package Yes and no-- they straight-up have chai latte packages. Sometimes I swap the chai for an earl grey. It's not bad for what it is (which isn't great, but not terrible), honestly. Though honestly, I think in the future I'll just order loose latte disks and have it right with the earl grey, it's much better than the chai. They've got other tea discs but not anything I'd drink with milk at all, let alone foamy milk. Pursuant to real tea, if you use the service disk, the machine'll just spit out straight hot water, which is nice for real tea.
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Nov 20, 2012 21:53
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jazz babies posted:Just got a job at DAVIDsTEA. Excited would be an understatement.
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Nov 21, 2012 04:54
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