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While we've got rooibos chat going, has anyone tried honeybush (a related plant) or green (unoxidized) rooibos? Just curious. Also, it seems like the longer I let the rooibos steep, the sweeter it gets. I accidentally just let some steep for over an hour and it tastes like I added a bit of sweetener, but otherwise it's not much different than it was after 10 minutes.
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Jan 15, 2013 03:39
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That's odd, I've always made it at home because it came out more intense than the commercial stuff. Maybe I've got weaker tea or stronger spices though, or added them more generously (haven't followed the recipe for a bit), or just that I tend to forget the spices steeping for a while. Anyway, the spices should definitely be at the forefront (to the point where it's kinda too strong without milk), so feel free to mess with it until they are. As for vanilla, extract might be a better option. I've tried adding in beans (split and loosely scraped) while boiling all the spices together and thought the flavor got kinda lost. Though there is this thing where if you want to add saffron you're supposed to let it steep in hot milk (alcohol can work too) for a bit first to get the flavor to come out stronger and mix in easier. I wonder if that might apply to vanilla bean as well. And yeah, chai can be made with any tea, though there might be some alternative spice pairings. Rooibos is pretty great with coconut (though I dunno if I'd do that at the same time as vanilla).
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Jan 15, 2013 04:09
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Honeybush is similar to rooibos, but is more like tiny woodchips in consistency. I have a vanilla honeybush I can post comparisin pictures of later, when I'm not going to bed. Rooibos can't be oversteeped, but it also can't be re-steeped (it's not worth it, I've tried many times). Also, the traditonal South African way to drink rooibos is with milk. Not a lot of people seem to know that, but it is so tasty that way! E: I had a bonus minute. Here is a comparison between rooibos and honeybush. Bot are flavored and have flower petals in them for some reason, but you can see how the "leaf" is different. Honeybush is actually easier for loose steeping. 
milpreve fucked around with this message at 06:30 on Jan 15, 2013 |
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Jan 15, 2013 05:56
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milpreve posted:Also, the traditonal South African way to drink rooibos is with milk. Not a lot of people seem to know that, but it is so tasty that way! Is it actually steeped in milk or is milk just added later? I tried adding milk out of curiosity but I liked it better without. Also, there's something about that deep ruby red color (I make it in a Bodum glass teapot) and that smell that just go so well together! Thanks for posting the pics! I'll have to order some honeybush soon.
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Jan 15, 2013 14:05
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Vienna Circlejerk posted:Is it actually steeped in milk or is milk just added later? My mom said that she always had it added, not steeped in milk. But it was probably fresh milk, not pasteurized and skimmed to a certain milk-fat percentage. I would expect that they removed the cream for making butter, but maybe not. She visited more rural and poorer areas, and any time they were in fancy hotels, it was brought out by the cup, pre-made.
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Jan 15, 2013 22:17
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apologies if this has been asked or discussed recently... I am tearing out my hair trying to figure out genmaicha. I have tried toasting several different rice types several different ways but I cannot get the that great flavor like I've had at restaurants. any help, or should I just buy some?
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Jan 15, 2013 22:35
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Arcsech posted:Just got some Pu Ehr to try. I actually rather like it, but it's got a pretty powerful smell... my roommate says it smells like "dirt... with a hint of cheap ramen noodles", while another of my friends claimed she smelled "fish bait". Is this a cooked or raw/rawaged pu? Is it in tuo, bing, brick, or loose form? Do you know the factory/year? Caffeine content is the same. It is still camellia sinensis. You should try it gong fu style (more tea, less water, much shorter steep time).
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Jan 15, 2013 22:37
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GrAviTy84 posted:Is this a cooked or raw/rawaged pu? Is it in tuo, bing, brick, or loose form? Do you know the factory/year? Caffeine content is the same. It is still camellia sinensis. It's Numi's Emperor Pu-Erh (bagged) because going to the supermarket is way easier than getting to the tea shop and I wanted to see if there was any chance of me liking it at all first, and Steepster didn't crucify it so I figured it wouldn't be too bad to get my feet wet with. I'm planning to get some of either the loose leaf or small cubes that Upton sells next time I make an order so I can try it "properly". I also don't have gong fu stuff and I'm not courageous enough to try it with ghetto equipment  I know it's cheap I just haven't gotten any yet.
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Jan 16, 2013 01:20
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bewbies posted:apologies if this has been asked or discussed recently... Buy some, it's super cheap. Genmaicha evolved as a way to stretch out one's tea supply so it's cheap by nature.
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Jan 16, 2013 06:35
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Arcsech posted:It's Numi's Emperor Pu-Erh (bagged) because going to the supermarket is way easier than getting to the tea shop and I wanted to see if there was any chance of me liking it at all first, and Steepster didn't crucify it so I figured it wouldn't be too bad to get my feet wet with. I'm planning to get some of either the loose leaf or small cubes that Upton sells next time I make an order so I can try it "properly". I don't know how good it actually is to any big pu erh fans, but the one that I've enjoyed most is the one carried by Teaism in DC (https://teaism.com/TeaShop/ProductDetails4-13.html).
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Jan 16, 2013 12:54
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Hummingbirds posted:Buy some, it's super cheap. Genmaicha evolved as a way to stretch out one's tea supply so it's cheap by nature. Super cheap and super delicious. I am lazy and often make any kind of tea with water that's too hot and genmaicha always turns out. And I always take a sip and literally say "oh my god this is so good." Every time.
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Jan 16, 2013 18:15
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Yeah, genmaicha just tastes like a hug, it's not something I drink every day but I always want some on hand.
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Jan 16, 2013 20:02
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I was given an ounce of Black Chai and an ounce of Indian Spice Herbal Chai for Christmas. I tried brewing the Indian Spice Herbal Chai both straight and with milk added, but I wasn't a fan of either. The description for the Black Chai says, "Our delicious chai blends organic black tea with organic ginger, organic fennel, organic cinnamon, organic cardamom, organic nutmeg, organic black pepper and organic cloves." The description for the Indian Spice Herbal Chai says, "Our caffeine-free chai blends cinnamon, fennel, ginger, anise, cardamom, cloves and peppercorns." I am fairly new to tea. I've only been drinking them for about the last year and half. I've stuck primarily to Black Teas and Oolong. I do enjoy chai tea latte, but I've never made one myself. Any guidance would be appreciated.
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Jan 17, 2013 14:00
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Sech posted:I was given an ounce of Black Chai and an ounce of Indian Spice Herbal Chai for Christmas. I tried brewing the Indian Spice Herbal Chai both straight and with milk added, but I wasn't a fan of either. Did you sweeten it? A lot of commercial blends are already sweetened, often quite a bit. I've also heard to make it with sweetened condensed milk, but I haven't tried it and the person may or may not have said the right thing (English was not a strong language).
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Jan 17, 2013 15:46
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Sech posted:I am fairly new to tea. I've only been drinking them for about the last year and half. I've stuck primarily to Black Teas and Oolong. I do enjoy chai tea latte, but I've never made one myself. Any guidance would be appreciated. For a chai tea latte here's what I do: Put a small pot on the stove on low-medium heat, add milk. I measure the milk using the mug I want. Add a tsp (or whatever the tea packaging suggests) of tea to the milk, stir. Stay with the pot and keep stirring occasionally as milk will burn on the bottom. Before it reaches a boil, remove from heat. Strain liquid into your mug, add 1-2 tsp of sugar or to taste. Enjoy! You could also remove the pot once the milk gets hot enough and leave it to sit so the tea and spices can steep more but I am way too impatient for that. I love a tea latte so if anyone has a better method please share!
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Jan 17, 2013 16:52
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You could also just microwave the milk and let the tea steep in it if you don't want to worry about burning the bottom. If you want a frothy texture like they get from steaming milk on espresso machines, there's a couple things you could do too once you've strained it. If you've got a french press, put the strained chai in there and just push the plunger up and down repeatedly. It'll froth up like crazy with super velvety foam. Barring that, you can pour it into like a nalgene or other liquid container with a very secure lid (you don't want hot liquid exploding everywhere) and shake the hell out of it.
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Jan 17, 2013 19:06
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Arcsech posted:It's Numi's Emperor Pu-Erh (bagged) because going to the supermarket is way easier than getting to the tea shop and I wanted to see if there was any chance of me liking it at all first, and Steepster didn't crucify it so I figured it wouldn't be too bad to get my feet wet with. I'm planning to get some of either the loose leaf or small cubes that Upton sells next time I make an order so I can try it "properly". If you end up wanting to pursue some serious pu erh, just a warning, it is a slippery slope. You can spend serious money on it, like, serious money. Picture mixing wine vintage, vineyard, and winemaker spergery with long lost Chinese tradition spergery and proprietary methods, etc, then make it incredibly difficult to get in the US and you'll have rough idea of how it can be.
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Jan 17, 2013 19:14
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Sech posted:I was given an ounce of Black Chai and an ounce of Indian Spice Herbal Chai for Christmas. I tried brewing the Indian Spice Herbal Chai both straight and with milk added, but I wasn't a fan of either. If you have access to whole fresh spices and you want to try making Chai from scratch, check out Bob's post. If you can't crush or grind the spices, they'll still be OK whole, and if you can get your hands on some Indian bay leaves (they're much larger than regular ones and sort of stripey), I think they're a great addition. (If Saffron's ultra expensive where you are, you can skip that too - Saffron tastes awesome, but due to the price the majority of Chais out there don't have it).
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Jan 17, 2013 23:30
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Genmaicha is my favorite tea. I got a couple of things from Davidstea and was going to get some genmaicha, too, to see how it stacks up to my normal stuff but I figured that a tea that was made to be cheap shouldn't be expensive now. Mine is $6 for 2 oz. It's considerably more everywhere (unless it's in bags and the stuff I've gotten like that is awful). Is there any reason to get genmaicha from a fancy tea place? There are two independent tea shops near me. The one I don't go to as often has matcha. They had a special in the summer where they did a flight of three cold matcha drinks. They were all good and matcha is the only thing I'd ever choose over a bubble tea now. I wanted to get some matcha to bring home, but I'm cheap. The other tea shop has matcha that's way cheaper so I got a bag. It's terrible. Very bitter and not even sugar helps. I'll have to try baking with it because there's no way I'd drink it. I got good stuff from the other tea shop. It's great. The shop with the (good) matcha started carrying Blender Bottles as matcha bottles. I picked that one up with my matcha and it works really well. No leftover powder clumps and the bottle itself doesn't leak. It's the 20 oz one which is a good size for that kind of drink. I got coconut matcha and I've been blending it with the coconut milk/almond milk from Almond Breeze. I was planning on keeping the blender, matcha, and milk at work so I could make a quick drink but I think I'd just make one and finish it off quickly. Normally a thermos of tea lasts me all day. But a thermos of tea doesn't taste like dessert.
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Jan 18, 2013 06:03
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Lately I've been drinking pu-er. I got a brick off ebay a couple months ago and found that it was kinda... tasteless. It's very fermented looking and earthy. Maybe my tastebuds are dead from all the spicy things I eat. Anyway, to add flavor to it I've been adding a mix of spices, cloves and Ceylon cinnamon (which is sweeter and less cinnamon-y than regular cinnamon), crushed cardamom and star anise, and freshly ground nutmeg. Sort of chai-like, only without the milk. As for rooibos, I'm anti-rooibos and honeybush. They just don't taste good to me at all, and I've had a pretty good variety of them. There's something about the flavor that clings to the back of my throat and is kinda gross.
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Jan 18, 2013 06:19
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Devi posted:Genmaicha is my favorite tea. I got a couple of things from Davidstea and was going to get some genmaicha, too, to see how it stacks up to my normal stuff but I figured that a tea that was made to be cheap shouldn't be expensive now. Mine is $6 for 2 oz. It's considerably more everywhere (unless it's in bags and the stuff I've gotten like that is awful). Is there any reason to get genmaicha from a fancy tea place? Not really, so far as I know. I suppose you could use a nicer green tea in it but that seems a waste since the flavour is always going to be overridden by the rice. Genmaicha's really a safe bet to cheap out on. neongrey fucked around with this message at 09:39 on Jan 18, 2013 |
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Jan 18, 2013 06:59
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platedlizard posted:Lately I've been drinking pu-er. I got a brick off ebay a couple months ago and found that it was kinda... tasteless. It's very fermented looking and earthy. There is a lot of really really really bad pu erh out there. I suppose I could write up a thing on pu erh if anyone cares. I thought I did a while back, but I don't remember.
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Jan 18, 2013 08:47
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GrAviTy84 posted:There is a lot of really really really bad pu erh out there. I suppose I could write up a thing on pu erh if anyone cares. I thought I did a while back, but I don't remember.
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Jan 18, 2013 11:59
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Thanks to everyone for the advice on chai. You've given me a good direction to go with this stuff. I'm looking forward to experimenting more with it.
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Jan 18, 2013 13:01
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I am looking for something like this: I have some special DongDing oolong that has already been sitting in its vacuum bags for 3 years. Being pretty roasty, I'm hoping it will age well. Anyone have any advice about clay jars? Any suggestions for ordering one online (preferably able to hold 300+ grams)?
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Jan 19, 2013 13:02
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Has anyone had experience with theteaspot.com? It was recommended at a panel at an anime convention, but the guy didn't mention Adagio or Upton and only recommended against Teavana because of pesticide use accusations. But I thought I'd give him a fair shake and ask here.
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Jan 21, 2013 07:28
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Does anyone ever put a pinch of salt in their chai? I ask because I've brewed my own chai twice now, and I realized that the spices don't really come through fully unless I use a lot of sugar. Well I'm using sweetened condensed milk, but the principle is the same. I was wondering if I could cut back on the sugar by adding a pinch of salt to bring out the flavor, or if that was a terrible idea.
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Jan 21, 2013 18:35
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I don't see why you couldn't put a touch of salt in it, especially with all the other flavors going on. I would think it'd help bring out more of the flavor and sweetness while not having to add more sugar, just like a lot of other sweet things that call for a pinch of salt. I've done that before with some of my regular teas just to add a little variety. It's really just the tiniest little bit, of course, but it can be pretty nice every now and then.
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Jan 21, 2013 23:27
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Anyone have a favorite sencha from O-Cha? Their list is a little, uh, daunting...
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Jan 22, 2013 19:25
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Aoi and Yutaka Midori are reasonably good representations of the two major steaming/production styles.
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Jan 23, 2013 15:32
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The Yutaka Midori and Sae Midori are my preferences from O-cha. I stick to the deep steamed stuff from there and usually go to Hibiki-an for asamushi sencha.
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Jan 23, 2013 19:21
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I'm currently trying to eat and drink more healthy, and I figured I should add green tea to it. Interestingly, I wasn't so adversed to it as I initially expected to be, rather the opposite, altho it's lemon flavored stuff (Pickwick, decent brand, for a beginner?). To increase the amount of green tea per day, I came across an idea from someone else, to stuff a bunch of tea bags in my water bottle. Does that even make sense, because I've also read that the health benefits of the tea only unfold when it's being brewed (i.e. hot water)?
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Jan 24, 2013 18:47
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Tea doesn't usually do too well in cold water unless you leave it in there for a really long time--probably from 6-12 hours at the very least. At that rate I would suggest just making a largish batch of tea, refrigerating it, and then just divvy it out over the next few days. Tea does have some documented health benefits* (I don't like pretending that it's some sort of magical miracle drink--it's just as healthy as fruits or vegetables can be as far as I see it) but I don't know how much temperature effects that. And you don't have to stick with just green tea; health benefits are pretty much the same for black tea, oolongs, etc. They all come from the same plant so the effects, whatever they may be, are pretty much the same. *I guess especially if you're using it to replace soda or other calorie/sugar heavy drinks
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Jan 24, 2013 22:16
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Planning your tea drinking around supposed health benefits is retarded. Drink tea because you want to drink tea. If you are okay with the results with short brews of cold water, then drink it that way, but it may be very weak unless you really load it up. Cold water brewing is typically an overnight thing.
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Jan 24, 2013 23:18
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In the afternoon, I usually just drop a couple of ice cubes into my glass of room temp. tea that I left out from brewing earlier in the day. Instant iced tea 
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Jan 25, 2013 04:23
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My wife and I recently got into tea in order to cut back on our soda/coffee consumption. I've always been a fan of sweetened green tea so I started out by ordering a bunch of loose leaf green tea samples from adagio and I've noticed that some of it is kinda bitter (the gunpowder for instance). So my question is is this because I'm over steeping it or steeping it in too hot of water or is there a certain amount of acquired taste phenomena like with coffee I'm just going to have to deal with?
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Jan 30, 2013 19:57
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Gunpowder is supposed to have a bit of a kick, to me it's kind of tobacco-y. But if it's not to your taste, definitely try changing the way you brew it. Could be the water is too hot, could be it's steeping too long or you're using too much tea for the amount of water. Keep playing with it until you get it where it tastes good to you.
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Jan 30, 2013 21:04
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oneliquidninja posted:My wife and I recently got into tea in order to cut back on our soda/coffee consumption. You can try using cooler water, but I wouldn't go lower than about 160F, I think it'd get too weak. But however works for you! There's going to be a bit of bitterness in any tea, especially if you're used to drinking it heavily sweetened. You could try putting in some sugar and slowly working your way down to none.
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Jan 30, 2013 22:34
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Man! When are preorders opening up for this year's dragonwells? I was super pleased with the stuff I got from Life in Teacup last year and I'm ready to order another round.
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Jan 31, 2013 02:26
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Anybody have an experience with Teavana's Perfectea Tea Maker? It's basically their version of Adagio's ingenuiTea. Adagio has been out of stock on the ingenuiTea for about a month now and I'm really wanting something like this for work. It also has the advantage of being something I can just drive somewhere and buy. I know Teavana is a ripoff for tea, but this thing seems reasonable, assuming it works worth a drat.
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Jan 31, 2013 04:03
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