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Houston Rockets
Apr 15, 2006

Can you not order from Amazon? They have both sizes of the Ingenuitea in stock.

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Vienna Circlejerk
Jan 28, 2003

The great science sausage party!

Houston Rockets posted:

Can you not order from Amazon? They have both sizes of the Ingenuitea in stock.

Oh, weird, they were also out of stock last I checked and I just figured Adagio would have it back in before Amazon did. Thanks, I guess that solves that problem.

woodenchicken
Aug 19, 2007

Nap Ghost

aldantefax posted:

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.
What grade are we talking about here that requires preordering? Some kind of quadruple-A?

Out of curiosity, did you get an anti-fake sticker when you were ordering it last time? I was wondering what those things are supposed to be.

Vienna Circlejerk
Jan 28, 2003

The great science sausage party!
I'm not sure what I was doing wrong before, but I finally got green tea to steep well. The Gu Zhang Mao Jian I got from Upton is blowing my mind right now. :aaa:

Koaxke
Jan 18, 2009
So based on someone a few pages ago talking about how lapsang shouchong smelled and tasted like a campfire, I decided to give it a shot. I went over to Upton and ordered a small package of it and it arrived today. When I first opened it, it smelled overwhelmingly of a campfire/BBQ. So much so in fact that I initially thought that I wasn't going to like it. However, after making a cup of it, I fell in love!

Thanks random goon who talked about it :)

Charmmi
Dec 8, 2008

:trophystare:
There's a trick of using lapsang suchong to smoked salmon and I swear one of these days I'm going to try it out.

enthe0s
Oct 24, 2010

In another few hours, the sun will rise!
^^^ That sounds amazing

Koaxke posted:

So based on someone a few pages ago talking about how lapsang shouchong smelled and tasted like a campfire, I decided to give it a shot. I went over to Upton and ordered a small package of it and it arrived today. When I first opened it, it smelled overwhelmingly of a campfire/BBQ. So much so in fact that I initially thought that I wasn't going to like it. However, after making a cup of it, I fell in love!

Thanks random goon who talked about it :)

Don't remember if it was me or not, but I pretty much had the exact same reaction when I got a tin a couple of months back :)

Paramemetic
Sep 29, 2003

Area 51. You heard of it, right?





Fallen Rib
I love lapsang souchong. As a former whisky drinker, it really does give me the smoke and fire I miss from peated Scotches. It lacks a bit of mouthfeel, but that's alright. Milk oolong on the other hand has awesome mouthfeel. I almost wonder if I couldn't blend milk oolong with lapsang souchong to make a steepable whisky.

Thoht
Aug 3, 2006

Ugh, I have to confess that I really don't like lapsang. I've tried three different varieties with different levels of smokiness and I just don't like to drink it. It is pretty cool to use in cooking though.

enthe0s
Oct 24, 2010

In another few hours, the sun will rise!

Paramemetic posted:

I love lapsang souchong. As a former whisky drinker, it really does give me the smoke and fire I miss from peated Scotches. It lacks a bit of mouthfeel, but that's alright.

I have a roommate who is huge into Scotch and he doesn't like the lapsang. :iiam:

Koaxke
Jan 18, 2009

enthe0s posted:

I have a roommate who is huge into Scotch and he doesn't like the lapsang. :iiam:

Is he into peaty scotches? If so, he is just a broken human being.

Thoht
Aug 3, 2006

I like peaty scotches :sigh: I guess I am indeed broken.

Tea Bone
Feb 18, 2011

I'm going for gasps.
My Step Dad just got back from a trip through South America and brought me back some Yerba Mate plus a wooden cup and a straw to drink it through. How am I supposed to prepare/drink this stuff? I've just tried preparing it the way he said the locals seemed to do it, filled the cup 3/4 of the way with Mate, put the straw in, then topped it up with water at about 65c. First few sips seemed they would have been pleasant had I not got mouth fulls of leaves along with the drink, I figured this was down to me putting the straw in before the water. I rinsed the straw out and tried again to better results, but after a few minuets it got far to bitter to drink. Am I supposed to down it in one go, then top up?

DurianGray
Dec 23, 2010

King of Fruits
I've never tried having it in a gourd, but if it gets too bitter after a while for you, you can try steeping it like regular tea in a pot or using some sort of infuser in a mug. It might not be as 'authentic' but it gives you more control over the steeping process.

Bees on Wheat
Jul 18, 2007

I've never been happy



QUAIL DIVISION
Buglord

Thoht posted:

Ugh, I have to confess that I really don't like lapsang. I've tried three different varieties with different levels of smokiness and I just don't like to drink it. It is pretty cool to use in cooking though.

I don't really like it either. The flavor is alright, but the smell is so overpowering that I had to hold my nose to drink it.

I really like scotches, but the smell of a good peaty scotch doesn't punch you in the goddamn nose like this.

Muffiner
Sep 16, 2009

Tea Bone posted:

My Step Dad just got back from a trip through South America and brought me back some Yerba Mate plus a wooden cup and a straw to drink it through. How am I supposed to prepare/drink this stuff? I've just tried preparing it the way he said the locals seemed to do it, filled the cup 3/4 of the way with Mate, put the straw in, then topped it up with water at about 65c. First few sips seemed they would have been pleasant had I not got mouth fulls of leaves along with the drink, I figured this was down to me putting the straw in before the water. I rinsed the straw out and tried again to better results, but after a few minuets it got far to bitter to drink. Am I supposed to down it in one go, then top up?

Filling the gourd to 3/4 of the way up may be too much. I strongly suggest you put a full teaspoon of sugar in before putting any Yerba Mate to offset part of the initial bitterness, if you want.
For better results: before putting in the straw fill the gourd with water (hot or cold), then let it settle in a little. Once it is all settled, push the straw deeply into the substrate. Fill up as close to the brim of the gourd as possible, then drink.
You shouldn't 'linger' too long with each top up, as that can over-steep the drink and ruin the drink for you. If your gourd is small enough that you can wrap your hand around it, it shouldn't take more than 30 seconds for each top up. I also suggest you try water that is a little hotter, it might give a better taste.

sarcasticsmoothie
Apr 7, 2011

Mizufusion posted:

I don't really like it either. The flavor is alright, but the smell is so overpowering that I had to hold my nose to drink it.

I really like scotches, but the smell of a good peaty scotch doesn't punch you in the goddamn nose like this.

Tried lapsang from Upton the other night and I felt the same way: ok flavor but way too much smokiness in the scent. I ended up taking spoonfuls of it like soup until I decided I didn't want to "drink" tea like that.

milpreve
Feb 29, 2012

Muffiner posted:

Filling the gourd to 3/4 of the way up may be too much. I strongly suggest you put a full teaspoon of sugar in before putting any Yerba Mate to offset part of the initial bitterness, if you want.
For better results: before putting in the straw fill the gourd with water (hot or cold), then let it settle in a little. Once it is all settled, push the straw deeply into the substrate. Fill up as close to the brim of the gourd as possible, then drink.
You shouldn't 'linger' too long with each top up, as that can over-steep the drink and ruin the drink for you. If your gourd is small enough that you can wrap your hand around it, it shouldn't take more than 30 seconds for each top up. I also suggest you try water that is a little hotter, it might give a better taste.

I'll be honest and say that I hate traditional yerba mate, so my advice differs. Ectohawk is the family yerba mate drinker. I got him a french press mug. He fills the bottom with leaves (maybe an inch or so), adds semi-hot water, and takes it to work. At work, he refills it throughout the day with the hottest water he can get out of the kitchen tap. Sometimes he sweetens it, but he says that when he stopped using the gourd the experience was a lot less bitter. You can also sweeten with yerba dulce, or dried stevia leaf, if it suits your fancy. Ectohawk says it only lasts for a brew or two, but by then the yerba mate is a lot less strong, so it's not as necessary. Good luck!


Unrelated: I'd like to use some of the information in this thread in a a presentation I'm giving about tea. Credit will be given where due, but I wanted everyone to be informed. I'm not going to be directly quoting anyone, and I won't steal pictures, just drawing upon the knowledge of the collective to round out my experiences.

aldantefax
Oct 10, 2007

ALWAYS BE MECHFISHIN'

woodenchicken posted:

What grade are we talking about here that requires preordering? Some kind of quadruple-A?

Out of curiosity, did you get an anti-fake sticker when you were ordering it last time? I was wondering what those things are supposed to be.

I don't know if it really qualifies as a grade per se but in this case the pre-Qingming harvest specifically refers to the first flush just before the spring rains kick in southwestern China. The preorders are so that Gingko from Life in Teacup (or whoever is filing the orders for other companies) can order only as much as there is demand for, since while not super expensive, the product goes stale extremely quickly - you can definitely notice after only a couple of days from when the bag is first opened.

I don't remember if I got an anti-fake sticker, I just had a date of harvest/packing, location, and the full name of the tea that was harvested printed on a sticker. There wasn't a seal of authenticity or anything like that.

Winged Orpheus
May 21, 2010

Domine, Dirige Nos
Not a fan of mate myself, either.

Finally made the switch from adagio to upton. Got a big box of tea waiting for me at home when I get back from class. I really like how cheap the samples are, I added like 6 samples of teas that looked interesting but I wasn't sure about.

Th_
Nov 29, 2008

Tea Bone posted:

My Step Dad just got back from a trip through South America and brought me back some Yerba Mate plus a wooden cup and a straw to drink it through. How am I supposed to prepare/drink this stuff? I've just tried preparing it the way he said the locals seemed to do it, filled the cup 3/4 of the way with Mate, put the straw in, then topped it up with water at about 65c. First few sips seemed they would have been pleasant had I not got mouth fulls of leaves along with the drink, I figured this was down to me putting the straw in before the water. I rinsed the straw out and tried again to better results, but after a few minuets it got far to bitter to drink. Am I supposed to down it in one go, then top up?

I recall reading a Patagonian travelogue that mentions Yerba Mate in some detail. Apparently it's supposed to be bitter as all hell, especially near the bottom. Also, you're not supposed to drink the leaves if you can help it.

Tea Bone
Feb 18, 2011

I'm going for gasps.

Muffiner posted:

Filling the gourd to 3/4 of the way up may be too much. I strongly suggest you put a full teaspoon of sugar in before putting any Yerba Mate to offset part of the initial bitterness, if you want.
For better results: before putting in the straw fill the gourd with water (hot or cold), then let it settle in a little. Once it is all settled, push the straw deeply into the substrate. Fill up as close to the brim of the gourd as possible, then drink.
You shouldn't 'linger' too long with each top up, as that can over-steep the drink and ruin the drink for you. If your gourd is small enough that you can wrap your hand around it, it shouldn't take more than 30 seconds for each top up. I also suggest you try water that is a little hotter, it might give a better taste.

Just tried again, with much better results. I followed your advice, I thought I'd be able to manage it without the sugar as I drink tea and coffee unsweetened but ended up adding a full tea spoon on the first filling, that actually made the Mate really enjoyable. I'm on my fifth top up now and cant taste any sugar but it's still far less bitter than before.

It says in the op that Mate has the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, is that per top-up? If so, I take it it's a good idea not to go too mad with the stuff. Also how long can I leave the Mate before needing to use fresh leaves? Should I just dump them out when I'm done with it and start fresh next time or will the sames leaves still be good in a few hours? That seems kind of gross.

Muffiner
Sep 16, 2009

Tea Bone posted:

Just tried again, with much better results. I followed your advice, I thought I'd be able to manage it without the sugar as I drink tea and coffee unsweetened but ended up adding a full tea spoon on the first filling, that actually made the Mate really enjoyable. I'm on my fifth top up now and cant taste any sugar but it's still far less bitter than before.

It says in the op that Mate has the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, is that per top-up? If so, I take it it's a good idea not to go too mad with the stuff. Also how long can I leave the Mate before needing to use fresh leaves? Should I just dump them out when I'm done with it and start fresh next time or will the sames leaves still be good in a few hours? That seems kind of gross.

Great to hear that you're finally enjoying it!
I'm no expert on caffeine content, but I'd expect the caffeine content from a whole session to be higher than what is in a cup of coffee. The leaves are only good for one session, I suggest you dump them and rinse out the gourd and straw as soon as you're done to preserve their quality.
Generally, the first serving will always be more better than all consecutive ones, and it would be a good idea to try and use sugar as a substrate, like I previously suggested. It will give a more consistent taste, and won't overwhelm the Yerba Mate's bitterness. If you do want to add sugar for each serving, do so in tiny amounts per serving, use the tip of your teaspoon. With experience you'll learn how much is best for your own tastes.

milpreve
Feb 29, 2012

Muffiner posted:

Great to hear that you're finally enjoying it!
I'm no expert on caffeine content, but I'd expect the caffeine content from a whole session to be higher than what is in a cup of coffee. The leaves are only good for one session, I suggest you dump them and rinse out the gourd and straw as soon as you're done to preserve their quality.
Generally, the first serving will always be more better than all consecutive ones, and it would be a good idea to try and use sugar as a substrate, like I previously suggested. It will give a more consistent taste, and won't overwhelm the Yerba Mate's bitterness. If you do want to add sugar for each serving, do so in tiny amounts per serving, use the tip of your teaspoon. With experience you'll learn how much is best for your own tastes.

Yerba mate can be re-steeped throughout the day. The first steeping will be the strongest, but you most certainly can have a few cups out of a batch. It's not terribly expensive, so you can pitch it each time, but topping off one cup throughout the day is incredibly convenient. Again, though, this is not being traditional and using a gourd. Two opposing views, I guess.

Admiral Snuggles
Dec 12, 2008

:qq: Freedom :qq:
Um. I read back in the last 3 pages, but, is anyone drinking this stuff:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilex_guayusa

I got some of the Runa brand off of Amazon, and it is really, really good (fake) tea.

DurianGray
Dec 23, 2010

King of Fruits
I don't think that anyone has talked about that stuff specifically, but it looks like it's closely related to yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis), which we have been talking about recently.

Have you had mate before? If so, do they taste similar? I'm assuming it might, but I'll admit that I've never had the Ilex guayasa species/variation before or heard of it unless it gets lumped in with mate sometimes.

oneliquidninja
Jan 6, 2007

I swear I wrote something funny here.
Can anyone recommend a nice mild and maybe sweet green tea that I can order from upton?

I tried Adagio's green tea sampler and liked their gun powder and white monkey but upton's gun powder tastes to much like sea weed to me (or at least the first variety I tried). I'd really like something like white monkey but at a lower price point.

Here's the white monkey for reference.

http://www.adagio.com/green/white_monkey.html

Slaapaav
Mar 3, 2006

by Azathoth
If you oversteep it green tea can taste like seaweed, so make sure you are not doing that?

oneliquidninja
Jan 6, 2007

I swear I wrote something funny here.
Yeah, I've been careful with that and have experimented with less steeping to try to get it to taste better. Even temped it out and steeped it for a minute less than the package suggested.

Admiral Snuggles
Dec 12, 2008

:qq: Freedom :qq:

DurianGray posted:

I don't think that anyone has talked about that stuff specifically, but it looks like it's closely related to yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis), which we have been talking about recently.

Have you had mate before? If so, do they taste similar? I'm assuming it might, but I'll admit that I've never had the Ilex guayasa species/variation before or heard of it unless it gets lumped in with mate sometimes.

It's not half as bitter. Almost sugary sweet. Kept me up all night though. It's super duper caffeinated.

Vahtooch
Sep 18, 2009

What is this [S T A N D] going to do? Once its crossed through the barrier, what's it going to do? When it comes in here, and reads my [P O S T S], what's it going to do to me?
Does anyone have any experience importing tea into Australia? I was just having a look at Adagio.com and it was saying you aren't allowed to import it.

Sanguinary Novel
Jan 27, 2009
So I bought some matcha to try from a local tea shop thinking "It's just like making powdered hot chocolate! :downs:".

From what I read online, it suggests using a sieve to distribute the powder to prevent clumps and then use a bamboo whisk to mix the powder and hot water. A sieve I can do, but I really want to hold off on getting a specialized whisk until I try it. A regular whisk isn't the same thing, but will it do in a pinch? Or are there different ways to prepare it?

DurianGray
Dec 23, 2010

King of Fruits

Vahtooch posted:

Does anyone have any experience importing tea into Australia? I was just having a look at Adagio.com and it was saying you aren't allowed to import it.

If you check out the first page of the OP, there are a couple of Australia/New Zealand based vendors listed. I think the people who suggested them might have mentioned that it's difficult (maybe even impossible?) to get North American vendors to ship to that area. Some googling on import regulations gave me this http://www.aqis.gov.au/icon32/asp/ex_casecontent.asp?intNodeId=8008657&intCommodityId=15146 and this http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/travel/entering-australia/cant-take

I think you can get tea in, but it's difficult or there's some sort of beaurocracy associated with it? I guess if you can't find a non-Australian vendor that'll send stuff to you, you'll just have to stick with more local vendors :(


Sanguinary Novel posted:

So I bought some matcha to try from a local tea shop thinking "It's just like making powdered hot chocolate! :downs:".

From what I read online, it suggests using a sieve to distribute the powder to prevent clumps and then use a bamboo whisk to mix the powder and hot water. A sieve I can do, but I really want to hold off on getting a specialized whisk until I try it. A regular whisk isn't the same thing, but will it do in a pinch? Or are there different ways to prepare it?

I think that if you put it through a sieve first you should be alright using a normal whisk or even a fork. The matcha whisks will be better at incorporating the powder into the liquid, but I think you'll be fine without one.

Enfys
Feb 17, 2013

The ocean is calling and I must go

Does anyone have any experience with Verdant Tea? Their Tea of the Month club looks like an interesting way to try out a big variety of different teas, but then every shop will try to make their stuff sound like it's awesome quality so I'm wondering if anyone has any personal experience or better knowledge.

Enfys fucked around with this message at 03:35 on Feb 22, 2014

Tambreet
Nov 28, 2006

Ninja Platypus
Muldoon

Enfys posted:

Does anyone have any experience with Verdant Tea? Their Tea of the Month club looks like an interesting way to try out a big variety of different teas if you don't have a huge amount of experience with everything out there, and it sounds like good quality, but then every shop will try to make their stuff sound like it's awesome quality so I'm wondering if anyone has any personal experience or better knowledge.

Also is Aged Tie guan yin a thing? They're advertising 5 year aged tie guan yin, but I had never really heard of aged teas much outside of pu'er tea (however they're spelled).
I like Verdant Tea a lot. David, the guy who runs it is great and their customer service is top notch. I have done their tea of the month club for a while and I like it a lot. It's a fun, albeit expensive way to try various different teas and herbals. One downside is that sometimes they don't have (or don't have for long) the teas they sample in the Tea of the Month club, so if you like something, it may be difficult to find where to get more. Also as you can probably tell from the site, they do more pure teas (and some herbals), so if you like the blended stuff like David's Tea has, you won't get that type of stuff. And you're paying $25/month or whatever the price is for 3 ounces of tea, so forget it if you're at all cost conscious.

Everything I've gotten from them has been really high quality. I remember getting one or two aged tie guan yins in the club too. I don't have any left, but I recall really liking it. I want to say it was a darker/bolder/stronger version of tai guan yin, but I may be confusing it with a lightly roasted oolong I also got from them.

Vahtooch
Sep 18, 2009

What is this [S T A N D] going to do? Once its crossed through the barrier, what's it going to do? When it comes in here, and reads my [P O S T S], what's it going to do to me?

DurianGray posted:

If you check out the first page of the OP, there are a couple of Australia/New Zealand based vendors listed. I think the people who suggested them might have mentioned that it's difficult (maybe even impossible?) to get North American vendors to ship to that area. Some googling on import regulations gave me this http://www.aqis.gov.au/icon32/asp/ex_casecontent.asp?intNodeId=8008657&intCommodityId=15146 and this http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/travel/entering-australia/cant-take


Yeah I saw those. Was just looking for a cheaper option. Oh well

Koaxke
Jan 18, 2009
So after trying some genmaicha at my Zen center I fell in love. I went and ordered some from Upton, and no matter what I do it always comes out super bitter. Does their genmaicha just suck? If so, what is a place that sells super delicious genmaicha?

Charmmi
Dec 8, 2008

:trophystare:
I'm drinking Upton genmaicha right now and it's toasty and green, just the way I like it. I brew 2 tsp in 16 oz water from my office water heater which I believe is set at 180F for about 3 minutes. What all did you try?

aldantefax
Oct 10, 2007

ALWAYS BE MECHFISHIN'

Koaxke posted:

So after trying some genmaicha at my Zen center I fell in love. I went and ordered some from Upton, and no matter what I do it always comes out super bitter. Does their genmaicha just suck? If so, what is a place that sells super delicious genmaicha?

In general there are a couple of things that sound like went wrong:
  • Oversteeping
  • Water temperature too high
  • Product quality
Charmmi's guidelines are pretty solid. Genmaicha should have more of a toasty flavor from the rice kernels. If you're running into trouble, try checking the temperature and for how long you're brewing, since bitterness generally comes from those two things! Good luck buddy.

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Koaxke
Jan 18, 2009

aldantefax posted:

In general there are a couple of things that sound like went wrong:
  • Oversteeping
  • Water temperature too high
  • Product quality
Charmmi's guidelines are pretty solid. Genmaicha should have more of a toasty flavor from the rice kernels. If you're running into trouble, try checking the temperature and for how long you're brewing, since bitterness generally comes from those two things! Good luck buddy.

I first started with a TBSP with 14oz of water at 180 for 3 minutes. Then moved on to 2.5 minutes, and two minutes. Then I switched from a TBSP to 2 TSP with all of those same time incremements and each time it still came out too bitter. Then this morning on a whim I decided to try again and used 2 tsp at 176 for 2.5 minutes and it tasted fine.

Maybe those few degrees really made a difference?

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