|
Koaxke posted: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. You'd be surprised! The tea part of genmaicha is pretty temperature sensitive - in my experiences I use 174F. You can feel free to adjust the quantity of leaf and steep time back up to three minutes if you like, too.
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2013 20:05
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 10:21 |
|
|
I actually just got some genmaicha recently too. I've only made it once so far but made sure the water wasn't too hot because of the green tea base. Come to think of it, I would guess that it might be even more sensitive to high temperatures since the leaf is so sparse and the rice kernels might not do as much to (slightly) lower the temperature of the water. Sort of like when you put pasta in a pot of boiling water it has to reach boiling again because the pasta sort of cools it down. That's just a wild guess though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2013 01:30
|
|
|
Sanguinary Novel posted:So I bought some matcha to try from a local tea shop thinking "It's just like making powdered hot chocolate! A mesh tea filter that has very small holes also works for sifting/removing clumps. A real maccha whisk is actually pretty much required to make maccha correctly. A cooking whisk has the incorrect thickness and will not be able to create a smooth froth/texture with no holes. Basically, when maccha is made properly the normal way it contains a very flat neon green froth on the top with no large bubbles (an almost similar texture to steamed milk in a latte). The texture is extremely important. There is another way of making maccha that doesn't involve frothing, but I don't recommend trying thick maccha unless you know what you're going for and have really really high quality maccha. aldantefax posted:You'd be surprised! The tea part of genmaicha is pretty temperature sensitive - in my experiences I use 174F. You can feel free to adjust the quantity of leaf and steep time back up to three minutes if you like, too. Genmaicha is generally not temperature sensitive but can be oversteeped. Best is boiling water, 30 seconds. Alternatively, if you are lazy like me and use a water heater, Try 1 minute, 85-90 degrees C. I forgot, best way is to increase leaf (2-3 tbsp) and decrease water to about a cup. ntan1 fucked around with this message at 08:58 on Feb 21, 2013 |
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2013 08:44
|
|
".
|
If you're making matcha cold and want to be really lazy about it, get a Blender Bottle. It has a whisking ball in it and you shake the thing like crazy. Makes a really good matcha latte--even gets it all foamy. I put in some almond milk, then the matcha, and then top it off with a bit more milk. Putting matcha in first will leave a lot of it at the bottom. I have the SportMixer mini but I've seen the regular ones at Target for around $8. I love genmaicha but it's hit and miss when I make it at home. Going to try it with a shorter steeping time right now.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2013 19:25
|
|
|
With all this talk of temperature, I decided to get a thermometer to keep at work to see what our hot water dispenser was giving us. It came today and I immediately tested the water. It turns out the hot water, in which I've steeped hundreds of bags of tea, is 150 degrees. Let this be a lesson to all of you office-dwellers. The thermometer was 12 bucks and my tea is much, much better for it. By the way, I've been rocking a sampler tin of the ginger peach black tea from The Republic of Tea and it's great. Also they don't get much love in this thread, but I've always liked their tea. I ordered some from Adagio to compare and see if I've been missing out.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2013 16:00
|
|
|
Republic of Tea is pretty cool from what I remember from last year at the tea festival. Speaking of that, I probably won't go volunteer this year (though I could), but I'll certainly show up to sample teas and throw money at people, help the ITO-EN guy schlep crates of tea to get their booth setup, and the like. Is anybody else going? There was no real seating except in the staff break room last year, and Roy liked it that way to keep people moving.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2013 16:59
|
|
|
detectivemonkey posted:With all this talk of temperature, I decided to get a thermometer to keep at work to see what our hot water dispenser was giving us. It came today and I immediately tested the water. It turns out the hot water, in which I've steeped hundreds of bags of tea, is 150 degrees. Let this be a lesson to all of you office-dwellers. The thermometer was 12 bucks and my tea is much, much better for it. We got a new water dispenser at work a little before I started drinking tea more. The old one had seriously hot water. The new one makes terrible tea. I brought in a thermometer and I think it was 140. Not hot enough to make the most delicate tea. I was grousing about that (and about how I hate using the microwave to boil water) to someone and they pointed out an electric kettle that I'd overlooked. So I started using that and all was good. People teased me about it (I may have groused to more than one person) but now a bunch of people use it for tea. Now I just have to get them off of the cheap bagged stuff. But at least when I get bags I don't like, I can bring them to work and they get used.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2013 23:02
|
|
|
I want to report that I got a Thermapen about two weeks ago and it has been the best drat thing for making green tea ever. My old digital thermometer was even more of a piece of poo poo than I'd realized so brewing green tea always turned out to be a hit or miss thing even when I was trying to be really careful about temperature. I was about to pull my hair out from getting incredible tea on one infusion and getting seaweed the next. Now I always get it right, every time, and it's so loving delicious. I'm feeling brave enough to try white tea soon. If you're having bad luck with green tea, spending some money on a good thermometer might fix you right. Oolongs have generally been a little nicer, too. Getting too close to boiling seems to screw up some of them worse than others. oneliquidninja posted:Can anyone recommend a nice mild and maybe sweet green tea that I can order from upton? I suggest getting their green tea sampler. I really liked all the teas I got in that, plus they come in cute little tins you can reuse. Vienna Circlejerk fucked around with this message at 16:31 on Feb 26, 2013 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 16:25
|
|
|
So I had a breakthrough recently and realized that I can just set my ceramic, restaurant-surplus teapot onto my range with the element on low and it keeps the tea just about optimal temperature, all day long. So now I am in the market for a hot plate that'd be about 6"-8" across, and which is either approximately the proper temperature for tea, or is adjustable. Anybody have one of these?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 17:43
|
|
|
I just tried a sample of Upton's "Snow Buds Superior" white tea and it's amazing. It's thick, smooth as gently caress with a nice flavor and a hint of smokiness. I steeped it for 3 minutes the first time then around 7 the second time and it kept most of its flavor and mouth feel with no bitterness. http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?itemID=ZW70
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 20:34
|
|
|
I would like some tea recommendations, please! I'm in the middle of a master's program for CS, and I've been sinking deeper and deeper into habits that make it easier for me to concentrate when I'm trying to write code; I can't wear long sleeves, I need to have music on, and it helps a lot to have a mug of something to drink. I don't have a coffee maker, so I've been making mugs and mugs (and mugs) of tea. Mostly black tea, or chai. I've got some blueberry green tea from Republic of Tea that I drink on occasion, as well. I'd really like some sort of a lemony or orangey tea, something with a citrus flavour for when I want to switch it up from my black teas. I have a teapot, so loose leaf is fine; about half of my teas are bagged and that's fine for me, but I recognize that loose leaf is better. Since it's not unusual for me to drink three or four mugs in an evening, I'd really appreciate something that's low in caffeine; I have class in the morning and if I'm working on something at 2am, I want to be able to fall asleep at 3 am so I won't be totally zoned for class the next day. Any advice? I've checked out Adagio and Teavana, and seen some stuff that looks good but I figured I'd check and see if you guys had any suggestions for something that would blow my mind.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 04:06
|
|
|
It might be a dumb question, but have you had Earl Gray before? There are a lot of places that sell variations on it beyond just black tea and bergamot, and those can range from not as citrus-y to punch-in-the-mouth citrus. I would also recommend blends that have lemongrass in them (assuming you're not allergic? I've heard that some people are). A lot of those can be herbals, so that will help if you're trying to reduce your caffeine intake. Adagio's Blood Orange herbal is pretty good and I feel like it would probably mix well with a black tea if you wanted to cut the caffeine with a sweet/tangy orange flavor.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 05:12
|
|
|
You could try some citrus-flavored rooibos? I got something like that at a teavana sale (think it was called lemon lime kampai) and it was pretty decent even though I'm usually a black/green drinker. No caffeine either.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 05:49
|
|
|
DurianGray posted:It might be a dumb question, but have you had Earl Gray before? There are a lot of places that sell variations on it beyond just black tea and bergamot, and those can range from not as citrus-y to punch-in-the-mouth citrus. I was gonna say no, I've never had an Earl Grey before. And then I checked my tea cabinet and apparently the lavender tea I've been drinking is Rishi's Earl Grey Lavender. So...uh...for the purpose of your question, no. I've never had earl grey; I'll check out the Wegmans when I get groceries tomorrow and see if they have a citrusy kind. I'm not allergic to lemongrass, to the best of my knowledge. I'll look for Adagio's blood orange as well, because that sounds pretty great and the idea of cutting some of my vanilla black teas with blood orange sounds like a really nice way to start my morning. Hummingbirds posted:You could try some citrus-flavored rooibos? I got something like that at a teavana sale (think it was called lemon lime kampai) and it was pretty decent even though I'm usually a black/green drinker. No caffeine either. The only rooibos I've had is the Tazo rooibos; it was good, but I just haven't gotten around to trying other varieties. I'll look for some; no caffeine sounds ideal.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 05:56
|
|
|
Coca Koala posted:I was gonna say no, I've never had an Earl Grey before. And then I checked my tea cabinet and apparently the lavender tea I've been drinking is Rishi's Earl Grey Lavender. So...uh...for the purpose of your question, no. I've never had earl grey; I'll check out the Wegmans when I get groceries tomorrow and see if they have a citrusy kind. Just to be sure you know, all Earl Grey teas will be at least a bit citrus-y, as most of what makes it Earl Grey is the fact that it uses bergamot oil as a flavoring.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 13:20
|
|
|
I've been getting a little bit more into tea recently, drinking a fair amount of gunpowder and rooibos, with some various loose black teas and the occasional bag of Twinings Darjeeling now and again. I pretty much just use a little mesh strainer and a basic stovetop tea kettle, but I'm kind of looking to upgrade my equipment in anticipation of buying a bunch of sampler packs to try out. Is there a preferred method of infusion? The strainer kind of sucks and finer teas get through and make it nasty, and a recommendation a cheap-ish electric kettle with temperature control would be cool too.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 23:21
|
|
|
Try this, it keeps most small particles out except a little bit. Also this works well too but doesn't filter out as many fine particles.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2013 02:34
|
|
|
I use the medium size of this. It's fine enough to filter out pretty much everything. It's useful for brewing japanese greens. The only real problem with it is that it's too fine - With some teas, like Mao Feng and White Peony, I've found that a little sediment can round out the flavor in the cup. For an electric kettle, I often see this Adagio one suggested, but I honestly cannot stress how "worth it" the Cuisinart Perfectemp kettle is. It's easily my most-used appliance in the kitchen and very accurate with its temperatures.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2013 03:13
|
|
|
Hi! I don't know if anybody other than me went to the San Fransisco International Tea Festival this year, but it was great and tiring since I ended up volunteering again for setup, setup 2, main hall presentations 1 and 2 with Mike Spillane (President, GS Haly Co.) and Rona Tilson (VP Marketing, Ito-En), and tea tasting demo assistance - ayurvedic tisanes with AP (Chado) and a dude doing competition-grade taiwanese oolongs (Mountain Tea). After that was teardown, which nobody except me and the two organizers were around for! I also helped with vendors going to and from the loading docks to move their remaining stuff downstairs. Anybody else go?
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2013 03:03
|
|
|
Anyone here familiar with Mate? I read some posts on the previous page and somethings on internet and I don't like the imprecise directions on the "Traditional Method"( Fill gourd 3/4 full, pour hot, but not boiling water, add other stuff maybe, drink)Don't have a gourd, so I winged it and treated it like tea. 1 teaspoon(~2 grams) of the stuff/Cup of Water, water at ~150°F. 5 Minutes. Tastes like green tea, I read that it was suppose be green tea-like but more earthy, etc. Probably not enough stuff and not long enough? Most precise recipes comes from French Press ones, though there's still a bit of variance. 2 teaspoons to 5 tablespoons/Cup, 150-170°F Water, 3-15 Minutes. I'm willing to experiment but just wondering if I could save time and material with a exact recipe.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2013 00:19
|
|
|
PhazonLink posted:Anyone here familiar with Mate? I drink it in the morning instead of coffee. My bag, from Adagio, says 150 and I also don't use a gourd because people at work think it's weird enough that I have a tea thermometer. It does taste like green tea to me -- mine is very grassy. Good with a smidge of honey, though.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2013 01:31
|
|
|
Are there any plantation iced tea recipes that you guys would recommend using? Or failing that- a nice Thai iced tea recipe? We're hosting a party next week, and I'd like to attempt to recreate the amazing plantation iced tea that we had on our previous Hawaii trip! However, I'm having trouble finding recipes to choose from. Any recommended recipes? \/ 
melon cat fucked around with this message at 12:03 on Mar 14, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2013 04:12
|
|
|
Well, I've never had it before tonight, which mean's my say might not be terribly helpful, but I tried this recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hawaiian-plantation-iced-tea/ And it was really good, I only put in half of the pineapple juice because that's all I had, It definitely needs the full amount of pineapple juice, because at half, i could taste it, but it was REALLY faint. One of the comment's was that the dude used 6 tea bags instead of just 2 and I did it his way, which I guess is the right option?
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 04:00
|
|
|
I've also ready so many different things on brewing temperatures and times that I'm not quite sure what is best.
Enfys fucked around with this message at 16:19 on Feb 1, 2014 |
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 00:14
|
|
|
Cheapest and easiest way is grandpa style. Get a glass, boil hot water, let the hot water cool off, pour over leaves. Pretty much all oolongs are whole leaves so you can just sip conservatively to filter. http://www.marshaln.com/whats-grandpa-style/ is a general overview, the term can be searched on Google and elsewhere (there's an additional link that explains that guy's process http://www.marshaln.com/2010/07/monday-july-19-2010/ ) - generally speaking, just make sure your water temperature is right when brewing, and don't use too much/little.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 01:50
|
|
|
Enfys posted:Assuming that you don't have the gear to drink tea gongfu style, what is the best way to enjoy oolong teas? I've also ready so many different things on brewing temperatures and times that I'm not quite sure what is best. I just use a teapot with a strainer that's big enough to let the leaves expand and a thermometer to make sure my water's the right temperature. It's the way I do all my greens as well. It helps that places like Upton provide recommended temperatures for each of their teas, since there's a bit of variation among oolongs depending on how green they are.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 14:12
|
|
|
Enfys posted:Assuming that you don't have the gear to drink tea gongfu style, what is the best way to enjoy oolong teas? I've also ready so many different things on brewing temperatures and times that I'm not quite sure what is best. Oolongs can be kind of tricky because they can go from being almost-green to almost-black, so time and temperatures can change according to that. The best thing to do is just experiment with them and do multiple steeps. I have an oolong I got from Upton a while ago that has an ok first steeping, but the second steep is just delicious.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 14:32
|
|
|
One thing I've noticed with subsequent steepings for oolongs and greens is that I don't have to be as finicky about the temperature after the first infusion. A little bit hotter seems to help, but overall there seems to be a bit more leeway. I've read that for some oolongs, some people do a quick initial steeping that they just pour out and then drink the second steeping. I haven't really felt the need to do this but I don't have a lot of oolong experience yet. I've also noticed that sometimes the second steeping is at least as good as the first, especially if I keep my first infusion fairly short. Vienna Circlejerk fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Mar 15, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 17:36
|
|
|
I recently got to sample an Indie Teas blend called Dark Energy, consisting of lapsang souchong, pu'erh, and oolong. It was excellent and I drank through my sample pouch immediately. I have found that just blending my loose lapsang souchong and milk oolong does a pretty good job though. It's dark and smokey but the milk makes it much smoother and less in your face, and it also seems to have less of the tannins that upset my stomach from raw lapsang souchong, possibly because I'm steeping it at 185F for ~2:45. Edit: Oolongs are characteristically reinfusable. I would describe the second infusion as usually being a little more sweet, but yes, oolongs are a tea that absolutely can be resteeped 3-4 times versus some that don't like reinfusion so much (I resteep everything all day pretty much, but most of what I drink can stand up to 2-3 steepings). Paramemetic fucked around with this message at 16:26 on Mar 22, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2013 16:23
|
|
|
Interesting, I have a milk oolong and a lapsang that I might try blending now as an experiment. I got the lapsang after trying it in a tea shop and loving it, but I just can't get it to taste the same. The smokiness seems to have a more chemical aftertaste to it that I just didn't get when I tried it in the shop. I'm not sure how I feel about the milk oolong. I quite liked it the first couple infusions, but after that it just got much less appealing each time and had an increasingly 'gone off butter' taste, but that could well be because I screwed up making it. Enfys fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Feb 22, 2014 |
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2013 23:39
|
|
|
One of my local shops carries a "tropical green tea" that, when iced, tastes like drinking coconut milk. It has a seriously creamy mouthfeel for just being green tea. But they won't sell it to me, or even tell me where they get it or what kind it is. Has anyone come across this or something similar? Loose leaf or bags are both fine.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2013 16:20
|
|
|
That seems really weird that they won't tell you what it is. I just tried googling "Tropical Green Tea" and it looks like there are a few different brands that have blends by that name, but a lot of them list fruit flavors like pineapple and no mention of coconut. The one you're drinking probably does have some coconut in it I would think, so I'd try looking at brands with coconut and whatever other flavors you might like or that match the profile of the tea you've been getting.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2013 20:59
|
|
|
I'm pretty much a black tea drinker - I love english breakfast and chai blends in the morning with a bit of sugar and milk. I don't dislike green/white teas but they're usually a bit boring. Spring is here and I'd like to pick up a few types of green/white tea. Does anybody have any recommendations, preferably from Upton? Teas that would be great cold would be good bonus too.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2013 22:31
|
|
|
Bag of Sun Chips posted:I'm pretty much a black tea drinker - I love english breakfast and chai blends in the morning with a bit of sugar and milk. I don't dislike green/white teas but they're usually a bit boring. I don't know if Upton has anything like this, but the Tao of Tea has a really nice Lotus scented Vietnamese green tea. The lotus scent is very strong and the tea is flavorful.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2013 22:57
|
|
|
Bag of Sun Chips posted:I'm pretty much a black tea drinker - I love english breakfast and chai blends in the morning with a bit of sugar and milk. I don't dislike green/white teas but they're usually a bit boring. Have you thought about maybe segueing into green/white teas via oolongs? I used to be more of an exclusively black tea person until I got into oolongs and that gave me more of a palate to start going for greens and whites. I'm guessing that you probably like slightly stronger or more forward flavors? Maybe try a darjeeling (the second flush around June might be more your thing, they've got a stronger more muscatel sort of flavor). Japanese greens can be pretty powerful but more on the fresh-cut-grass side of things if that appeals to you. There are also some toasted sorts of green teas like hojicha you could look into. I got the Magnolia Blossom Oolong from Upton sort-of recently and if you like things that are slightly flowery it's pretty great and lends itself beautifully to multiple steeps. It's light, but has a nice strong flavor at the same time.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2013 21:24
|
|
|
Bag of Sun Chips posted:I'm pretty much a black tea drinker - I love english breakfast and chai blends in the morning with a bit of sugar and milk. I don't dislike green/white teas but they're usually a bit boring. Have you tried TeaHaus in Kerrytown before? They are a franchise/reseller of Tea Gschwedner. I don't know if they are cheaper or comparable to Upton but it might be helpful to see/smell the tea in person.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2013 21:46
|
|
|
DurianGray posted:Have you thought about maybe segueing into green/white teas via oolongs? I used to be more of an exclusively black tea person until I got into oolongs and that gave me more of a palate to start going for greens and whites. Stronger more forward flavors are definitely right up my alley. I remember a goon used to sell Japanese Sour Cherry green tea a while back but he apparently doesn't anymore, does anybody know of anybody selling something similar? Sirotan posted:Have you tried TeaHaus in Kerrytown before? They are a franchise/reseller of Tea Gschwedner. I don't know if they are cheaper or comparable to Upton but it might be helpful to see/smell the tea in person. I haven't been to TeaHaus, I've been meaning to for a while though. I used to walk past there almost daily when my girlfriend was living downtown.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2013 15:19
|
|
|
Bag of Sun Chips posted:Spring is here and I'd like to pick up a few types of green/white tea. Does anybody have any recommendations, preferably from Upton? Teas that would be great cold would be good bonus too. Ordering it online from different suppliers has been a real crapshoot so far; some batches have been super bland at ten bucks per ounce, while some cheaper ones tasted amazing. But if you're confident in your supplier, I'd give it a try.
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2013 07:16
|
|
|
Bag of Sun Chips posted:I'm pretty much a black tea drinker - I love english breakfast and chai blends in the morning with a bit of sugar and milk. I don't dislike green/white teas but they're usually a bit boring. Upton's Japanese sencha has a nice flavor to it and a really milky mouthfeel, much more so than the Chinese sencha I tried from them. When I let it get cold it's still pretty yummy but I don't know how it would be chilled. You might also like genmaicha, since the puffed rice adds a nice, sweet flavor to the tea without overpowering it or making it seem like you're drinking flavored tea. Upton also sells a Taiwanese jade oolong in their oolong sampler that I like, and it's pretty close to being a green but with a bit stronger flavor. Actually their oolong sampler is pretty great (to me, at least, though I'm not as experienced as others in this thread) and probably a good way to bridge from black tea to greens as DurianGray mentioned, since it kind of ranges from more to less cured oolongs. The biggest problem I've had with greens--other than sencha--is consistency. It's gotten better since I got a Thermapen but even now I occasionally get barely flavored water or stewed weeds. One thing I can definitely say for both oolongs and sencha is that as long as I follow the temperature guidelines they come out well every time.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2013 14:24
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 10:21 |
|
|
I was browsing the Adagio store in downtown Chicago to pick up my monthly batch of Sencha and thought I'd try some oolongs I haven't before. The guy working the counter brewed me a cup of his recommendation, Ali Shan, an oolong that's more on the green side. Good god does it taste amazing. Really smooth and naturally sweet, nothing like any oolong I've ever tried. Too bad it's on the pricier end, I bet multiple resteepings would really bring out different flavors as well.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2013 18:50
|
|
