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Starting the day with the loose leaf Earl Grey, and I'm finally using the robot the way he's meant to be used: Robot loves tea.
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Jul 27, 2017 15:37
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Is that thing hard to clean? My sister had a frog infuser of a similar design (it hung off the edge of the cup by its tongue) and it had a bunch of little crevices inside that leaves would get stuck into.
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Jul 27, 2017 17:27
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It was surprisingly easy. I just dumped the leaves in the trash and rinsed it out. It opens up like so: Makes cleaning easy. Some leaves did come out into the tea, but I figured that came with the territory.
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Jul 27, 2017 18:27
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Teavivre sale started. They split it by type so greens and whites are on sale until tomorrow at 8p Pacific. Black/oolong for 2 days after and then pu-erh. I've had ridiculous problems trying to get my order to go through but YMMV. Most of their greens are very good and worth a try. e: Finally sorted out. Bought the Lu Shan Yun Wu, Bai Hao, and the cheap Long Jing and Mao Feng. UltimoDragonQuest fucked around with this message at 04:28 on Jul 28, 2017 |
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Jul 28, 2017 02:47
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UltimoDragonQuest posted:Teavivre sale started. They split it by type so greens and whites are on sale until tomorrow at 8p Pacific. Black/oolong for 2 days after and then pu-erh. I've had ridiculous problems trying to get my order to go through but YMMV. Most of their greens are very good and worth a try. Thanks for the heads up. I bought some Premium Dragon Well Long Jing , Lu Shan Yun Wu, and Mao Feng too.
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Jul 28, 2017 08:57
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Teavivre's last batch of Lushan Yun Wu was excellent, so I have high hopes for this year's. I think I liked last year's even better than the Premium Dragon Well. I decided to try some of their aged white teas this time. Didn't want to spend too much on them, so I just got some of the 2014 and 2016 Bai Mudan.
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Jul 29, 2017 02:38
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Does anyone have any suggestions for a light, easy drinking black tea (single type or blend), preferably that I might be able to get from Upton Teas (I usually buy from them, but have used others so it's not a deal breaker if they don't have it)? Upton stopped carrying my old favorite daily drinker blend and I haven't found a good replacement yet. While I like heavy dark malty and complex things, they're not really my favorite for every morning at work, where I typically prefer something light without too much tannin, but it must be a black tea, as green and oolong just don't do it for me first thing in the morning. The one issue I've run into is that most things that seem to fit this profile are Darjeeling teas, which I typically think taste awful. Anyone have any good suggestions of what would fit this profile?
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Jul 29, 2017 14:14
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Golden Monkey maybe? There's other fruity black teas like that from Fujian too, but icr any other names.
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Jul 29, 2017 14:24
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I went to Taiwan and brought back some pretty rad high-end teas, the centrepiece of which is 1kg of high-end Long Jing. I've saved half for myself and I've portioned the other half into little jars to give to people. That's my story.
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Jul 29, 2017 19:10
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Hello everyone, I have purchased a tea kettle and wish to engage in the world of tea to provide myself a wholesome drink to help relax my increasingly neurotic self. What is the best tea to induce a soporific, Zen-like calm?
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Jul 29, 2017 22:50
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8-Bit Scholar posted:Hello everyone, I have purchased a tea kettle and wish to engage in the world of tea to provide myself a wholesome drink to help relax my increasingly neurotic self. Pu-erh makes you high in a way that's completely separate from the caffeine. Aged pu-erh especially, but the flavors can be a little offputting at first (mineral, dirt, mushroom flavors, among others).
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Jul 29, 2017 23:00
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:Pu-erh makes you high in a way that's completely separate from the caffeine. Aged pu-erh especially, but the flavors can be a little offputting at first (mineral, dirt, mushroom flavors, among others). Seconded, hell even young puerh can give you quite tea drunk if your stomach can handle the astringency. I've had a similar feeling with some high mountain taiwanese oolong as well.
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Jul 29, 2017 23:23
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:Pu-erh makes you high in a way that's completely separate from the caffeine. Aged pu-erh especially, but the flavors can be a little offputting at first (mineral, dirt, mushroom flavors, among others). I can hazard a guess that northern US grocery stories likely don't carry this? Or is it fairly easy to acquire? Can you order it online? EDIT: Oh, Amazon carries it! https://smile.amazon.com/Yunnan-Pu-...es%2A=0&ie=UTF8 8-Bit Scholar fucked around with this message at 23:47 on Jul 29, 2017 |
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Jul 29, 2017 23:41
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I don't know about Northern US, but my experience in Southern Finland is that buying tea from grocery stores is a huge waste of money 99% of the time. Every tea shop will carry a variety of puerhs, and there's a huge number of reliable online vendors8-Bit Scholar posted:I can hazard a guess that northern US grocery stories likely don't carry this? Or is it fairly easy to acquire? Can you order it online? To clarify, there's about eight million varieties of puerh, like there is of every other type of tea (green, black, oolong etc). Scroll back in the thread to find reliable US sellers, reviews on that Amazon page aren't very positive Ras Het fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Jul 29, 2017 |
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Jul 29, 2017 23:48
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This is a good article on puerh and has some reliable vendors listed. Don't bother with buying from Amazon, you'll probably end up with some really, really low end stuff. Pu is some complex stuff, look for places that you can buy a bunch of samples before you invest in a large cake for yourself. http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/what-is-puerh-tea-where-to-buy.html Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:Is puerh iced tea a thing? I had iced tea in this Japanese place the other day and it seemed a little funky. Wasn't sure if it was the tea they used, or if it was just going bad. It's not commonly brewed iced, but you certainly can cold brew or hot brew and chill. That does sound sketchy though. hope and vaseline fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Jul 30, 2017 |
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Jul 29, 2017 23:57
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Is puerh iced tea a thing? I had iced tea in this Japanese place the other day and it seemed a little funky. Wasn't sure if it was the tea they used, or if it was just going bad.
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Jul 29, 2017 23:58
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hope and vaseline posted:This is a good article on puerh and has some reliable vendors listed. Don't bother with buying from Amazon, you'll probably end up with some really, really low end stuff. Pu is some complex stuff, look for places that you can buy a bunch of samples before you invest in a large cake for yourself. So it looks like I need to order the tea, and a wooden tray or something to break it onto. And a tea pick? Or could I just use a knife?
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Jul 30, 2017 00:19
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I used a screwdriver I disinfected as a ghetto tea knife to start off with, definitely stay away from sharp knives though cause sometimes those cakes are compressed really tightly and you can slip and hurt yourself badly. If you buy samples, they're already broken up for your brewing pleasure. You can make do with a regular mug and basket infuser though if you own that already and just brew it western style like any other tea before you invest in anything more. Hell, I brew shou puerh grandpa style sometimes (just a big mug, toss the leaves in, and drink from that, refilling the water once in a while)
hope and vaseline fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Jul 30, 2017 |
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Jul 30, 2017 00:37
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hope and vaseline posted:I used a screwdriver I disinfected as a ghetto tea knife to start off with, definitely stay away from sharp knives though cause sometimes those cakes are compressed really tightly and you can slip and hurt yourself badly. If you buy samples, they're already broken up for your brewing pleasure. You can make do with a regular mug and basket infuser though if you own that already and just brew it western style like any other tea before you invest in anything more. Hell, I brew shou puerh grandpa style sometimes (just a big mug, toss the leaves in, and drink from that, refilling the water once in a while) So a basket infuser seems to be some sort of filter-- do these work with most/all tea pots? Mine is some basic ceramic one. I'm not sure I wanna actually have the tea leaves in the water, since I'm used to tea bags -- do I just pour the hot water through the leaves in the filter?
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Jul 30, 2017 00:53
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Most tea pots come with some sort of infuser already, a basket infuser is more for single servings in your own cup or mug. You put the leaves in , pour the water at the appropriate temperature, and steep for the time you want. Here's another good read on tea equipment. http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/tea-brewing-equipment.html
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Jul 30, 2017 00:59
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CommonShore posted:I went to Taiwan and brought back some pretty rad high-end teas, the centrepiece of which is 1kg of high-end Long Jing. I've saved half for myself and I've portioned the other half into little jars to give to people. Does Taiwan produce Longjing? I've only ever seen it imported from China. A coworker gifted me a big bag of medium-grade Tieguanyin a while ago. It had already been opened, so it's pretty dried out and lacking flavor. I've been drinking a lot of Maghrebi-style mint tea this summer, so on a whim, I tried using that old TGY in place of the traditional gunpowder, and it worked surprisingly well. I didn't want to oversteep the peppermint, so I steeped the TGY for about 2 minutes, then added the mint for another minute.
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Jul 30, 2017 01:01
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Gaiwan are absolutely the best way to brew puerh. There are a few downsides (more fines on the first few steeps, mainly) but the low volume, ease of pouring, lack of mess, and convenience make up for it.
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Jul 30, 2017 02:13
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There is definitely Taiwan produced longing. I saw it maybe on taiwanteacrafts or some other website but it's out there. Also unsurprisingly, Starbucks is closing all teavana locations. If you liked any of their blends keep an eye out for a sale. They were always too overpriced but I can't deny they probably got a few people into loose leaf.
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Jul 30, 2017 02:24
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Steadily becoming teadrunk on a 2008 Shuangjian Mengku 'Ming Qian Chun Jian'. Dry, umami, savory, but there's a back note of wood and some slight bitterness. A little astringent, but not overwhelming at all, more like a plum. Delicious! Powerful, too - I felt it on the first steep, but I'm four steeps in and I'm already spinning a little. Lots of flavor.
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Jul 30, 2017 02:28
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Ineffiable posted:They were always too overpriced but I can't deny they probably got a few people into loose leaf. I was a sucker for an expensive cast iron teapot at Teavana once, and ended up buying another $100 or so in loose leaf tea. That was my entry into becoming a tea snob. Won't really be sad to see them go, as I never gave them another dollar (the tea was fine, it was the incredibly high pressure sales techniques that kept me away), but their Formosa Nut Oolong with candied violets was pretty great.
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Jul 30, 2017 03:58
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:Steadily becoming teadrunk on a 2008 Shuangjian Mengku 'Ming Qian Chun Jian'. Dry, umami, savory, but there's a back note of wood and some slight bitterness. A little astringent, but not overwhelming at all, more like a plum. Delicious! Powerful, too - I felt it on the first steep, but I'm four steeps in and I'm already spinning a little. Lots of flavor. That sounds delicious. I need something to find the void giving up cigars left.
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Jul 30, 2017 04:25
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Juaguocio posted:Does Taiwan produce Longjing? I've only ever seen it imported from China. It looks a bit different from Chinese Long Jing - it's darker and a bit twistier, but it still has that bright vegetable taste and it owns.
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Jul 30, 2017 04:34
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QuarkMartial posted:That sounds delicious. I need something to find the void giving up cigars left. Later steeps brought out more of a light, floral flavor and the woody/earthy tone receded dramatically. These teas change so much over time. This is a good hobby to replace cigars with - and similarly expensive, if you get into the high end stuff.
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Jul 30, 2017 04:54
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I know that the instructions are to let tea steep for a few minutes, but I find they get too bitter after a minute. Am I doing something wrong?
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Jul 31, 2017 03:01
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RandomPauI posted:I know that the instructions are to let tea steep for a few minutes, but I find they get too bitter after a minute. Am I doing something wrong? Rule 1 is if you like how it tastes, that's the way to steep it. Beyond that, there are some teas that are optimal at certain temperatures. What kind of tea?
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Jul 31, 2017 03:10
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I have a hard time getting it just right with green teas or black teas, better luck with mint teas, and no luck with fruit-based teas. In general, I either using boiling hot water from a machine, vaguely coffee-tinted water from those big plastic beverage servers, or I'll nuke water at home on the beverage setting.
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Jul 31, 2017 05:02
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If I wanted to fill a 32oz tumbler with Earl Grey tea, about how many teaspoons/ounces of leaves would I use? I've got a scale.
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Jul 31, 2017 05:46
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RandomPauI posted:I have a hard time getting it just right with green teas or black teas, better luck with mint teas, and no luck with fruit-based teas. With green tea in particular, if you use boiling water it's going to wind up more bitter and astringent than you'll actually want and most people find that that ruins the flavour. For most varieties, you want to go with something around 85 degrees Celsius (don't ask me what that is in Fahrenheit, I have no idea). I usually ballpark this by boiling water, then leaving the kettle to sit with the lid open for about a minute. Some varieties need even lower temperatures. Try to pay close attention to instructions, most of them aren't terrible. You also will want to watch your portioning -- if you put too much tea in the water, it will wind up bitter. Black tea is usually cool with anything just under boiling, though. There is also the possibility that you just don't like tea steeped for more than a minute, of course. QuarkMartial posted:If I wanted to fill a 32oz tumbler with Earl Grey tea, about how many teaspoons/ounces of leaves would I use? I've got a scale.
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Jul 31, 2017 09:01
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RandomPauI posted:I have a hard time getting it just right with green teas or black teas, better luck with mint teas, and no luck with fruit-based teas. I spent like 3 years heating water up on the stove in a tea kettle before I finally sprang for an electric kettle. Those things are hands down one of the best purchases you can make. It's so much easier to heat water to whatever temperature you need and in whatever quantity you need. 30 bucks will have you set for many years to come. Is the tea you are drinking cut up really fine like CTC Assam?  This stuff infuses really quickly and can be oversteeped leading to bitterness. As a general rule for most common types of tea is the bigger the leaves, the longer you can steep without the tea getting bitter. The cut up stuff has way more surface area exposed to the hot water and turns the water a darker shade VERY quickly. Try backing off your steep times in 30 second increments and see where that takes you.
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Jul 31, 2017 09:08
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I restarted drinking teas at a hospital where the qualities were Lipton black tea, seemingly brandless airtight packets of green tea, and seemingly brandless airtight packets of orange pekoe and pekoe infused black tea. I know there are a few places around here that sell loose-leaf tea, but I almost feel like I should master bagged teas first. Does that make any sense?
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Jul 31, 2017 09:31
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RandomPauI posted:I know there are a few places around here that sell loose-leaf tea, but I almost feel like I should master bagged teas first. Does that make any sense? No. Bagged teas are almost always grade Z shavings of tea that was low quality in the first place. It's like trying to "master" instant coffee before moving on to the real stuff. Besides, all of those bags are such a pointless waste of resources
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Jul 31, 2017 10:13
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QuarkMartial posted:If I wanted to fill a 32oz tumbler with Earl Grey tea, about how many teaspoons/ounces of leaves would I use? I've got a scale. Greens I normally start around 170-180F and adjust from there. Oolongs I start around 195-200 and most Black teas are just off the boil. My rule of thumb for mass is 3g to 8oz of water. Some need a little more, some are spot on. I've never needed to go less than that ratio. I used to routinely make a 68oz thermos full of tea and scaling up with that ratio brought me great success regardless of which tea I'd decided to make for the day. Oolongs and greens I would mix 1st and 2nd steepings and do 32 fl oz at a time. Black teas needed the full scaled ratio.
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Jul 31, 2017 16:01
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A few concerns in the last couple pages: Tea Reusability. Black Tea - Most bagged blacks, even good quality ones, are shot in one steep. Loose Chinese blacks can get away with 2. Green Tea - Green tea varies. Some of the better quality bagged greens can do 2, but most are one. Loose greens vary even more. The Chinese greens tend toward more steeps, maybe even 4 if you don't mind it pretty weak. The Japanese are usually 1 maybe 2 steeps. Oolongs.- This is the category where you can really lay on the same leaves. I have little experience with bagged Oolongs outside of Chinese restaurants, they seem to be good for two or so. Loose Oolongs are highly variable with the darker ones having fewer steeps. A dark like a Wuyi Yancha is usually good for about 4 steeps. Lighter Oolongs like Ti Kuan Yin you can often get 5+. With the same leaves and the same gaiwan I'll frequently go up to 7 steeps with good quality TKY. A bag of loose Oolong leaves from a cafe are usually good for 2-3 steeps, if the barista hasn't already ruined them by dropping them into boiling water and boiling out all the oils. The person asking after better quality bagged black tea and didn't want to order online, it really depends what country you live in. I'm assuming you aren't in the UK entirely based on the question. You can sometimes find Yorkshire Tea in American grocery stores, I've seen it at Whole Foods and Kroger in upscale neighborhoods; Yorkshire Gold is probably one of the best mass produced bagged black teas. If not most Kroger's have PG Tips, which is a cut above the drek brands. Tazo's English breakfast isn't terrible either. Even Twinnings if everything else is Lipton/Celestial Seasonings. The story about boiling multiple bags of Lipton or whatever low end tea was revolting.
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Jul 31, 2017 23:29
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I heard recently that many teas from China have dangerous levels of lead and chemicals in them, are there any good, common brands that are sourced from different parts of the world and are "bad poo poo" free?
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Aug 1, 2017 00:21
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Professor Shark posted:I heard recently that many teas from China have dangerous levels of lead and chemicals in them, are there any good, common brands that are sourced from different parts of the world and are "bad poo poo" free? The last thing I read about the subject showed where researchers pulled all their lead laced, chemical infused teas from. Turns out all the bad stuff was at Chinese discount stores on mainland China. The stuff you see for sale on English language websites is very much luxury priced tea that is grown away from the major pollution centers in China.
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Aug 1, 2017 00:47
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