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Lily Catts
Oct 17, 2012

Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

RandomPauI posted:

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?

Loose leaf tea honestly isn't that big of a difficulty increase from tea bags. You just need an infuser/teapot and at most you'll be measuring the amount of leaves you infuse. The rest is tweaking variables like steep time, water temperature, etc.

You'll immediately taste the difference once you try it.

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forbidden dialectics
Jul 26, 2005





What are the odds that this is actually legitimate LBZ?

http://teaurchin.com/shop-for-tea/puer/lao-ban-zhang-2017-spring.html

Last I heard it's basically impossible to get it and 99.99% of LBZs on the web are fake. This one is very young, seems like a reputable retailer, and the price seems accurate.

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013

Heaps of Sheeps posted:

What are the odds that this is actually legitimate LBZ?

http://teaurchin.com/shop-for-tea/puer/lao-ban-zhang-2017-spring.html

Last I heard it's basically impossible to get it and 99.99% of LBZs on the web are fake. This one is very young, seems like a reputable retailer, and the price seems accurate.

Might be, but it's not going to be the high quality thing you're looking for. I just wouldn't spend the money without knowing for certain. Sort of the same concept as buying an expensive older bottle of wine. You can't know for certain what you're getting unless you buy it from someone who takes the time to give it provenance, or buy it young yourself from the manufacturer.

Ineffiable
Feb 16, 2008

Some say that his politics are terrifying, and that he once punched a horse to the ground...


Never heard of the website. Does Yunnan sourcing have any? They're probably a retailer I'd trust to have more legitimate stuff than fakes.

hope and vaseline
Feb 13, 2001

TeaDB covers Tea Urchin, which seems relatively reputable. Still though, the rule with puerh is if it looks like too good of a deal, it probably is. That specific LBZ has almost no information also compared to most of their other offerings, though maybe it's because it's a spring '17.

Cwyn has some thoughts on LBZ as well here.

hope and vaseline fucked around with this message at 21:39 on Aug 3, 2017

RandomPauI
Nov 24, 2006


Grimey Drawer
What's a good electric tea kettle that can control temperature and that costs under $50?

hope and vaseline
Feb 13, 2001

RandomPauI posted:

What's a good electric tea kettle that can control temperature and that costs under $50?

Igotchufam

https://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-40996-Programmable-1-7-Liter/dp/B0083I7THI

Reviews are kind of hit and miss, some people's kettles seem to stop working after a few months but mine was problem free for 2 years until I switched to an electric, non var temp glass kettle.

SymmetryrtemmyS
Jul 13, 2013

I got super tired of seeing your avatar throwing those fuckin' glasses around in the astrology thread so I fixed it to a .jpg

RandomPauI posted:

What's a good electric tea kettle that can control temperature and that costs under $50?

I'd just save up for the Bonavita gooseneck, personally. It's only $67 and has dropped down to $60, which is only a little bit over your budget, and it's absolutely fantastic. The only problem is that it doesn't have boil-dry protection, but that's a small price to pay - when you notice it getting light, top it up.

justFaye
Mar 27, 2009
Can anyone recommend a decent tea ball or equivalent one-to-two serving infuser that I can pop in my mug? All the ones I've seen are so small they don't allow for any water circulation around the tea leaves.

futurememory
Oct 22, 2011

"You're a bad man! You're a VERY bad man!"

justFaye posted:

Can anyone recommend a decent tea ball or equivalent one-to-two serving infuser that I can pop in my mug? All the ones I've seen are so small they don't allow for any water circulation around the tea leaves.

You want a Finum Brewing Basket. The medium size fits in a standard mug, and the leaves will have plenty of room to circulate.

https://www.amazon.com/Finum-Brewing-Basket-medium-black/dp/B000I68NCS

Trabant
Nov 26, 2011

All systems nominal.
^ Agreed, big fan of the Finum here -- it's the best at keeping the tiny rooibos fragments out of my drink.

If you want a metal basket for some reason, I have a decent FORLIFE infuser. It's generally very good but will let the superfine stuff seep through.

Flash Gordon Ramsay
Sep 28, 2004

Grimey Drawer
Thirding Finum. This thread turned me on to them, and they're perfect. Easy to wash, plenty of room for water flow.

justFaye
Mar 27, 2009
Wonderful! I'll get a Finum. Thanks!

Extortionist
Aug 31, 2001

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
They're a bit cheaper at Upton Tea than amazon:

https://secure.uptontea.com/store/item.asp?itemID=AS61

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013

justFaye posted:

Wonderful! I'll get a Finum. Thanks!

I have a couple of the smaller size Finum and at least one of the larger size. Indispensable. I think you'll be happy with the purchase.

Reiterpallasch
Nov 3, 2010



Fun Shoe
The number of steeps you'll get from a certain leaf vary wildly based on the ratio of leaf to water; a lot of asian brewing techniques use 2-3x more leaf per amount of water. If someone is telling you how many steeps a specific kind of tea is good for, you should probably also ask what tea:water ratio they use.

Mr. Squishy
Mar 22, 2010

A country where you can always get richer.
You can also work it out yourself by making more brews until it's not worth drinking - but maybe that's being extravagant with boiling water.

futurememory
Oct 22, 2011

"You're a bad man! You're a VERY bad man!"
Tried my first young sheng pu'erh (white2tea's Smooch) and I've never tasted anything like it. It was all wildflower and honey and an almost... hay taste? It almost tasted barnyard or feral, with a slightly Chinese medicine undertone and bitterness.

I know this is a pretty big tea category for some people; I'd say I'm definitely not hooked yet, but intrigued. I'm still amazed all the time at how the same plant can produce so many different flavor profiles without adding additional flavor.

SymmetryrtemmyS
Jul 13, 2013

I got super tired of seeing your avatar throwing those fuckin' glasses around in the astrology thread so I fixed it to a .jpg

futurememory posted:

Tried my first young sheng pu'erh (white2tea's Smooch) and I've never tasted anything like it. It was all wildflower and honey and an almost... hay taste? It almost tasted barnyard or feral, with a slightly Chinese medicine undertone and bitterness.

I know this is a pretty big tea category for some people; I'd say I'm definitely not hooked yet, but intrigued. I'm still amazed all the time at how the same plant can produce so many different flavor profiles without adding additional flavor.

How'd you brew it? That sounds really delicious.

futurememory
Oct 22, 2011

"You're a bad man! You're a VERY bad man!"
I steeped it in my 100 ml gaiwan, which was probably slightly too small (the tea ball was probably around 7.5-8 grams), but whatever. Followed the gaiwan brewing instructions that Crimson Lotus put out for their Planet series, since white2tea doesn't really have instructions on this one. The Smooch didn't need as long to break up; it was good to go after the second dousing of water. I used boiling to open it up, but then switched to 185-190. Definitely do flash steeps on this; I followed the instructions for the Planets and did a 30 second first steep, and it was horrifically, horrifically bitter. Water in, water out worked best for the first 5 steepings or so, and then I gradually increased the steep time. Got about 10 steeps out of this one, probably could have gotten more if I hadn't done that 30 second first steep.

I would definitely not grandpa-style brew this one (drop it in a mug and go), as the bitterness would get really overwhelming. You could probably brew it more Western-style (strainer and mug), but I don't know what the ratios would be at that point.

hope and vaseline
Feb 13, 2001

Woof, yeah the only reason I'd recommend a 30 sec steep is if a tea ball is super highly compressed and you're only able to essentially steep the surface area in the beginning. Especially a young sheng, that's gonna be a kick.

ulvir
Jan 2, 2005

5s steeping is more than enough, imo. if you want to explore further on I can recommend 2016 Daily Drinker, Tyler and Poundcake from W2T. all available as samples so you don't need to dive right into a cake blindly. also might want to mess about with different ages as well if you can. aged sheng tastes different to young sheng, and so on. and then there's ripe

SymmetryrtemmyS
Jul 13, 2013

I got super tired of seeing your avatar throwing those fuckin' glasses around in the astrology thread so I fixed it to a .jpg

ulvir posted:

5s steeping is more than enough, imo. if you want to explore further on I can recommend 2016 Daily Drinker, Tyler and Poundcake from W2T. all available as samples so you don't need to dive right into a cake blindly. also might want to mess about with different ages as well if you can. aged sheng tastes different to young sheng, and so on. and then there's ripe

Daily Drinker lives up to its name, and Poundcake is excellent. W2T is one of my favorite vendors, because I can blind buy almost anything and it'll be good.

futurememory
Oct 22, 2011

"You're a bad man! You're a VERY bad man!"
Yeah, flash steeps really helped. My instinct was to flash steep, but I figured I'd try following instructions. Glad I didn't completely murder the sheng.

I've got samples of both Daily Drinker and Old Reliable (which is a shou) lined up, pretty excited for both.

Been focused on drinking my Dragon Well from Teavivre, which I picked up thanks to this thread. Delicious and chestnutty.

ulvir
Jan 2, 2005

ordered a whole bunch of samples from W2T's 2017 teas. I'm looking forward to taste this one in particular. I've tried Yiwu-area sheng before and I really loved the taste.

AmericanBarbarian
Nov 23, 2011
https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/dan-cong-oolong-tea?sort_by=price-ascending

Yunnan Sourcing has a oolong tea sale going, I'm going to pick up some greener oolongs and see what they are like. I've never drunk oolongs before, any recommendations for what I should look for?

neogeo0823
Jul 4, 2007

NO THAT'S NOT ME!!

AmericanBarbarian posted:

https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/dan-cong-oolong-tea?sort_by=price-ascending

Yunnan Sourcing has a oolong tea sale going, I'm going to pick up some greener oolongs and see what they are like. I've never drunk oolongs before, any recommendations for what I should look for?

I have mixed feelings about the first tea listed on that page.

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice
I've had one of these for years now and the tea infuser lid section refuses to seal to the thermos body anymore. What's the current most-recommended all star tumbler with tea infuser?

hot date tonight!
Jan 13, 2009


Slippery Tilde
Is the difference between a bagged grocery store herbal tea and a good quality loose leaf / flower anywhere near as pronounced as it is with real tea? Is it worth going to a specialised vendor? What's the cool place to order from? I'm particularly looking for a good chamomile.

EKDS5k
Feb 22, 2012

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LET YOUR BEER FREEZE, DAMNIT
Oh poo poo I can't believe it never occurred to me that there would be a tea thread. I love me some Japanese green teas, houjicha, genmaicha, and probably my favourite is jasmine pearl tea.

First off, gently caress kettles, what you people need is a hot water dispenser. I have one, it's always full, and provides instant hot water whenever I want it, so no waiting for a kettle to boil. And even the cheap ones have temperature settings, though I leave mine on the 98 degree setting so I can also make coffee whenever I want.

I also have a cast iron pot, and the trick I've found is that it regulates the temperature for you. If you fill a cast iron pot with boiling water, and let it set for about 20 seconds, you're left with water that is the perfect temperature for green tea. To make tea that needs near-boiling water, preheat it once, throw the water away, and fill it again with boiling water.

For anyone looking for something relaxing to drink in the evening, I highly recommend houjicha. It's basically leftover stems and some leaves, roasted until they're brown, with zero caffeine content. Pour boiling water onto tea, let it sit for 30 seconds, and you're good to go. You can even reuse it a bunch of times, and it's basically impossible to screw up. I mix it half and half with something called mamecha, which as far as I can tell is just dried black beans? A nice simple flavour, with zero effort.

I don't know if this has been covered in the thread or not, but every set of instructions in English I've found, both on packages and online, for making green teas are way off. Use 80-85 degree water, and steep for somewhere under 3 minutes. But according to the one tea shop I went to in Nara, the tea capital of Japan, which clearly makes me an expert, the way to do it is to "steep" it once with 80-85 degree water for about 15 seconds, and then throw that water away, since it's considered more of a rinse, and a way to sort of "wake up" the tea. Then steep it once more, for about 30 seconds, and then pour. If you plan on steeping again, take the lid off the pot and let the leaves sit uncovered. The tea comes out much clearer, and the subtle flavours are brought out more.

I thought this might just be a Japanese thing, but I went to a couple tea shops in Vancouver's Chinatown, and also another one in Seattle, and in each one an old Chinese or Taiwanese man made green tea the same way, stressing how important the first rinse is. If you're having trouble getting green tea to come out right, this is probably why. It takes like 3 times as long to prepare, but man is the extra effort worth it. Same thing goes with jasmine pearls: they need to be steeped just long enough for the pearls to open up, then that water discarded, and the leaves steeped properly, again for only about 30 seconds. And actually, most of the time I've found that it's the *next* steeping that has the best flavour and aroma.

I'm not trying to be a snob, the best cup of tea is the tea you enjoy, but I've never found instructions like this in English. I don't know if manufacturers/retailers think that people would be put off by how much of a pain in the rear end it is, and it can be a pain in the rear end (the Taiwanese places even had a special tray just for catching all the water that gets spilled from pouring and repouring). But I feel like, at least for the teas I make, once you get it down it becomes almost automatic, and so it becomes like 5-10 minutes of some kind of zen, where I'm not really thinking about making the tea, but I'm also not thinking about anything else, either. For me the process of making is almost more relaxing than sitting and drinking it afterwards.

Oh, and on the topic of cast iron pots: before you buy one, check the bottom. Quality ones will have the name of the manufacturer cast into the bottom, if not then it likely came from a lovely factory in China. The tea will probably taste the same, but for me, it adds something that the teapot was made by someone who cared about what they were doing enough to put their name on it, even if it is the company name.

SymmetryrtemmyS
Jul 13, 2013

I got super tired of seeing your avatar throwing those fuckin' glasses around in the astrology thread so I fixed it to a .jpg

EKDS5k posted:

Oh poo poo I can't believe it never occurred to me that there would be a tea thread. I love me some Japanese green teas, houjicha, genmaicha, and probably my favourite is jasmine pearl tea.

First off, gently caress kettles, what you people need is a hot water dispenser. I have one, it's always full, and provides instant hot water whenever I want it, so no waiting for a kettle to boil. And even the cheap ones have temperature settings, though I leave mine on the 98 degree setting so I can also make coffee whenever I want.

I also have a cast iron pot, and the trick I've found is that it regulates the temperature for you. If you fill a cast iron pot with boiling water, and let it set for about 20 seconds, you're left with water that is the perfect temperature for green tea. To make tea that needs near-boiling water, preheat it once, throw the water away, and fill it again with boiling water.

For anyone looking for something relaxing to drink in the evening, I highly recommend houjicha. It's basically leftover stems and some leaves, roasted until they're brown, with zero caffeine content. Pour boiling water onto tea, let it sit for 30 seconds, and you're good to go. You can even reuse it a bunch of times, and it's basically impossible to screw up. I mix it half and half with something called mamecha, which as far as I can tell is just dried black beans? A nice simple flavour, with zero effort.

I don't know if this has been covered in the thread or not, but every set of instructions in English I've found, both on packages and online, for making green teas are way off. Use 80-85 degree water, and steep for somewhere under 3 minutes. But according to the one tea shop I went to in Nara, the tea capital of Japan, which clearly makes me an expert, the way to do it is to "steep" it once with 80-85 degree water for about 15 seconds, and then throw that water away, since it's considered more of a rinse, and a way to sort of "wake up" the tea. Then steep it once more, for about 30 seconds, and then pour. If you plan on steeping again, take the lid off the pot and let the leaves sit uncovered. The tea comes out much clearer, and the subtle flavours are brought out more.

I thought this might just be a Japanese thing, but I went to a couple tea shops in Vancouver's Chinatown, and also another one in Seattle, and in each one an old Chinese or Taiwanese man made green tea the same way, stressing how important the first rinse is. If you're having trouble getting green tea to come out right, this is probably why. It takes like 3 times as long to prepare, but man is the extra effort worth it. Same thing goes with jasmine pearls: they need to be steeped just long enough for the pearls to open up, then that water discarded, and the leaves steeped properly, again for only about 30 seconds. And actually, most of the time I've found that it's the *next* steeping that has the best flavour and aroma.

I'm not trying to be a snob, the best cup of tea is the tea you enjoy, but I've never found instructions like this in English. I don't know if manufacturers/retailers think that people would be put off by how much of a pain in the rear end it is, and it can be a pain in the rear end (the Taiwanese places even had a special tray just for catching all the water that gets spilled from pouring and repouring). But I feel like, at least for the teas I make, once you get it down it becomes almost automatic, and so it becomes like 5-10 minutes of some kind of zen, where I'm not really thinking about making the tea, but I'm also not thinking about anything else, either. For me the process of making is almost more relaxing than sitting and drinking it afterwards.

Oh, and on the topic of cast iron pots: before you buy one, check the bottom. Quality ones will have the name of the manufacturer cast into the bottom, if not then it likely came from a lovely factory in China. The tea will probably taste the same, but for me, it adds something that the teapot was made by someone who cared about what they were doing enough to put their name on it, even if it is the company name.

That method of preparing tea is called gongfu, and it's my preferred way to drink tea. Try using a much higher leaf to water ratio, you can resteep many times that way. Some teas will go to 10-20. I like to use a 100ml gaiwan that ends up loosely packed with leaves after they all fully rehydrate.

Trabant
Nov 26, 2011

All systems nominal.
Good green tea prep is my white whale. If I'm making tea in the office, is this:

EKDS5k posted:

the way to do it is to "steep" it once with 80-85 degree water for about 15 seconds, and then throw that water away, since it's considered more of a rinse, and a way to sort of "wake up" the tea. Then steep it once more, for about 30 seconds, and then pour. If you plan on steeping again, take the lid off the pot and let the leaves sit uncovered. The tea comes out much clearer, and the subtle flavours are brought out more.

my best bet? Keep in mind that I'm limited to a mug, Finum basket, and an adjustable electric kettle (which is excellent but may be a goner if my new employer catches wind of it).

EKDS5k
Feb 22, 2012

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LET YOUR BEER FREEZE, DAMNIT

Trabant posted:

Good green tea prep is my white whale. If I'm making tea in the office, is this:


my best bet? Keep in mind that I'm limited to a mug, Finum basket, and an adjustable electric kettle (which is excellent but may be a goner if my new employer catches wind of it).

That's what I would do. With the added step that if your water is already 80 degrees then I would warm the mug up with it first. I've been told that the "correct" way to do it is to boil the water once, and then let it cool, so if you're doing that then it'll be a matter of experimentation to find out how long to let it sit in your mug before adding the tea leaves.


SymmetryrtemmyS posted:

That method of preparing tea is called gongfu, and it's my preferred way to drink tea. Try using a much higher leaf to water ratio, you can resteep many times that way. Some teas will go to 10-20. I like to use a 100ml gaiwan that ends up loosely packed with leaves after they all fully rehydrate.

Now I have a name for it, thanks! Googling that does indeed bring up some results.

SymmetryrtemmyS
Jul 13, 2013

I got super tired of seeing your avatar throwing those fuckin' glasses around in the astrology thread so I fixed it to a .jpg

Trabant posted:

Good green tea prep is my white whale. If I'm making tea in the office, is this:


my best bet? Keep in mind that I'm limited to a mug, Finum basket, and an adjustable electric kettle (which is excellent but may be a goner if my new employer catches wind of it).

You can do gongfu in anything. Larger batches just make a ton of tea over the resteeps, so you might want to consider getting a gaiwan or small teapot. I keep an adjustable kettle (Bonavita gooseneck, my go-to) on my desk along with a bunch of different tea, so I have something to drink all day long.

For reference I usually go with 6-7g of tea in a 100ml container. It really is a lot of leaves compared to any other method.

Tambreet
Nov 28, 2006

Ninja Platypus
Muldoon
I haven't tried the rinse with green tea. Gonna give it a try next time and see if it comes out better. I usually make it at work where I don't have control over the water temp either. Maybe I can bring a thermometer to check it.

I do everything in a mug with a basket filter, steeping black for 5 minutes, oolong for 4 minutes (I give oolong quick rinse first) and green for 3 minutes. But I'm intrigued by your technique.

I used to have a gaiwan at work and still have one at home, but I rarely have the patience to go through that for the smaller amount of tea it provides.

EKDS5k
Feb 22, 2012

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LET YOUR BEER FREEZE, DAMNIT

Undeclared Eggplant posted:

I haven't tried the rinse with green tea. Gonna give it a try next time and see if it comes out better. I usually make it at work where I don't have control over the water temp either. Maybe I can bring a thermometer to check it.

I do everything in a mug with a basket filter, steeping black for 5 minutes, oolong for 4 minutes (I give oolong quick rinse first) and green for 3 minutes. But I'm intrigued by your technique.

I used to have a gaiwan at work and still have one at home, but I rarely have the patience to go through that for the smaller amount of tea it provides.

Patience is the point: stop what you're doing, and for a few minutes just make tea. If your water temperature is consistent, and you're using the same mug, then the length of time you need to let it cool will be consistent as well. Figure out how long that is, and then hit it without a timer or thermometer. Once you're there, then as you make it you can use the time to just zone out for a few minutes (although I'm guilty of playing with my phone more often than I'd like), and when you're done, you get to have tea. I rarely drink tea out of the house because stopping everything for 15-20 minutes isn't usually practical.

Who has a nice teacup, or pot? Let's see it.


This is my cup, I bought it around 10 years ago at a local festival for Kutani yaki when I lived in Japan, for like five or ten bucks. It's not perfect, but it's hand made and painted, and I like the picture on the simple background. It's also larger than a traditional teacup, being made for use in a sushi restaurant, which I like obviously because then it holds more tea. Plus it's held up to hundreds of cycles on the bottom rack of a dishwasher, so in my book, that's a quality product.


I got this from Amazon a few years ago. Again hand made, from Iwachu. Satisfyingly heavy, and it came with a mesh net that is almost as big as the inside of the pot so the leaves have plenty of room to expand. The cast iron absorbs enough heat that boiling water drops to just the right temperature for green or jasmine tea within a minute. They're normally fairly expensive but every now and then they go on a random 60% off sale, mine was around the price of one of the cheap Chinese-made ones.

Love Stole the Day
Nov 4, 2012
Please give me free quality professional advice so I can be a baby about it and insult you

Nostalgia4Ass posted:

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.

Relevant: http://aqicn.org/forecast/seoul/#h1header4437

ulvir
Jan 2, 2005

SymmetryrtemmyS posted:

For reference I usually go with 6-7g of tea in a 100ml container. It really is a lot of leaves compared to any other method.

but it seems to grant a whole lot more cups of tea than the western way, so i find it pays off in the long run. Plus you can let the pot and leaves sit overnight and carry on brewing the next day.

Cymbal Monkey
Apr 16, 2009

Lift Your Little Paws Like Antennas to Heaven!
Hello tea thread, I just got back from China with some goodies! I knew I wanted to buy some pu-erh's in China and I ended up picking up two and discovered that they're now doing aged white tea cakes, which were fascinating and very delicious. I also picked up my first yixing pot, which was on the cheaper end, but it's legit clay (had it examined by someone, not the person I bought it from).

Anyways, here they are, 2015, 2013 and 2006, left to right, and then the pictures are in that same order.

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Juaguocio
Jun 5, 2005

Oh, David...
I recently discovered that ginseng oolong is the greatest hangover cure in the world. After stumbling home from a friend's going away party, I managed to brew and drink most of a pot before crashing, and woke up the next morning feeling like a million bucks.

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