Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Truck Stop Daddy
Apr 17, 2013

A janitor cleans the bathroom

Muldoon

ulvir posted:

I’ve been eyeballing that one for a while. how much less are we talking about? and how does it handle steeping compared to the old one? I always have to open the strainer to let all the steeped tea into the main bottle with the plastic one

A single small/normalish sized teacup. I guess around 1.5-2dl. With the old one i usually could fill up one of those bodum thermo cups with a lid (3.5 dl according to the internet)

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

ulvir
Jan 2, 2005

so that double-walled stuff makes it deceptively large, then

Truck Stop Daddy
Apr 17, 2013

A janitor cleans the bathroom

Muldoon

ulvir posted:

so that double-walled stuff makes it deceptively large, then

Yeah, once you flip it most of the water fits in the tea container top part. Construction is great though, different league compared to the old one. I think I can get used to this one, even though I got to steep my leaves twice as often

graybook
Oct 10, 2011

pinya~
Maybe I should go for something like that. I picked up an H&F Belx bottle over a year ago where the steeping cage is at the bottom so that it's always in contact with the water, but I don't like that as much. I think the design's better for like, infusing water with flavor versus brewing tea in it.

anakha
Sep 16, 2009


graybook posted:

Maybe I should go for something like that. I picked up an H&F Belx bottle over a year ago where the steeping cage is at the bottom so that it's always in contact with the water, but I don't like that as much. I think the design's better for like, infusing water with flavor versus brewing tea in it.

Yeah, that bottle design is better for cold brewed coffee or tea. I use mine to make cold sencha or genmaicha by just leaving it in the fridge overnight.

Truck Stop Daddy
Apr 17, 2013

A janitor cleans the bathroom

Muldoon
Question about bricks/bings: How do you pry them open? I get the essentials - prying loose bits with a tea knife/needle, without damaging the leaves too much - but I'm a bit unsure what happens between the prying and the steeping. Do you just throw everything you pried free into the pot/gaiwan, sort out the broken smaller parts before throwing it in, or prying apart/breaking the bigger chunks into smaller pieces first? I've been going for the latter alternative, but notice that I get very few whole leaves in this way and mostly smaller bits.

This ripe tea I've been drinking (YS Hui Run 2017) seems fine brewed this way, if still a bit fishy. Which brings me to another topic: how long should fishy teas be aired, and what is meant by "airing out" more precisely? I store it in a ziplock, but let it out of the ziplock for a day when I first got it. Should I unwrap it while airing it out?

ulvir
Jan 2, 2005

the consensus is that leaves in a bing/brick is pressed in layers, so breaking them downwards would mean a lot of broken leaves. so long as the chunk can fit in my pot, I don’t bother breaking it apart any further. I also add loose leaves if the weight is still a couple of grams below desired. I throw in the loose bits into the pot first (or gaiwan if that’s your weapon of choice), and then the complete chunk on top of those. that will at least reduce the amount of broken leaves, but if the cake is heavily compressed it’s kind of difficult to avoid breaking any in the process of prying apart pieces

ulvir
Jan 2, 2005

as for airing out, I just keep it with its ziplock closed and it just slowly reduces the off-scent. you could try open ziplock for a day or two, but keeping it in the open environment could reduce the aroma and dry it out some, so don’t overdo it.

my 2018 blue label from YS had a funky smell when I first got it, but it smells just fine now

Agrinja
Nov 30, 2013

Praise the Sun!

Total Clam

ulvir posted:

as for airing out, I just keep it with its ziplock closed and it just slowly reduces the off-scent. you could try open ziplock for a day or two, but keeping it in the open environment could reduce the aroma and dry it out some, so don’t overdo it.

my 2018 blue label from YS had a funky smell when I first got it, but it smells just fine now

I'm a bit new to pu-erh myself. You mention a ziplock, should I be storing my bings in a closed environment? As is, I've been storing them in the paper they come wrapped in, in an unused cupboard I have.

ulvir
Jan 2, 2005

you generally want to protect them from the open environment as much as you can. keeping them just with the paper on the shelf without any more protection is probably going to make the dry-leaf aroma dissipate a whole lot pretty quickly, and that might impact taste as well (definitely for young raws, possibly ripes too). most vendors ship with ziplocks, so you could just use that, no problem. going all nerdy on storage is probably pointless when you're completely new.

Weltlich
Feb 13, 2006
Grimey Drawer
Would someone be kind enough as to recommend me a high-quality infuser?

I drink mostly rooibos tea, and literally drink it by the half gallon jug-full. I also tend to buy the stuff in bulk, and loose since it's the best value. To that end, I have a cheap-o ball infuser with screen-mesh siding, but the clasp as the back-end of the infuser is pretty loose, and tends to allow a significant portion of the rooibos "leaf" through, resulting in lots of floating botanicals in my tea. I still drink it, but I'd prefer it if the "leaves" stayed in the infuser.

My requirement, beyond it just being well made, is that it needs to hold at least 2 TBS of loose tea.

effika
Jun 19, 2005
Birds do not want you to know any more than you already do.

Weltlich posted:

Would someone be kind enough as to recommend me a high-quality infuser?

I drink mostly rooibos tea, and literally drink it by the half gallon jug-full. I also tend to buy the stuff in bulk, and loose since it's the best value. To that end, I have a cheap-o ball infuser with screen-mesh siding, but the clasp as the back-end of the infuser is pretty loose, and tends to allow a significant portion of the rooibos "leaf" through, resulting in lots of floating botanicals in my tea. I still drink it, but I'd prefer it if the "leaves" stayed in the infuser.

My requirement, beyond it just being well made, is that it needs to hold at least 2 TBS of loose tea.

Sup rooibos buddy

Finum makes a good one in multiple sizes--I have some at home and they work well.

At work I have a House Again Extra Fine Mesh Tea Strainer because it was on sale at Amazon. It works well too.

Stuporstar
May 5, 2008

Where do fists come from?

Weltlich posted:

Would someone be kind enough as to recommend me a high-quality infuser?

I drink mostly rooibos tea, and literally drink it by the half gallon jug-full. I also tend to buy the stuff in bulk, and loose since it's the best value. To that end, I have a cheap-o ball infuser with screen-mesh siding, but the clasp as the back-end of the infuser is pretty loose, and tends to allow a significant portion of the rooibos "leaf" through, resulting in lots of floating botanicals in my tea. I still drink it, but I'd prefer it if the "leaves" stayed in the infuser.

My requirement, beyond it just being well made, is that it needs to hold at least 2 TBS of loose tea.

This is the Finum filter I use and it's wonderful: https://www.amazon.com/Finum-63-421-70-00-Universal-Filter/dp/B002WB12I4

Though I bought it at a tea shop (Murchies) for less than $15 CDN, so I'm sure you could find a better deal on it somewhere else

Stuporstar fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Jan 25, 2019

Weltlich
Feb 13, 2006
Grimey Drawer

effika posted:

Sup rooibos buddy

Finum makes a good one in multiple sizes--I have some at home and they work well.

At work I have a House Again Extra Fine Mesh Tea Strainer because it was on sale at Amazon. It works well too.

Awesome. Also, what brands of rooibos are you getting these days? I've had good luck with Rooibos Rocks (and it's easy to get via Amazon) but I'm always looking for other suppliers.

Stuporstar posted:

This is the Finum filter I use and it's wonderful: https://www.amazon.com/Finum-63-421-70-00-Universal-Filter/dp/B002WB12I4

Though I bought it at a tea shop (Murchies) for less than $15 CDN, so I'm sure you could find a better deal on it somewhere else


Thanks! I'll see what kind of deals are going right now.

Weltlich fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Jan 25, 2019

effika
Jun 19, 2005
Birds do not want you to know any more than you already do.

Weltlich posted:

Awesome. Also, what brands of rooibos are you getting these days? I've had good luck with rooibos rocks (and it's easy to get via Amazon) but I'm always looking for other suppliers.



Thanks! I'll see what kind of deals are going right now.

I've been happy with the rooibos from Upton lately. Nice big leaves and seems pretty fresh.

Weltlich
Feb 13, 2006
Grimey Drawer

effika posted:

I've been happy with the rooibos from Upton lately. Nice big leaves and seems pretty fresh.

Awesome, I'll give them a look as well.

Stuporstar
May 5, 2008

Where do fists come from?
I've never tried yellow tea before, but an interesting one just came into my local tea shop here: https://mrmaxeystea.com/product/honeyfairyland-yellow/

I'm trying out these steeping recommendations: https://teatimemetime.com/honey-fairyland-1st-grade-yellow-tea-by-puer-zuxiang-highmountain-tea-garden-co/

I have to say this tea is incredible. Definitely picking up the creamy honey notes, even on the first steeping.

Truck Stop Daddy
Apr 17, 2013

A janitor cleans the bathroom

Muldoon
Testing out a taobao agent (tbfocus) for some ceramics. The selection on there is crazy large and I recognize a lot of teaware I've seen at western/english language vendors (only at a fraction of the cost most of the time, the markup is around 10x in some cases...). Ordered a beautiful tea tray for dry pouring, a pitcher, some cups and half a kilo (lol already ordered a bunch of Oolongs of YS) of yancha from . Hope the stuff manages to get here without breaking :S Due to chinese new years I most likely won't get it before the end of February or something tho.

tray (the small one):

ulvir
Jan 2, 2005

yikes, I still don’t feel confident in going the way of taobao

cute tray though

Truck Stop Daddy
Apr 17, 2013

A janitor cleans the bathroom

Muldoon
Revisited a japanese black tea I picked up last summer. Yomogi Zairai blend. Which I guess means it's an unknown japanese cultivar blended with japanese mugwort. Didn't get that many steeps out of it, but it was really nice stuff! Bright amber almost orange soup.

It's sort of weird nerding out on tea in isolation. I make stuff I like, but I always have this nagging feeling that I might not be doing it "correctly". Leaves in hot water isn't rocket science, and I guess it doesn't matter as long as I like the results, but I'd love to know if I'm getting the "right" flavours out of the stuff. Taste doesn't really translate so well into words...

I'll report on the taobao stuff once/if I receive my order haha. It's sort of cumbersome going through an agent, but if it works I'm defo going there first if I'm looking for teaware/bulk tea. Also, sorry for spamming up this thread

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013
I'm a big proponent of "correctly" being however it tastes best for you. So long as you're trying to figure out how you like it, you've succeeded.

I've just been throwing leaves into a small cast iron pot that I picked up somewhere in the last decade. It's being used for green oolongs and green teas (mostly the TeaVivre long jing and tie guan yin), and my only problem is leaves in the cup with the first steep where the leaves haven't fully expanded. Other than that, I don't know why I haven't been doing this for years.

thotsky
Jun 7, 2005

hot to trot
:justpost:

My brewing methods are all over the place. Doing it "correctly" is only important as far as you get pleasure out of doing it in whatever way you feel is correct.

ulvir
Jan 2, 2005

yeah, same. it’s only wrong if the tea tastes bad. so long as it tastes good I just roll with it

Truck Stop Daddy
Apr 17, 2013

A janitor cleans the bathroom

Muldoon
I agree and everything, what I'm thinking of is more in the line of having reference points in method I guess. There are so many different sources and wildly differing steeping suggestions. From flash brewing to minute steeps for the same teas with the same amounts of tea. It's sort of bewildering

I find it puzzling when reputable sources describe filling pots to the brim with leaves and steeping for 20+ secs with boiling water and stuff like that. They often go on to say that the result is more bitter than what is common in the west and so on, but still describe sweet and floral notes nonetheless. I can't imagine the tea ending up as anything but a purely bitter black soup. I reckon tea steeped like that is probably more bitter than I'd like, but it would be nice to know how much more bitter they mean.

I tend to use quite a lot of leaf, but with a short first steep and then adjust from there on. I tend to use boiling water, 5-7g for 100ml/around a 1/3 of a pot filled with leaves, 0 second rinse followed by a 5-10 second steep (adjusting from the color of the rinse) and then adjust from taste afterwards. Usually get good results this way, adjust leaf/steep amount the next time, if it doesn't work. Still need to experiment a bit more with the pot, to compensate for the time it takes to pour the tea.

Got my YS oolongs last night and tried the traditional tieluohan. Steeped it like above, got a reddish/orangy soup. Tastes and smells of dried fruit (prune, plum), some smoke? (couldn't stop thinking about hookah coal/tobacco while drinking it), some mineral, slightly bitter aftertaste. Nice stuff. Got a bunch of infusions out of it, but there was still more taste left when I stopped. Leaves were still pretty curled up and dark, so I dumped them in a big french press with some cold water and put it in the fridge overnight to see if I could get any more out of them... Guess I'll have a taste after work.

The tins I picked up that were supposed to fit 120g of tea barely fits 80g of unrolled oolongs, which was a sort of bummer. I guess the size reference for tins is for more compressed teas (which means the 250g tins in my taobao order probably won't do for the tea in the same order heh)...

thotsky
Jun 7, 2005

hot to trot
When doing gongfu with my little set I don't really do any "steeps" as such. Filling in the water, putting on the lid, and grabbing the gaiwan seems to be enough time for most of the teas I drink. Only at steeps 10+ will I let it sit.

ulvir
Jan 2, 2005

my own procedure is typically between 5-8g of tea in a 160ml pot. one rinse and then a bunch of ~5s steeps (this usually means putting down the kettle, putting on the lid and pour immediately after). when I notice the taste getting lighter (usually 5-6 steps later) I’ll start adding 5s to each steep. actual steep time might be longer due to the time it takes to pour, but I rarely have any overly bitter brew with young sheng this way

Truck Stop Daddy
Apr 17, 2013

A janitor cleans the bathroom

Muldoon
My puerhs tend to come out nicely. Haven't managed to make a truly bad cup of puerh yet. The oolongs seem slightly more complicated. Second attempt I did in the yixing pot, with a dancong I already had enjoyed 80g of, turned out not so good for example...

I've usually timed my infusions from I put the lid back on until I start pouring. I'm testing some more tieluohan tonight. It was good in yesterday's session, but I'll shorten the steep time a bit and do it in a smaller gaiwan.

ulvir
Jan 2, 2005

I usually go on the lower end with leaves when I brew oolongs, blacks and whites, between 4-5g, and I tend to just use a glaced pot for those, as well (similar size as the other I mentioned, though)

Reiterpallasch
Nov 3, 2010



Fun Shoe
temperature also plays a huge role in an infusion and interacts weirdly with both brewing time and leaf/water ratio; some of the really wild japanese teas are best with outrageously cool (65-70C?) water for a minute or more even on the first infusion

Truck Stop Daddy
Apr 17, 2013

A janitor cleans the bathroom

Muldoon
Boiling or close to boiling seems about right for these darker oolongs. Will do a test and brew it more western style with less leaf and 90c water I think and minute long steeps, just out of curiosity.

Did a new round of tieluohan last night in my gaiwan. Less leaf than I had planned (the bottom of the bag that didn't fit in my tins) and slightly longer steeps to compensate. Must've been around 3g for 100ml. Tasted more or less the same as last time, but ended up as a weaker brew due to less leaf. No bitterness though (or was it astringency? is there a differenec?) . Read up a bit on the tieluohan and yancha in general afterwards, and the tastes I got out of it seems to be right. I had noticed a sort of mineral? aftertaste at the back of the throat, and I assume this is the "yanyun" taste that come up a lot in the yancha descriptions.

Also, for the northerners in here: had a look on the gong fu cha user group on facebook last night and stumbled upon a teahouse in Norway I've not seen mentioned before. Apparently theres a chinese teahouse in Melhus??? It seems to be located in the offices of a rock quarry or something. It's sort of bizarre and I have no idea how can they not go bankrupt doing this in Melhus... Their webshop seems to be a barely functioning mess. Judging from the pics they seem to be tea spergs https://www.facebook.com/AROMA.TEA.HOUSES

ulvir
Jan 2, 2005

Truck Stop Daddy posted:

Also, for the northerners in here: had a look on the gong fu cha user group on facebook last night and stumbled upon a teahouse in Norway I've not seen mentioned before. Apparently theres a chinese teahouse in Melhus??? It seems to be located in the offices of a rock quarry or something. It's sort of bizarre and I have no idea how can they not go bankrupt doing this in Melhus... Their webshop seems to be a barely functioning mess. Judging from the pics they seem to be tea spergs https://www.facebook.com/AROMA.TEA.HOUSES

:staredog:

thotsky
Jun 7, 2005

hot to trot
what are tea spergs?

stealie72
Jan 10, 2007

Their eyes locked and suddenly there was the sound of breaking glass.
\

Biomute posted:

what are tea spergs?
They're like ice spergs, but made of tea. . . . :rimshot:

Truck Stop Daddy
Apr 17, 2013

A janitor cleans the bathroom

Muldoon
very much into tea i guess. spotted a bunch of yixing, tables chairs, elaborate setups and whatnot in those pics

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013

Truck Stop Daddy posted:

No bitterness though (or was it astringency? is there a differenec?) . Read up a bit on the tieluohan and yancha in general afterwards, and the tastes I got out of it seems to be right. I had noticed a sort of mineral? aftertaste at the back of the throat, and I assume this is the "yanyun" taste that come up a lot in the yancha descriptions.

Astringency is that taste in many Darjeelings that coats the back of your throat and dries out the palate (like an unripe persimmon). Bitterness is a strong taste that's opposed to sweet. It comes off as nearly acrid for me a lot of the time. Steep an English or Irish Breakfast tea for too long and that's the bitterness flavor mostly. You can cover bitterness with milk and sugar, but astringency doesn't get balanced away as easily.

Xun
Apr 25, 2010

We were gifted this tea set but we have no idea what kind of tea it actually is. Can anyone here read the Chinese? Hopefully it is more descriptive than the English.

Truck Stop Daddy
Apr 17, 2013

A janitor cleans the bathroom

Muldoon
bad duolingo chinese and some googling lead me to believe it's some sort of wuyi tea

Reiterpallasch
Nov 3, 2010



Fun Shoe

Xun posted:

We were gifted this tea set but we have no idea what kind of tea it actually is. Can anyone here read the Chinese? Hopefully it is more descriptive than the English.



The actual Chinese text is thoroughly unhelpful, but it does mention the brand name. The company seems to specialize in tieguanyins from Anxi, Fujian, but there's nothing on the box to confirm that one way or the other--and they certainly do have a Wuyishan subsidiary. These sorts of gift sets usually contain individually packaged bags of tea; is there any more descriptive text on those?

Xun
Apr 25, 2010

Nope! Just 6 blank jars of tea, a cute teapot, and some matching cups lol. They all smell and look the same so I guess we can just assume they're identical :iiam:

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

anakha
Sep 16, 2009


I'll be travelling to Tokyo at the end of the month, and I'd like to stock up on sencha and hojicha while I'm there. I prefer cold-brewing my loose-leaf tea, so I'm not sure that getting the higher-end stuff will be worth it, though.

Do you guys have any shop or brand recommendations? Thanks!

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply