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I'm not new to loose leaf tea, but I have a couple of questions because I'm trying to up my game. As is, I'm making use of a regular if-a-bit-large teapot and an adjustable kettle to make what I personally regard as pretty decent black tea. I've been picking my way through Adagio's selection, and I like their Golden Monkey best when I feel like springing for it. Based on that, I'm not sure what else to try, I did pick up a sampler of their Chinese blacks, and am about to start on that. I've already gone through their sampler of Indian blacks. I plan on picking up the oolong sampler next. As is, I'm not sure what to do about green tea. The few times I've done it, I've mostly created a sea-weedy mess that gave me a stomach ache. I'm probably brewing too hot. Anyway, I picked a cheap gaiwan up off of Amazon, it arrives tomorrow, and I've been reading how to use it. They all seem to agree that you fill the gaiwan about a quarter full with leaves, but I've been finding some conflicting recommendations for how long to do each infusion. Some sites are putting infusion steep times down as little as 7-10 seconds, others are pushing more into the 1 minute territory for a first steep. Does anybody have a recommended how-to-gaiwan guide, or advice? I'd like to get this right. I've also got a Ti Kuan Yin sample from Adagio that I've tried, but I think I'm screwing it up somehow as well, and I'd like to make it 'correctly.' Agrinja fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Jul 16, 2018 |
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Jul 16, 2018 21:16
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 01:38 |
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I appreciate the advice everybody gave. So, small trip report, I got the gaiwan today and took it out for a try with three teas. I did Adagio's Ti Kuan Yin, and it was more than a bit weak. I think I need to use hotter water, I was hitting it with roughly 195F. Longer steep times and boiling water got a pretty good result out of Adagio's Yunnan Jig, I thought it was interesting how the 3rd infusion was the only one I got a really mineral hit off of. I tried their Pu Erh Dante the same way, and mostly got 'old leaf pile' out of it. Sort of a compost smell/taste, which was pretty good in a remarkably strange way. I need to experiment more.
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Jul 18, 2018 02:15
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bitprophet posted:Agree. Also their CEO is apparently quite a scumbag (harassing LGBT employees, etc). Sucks. This sucks, I've been buying up their samples like mad as I try and figure out what I like and don't before I graduate to more specialty suppliers. I guess I'm going to have to make that move a little sooner. TeaVivre seems about the way to go there, yeah? I've got green and oolong samples in the mail, but as is, my jam seems to be Chinese blacks. I ordered some of their Golden Monkey to try, I really liked Adagio's. I also really liked their Fujian.
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Jul 25, 2018 01:48
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Maybe my sense of taste is jacked up, but so far every oolong I gongfu seems to come out week unless I'm steeping close to 45s or something early, and even then things just aren't that strong. Could I be missing something or are these just more delicate than I thought they would be? I do half wonder if it's just a palate issue. I'm new to these, used to strong blacks, and often have sinus trouble, but I get taste out of the greens I've tried mostly fine. So far it's mostly Adagio sampler oolongs plus TeaVivre's Yellow Goddess.
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Jul 29, 2018 17:05
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Alright, thank you. I'll try to toss some more leaves in the gaiwan. I'll also wait longer after my rinse. Is that important? As is, I've been dousing the leaves in hot water, quickly pouring it off, then going about the business of making tea.
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Jul 29, 2018 21:28
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Thank you for all this. Too little leaf seems to have been the problem. I went and got a cheap gram scale for consistency, but yeah, adding more seems to have solved it. I really appreciate it because now I get to appreciate all these samples I've got. So far I'm digging this Huang Guanyin I got from TeaVivre, it vaguely reminds me of cigar tobacco in the best ways.
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Jul 30, 2018 13:58
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Out of curiosity, what's the going opinion on TeaVivre's oolongs? I'm gradually working through them, liking them, but not sure what I'm getting in the grand scheme of things. So far I've mostly seem people rave over their dragonwell. Did pick up some of the charcoal baked Ti Kuan Yin that's on 40%, I've got good hopes for it.
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Aug 2, 2018 16:30
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Thank you all very much, I'll have to give a look over. So far, oolongs are a bit of a mess to sort through compared to blacks, but it's been interesting and fun.
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Aug 5, 2018 16:01
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Does anybody here ever actually throw booze in their tea? Hot tea, I mean? It just kind of dawned on me that I've only ever really seen or thought about hard iced teas.
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Aug 13, 2018 19:11
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Stuporstar posted:I don't know if I should I'd be in love if it wasn't dicks, that color scheme and shape kills. Aside from getting into the gaiwan thing, a very been drinking a lot of "grandpa style" tea. Any advice for choosing a mug there? As is, it seems like it gets weak if I drink the cup too deeply, but most of my mugs are mug shaped. I wonder if a taller vessel would work better.
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Aug 16, 2018 17:53
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this (weirdly expensive) teacup, but I can't not link this:
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I'm going to have to try the rum. I'm still hammering at oolongs, and I keep getting Ti Guan Yin in samples and all that. It's kind of remarkable to be because it's gradually gone from tasting like vegetable water to having what I would describe as a floral melon taste. I know palettes develop, but it's neat to see in action. Might be worth sticking with other "meh" teas of good quality, too.
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Aug 17, 2018 12:10
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I'm feeling that teacup envy. That looks really nice.
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Sep 3, 2018 00:37
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Do silver cups change the taste of tea? I can't seem to find a definitive answer on this, and I found a small teacup that really takes my fancy, but has a silver lining.
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Oct 17, 2018 19:51
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Thank you, that's terribly convenient because it's a Crimson Lotus cup that I was admiring.
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Oct 17, 2018 23:05
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I seem to remember a tea book that was posted a while back, but I can't seem to find it. It was general information and things on terroir, the first edition was expensive but the updated version was much more reasonably priced. Which was it? Thank you kindly.
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Oct 31, 2018 11:12
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It was the first, thank you kindly.
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Oct 31, 2018 15:18
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So I just drank my way through Crimson Lotus' "What is Puerh?" tasting set to dip my toes into what pu has to offer. I liked the 2016 sheng "Hidden Song" pretty well. I liked the 2005 sheng "Top of the Clouds" even better. I hoped I would like the 2014 shou "Iron Forge" better than I did. It was altogether too mellow, no bite at all and a weak flavor compared to either sheng. Is that typical of shou character? The mouth feel was delightfully thick, the liquor nicely dark, but I think I want something a bit more harsh. Are there sharper tasting shous, or is the style just not for me? I prepared all three gongfu style, and was amazed at the way the aged sheng just wouldn't quit.
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Nov 1, 2018 01:54
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Given that I really liked Top of the Clouds, do you have any recommendations as to where to go from here? I'm still learning, and there seems to be a ton of stuff out there. My next thought was to pick up a few of White2Tea's "Basics" packs, taste a little more, learn a little more. The more I look, the deeper the puerh hole seems to go.
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Nov 1, 2018 03:43
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Alright, thank you, I appreciate the guidance. I've heard good things about Yunnan Sourcing, but wow does their inventory run deep.
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Nov 1, 2018 14:22
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Does anybody have any suggestions for how to store cakes of puerh while you're drinking them? The wrapper no longer fits quite so tightly, and is starting to wear from getting opened over and over again. How do you keep your broken cakes?
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Nov 10, 2018 04:41
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I've read that puerh has less caffeine than other styles, but after a session I find myself way more buzzing than with other sorts. Is this common?
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Nov 27, 2018 01:43
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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. 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.
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Jan 23, 2019 17:51
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colas posted:Can anyone recommend a strong ginger tea? Seconding this. Ginger kicks rear end.
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Mar 14, 2020 22:17
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I'll have to try that. Loved this stuff I got from an Asian grocery store once. The box contained very few English words outside of "ginger" and the mix came as powder in tiny little foil packets with what I think were Chinese characters on them.
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Mar 14, 2020 22:38
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I have an RO system that puts a splitter on the cold line and a line into the drain and the result is that I have a separate cold tap that dispenses only perfect water that I love for tea and it makes my hydro setup love me too.
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Mar 19, 2020 23:38
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Death Vomit Wizard posted:Interesting. Do you know if the system re-mineralizes the water at all, or leaves it akin to distilled water? Pure RO water for tea gets a lot of hate, due to the polyphenols not having anything to latch onto for extraction. I genuinely have no idea but I like the taste of my tea? The best I can say is that my TDS meter says I get about 22ppm out of the clean tap. When the plague isn't going around, I'll try some spring water and see if it perks up.
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Mar 22, 2020 00:50
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Anonymous Robot posted:Dumb question, but humor me. When preparing tea gong fu style, the leaves are steeped for let’s say fifteen seconds, then cups are poured. Now, we next want to sample the tea at thirty seconds. We would add more hot water to the gaiwan and wait an additional fifteen seconds, yes? Not thirty. The later your steeps get, the more you might want to bump your time up. My final steeps get up into the minute mark, but that's largely because I like strength.
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Apr 27, 2020 22:35
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A favorite tea is now undrinkable because of tannins. I just got so sick. Is there a way to cut this without milk and still get good flavor? I'm lactose intolerant and I'm open to trying a small amount of milk if it won't make me ill.
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Nov 11, 2023 14:49
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This is great. Thank you all, going to experiment and retry.
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Nov 11, 2023 19:08
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Nettle Soup posted:You could try goats milk. It's much easier on the gut. I'm interested but where would I look for such a thing? I'm going to google, I've never actually seen it for sale.
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Nov 11, 2023 22:52
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Huh. Had no idea. I'm trying lactose free milk tonight, the others weren't available. Thanks y'all so much.
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Nov 12, 2023 01:26
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That's so cursed. How do people do that? My mom would just leave the bag in eternally and that's its own problem.
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Dec 1, 2023 15:58
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 01:38 |
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It would be nice to have a good selection of chinese offerings
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Dec 9, 2023 04:07
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