Let's boil leaves: Tea and things that aren't technically Tea

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Let's boil leaves: Tea and things that aren't technically Tea

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

I've been baggin' it at work, since we don't have a lot of facility for proper tea brewing.

Does anyone have experience with something like this: http://www.teavana.com/tea-gift-center/tea-gift-sets/p/tea-voyager-travel-kit ?

It seems like a good idea right now, but I feel like the infuser may be a bit porous and it could potentially scotch this idea.

Am I better off just suffering through Tips while I'm at work?

# ¿ Dec 11, 2013 23:43

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 21:23

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

So, I got this for Xmas, along with a nice selection of leaves. Has anyone experience with this particular unit?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C4OE79K/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=G6YBVWMARMOD&coliid=IFE82OEMQ2ZDH

# ¿ Jan 2, 2014 00:59

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

coyo7e posted:

Now on to my next (non-consumable) tea-related purchase, I want to find a nice vacuum bottle or thermos for day hiking and camping, etc. The main thing here is that it can keep liquids hot for 4-6 hours of a hike (or the time it'd take to get to the campsite, get half-unpacked, and desire a nice cuppa,) and that it hold an enormous amount of liquid. Also, no leaks!

I checked out around and found that 2 liters (68 oz) seems to be about the biggest size possible and I have no problem carrying 5 lbs around in a backpack for a couple hours, for the chance to enjoy a nice hot cup of tea and lunch on a mountaintop or at the foot of a waterfall with some company. Does anyone have experience with anything of this size? Zojirushi's (apparently) only offering has some iffy-sounding reviews about its durability, so I was thinking it may be wiser to go with a Thermos brand one, and frankly I don't have a clue of what other brands to look for, or if any are worthwhile.

http://www.zojirushi.com/products/sfcc

Zojirushi can be lost in the frozen tundra for 3 days and still be piping hot.

# ¿ Jan 28, 2014 23:31

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

User tip: Don't drop it out of a car "a couple times". A lot of high-capacity Thermos-type products contain a glass interior.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2014 23:57

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

Matcha Cupcakes. Yes, please.

http://needmorenoms.blogspot.com/2011/03/matcha-cupcakes.html

# ¿ Mar 6, 2014 23:46

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

milpreve posted:

These are the people who say our monkey picked oolong sample tastes like bath water.

I don't buy much from Teavana, but I got some of that monkey-picked oolong for Solstice and I think it's fantastic. It's pricey as gently caress, but it's a good drink.

# ¿ Mar 22, 2014 03:30

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

Battle Pigeon posted:

The US teapigs website is now live: http://www.teapigs.com/

A little costly, but nice for something special. I really like their oolong, their super fruit, and spiced winter red tea.

Excellent. I love a good oolong.

Anyone else have Teapigs suggestions?

# ¿ Apr 29, 2014 16:09

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

FAUXTON posted:

Seconding monkey picked oolong for iced tea, it's amazing.

It's amazing, full stop.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2014 03:02

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

DontAskKant posted:

Much better than the southern method. Boil lipton black tea until bitter add hell then add syrup until it tastes good. Still had a soft spot with me, but soo unhealthy. I'll give the cold brew method a shot.

Stop, you're making me nostalgic.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2014 14:01

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

This came up in my feed reading today. Pretty interesting.

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3034333/infographic-of-the-day/the-alchemy-of-tea-illustrated?partner=rss

# ¿ Aug 19, 2014 03:29

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

I only heat my water with dragon's breath. That's they way St. George did it.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2014 14:33

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

milpreve posted:

Upton's Christmas tea is pretty delicious.

Is it better than their god-awful Monk's Blend?

# ¿ Oct 27, 2014 22:22

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

I hate giving Teavana money (especially a lot of it), but I've not found an Oolong that I like as well as their Monkey Picked Oolong. I've tried many different Oolong options from Upton, and the usual suspects, but I can't find anything quite like it.

Any suggestions?

# ¿ Dec 3, 2014 16:52

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

taters posted:

Here are a few different price point options.

Lowest Acceptable Quality (in my opinion, also it varies by lot/year)
http://smile.amazon.com/Numi-Organic-Loose-Kuan-Ounce/dp/B00FOLTIQW/ approx $30/lb

Pretty Good
http://www.silkroadteas.com/golden-jade-oolong-huang-guan-yin/ $60 ish
http://www.silkroadteas.com/snow-pear-oolong-xue-li/ $60 ish

Good High Elevation (monkey picked, not actually picked by monkeys though)
http://www.silkroadteas.com/monkey-picked-ma-liu-mie/ $100 ish

The Good poo poo
http://www.silkroadteas.com/drunken-concubine-zui-gui/ between $140 to $180/lb depending on season. I drink this one personally, its outstanding.

I would start with the cheaper stuff until you have the preparation method down. TGY is a pretty durable tea compared to other chinese tea but you can still easily ruin it with to hot or too long steeps. When in doubt, colder and shorter.

Thank you for your suggestions. Some of those look quite nice.

# ¿ Dec 6, 2014 21:37

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

chunkles posted:

Which Upton oolongs did you try? I recently went through a bunch of oolong samples from them. In case you missed it, the second grade tieguanyin was one of the best, cheapest, and is on the greener side.

I'd have to go through my order history for the others, but this is the one currently in rotation: https://secure.uptontea.com/store/item.asp?itemID=ZO80

# ¿ Dec 6, 2014 21:38

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

I grew up on coma inducing sweet tea in the South and I finally managed to develop a taste for unsweetened hot tea. I'd like to move away from the bag stuff is there something inexpensive but nice you guys could recommend?

What kind of baggies have you been drinking?

# ¿ Dec 11, 2014 16:31

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

Ahhhhhhhhhhh yeahhhhhhhhhhh

I decided to walk down to the Vietnamese super market for lunch and not only did I find a large assortment of teas but they also had BLACK loving RICE AND FROZEN SARDINES.

I'm looking forward to cooking when I get home.

edit: Anyway I grabbed some bagged oolong tea and a canister of Jasmine. It was all pretty cheap.

Oolong is fantastic, if it's right. It is, however, probably going to initially taste "weaker" than you're used to. Most people steep the poo poo out of store-bought bags until they almost taste like coffee, so follow the steeping directions with the Oolong carefully, so it doesn't get bitter.

I keep these two in fairly standard morning rotation, depending on how I feel. Both are excellent, and should be a pretty easy transition from bagged black teas.

Upton Scottish Breakfast Blend
Upton Tippy Orthodox GFOP Assam

# ¿ Dec 11, 2014 23:39

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

CommonShore posted:

http://guinteapig.blogspot.ca/

I'm up to 6 teas on my blog. I'm not so much fishing for hits as I am for discussion or fact-checking - it's easier for me to link the blog than it is for me to double-post all of the pics.

I like your seeming methodology of "let's find the tea in the coolest tin". At least if the tea sucks, you've got a cool keepsake.

# ¿ Dec 12, 2014 14:56

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

So my co-workers are going on about "Matcha" green tea. My guess is there are some infomercials about the stuff atm? From what I've read it's definitely healthier but it seems like someone could get a lot of the same benefits by just powdering other teas.

If you're having issues with caffeine, then probably not a great idea. Though it doesn't have as much caffeine as coffee or black teas, you can pretty easily overdo it. :11tea:

# ¿ Dec 15, 2014 17:41

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

evilolive posted:

I've drank PG Tips for my entire life so far. I've had tea drinkers laugh at me but I like the stuff. Am I drinking the Milwaukee's Best of tea? Should I be embarrassed?

No. PG is a good milky cup. You should be embarrassed if you're drinking Celestial Seasonings or Bigelow's.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2015 06:11

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

milpreve posted:

http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?UTid=301-18-22333303&afterCart=/shopcart/item.asp&itemID=ZS80
This is the best lapsang I've ever had.

And darned economical.

# ¿ Jan 22, 2015 01:01

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

Butch Cassidy posted:

I was served some bagged Taylor's Scottish breakfast the other day and the style seems promising. Any suggestions for better cost:quality and loose-leaf examples of Scottish breakfast?

Upton Teas Scottish Breakfast Blend - TB14

I've ordered this several times. I am in fact drinking it at this moment. It's pretty great.

# ¿ Feb 4, 2015 18:45

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

The Devil Tesla posted:

Actually, the perfect cup is a tea that doesn't need milk.

There is plenty of room for both.

I don't normally milk, because I drink a lot of oolong, but I will milk a strong black....and sometime's i'll sugar that fucker (though this is usually reserved for a bag emergency).

# ¿ Feb 25, 2015 04:00

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

Ineffiable posted:

Heads up guys, if you get an order over $30 (and you should) at teavivre, you can use coupon code WITSTEA8 for another $8 off! applies to the black friday items too!

You may have to play around with it, it wouldn't let me do it until I added the samples.

I ordered literally an hour before you posted this. My wallet has a sad.

# ¿ Nov 27, 2015 18:57

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

I'm usually an Upton guy, but I made an order with Teavivre on the strength of their Black Friday sale. Since the tracking information is in Chinese, I don't know what's going on.

How long does an order usually take to arrive from Teavivre?

# ¿ Dec 9, 2015 21:13

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

Jhet posted:

Not terribly long, but it is coming direct from China so it may have to sit at customs. They package it well so it's not really a concern. I think the last time I ordered it took about 10 days total? It took longer when I ordered from India, but it's been a while so I don't remember exactly.

Thanks. They tried to deliver it today. 11 days. Not terrible.

# ¿ Dec 10, 2015 00:43

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:

What temp do you guys steep your oolongs? This Uptons stuff says 190, but is that gospel or should I try it a little higher?

edit: Uptons Extra Bergamot Earl Gray is the Earl Gray I've been looking for my whole life.

Both of these things are correct.

Upton's know their teas pretty well.

# ¿ May 8, 2016 03:02

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 21:23

XBenedict: May 23, 2006; YOUR LIPS SAY 0, BUT YOUR EYES SAY 1.

Thoht posted:

Well, here's the first google result.

Those hipsters in the picture are enough to convince me that it's bullshit.

# ¿ May 24, 2017 19:48

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Let's boil leaves: Tea and things that aren't technically Tea