Let's get a /tea/ thread started again.
>>7472812
Sure. I like tea but as far as I've gone is using loose leaf stuff but not paying any attention to water temp or infusion time.
I find that i like darker, and especially earthy stuff most. Fruity or sweeter stuff with mango or jasmine is good but i tend to dislike grassy flavors.
Anyway, what's /ck/'s opinion of the tao of tea's stuff? I found a discounted bag of their rooibos (one of favorites) and it's really good. I was thinking about ordering some more of their teas. There's a ton of them though. Any suggestions?
>>7472851
Water temperature and infusion time is about the most important things to consider when making tea. Which would explain why you don't like grassy teas, as they get ruined very quickly if handled the wrong way. Flowery types or rooibos can usually handle the higher temps without any issue.
>>7472812
Been trying out the chinese method of brewing (think its gong hu but cant be bothered to look it up). Really like how it makes drinking tea an activity, it forces you to focus on the taste more instead of drinking a mug while i browse the internet, also the taste is fairly different
Is there a matcha everyone would recommend?
as a noobie i've found this book really helpful
https://mega.nz/#!3Q4GBR6D!QfHCM2hRQhZ2H_gOQVne5hlgCzqY3bY_GQW_0e9ubcs
I buy Japanese-grown sencha a third of a kilo at a time. I avoid anything from China because much of their soil still has unacceptable levels of lead due to leaded gasoline remaining in use until 2003.
>>7473146
Just avoid the "culinary grade" shit from China.
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/lead-contamination-of-tea/
>>7473281
seems interesting, will definitely read it, thanks anon
>>7473146
Ippodo from Japan has great matcha.
>>7473333
I second this, Ippodo is great. Even their lower grade stuff is better than most other brands.
anyone know any EU based tea import companies, most of the sites i've found were US based and the shipping to europe was a bit high.
So far I've found that chinalife and teasenz ship fairly cheap, you know of any others?
>>7473382
Palais Des Thes is about the best you can get in Europe, shame is once you start with them, everything else is a lesser option.
![pc1_l[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/o00w50u.jpg "pc1_l[1].jpg")
>>7473333
>>7473336
Thanks! They have a starter kit I might try
>>7473130
Gung fu cha or kung fu tea. And you should read the book of tea. Its almost like applying that focus to any mundane act like brewing tea makes it a ritual and makes you appreciate the moment
>>7473036
>flowery
Not necessarily. >>7472851 said he prefers darker, earthy stuff which leads me to think of puehr. Puehr can withstand long steeping times and really hot water so that's what he's probably drinking right. Floral tea can be just as delicate as any other green out there. The herbal teas would withstand longer steeping better than flowers.
I got some Assam, should I still brew it gong fu? It seems weird brewing an Indian/English tea non-western.
>>7472812
I'm going to taiwan soon and don't know much about tea, what types/brands should I buy to bring back home?
Hi all! I'm looking for any good tisane recommendation if you have them. In addition to that, where is the best place you've found to buy chamomile from?
>>7473909
taiwan has the best oolong. If you've got money to spend look for lishan and dayuling, they're famous high mountain variants. Otherwise you cant go wrong with a "Oriental Beauty" I think the native name is pomfong.
>>7473447
>buying a weeb kit
Just use a milk frother and a regular cup you autistic piece of shit
>>7474126
I have one of those. Use a frother instead of the whisk though.
>>7475004
Yeah. Frother is definitely easier to use. I just have the rest of the gear as decoration around the apartment really.
>>7475004
Frother is easier and better. The bamboo whisk is just the traditional way, so unless you're in Japan drinking it ceremonial style use a frother.
Is a tetsubin a good choice for sencha?
How come Indian teas seem to resteep so badly compared to Chinese and Japanese teas?
Frothers cause mechanical heat and manual whisks are easier enough.
>>7476747
>frothers cause mechanical heat
What does this even mean?
>>7476751
Mixing a liquid moves the molecules around and the resulting friction generates heat.
You know how if you bend a paper clip back and forth a bunch of times the section where you bent it gets hot to the touch? same concept. If you put water in a blender, measure its temperature, then blend it for a while and measure the temp again you will see that the temperature increased due to the friction created by mixing.
>>7476762
And why is this a problem? We're talking about a 70-80 degrees hot liquid. Even if it gets one degree hotter who the hell cares except autist fucks like you?
>>7476784
>And why is this a problem?
I have no idea. That was my first post in the thread. I was simply answering your question about how frothers cause heat. I have no idea why it might be a problem here.
>>7476786
Nobody asked about frothers and mechanical heat.
Has anyone used a drip coffee maker to make tea? Would it work well for black tea?
>>7478355
Id assume it would turn out too bitter and astringent but worth a try I guess
You could probably make rosemary tea right now if you wanted to.
Why don't you?
>>7478503
Because it'd be a tisane, not a tea.
>>7478503
Because it'd be a waste of rosemary.
Some vendors are starting to get 2016 dragon well in, I want to make a huge order but I have no money at the moment. Life is suffering.
>>7478503
I could probably make grass tea but I won't because it's fucking stupid.
just bought a gaiwan set, just a shitty essentials plain white one, still pretty hype, dont have to make gong fu with a bowl anymore
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-coming-10pcs-1-travel-kung-fu-tea-white-travel-kungfu-tea-set-for-Puer-tea/1729518950.html
>>7479896
My nigga. Long Jing up in here.
>>7479896
I just drank my first ever dragon well few days ago and even though it was from last years harvest, damn was it good. I didn't even finish what I have and I kinda want to order some fresh one anyways.
>>7473382
I buy tea from a small UK-based reseller called What-cha. Never really tried anything else but it is way better than my local shit. Most of their Taiwanese oolongs are from Mountain Tea which i've seen mentioned in these threads before (as some sort of proof of quality). Can't say i've enjoyed everything i've bought from them but some tea has been really good.
They don't have any flavored shit though so if that's what you want i guess you should check out Palais Des Thes.
>>7480281
Dragon well is so good. No real need to buy anything else.
How long to infuse Gunpowder so it tastes less like liquid wood?
>>7482854
Really depends on the gunpowder. Some of it is really cheap and meant to be mixed.
I usually do two-three minutes on 75.
>>7473283
>>7473285
As someone with dental fluorosis I've always avoided drinking matcha despite it being one of my favorite teas. Now I have another reason to be afraid of drinking matcha. Thanks.
Guess I'll stick to my gyokuro. Same tea, just machine cut instead of powdered so you can strain the leaves. I have trouble finding stores that sell it though.
>>7479896
ktf, really tempted to buy from yunnan sourcing but I'm still kinda new to this tea thing, I'm afraid of wasting a ton of money on high quality stuff then not being able to tell a significant difference
>>7482956
Gyokuro is way expensive though. Usually $100 for 50 grams.
>>7483106
Adagio sells it at $80 a pound (450 grams)
I've started mixing a small teaspoon of Lapchang Souchang into my regular self-mixed Assam/Ceylon breakfast tea. Adds a really nice smoky depth to it.
>>7473285
What's the lead content in premium Chinese teas? I mean premium Chinese teas aren't grown in industrial areas as far as I know. More rural areas and then processed in smaller family owned "factories". Do you think it's still a problem with lead in those cases?
>tfw can't drink chinese tea because of lead
>tfw can't drink japanese tea because of radiation
We're all fucked.
>>7486399
Japan has extremely high standards when it comes to food preparations. They test for that kind of stuff.
>>7482956
Why can't you drink matcha due to your condition?
dis gon be good
This keemun is dank, but haven't tried the other two yet.
>>7483106
Whoa wtf is that? Looks like spider legs.
>>7488358
Silver needle.
How do you guys regulate your water temperature? Fancy kettles with temp settings, thermometers or just gut feeling?
>>7489226
I use a thermometer, but mine's currently broken, so I eyeball it for now.
>>7489226
I used a thermometer to check temperature at various boiling times and now I just pull the kettle off when it sounds right.
For example, when it is loud and rumbling but hasn't yet started to boil, then I know it's ~75°
>>7489226
Fun fact: the boiling temperature of water is pretty much the same at any given altitude
>>7489226
$10 kitchen thermometer
>>7489226
I've been going by gut feeling and cooling my shit up by pouring it from one vessel to another, but I'll be using my beer-brewing thermometer to check my gut soon. Going by taste it's not too bad.
>>7489226
I cook the water in a kitchen aid 5KEK - has a handy lever to set the temp.
>>7479142
Tisanes are teas just like rectangles are squares
pleb
>>7489404
No. One uses the actual tea plant, and the other doesn't.
>>7489404
Rectangles are not squares.
Squares are rectangles.
>>7489398
>that price
Does it come with blowjobs included?
>>7489447
Which is perfect analogy because tisanes aren't tea. Tea are tisanes.
I love the chinalife youtube channel, they're such shills and often wrong but damn it's relaxing to listen to
>>7490614
A lot of people have claimsd that Chinalife are either bullshitting or lying but nobody have ever given an example when. Will you be the first?
>>7488387
The fuck is that?
Is lavender tea a tea or a tisane? Be honest. I can take it.
>>7489255
This. I use a thermometer to get an idea of what each temp feel/looks like and then do that. I boil my water in a pot.
>>7491999
Infusing lavender by itself is a tisane, since lavendula aren't camellia sinensis.
Mixing lavender into tea proper is flavoured tea.
>>7492096
That's dumb. Chamomile and mint is not camellia sinensis but no one not autistic is saying the chamomile and mint tea is really a tisane.
>>7492363
Only know-nothing white women think chamomile and mint are teas instead of tisane.
>>7492363
Stop posting in this thread please.
>>7492363
Is it actually a variety of the tea plant?
No?
It's a tisane.
TEA THREAD!
Is there a place where I can buy unmixed tea?
For example, buy the green tea base and then the whatever flavorings I want separately?
>>7493075
Anywhere
Totally new to the tea game. I never drank it my whole life, but my stomach cant handle coffee and I need to stop drinking Mountain Dew and energy drinks every day to stay awake. Where do I start? I know absolutely nothing nothing about tea except my dad game me some earl gray or some shit and it was ok, and i enjoyed dipping the gay little cookies in it, shit was delicious.
Anyway. Culture me on tea.
>>7493455
Drink your daddys earl grey and come back in two years
Pu'erh master race coming through
>>7492889
That's dumb. What is the tisane plant?
>>7493075
Depending what you want to add, literally anywhere. If you mean like, predried fruit or whatever, then the grocery store, ya git.
>>7493768
What do you mean by this? I am 27 and seriously concerned with my health from drinking pop for my caffiene intake.
>>7491832
Sure anon! So, in the recent video they drank tea from 1000+ year old trees. Great. Except there's no easy way to confirm that those teas are that age and if they HAVE been confirmed they're likely under protection, (almost) all 1000+ year old tea tree teas are bullshit marketed to the naive. (and they are selling them too, hence shilling)
If there was a way to confirm and they had, do you really think they could sell the cake for that price? Some aged factory pu-erh goes for thousands of dollars even though the quality isn't great. There can't be more than a handful of trees that old (think of all the shit they'd have to survive! that's a long time) and the best tea from them would costs a fortune.
http://www.marshaln.com/2015/12/verdant-tea-strikes-again/ <- Not the same vendor and the price IS more for this, but still, this person goes into depth about the issue more than I am
If you want more examples just ask! This was just first on my mind
>>7493816
Tisane doesn't take it's name from a plant. It takes it name from the Latin and Ancient Greek 'to crush' in the context of preparing barley water. IE, it's the name you give to something that's been crushed up and prepared to be drunk in a hot drink.
>get given a bag of loose leaf green tea by a Japanese friend
>always tastes like shit, don't drink it for ages
>learnt Japanese over the last 6 months
>found the bag of tea at the back of the cupboard
>can now read the instructions, make as detailed
>oh my God this is amazing
Turns out you only leave it for 30 seconds before pouring or its way to strong
>>7494233
Yep. I found that out as well. So many years wasted drinking bitter green tea (although I actually really like bitter tea, so it's not been horrible).
>>7494212
That's dumb.
>>7494604
How is it dumb?
>French is based heavily on Latin and anyone educated to any real level up until the 20th century had at least working knowledge of classical civilisations.
>Romans took a Greek name for a drink that was incredibly common.
>Preparation of this common drink was to crush it up and steep it in boiling water.
>The preparation of this drink was used a general term for preparing hot drinks in a similar manner.
Also remember that most people in the West would be more familiar with barley water than tea up until the 18th century or so.
>>7494628
Stop defending yourself.
>>7493455
Start off with early grey and other flavoured variants.
Just regular bagged tea will work. Learn to appreciate the flavours. You can add sugar and milk if you want.
Slowly stop using sugar and milk in the earl grey until you actually enjoy the taste without sugar.
After a while, start trying some more expensive tisanes, see if you enjoy these without sugar.
Move over to pure green or white tea after this.
>>7494745
Then stop being stupid or shut up. Tisanes can be tea. Teas are not tisanes. Mint tea is tea.
>>7494722
Why? I'm in the right and you're ignorant of the history behind the terms and the proper definition.
>>7494761
No, it's a tisane. It's just that instead of barley water, tea has become the common hot steeped drink. But it's wrong to refer to something that isn't tea as tea. Otherwise we'd have to start referring to coffee as tea. To vegetable or animal stock as tea. Pretty much everything made by steeping something in hot water would have to be a tea.
Tisanes are not teas. They're tisanes.
Crappy iced tea recommendations?
What's the best cheapest option for a teapot I can use with loose leaf?
Who iced tea here?
>>7494819
>All this autism
Got any train facts, rainman? Maybe I'll tell you what a pussy feels like later.
I've been buying loose tea from harney and sons tea, am I retarded?
>>7494871
I'd also like to know but price is less of an issue, over 100 dollars is a bit much though. Bonus for an aesthetically pleasing pot.
>>7494957
>Any sort of intellectual rigour or knowledge is autism. Any attempt to point out people being idiots is autism.
Enjoy your beef tea. Oh, and the only train facts you'd be interested in is the train I ran on your mother.
>>7494961
Don't they mostly do blends? Still, it's an okay way to start.
>>7494904
Make my own iced tea with blends, no need for sugar at all.
>>7494963
I was given one of these when I did reditgifts.
http://www.amazon.com/Iwachu-Japanese-Teapot-Tetsubin-Goldfish/dp/B003D3N382/ref=sr_1_45?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1458639001&sr=1-45&keywords=cast+iron+tea+pot
Really nice pot.
>>7494871
I use a small ceramic pot from the dollar store.
Works fine, although I have to pour through a fine mesh strainer to catch the bits that make it through the pot's own oversized strainer.
>>7494972
>Oh, and the only train facts you'd be interested in is the train I ran on your mother.
I hope that's true. My mother is a sociopath and relentlessly ruinous. You deserve to know her.
>>7494957
Cringe
Any good alcohol and Tea combos?
Okay. It may be a meme. But after years of trying diferent kinds of tea. I still go back to pic wihout sugar and milk.
>>7493877
I will read this after work today. More examples would be appreciated.
>>7495075
>>7495085
Mein nigra
>>7495082
Oolong and vodka
Just got back from China with a new zisha tea mug and some loose 2003 pu erh tea. spent a bit more than I should have but I'm really looking forward to it. might not make it into this thread but I'll post results when i make my first brew.
currently drinking acceptable-tier temple of heaven gunpowder tea.
>>7493877
>Some aged factory pu-erh goes for thousands of dollars
The cheapest genuine pu erh cakes start in the low hundreds and go steeply up from there. They come with letters of provenance, the estates are well documented and the trees ages are well known.
Somewhat ironic, since pu erh is fermented to make up for the deficiences of the original raw product, which is crap compared to modern cultivars.
>>7493825
Well, you have a long way to go. Since you're so very new you can stick with the tea bags just for a little while and just see what's out there, after a while you can get an infuser or a tea pot and brew loose leaf from the regular brands. Do this while you lurk here, start to really appreciate the subtle flavour differences and learn more and more about proper tea and then you can move up one step further. That would be my approach anyway.
>>7495932
>>7493825
If you want to get into tea just jump in. Unlike the other anon I suggest starting with loose leaf, but buy samples or sample packs, not big bags of stuff. Figure out what you like.
I've been into tea as a full on hobby for years but it isn't like you have to be an expert to brew a basic black tea, and loose leaf will almost always taste better than bagged
I drink Yorkshire tea in the bags because I'm lazy, and it makes a good strong tea. I bag per cup, 3-4 minutes in the teapot, black.
>>7496271
Yeah. Lose leaf is always a better option, but it might be an heavy of an investment for someone just trying to move away from soda.
Also, regular black tea might not taste all that interesting for someone addicted to mountain tea.
>>7496295
Cheap loose leaf is the same as tea bags, money wise, he can just go to upton or adagio or something. Moving away from soda is how I started but if I had started with bagged tea I doubt I would have stuck with it, you know?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuHJHs_NF6s
Cool tea bag life hack.
>>7494233
Heh I remember that. Before I knew anything about green tea I got a pack of sencha from a Japanese store, all labelled in Japanese except for a clock face with 30 highlighted. Left it 30 minutes. Mfw.
>used to just boil water and immediately pour/steep for everything
>did this for months
>look on the internet and realize that there are specific temperatures you should use to steep
>my tea suddenly goes from tasting like literally nothing or rancid ass to something I actually enjoy drinking
man the difference is seriously night and day, I can't believe how much better it is now
>>7495082
I've been told black tea with a splash of whiskey is how they do it in Ukraine. But my friend was raised in Germany so I'm not sure if it's a ukrainian thing or a german thing. Give it a shot though
>>7496524
Mate...
>>7496335
>tea
>bag
Just fuck my beverage up, senpai.
Just had some sushi, sake and dragonwell. Feels good man. Would have been better with genmaicha, but you take what you get.
>>7495082
Hot Toddy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_toddy
my mommy bought me some matcha, but i don't know what to do with it
do i just mix it with hot water?
i don't have the real japanese equipment or anything
>>7498840
Autism
>>7498969
Use a milk frother, and kiss your mum on the cheek.
>>7483106
At Rishitea.com I got 50g for $24.
I think it tastes great.
>>7487963
Tea is full of fluoride
>>7500047
Enough fluoride so one can switch to a non-fluoride toothpaste?
>>7501168
Read the wiki and seems like the fluoride content is the highest in large leaves and in low quality industrial picked teas.
Do these fuckers do anything once you break the seal?
>>7501303
nothing except fucking kill you
>>7501321
I mean break the seal of the packaging for the tea and transfer it to a tin for example.
>>7489260
I believe in Denver it's closer to 202 than 212
>>7501322
They are poisonous do not do that
>>7501399
How's the reading comprehension over there mate? They are already prepacked with the tea, they're suppose to keep oxygen out. My question wasn't if I could eat them or not, my question was if they still work after I've opened the seal of the tea package and if they still do their job when I store the tea in a tin.
>>7501322
Not sure but I do it myself anyway. It is a bit of a superstition on my part though.
>>7473036
>>7473557
What are you guys talking about when talking about flowery tea? Are you talking flower-infused actual teas or flower tisanes?
In terms of flower-infused teas, it obviously depends on the temperature tea can take. As for flower tisanes, I haven't found that the flavour is damaged by high temperature waters. As a frame of reference, I haven't experienced poor flavours due to high temperatures with elderflower, chamomile, or chrysanthemum.
>>7495932
I disagree. For the new, they should not 'stick with the tea bags' - it would be a false introduction to tea.
>>7501470
Not the same anon, but what place are you buying your tisanes from? Specifically chamomile.
>>7501465
I did the same but I just threw em out. The whole thing tickled my autism a bit too much.
>>7501470
Can't answer for what they mean but floral can also be a flavour profile for regular tea.
>Got some mini sticky rice pu erh cakes (5 grams each, 25 grams total) from Upton because I had no idea what I was doing at the time
>Try it
>Tastes really odd, not good at all, loose leaf pu erh I'd bought from Asian store is much better
>Read on /ck/ this could mean it was either stored improperly (unfixable) or just too young
>Shove it in closet in airtight container and forget about it
>This was a year ago
Tastes much better now, I know more about pu erh now, although I still haven't gotten my first cake, but it definitely tastes like proper pu erh now. I actually like it, it has a sort of chocolatey flavor I guess. Haven't tried multiple steeps yet, besides the one 20sec rinse I did.
>>7501792
I've only tried black, green and darker oolongs. How would you describe pu erhs if you could?
I just got some gyokuro and I've heard it should be prepared slightly different than regular greens? How do you guys do it?
>>7501980
It's better for someone else to explain since I don't have a ton of experience with pu erh (only tried three types). It does have a very unique flavor though. My sister has said it tastes similar to miso (the savory, almost thick taste, not the rest) but it's not salty and doesn't really taste of nori either. The sticky rice pu erh I had has that same hearty, dark taste (I suppose a bit like a good stout) then there's a bit of flavor like wood and like I said chocolatey as well.
Not good at explaining flavors, so that might just be confusing, but I'd definitely give it a try.
You can buy some samples of pu erh cakes on mandala tea for a pretty good price, better than getting mini cakes which are apparently usually inferior quality.
Anyone know where to order good quality tea in Europe (specifically Sweden)?
Local places around here and online sites (that I've found) are all either huge jews or stock garbage quality perfumed stuff.
Especially looking to get into shou pu erh, though sheng is fine as well.
>>7502037
60 celsius, one minute.
>>7502264
http://www.palaisdesthes.com/en/our-teas/type-of-tea/pu-erh-tea.html
Palais Des Thes has a lot of stuff, we're lucky to have a few local shops here in Norway.
>>7502356
Thanks!
>>7502264
I usually order from Chinalife but we got a few decent shops in Gothenburg. Where do you live?
>>7502362
To me this looks like industrial crap. Am
I wrong?
>>7502517
All it takes is a look at a tea vendors 'health' page to find out how serious they are.
http://www.palaisdesthes.com/en/all-about-tea/benefits-of-tea/tea-and-health
They're pretty honest about what tea actually has in it.
>>7502601
They are completely wrong though. 30 degrees celsius does not destroy Vitamin C.
>>7502708
It does in tea-leaves.
>>7502787
No.
Is there any difference in quality between loose leaf shou pu erh and shou pu erh in pressed form?
Which is preferable?
>>7502787
Do you use Fahrenheit where you're from? 30 celcius is less than body temperature. To put in perspective, are you saying an aversge day in summer would destroy all the Vitamin C?
