/tea/ thread:

/tea/ thread:
What are you drinking? What are you waiting for?
Some info:
pastebin.com/EnUxQGdK

>tfw finishing my ripe menghai cake

Guys, how about we enhance the pastebin a little?
I'd recommend for Japan:
>Thes du Japon
Wide selection, overall good quality and price. Buy in Yen, as it's cheaper than in Euro/USD.
>Hibiki-an
A little on the expensive side, don't buy the accessiories, as they are overpriced. But they have some not so common teas like Tencha and their interfact is pretty easy.

For China:
>Cha-Shifu
Very well reputed store (see f.e. the German forum Teetalk). Good prices, ships from China afaik. Wide selection. In my opinion not the friendliest seller though
>Chadao
Very well reputed in Germany as well. One of the nicest, good hearted sellers I've ever met. Great selection, fair prices. Probably not so interesting for people outside the EU though.

Also how about we enhance the OP a little with a How-To get buyers advice, as it's quite difficult to help people who have no idea what info we need to help them.

I think I'll have some Tai Ping Hou Kui soon. Will post a pic or two.

Just ordered some uji shirakawa gyokuro from o-cha. Having urges to get a new houhin.

Can you sell me on japanese tea?
Never had it, been drinking chinese for a while

They are more grassy, adstringent and taste very different in general. If you get a Kamairi-cha, it is basically a Japanese version of Chinese green tea, so that might be a good start.
What else do you want to know.
Not the user you were replying to btw.

Does it work better gong fu or with a different leaf water ratio?

if you buy from a reputable source (e.g. thes du japon) they have the recommended water/leaf ratio on it. I'd recommend you to start with about 1 or 2g less on 100ml than they recommend.

Got some more time now.
Sencha:
Pretty much the most common tea in japan. Generally speaking, the further south it is grown, the sweeter it is, the further north, the more complex and refined it is. Both have their qualities, while the stuff from the south is generally cheaper.
Organic is usually a little more adstingent than regular.
There are good ones in every price league.
Kabusecha:
Between Sencha and Gyokuro
Gyokuro:
Essentially it's a differently finished Sencha, it tastes 100% different though. I wouldn't recommend this for somebody who starts with japanese teas, as they are pretty offputting at first. Don't buy under 20€/100g and don't expect anything great until 50€/100g
Genmaicha:
It contains puffed rice, which makes the tea very interesting. Tastes good to meals. Would recommend for starters that don't look for a "pure" tea experience
Kamairicha:
Closest to chinese tea, as it is produced similarly. Tastes good and
Kukicha/Bancha:
Never had, doesn't look appeticing to me and I'm on a tight budget
Hojicha:
Roasted and that's what it tastes like. Hard to describe otherways
Matcha and Tencha:
Don't get this for the start. Good ones are expensive and you probably won't even like them, until you are used to jap. green teas.

Personally I'm not a fan of japanese black tea and oolong. Both are bland as it gets imo. but you can try them.

Op here, create a new one and add the info on the old one to your own, posting on my phone so cant do it myself

Japanese greens aren't more astringent than Chinese ones, why do people say this? They might be a bit more sensitive. I find proper brewed Japanese greens grassy, sweet and a bit savoury, not astringent at all tho. Not as complex as Chinese ones.

I will once the thread is dieing. Maybe someone else has some more additions. Sadly I don't know any US-based sellers, only stuff in Japan/China and especially Germany.

Do you mean a Sencha is less astringent than a f.e. Longjing/Bi Luo Chun? Because I'd have to disagree there.
But yes, a Kamairi-cha isn't necessarily more astringent than a typical chinese green tea.
Same goes for a chinese Sencha vs. a japanese Sencha.
But I really think the more prominent teas in Japan (mostly Sencha) are more astringent, or at least have a tendency towards it, than those in China. Especially Fukamushi.

>puerh cake still in the mail
i cant deal with this i need it

Might get a gaiwan today since I'm going with bro to a suburban teahouse which sells one, hopefully some good tea samples as well.

I also have a friend going to Guangzhou next month. Any recommendations on what to get for some poorfag with around 250 Yuan in tea budget?

>250 yuan
you cant buy anything like that

I didn't say they were less astringent, just not astringent at all. Sounds like you're brewing it wrong or doesn't know what the word astringent means. Matcha have astringency though.

Just about to start my birthday cake

sry mate, youll only get a cheap green for that, tea in china isnt cheap

Ah ok, I have no idea about tea prices so I think I'll give up on that.

On another note, I got my gaiwan and some sample puerh coins. Smells and tastes a bit woody, but I like it even after the seventh infusion.

I also bought 500g Earl Grey leaves. Might actually taste compare with some remaining bagged ones I still have to actually feel the difference.

Never seen a cake like this before - it looks really fresh. Is it ready for drinking or do you need to age it first? What is it?

Really nice gaiwan. 500g Earl Gray seems like a lot though. Do you drink it often?

It's a white tea cake, bai mu dan and shou fei aged about 5 years. Drinking well now, quite fruity to start out with minerals coming out after a few brews. I'm planning to drink half now and store the rest for a couple of years.

Oh, that sounds really nice! Where did you get it?

This one was from chinalife.com

Step aside, bitches...

Kung Markatta actually has very good bags of tea. I almost thought I hated tea because it was all at first. Thankfully drinking one quite expensive cup of green tea at a chinese restaurant made me realize it's not all shit.

>tea bags

Thank you! Went to the website and it seems like it was the wrong link but I found it at chinalifeweb.com.

>tea bags
>good
not such thing

Honestly what is wrong with tea bags I use them cause its super convenient and economical. I know loose leaf is better but why hate it?

>what is wrong with tea bags
Everything
>why hate it?
Because it's utter shit

Tea bags is the equivalent to freeze dried instant coffee.

Even worse, since tea is way more delicate than coffee.

What a bunch of limp-wristed pussies....

>you're a limp-wristed pussy if you like good food
Get the fuck out of Veeky Forums already

What does pu-er taste like, why do you like it

depends it can tasty earthy and woody or like rotten vagina

I've only had one pu erh so far and it tasted very earthy, like autumn leaves in a wet forest. But it also tasted surprisingly fresh, not as dirty as it might sound. It was a cooked pu erh. Pretty nice.

You've tried rotten vaginas, user?

Is a French press useable for teas as well? I have a small infuser but it seems to be only good for broken leaves like English Breakfast. When I use white teas, the leaves seem to be unable to expand well. I think I'm missing out on a lot of flavors.

>all those twigs

You should be able to use a French press, just don't press the leaves too much. I don't see why the leaves wouldn't expand unless you're pressing down against them before they finish brewing.

When I use my infuser for green and white tea, the tea ends up a compressed big ball of leaves. For black tea with smaller leaves, it isn't that bad.

I also like coffee so I guess the press would be doubly useful.

Why don't you just buy a tea pot for $10-15?

The infuser I'm talking about came with the tea pot. I just felt that it's wasteful to buy another one, and my friend just gave me a press as a gift.

Are you a bum?

What exactly is Lipton's market? Is it for people who drink tea like medicine or supplements?

Probably. People who say "I only drink tea when I'm sick".

People who don't know any better, don't give a fuck, or only drink iced tea?

Or, people like my parents. They use a single bag to make a whole pot of it. Every day.

Had that in a youth hostel in england. It was so hilariously bad, I have no idea who actually buys them or why. I never had a worse black tea and I've seen some shit.

once i eaten one with pus

People who don't know shit. A few of my friends don't drink tea because they assume it's all shitty lipton stuff. They know I'm a tea buff, so they always offer me some when I'm at their house, and always look confused when I refuse to drink their piss water.

dumb americunts

I got an entire ounce of Chysanthemum thinking, because of its connotations in East-Asia, it would be imperial to do so. I forgot I'm literally steeping the leaves of a flower. It tastes fucking awful.

I enjoy chrysanthemum tea. It's light and refreshing. If you don't like it, maybe add some rock sugar which some Chinese do.

But before you dismiss chrysanthemum tea as just steeping the leaves of a flower, do try snow chrysanthemum.

dude that shit taste godly

Maybe I'm steeping too many flowers? I'm using a gaiwan, how many flowers should I be putting in?

Watched an educational video from chinalife teahouse and learned I had shit taste since I only used tea bags and looseleaf can be as easy and economical as tea bags. Veeky Forums was right again.

Went down to the Tea Centre (Aussie shop) and got me an infuser and some tea samples. Fucking love the teas (esp. Japanese garden, Google it for ingredients) but noticed it has "flavouring" in among the good ingredients, does that mean it's shit?

Kind of. I'm not saying you're bad for liking blends, and I can enjoy a good blend once in awhile, but I would recommend getting just straight loose leaf as soon as possible. If you can't find a place that just sells loose leaf, I hear that Asian food stores also have them. The taste often times won't be as sweet as blends, but you're come to appreciate the flavors and see how people can get so obsessed over tea.

The Tea samples I have are loose leaf unless I'm understanding wrong. Do you just mean regular green tea etc. With nothing else added? What are the good teas?

>Do you just mean regular green tea etc. With nothing else added
Bingo. There's a lot of variety of tea, given its various growing conditions, oxidization process, and production techniques. Green teas are leaves that undergo some oxidization, but the process is stopped (in a heating process called kill-green) before they become red or black teas.
A key differentiation I like to make is between Chinese teas and Japanese teas; the former are pan fried while the latter are steamed, and that creates a different flavor. Of course, there are other tea cultures, but China and (secondarily) Japan have arguably the most diverse.
For Chinese green teas, I recommend starting off with Longjing, sometimes known as Dragonwell, or Tiguanyin (translated as Iron Goddess of Mercy), which is an oolong tea that resembles a green.
For Japanese green teas, I like gyokuro, but it can get a little pricey. There's nothing wrong with a good cup of sencha, either.
Just look up gongfu style, which is ultimately how you want to prepare your teas for maximum autistic and flavorful perfection. In the West, we're used to leaving our tea leaves in the cup or pot, which means the tea is continually steeping. This produces a bitter brew, which is why there's a practice of mixing tea with milk, honey, and sugar. In asian styles of preparation, the leaves are separated from the water at just the right time, under the right temperature, for its specific oxidation level. Brewing a green tea, for example, with boiling water ruins it, but boiling point is perfect for black teas.

Alright Veeky Forums, sell me on some good black teas.

lapsang souchong

Thanks
About to order my first real sampler of teas, am I missing anything here?

some oolong, like a tieguanyin

>search page for 'yerba' , no results.

wut da fug. you plebs are missing out.

>shits that argentines drink
>they have to justifiy drinking such an horrible thing on the internet
lmao

I'm drinking a russian caravan with a lemon slice in the cup. Not special but its nice

Ruby Black and Bulang Black from Chinalife are both insanly good.

You should get a Chinese green like longjing or maofeng

>flavored teas a shit because they're for fags and you won't enjoy super complex flavors
>tipping this genuinely
If a person gets enjoyment out of some medley of green tea and spearmint then that's their taste buds. What are you, the flavor-preference police?

They only bother flavoring stale/poor quality tea. That's the reason why flavored tea sucks. Often time it will reflect in the price, especially if they also water it down with cheaper constituents like chunks of dried fruit. Nobody would waste good tea to flavor it.

Yerba just means herb you mong, you should have searched for just mate regardless no one refers to it as yerba mate, just mate.

do people really drink english breakfast?

He's right though

Picked up another pound of this stuff.

It's not fine tea, but it's thoroughly drinkable and fits my budget (454g for $9 US). Good liquor without a strong bitterness or any other "off" flavors, low amount of twigs and dust overall, mostly full or at least large partial.

I'm a lazy cunt so I brew my tea with those paper disposable bags and a drip coffee machine (clean, no flavor of coffee in it). I generally steep for however long it takes to drip the water (think 4-6 minutes), plus a minute or two, which gives a nice, neutral brew. I use a good bit of tea, maybe 20-30g, for a full pot of "12 cups" (those are 5 oz cups, so 60 oz or a little less than 1800 ml). I fill up the filter I use, anyway.

Am I doing it right? any suggestions you guys have for a poor, lazy fag?

muh bad m8.

wew i'm in northern burgerland m8.

And a picture of the unsteeped leaves in case anyone is curious what $9/lb tea looks like.

That seems like a lot of English style teas. At least get a Chinese lapsang souchong if that one isn't already.

Does anyone have any recommendations for sencha on a budget?

wow

wow what?

also, weighed it out, closer to 15g of tea for 1800ml

That brewing process, just wow

It gets the water to like 93-95C, which is close enough for me. What more do you want?

Just buy a tea pot for ten bucks and brew it the proper way. Jesus Christ. Also a steeping time of 5+ minutes is way too long. Black tea should be brewed for about 90 seconds for the first steeping (add 60 seconds for each new steepnig) you're brewing western style.
I'm sick of people in this thread brewing their tea in fucking french presses and drip machines.

>Black tea should be brewed for about 90 seconds for the first steeping
I'll try that next time, I guess. not sure it's gonna give me a strong enough tea for my liking, though.

What's wrong with using a drip machine and carafe instead of a kettle and a teapot?

nothing wrong, it's to your liking.
please don't post in this thread anymore.
if you have questions regarding brewing styles, use google.

I fell for a meme
white2tea.com/product/2016-poundcake/
I hope it's really complex, or I won't buy expensive cakes anymore

Raw? Won't it need another ten years before trying? Or at the very least, five?

this

I exclusively drink Thiele

Isnt the poundcake like 50 dollars?
I know that is a lot of money for tea, specialy for young raw but that isnt that expensive, dont expect the best thing ever, its a solid tea

Looking to buy a chaozhou pot for dan cong.
Anyone know reputable stores with decent pieces in stock?

Got some chinese greens today, all from 2016.

Long Mei
Mao Feng
Lu Shan Yun Wu

Unfortunately I don't have a tea pot or a kettle right now. I'll try boiling water in small pots, eyeballing the temperature and infusing in a small cup. Any better ideas? Inb4 buy some, I can't afford it now.

Grandpa style is always an option.
If you aren't a fan of tea leaves you can create a make shift gaiwan out of any small vessel with a lid or strainer.

You can't afford a teapot for ten bucks? Then why did you buy the tea in the first place? You should be stacking tuna and noodles.

sup lads, any recs for starting equpment?

Tea pot with a strainer
Kitchen thermometer

All you need really

Dont listen to him get a gaiwan, if you are keen on a teapot buy one without that basket infuser thing, get one with the filter right before the spout

I like Yerba mate as well, but I bought a kilo of it and I'm getting sick of it. I try to make it for my friends and family, but no one else likes it. They all say it tastes like dirt, must, or squash. I don't understand

This is the correct answer if you want to get the highest versatility for higher quality teas.
If you usually have tea by yourself a 100-150mL gaiwan is a good size.

I'm a tea noob trying to get into it. Do you think this is a good start?

Yes.