/tea/ General

man, that's quite literally a tea audiophile
red tea is how the chinese call black tea (becuase of the liquor color)
black tea is how they call pu-erh, aka post fermented tea
not him, tho this is what "organic agriculture" ideally means ec.europa.eu/agriculture/organic/organic-farming/what-is-organic-farming_en

so what are you fu/ck/ers drinking?
do you think different (more expensive) teapots made of different materials have any effect on the taste of tea?

>this is what "organic agriculture" ideally means

That's stupid to believe in unless you live in the EU and buy organic.

The US is a different market and a large enough market in of itself to sustain trade specifically directed at it. Also because not all countries abide by EU regulations on organic or have the capacity to, that leaves a large swath of the global market follow standards of quality accepted at the American level. A tea with organic slapped on it in the US shouldn't change your perception of how much pesticides are on the tea. The only standards to follow are independant labelling organizations and companies that pass quality control through those independant organizations that evaluate products in order to be labelled with theit stamp.

Similar to the fair trade logo, there are many organizations like it.

With that said, I like how kava tastes, there is a Yogi tea that is called stress relief and it is unlike anything I have ever tasted. It is delicious.

>t. clueless faggot who knows nothing about organic tea cultivation
Come back when you at least know the basics and we can have a discussion.

>black tea is how they call pu-erh, aka post fermented tea
That's false though, pu-erh still falls under red tea.

Still waiting on my yuuki cha order. I knew I should of ordered before I ran out

waiting on a wuyi oolong, a yunnan black and a clay teapot from YS and the puer basics set from w2t as well as some cheapo glass teapot from ali. I wish my country's customs wouldnt rape me every time I get stuff from ys

>do you think different (more expensive) teapots made of different materials have any effect on the taste of tea?
bought my first yixing pot a couple days ago and started using it
i have not noticed a difference since i didn't seasoned it from the start
i am using the teapot for roasted oolongs mostly

i would recommend that you buy a small glass teapot like pic around 200 ml
they are quite cheap and can be used for all types of tea
look from some samples in the pastebin
oolongs are probably the most easy to drink for beginners and they have alot of different tastes
have you ever brewed gongfu-style?

>have you ever brewed gongfu-style?

No but I want to! I want to taste tea like how others taste wine.

How you guys keep track of all the unique tea types out there? There's so many plantations in numerous provinces to keep track of... how do you even know which is good or mehh?

Also, you can see the colour, which is a. great if you're not exp with gongfu, and b. i really enjoy watching the tea, its a sight to behold...
I'm drinking different teas, red and green... Seasoning the teapot is only any good if you're a hardcore conneisseur, and pointless if youre not using very soft water

Also, wjat are you guys drinking?
>Dahongpao to get me up in the morning, lapsang suochong around lunch and ani baicha or gao shan in the evening

What you mean? How do I keep track of what ive had? I make notes on teas I try.
How do I know what to get?
Idk, still learning, i just get samples of different stuff and try to learn about my preferences though I dont feel the need to try every single region/mountain/village, there's too much tea and too little time, if I can get a small fraction of the good stuff im already pretty happy

I drink my tea black with cream

You're literally the opposite of me. My day is green-red-oolong.

Then go ahead and buy a glass pot and some different teas to start!
You don't really need a pitcher at the start
Just pour straight into your cup
If you have questions on how much tea you should use and for how long you should brew them just ask

Where do you buy your tea?

Just got the ys order today, the pot is really well made, lid fits snug and seems to retain heat well, will be trying it on some teas to see what it gets assigned to it, having the dahong pao now, the rock flavour turns into sweetness nicely only had had sea dyke brand wuyi and the difference un quality is very noticeable

got the same one
i am using it for roasted oolongs
what are you planing to brew with it?

Not sure yet, Im going to try it with some ripe pu next, scott sent me a free sample with my order seems nice

the fucker didn't send me any free sample wtf
did you do something special?

>scott sent me
yunnan-sourcing sent me*
ftfy

I've ordered several times each time it was 100+$, first time i've received anything free.
It's not the kind of thing you should expect, just to be pleasantly surprised about

Theres a business importing premium grade teas directly from china, with somebody in china overlooking the production and packaging, but telling more would kind of mean for me to give up anonymity, since I'm involved...

Drinking some Ruby #18, why is it so good lads?

How is adagio? It isn't mentioned in the pastebin, and although I don't see any red flags I figured it would be a good idea to check here before ordering.

Seems pretty solid except for their puerh

That's sooo cute :^)

Hipsters drinking tea.

youtube.com/watch?v=UZU5i1CINAc

What happened to all the detailed shit at the bottom about tea brewing methods?

that version is severely outdated, this is the latest one(to my knowledge)
pastebin.com/SWNA0rLX

Just tried some Gongfu techniques this morning, I actually tried "washing" my tea to "wake it up" before the actual first steep.

My power level is rising.

Colleague's friend went to China and got some teas from some Xiangrong Tea company.

Here's their Lapsang Souchong, pretty good.

Anyway I only have one 150ml gaiwan, no chahai, and no small cups. Would either of these be worth getting?
crimsonlotustea.com/collections/tea-wares/products/puerh-tea-gongfu-starter-set-free-shipping
crimsonlotustea.com/collections/tea-wares/products/simple-gongfu-starter-set

I usually drink alone but there might be rare times 4-6 people will drink tea.

>$99

I'd go for it. Why not? You'll only be you once in this entire universe, so make the most of it. If you love tea then make the perfect tea collection. These items will last you many years, possibly even decades if you treat them well.

you are memeing too hard
you look like an idiot

>Just tried some Gongfu techniques this morning
did you notice any difference in the tea's (liquor's) taste and/or texture tho?
'cause I would be inclined to agree with on the first part

also anybody, have you ever drank stuff from a wooden cup/mug?
was it particularly comfier?

>My power level is rising.

Just think of it in terms of doing a good thing well

I just drink this with a bit of organic whole milk.

Interested in hearing about wooden tea ware as well? Wood it affect the taste of a woody puerh, say, either to confuse or enhance it?

>bought my first yixing pot a couple days ago and started using it
>i have not noticed a difference since i didn't seasoned it from the start
Where did you get it from? You should notice an immediate difference with out it being seasoned.

My order finally came in. Getting ready to make some kamairicha

>kamairicha
You fuckin made that up that's not even a word

Get the fuck outta here

The funniest thing about tea is no one can describe the taste to a newbie.

>It taste like ... black tea ... it's very strong.

The funniest thing about tea is funneling it into your retarded brother's asshole and watching as he grunts and squirms trying to get away

tee hee!

Got it from yunnan sourcing

I tried kamairicha only once but I didn't like it one bit even though it was quite expensive

>General

Thanks senpai, saving that.

As I said, it was the last in my history. I don't open the FAQ often.

What? I can describe every single tea I've tasted.

tea thread great.

ever had kashmiri pink tea?

been trying to make the stuff for ages.

i have come to the conclusion its fake!

i cant get it to change colour even when at the dark burgundy stage.

once milk is added it just goes back to looking like a slightly odd cup of tea.

used baking soda which is apparently the secret..

still aint pink.

It's my first time trying it so i'm exited (was too tired last night). Not sure where you bought it from but kamairicha is basically around sencha and other greens prices

How would you describe it? Only had Chinese greens and Sencha.

finally got it.. it was purple at one point.

Lad...

I also want to get into tea, but I've gotten into so many fucking things, coffee being one of them.

I wonder if there's a set that I can use dually for warming sake and brewing tea.

If anyone's interested, I made some YouTube Poop using Mei Leaf as a source:
youtube.com/watch?v=GpuJ9f9tEVc&feature=youtu.be

but why

I love the different british breakfast teas and only those. Where do I go next?

Irish Breakfast Tea from Twinnings. Steep for 5 minutes. Strong flavor, with a real kick.

Is it okay if I brew a cup of tea before bed then leave it in the fridge overnight so I can drink it in the morning? Will it go bad?

Depends on what you're drinking, but generally cold tea is only good for iced tea.

Definitely a heftier taste without the astringency. You can taste the roastedness of the leaves and that's probably my fav part of the first brew. It has a very full and smooth feeling with some sweetness. I've smelled something close to this but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe some forest flowers after a nice rain shower idk. I'll go at it again in a couple days

I never thought of it that way. Thanks man, I'm now convinced.

Anyway here's the other sachet. Still not sure what this tea is, somewhat woody aftertaste having a faint jasmine scent.

my little brother is some kind of weird tea connoisseur type

what's some cool shit I could get him that isn't some snakeoil bullshit

he's a poor ass college student, so if there's some higher level hardware, he probably doesn't have it, something like that would be nice, but I have no idea whats what with this shit

any suggestions?

How much don you want to spend? You can get him a (authentic) Yixing clay pot but they are kind of expensive.

was thinking like 150 USD or so

I could go a little over if it's something neat

Yeah ok, then you definitely can buy him a semi-handmade yixing clay pot. I'm Euro so I don't know the best US sites for authentic ones. I think Yunnan sourcing have them but some people here might know better.

So what's the benefit of a clay pot as opposed to other pots?
Gonna buy a glass pot pretty soon.

It's not really necessary but it releases minerals which impact the flavour of the tea. Then you can dedicate the pot for a certain tea type and it will develop a flavour. I don't use them myself.

Alright cool. When I get my own place sounds like something neat to invest in but I'll pass for now then.

I would suggest you ask him first. If he's mainly into greens, a yixing pot won't be of that much use. Learn what kind of tea he's into. Green, oolong, black, fermented. Area also helps, China, Japan and Taiwan are the most common. Then you can make a good decision. Besides yixing, for that price you can get a decent amount of good tea of any type.

Basically this The extra flavor complements certain tea types better (afaik puerh and oolongs) and has better heat retention than glass. It's not necessarily minerality, I think cast iron pots are better at imparting minerality. I'd like to try a yixing pot compared to another good quality clay pot and see what happens there. But that's way out of budget for now. Glass pots are great for greens and whites because they lose heat faster.

This, it depends wholly on his favourite tea type, yixing clay pots are used mainly on chinese dark teas, and in my opinion they are something you should pick for yourself and not as a gift, there are a lot of shapes, sizes and clay types.

Mostly because Don uses lots of descriptive language and speaks with passion & conviction, making it extra funny for him to say off-color things.

youtube.com/watch?v=qmDoFPDkZ04&feature=youtu.be

Kek

Cool thanks, I got my sister working recon on this for me now. I'll ask again when she knows.

My desk is messy, but regardless. Got new teacups and gaiwans in.

You can't enjoy the best tea unless you travel

I have 6 gaiwan, and 7 teacups now, plus about 6 pu er cakes, and 24 tins of various other teas.

Friendly reminder that there is nothing wrong with microwaving your water. Uneven distribution of heat is a meme.

who /microwaving a mug of water then throwing in a bag of twinings/ here
electric kettle broke and am waiting for new one in the mail

Guess thats fine if you drink exactly 1 mug of tea but for the people who actually have decent enough tea that it can be reinfused it seems pretty inconvenient

speaking of which do any of you faggots have this?
amazon.com/gp/product/B01G7OL9ZW/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I only drink black tea so the temp setting is kind of useless, but the cheap ones don't have auto shutoff and are made of shitty plastic

>the cheap ones don't have auto shutoff
you sure? most kettles have it, even the shitty supermarket ones
amazon.co.uk/Russell-Hobbs-20070-Cambridge-Kettle/dp/B00CFHNI8M
amazon.co.uk/Philips-HD9305-26-Brushed-Kettle/dp/B011U6WLW2
amazon.co.uk/Russell-Hobbs-18943-Colours-Kettle/dp/B008HQ62LK
just did a quick amazon search and got these, all cheaper, no point in variable temp if you wont use it

i might be too tired/retarded but I didn't see auto shutoff listed as a feature on any of those
also the keep warm feature is nice too

What size do you like the most? I drink alone and I don't know if I should get a 100ml or 150ml Gaiwan.

Every single kettle available are autooff. I can buy a £10 kettle from a budget store and it's autooff.

>keep warm feature is nice too
keep in mind this usually doesn't mean it keeps boiling/warm, usually means it gets to 95º(or whatever desired temp) and when it drops to ~90 it reheats, not a real improvement over just turning it on again once in a while during your session, again, if you only drink teas that require boiling or close temps, if you drink greens/whites then variable temp is pretty convenient
not that guy but 100 ml or even a bit less is ideal for one person, especially if you are drinking teas that go on for a lot of steeps

also if you drink mostly alone I recommend a cup that holds roughly as much as the gaiwan, that way you can have one steep in the cup and one cooling in the chahai meantime, at least for me, I tend to drink pretty fast

Thanks, good advice. Problem is most 100ml Gaiwans look cheap and ugly, will hunt for one I like though.