Teafags welcome

So long as it's not moldy.

you guys tried Prince of Wales by Twinings yet ? I'm enjoying it quite a lot

I'm not huge on tea
The other day I bought a little box of Dilmah teabags, but yesterday I made myself a tea and didn't quite like it, it didn't taste too different from Lipton shit which costs 1/3rd of what Dilmah tea does.
Are teabags inherently shitty? Is convenience store tea inherently shitty? Am I just a pleb and can't tell the difference?

That's an old favorite of mine. Basically it was my starter tea when I was a kid. I'm not insulting you, just saying it was my first tea when I was little. Good stuff, though. Now I'm addicted to the hard shit, lol.

Only discovered it recently after being an Earl grey addict, i like the subtleness if you will...
what do you consider "hard shit"
-making your own blends or meticulous preparation or loose tea, this typathang
-stronger black tea

Strong black tea. I sometimes make a little of my own blends, but there's already so many options out there, it's not really necessary. But yeah, I have to have strong black tea in the mornings. I want my spoon to stand up. Strong black tea with a small bit of milk, never sugar. In the afternoons, I'll drink lighter teas, though, like darjeeling, oolong, or green teas.

>tfw got the queen's birthday edition while my first time in England

Amazing tea. I wish I had bought more.

Is decaf tea any good? I seem to get headaches fairly often when I drink normal black tea so I've been trying other types of tea like fruit or redbush but none of them are as satisfying as a good cuppa.

>expiration date
I've got 20 year old puerh in my cupboard right now.

Teabags are inherently shitty. They use a grade of tea called "dust and fannings", which is traditionally the dust on the factory floor from processing real tea.

>inherently shitty
surely that doesnt apply to all tea packaging companies
right .. ?

Some companies make an effort to use 3D pyramid bags and better grades of tea, but it's still a compromise of convenience vs. quality.

well fuck,
I was kinda hoping that producers like Twinings or above mentioned Dilmah would keep a certain standard..
(obvsly its not the bottom of the barrell, but if its THAT noticeable.. )

You can get some where they have actual leaves in the bag but they also have big tetrahedral bags for the leaves to breathe.

There are few exceptions but generally speaking teabags get the shit-quality tea and the good stuff is sold loose-leaf.

To be fair, they do have exacting standards for their teabags.
That they can source tea from random plantations all over the world, break it down to a lower quality product, and still have it taste exactly the same year in year out despite being a natural product is nothing short of a colossal effort on their part.
No doubt the taste testers formulating the blends each season are some of the best in the world.

It's just that their standards are geared for consistency and mass production.

Got my first yixing pot a few days ago. Have tried it with young shou, young sheng, aged shou, and today aged sheng. Hard to say if it's a step up from a gaiwan at this point, but it's cute and fun to use.

>Ahmad
Good stuff breh. English no.1 is on par with Yorkshire gold. Oh and their earl gray is really heavy on the bergamot

I've tried pretty much all their loose leaf teas now, and I like all of them, but the Kaalami Assam is my favorite. Second would be their Imperial Blend (Assam, Darjeeling, and Earl Grey ), and English No. 1 after that. I also like the Barooti Assam, but it's cut leaf, not long leaf like the Kaalami. I have a huge tin of their Cardamom black tea that I'm trying to use up, but it's best used for chai/afghan/or persian tea, which I just don't make as often as my regular breakfast tea. I also have some Yorkshire Gold that needs using up.

Please explain your process for preparing

Every morning.

Ill have to try the barooti then

All I drink. Splash of milk, 1 sugar.

Gross.

Ever had a London Fog?

Do try it, it's nice. But, I'm a whore for good Assam, so....

the slightly better ones use normal tea, just ground up
they're still less tasty than leaf tea, because powdered tea looses many of the finer flavours
you can also get teabags with leaves, but they're pretty rare and usually expensive

Yes kombucha is perfectly safe

Not that guy, but i just finished one. It's the only thing I order at coffee/tea shops.

What's a London Fog?
I lived in London until recently and never heard of one.

An Earl Grey latte with vanilla syrup

>An Earl Grey latte with vanilla syrup
Jesus christ.

It's delicious. Especially if the place hand makes everything, including the vanilla, like the shop I go to does. Quality is everything when it comes to tea beverages.

drinking a 15 year old shou, loose leaf aged stuff is the best

Only good tea is Iced you perfidious anglos.

Anyone tried Yorkshire Gold? Is it as good as they say it is?

Yep, it's good. It's a blend, but a good blend. I keep some around for when I run out of this

>tfw fancy grocery stores in Canada sell those for 3 times the price they go for in U.K. where it's just slightly premium tea

I'm thinking about trying some savory "tea." Anyone know something I could make with stuff I'm likely to have in my spice cabinet already?

twinings every day tea bags

dont drink loose leaf because im not a tryhard poser

It's funny because that's the same exact trash quality of leaves they put in the bags

Drink that Earl Grey they sell at Aldi, this shit is impressive for that pricerange.

Are you that autist who goes into every coffee thread to brag about Folgers while using anybody who drinks anything with flavor a tryhard poser

While calling, not using

Any combination of:
Ginger
Star Anise
Black Pepper
Cloves
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Fennel
Aniseed

Simmered in milk with Assam tea for ~15 minutes

nope
i dont like coffee either its horrible. coffee ''culture'' is the worst, and so is loose leaf tea fad

>fad

Bruh it's been five thousand years.

>fad
but it's a clear step up
and have you met a single person who is obnoxious about loose leaf tea the way some people are about covfefe?

only because they didnt have tea bags back then.

no actually. coffee faggots are cancer

Brewing pots of Tieguanyin and rolling j's all through the four day weekend.

best bang for your buck. in case you're wondering, the duplicate prince of whales actually contains a rate puerh I got as a gift. the brick has since been broken down and wjar's left is in there

>Drink shitty tea for all my life
>Love the bitter and dry tase of them
>Move to loose leaf
>Start investigating
>People compare bitterness like the plage
>Convoluted explanations on how to get non-bitter tea
>Meanwhile I eat grapefruits whole, except for the peel, fucking love that bitterness that cuts trough everything
>All high cooking seems to be in war with that flavor, not only tea
Am I a pleb? Ar they Plebs?

Tee

Drink what you like user. Why should you care?

>Convoluted explanations

"don't overbrew it" is hardly convoluted, user.

>Don't use broken leaf
>If the leaf has bruises then it will become bitter
>Time
>Temperature
>Pray to the blue moon on Thursdays or else you are getting bitter tea
>Blah blah bla bitter, bitter blah blah. Bitter? Blah blah!
Because I want to get into prettier and more elaborate tea. I know that I can still drink what I want, and that the apparent aversion to bitterness is most likely a way to enjoy the natural flavors of the leaf without being overpowered and masked. But really, is not that bad, maybe because it is easer to get a bitter cup than a "perfect" one. Bitterness seems to be what you get for not following the steps.

With that said, if there a "white wine of teas"? Something dry but with frutal notes in it?

Alhamdulillah

>Don't use broken leaf
Sure, whole leaf is preferable. The finer ground the tea, the larger the surface area, the quicker it will brew. The quicker it brews, the faster it will get bitter.
>If the leaf has bruises then it will become bitter
It's fairly the opposite, user. Tea is allowed to oxidize by intentionally bruising the leaves. However unoxidized teas like green tea are easier to overbrew than black tea, which you can blast with boiling water for several mintues without worry.
>Time
>Temperature
Again, most decent quality tea is fairly hardy when it comes to this. Green tea and oolongs that have less oxidation is mostly where this comes into play. Most loose leaf will come with recommendations for these on the packaging. Again, most decent tea is fine with eyeballing this sort of thing, you don't have to get autismo with it.
>Pray to the blue moon on Thursdays or else you are getting bitter tea
>Blah blah bla bitter, bitter blah blah. Bitter? Blah blah!
Now you're just being silly.

It sounds like you might enjoy astringent tea, something that has a slightly tacky "dry" aftertaste to it. Look for something that mentions that.

Just starting to get into loose leaf tea and really enjoying it even more so over just tea bags, but it's kind of hard to find in my area. Thinking of ordering some from a site called Adagio as they have reasonable prices and a large variety, I also had gotten a free tea sample from there that was peach oolong and it's been a really enjoyable tea. Any types in particular I should try, I enjoy most types of tea, big on herbal and fruity teas, haven't really tried much oolong or Pu-Erh teas.

what-cha.com/mystery-tea/mystery-tea/

I don't have any experience with adagio in particular, but there's a trend to be careful of with regards to fruity teas. A lot of places will cut corners on the tea portion because they can cover up the low quality with flavoring. The same places will turn around and sell that tea at a huge markup. Just something to be mindful of.

Can't be arsed. I drink bagged chamomile tea in the evening to relax.

Thanks I'll keep that in mind

Just bought kusmi tea today
My first time buying loose leaf

Is that a good brand or I fucked up ?

Thanks a lot, I will try to soon find it

Had some dragonwell today. Good stuff, although for some reason not quite as I remembered it from the last time I bought some. Oh well.

Recently tried pu erh for the first time and really enjoyed it. I need to buy some, but I am kind of intimidated by all the choices, and the cost.

So it's to tea what frappuchinos are to coffee. Thanks for the warning.

Pleb confirmed

If flavors were women, bitter would be the 300 lb cheap hooker

Mm, wouldn't go that far.
Not when Hong Kong style tea, strong black tea in sweetened condensed milk, exists.

Besides, the London Fog is just a few spices away from a Chai Masala, which is traditional and delicious.

Not at all. London Fogs use much less vanilla syrup than a Frappuccino does, plus there's no other sweetener added. Tea isn't coffee, it's not equal.

Loose leaf asian tea fag here, i dont fuck with that twinings and english stuff, currently have some nice matcha and sencha ryoku here is some of my tea. Wulong is my favorite go-to but the only loose leaf wulong i have at the moment is too smoky

Try asian floral teas, jasmine is pretty entry level but very aromatic and with slight pleasant notes that I wouldn't call "fruity" but is kind of a step in maturing from fruit teas to more refined/traditional. Even wulong has a nice almost floral aroma but i dont consider it entry level unless you have a taste for green teas. Not hating on fruit teas at all by the way

I remember reading a seller talk about a conversation he had with one of the farmers he sources from about how long to brew. The farmer said that sometimes the tea feels lonely without a little bitterness. Just experiment and find what you like.

Herbal tea doesn't really benefit nearly as much from being loose leaf because it's pretty much all the same quality unless you grow it yourself.

>the tea feels lonely without a little bitterness

Cute porcelain

I think it's time. I need cheering up, so today, I shall post my entire mug collection, and back it with my tea cabinet goodies. Should I start a new thread, or just do it here. Idk if a mug and cup collection qualifies to be in a tea thread.

Either one, but I'm interested

Thanks, I guess I will start a new thread, just so I don't shit up the tea thread. It will be awhile, since I'll have to organize it.

If it has been kept dry and free of vermin and mold, it should be okay. If it smells or tastes off, you will notice soon enough.

I know it is nothing special, but I like to drink a big cup of this with a splash of honey as a nightcap.

>nothing special
>it says "SPECIAL" right on the box
Nice literacy, retard.

I'm always on the verge of a heart attack I take 3 teaspoons of black herbal tea make the tea add 2 tsp of honey and a bit of sugar it's much more effective than coffee.

>black herbal tea

???

Black tea is heavily oxidized Camellia Sinensis, herbal tisanes are non-CS infusions

cute

Senpai a ying yang is what you call a mix of that with black coffee in a 50:50 ratio.

Am I a memer poser if this is my favourite? I'm new to loose leaf, so I've only got a few strainers, a basket and a mesh strainer. Are there any other brewing methods I should know?

I'm a huge plebeian when it comes to tea, can I get recs on a mesh strainer (not a teapot, just one you can put into a mug) and beginner recs on loose leaf tea's to buy?
amazon links appreciated

...

Consider getting Harney & Sons from Amazon. It's a solid tea vendor--everything I've had from them is good/excellent, and the prices are decent. Good place to start. They also make bagged tea that's WAY better than Twinings/supermarket shit and priced about the same.

Just start with the classics--a couple black teas, one or two greens, and maybe Earl Grey.

If I put kratom in a matcha bag and convince my gf I'm "drinking matcha tea", can I post in this thread?