This is the thread for discussing teas, tisanes, and other herbal infusions.Info on types of teas, where to buy, and how to brew: https://rentry.org/tea-pastebinPrevious thread: >>21857070
>>21877097Xiao Fa my beloved
>>21877107its THE daily drinker indeed. I still need to taste a Xiao Fa HK stored, it must be really a thing.
>>21877097tea is for sissies>t. coffee chad
third for puking up matcha
>>21877182wew god damn.
>>21877262It's weird to see that the packaging looks the same as the modern one. I guess it makes sense for an export tea, they actually had to put a design on it
>>21877262to make matters worse they send the invoice full price - i know because iv got fucked. Good tea though.>>21877268isnt the new one a tin?
>>21877272Wow, iv just noticed now that its a 80s one. Not that expensive though, that is literally, probably, the best Xiao Fa you can get anywhere online now. In terms of how rare.
>>21877272>to make matters worse they send the invoice full price - i know because iv got fuckedI can confirm, it's an issue with the store for EU anons. That and the expensive shipping.It's too bad cause I want more best taste ripe, it's really tasty.
>>21877279Iv got a Kunming 2005 from them and though it was my first HK, it really made a good impression on me. Now i got one from Hayslontea and going to get another from Sansing, both of them seem to help with the invoice problem. I mean, cmon. I have to almost literally pay 100% of taxes.
>>21877283>almost literally pay 100% of taxesThat's fuckin nasty. In the UK tea is untaxed.
>>21877287We are lucky that most of the chinese sellers know the struggle and help us. Mei Leaf also puts full invoice but i don´t blame them.
>>21877293Oh reaalllyyyy.
i legit love ripe purerh my god
Can tea help us cope?
>>21877828Why's all liu bao either from the 80s or 2024I'm surprised I can't settle on some 10-15 year old cheap one. Anyway the quiche one seems like a good shout, I wanna load up on shu there anyway, cheers
>>21878239I hear there is a lot of cheap old low-grade liu bao out there because it was part of rations for Chinese miners working in Malaysia and they had to make a shitton of the stuff, then a lot of it ended up on the market
>like:Modern western branding manufacurers such asBitterleafWhite2TeaKuura CorpNeo-traditional manufacturers such asFarmer LeafViet Sun Tea>do not likeProducts marketed for China domestic tradetraditional factoriestea more than 10 years of agesimple as
>>21878231yes, just make chifir
>>21878549>>do not like>Products marketed for China domestic trade>traditional factoriesCringe. Taobao has some good deals.
>>21878551isn't it just a stronger black tea?
TIL my tea tastes like vanilla because there's actually vanillin in it
>>21878750>Taobao has some good deals.Post your top 3 Taobao finds then
>>21878940>trusting sloppa
>>21879057Well, you can always go to the sourceshttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590157525006935https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/16/2502
>>21878549Why though? Factories and Chinese boutiques do a lot of good young raw nowadays too
All I have to contribute is a photo of a special blend of tea from W2T that I found on my phone from 2 years ago, but can't remember which one it is. It's pretty though so here you are.
>>21878549are you gay?
Two people travel kit came. Very happy with it so far. One cup measures exactly 100ml and the pot 200ml. I want to take it out for some bike packing picnics this summer together with a thermos.Pot could be a bit bigger to hold hold a pour of 200ml and 8g soaked leaves but its alright. The cloth smelled like chemicals so I tossed it in the washing machine and its fine now.The kit is propably also good for the office.
>>21879992Looks great. Nice texture on the glaze and nice material to serve on. I like how it sandwiches between the pieces when they're stacked. Hopefully it feels really sturdy.
What are the good British teapot brands? I thought the old sticky text had one listed.
>>21881322In my mind Denby are the obvious maker, it's easy to get their stuff on ebay or at a charity shop evenWedgwood seem to be popular too
>>21878752"stronger" is an understatement, it's basically a matchbox full of black tea, overbrewed for 30-45 minutes in a simmering pot, usually drank in the siberian gulag, pure tannin and caffeine bomb, there's a reason why slavshits are the only people who consume this
>vintage elite teasholy fucking psyopwhen did this baloney begin? how do we make it stop?teas are not wine
>>21882454Aged teas have more in common with tobacco, but there are interesting parallels with wine as well. Fortunately, tea is better than wine.
>>21879992I had a set almost exactly like that and I do sincerely miss it. Very easy to clean and perfectly sized for a quick cup. I accidentally dropped it and the brewing vessel splintered and that was the end of that. I got a new one with a single cup but I don't think I like it as much.
>>21882454>when did this baloney begin?1980's in Taiwan>how do we make it stop?You don't. You just have to learn to see through the hype. Be cognizant that scamming retards and westoids is ancient Chinese custom. And lots of western facing vendors either fall for it or are in on it. Learn to make it work for you, while everyone chases aged dayi I get kilos of young xiaguan for extremely cheap because thats what I like. It does suck that good aged oolong is hard to find for reasonable prices but it is what it is. Aging is definitely real and makes some teas great but its hard to cut through the nonsense to what's real especially outside china because of all the variables involved. The only way is sample, sample, sample
Have you taken the bitter pill, Anon?
I bought some baxian dancong oolong, new gaiwan, new cups. Tracked it daily for nearly three weeks>day it arrives>get sick and can't taste anything Fuck my gay chud life. I'm going back to /ctg/ at least I can still tell I'm drinking something
My haul from white2tea arrived. I brewed some daily duckshit first. I’ve never had duck shit oolong, but this was nice. Very mild, slightly mineral taste with a sweet note. The liquor is very light, though, pretty close to a white tea. Unlike white teas, it’s not floral at all. I expected some degree of maltyness, but there was absolutely zero.I’m gonna try some of the shou tomorrow.
>red clover, dandelion leaf, asian plantain leaf, ginger root, he shou wu root, schisandra fruit, burdock root, astraglus root, lysimachia root, kudzu root, peppermint leaf, cinnamon bark, isatis root, solomon's seal, duckweed, licorice root, japanese honeysuckle flower, tokyo violet root>mugwort>corn silk>lemongrass, green tea leaf, licorice root, jasmine green tea leaf, alfalfa leaf, burdock root, dandelion root, pomegrante extract, amalaki, bibhitaki, haritaki>hibiscus>uvu ursi, dandelion root, parsley, cleavers, nettle, corn silk, bachu leaves, juniper berry>dried cherries, nettle, tumeric, piperine, orange leaf, banaba leaf>hovenia>ito-en oi ocha-koicha unsweetened bold green leaf>ito-en golden oolong>ito-en jasmine green>jardin jeju forage barley green tea>whatever random unsweetened black teathis + baked salmon with feta, baked sweet potato, sauteed dandelion greens with garlic/ginger/lemon juice, sauteed crimini/oyster/shiitake blend, a bowl of lychee and longan + tiger balm all over the face and chest. feels good man
>>21882939is it worth it?
Got stuck at a PF Chang's for an incredibly stupid reason (father's corpse) the other day and had their pot of hot dragon's eye. Seems to be some sort of oolong, peach, apricot, saffron, and marigold blend. Surprisingly good.
>>21882939Yes.>>21883147No.
>>21877097The Chinese symbols actually say "Mutha"
>>21879448Maybe one of their black and white blends?
Ripe and liubao consistently give me the least mellow, most energizing effect, it gets jittery/uncomfortable if I drink too much without eating enough. More similar to coffee/straight caffeine than other types of tea.
-10% sale on KingTeaMall because of festival shipping break. Might stock up on some liu bao and factory yancha.
Alright, I bought a cheapo mate kit. Where do I go from here?Are the 10-15€ per kilo mate teas that you see on eBay and Amazon good or do I need to buy from a specialty store to get the proper stuff?
>>21884122>Are the 10-15€ per kilo mate teas that you see on eBay and Amazon goodyes. mate doesn't differ that much in quality, it's just personal preference which one you like more. each country tends to have a preferred processing style, so you can get a variety of styles if you wantgo for any cheap south american brand you can findsome popular ones I enjoy:>ArgentinianRosamonte (somewhat smoky)Cruz de MaltaKraus (smokeless)>ParaguayanPajaritoKurupiFede RicoIndegaColon (extra smoky, but all paraguayan mate is somewhat smoky and also more finely cut and dusty than argentinian mate)>Uruguayanonly one I had was Del Cebador I think. it was good though finely cut and hard to filter>Brazilianhaven't had that many, I would go for the mate green style over chimmarao because the latter is very finely cut and can struggle if you don't have a good straw
>>21884122Just grab a few bags and see what you like. Argentinian mate tends to be pretty approachable; another anon recommended Rosamonte, which is a favorite of mine. Taragui is also very nice. Enjoy, hombre.
How do you wash your tea leaves? Specifically for western style brewing. Is it simply running the leaves through water? Or do I add the leaves in the infuser, add some warm water, then dump?
>>21884411A rinse is a discarded first infusion. Boiling water and all.
>>21884411>Or do I add the leaves in the infuser, add some warm water, then dump?Usually yes. But I’ve had some tea fanning completely lose all flavor after a quick rinse. Idk if white or green tea should be rinsed either.
>>21884411Just enough water in the mug to cover the leaves, dump, re-add water to fill the mug and there's your tea>>21884443AFAIK only tea that's fermented and/or pressed should be rinsed. Most of those are pretty strong too so you don't lose much by rinsing off the first 3-5 seconds of brew of a liubao for example. No need to rinse normal blacks or greens, unless they are look particularly dusty or shady.Not sure about white tea cakes
>>21884443>>21884411Just a normal infusion except extremely short. I'd only do it for aged or compressed tea personally, though I think some people also do it for oolongs
>>21884411>Specifically for western style brewingThere's no reason to rinse if you're brewing western style>>21884443>>21884447You should only do a rinse of tea that hasn't been rolled or bruised and you're going to do short infusions of, under 20 seconds or so
>>21885647What about wet-piled tea that's then packaged with dust from the factory floor? I think it's still worthwhile to rinse. Not with a long rinse that basically works as a first brew you're throwing away, but just as a quick literal rinse with boiling water, in and out.
>>21885697If your tea is gross you shouldn't drink it, I drink plenty of wet piled tea but I almost never brew it western style. If I drink it grandpa style I don't rinse it.If you're bothered by dust using a gong dao bei also helps settle it out, but it's not necessary.
>>21885701>If I drink it grandpa style I don't rinse it
any anon had Sunsing Tea and Yee on Tea to tell me if their storage share the same notes? I'm looking for that old bookshelf punch but idk if Sunsing will deliver.
>>21885701kek, are you drinking the first steep? ngmi
>>21885957If I drink tea western style? Of course. If I'm brewing tea gongfu, then no, I do a rinse depending on the type of tea. If I'm making tea grandpa style then there is no "first steep".The rinse isn't to make the tea clean, it's so the first actual brew you do after the rinse isn't weak. If your tea is gross enough that you think it actually needs to be washed, splashing some hot water on it isn't going to do anything, I would never drink tea that was actually that dirty. There's nothing unclean about shou puerh that's made anywhere that's actually reputable, all the wheat you eat for example was once piled on a concrete floor in a barn or something, it's standard practice for any kind of agricultural production.
reposting> Any us anons ship any cups/gaiwans/teapots recently with FedEx, DHL, or ups? How has the new FDA clearance been for you? Have you had any troubles with customs? What carrier was better?
you did drink Xiaguan Love Forever today, right?
>>21886272Just ordered one yesterday. Should be a nice cake by the sounds of things
>>21886272No love now, no Love Forever.
There's only one good Chinese tea: 铁观音Otherwise I'm sticking to a normal English breakfast tea
>>21886372For me it's Keemun.
any good liu bao on KTM?I've been looking at these, any thoughts:https://kingteamall.com/en-pl/products/2024-sanhe-liu-bao-te-ji-20060-liubao-special-grade-aged-from-2020-500g-cake-dark-tea-wuzhou-guangxihttps://kingteamall.com/en-gb/products/2022-cnnp-liu-bao-shan-shui-he-te-ji-dark-box-super-grade-aged-from-2018-liu-pao-200g-box-dark-tea-wuzhou-guangxi-copyI had the orange box CNNP already, it was pretty good
>>21886272Are you larping or did you actually drink it?Cause I'm interested how this one tastes like.
>>21887195nah I don't have this onebut if you want to sample it, KingTeaMall and TeaTea.pl offer thoseif you want a whole cake, I think it's cheapest on Quiche
>>21887137A while back there was an anon that had like all the liu bao samples from KTM and rated them.
>>21887247I think those were fu bricks? Unless there was also a liu bao post
>>21887247Yeah I think it was fu, if you're talking about the recent-ish post from a few weeks agoI'd do a full liobao rating but I only drink grandpa style so I wouldn't be able to give full in-depth tasting notes
>>21877097anyone else feel like well aged raw puerh kinda ruined ripe for you? even for casual drinking it's lacking depth and just tastes like dilute swamp in comparison
>>21887735Have you tried aged ripe? It can be quite a bit more interesting than young ripe, while remaining a comfy easygoing drink.
>>21887740This. I had some aged ripe yesterday and it had zero swamp.
>>21887745It can have nice aged notes too. I like Best Taste Ripe from Yeeontea
>>21887735Ripe is definitely no substitute for properly aged ripe, but I see where they were going when they created it.It's not ruined for me though, I just treat it as it's own thing.
>>21887735I love ripe though, I do have a hard time enjoying sheng. Tried some old good ones from Essence of Tea and the floral and green just put me off. Maybe I should try some HK one.This also >>21887740
>>21888506>old good ones>floral and greenThey weren't old and/or good enough, or were too dryly stored. Definitely try HK stored raw though
I dislike puer
>>21888506>Maybe I should try some HK one.definitely do try them, they can be smooth and comfy earthiness like ripe
Does KTM have decent prices for those Wuyi Star yancha tins? Might get some of those. I enjoyed the Seadyke AT110 I got in my last order.
>>21888952Price is pretty good as long as you don't get done too hard on shipping. Red one works out about $20 for meNot sure if they're no longer available at dragon tea house or if their search sucks, but they were a fair bit more expensive there when I bought them shipping included, before KTM listed them.
>>21888966cool, is the red tin shui jin gui good?I might get that + the silver tin LCSX
>>21888971I like it, I'm mostly done with my second tin now. Roasty and bready, pretty good
>>21888739It's an acquired taste.
>>21888767>>21888515From where are you guys getting your sheng?
>>21889185Yeeontea is the biggest specialist in HK storagejust be aware that it can impart some of those funky liu bao type flavorsbut it gives a much smoother, darker drink. Ripe was created to mimic this king of aging
>>21889197I love YOT, though they put full price on invoice and it gets impossible. Did you ever tried Hayslontea?
