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: >>21877097
any good wet storage sites besides yee on tea?
>>21905356Another from my yuge tea order from Awazon. Golden bud.
Anyone tried this one?https://thetea.pl/en/produkt/2013-xiaguan-yiwu-zhi-chun-sheng-pu-erh/
>>21905384nopeI enjoyed the youle sheng they had
am this anon >>21894657I'm drinking the first one in my picture today. Sorry im not a connoisseur like some of you to be able to describe wet leaves perfectly but somehow both of the ones in my picture taste the same. the chunpin is the one with that really nice taste for me (and not pictured). the close one is the first one. it tastes like daiyi's normal cheap puerh but with a hint of that taste i like. I'm glad i tried them both. maybe my opinion will change with time as i drink through more of the cakes. I definitely don't dislike them so i consider it a success but at double the price of the one i like i don't see myself rebuying either. the first one in the picture might be a possible rebuy if i come to like it but the original that made me love their tea, the chunpin (not pictured) is still my preference. i do like that type of smoky richness with the hint of fruity undertone that this one has but it's not as strong. i think it will be my go for gifting samples though.I wish i could explain this 'fruity taste' i like. it almost tastes the black currant ricolas without the menthol? That type of complex 'fruitiness'
>>21905375pretty!
>>21905375>>21905889I've always thought Awazon could double their Western retail revenue if they'd just take some good photos.
>>21905960Please let me buy cheap cakes a little longer..Actually I noticed they haven't pressed a cake since 2022, I hope it's alright over there.
>>21906032i don´t even know how they stay afloat
>>21905889It has a nice taste as well. Reminded me of tomato or dough. >>21905960I thought the same. See picrel. You get a better product for your money, but it doesn't draw people in the same way. Besides the presentation, they could at least use a better camera.>>21906060I think they do wholesale on the Chinese market and this is just a side thing.
>>21904700>Just looked it up, cursorily, cheaper than I thought for light weights, so maybe the expense will be the tea after all.Yea rates from UK to my country are not expensive, and that cost is on me anyways. We could also do a tea swap if you like, I have ~250g left of FL 2023 Huey Wa Sheng, which I wount finish.Do you have a preferred private communication channel?
>>21906454forgot my trip after failing captcha
>>21906455for fucks sake, I had too much tea today already
I just had Thai-flavored Bubble milk tea and found out it's a combination of star anise, vanilla, and cardamom.Star anise infusions are sold online, as is Cardamom tea, but how should I add the vanilla?
>>21906528you know you can buy vanilla pods or powder right
>>21906528>Star anise infusions>Cardamom infusions Can you not just buy the actual spices where you live?
>>21906568>>21906592I don't know if there's something special I'm supposed to do, or if you just grind them up and throw them in. Is it as simple as just adding the things you want?
>>21906599I've never tried it so maybe another anon can answer better, but spiced tea as a concept is not new and you should be able to look up recipes. Like indian spiced chai for example.I expect it boils down to some variation on throwing them in, yes.
>>21906460>>21906454Sure.Oder14@protonmail.com
>>21906599When I make indian chai I just boil whole spicesI guess a little vanilla extract would be fine
>>21905384Do thetea.pl sends full price invoices?
>>21906611Would crushing the vanilla pod cause it to steep better?
>>21906616I haven't done it with vanilla myself but crushing does generally make them steep faster
>>21906612I know anon complained about ordering to the US and getting taxedIn EU obviously not an issue
>>21906603Cool. I'll send you a mail with a variation of the pic to verify it's me and then we can do the deal.
>>21906612>>21906637Anon who complained here, yes they sent the full price invoice. DHL did remove the invoice/duty charge so I didn't have to pay any tax (like I thought) and I got the package within the original timeframe.But yeah the invoice was the full price that I paid.
>>21906684What was your order? Just aged oolongs or something else? Some of their black teas are really good and I enjoyed the one liu bao I had from them too
>>21906690All aged oolongs except for the Shan Li Xi "Old School" charcoal roasted.The aged oolongs were expensive so I didn't look around their shop for anything else because I didn't want to spend any more money. The shanlixi just happened to catch my eye and sound potentially good.I'll post my thoughts about the aged oolongs plus comparisons to a couple other aged oolongs I got from other sources in a few weeks after I give them a chance to acclimate
>>21906684I hope the full invoice senders lose their flip flops on their way back from the beach, mfs.
>>21906788you wouldn't evade a tax...
>>21906599Don't bother with actual spices for Thai tea, it'll taste different from the bubble tea you had, more like a bad masala chai. Get a Thai tea mix like pic related.
For all the well-drunk anons, where does Kenyan tea stand in comparison to the Asian stuff? All I've every had was Kenyan tea on account of being born and raised here. I've had Indian masala tea while I was there and it was pretty good tbdesu but the tea flavour took a back seat to the spices in my opinion. It tasted bland otherwise.
How do I make iced tea? I mean obviously you just add ice, but do I just have to deal with the ice diluting the tea and making it watered down?
>>21906892You put the tea in the fridge. Or freezer, to preference.Apparently some iced tea is cold brewed. I have no idea what the difference is between just making normal tea and letting it cool down (I don't drink iced tea), check some recipes o algo.
>>21906808
>>21906855I wouldn't give my dog Kenyan tea.
>>21906855I haven't had that much Kenyan tea, but I think it's comparable to Indian. Mostly simple black tea, but probably good and nice value if you can get it fresh locally.No one can really approach the far east in the huge variety and refinement of tea, they've had thousands of years of obsessing over this stuff. But I'm sure it's easy to get solid black tea in Kenya India and African countries are much newer players in the tea sphere and they are trying to find their own upmarket varieties, but it's still quite experimental and we'll see what sticks. I know there are some white teas being made in Kenya nowadays, those could be interesting to try.
>>21906652I emailed you back. I'm telling you here just in case it never went through. >>21906855Kenyan is all Assamica I think. CTC tea (teabag tea) is nearly all Assamica, and Africa is a huge source of it. Chinese tea (sinensis) tends to be 'lighter' in comparison, sweeter and more floral, but they grow all varieties.India (as we think of it) never grew tea until we introduced it. Neither did Africa, so in terms of range and quality nowhere compares to China. They usually have a few good teas, but the overall variety and quality is worse e.g. Japan has matcha and its gyokuro, and something of a seaweed taste to its greens, but that's about it. The rest of the stuff is not notable.
>>21906855>born and raised hereIn Kenya? Neat.I've had a few loose Kenyan (and Malawian) white teas that were quite nice; they were slightly inferior to Chinese white teas at their price range, but very different and well worth having sometimes to spice up the tea-drinking rotation. If memory serves they've all come to me through What-Cha, a vendor that's big on sourcing from all over; idk how representative WC's (heh) selections are of what's grown there. What I wasn't crazy about was the Kenyan purple tea I tried, but there was only one of those and it was years ago; I'd give that style another shot. All in all I'm thrilled to see African tea become an increasingly serious player, and look forward to what Kenya can produce in ten or twenty years.I adore Kenyan coffee and have every confidence in the country's terroir; it's more a matter of the people learning to master the crop, which they will (as an American I've held some negative feelings towards China's presence in Africa over the years, but if great tea is the consequence, maybe I've been wrong), and the tea plants themselves; the prospect of them being left semi-wild somewhere over there to grow as they please is a nice one. Are they local styles you'd highly recommend we try? I haven't had a good Kenyan black tea but I'm sure they're out there... and if there are Kenyan herbal teas or traditional tea-drinks, feel free to share those too.>It tasted bland otherwiseA lot of Indian tea is like that, sadly- intended just to be part of the chorus, never the soloist. Darjeeling is better, and it's a diverse category, but in all honesty I like the African teas I've tasted more than any Indian tea. Japanese, Korean etc. styles are too different from the Kenyans I've known to compare.cheers, anon
would my vanilla coffee creamer go well with my tea or should i make fruity syrups
>>21907118cont.The Kenyan teas I talked about were all higher-end products; most of what's grown is cheap black for teabags, but we all know that already and most of us never drink that stuff. Most of it probably ends up blended in with leaves from South Asia anyway so rating it on its own seems pointless.Any ginsengchads here? Where do I start with the true shit? I'm well acquainted with some of the imposters, like eleutero ("Siberian ginseng") and jiaogulan ("Southern ginseng"). Is the Wisconsin-grown stuff as good as others? Do you brew it just like other tisanes, or does it need special treatment? I want those ancient gains.Also, for years now my nice sheng has been stuffed in a big plastic bin with a few ancient humidity packs- what's a cheap way to upgrade to a real pumidor for healthier, happier cha?
>>21906845Have you had that one?
>>21907102>India (as we think of it) never grew tea until we introduced it.I thought the tea plant originated in india, and was imported by china in antiquity, no?
>>21907239It originated in China, and the state controlled production to avoid a repeat of the silkworm episode (which contributed to Arabs getting banned for a few centuries).In the 1850s, a Scot managed to sneak the tea plant out and began cultivation in India.
>>21907247Oh, neat, looks like I was mistaken
>>21906892what type of tea? i don't make black tea iced beyond indian chai but green teas i always brew cold and in a sealed container to avoid oxidation
>>21906931>I wouldn't give my dog Kenyan tea.Dogs are allergic to caffeine anon. >>21906944Makes sense why Kenyan tea would be low down the tea ladder. I haven't tried the white tea, but there is green tea here and I'm really not a fan of it. >>21907102I'll look into getting some Japanese stuff and see how I like it then. >>21907118Thanks for the effortpost. Coffee isn't popular here which is quite funny. Most people just drink black tea. The none-black tea I've tried here fell flat in my opinion so I've just stuck to black. Maybe the tea will get better in future but like I've said above I'll look into acquiring some Japanese stuff and experience the good stuff. Cheers.
rate my haul
>>21907962bo jun/10Must've been pricey
who would´ve thought that finding a another wet storage besides yee on tea would be so fucking hard
>>21908033You might have to try taobao, surely there's a storefront dedicated to it there.I've never bought anything from taobao though so I couldn't be of any help.
>>21908034Buying from Taobao looks so hard.
>>21908037When I looked into it a while back it definitely seemed like more of a hassle than western facing vendors, but it didn't seem that bad. Just use a translator to find what you want, and then copy/paste the link into a buying agent and follow their instructions.
>>21908033Yeeon is the only dedicated wet storage store I'm aware of. Other vendors will occasionally stock something though.One possibility is just buying very old tea. Wet storage used to be very popular, so a tea from the 90s or 80s most likely went through it at some point.Another possibility is liu bao, a lot of old liu bao is around and cheap for how old it is. And newer factory productions are often also wet stored for a few years.
Cspuerh / chen sheng hao has put out 200g cakes of their most popular blends at prices which enable couponmaxxing.Might have to grab one of these when there is a sale.
>>21906855Far as I'm aware:1. Kenyan tea is not popular or renown like chinese or japanese tea2. the climate is generally warm, so leaves grow bigger faster3. there's not the level of expertise required to grow and process tea well like there is in chinaSo the quality of the leaves is most likely as high as almost anywhere else, but the end product is typically low to mid quality black tea and comparable to the average black from Sri-Lanka or India.>>21906892I put a pitcher in the fridge with water and low quality black tea leaves, leave it for some 24h stirring occasionally, then strain the leaves out, add sugar and lemon, and that's it.It's not literally iced tea because there's no ice but if it's right out of the fridge it's cold enough for me.>>21907102>>21907239>chinese tea (sinensis)Camellia sinensis var. assamica is called that way because it was first described by a soldier/mercenary who found it in Assam, but it originated in the south of China and to this day it's the most common variety of tea that grows in Yunnan, with which the overwhelming majority of pu-erh is made.
>>219079622kg of bo jun ripe is cool, hope you like it. I had their big snow mountain(but 2013 I think) and didn't like it. Iirc it tasted like raisins and potatoes or something.
is the Love sheng one good for someone whos mainly into ripes? I love the paper so much.
got some teas
>>21906855the higher end kenyan stuff is pretty decent. its close to mid grade chinese stuff. much better than i thought it would be
>>21908033Have you had a look at the rentry links? There's several HK stores nobody has tried there, might be your best option if you really aren't satisfied with YoT or factory liu bao>>21908194It's just a wrapper anon. KTM sell small samples
>>21908194it's not gonna taste like a ripebut it's also quite aged, so it will not taste like a young raw either
how come it seems everyone here buys bricks/cakes
>>21908231Most puerh and heicha is compressed into those shapes, and this thread drinks a lot of those teas
>>21907158Yeah, I've also tried to make it with spices thinking it'd come out better than a mix and it's just completely different.
>tfw the cake its coming to an end and the notes just start to change >>21908231i really prefer cakes than loose pur erh, the gong fu sessions tend to go more smooth and i have more control. >>21908223i will give it a try for sure, though i love YoT i need a wet storage that helps me with the invoice pricing.
>>21908231its easier for storage, ageing and shipping on their end. i find it an inconvenience breaking up cakes and a down right piss off annoyance breaking up bricks(they never give excess paper for re-wrapping and they're more compressed)
>>21908231They look funny
>>21907962I love buying lots of cheap cakes and bricks, stacking them up, and larping as a big time tea merchant. It seems like you're taking the other approach, of actually spending money.>>21908020>2kg Bo Jun ripe>$1059.96>ripe>$0.53/g>ripeKek what the fuck
>>21908231I like the cute wrapper arts.
Gonna purchase some more yerba mateThinking Kurupi, Rosamonte. Could do Fede Rico again. Or Indega seleccion especial, that one had a unique earthiness that I haven't seen in other mate. Probably it's the extra long seasoning.
Wanna try heicha for the first time, starting with fu. Are there any particular features or brands I should look out for? My next big order of other stuff will be from KTM, but I'm open to other shops too.
>>21909050I tried almost all of the fu bricks from KTM>>21824251The best two imo are2015 Jingwei "Jing Dian Fu Cha"2010 XiangYi "Jun Xin"
>>21905356I don't trust flat tea. doesn't it break apart and make, you know... particles?
New (to me) things I'm gonna try:>High-oxidation Taiwan oolong>Wuyis>Fu>Funky fresh shou>Old-ass sheng>>21909077Do you think I'll lose out on a lot by getting picrel instead? I'm not looking for the best, just an intro, mind.
>>21909147>Do you think I'll lose out on a lot by getting picrel instead? I'm not looking for the best, just an intro, mind.Yeah, most of them are pretty mediocre and not really worth drinking imo, that one included. I tried a few different years of it and none were very good. Most of the fu bricks I tried were not very good, but the good ones are pretty nice.I would say it's worth it to get 100g of the 2018 JingWei Fu Tea "Qin Ling Zhi Dian" for a few bucks more than the 200g of the baishaxi, it'll actually be enjoyable to drink (assuming you like fu).Or the 2019 Mojun Fu Cha "1368" from Yunnan Sourcing would be a good intro, it's a mini 200g brick for $17
>>21909146there is some dust, but if you buy loose leaf tea, some of the leaves will also break and turn to dust, which will accumulate at the bottom of the bagso it's not that much different
>>21909147swap out the Jia Ji for a 2008 Xi Zi (happy) tuo or 2006 Gold Ribbonthe 2005 Jia Ji I got from KingTeaMall was a little underaged and harsh for my tastescould also be worth grabbing factory wuyi oolongs now that KTM carries them, Sea Dyke or Wuyi Star
>>21909146Short of buying individually wrapped coins or balls there's not much to be done about avoiding that.
>>21909146Yes there is dust everywhere, bits of leaves flying across the room...Many cases of Chinese asthmatic boys coughing uncontrollably just when staring at disc shaped objects wrapped in funny paper.
I might buy something like this. What is it like? What does it taste like?
>>21909750for pu-erh cakes, you can separate them into three categories>ripe (shu) pu-erhdark, thick, smooth fermented tea. earthy. flavors range from dark chocolate and woody to cookie dough and creamy, with a funky fermented element>young raw (sheng) pu-erhtastes like a strong green tea, but usually more fruity. can be bitter and tart>aged raw (sheng) pu-erhkind of in-between the two. darker, woody flavors as a result of aging, the tea gets darker with agethe one in the picture is an aged raw puerhif you want to buy one and don't mind shipping from China, I recommend this website, they have good prices and quality: https://quicheteas.com/collections/community-favorites
>>21909774Do you recommend awazon?
>>21909816I bought from them once. I was happy with my order, but never rebought because KingTeaMall has more selection and Quiche has better storage that ages tea faster
Yo guys is this cringe? I went to a coffee shop today and they made tea with this dripper. Looked easy as heck and the tea tasted great to me.
>>21909968Seems not any easier, a lot more expensive, and harder to clean than a gaiwan
>>21909968That's too small, but the idea is good. This is the vastly superior version. This is from Adagio, where I got my first one. I found an identical, unbranded generic on some shop years ago. Both work fine after 7+ years, but they are stained. Rather than being on a delicate little switch you press down when you're done brewing, you set the whole thing on top of your mug and it all filters down neatly into your mug. You can use whatever tea you want, it's easy to rinse, and it's seriously durable. I have taken the lid off and on hundreds of times. I didn't think I would love mine as much as I did but it was my daily driver at the office. Knowing there are knockoffs out there, don't buy those and get this instead.
>>21909968It really seems all a bit superfluous to me, but I can understand the appeal of having such aparatus.
>>21909968I use pic related and I enjoy having a very easy life with it.>>21909050pls dont post this shitty iceberg ever again>>21908198post some reviews
>>21910045Did you buy it off ali
is it worth drinking hojicha powder with only water?
>>21909774I have tried several shous and I would have described none of them as "dark" or "earthy". I don't normally bother with gongfu so I don't have detailed tasting notes, but all of them tasted very similar and I would call them all pretty light. Smooth sounds about right.I've only had a couple of aged shengs and I know they can vary wildly, but of those I've had at least one was definitely earthy and thick. If I had to compare any puerh to good aged liubao it'd be aged sheng.So while I don't have a lot of experience with puerh, I'm very surprised at this categorisation of shou as "thick and earthy" and aged ripe as "in-between" when my experience has been the complete opposite.
>>21910098>I have tried several shous and I would have described none of them as "dark" or "earthy". I don't normally bother with gongfuWith higher leaf to water ratios like you would use for gongfu, shou is typically dark and earthy
>>21910098depends how strong you brew them. they can be brewed pitch black pretty much
>>21909170>>21909396Thanks for the recs, guys. This is what I ended up going with.
>>21910126>>21910130I have indeed tried brewing them super strong too and yeah obviously they were strong, but any tea would be if you use enough leaves. Still not earthy no matter what I tried.
Had this earlier, it was delicious.
>>21910136That's how it's done. I'm getting FOMO on the Happy tuos. Ordering a sleeve of Xiao Fa is when you know you're well down the tea rabbit hole. /tea/ rite of passage
>>21910136>>21910176Actually I misread, it's just the tuo. Don't buy just the tuo! It's so cheap there's no excuse.The biggest problem I see with most posted carts is that they aren't big enough. You're buying good shit from China. Buy a year's worth. Might not even be possible next year who knows.
>>21910195I've spent the last year or so clearing my collection of impulse-buys that I didn't end up caring about. So far, no XG has hit the mark for me, but I'll start buying sleeves and tuos if one eventually does.
>>21910214sleeves and bings*, fucking hell.
>>21908198>>21910045>post some reviewsbai cha / huangya / yunwu cloud mist all have this creaminess to them i like a lotmoli longzhu jasmine pearl is top tier refreshingsanxia is a pretty decent standard green teahavent got around to trying others yet
>>21910098Shou is definitely thick and syrupy and fruity.
Can tea help us cope?
>>21910050it was Amazon but I believe it came from China
>>21910136looks good. I didn't even know KTM had an oriental beauty. it's not too expensive, wonder if it's any good
is gongfu brewing doable at an office job or is it too tedious? also what are some good vendors on taobao for gear
>>21911397I've never done it but I've seen anons post pics of their setup. The actual brewing is not particularly tedious, especially if you already know the tea you're using well enough that you don't need to sit there with a scale and a stopwatch but can just freehand it. The main annoyance is having access to hot water, which probably involves setting up a small kettle at your desk, and how utterly autistic you will look to all your coworkers regularly refilling your kettle and boiling water at your desk near your laptop and autistically pouring and repouring weird teas like a wannabe sinoboo.People will tell you "be a chad and don't care what people think!" but there are certain things which are just objectively socially autistic, and the workplace is a location where you're actually vulnerable to what people think. So before doing that you have to actually make sure you either are well liked enough around the office that people will just think it's interesting and quirky rather than weird, or that you don't mind people think it's weird.
Can anyone explain what is an "earthy flavor profile"?
>>21911405Taste like dirt.
>>21911397>>21911400Yeah its possible. I got a magnetic switch activated brewer from Mei Leaf which works really well for a compact setup. I bring water in from home and have a temp adjustable electric kettle. The whole setup cost about 45$.
>>21911405>>21911407Yeah basically, imagine dirt mixed with dark barley malt. It's not unpleasant
>>21911405smell some earth and you'll get it
>>21911397See>>21910001
>>21911397>>21911424i am once again shilling for thermos brewingit just werksjust dont use too much tea, i use like a teaspoon of tea with around 1.5L of water, otherwise it would be bitter from long steeping it. after something like 30mins its probably got all the flavor out and you can remove the leaves
>>21908223>It's just a wrapper anon. KTM sell small samplesOh god i hate buying samples.
>>21911408How do magnets work
>>21911543Don't be a wuss and buy the cake then :^)
>>21911609i now im sounding like a little bitch but i´m legit wondering which KTM sheng would get closer to my ripe tastes, just so i can see if there is some i may enjoy.
>>21911649Try the cheap Changtai Yiwu cake, I have it and it's very aged and smooth. Yiwu Ji Pin or something is the name
>>21911549
King of hk milk tea
>>21911752>add 4 tablespoons of evaporated milk to cup>add hot tea until desired strength >stir
>>21911752I noticed my supermarket has small tins of evaporate milk lately, should give HK style a shot already
>>21911772> I noticed my supermarket has small tins of evaporate milk lately>latelyThis sounds so wierd. Supermarkets always had it. The hk milk tea is brewed (boiled) very strongly and that is why it stands up to evaporated milk. Just finished one cup, want to make another one but I only made 750ml of tea..
>>21911775>Supermarkets always had it.I mean I only noticed the small ones lately. I don't like too much sweet stuff so I didn't really want a bigger can hanging aroundSounds nice for an occasional drink though, maybe it'd also be good for chai
>>21911784It is a regular sized can usually. And it is good for strong brewed tea. >pu erh>ceylon for hk milk tea
>>21905356I just discovered putting 'Herbs d'Provence' in chicken noodle soup about a year ago. I guess it's basically the french equivalent of 'italian seasoning'. So I read the ingredients - lavender is the one I didn't recognize. Spice mixes are gay so I bought just a container of lavender. Yep that's the magic spice.. Nice to know, but I'll never use THAT much lavender. But it is pretty with the purple flower budz.I read you can make it into tea. So I do. It's kinda brownish purple because of the buds.. I made some and then another time I offered some to my daughter. She put honey and lemon juice in it.WOW! The lemon juice turned it PINK! The stuff is like Ph indicator solution. Coool trick adding the lemon juice. I added those things to my tea too. It turned pink. Now that's how I drink Lavender tea
>>21912404And that’s when you realized you prefer men over girls.
>>21912404Interestingly lavender isn't really one of the herbs in that blend and it's just a made up American addition because lol France.I prefer lavender more for its scent. It's fun to grow and you can dry it and burn it as incense which still smells good.
Is there a historical reason why western tea cups have much wider saucers than 'wans? I like cups with handles and saucers, but the width takes up so much room on the table...
>>21912618space for biscuits
>>21912618I would think a lot of people doing the full sandwich pour with a gaiwan would have something to do with it.
>>21912618A cup is a device where you drink tea from, a gaiwan is a device where you prepare the tea before pouring in a cup to drink.Western style tea drinking often involves additives such as sugar and/or milk. Thats why you need a teaspoon to stir and the saucer needs to be big enough to hold it.Asian tea drinking is mostly without additives so cups are mostly without saucers. Gaiwan might have some drops running doen the wall so a small saucer is sufficient. Most propably just is a tea tray/towel instead of a saucer.
>>21912618so you can hold the saucer if not sitting at a table, also holding biscuits and catching spills. note its also a little wider than the handle, gaiwans dont have handles
>bought some lao cha tou>nuggets smell like licorice>hey, Normy and Normette, what does this smell to you?>"smells like tea"They're just blind to the world.
drinking 2010 7542 with some buttered croissants on the side
>>21912698you trying to fuck normette though aint you tiger>>21911752iv been dying to try some. Doies it taste like english black tea with milk or theres something different?
>>21911397I had a Bonavita kettle and a kyusu at the office. I used it to do gong fu on a macro level. Nobody thought I was weird. But I'm Asian so I could get away with it easier than Ken-san can.
>>21911397personally i prefer to just brew gong fu and put it into a thermal - steep by steep. I do travel with my kit but i need time to sit with it, otherwise it will be strange for me, like i´m running to drink something that demands my attention.
>>21911397>also what are some good vendors on taobao for gearI don´t know about Taobao but KTM has some cheap stuff. I like the idea of getting different pieces and assembling them into a kit, as i really don´t enjoy the little ones.
>>21911397To be honest I would never want to have tea at work. I associate coffee with productivity, and tea with relaxation and stopping what im doing to enjoy the smells/flavors/sensations. I wouldn't want to do anything to ruin those associations in my mind.
It's actually really easy to make authentic boba tea at home.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E4-mwl5GSE
>>21911397If you can have uninterrupted break time sure. I wouldn't want to try it honestly, I just keep to a diffuser and some decent tea leaves to brew in my travel mug. Save the nice gong fu for when you're home
>>21913323booba tea...
>>21913323Why the fuck did he make them meatball size. I know they can be whatever size you want but God this is terrifying to behold
>>21913502its parody
Got some stuff from quiche in finally after chinese new year, anything anyone wants to hear about?80s liu bao in the back, date fragrance ripe brick and red oolong is the honey fragrance one
>>2191427380s bao pls
Blasting some japanese reggae and pouring some ripe.
>>21914337based
>>2191427380s liu bao and the Love Forever cake too. Nice looking order.>>21914337I'm a dubhead that just discovered Japanese dub and reggae. Can't say I'm at all disappointed.
how long does it normally take for chinese vendors to ship out your order? I've been waiting on something to ship out from craftedleaf for like two weeks. I want my 2010 Yunnan Brown Mount. Ripe Puerh Brick.
>>21914505Not two weeks. Did you wrote them? Idk much about Craftedleaf.
>>21914505They might still be working through some new year's backlog of orders, though it never hurts to inquire about delays.
so i ordered some yerba mate online. so far i went trough half a pack of Akila, it's nice but I likely won't buy it again and just stay with Canarias yellow, and I slurped a full pack of Legendario because I really like it and it's great with just cold water, thats why I ordered another bag. Haven't tried the others yet.
>>21914714also bought a ceramic cup, gourd is nice, but messy to clean.
>>21914716I thought I preferred gourds until I saw that. I think I would prefer that.
>>21914733>>21914716I have a palo santo wood cup which doesn't require any real care. Adds a resinous note when it's fresh but it fades with time.Bought a few packs yesterday myself. Kurupi, Colon, La Mejor. All Paraguayan smoky shit.
>>21914782Legendario, Agricultor, Kyre'Y and Onoiru are all Paras, I only tasted the Legendario, that one is strong and smokey and kicks with the caffeine so thats why I bought so many from Paraguay. Sometimes I like the Uru style better, less smoke and more suave, thats why I bought the Esmeralda and Akila they are Uruguay style. for the cup, wood and gourd are probably better as they suck less heat out of the water and give a better temperature control, but they are a mess to wash and dry, thats where ceramic shines. also i just like the look and feel of it, it's pretty and it sits well in the hand.
>>21914798Paraguayan is the Xiaguan of yerba mate
>>21914716How do you brew this way without it tasting like battery acid? I have packs of merced de campo and campo sur, when I brew them in my French press (two big tablespoons of yerba for 500ml of water) it's delicious, when I try the "traditional" way it tastes absolutely vile no matter what I do.
>>21915052not that guy but you dont "brew" it like teayou fill it with ~70° water and sip it immediately, then the flavor is very light
>>21915059That's what most people seemed to recommend, yes, but what am I supposed to do if I don't want to scald the fuck out of my tongue, mouth and throat? I tried to drastically lower the water temperature and even then by the time it is drinkable it's overbrewed and tastes like shit.
>>21915078get a longer straw :^)
>>21915078never had that problem, 70°C water should be cooled down to a drinkable temp after a few seconds
>>21915092Brb gonna get me one of these funny lookin' plastic loopy straws
>>21915078That happens to me too, maybe I wasn't being careful enough with the water temperature but I assumed it's because I'm a pussy with tolerating hot drinks
>>21915078Use less leafYou don't have to fill your gourd 3/4th of the way. For bigger gourds and one person session, you could even go as low as 1/4th, or even less.Adjust this stuff to taste.
>>21915078Another life hack is to use cold water for the first brews and then switch to hot sater. That's a way to lower bitterness in early steeps. But I'd just lower leaf amount.Remember the mountain is not mandatory, it doesn't work well with smaller amounts of leaf but if you have a decent straw it's not much of a problem if you don't use it.
>>21915052if you do it traditional you should make the water only so hot/warm that you can slurp it instantly to keep the steep time down to a few seconds. If I think it's to bitter I just reduce wate temperature to 65°C or even lower. Another trick is to have a bottle of cold water ready and dilute the hot water with it, at least at the beginning. For the Paraguay mate, the ones I tasted are so strong that cold brewing is the default (called Terere) and it's hard to overload them.
>>21914987Afaiu they normally drink it cold, so that tunes it down a notch.
>2009 LaoTongZhi "8578" RipeI was the guy who said in the last thread that this cake had a popcorn smell and though the butter is still here, i can sense more than it. It really grew on me and i can say that i´m in love now.If there is any ripe enjoyer here please let me know so i can talk more about the other cakes i have so we can share some info.
>>21915248>>21915253Thanks, I'll try this out next time I make some. I've seen so many people just fucking sending it with 80°c water and massive mounds of mate that I thought that was just what "normal" mate was like. My straw is about the most standard straw you could imagine, the spoon shaped type with little holes for filtration, even if it's shit I honestly wouldn't mind drinking pieces of mate. Most of my tea is brewed grandpa style so chunks are something I'm used to.
>>21915883So it really is just gongfu but with my mouth instead of a cup huh
>>21916142Spoon type straws are actually pretty good most of the time. You can get ones with several steps of filtration, but that's a trade off because they clog more easily
Peak Vulture season! You owe it to yourself to get a cake or tong. Cheap and thicc.
>>21916185There is a soyjak on your tea
>>21916185but anon thats soooo young
>>21916185Gotta finish the pencil shavings cake first.I'm grandpa styling that motherfucker right now.
>>21916138I haven't tried the 8578, but I like the 9978. I tried a 7598 but it was pretty meh.Where did you get it from? I'll give it a try.>>21916220The pumpkin one?
>>21916222>The pumpkin one?si señor
>>21916222I got it from KTM! If you are into ripes you should definely give it a try.>9978>7598 Still havnt tried any of these. Do you have a pumidor? Like, boveda or something? Just saying because the 8578 came really dry, so i had wait a few days.
>>21916225Not a bad cake, pencil shavings is a good way to put it>>21916232Nice one. I've got a 9978 on the go at the moment but next time I'm stocking up I'll give it a try>Do you have a pumidor?Yeah, everything gets crammed into an old mini fridge with a boveda
>>21916242Should i try a 7598 or a 9978?
>>21916244I'd go with the 9978. Though, it sounds quite different to the 8578 you have. It has a nice fruity note. The 7598 I had was drinkable, but I wouldn't buy it again or pay more than the $15 I paid for it at awazon.
>>21916248ngl you sound like a good fren so you should definely give liming 2006 a try, the girl one. Its really something and im not going to recommend much more before i get more cakes to store.
>>219162449978 is very cheap and kind of cool to try. it's fruity and caramely, not much vanilla which I usually get from ripe. not great longevity though on the one I had
>>21916146I spend about 5 minutes with filling the cup, arranging the mate, pre soaking the mate with cold water in the tilted cup, building the mountain and placing the bombilla. Once you get the hang of it it becomes easy. When you do that only part of the mate gets leached and that keeps it from getting too bitter. You still need to dial in the temp on the specific mate depending on cut and type, some taste best at 65°, some at 80° and others are best enjoyed cold. And as the other anon said, a longer straw helps with precooling and I noticed a similar effect with my ceramic cup as it sucks the heat from the water fast and few degrees help. I heard Alpaka straws are preferred over stainless ones because they wick away heat faster, but I haven't tested that one myself.
>>21916185it's okay, but don't blind tong it. If you want to valuemaxx ripe, it still doesn't beat factory ripe in that department
>>21916257https://kingteamall.com/products/2006-liming-nv-er-gong-bing-bu-lang-shan-qiao-mu-old-tree-girls-tribute-cake-bulang-mountain-arbor-old-tree-250g-puerh-ripe-tea-shou-cha?_pos=2&_sid=8b1642092&_ss=rYou mean this one?
>>21916380Exactly!
>>21916381I'll try it on the next order, you don't hear much about Liming cakes.
>>21916385Trust me, you will find it to be a gem.
>>21914288>>21914464Good liu bao. Soil and a bit of doughy smell, very clean and no beets.Taste wise a classic liu bao profile, I guess you'd say smooth and a little medicinal. It's savoury and kinda feels like drinking a broth. Nice long aftertaste.I was looking for something I could buy a decent amount of and drink regularly without tiring, I think this hits the mark.>Love Forever cakeI'd like to try it a few more times first before writing about it properly, but it seems good so far.
>>21914464Oh and hit me up with some of that japanese dub
>>21916416I'll be getting a bit of the 80s liu bao from KTM. I wonder which one is better
>>21916419Would be cool to hear about it if you try it. Price is not bad on that one, pretty similar/g to quiche
>>21916417Not him but i´m >>21914337 so just anything Chieko Beauty will lead you to it but>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asNgE-0XwQg>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TEPX5FBdTQ
>>21914598>>21914692they are ignoring my emails :( i'd cancel but I want my tea
>>21916475Really strange but the horse year its a thing for the chinese vendors. I trust you will receive it.
>>21916475>>21917688just received a shipping confirmation :pray:. "Anna" from craftedleaf - since you clearly lurk this board thank you for getting back to me.
>>21917739No problem cutie.
Ah shit time flies so fast, it's spring already. You guys ready for new cakes?They keep on piling for me and I haven't had much time to dig in BF haul yet so I'm probably gonna pass.
john where is my orderI need my lead acid sludge tea
Anyone of you eat their spent tea leaves?
>>21905356blessed thread
>>21905356have any of you chaps had rose tea? tried this on a whim & quite enjoyed it. i thought it'd be overpowering but it's relatively subtle.
>>21918769i have some black tea with rose, its very nice. dont think id drink it on its own
>>21918156Yes, or I put them in a pot with water and leave them overnight to get the last of the flavour out.
Would you let Yubei extract one of your kidney for some Mengku cakes?
>>21919251I'm yet to be amazed by $100+ cake. Dimishing returns kick in so fucking hard after let's say $70.
>>21919251thats dumb, the liver grows back.
>>21919265So like 20¢/g? I don't know what kind of puer you drink but with aged sheng I've never had a cake that cheap that was anything more than a "solid daily drinker". 30-40¢/g can get you "good, worth a dedicated session", and I'd say you start getting diminishing returns around >60¢/g which is when they really start to get good.
>>21918156I usually use them for compost in my herb patch, local slugs and snails don't seem too fond of them.
>>21917744>>21917739
>>21919104I snacked on a bunch of mostly spent Long Jing leaves the other day and it was pretty tasty. Not so sure about spent puerh leaves and stems.
ive come to the conclusion that teapots are a scamtea should "sit" with the leaves as little time as possible
>>21920483do you mean western style large teapots or including small gongfu teapots? also in western brewing you're supposed to decant from the brewing teapot into a drinking teapot but most dont bother
I confess, tea friends. I hardly come here except during the agonising waits between placing my orders and getting them. Can you find it in your hearts to forgive me?
>>21920552
>>21920549well i just put it in a coffee maker like a drip coffeeand it tasted much better then steeping a teabag as you usually dosteeping needs milk always, too bitter and drybut having the water go through the tea and not sit in it its much sweeter and not dry at all.and you can make a big pot so you can just keep topping upi got some nice loose leaf too, not the powder type that you find in the bags.y'know?
>>21920664>>21920664>and it tasted much better then steeping a teabag as you usually do>i got some nice loose leaf too, not the powder type that you find in the bags.are you saying you have loose leaf tea in a teabag?
>>21920667noim saying i put loose leaf tea in a coffee maker instead of coffee
>>21920668>im saying i put loose leaf tea in a coffee makerpost it
>>21920670are you retarded? its like this but with black tea leaves
>>21920673post the brand of tea dumbass
>tfw the cake starts to get small and the nice round shape of the wrapper disappears inside the mylar making it look ugly
>>21920682no
Farmer Leaf -15% and first round of new Spring 26 cakeseven = I'll stock up on Yingpan Shan, Lao Man E, Yellow Flakesodd = I don't orderdubs = /tea/ suggests me another tea to the even list (sub $60 pls)
>>21920700holy shittaking suggestions frens
>>21919404>but with aged shengI dont drink aged stuff. I do have love forever sample on they way, it should be good indicator if I wanna get into aged stuff>I've never had a cake that cheap that was anything more than a "solid daily drinker"This also depends if you are paying let's say reseller prices where they charge you 5x or get your stuff straight from chinks. Paying $100 for $20 cake and saying it's still meh doesn't count.
>>21920700Save your money. Lots of the good sub $60 cakes are sold out. Next sale is like 2 months away anyway.
>>21920700just saw this myself gotSpring 2026 Yingpan Shan BlackSpring 2026 Bulang Shan Black my last order of Yingpan Shan ran out start of the month, wish he released some more autumn blacks>>21920701was going to suggest the Ku Zhu Shan but its $140 $0.39/gSpring 2025 Fen Shui Ling Oriental Beauty Oolong $30/100g
>>21920700If you want to buy something, would be the new black teas, yingpan shan and bulang shan maybe an oolong but the baoshan is sold out already. Like the other anon said most of the cheap cakes are sold out for now so need to wait for puerh release and next sale for spring.
>>21920711suppose i should also mention i also brought this monthTao Teaware:Guilty Grub Shou 200g £35Rent Free Red/Black 200g £352x Pot Pillows £10 for sitting under my cup and teapotMeileaf:90's Enigma Sheng 210g £48.45, a raw thats as dark as a ripe
>>21909968I have hario largo tea dripper 800ml. It's fine, but it feels a bit overkill to me and it's expensive for what it does.
>>21920725>Tao TeawareSweet, a new teaware shop I've never heard of before. Thanks.>white hipster sinoboos with quirky millennial chungus names/descriptions for everythingNevermind I hate it.
>>21920711>>21920713So Bulang Shan it is. Thanks frens.
>>21920750>>white hipster sinoboosthats every White chinese tea seller, 1st time i've bought from them, he pops up in my yt shorts algorithm and the pot pillows looks like a nice idea and couldn't find them anywhere else and figured why not buy some tea as well
>>21920769>>21920750I respect white hipsters talking about tea, ngl. But i prefer to buy tea from Chinese. Though its true that the teaware i got from Meileaf feels really premium compared with the common chinese ones. Also, any site i could buy vintage chinese pieces? The ones with 100 years old or something.
>>21920753not throwing shade but i just found so interesting that there are people who mainly drink young cakes
>>21920769pff, William manages to sell tea to us white folk without being a massive fartlicker so it is certainly possible.Had a look at the catalogue of Tao and their tea-presentation is yet another blatant rip off of w2t, I'm getting tired.Tao seems centered around original teaware, at least thats a plus.
>>21920791luv me punchy young sheng. Also the origin of aged material is often questionable to say the least.>>21920704>I dont drink aged stuff.Based young enjoyer, feels good not to be the only one. The others are just too weak to take it.
>>21920832oh, im the aged ripe guy. Usually 20 years for me its the best, though i only had the chance to taste a 90s from Xiaguan i really enjoyed it also. Lets cherish the differences!
>>21920552Lmao that's what I do too
>>21920865How does aged shou compare to aged liubao? I've tried like an 8 year old sample once and it was completely not to my taste. Which is strange because they're both wet-piled and I'd consider 8 years to be decently well aged liubao. I wonder if 20+ year old ripe might be interesting or if it's still going to be similar to the 2016 or whatever cake I had
>>21921028Iv never tasted any liubao, but from what i hear people say that it will resamble a wet storage ripe, something thats even a bit hard to find nowadays - a thing that i enjoy, either way. The wet storage will taste and smell much more funky than any dried one, and even people who mainly drink ripe will have a hard time sometimes with it. For me, i need one in my pumidor always, as drinking it in a rainy day fits like no other else.>I wonder if 20+ year old ripe might be interesting or if it's still going to be similar to the 2016 or whatever cake I hadI bet that you will be able to differ two different young shengs in a way that i, someone who doesnt´t drink sheng, will be unable to. For me a ripe from 2016 will taste really different from a ripe from 2009, but then again i drink mainly ripe. Also, producers and fabrics, recipes. I love the smokiness of XiaGuan in my ripes for example, while some people really hate it. If you try a old XiaGuan you may even think that all aged ripes will taste like it but they don´t.If i were you i would give some old ripe a try, some sample, just to see if it hits different from a young one. For me, young ripes are too sweet.
Are the fresh spring harvest teas worth the considerable markup as a low funds tea enjoyer?
>>21921106Depends how poor you are. Autumn maxing could be the play, but really there are plenty of cheap spring cakes and there are discounts from time to time.
>>21921106Not really, aside from maybe green teas
>>21921028I think liu bao is usually stored in very humid conditions, unlike the average ripeYou should try some HK traditional storage ripe or just something very old to get that aged liu bao experience
>>21920753>>21920700Bought an Autumn Lao Man E myselfI enjoyed the 2023 version quite a bit. It was 55$ back then. Now it's 32$ on sale, sounds like a steal if it tastes like I remember.
>>21920750I know some of their teaware is also available on aliexpress btwI'd probably skip the white boy middle man and buy it straight from the Chinese
>>21920704You should try more than one sample if you really want to decide whether to get into aged puer or not, it's a pretty diverse category. What if someone tried only one young bulang or only a young yiwu and based off of that one sample decided that young sheng wasn't worth getting into?>resellerI don't know what you mean by that. I buy puer from western facing vendors, like probably 95% of the other puer drinkers who post here. Those are the prices I'm going based of off.>straight from chinksLike off of taobao? Flying to Puer city and buying tea there?I don't really get why you're trying to be dismissive of my opinion after saying you don't even drink aged puer.
>>21922184>You should try more than one sample if you really want to decide whether to get into aged puer or notI already tried maybe 5 different ones. There was always something that I didn't like about them, but they weren't some well-known "benchmark" cakes, so I'm trying this one, since it has a good reputation.>I buy puer from western facing vendors, like probably 95% of the other puer drinkers who post here. Those are the prices I'm going based of off.>I don't really get why you're trying to be dismissive of my opinionMorals aside, I don't know how to categorize the price range in this case.On average, Western vendors have something like 3x markup.Look at the pic that I just did for the sake of an argument. Is this a $50 cake? $150? $220?My price per gram view is based on, let's say FL or taobao+all the shipping, fees, customs etc. Other anons might have it different.
>>21922422>taobao+all the shipping, fees, customs etcI have no clue what the shipping/fees/customs would come out to for the taobao example because I've never bought from taobao, and I hardly ever see anybody in these threads post about buying from taobao either. My assumption is that when people here talk generally about price per gram they're talking about Western facing vendor prices because that's where almost everyone seems to be buying from.
I accidentally ran my yixing pot in a 1h dishwasher cycle. How do I purify it?
>>21906684Americans getting taxed on tea again....
>>21922475good question but i imagine you would just have to simmer on hot water a few hours and a few times but then again idk
Iv been thinking about starting a heated pumidor to experiment on some cakes. Any one doing it already? I was thinking if with this one could simulate a wet storage. I imagine that a week alone would be enough to change the profile of the cake.
Im tired of serving over towels and wish to embrace the spillage If I were to get a tea tray, and my normal brewing vessel is about 100ml, I shouldn't need much even if I dump my wash in there rightLike, 10X5 inches is sort of excess to needs right? But I dont think I should get one of those super small ones as the gaiwan and bowl I use are a bit chunky
>>21922781This one of the image is too small, it ends up not being comfy enough for you to move on and spill the water. The idea of a big tray its also for you to stop being worried about making a mess, so it doens´t need to be so big but too small always will make me feel uneasy.
>>21922781this is my set up, its wide enough for my gaiwan/teapot and my cup with enough space to move around comfortably, the waste jug on the left sits on my desk to the side when im not using everything. i spill more with my 120ml teapot and after ~12 brews i get maybe 100mls of spillage which gets dumped into the waste jug. i like the rectangle trays more than the more common round ones
>>21922781>>21922838I like mine circular and big enough for a xi shi teapot, gong dao bei, and a cup. I 3D printed a replacement lid for it.
>>21922781I have two trays, this big one and another small one in the balcony. Both work good for me but the big one feels more safe.
>>21922781>Im tired of serving over towelsHave you considered just keeping the water in the cups
>>21922838>>21922899Does the wood not have any problems, like mould or rot, when you're constantly pouring warm water on it?
>>21922946No mould yet, but you do have to clean it from time to time, otherwise it will get nasty. This one for exemple >>21922899 its plastic the place where the water sits, so thats it.
Redpill me on japanese tea please. I only had shitty macha (fishy, so old), basic sencha (kind of meh but we're getting there) and a sample of kabuse midori that I absolutely loved and will get more of. What else should I try? I think I'll pass proper macha for now, too hyped up. I have an electric kettle with 5°C temperature increments, hard tap water and a brita filter.
>>21923043It's a horrible time to get into matcha because of the hype.Try some better sencha, kabusecha, gyokuro. Try some fukamushi stuff too.I'd probably wait another month to order, I think the first fresh Jap spring greens tend to pop up in late April?
>>21922946its not wood but sawdust and resin. some water has seeped in under the vinyl skin. no mould yet after +5 years but the rubber stick on blobs for the top did pull and tare some of the base so i'd recommend not using those or finding one that sits on the edge not the bottle. cheap but works, years back saw someone here using a plate of copper and he enjoyed the patterns as it corroded and chipped away
KTM order just reached the Netherlands. Love the triangle shipping magic they do, we'll see if they managed to dodge VAT again.
>>21923043I tried matcha just because I wanted to. I honestly didn't particularly enjoy it and I got it from a good source. Some swear by it, say the meditation and color is unmatched and such but honestly I just wasn't a huge fan. It's fun that it has its measuring stick and the whisk but it's really overhyped In my opinion, Sencha > Gyokuro especially for the purpose of daily drinking. Sencha is a lot lighter and in my experience has a sweeter lingering that's that is lost in Gyokuro, which is quite a bit richer and yes, seaweedy. There are other varieties as well, I never actually tried Houjicha which is a toasted green tea but it sounds good. >hard tap water and a brita filter.Brita doesn't really do anything meaningful to water hardness. Your only hope is to get something in the line of a reverse osmosis filter or just use bottled water. But I wouldn't worry about it too much, greens are pretty forgiving with hard water.
>>21923095My KTM order hasn't moved in over a week. The original estimated delivery was yesterday and now it says tomorrow, which sounds meaningless. I run out of tea in 4 days
>>21923102IMO shincha > senchaalso asatsuyu is good
>>21923102Houjicha is good. If you roast it yourself it gets a nice sort of cinnamon note. Easy way to use up a green if it gets old too.
>>21922891beautiful gaiwan darling >>21922946if the wood is unfinished you can treat it with something like beeswax or boiled linseed oil to give it some water resistance. you'll have to reapply now and again, but that's what's done for cutting boards that need to stand up to moisture without warping.
>>21923154>beautiful gaiwan darlingwho the fuck talks like this, are you a middle aged housewife or a drag queen
>>21923043>Redpill me on japanese tea pleaseThe true red pill is that they can't make a good tea. Their green tea tastes like fish/seaweed and rest is trash as well.
>>21923102Thanks for your input. >Brita doesn't really do anything meaningful to water hardnessIn my experience it does. I live in a very limestone-y region and Brita filter prevents limescale deposit in my kettle. When the filter reaches saturation, teas start to mute. Shortly after I find scale in the kettle and in the thermos I keep hot water in for gongfu. A new filter lasts about two months. When I started using it, it did not make any difference on rather expensive ripes but it was night and day with the cheap/regular ones. I agree it's not the best setup but it's enough for me.
>>21923199nta but I have done lots of experimentation with Brita and very hard water for tea. When the filter is brand new it does remove calcium enough to be good for tea but that capability degrades way faster than the health bar of the filter (you notice by the surface film forming with black tea). So it is not economic to swap filters all the time just for tea. I swapped to distilling and live a happy life now.There are more sophisticated filter systems than Brita which might do the trick better but they are expensive to setup and maintain (less frequent but more expensive filter swapping).>I live in a very limestone-y regionmg calcium/liter?
>>21923109Someone at the national post office service must be lurking this thread because I just got an SMS from my country's post that it is already in the country and is indeed scheduled to be delivered tomorrow
>>21923228>mg calcium/liter?About 60mg/L
>>21923299Lucky you, I have 208mg ca/l.Maybe your Brita lasts a bit longer than in my case
>>21922781I just use a dish.
>>21923316Damn, a filter wouldn't last two weeks...
>>21923228>So it is not economic to swap filters all the time just for tea. I swapped to distilling and live a happy life now.I don't have a number but I know my well water is incredibly hard. What do you recommend for water softening purposes?
>>21924066As I said, I distill the water. I use one of those cheap 3.7l home distillers. I then cut it again with some tap water for remineralization.>I don't have a numberYou can likely look it up online on the website of the water plant, which supplies your district.
After the brave original Awazon melon anon from EU hooked me up with some of the precious I could never have, it's time for the first write up. He tossed in a small sample of the 2008 Manjin Ancient Tea Raw, so heres how that went:6g Gongfu 90°CLeaves are quite green for a sheng of that age. Legend says Awazon has super dry storage so that might preserve it. Tea starts easy and mellow with faint sweetness and pleasant fragerance. In the progressing steeps the tea gains intensitiy, it is a well rounded harmony of pleasant bitterness with faint sweetness. It still has enough fresh edge to make it distinct from shou, I'd guess this tea to be younger. I'm suprised there are zero murky or tobacco notes present, propably also due to the dry storage. Awazon claims superb endurance for this and I'd say its quite good but not crazy. This is clearly one of the better aged Shengs I had. Price is steep, but you get an excellent pure Sheng taste tea.I'll take some more time and sessions before I post about the other teas, especially the mighty melon itself.
>>21924100Anon, he's on a well.
>>21924140>Price is steepIsn't it cheap as shit
>>21924244he's talking about the manjin cake, not the melon
>>21924246I see that is quite a bit more
>>21924140Yeah cool I don't care tell me about the melon
>>21924140You Awazon enjoyers are something. I still didn´t had the courage of paying 1 cents for a whole cake, but i trust you.
i´m in need of a nice tea pet as the egg i got from KTM crashed on the floor.
>>21924373You can't make tea without cracking some eggs
They fucking rerouted my tea
>>21924432tell us their name now
>>21924655International Distribution Services LimitedI will not forget what they did
>>21923176lesbians who spend too much time around gay men are the only ones who talk like this in my experience
>>21924357>It is TOO cheapIt amazes me how people will pay £1/g+ because some dood takes a few good photos or s0yfaces over it and then do the work of the profiteer by convincing themselves that it's worth it.
>>21922422What is the second shop in that picture (not KTM).
>>21924867where are people getting it that cheap?
>>21924808>>21923176I wanted to reference this but I misremembered the quote
>>21924962lmao understandable
>>21924867KTM sounds like the right price for me and John is a good man, nothing agaisnt Awazon though. At least we can agree that Jesse Tea House its almost a theft.
>>21925013>KTMI've not bought from there but it looked fine. decent selection. I might get some in while when I finish off this Awazon haul.
New:>>21925095>>21925095>>21925095>>21925095>>21925095
Does anyone have any experience with really heavy compressed teas?I've got some Miss Bliss from W2T and these things need like a three minute pre-soak before the coins loosen up at all. Is this normal or is there a better way to get them brewing?
