/tea/ General

This is a tea master.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNO_v8L2vI4

>>8282885
>21 minute video

Nigga I aint got time for that.

>>8283276
I thought you wanted to be a tea master?
If you don't have patience for that, you might as well stay unenlightened.

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>>8282822
>gong fu
>ancient chinese tradition

>>8282885
This essentially, any beginner getting into teas should watch the chinalife/mei leaf introductory videos. The guy is quite passionate about it and it shows, without looking fake. Chinese qt3.14 is also easy on the eyes. Their videos tend to run long and focus on chinese teas, so eventually you'd want to go elsewhere to get acquainted to taiwanese and japanese teas.


>>8282822
>starting a general without the general info and pastebin
ISHYGDDT

http://pastebin.com/4Qw3Jzci
This isn't the latest pastebin, but it's the latest in my browser history

>>8282822
Enjoy your boiled pesticides.

>>8283657
Buy organic.

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red tea or black tea?
what's the difference?

>>8283847
What kind of mental gymnastics does it take to think "organic" means they use no pesticides? Is it possible it means they use organic fertilizers instead of artificial? Or that they use organic plants instead of GMOs?

Do insects that eat plants suddenly dissappear because you slap an organic label on the product? How do they organically not use pesticides? They have to pick then and dry them so insects flocking to the plant matter at all stages would be a huge issue. I suppose it's better to pretend it's a non issue for the sake of your own mental health.

>>8282885
man, that's quite literally a tea audiophile
>>8283851
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
>>8283866
not him, tho this is what "organic agriculture" ideally means http://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?

>>8283929
>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.

>>8283866
>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.

>>8283929
>black tea is how they call pu-erh, aka post fermented tea
That's false though, pu-erh still falls under red tea.

>>8282822
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

>>8283929
>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

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>>8282822
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?

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>>8284735
>have you ever brewed gongfu-style?

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

>>8284634
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?

>>8284735
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...
>>8284721
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

>>8285190
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

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I drink my tea black with cream

>>8285235
You're literally the opposite of me. My day is green-red-oolong.

>>8285182
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

>>8285235
Where do you buy your tea?

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>>8284634
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

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>>8286791
got the same one
i am using it for roasted oolongs
what are you planing to brew with it?

>>8286812
Not sure yet, Im going to try it with some ripe pu next, scott sent me a free sample with my order seems nice

>>8286822
the fucker didn't send me any free sample wtf
did you do something special?

>>8286822
>scott sent me
yunnan-sourcing sent me*
ftfy

>>8286859
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

>>8286101
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.

>>8288140
Seems pretty solid except for their puerh

>>8286791
That's sooo cute :^)

Hipsters drinking tea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZU5i1CINAc

>>8283602
What happened to all the detailed shit at the bottom about tea brewing methods?

>>8288797
that version is severely outdated, this is the latest one(to my knowledge)
http://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.

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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?
http://crimsonlotustea.com/collections/tea-wares/products/puerh-tea-gongfu-starter-set-free-shipping
http://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.

>>8290320
>$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.

>>8290312
you are memeing too hard
you look like an idiot

>>8290312
>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 >>8290500 on the first part

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

>>8290312
>My power level is rising.

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

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

>>8290510
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?

>>8284721
>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

>>8292370
>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.

>>8292394
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

>>8292396
tee hee!

>>8291158
Got it from yunnan sourcing

>>8292370
I tried kamairicha only once but I didn't like it one bit even though it was quite expensive

>>8282822
>General

>>8288939
Thanks senpai, saving that.

>>8288797
As I said, it was the last in my history. I don't open the FAQ often.

>>8292394
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.

>>8292939
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

>>8294389
How would you describe it? Only had Chinese greens and Sencha.

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

>>8294450
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.

>>8282885
If anyone's interested, I made some YouTube Poop using Mei Leaf as a source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpuJ9f9tEVc&feature=youtu.be

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>>8294700
but why

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

>>8294760
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?

>>8294922
Depends on what you're drinking, but generally cold tea is only good for iced tea.

>>8294404
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

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>>8290372
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?

>>8296447
How much don you want to spend? You can get him a (authentic) Yixing clay pot but they are kind of expensive.

>>8296459
was thinking like 150 USD or so

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

>>8296471
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.

>>8296486
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.

>>8296488
Alright cool. When I get my own place sounds like something neat to invest in but I'll pass for now then.

>>8296447
>>8296459
>>8296471
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.

>>8296486
Basically this >>8296488
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.

>>8296559
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.

>>8294727
Mostly because Don uses lots of descriptive language and speaks with passion & conviction, making it extra funny for him to say off-color things.

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

>>8296858
Kek

>>8296559
>>8296815
Cool thanks, I got my sister working recon on this for me now. I'll ask again when she knows.

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

You can't enjoy the best tea unless you travel

>>8298215
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

>>8298256
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

>>8299135
speaking of which do any of you faggots have this?
https://www.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

>>8299168
>the cheap ones don't have auto shutoff
you sure? most kettles have it, even the shitty supermarket ones
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Russell-Hobbs-20070-Cambridge-Kettle/dp/B00CFHNI8M
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-HD9305-26-Brushed-Kettle/dp/B011U6WLW2
https://www.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

>>8299278
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

>>8298224
What size do you like the most? I drink alone and I don't know if I should get a 100ml or 150ml Gaiwan.

>>8299293
Every single kettle available are autooff. I can buy a £10 kettle from a budget store and it's autooff.

>>8299293
>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
>>8299307
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

>>8299307
>>8299350
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

>>8299360
>>8299350
Thanks, good advice. Problem is most 100ml Gaiwans look cheap and ugly, will hunt for one I like though.

>>8299377
try teaware.house perhaps, they have a few different styles

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>>8285644
Ostfriesen Tee master race

>>8296431
I like your pallet of instruments there.

Ancient gaiwan meets the post modern transparent cup.

>>8299556
>>8299645

It's fascinating how Eastern & Western ceremonial rituals differ from each other. The East is very down to earth and rooted, very comfortable that both high & low people of society can enjoy.

West on the other hand is top shelf glass pristine; delicate but also pretentious. More suited for the upper class that represents empirical prowess.

>>8299651
i don't know if its that linear, the east is also super ostentatious and pretentious

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>>8299651
Yeahhh...

My favorite tea is the Turkish Tea.

>>8299651
>The East is very down to earth and rooted

...depends on what you mean exactly. The East has various different tea traditions. A crowded teahouse might be filled with peasant workers. OTOH the highly ritualized (and some would say pretentious) "Tea Ceremony" would be the domain of the rich elite. Although it's most well known in Japan today, they copied it from the Chinese. Similar traditions exist in Thailand, Vietnam, etc, for special occasions like weddings.

Both the east and west have different tea traditions for all walks of life.

>>8299645
Couldn't find a flatter place?

>>8299651
You know tea drinking was basically prohibited by the working classes back in the day right?

>>8299811
Where?
And how can something be basically prohibited?

>>8282822
you become a master of tea by pooring boiling water over leaves

congrats, you mastered it

>>8299784
>Couldn't find a flatter place?
lol

>>8299817
Well, it wasn't prohibited. That was a lie. Sorry about that. But it was reserved for the higher classes. In China people of a lower social class served tea to the upper class. This is from wiki on tea culture in Japan:
>Green tea became a staple among cultured people in Japan—a brew for the gentry and the Buddhist priesthood alike. Production grew and tea became increasingly accessible, though still a privilege enjoyed mostly by the upper classes.
>In fact, both the beverage and the ceremony surrounding it played a prominent role in feudal diplomacy.

>>8299817

I'm not the person you're replying to, and likewise I've never heard of a "tea prohibition" either. But I do know that in some places/times tea was very expensive. A "working class" person couldn't afford it.

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>>8299871
In Germany tea became popular among poor people because it was much cheaper than beer.
In order to support the beer business Friedrich II therefore prohibited tea for some years.

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drinking some shu pu er i got from ys's subscription

Hi, /tea/. What are some general arguments for buying tea online and not from Teavana? Trying to convince a friend that they're suckering her.

>>8300653
>friend
>her

>>8300241
do you like it?

>>8300653
If she enjoys it it's fine, not everyone has to make a hobby out of tea, but best way would be to expose her to some better tea instead of sperging about teavana

>>8300721
it was very tightly compressed
did not open up after 5 or 6 brews which was annoying
tasted fairly good

>>8299307
I like both, but 100ml is superior otherwise the tea can get a bit cold.
Also as this anon said
>>8299360

>>8283657
>>8283866
You should look into how tea is prepared for consumption.

YS is having a 15% off everything sale. Just got 7 different wuyi oolongs 5x50g and 2x25g so I can perhaps pick one or two later to get a big batch of. I'm HYPE

how do you gong fu brew with western teabags?

>>8301108
You don't

>>8301137
the guy in the video told me to try brewing my normal tea gong fu style

>>8301162
>not doing loose leaf normally

Thinking about trying to make some bubble tea. Where should I start? Specifically, what sort of things will I need to make it and what sort of teas are best for this? It sounds like a lot of fun

>>8300978
What do you mean by YS?

>>8300866
It's still overpriced.

>>8301535
Yunnansourcing.com

So where does everyone get their tea? I'm lucky enough to have a local tea shop in a hipstery neighborhood nearby that has a lot of good stuff, custom blends and decent prices.

Unrelated note, what's pu-erh like? I've never had any, I mostly drink black.

Any mugi-cha fans here? Always grab a liter of barley tea and corn silk tea when i stop by the local asian market. Barley tea tastes very cozy and pleasant, corn silk tea tastes like Kix

>>8301655
Yunnan sourcing
upton tea imports
white2tea
what-cha

Depends on the kind you get. Raw can vary by a lot, it's the wine of tea. Usually bitter when young then mellows out, can be smoky or tastes of things like lemon or basil. Sounds pretentious, but is fun to drink and go full autism over.

>>8301655
Get it all online, mostly yunnan sourcing, i also signed up for next month of w2t club( a part of it is a 100g brick of liu bao heicha and a sample of their white + black tea cake ), im waiting for next spring to get some fresh greens and whites

>>8301655
I eBay all my stuff

I'm not tier 5 autismo about my tea, but I can tell the difference between a shit Darjeeling/Oolong/Sencha and a good one
eBay can be hit and miss sometimes, but it's cheap enough that getting an occasional shitter isn't too bad

Plus, how can you know good tea if you don't know bad?

>>8300241
Is that a whetstone?

>>8300871
You could try leaving an infusion for longer, say twice the time you normally would to help open it up.

How is there such thing as decaffeinated tea? How do they extract it?

>>8302758
The real question is: Why would you do such a thing?

>>8302758

A solvent is run through the tea that dissolves out the caffeine but does not (theoretically, anyway) affect anything else.

>>8302594
i already did longer infusions than usual but it didn't really help and thats a scale

>>8302758
decaffeinated tea is a meme
if you are looking for something without caffeine try tisanes

>>8302952
W2c that chahai?

>>8303022
what does w2c mean?

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Hey senpaitachi, I like green tea. What should I buy at this site (https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1269947) to try a bunch of new stuff and expand my tea experience.

>Add honey to honeybush
I had no idea this stuff could be so tasty

>>8303077
Where to cop, aka where to buy

>>8303171
definetely bi luo chun and long jing

>>8303235
thanks
>>8303022
i got it from GOARTEA on german amazon
couldn't find it on the us version

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how do you prevent yourself from ordering more tea/tea samples before you finish the ones you already have? i have so much tea already but i'm constantly wanting to order more of things i haven't tried yet.

>>8304452
I have a tin rule. I have 24 tins. I can't order more until some are empty, and can only order enough to fill the empty ones. Pretty good motivator to finish stuff off if it's near empty and it's worked for me so far.

>>8304452
I have a "system" where I basically have two orders. When one half of my tea is empty I place an order to fill it up and then when the other half is empty I do the same, that way I never go out of tea and I never get too much of it.

>>8303171
You realize they have a sampler pack, right?

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5-Different-Flavors-Green-Tea-including-dragon-well-Long-Jing-BiLuoChun-Mao-jian-Mao-feng-Jasmine/1269947_2012471553.html

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I switched from coffee to tea since it's easier on my stomach, and I found a qt to teach me about it.

But to be honest I kind of just want to fuck her brains out on the first date and never talk to her again, because I can tell she wants it so badly and deep down I hate the nerdy part of myself so I externalize those feelings towards other nerds. I want to humiliate her.

How hard is learning the minutiae of tea? Should I keep her around for a bit, or are there maybe some good books on the topic?

>>8305804
She's memeing out pretty hard. Pump and dump. Yes there are books available, check the FAQ.

>>8304463
How do you clean your tins so the scent of previous teas won't linger? One of my tins still smells of bergamot a month after I finished my Earl Grey and washed it with soap and all. I think my tin with sakura sencha will end up the same.

Or since you have that much you use the same tin for the same tea every time? I have four tins right now.

>>8305987
found this thread on the subject
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?p=212034

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>>8305804
>tea
>spirituality

>>8305804
why can't she just enjoy tea and not be a huge fag about it? Always fuckin' spewing nonsense to sound so 'cultured and intelligent'

Shit really tickles my 'tism.

>>8305804
>Indian chai

What a dumb slut, it's INDIAN MASALA CHAI.

I drink about 1.5 liters of tea (just the stuff in tea bags) every day lately, is that bad?

>>8307571
You're drinking bagged tea, that's bad in any amount.

>>8307781
Is it really tho? Like am I fucking up my body doing this?

>>8306210
>Shit really tickles my 'tism.
That's what your mom said

>>8307571
Why should it be bad? I drink about 2l a day.

>>8307792
Most bagged teas have pesticides (as far as I know, though I havent found studies on it, just clickbait health food websites claiming it), loose leaf has some bad stuff too but thats why you rinse your tea I guess.

>>8308442
>>8307792
In sum do your own research and decide if it bothers you enough, truth is most agricultural products have pesticides or fertilizers or something to that extent, its not the end of the world, people just live their lives not caring how things are made then its like some grand surprise when they find out, then they stop eating meat or go full organic or some bullshit instead of learning moderation

>>8308442
Nope, that's not why you rinse your tea.

>>8308458
Yeah, i just hear that argument sometimes, I personally dont care about the positive or negative claims about tea, I just like how it tastes/makes me feel, and I rinse to hydrate the leaf a bit/warm it/take some sediment it might have out.

>>8307800
>>8307571

these amounts of tea are bad for your kidneys
substitute atleast half of that out as just plain water.

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I really don't get why people are judging organic products without real knowledge about it. Most organic teas from good vendors/farms are indeed organic. Organic tea farmers from at least Taiwan and Japan often use insects to protect their teaplants and cocktails of acidic fruit and stuff as pesticides. Also elevation is a factor, high altitude teas don't need as much protection since a lot of the harmful bugs live in lower altitudes.

>>8308478
Im not judging anything, its just not high up im my list of concerns and Im not fond of the price premium organic stuff has attached to it.
Im also not the biggest fan of greener oolongs and green teas, im more of a puhead

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Black Friday sale at Chinalife everything 25% off
>tfw went a bit overboard with a £200 post discount order

>>8309019
Were you memed into their clay pot?

>>8309124
Nah, just tea

>>8305804

This would make a great copypasta for tea generals. I agree with you, she's a pump and dump

what are your favorite teabags, /ck/?

(yes, yes, i know teabags are bad, whatever. i've been drinking tea my entire life and have tried plenty different kinds of tea, and ultimately nothing really beats the convenience of hot water kettle at desk + cup + teabag. they aren't even that expensive if you reuse them.)

So where is everybody finding the best deals on tea for black friday?

>>8309323
I ordered from w2t for dat free shipping

>>8309287
Teabags are not just bad, they're utter shit

Chinalifes Pip Killer Gushu is good as fuck. First time drinking it from a taster bag. Raw Pu-erh is my last undiscovered territory and I'm starting to get why Pu-erh gets all the hype.

Guys, uh, is the liquor from a lightly-oxidized oolong supposed to be opaque for the first brew?

>>8309399
i have probably drank more expensive tea than you and ultimately in terms of enjoyment, it's not much different

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>>8309424
Kek, nice try faggot

>>8309428
??? do you think i'm lying or something

i have no idea what you're trying to convey with your posts

>>8309433
I think you're a fucking idiot and I think you should reuse another teabag and leave this thread alone.

>>8308476
I drink up to 4 liters of tea a day, am I going to die?
If it helps, I only use a relatively small amount of tea leaves (maybe 10g a day) and reuse them a few times.

America is what started the tea bag trend.

In the early 20th century tea vendors would package tea inside little bags that were meant to be opened and poured into a strainer. But of course the murrican way they thought it'd be a good idea to instead throw the whole fucking bag into boiling water to make things easier.

America ruined tea for the entire world.

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People actually want to buy tea from this place.

All that cultural pollution makes its way over to the tea fields as it mixes in with the rain, soil, and the plants themselves.

>>8309567
>tea is grown in beijing
Really makes you think...

>>8309555
>America ruined tea for the entire world.

Wrong. People around the world who know anything about tea (most countries with a tea drinking history and culture) rejected it for the plebian shit it is.

>>8309585
Yeah because pollution totally doesn't travel beyond a city... it must just magically fade away.

>>8309287
You realise you can do exactly the same with loose leaf, look up grandpa style brewing, you have no excuse

>>8309653
>Distance from Beijing to Kunming is 2,086 kilometers. This air travel distance is equal to 1,296 miles.
http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/article-cities-best-air-quality.htm
>3. Kunming, Yunnan Province
Hmmm...

>>8309399
That's a meme. Yes, teebags are made out of cheap oddments and taste different compared to loose tea. However their price is attractive, their quality is steady and their preparation is easy and fast. Therefore I would say they have a reasonable right to exist.
You should see them as an addition to loose tea and not a rival.

>>8309683
Nope, it's just utter shit. Come back and try again later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtWVkv_dw_c

My dream is to someday find a waifu who could do this for our daily routine. Every morning after morning sex we sit down together at our little oak wood table, and together we gonfu.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3tA3fFCP34

>>8309869
anon, waifus can't brew tea.

>>8309834
>>8309869
weaboo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d78fZJX3lmE

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>>8282885
I hope you're not serious. This is the Chinese equivalent of a weeaboo. His tea set is the equivalent of chopsticks and his China mountain tea leaves the equivalent of gourmet pockey. At least it was good for a laugh.

>>8310139
Show me what you call a master then.

>>8310143
Sure.

https://youtu.be/xV3oCBrttVI

>>8310158
Who is this man?
Because from what I can tell you just sent me a video of some old asian guy spending probably thousands of dollars on expensive teaware and you think he's a "tea master".

You should look into James Norwood, he's one of the few men out there who helped bring knowledge of tea to the west as an author.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9zT5VZKHI0

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>>8310177
>link actual traditional tea master who owns his own tea shop in China, who is performing a traditional Chinese tea ceremony
>hurr it's just some no name asian guy who spent a lot of money trying to look cool, you should look into this guy who isn't a tea master but an author, because he's famous and is on TV shows

You are an imbecile.

>>8282885
is dudes gonfu set actually worth it? he seems super autistic about his custom tray

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>>8309869
>>8309927
>>8310158
>>8310177
What is this shit? Fucking weaboos.
>one of the few men out there who helped bring knowledge of tea to the west
Topkek. Are you ever recognized that the West has a tea culture for hundreds of years as well? Englishmen and Russians drink far more tea than the Chinese.
>tea master
What's that supposed to be? You dash some leaves with water, woopdy doo. Anyone could manage this after a few tries. I make a fucking good apple pie but nobody calls me "pie master".
>but muh yin-yang
Tea is a fucking drink and not some kind of secret Shaolin technique. If you're looking for meditation I recommend you to try some kind of handicraft. That's at least more productive than dosing a tea pot with water.
There's nothing more cringy than people who glorify a simple and ordinary task.

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>>8310219
You don't necessarily need a gongfu set to experience gongfu. It's merely a way of steeping the tea, the process of washing your tea to clean off any dust or little pieces. Then you begin the first steep, and usually ends by steep #5 or 6, or until the flavor dissipates.

>>8310251
A tea master is usually someone who knows decades worth of knowledge, traveling the world experience cultures and plantations.

>>8310251
But he's Chinese, not Japanese. One would think that the faggot pretending to act posh and British would actually pretend to be intelligent too.

>>8310265
>decades worth of knowledge
So you can get a M.Sc. in physics in about five years but you need decades to learn how to make a fucking cup of tea?
>>8310331
>But he's Chinese, not Japanese
I use the term weaboo concerning the whole Asian culture. If you don't like it then I can call you a hipster instead.
>pretending to act posh and British
I'm no britfag and I never said so. My country has its own tea culture. But if I was not, I would orientate myself at first on the English or Russian tea culture before I start pouring water on a fucking Chinese stone dragon.

>>8310479
>tfw no samovar

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>>8310479
>So you can get a M.Sc. in physics in about five years but you need decades to learn how to make a fucking cup of tea?

There's a lot to learn in the world of tea, ranging from the manufacturing process - all the way to soil contents and elevation affecting the plants. History is also factored in as well.

>>8310139
>half chinese
>chinaboo

This tea thread is the worst of them all so far. I will stop coming here. Bye guys.

Are we posting weeb videos? I found this one a while back.
https://youtu.be/fcMlZzFboiA

>>8310801
Cute
>70 degrees celcium

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>>8310755
Bye, see you tomorrow.

>>8310556
And if it literally takes decades for you to learn these things, well I wouldn't brag about that.

>>8310801
is she an idol? she is really attractive

Anyone else order their jap tea from ocha &co?
I've had their first cut Shincha and Organic Sencha and both were the highest quality green tea i've had so far, all vaccuum sealed and a much fresher looking and tasting tea than most.

>>8310256
yeah but is it worth buying?

>>8310969
If you really wanna go deep. I didn't get a gong fu set until after a year of semi-serious tea drinking.

anyone know a source for ceylon tea? in particular from the dickoya region/ estate. Cant seem to find anything in the pastebin. Help would be appreciated.

>>8310969
I wouldnt get their clay pot, 200ml is huge for one person, l have a 130 one and even that is a little too big.

>>8311113
>tfw I got one and will probably never use it because I drink by myself
Atleast it's a nice looking pot right?

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Fuck your ancient brewing method bullshit, we've got technology to solve the problem

This fucker will make a perfect cup of fucking tea every time, you can't control temperature to the degree with fucking gongfu

>>8311201
Hey, language.

>>8311201
are there any plastic parts or nonstick coatings exposed to the hot water?

>>8311215
There's a plastic lid on the top of the brewing basket, BPA free if that scares you

>>8311201
>you can't control temperature to the degree with fucking gongfu
What did he mean by this?

>>8311241

He's saying the temperature control of that appliance is more accurate than can be achieved with a gongfu setup

>>8311201
Can you make just 1 cup with this?

>>8288494
They're so fucking pretentious

>>8311257
You still warm water with a kettle, if you want to use one with variable temp you can

>>8311260
Yeah, but the leaves will have room to expand, which is generally considered suboptimal. Depends how much you care.

>>8311272
A variable temp kettle won't maintain the temp for the duration of the brew

>>8311201
I plan on getting one soon and have it in my room on a little book shelf.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU338bxB5Lo

>>8311201
That system can't even brew gong fu, but to each his own
Dunno why everybody must go to war over shit like this tho, only thing everbody need to realize is how shit teadust is

>>8310750
Are you saying half japs in America can't be weeaboos?

>>8311337
It can though, you just set the steep time for less and put in more leaves

I'm just being a shitposter though mostly, anybody that drinks a good cup of tea is cool in my book.

Dudes like this guy >>8282885 are audiophile tier bullshit and he probably spends more time making his damn tea than ever drinking and enjoying it

>>8311368
Maybe, but Don isn't even a Chinaboo even if he was fully white. Just look at their teaware for instance. Is it being a Chinaboo in your book to brew gong fu? Then you should switch to coffee instead of tea.

>>8311394
You know gong fu brewing is brewed with like 100-200 ml of water right?

>>8311606
Yes, but as long as you use the same tea to water ratio it won't change shit

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Had some genmaicha from a local Japanese cafe/small restaurant. Went well with Japanese curry.

Going to buy that Crimson Lotus Tea puerh gongfu set while it's on a 10% discount.

>>8309347
I also want to order from them for the first time, any recommendations when my budget is say $30? I just cleared some strong teas and currently I have Bai Mu Dan, Milky Oolong, and some Lapsang Souchong left.

Anything stronger than those from their lineup? Cheers.

>>8311609
So you're going to brew like 75 gram of tea for 1.5 litres of water which gives you 15 infusions and 22.5 litres of tea? Ok

>>8311648
my first time ordering too. with your budget I would order a bunch of samples.

>>8311656
Why take it to such an extreme? 500ml of water would be fine, and most teas aren't going to take 15 infusions.

My favorite tea is the Turkish Tea.

>>8311689
500 ml water gong fu brewing is pretty extreme. A 200 ml pot serves like 3-4 people. Also pu-erhs go easily for 15 infusions gong fu style. You clearly don't know enough about this subject so I don't you should talk about this with such confidence. 500 ml gong fu brewing is for like 10 people. That's why you see Gaiwans coming in sizes like 50-100 ml for single brewing. Even a 150 Gaiwan is alot for one person and ideallt for two or three.

>>8311648
Genmaicha is a pretty comfy tea. I like it with breakfast.

>>8311699

Kanka naber

>>8311648
Either samples like >>8311686 said or their december tea club

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Ok, I've had some exposure to tea. Most recently Someone bought me some box set from Teavana, which I'd never heard of before. They tasted pretty ok, but they had that fake quality to them that stuff like starbucks has. They're not so much tea as a combination of random dried bits and flavorings called tea.

So I want to try REAL tea and see how it measures up. I don't want to be some tea master weaboo performing tea ceramonies in an ill fitting kimono in some community center while dragon ball z plays in the distance. I don't wanna buy 500 dollars of Chinese tea paraphernalia. I just wanna know where I can get good tea, how I can tell it is good tea, and how I should brew it with a standard metal teapot.

If I like it, then I'll move on to trying to get better stuff. But right now, I have no pallet to distinguish amazing from alright. I just want to know if I even like real tea before I go nuts, and to do that I have to know what real tea is like.

>>8311951
As an addendum, my major problem in looking at this shit on my own is the feeling that I might get scammed. I look around and see 300 dollar teapots and tea leaves being sold for 60 dollars an ounce like it's a baggy of pot. And I can't tell what makes them better or if they even are.

>>8311997
Most expensive tea sites (if they are to be trusted) offer samples, maybe go to yunnan sourcing and pick a few as well as a cheap gaiwan( http://yunnansourcing.com/en/gaiwans/1462-white-porcelain-gaiwan-for-gong-fu-cha-brewing-100ml.html) , desu most of that more expensive teaware isnt so much about making the tea better but to make the drinking experience more enjoyable, only cost effective way to make tea better is to get better tea.
An electric kettle is nice to have, heating water on the stove works fine though

>>8311761
By your own ratio 500ml would produce 7.5 litres of tea, which I honestly don't find to be all that absurd to drink with another person.

This discussion has reached absurdity though, because the original point is that the machine CAN do it. It's fine if you want to argue the fine details with your internet acquired expertise, but there's no point.

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>>8311686
>>8311936
Thanks guys, would this be a good sample set?
White tea, black tea, factory raw, aged raw, young raw, and ripe?

>>8313786
Seems nice, heard good things about repave

>>8313104
You're fucking retarded and you should consider kys. The way you're trying to bend reality for you to win this discussion is cringe worthy to say the least. You simply don't drink 4 litres of tea by yourself in one sitting. Admit that you're a fucking faggot and go eat a dick.

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>>8313878
>You simply don't drink 4 litres of tea by yourself in one sitting.
Literally surrounded by peasants

>>8313878
>kys
The international term confirming you've lost the argument.
Nice.

>>8314124
You're pleb m8
Also drinking 25 gram puerh in one sitting is also unrealistic
So get a new cake like once in like four days?
Pathetic cunt

>>8314142
Well 50 grams because you have to drink with a friend to share 7.5 litres of gong fu brew
Kekkkkk

>>8314142
I wasnt defending him, obviously that device isnt well suited for gong fu, hell even my 100ml gaiwan is a bit big for teas that run for long(thinking of buying a few 50ml ones from ys), but i often drink 4 liters in one sitting(mostly if drinking multiple teas in quick succession to compare them)

>>8313856
Nice, getting them now.

>>8310801
Her Tea Video letters are good information sources for Japanese tea brewing so I think they should be added to the pastebin

Found her tea website as well
https://teaofgrace.themedia.jp/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzJOU2HcKS0OsyyEJAuvGkQ/videos

Tea is so surreal when you really think about it. We're taking plant life that's rare in this universe and then we pluck it, throw it in a bowl of hot water and suddenly we have the beverage of Earth.

If aliens ever come down to greet us tea will have to be offered, which makes me wonder if it's a universal aspect in the universe, how many advanced civilizations drink it? They must have plants with unique compounds, all they need is boiling water and some time.

Now imagine being a part in an galactic tea trade organization that goes from planet to planet finding and trading of the finest quality.

>>8314289
Same could be said about other plants.
Its still funny to think about, not very different from the different regions of earth, tea, coca leaf, coffee, mate all have strong cultural meaning. Would love to try zblarg from omega epsilon 83

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>>8314202
Enjoy your water intoxication

>>8314289
DUDE
ALIEN TEA
LMAO

>>8315132
Top kek, im usually around 30 lb, lets hope i get lucky

>>8315283
130*

>>8315132
>LD50

That's only lethal for 50% by definition. It also assumes you don't pee it out since the lethal effects of water intoxication come from dilution effects creating non-isotonic conditions between interstitial fluid and cell contents.

>>8314289
I like this post though.

>>8315302
I know what it means, just cracking a joke m8

>>8315302
Still damaging your kidneys when you're gulping down 4 litres of water. (Which you don't do but claim to do so you could win an argument).

>>8315581
I'm not him, I'm just a passing med student. Drinking 4 liters is crazy talk for many reasons.

>>8315765
Even if I pee a lot and I drink it throughout the day?
I dont do it every day but when new tea comes in the mail I go to town

>>8315804
Throughout the day, no. I figured you guys were talking all at once or at least in a short period of time.

As per it damaging your kidneys, I'm not sure why the other guy said that. Your kidneys are filtering about 125 ml fluid every minute so it would only take about 35ish minutes to filter 4 liters of plasma. I doubt 4 liters of water running through you would really matter much. Again, the damage from water happens when you drink so much of it that the kidneys can't filter it out of the blood fast enough and it makes your interstitial fluid hypotonic. And then, because your cells don't regulate water flow in and out of them, the water flows into the cells to get rid of the gradient. Which can lyse the cells.

Same thing that happens if someone retarded injects pure water into your veins instead of saline. Thats the reason you have to have salt water and not pure water, because injecting pure water would case your cells to blow up.

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Everyone who drinks tea is at least 15%-20% gay.

But it's okay though, being in a feminine state of mind is beautiful and deserves appreciation.

>>8316099
>thinks tea is gay
>posts cat pics

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>>8316099
Tea is the second most popular beverage in the world, with the first being water.

The world is apparently pretty fucking gay.

>>8316099
>windows xp start screen
>start
>internet explorer
>4chan
>/ck/
>/tea/
>youre all gay
>whole world is gay

loser of monumental proportions

I'm going to ask some probably very dumb questions so I apologize in advance.

Is loose leaf tea that different from tea bags?

Do you add sugar with loose leaf tea? I almost always add at least a bit in mine.

Are the little ceramic pots better for making tea or just for aesthetic reasons?

>>8316909
>Is loose leaf tea that different from tea bags?

Yeah it's different. Kinda like the difference between a steak and ground beef.

>Do you add sugar with loose leaf tea?

Depends really on the person, tea, and time.

>Are the little ceramic pots better for making tea or just for aesthetic reasons?

Better than bags? Depends really. Bags are just traditional in the west, but in the east people use pots.

>>8316918
>Kinda like the difference between a steak and ground beef.
What a shitty and useless comparison.

>>8316909
https://youtu.be/zLd26QQwF6Q

>>8316966
Why? I think it's a great comparison.
A steak is more precious but that doesn't mean that you can't cook tasty meals with ground beef too. It's the same with loose tea leaves and tea bags.

>>8316909
For Loose Leaf Tea I honestly just prefer the French Press, same kind I use for coffee.

All you need is something that will steep the tea and then let's you filter it out when you want to drink it. I know asians have their variety of devices but I think a Press is far more practical and in my opinion aesthetically pleasant.

>>8317060
Why do we only talk about green tea? I wouldn't use tea bags for green tea neither but it's perfectly fine for black tea and tisane.

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>>8316909
>Is loose leaf tea that different from tea bags?
Yes, loose leaf is (generally) vastly superior quality. Tea bags almost always use fannings, aka "tea dust" that is leftovers from properly processed tea. I disagree with the anon who says the comparison is similar to steak vs ground beef, it's closer to the meat you can get for human consumption (varying from ground beef to steak) compared to dog food (leftover meat products).

Tea bags also tend to be older, and tea DOES go stale.

You don't really know where the bagged tea is coming from (usually, there are exceptions), there's less variety, it's a lot harder to tell the quality (once you get used to tea you can look at the pictures of the leaf on a website and determine the quality to a certain extent), etc

One thing to look out for is a lot of broken leaf, in loose leaf tea, this is because smaller pieces of leaf infuse faster and are more likely to turn bitter much faster. Whole, or larger pieces, of leaf give a much stronger, deeper flavor.

>Do you add sugar with loose leaf tea? I almost always add at least a bit in mine.
I don't, but you can. It's an individual experience. I find if I want a sweeter tea, I'll go with a green or some good quality tie guan yin.

>Are the little ceramic pots better for making tea or just for aesthetic reasons?

They are better for a certain style of brewing. But better than bags definitely. They allow plenty of room for the leaves to expand, allowing full contact with the water. This is compared to bags, or the metal baskets. This is important for good quality tea as the leaf expands a lot and it needs a lot of room.
They are also used for gongfu style - i.e. lots of leaf to water ratio, compared to western brewing. This is combined with multiple infusions of short steeps (10-15 seconds).

tl;dr yes: information provided, over all quality, depth of flavor, variety available

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>>8317120
Reviewing this, I realize I wrote like a fucking retard in a lot of parts.
All the same, you should get the general idea.

Loose leaf means you're more likely to get bigger pieces of leaf that infuse a strong (or delicate, and complex) flavor without being bitter, weak, or overly astringent. It also means the leaves get full contact with the water, allowing for a complex brew, and multiple infusions.
The tea quality is improved enough that after a while you can start to tell the difference in subtle flavors, like lychee, grass, hay, floral, mineral, lemon, apple, cinnamon, gardenia, etc
These aren't just pretentious words used, they are actual flavors that show up in good quality tea, allowed by good quality leaf and proper processing methods.

>>8317110
Why would you use bagged dust for black tea? It's the exact principle, it produces shit tea. But you probably only had shitty black tea so you wouldn't know the difference. That video could've easily been done with a Ruby #18 or a Dian Hong and a teabag with the exact same result.

>>8317090
Bagged tea is always shit and that's why the comparison fails.

>>8317173
I'm an avid drinker of black tea and drink one to two liter a day. I also use almost only loose tea leaves. For one thing exists my prefered sort only as loose tea and for another thing am I also convinced that loose tea has generally a higher quality as tea bags. However this "tea bags are shit" meme annoys me. Tea bags are way more budget-priced and way handier than loose tea. In some situations I would prefer tea bags, e.g. for breakfast.
The video of >>8317060 isn’t very convincing either: It's made by a guy who's based as fuck (he even removed the tea bag with his fingers). Also the quality of tea bags is in general not as bad as he said. I don't know where you live but here in Europe you can be sure that there are no beetles in your tea bags.
Green tea is very delicate so it's clear that the bags are not as good as loose tea. For black tea this different is way smaller and I guess for tisane you couldn’t even taste the difference anymore. There's a reason why most of tisane is offered as tea bags.

>>8282885
>5x as many leaves
hell nah nigga

>>8317219
Fuck off pleb. You know _nothing_ about tea but you speak like you do. There's a HUGE difference between loose leaf red tea and teabags. This only further proofs that you drink very low quality tea, hence little difference to a teabag. There's a lot of tea beginners in these threads and they are always welcome but please don't speak like you know anything about it. Be humble if you want to learn. It's the equivalent of a freeze dried instant coffee drinker going to a barista in Turin, insisting that instant coffee is just as good as their freshly roasted and grounded espresso. It's the equivalent of a Japanese Golden curry guy going to a michelin starred restaurant in Mumbai claiming that curry roux bricks are just as good and flavourful as their curries. There are several reasons why tea dust is ALWAYS shit. One reason is the fact that the tea is grounded to a powder so the surface area of the tea is so extreme that hot water scorch it very fast. Another reason is the quality of the tea itself. Tea dust which is in your bags is literally sweepings from the factory floor. It's the absolute worst grade of tea that ends up in a teabag. I don't expect you to understand this since you obviously have made up your mind without real knowledge about the subject. Go drink your shitty bags and piss off.

>>8317120
Missed this post but it's all solid info

>>8317384
You seem upset?

>>8302594
a whetstone wouldn't have corners like that

>>8317384
cringed

>>8317391
I get upset with idiots who don't realize how completely wrong they are, yes

>>8317397
Not an argument

>>8317219
how is "he removed the tea bag with his fingers" any form of criticism
how dumb are you?

>>8317384
you are right but you argue like a flamboyant faggot

>>8317384
Did you realize that your post is mostly insults and only two actual arguments?
Especially things like
>Be humble if you want to learn.
is a bit smug, isn't it? I drink black tea on a daily base for about seven years now. I guess I know how to brew a good cup of tea.
Well let's go to your actual arguments:
>surface area of the tea
Yes it's true that the surface area of tea in bags is larger than loose tea leaves. It's also true that this fact affects the brewing properties. But it is NOT true, that this means that tea bags taste bad!
One good example is Matcha tea: It’s tea powder but still a very prestigious high-quality tea.
The main difference is that tea in bags brew faster than loose tea. For green tea this may be a disadvantage because it brews just a few seconds anyway so it's harder to find the right time. But black tea takes few minutes so this isn't really a problem. Tisane needs several minutes so it's even an advantage that tea bags can shorten that time.
>Tea dust which is in your bags is literally sweepings from the factory floor
I really wonder where this meme comes from. Do you really think that they take the sweepings from the ground and fill it in bags? That's just dirty lie or do you have any facts to base your allegation?
I don't know any numbers about real tea, but I know that over 90% of tisane is sold in tea bags anyway. So you see, it's not the "sweepings from the factory floor" but the ordinary proper leaves.
>Go drink your shitty bags
If you read my previous post, you would know that I also prefer loose tea. Once again just to make it clear: I agree that loose tea ordinarily has a higher quality. But this doesn't mean that tea bags are crap. They have a way better cost-benefit ratio and are also way handier. It's just like >>8316918 said:
Loose tea is a steak and tea gabs are ground beef.

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>>8282822
How do you become a master of tea? Drink this.

>>8285644
There's an oxymoron if ever I saw one.

>>8317131
You should use a white plate for better visuals, the blueness makes it hard to see the leaves.

>>8317483
That's not being smug. I'm being honest. I've been a tea novice myself but I didn't come here acting like I already knew everything. I asked questions and did research and appreciated knowledge from guys who knew more than me. Also you brewing tea for seven years is fine and all but that doesn't make you know alot about tea. Your mother (or whoever) have been drinking coffee her entire life but that doesn't result in her knowing about good coffee. That just means she likes drip coffee, if you get my analogy?
And theres a difference between Matcha and teadust, Matcha is a very fine powder that dissolves into the liquid. Tea dust is just tea dust. The factory floor sweepings isn't a meme actually. Of course this is kind of a worst scenario but it is true. This is basic knowledge from people who source for tea. People get all fussy about Indian and Chinese tea production because they are 2nd world countries with a different way of doing things to say the least, how do you think they treat tea dust? But even if it's not factory floor sweepings (which it is in some cases) it's still tea from such a poor quality that it can't be sold as loose leaf. You can't buy good grade dust because those tea leaves would have been used to make loose leaf in the first place. I don't really care that people drink teabags as I don't care that people drink instant coffee, but please don't spread misinformation that teabags makes a good red tea because it simply doesn't. You don't get any nuances of flavour at all, it just tastes like "tea". I think it's a shame that red tea gets a bad rep but that's really because it's the dominant tea of western countries and among the least popular teas in east asia. And western countries generally have a worse tea culture and appreciation. Proper red tea is just as amazing as any other with flavour profiles like blackcurrant, cocoa, lilacs, cinnamon, euqalyptus or whatever. They are just as diverse and nuanced as green teas, maybe even more.

>>8317516
Different anon but I really feel that CTC tea has its place. The more important thing is knowing that it isn't the only kind of tea.

>>8317583
Fair enough

So am I just pissing away money if I want to try puerh tea and buy a $25 "2016" cake?

And to the canadians here, where do you buy your tea?

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>>8317666
>25$ 2016 cake
Depends, first of all is it ripe or raw?
Menghai factory(dayi) ripes run at about that price and they are pretty solid.
If raw keep in mind very young raws are very bitter and aspargusy, personally I enjoy it but some people dont, ive seen some young cakes at yunnan sourcing at that price point.
The white2tea basics set might be up your alley, it has 4 100g cakes for 40$ as a learning set. I took a pic of the paper with the details, cant be bothered to type a description on my phone

>>8317690
I see.

The white2tea basics set you're recommending there actually seems like a solid place to start, with a mix of different types, rather than putting down the money for a cake and not enjoying it (whether it be because it's ripe/raw or just not my kind of taste). $40 isn't out of my price range for something to start, so I think I might go with that.

It'll also be my first time with large leaf quantity/short and multiple brews so it'll be a learning process. I'll also check out menghai factory teas and yunnan sourcing though I've heard they have very slow shipping times. They might be go to sources when I'm more acquainted. Thanks for the info mate, just what I needed.

>>8317666
$25 isn't much for a good cake
Most raw Pu-erhs should either be consumed while fresh or stored for several years

>>8309287
I've been thinking about getting some bags to put the loose tea I already have in for taking to work. I've seen some that claim to be shaped in a way that lets the leaves expand, is that bullshit?

>>8318173
Just get big enough bags

>>8318173
Get one of those mugs with those removable infusers like:
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/glassware/1843-heat-tempered-glass-tea-mug-for-gong-fu-tea-brewing-320ml.html
Or
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/portable-brewing-devices-and-travel-sets/3681-sama-easy-teapot-for-gong-fu-tea-brewing-s-050a-500ml.html
Dont intend to shill ys there are probably similar mugs on aliexpress or amazon but i had it open already

where do teafags buy their teaware?

Hey guys, need some help please.
I'm looking for a fruit tea (yeah I know it isn't real tea), best would be organic/bio, as I very much dislike the taste of the (artificial/natural) flavoring 99% of the regular ones use. If it isn't organic, but doesn't use these flavorings, I'm okay with that as well.
I'd prefer mostly darker ones, with berries and stuff. If somebody could show me a nice onlineshop, preferably from inside the EU, with a nice selection I'd be really grateful.

I looked for myself a little, but most I can find, have like 5-6 teas and only a handfull that aren't nothing but apple and some other stuff.
Don't really care about the price. Once you started shelling out for green teas, fruit teas really aren't worth mentioning anymore.

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>>8318458
Amazon

>>8318458
Yunnan sourcing, teaware.house, some bargains on aliexpress, cool stuff on etsy and milk pitchers from western tea sets in thrift stores make great chahais

what should i get from white2tea?! I might just get some random samples

>>8318464
Sounds like you're looking for a site like Palaisdesthes

File: 4dfc42165c0bf20b0be28190ae101f4f.jpg (58KB, 540x370px) Image search: [Google]

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What's the name of the thing that holds the tea in this picture?

>>8317513
I think that's the least of my worries considering how shit my camera is. But yeah, I should use the blue gaiwan with some white tea.

>>8319000
A tea boat?