Tea thread?

yea why not, I like roibusch vanilla

btw what's better smoked yerba mate or unsmoked?

>>9229814
Unsmoked doesn't have the PAHs which are implicated in cancer risk but either is good

Toured the Celestial Seasonings factory recently. Convinced me to look more into how my tea is made and how to prepare it better.

At the very least, they got free tea all day there. What's your favorite tea? Favorite infusion?

RIP Teavana

I'm drinking Mutan White right now and I'm not really impressed. I'm brewing at 175F for 3 minutes and it's not very flavorful. It tastes a step removed from boiled water. It's my first white but I'd like something with more oomph to it.
>>9230023
Doomed to fail.

>>9229791
Health promoting teas are all i care to drink

>>9230058
I find some white tea needs to be steeped longer than 3.
Try 5 min and see how that is

Any tips on where to get good value tea?
Should I just buy online?
What should be the minimum I spend on oolong/pu-erh/chinese tea?

Will Teavana products go on clearance now that they're closing?

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>>9230455
Did just that and it both looks and tastes like pretty great tea now, cheers anon.

I don't have the entire intro text, but I do have more than this shitty OP has:
https://pastebin.com/4ZEuMwBJ
Don't microwave your water
Don't use teabags
Don't buy from teavana (lol)
DON'T USE TEABAGS
If you use teabags anyway, don't leave the teabag in while you drink

>>9230468
If you're in the US, Upton Tea is a decent to shop, they have a really good variety of black, green, and oolong, and decent value options. Their first grade chinese Tie Guan Yin is one of my favorites in general. No real presence for white or pu-erh though.
uptontea.com

What-cha is much better with the details, and they're UK-based, so shipping will be cheaper. If you order enough though, you can get free international shipping, so the value of that is up to you. They have more details about the sources than Upton, and more detailed tasting notes. There are a few more options for pu-erh and white teas here, but there's still not a ton. I think their stocks are just getting lower - they even took pu-erh off the current generation of the "intro to tea" pack.
what-cha.com

One of the better places to get pu-erh is Yunnan Sourcing. They have a version that ships from the US, and a version that ships from China. I have yet to use them, but I've been looking through the site. Shipping is a bit expensive, but the numbers don't scale up too high. They have a stunning amount of variety, but I haven't personally tasted the quality. That said, I'm sure you'll find something you like. The US version has a slightly lesser variety, and slightly higher prices, but the shipping is better. The cheapest option from the Chinese site could take up to 3 months. It's up to the individual.
chinese:
yunnansourcing.com
US:
yunnansourcing.us

>>9230455

I have only experienced loose green and black teas. How do the flavor profiles of white teas differ?

Pic related is the tea I've been drinking. Mixing it 1:1 with regular green tea from the same company. ~50 grams per gallon of cold water in the fridge over night (8-14 hours) then drained off and resteeped up to three times (longer each time). Seems to get me what I want, a light green tea with some smokiness, cheap, sweet, robust, easy to make.

Someone who knows a little bit more than me have any suggestions on how I could improve the process or where I'm fucking up?

To be honest the first infusion always seems too bold and the last too light but I assumed that's kinda just how it goes. I'm going to try a forth steep today just to see if there is any discernable flavor left in the leaves after three gallons. I was also planning on reducing the amount to ~18 grams and doing a single steep to see if I can get good reproducible steeps instead of the strong first and week last.

Again any suggestions would be nice.

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Forgot image lol

>>9232333

Yerba mate has been the best drink I've ever had and I am so glad I've found it. Literally never felt better since drinking it and I hate even touching coffee/energy drinks/shots since getting it

>>9232467
Where do you get it from?

>>9233740
I got some from eBay but Amazon and a lot of online stores stock it as it is the most popular South American beverage

>>9232467
Same, I used to drink a lot of tea. I saw yerba mate on TV and thought it was a bit of a meme but tried it nonetheless. I've been drinking only yerba mate for like 7-8 years now. I've never liked coffee but I replaced tea and energy drinks with mate completely.

How do you guys drink this stuff?

I bought a bag of chai that looks a lot like >>9232334
but the shit is so bitter and I hate filtering the tea leaves with my teeth. I want to start drinking tea so can have a veil of sophistication that I tragically don't have.

Any recommendations?

I had to stop drinking tea, even green, because it was making my kidneys/back ache.

>>9233905
Filter with a cheese cloth, the temp and time for stepping depends on the type of tea as well. If you steep too long or at too high a temp you get that bitter flavor.

>>9230066
Same. Read that lemon + sugar is amazing at bringing out the healthy properties of green tea, so now all my tea buddies are screeching at me for "sullying" the drink, but we'll see who's laughing in 50 years.

>>9230481
An article I was looking at said that they would finish closing all stores by spring 2018. I went there today to see if they had anymore info about it, and the worker said they plan to close in waves, some within 30 days, some of the better locations will wait a bit.

I just blended two types of mostly organic teas together. I rip the bags open and pour both into my blender with a 24oz jar of room temperature spring water. Blend for a few minutes on the highest setting. Once it is very smooth and I can hardly make out the particles I pour back into the jar I measured my water with and enjoy!

The temperature of your water is important for a few reasons. Flavors and absorption or the nutrients comes to mind.

I often drink the tea without a bag but wanted to try this time blending and it was phenomenal.

Enjoy!

>>9232334
I bought that exact stuff as well, really disappointed. Is all gunpowder green like this? Also I noticed it was bulk, so it's probably a lower quality.

>>9233947
>Blending tea to oblivion
>Enjoy those tannins

>>9233959
I've never had gunpowder from another brand but I enjoy this brand.

I mix it 50/50 with their regular green and drink it cold brew like I said. I'm not sure if it would be better or worse as hot.

>>9233969
The teas complex flavor profile was unlike the heated version I have enjoyed throughly. The tea was phenomenal. No bitter taste.

You seem salty though.

>>9233905
>straining with my teeth
For what purpose? Get a tea baller or a mug strainer for less than 10 bucks. You don't want the tea leaves to stay in there while you're drinking it. Youre overbrewing, that's why it's too bitter.

>>9233905
use a tea strainer and brew it at a lower temp and for a shorter amount of time!

>>9230567
I don't do it, but i'm curious what's wrong with microwaving your water.
Is there really a difference?

>>9234427
In terms of the water? No.
In terms of temperature control? Absolutely.

>>9234427
It depends. If you stir it and check the temp you should be perfectly fine. But if all you do is say "45 seconds should get me hot water" then the temps can vary a surprising amount.

First for ironwort.

Can anyone recommend a good temp controlled electric kettle?

All I'm finding is either $20 Chinese crap or $199 2fancy4u shit

>>9229791
Daily reminder that tea should be Orwellian.

http://www.booksatoz.com/witsend/tea/orwell.htm

>>9234443
This. But honestly, using a kettle really isn't any more effort (less after you consider the fact you need to check the temp) and it consistently heats the water evenly.

>>9234552
https://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-BV382510V-Electric-Gooseneck-Temperature/dp/B005YR0F40/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501372369&sr=8-1&keywords=bonavita+electric+kettle

I've used this for both coffee autism and tea autism, multiple times a day, for over a year and a half, and it still works great. It's slightly on the expensive side, but I don't think it's too extravagant. It's a good middle ground, pricewise, between those two metrics.

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>>9234552
I got one of these for my birthday last year. Works good except for the fact that the alarm for when it is done is extremely loud and I like to make tea at 1 AM so I am always afraid of waking everyone up.

>>9229791
i LOVE tea
mainly into fruity teas
then black teas
then white teas
then any tea
then green tea

however i hate getting ripped off by teavana and these local hippies

aside from these sources already in the thread
what are some good sites to bulk other delicious teas? mainly fruit teas.

also any of you gents tried these newfangled technologies to make tea easier and or consistently

i legit still boil my tea in a pot and then pour it into a jug and ice it.

ive been looking at these from teavana
http://www.teavana.com/us/en/teaware/breville-tea-makers

but those prices are highway robbery.

any alternatives?

>>9234734
If you google "[city name here] tea" it will tell you of nearby tea shops that will be better than teavana and still have your fruity teas.

Any temperature control kettle will do the trick or you can just stick a thermometer in your pot and bring the water to the correct temperature.

>>9229791
So does expensive tea actually taste good of are you guys just being pretentious like those wine drinkers?

I've only ever bought green tea and it tasted like weak bitter water. If I leave the bag in there until it gets cold it can taste a little stronger, but still bitter.

>>9234798
It could be possible to be pretentious about hot leaf water, I guess?

Decent quality tea isn't very expensive in my experience, especially considering that you can get multiple uses out of the same leaves. Moreover, if your tea is bitter you've probably done something wrong. Most commonly the tea itself being shit, the temperature being too high, or brewing too long.
You definitely should not be leaving the tea in longer to make it stronger, for example. All that does is make it more bitter, if you want it stronger you use more leaves. That and green tea itself tends to be easier to overbrew and lighter in flavor than something like black or oolong. You could one of those if you wanted something a bit more bold.

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>>9234798
Firstly the stuff you get in bags is just the garbage left over from the proper tea. If your tea is some kind of powder or small chunks instead of rolled up leaves then you have bad tea. Pic related

Second if it is bitter you are steeping it for too long and/or too hot. For green tea you want your water to be at about 160-170ºF (around 70ºC) and steep it for 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on the tea type. If you want stronger then add more tea but do not steep for longer.

Thirdly you can get some good cheap green tea. Try looking for Lung Chin (Dragons Well), Biluochun and Genmaicha which has toasted rice added. Just find a local tea place and look for any unflavored tea from China, Japan or Taiwan. You are probably looking at $8-$15 per 100g which is enough to get you a good 10-15 cups depending on how strong you like it.

Every tea is unique. I have over 20 different kinds of tea in my cupboard and I can tell them all apart just from smell alone.

>>9234738
thanks for the advice but i was looking more for an online bulk source.

>>9234728
im not adversed to paying good money but if its anywhere near 100 bucks im expecting some perfect tea every time at the perfect temperature hot or cold

>>9234798
honestly, i don't think im qualified to give my opinion on this matter, however i will anyways because this is the internet.

short answer is no.
longer answer is, maybe.
my experience is, if you are paying good money for someone to make you expensive tea, it usually taste great.
when you pay good money for good tea to make yourself, usually taste better than the generic, bulk option.

however turns out the more expensive tea is either
A-some rarer harder to supply ingredients
B-Hipster mark up
C-a couple of different teas added to a base tea which bring the price up while still claiming the base tea.

but honestly ill stick with the short answer.

>>9234877
>>9234878
Jesus. You treat tea better than I treat most of my meals. I'll certainly take your advice. Thanks.

>>9234893
Well darn. Could you also supply a good type of tea?

>>9234656
Thanks for that.

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>>9234552
I own this Hamilton beach, decent build quality, good temperature settings, alarm, auto shutoff. It has a habit of heating higher than it needs to but it's pretty easy to let the water sit a minute to cool. It's fairly inexpensive

>>9234656
>Tea is meant to be bitter
I don't think people knew how to make tea back then

I'd like to start drinking more tea that I brew myself, but I don't know where to start in terms of what tea to get. I don't wanna buy a tea that I wont end up liking, ya feel?

>>9230581
Here you go
>>9234893

>>9234443
>>9234434
ah ok, thank you lads

>>9235407
Just be careful about superheating the water, if you're going to do it.

>>9234998
That's great but you're not giving anyone anything to go on if you're asking for help.

>>9234998
Most places will sell small samples anon, it's not like you have to commit to buying a big bulk of the stuff. Just get a bunch of them and see what you like.

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>>9234552
Breville Smart Kettle.

>>9234728
These only seem usefully if you're making large quantities of tea, i usually just make one a cup and re-steep.

>>9235604
They list """orange pekoe""" on their website, which is incorrectly used to mean generic black tea you find in any cheap teabag (Tetley, Lipton, et cetera)

If you want to replicate it with real tea then start with Assam tea and then try blending other blacks like Ceylon or Darjeeling

>>9229814
>>9229851

oh shit I didn't even know mate was smoked or not, mine doesn't say on it. and I drink a bunch per day. I'm dead.

>>9229851
I thought the cancer risk was because the traditional way of drinking it burns the fuck out of your throat because it's boiling hot.

>>9230560

is that a fucking PSP on the desk

>>9230560
Fox 2

Lapsang souchong is my favorite tea and it's often unrecognized in these threads. Hadda represent.

Smoked tea woo

>>9237727
Looks like a phone.

>>9237727
PSP GO, yeah.

>>9237881
<<Missile hit confirmed!>>