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Jhet posted:I finally ordered one of those ingenuiTea things from Adagio, and it's pretty decent. I don't like that I can't get under the filter to clean through it completely, and sticking it in the dishwasher just tends to leave a bunch of water sitting in the thing. I'm using a sanitizing solution (from brewing stuff) to make sure it stays clean, but I can't see myself using this with a puerh or any smoked tea like lapsang souchong. You can pry the filter off, just grab the middle nipple part and yank hard. It pops right back in when you're done cleaning.
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Feb 4, 2015 18:36
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Butch Cassidy posted:I was served some bagged Taylor's Scottish breakfast the other day and the style seems promising. Any suggestions for better cost:quality and loose-leaf examples of Scottish breakfast? Upton Teas Scottish Breakfast Blend - TB14 I've ordered this several times. I am in fact drinking it at this moment. It's pretty great.
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Feb 4, 2015 18:45
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I can corroborate that Upton's Scottish Breakfast is kickass.
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Feb 4, 2015 18:51
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hope and vaseline posted:You can pry the filter off, just grab the middle nipple part and yank hard. It pops right back in when you're done cleaning. Yeah, it can seem stuck in at times if it isn't warmed up, so do it right after you brew or just add some boiling water first otherwise.
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Feb 4, 2015 19:24
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XBenedict posted:Upton Teas Scottish Breakfast Blend - TB14 Sounds good, thanks.
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Feb 4, 2015 23:39
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hope and vaseline posted:You can pry the filter off, just grab the middle nipple part and yank hard. It pops right back in when you're done cleaning. Thanks for the tip. The instructions didn't mention that it comes apart, and it was stuck in there pretty hard and I didn't want to break it right after buying it. I'll give that a try, and the hot water trick too if it doesn't work cold.
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Feb 5, 2015 01:06
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Tea megathread: just grab the middle nipple part and yank hard. It pops right back in when you're done cleaning.
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Feb 5, 2015 01:18
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Jhet posted:I finally ordered one of those ingenuiTea things from Adagio, and it's pretty decent. I don't like that I can't get under the filter to clean through it completely, and sticking it in the dishwasher just tends to leave a bunch of water sitting in the thing. I'm using a sanitizing solution (from brewing stuff) to make sure it stays clean, but I can't see myself using this with a puerh or any smoked tea like lapsang souchong. Yeah, that's always bugged me about the Ingenuitea. I love mine to death, but it definitely has its drawbacks over other brewing vessels. You can pop the mesh filter thing out, but the base doesn't come apart so water/tea can get trapped in there. I haven't had a problem with gunk getting in there, though. The dishwasher takes care of it pretty well. It's nice for making a quick cuppa, but I have a glazed ceramic tea pot with a metal infuser that's just as dishwasher-safe for anything that has a pungent flavor or scent. I made some chai that was heavy on star anise in my Ingenuitea once and it smelled like licorice for a week, even after a couple trips through the wash. I used to french press most of my looseleaf tea because I didn't have anything else to brew with. It turns out fine and the only bad cups I've brewed were down to human error (one of my friends decided the plunger was a toy and just sat there pushing it up and down and made the most bitter genmai cha ever). The only problem is some models are a pain to clean. Mine has a wire mesh filter that can't be cleaned properly unless you take it all apart, so I don't tend to use it for anything other than coffee, which I only have on occasion. On the upside, I haven't had a problem with flavors from other brews screwing up whatever is being made currently, since it's all metal and glass.
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Feb 5, 2015 05:53
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Is there a goon approved starter sampler set? Would something like Dragon Sampler + Silk Road Sampler be a decent start?
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Feb 5, 2015 20:47
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Adagio's sampler sets are pretty nice, though be wary of their puerh, especially the flavored kind usually means it's super low quality stuff. Other alternatives, Verdant has a fairly popular $5 sampler, Upton has a pretty wide array of sampler sets as well, Silk Road Teas has larger samples with 2oz of tea per variety, What-Cha has samplers based on regions.
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Feb 5, 2015 21:09
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I just got some Adagio stuff from their $10 credit for spamming pinterest campaign. The Fujian Rain oolong is incredibly mild. The leaves smell amazing and it's not bad, but I'm hoping a cold brew turns out stronger.
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Feb 5, 2015 21:23
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While I'm ready to order the Scottish breakfast from Upton, how is their broken leaf orthodox darjeeling? Also, finally tried Taylors Yorkshire gold and it is thoroughly  Makes good iced tea though to use it up and get it gone.
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Feb 6, 2015 19:25
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Butch Cassidy posted:While I'm ready to order the Scottish breakfast from Upton, how is their broken leaf orthodox darjeeling? Do you take it with milk? Yorkshire tea is blended assuming it will be taken with milk. If you drink it black it will be too bitter.
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Feb 7, 2015 07:02
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taters posted:Do you take it with milk? Yorkshire tea is blended assuming it will be taken with milk. If you drink it black it will be too bitter. Yes, but I just feel it lacks the rough edges to stand up to the milk and winds up absolutely generic tea. But I remember rather liking Taylors regular Yorkshire tea with the red packaging. I like a strong tea that can be deburred with milk but still keep some character. If I am in the mood for smooth, I look to other blends drunk plain. The gold is far from bad and I can see why it has a following, just boring to me when I can find some neat stuff in a similar pricerange.
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Feb 7, 2015 17:25
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I got some free Gyokuro Yamashiro. Another customer in the store recommended that I try steeping it for 35 seconds and then re-steeping it for 2 mins. This poo poo is awesome.
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Feb 13, 2015 16:07
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I haven't had tea in several months, and all my tea went stale because I don't take good care of my teas and most of it was small quantities of Irish/English breakfast that I went through really fast. Checked on the tea and they seemed kind of stale? Great excuse to buy all the tea. Man I love upton. I'm still buying almost all black tea with the occasional Sencha though  how lame am I.
GenericGirlName fucked around with this message at 23:05 on Feb 13, 2015 |
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Feb 13, 2015 22:51
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GenericGirlName posted:I'm still buying almost all black tea with the occasional Sencha though Black tea is good! I'm definitely more into greens and oolongs, but I recently ordered some blacks from Silk Road and I'm enjoying them a lot. I'd recommend trying some more-oxidized oolongs if you want a bit of variety without getting anything too different from what you already like.
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Feb 13, 2015 23:05
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I think I judged Yorkshire Gold too soon. It is still nothing fancy and a bit overpriced (bagged), but it is growing on me. I can see myself picking up some loose leaf and keeping it around as pantry tea for company. That it makes very good iced tea is a bonus. Plan to retry the regular Yorkshire tea before I decide, though. A friend stopped by tonight and complimented it when I handed him a mug. He found it a mildly malty and smooth with a bit of smoke.
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Feb 16, 2015 03:18
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http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0080...CxdL&ref=plSrch This is what I've been using for the last four years. Threw out all my infusers a week after buying it. You can buy smaller boxes of them too but I probably go through about 500 filters every year so it's much more price effective to buy the box of 1000 for me.
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Feb 16, 2015 15:25
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I hate the refillable bags. I have 100 in my cabinet but I would rather just use my upton tea glass teapot with glass infused, although I might start using the refillable bag inside the glass infused on super lazy days when I still want tea (instead of just not drinking tea) Edit: glomkettle posted:Black tea is good! I'm definitely more into greens and oolongs, but I recently ordered some blacks from Silk Road and I'm enjoying them a lot. I'd recommend trying some more-oxidized oolongs if you want a bit of variety without getting anything too different from what you already like. This is a great suggestion and I will be doing this!!! I was always worried that oolongs would be too different, but what the hell thats what samples are for
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Feb 17, 2015 17:02
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I think I have a representative from every way to steep tea. The fillable bags were the first things I got (had some tea balls but only used them before I really got into tea) and I've replaced them as needed. I used to just use them for when I was running late in the morning and didn't have time to clean up or for teas that might stain the Ingenutea-type infusers (cinnamon). I have a metal infuser that I really like. But I've been using the bags more because clean up is so easy. I have the size 2 that I use for travel mugs and single cups to give the tea some more room to move. There's another kind that opens wider and has a stick you put in the top to hold it open and keep it from falling in. Those are nice but a little more expensive. I haven't noticed any difference in the taste of the tea whether I use the Breville One Touch, a metal infuser, the Ingenutea, or bags I've filled. Granted, I'm not using super fancy tea. I just go with whatever method fits my needs and mood. It's been a long while since I've made tea in a pot. For that I would use an infuser.
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Feb 17, 2015 19:01
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When it comes to reusable basket filters, I can't say enough good things about the Finum gold-mesh filters. They don't have the same issue that other filters do that have larger holes but steep just as well. For all other instances where you want to bag some loose leaf tea, Finum and Rishi both have excellent open-fill filter bags - they aren't bleached like the t-sac ones you find at Peet's and such, so they are softer and don't have a papery taste (compare to coffee filters).
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Feb 17, 2015 22:00
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The breville tea robot ruined me forever for other more fiddly methods of making tea. Put in water, put in tea, double-check the time and temperature settings, push butan, wander away, wander back later, drink tea. Everything else is just  in comparison. I have yet to taste a tea prepared with fancier tools that I thought was superior to what the tea robot makes, and I'm not even putting in particularly expensive tea. I get adagio's black dragon pearls, and go to a locally-owned tea shop for their vanilla chai, genmaicha, and a tea that I'm not a huge fan of but was compelled to buy because it's named iron goddess of mercy. There is just no way to see that name on a list of teas and not say, "Holy gently caress, I must drink that." My only regret for the tea robot is that the chai has some pretty finely-ground spices and occasionally little bits of grit escape the holes in the basket to infest the last cup of tea in the kettle. The other teas are all better behaved and too big to escape the basket.
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Feb 20, 2015 10:34
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Iron Goddess Of Mercy = Tieguanyin. It's a literal translation of the Chinese name.
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Feb 20, 2015 20:07
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Yeah, I looked it up back after I first saw it. There's a whole folk tale about some monk having a vision and finding a scrawny little tea plant growing in some out of the way spot, taking the plant and cultivating it to make that particular tea. And it is a pretty good tea, it just didn't blow me away. I like the black dragon pearls and genmaicha enough to drink straight without any sweeteners; thus far they're the only two teas to make that cut for me. Though I sorta give the masala chai a pass on that one, seeing as it's supposed to have milk and sugar added.
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Feb 20, 2015 21:37
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You fuckers better be putting your milk in your tea first. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/11415372/Is-this-how-to-make-the-perfect-cup-of-tea.html
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Feb 22, 2015 21:01
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chunkles posted:You fuckers better be putting your milk in your tea first. Hrm, I agree on milk first like any sane person but six minutes seems excessive.
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Feb 22, 2015 21:05
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Milk?
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Feb 22, 2015 21:20
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I think that actually used to be a Victorian insult, "Well, you know she's a very milk first kind of person". If I remember my Miss Manners correctly it was meant to mean the person had very nanny like sensibilities and was kind of low class.
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Feb 23, 2015 03:21
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WanderingMinstrel I posted:I think that actually used to be a Victorian insult, "Well, you know she's a very milk first kind of person". If I remember my Miss Manners correctly it was meant to mean the person had very nanny like sensibilities and was kind of low class. Didn't that have something to do with the china cracking if you didn't put the milk in first too? And only people who couldn't afford china put the milk in last? I could be pulling this out of an old tale, but as far as the insult goes, it was very classist. Granted, I don't care for milk in my teas. Even in something like yorkshire gold.
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Feb 23, 2015 06:02
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Juaguocio posted:Iron Goddess Of Mercy = Tieguanyin. It's a literal translation of the Chinese name. I imagine it's not actually Tie Guan Yin, but I should get a bag and see how it tastes.
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Feb 23, 2015 07:13
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Jhet posted:Didn't that have something to do with the china cracking if you didn't put the milk in first too? And only people who couldn't afford china put the milk in last? I could be pulling this out of an old tale, but as far as the insult goes, it was very classist. Its the other way around, people who put milk in first are low class. Dammit, now I have to go pull out my Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior and find the quote. edit:this book has the most amazing index quote:Dear Miss Manner; Guildenstern Mother fucked around with this message at 09:17 on Feb 23, 2015 |
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Feb 23, 2015 09:12
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chunkles posted:You fuckers better be putting your milk in your tea first. Actually, the perfect cup is a tea that doesn't need milk.
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Feb 24, 2015 01:34
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I got my samplers in, I've only tried Adagio's Almond Oolong so far, but it was fantastic.
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Feb 24, 2015 02:17
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The Devil Tesla posted:Actually, the perfect cup is a tea that doesn't need milk. I usually agree, but you can only watch so much of a period drama without feeling like you need a cup of very basic english breakfast or something with a bit of milk.
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Feb 24, 2015 22:06
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In case anyone was thinking of buying this: I got this Bonvita 1 Liter Electric Variable Kettle and it's excellent. The gooseneck is really cool. The problem is, I kept getting a "HI ERR" message and the thing would shut off. Not that bad, as powering it off and back on would resume the heating and it was fine. Not that big of a deal, really as I'm usually nearby the kettle while it's warming anyways. So I wrote an email to their customer service department and they're more than happy to replace it, even sending the bigger 1.7 liter version in it's place! Cool. This most be a pretty common problem (reviews on amazon which I missed before buying it mention this a handful of times). The strange bit was in the instructions from their customer service department: quote:Thank you for completing the Bonavita warranty form. Your claim has been processed and you will be receiving a replacement kettle. Your replacement will be shipped from Espresso Supply and tracking information will be emailed to you once it ships. Please dispose of your defective kettle. They just want me to throw the old one away  edit: VVVVVVV Typically the company wants you to send the defective item back to them. AnimalChin fucked around with this message at 02:44 on Feb 25, 2015 |
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Feb 25, 2015 02:32
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AnimalChin posted:They just want me to throw the old one away Of course they do. They wouldn't want you giving it to someone who might otherwise have bought a new one from them.
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Feb 25, 2015 02:41
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The Devil Tesla posted:Actually, the perfect cup is a tea that doesn't need milk. There is plenty of room for both. I don't normally milk, because I drink a lot of oolong, but I will milk a strong black....and sometime's i'll sugar that fucker (though this is usually reserved for a bag emergency).
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Feb 25, 2015 04:00
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Speaking of tea preparation, how many of you have experience with the "zavarka" style of tea brewing? Essentially you put a bunch of black tea in a tea pot, add near-boiling water, steep for a very long time, and then pour into teacups, diluting with hot water. I enjoy the extreme convenience of not having any tea eggs or infusers to fuss with, but I've found that while this method works great in a dinner-party setting where you can steep 5 minutes, empty the teapot, refill it and so forth, often when drinking alone I oversteep the tea.
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Mar 2, 2015 15:06
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Is the tea still bitter from the long steeping time? I've tried to dilute over-steeped tea and the results have never been good. Have you tried disposable bags like T-sacs? When the tea is done steeping, you just toss out the bag (or set it aside if it's a tea than can be resteeped). No draining or washing out tea leaves. I love them for making one cup at a time but you can get the larger ones for use with a pot of tea and put the pot on a warmer to keep it warm longer. Am I assuming the zavarka results in bitter tea when it doesn't? Five minutes is normal for black tea. In that case, it's kind of making a concentrate which you could do and then put all the stuff you don't drink in a different vessel--away from the leaves--and add hot water to it later. Or make a lot and put it in the fridge like cold brewed coffee.
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Mar 2, 2015 17:40
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