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Here's a question that's been bouncing around my head since it started to be summer: what is the best way to make the best summertime tea? I mean first up, I am like, sun brewed vs fridge brewed vs "toss a billion teabags in 8 cups of water and boil like poo poo for 20 minutes", etc.. Then next up, comes the question of "how much sweetener is desirable based on your local taste and the steep and type of tea you use?" Then, garnish? Personally I can't stand what passed for "sun tea" where I come from, which seems to involve oversteeping a thousand bags of lipton and then just pouring sugar in like it's kool-aid, until some old lady doesn't make a bitter face at it.. I like to take a 2-3 gallon plastic reusable water jug (I don't care about bpa/etc arguments here) like you can buy in the grocery store, then use 3-4 bags of green tea and leave it in heavy, direct sunlight for at least 4-8 hours - on top of foil if I have the time and inclination because I've been taking a lot of physics as well as learning to calculate passive solar gains and poo poo, lately. I try to wait until it's a deep deep brown if possible, and then pour it onto like 1:3 ice to tea at least, and skip sweetening. If I make it a bit too strong or am feeling fancy, I like to take a 1-1.5l water bottle, fill it full of the tea and like 2 tablespoons of honey, shake it up good, and leave it in the fridge until I need a bit of pick me up when I'm craving a soda. Anybody else have preferences, or big explanations about health and safety or tannins per liter or too much or too little caffeine etc, I'd love to hear them.. I've been reading a lot of blog posts and those people have different tastes than mine, because "take 8-12 teabags and boil them in 8 cups of water and then add that to lukewarm or cold water in a larger jug" always ends up with some Paula Deen level sweet tea bullshit for the most part, and I'm also very interested in "passive steeping" as I call it, which is pretty much leaving it on the counter or in the sun or even in a fridge where it won't draw too much energy load, for hours or even days.. edit: I also have some wondering around what sunlight does to the tea that may or may not change the taste or what it releases? Specifically I'm curious about keeping the steep at a similar temp to what the sun might do, or how much the UV radiation etc might effect the body and what ends up in the tea, overall? I think that kenji guy with 4 or 5 names at seriouseats or someone else did a big breakdown on a lot of the radiation vs tannins and the like iirc, but I read so many blogs about it that were just some random idjit, that it all ran together and most of them make stuff that is not what I want after I try their recommends. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 03:15 on Jun 8, 2017 |
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Jun 8, 2017 03:09
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coyo7e posted:Iced tea words There's a good amount of chatter about this only a page back. You can do anything from cold steeping to hot steeping and then chilling. Sun tea as you've already figured out is another option, but the key to good tea is starting with good tea. Find a tea that you like that is also hopefully fairly cheap and use it. The thing that I tend to like is brewing a nice tea stronger (regardless of method of brewing) to make up for the ice that I'll be using. So if I'm doing 3:1::tea:ice, then I'll want to make the tea while considering the additional water in the ice. I start with a ratio of 3 grams to 6 fl oz. The good stuff I usually have unsweetened. Sometimes I just want the sweet, and in that case Luzianne cannot be beaten. I do 2qts of it to 1/2 cup of sugar. I know some will go a full 1 cup, but goodness me that is just too sweet for my northern taste buds.
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Jun 8, 2017 04:00
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Have fun with your bacteria laden diarrhea inducing sun tea
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Jun 8, 2017 04:37
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Futaba Anzu posted:Have fun with your bacteria laden diarrhea inducing sun tea What are you talking about? Its not like he's making tea from water collected from the water trough from the barn out back. Nothing in life is zero risk but the odds that he will get sick from making sun tea using municipal water that has been filtered, tested and chlorinated is negligible.
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Jun 10, 2017 06:53
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Zeta Taskforce posted:What are you talking about? Its not like he's making tea from water collected from the water trough from the barn out back. Nothing in life is zero risk but the odds that he will get sick from making sun tea using municipal water that has been filtered, tested and chlorinated is negligible. Also I assume he's sealing the container when it sits out in the sun.
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Jun 10, 2017 13:16
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Part of it is the leaves themselves-- salmonella is a contamination concern.
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Jun 10, 2017 15:11
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effika posted:Part of it is the leaves themselves-- salmonella is a contamination concern. Mostly E. coli. Salmonella isn't really going to hang out on the tea leaves, but it could in untreated water sources. Sun tea is mostly fine. It does place the liquid in the temperature zone where bacteria like to grow, but they'd first have to be there, then they'd have to deal with the effects of the chlorine in most people's water sources, and then they'd have to actually reproduce. I'd be more worried about the spigots on those sun tea containers getting full of bacteria from not being washed well with a decent surfactant. I'm not really sure why you'd need to do it though. Just pop the tea into the container and leave on your kitchen counter in the dark or in the refrigerator. It'll taste pretty much the same. I always figured it was a "I have no space on my counter, go put this outside on the porch" solution to needing it made.
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Jun 10, 2017 15:42
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You can solve all these problems by drinking tea the way god intended. Hot 
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Jun 10, 2017 18:04
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In what proportions is matcha supposed to be prepared, traditionally? I bought a set with a bowl, chasen, and spoon and I tend to do a heaping spoon through a strainer and then just fill up with sub-boiling water until I have most of the bowl full. I always -- ALWAYS -- end up with leftover matcha mud after I finish the tea so I'm obviously putting in way too much, but when I go do a youtube search it seems like a lot of people combine a super small amount of water with a similar-looking amount of matcha so I don't know how that works. Maybe the bowls are different sizes and it's an optical illusion or something but right now I'm feeling very stupid. I mean either way I'm enjoying the gently caress out of matcha so I guess as long as it's good I'll keep doing whatever. I just hate the idea that I'm wasting good powder so I'll probably try to tone down the amount I put in. Also experimented with vanilla matcha from David's Tea and I guess I learned the hard way that I just hate any sweeteners in tea. The best tea is bitter like my heart.
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Jun 11, 2017 22:28
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I wish the whole house smelled like my tea cabinet
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Jun 13, 2017 22:49
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Foxtrot_13 posted:You can solve all these problems by drinking tea the way god intended.
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Jun 16, 2017 09:00
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I've been reading this thread and now I know why I spent 25+ years hating unsweet or sweet tea and basically tea in general. My family makes it entirely hosed up. Basically you take a handful of lipton tea bags, toss in a tiny pot and boil the poo poo out of it. Just boil it until it's thick and got a weird foam on it, that's right. Then let it "steep" for a hour or so until you remember it. Add a cup and a half of sugar for "sweet" or just dilute with water for "unsweet". Just bitter nastiness under the sugar or watery bitter nastiness. I never understood why it was so bad, I just knew it was really, really bad. This thread is great. I just poured my mom some cold-brewed unsweet tea that was 2/3 black tea and 1/3 green tea citrus blend and she was loving blown away. It's not sweet because I put sugar in it, it's sweet because there's other things to taste besides overwhelming bitter tannins in tea ffs.
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Jul 3, 2017 00:04
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That's one of the worst ways to make tea. If you do a rolling boil and steep the poo poo out of cheap grocery store teabags of course it's awful. It's literally night and day and I have to spend time telling people they've never had proper tea and whatever they've had for years is just a bastardized version.
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Jul 3, 2017 11:28
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Warning, stupid questions incoming: So let me get this straight: if I leave the tea bag in there for more than 3~5 minutes then I'm loving it up? If I take the tea bag out, do I just toss it in the bin or something? Is there a special tea bag holder appliance that I don't know about?
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Jul 4, 2017 02:06
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Yes, five min tops, toss the bags after unless they are the whole(-ish) leaf kind. They aren't if you have to ask, though.
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Jul 4, 2017 02:18
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Love Stole the Day posted:Warning, stupid questions incoming: So let me get this straight: if I leave the tea bag in there for more than 3~5 minutes then I'm loving it up? If I take the tea bag out, do I just toss it in the bin or something? Is there a special tea bag holder appliance that I don't know about? 1) Yes, it gets all bitter and doesn't taste right (or really at all). But if you're using super cheap tea, it might not make much difference anyway. 2) Yeah there are tea bag holders like https://www.amazon.com/Creuset-Stoneware-Tea-Holder-Marseille/dp/B00B4W48KG or one of my loose leaf strainers came with a little saucer for it. Not that you really need to spend $10 for a plate to put tea bags on IMO.
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Jul 4, 2017 02:44
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3-5 is for like, actually-from-the-tea-plant tea, though. You can get away with substantially longer with a lot of herbal stuff. It's the tannin that makes it gross. I would also recommend somewhat less if you're making like, flavoured green tea or whatever; jasmine gets really vile really fast if you oversteep it.
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Jul 4, 2017 03:24
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Love Stole the Day posted:Warning, stupid questions incoming: So let me get this straight: if I leave the tea bag in there for more than 3~5 minutes then I'm loving it up? If I take the tea bag out, do I just toss it in the bin or something? Is there a special tea bag holder appliance that I don't know about? You can dispose of used tea as you like - it's basically just warmed-over grass clippings
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Jul 4, 2017 03:37
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Follow-up stupid questions: So when I go to a cafe or tea house and order a cup to go, I'm supposed to take that big bag of loose leaf out of the cup and either set it aside or throw it away after a minute or two of having it before I take my first sip? Am I really supposed to throw away these tea bags after just one cup? Because I know the super cheap stuff will have no flavor after the first cup anyway, but there are brands out there like Twining that are usually good for 2~4 cups before the flavor is gone. Isn't it wasteful to just throw out the teabag after the first cup for things like that?
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Jul 4, 2017 05:16
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Love Stole the Day posted:Follow-up stupid questions: So when I go to a cafe or tea house and order a cup to go, I'm supposed to take that big bag of loose leaf out of the cup and either set it aside or throw it away after a minute or two of having it before I take my first sip? Am I really supposed to throw away these tea bags after just one cup? Because I know the super cheap stuff will have no flavor after the first cup anyway, but there are brands out there like Twining that are usually good for 2~4 cups before the flavor is gone. Isn't it wasteful to just throw out the teabag after the first cup for things like that? If you're that concerned about it, buy a re-usable tea thermos with a built in filter. If a place is selling you loose leaf tea in a cup that they're just putting into a fillable bag, they will likely just put the tea directly into your mug if you ask. Those usually let you save the leaves to add more water in later. I wouldn't bother with certain flavoured varieties, though -- like, Earl Grey loses most of its flavour after one good steep, often.
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Jul 4, 2017 05:48
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Love Stole the Day posted:Because I know the super cheap stuff will have no flavor after the first cup anyway, but there are brands out there like Twining that are usually good for 2~4 cups before the flavor is gone I guess it depends on how you like your tea, but I'd call Twinings super cheap, and super weak too. I can't imagine resteeping one of their bags would be good at all. Ever try Yorkshire Gold, or Ridgways organic? Those two are my favorite bagged black teas.
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Jul 4, 2017 06:05
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Juaguocio posted:I guess it depends on how you like your tea, but I'd call Twinings super cheap, and super weak too. I can't imagine resteeping one of their bags would be good at all. I agree with this. I used to drink Twinings almost exclusively in college (it was what I had access to, and I have yet discovered the beauty of ordering things on the internet) and I don't think it generally holds up to a second steep. (To each their own, though). Also, I have one of those insulated tea jars with the built in filter and it works really well for loose leaf on the go. My problem is that sometimes it takes me so long to drink it that it starts to get bitter because the leaves are in there the whole time.
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Jul 12, 2017 15:51
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justFaye posted:I agree with this. I used to drink Twinings almost exclusively in college (it was what I had access to, and I have yet discovered the beauty of ordering things on the internet) and I don't think it generally holds up to a second steep. (To each their own, though). Yeah, I like Twinings as well but it isn't super robust and I'd never resteep it (the plus for me is that it works without milk or anything, while many other English tea producers make stuff that's super astringent if you don't add milk). For the loose leaf on the go thing, if you're "on the go" like at a desk or something away from home where you can still have a vessel to put the tea in, an "ingenuitea" or something similar that filters into a mug works really well. If not, the bitterness is kind of something you have to just deal with unless you buy a french press thermos or something similar that can isolate the leaves.
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Jul 13, 2017 23:46
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https://twitter.com/TeaVivre/status/882498571882250240 Expires after August but it's good during the ~20% off sale in 2 weeks and you can use rewards points. 100/$1 is the bonus for posting 2 reviews. Check your spam folder if it doesn't show up in a few hours. Gmail flagged mine. I'll probably stock up on the Organic Bai Hao and Lu Shan Yun Wu.
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Jul 14, 2017 10:27
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Zelmel posted:Yeah, I like Twinings as well but it isn't super robust and I'd never resteep it (the plus for me is that it works without milk or anything, while many other English tea producers make stuff that's super astringent if you don't add milk). Even with a French press, you're going to have a problem with bitterness. Pressing the leaves down slows the process, but eventually it's all going to end up in the tea. If I'm using my French press travel mug, I'm really careful about what I make. No green tea unless it's cut with something to offset the bitterness, no strong blacks. A lot of oolong works really well, though, and surprisingly so does some flavoured tea, but I try to be cautious about the latter.
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Jul 14, 2017 12:54
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So uhhhm how do we feel about cold brewing - anyone got some kickass stuff?
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Jul 15, 2017 14:14
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Cold brewing is great. It's what I've been doing for the last couple months for drinks at work. I haven't been using anything special or fancy, either. I've just been heading to Bulk Barn once a month and buying some of whatever smells good. So far, I've tried and loved a pomegranate lavender green, a tropical coconut oolong, and a pink lemonade rooibos, among others. Method's the same for all teas, I do half a gallon at a time, so ~8tsp of leaves in a strainer, into half a gallon of cold water for 8 hours, drain into another container, refill, and steep for an additional 8-12/whenever I remember tog et it out of the fridge. Mix the two steepings and sweeten to taste with a simple syrup made from the tea, so as not to dilute it further. Actually, this is a good opportunity to ask if there's any faster way to cold brew. I love the results, but it literally takes me 2 days to prep a gallon of the stuff between work. I kinda wonder if I could, say, use very warm tap water or something to start the steep and possibly pull out more of the flavor more quickly. If I could get the whole thing done in a day, that'd be much better.
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Jul 23, 2017 23:15
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I discovered guayusa tea recently in the form of Runa iced guayusa. It's sort of like yerba mate, but with an interesting sweetness (even brewing whole leaves unsweetened) and much less bitterness - but it's still earthy and a "dark green" flavor. It's pretty caffeinated, and seems to have other components that give it a very uplifting energy, but not jittery or "dirty" feeling at all. I brew it hot, then toss it in the fridge after mixing with a little hibiscus and some sweetener (I've tried honey, agave, and sugar; they're all great, but my favorite is palm sugar). I barely sweeten it, just enough to take out the tartness from the hibiscus and tone down the earthiness just a little bit.
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Jul 23, 2017 23:36
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neogeo0823 posted:Actually, this is a good opportunity to ask if there's any faster way to cold brew. I love the results, but it literally takes me 2 days to prep a gallon of the stuff between work. I kinda wonder if I could, say, use very warm tap water or something to start the steep and possibly pull out more of the flavor more quickly. If I could get the whole thing done in a day, that'd be much better. I can't imagine trying to cold steep herbal teas though.
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Jul 24, 2017 08:59
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coyo7e posted:I often start my sun tea with hot tap water, doesn't hurt anything. Just be sure to refrigerate after it cools. But how much does that shorten the steeping time? Cold steeping herbal seems to work just fine. Or at least, the more heavily herbal teas I've done have been fine. First steep tends to be very fruit/herb forward, second tends to be mostly the tea flavor, which makes it perfectly fine to combine the two steepings.
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Jul 24, 2017 11:28
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Okay, this is silly, but my wife and I have been watching Masterpiece Endeavor and now I've been craving some tea. I usually grab a box of Twining because it's decent enough, but I thought I'd look here for some recommendations. I'll be drinking it mostly at night, so decaf is a must. Bonus if it helps me fall asleep. I like my coffee strong and black and I enjoy dry red wine, if that helps with a flavor profile. I do like Earl Grey, I think. It's honestly been a while since I had any. Not totally opposed to adding skim milk or a bit of honey.... Not having to order online would be preferable.
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Jul 26, 2017 02:12
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QuarkMartial posted:Okay, this is silly, but my wife and I have been watching Masterpiece Endeavor and now I've been craving some tea. I usually grab a box of Twining because it's decent enough, but I thought I'd look here for some recommendations. Decaf tea is gross, buy some rooibos (tea-like, but naturally has no caffeine) and try that. You should be able to find some at your local grocery store. Added bonus: it doesn't burn like tea does so you can just chuck it in some boiling water and leave it as long as you want.
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Jul 26, 2017 02:32
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Seconding roobois, its really tasty and no caffeine. Mom has trouble with caffeine; I gave her a sample pack of a vanilla roobois that I got from Adagio Teas, and she started giving me the money to get her a big bag of it every time I place an order
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Jul 26, 2017 02:38
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Cool. I'll check it out. Any recs on low caffeine tea? Just something for an afternoon boost, and heating water for tea is less hassle than making a cup of coffee.
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Jul 26, 2017 04:59
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Basically any decaffeination process takes quite a bit of flavor along with it. Additionally, for tea that hasn't been decaffeinated, most of the same factors that lead to higher quality tea lead to higher caffeine levels and vice versa. After all these years, this article is still the best summary I know: http://chadao.blogspot.com/2008/02/caffeine-and-tea-myth-and-reality.html If you are really that concerned about the caffeine the answer is what you've already been given: drink something that doesn't have caffeine in the first place. You'll get a tastier drink that reliably doesn't have any caffeine in it, as opposed to tea where the caffeine content of whatever specific leaves you're buying isn't measured in the first place, so it's either decaf which hopefully has very little, or some mystery amount. For me personally the answer is just don't worry about the caffeine and drink the good tea, but you know you and all that. I'll add that I'm not trying to be discouraging, and as briefly noted in the midst of the long article I linked, you might try looking for CO2 decaffeinated teas which is supposed to have the least impact on the flavor of the tea. While not addressed in the article it's my understanding that heavily roasted teas also have less caffeine, so that might be another option, though heavy roasting imparts some pretty significant flavor changes of its own. I can recommend this particular roasted tea though I can't give you any definitive statement on the amount of caffeine in it, and you may be in for some sticker shock if you're used to the pricing of Twinings: http://www.tea-masters.com/en/hung-shui/433-2013-spring-tie-guan-yin-high-roast-from-anxi-china.html breaks fucked around with this message at 06:13 on Jul 26, 2017 |
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Jul 26, 2017 05:48
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japanese houjicha (green tea and stems which has been roasted) and dark roasted oolongs such as da hong pao, rou gui, shui xian and dancong also have low-to-very little caffeine content and they all taste delicious. so you could give those a try too.
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Jul 26, 2017 10:31
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Re: late night tisanes: chamomille, lavender, linden and tulsi are all delicious and potentially have a relaxing effect.
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Jul 26, 2017 10:55
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Picked up these two at Wal-mart:  Grabbed the rooibos based on recommendations here, and I saw the loose leaf EG, so I got that on a whim. I may go back for some Chamomile or others next week.
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Jul 26, 2017 18:57
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QuarkMartial posted:Picked up these two at Wal-mart: If you like the rooibos, I'd recommend finding it from most anywhere else. There's a bunch of online tea shops in the first post that will have it in herbal blends, and they'll all be much better than anything Twinings does. They'll be loose options and many just a little more $/serving, but it's herbal, so you can just stick it in a travel mug with a mesh basket and dump boiling water in on it and be fine. Some of those shops will also have some other decaf options, and tons of loose leaf everything else to pick from. Quality of it will also be better than Twinings. Grocery store tea bags tend to not be great, unless your goal is to brew something overly strong and drink it with milk/sugar. That's when I reach for Yorkshire Gold or PG Tips. They're very near the same price/bag as Twinings, but still for me taste much better with milk and sugar.
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Jul 26, 2017 20:53
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Cool, if I end up liking this I'll check it out. Trying to watch my caffeine intake, but I love hot drinks, especially in the winter. Something that is good hot and won't make me jittery would be great.
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Jul 26, 2017 22:23
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