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Stuporstar posted:Milk oolong is a special breed of tea plant that has a natural creamy taste and texture. Jin Xuan is the original and has no added flavorings: https://www.teavivre.com/jin-xuan-milk-oolong-tea.html It’s so delicious on it’s own that adding milk to it would just overpower its natural flavors, especially since it tends to be processed as a green oolong rather than a darker one. Tried my oolong for the first time today and drat! This poo poo is loving excellent. No idea if lactose is added or not as it's all in Korean. Will have to try out other types to compare the creaminess, but even when I opened up the package I was amazed by how creamy it smelled.
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Oct 31, 2019 16:02
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Yo oolong has one of the widest varieties in the kinds of processing and tastes you get out of a type of tea, if you like the milk oolong you're in for a whole world of possibilities
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Oct 31, 2019 16:07
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So for the past probably at least 10-15 years I've always used one of this style of tea-making-thing:  and it's always been fine, but I finally got the itch to get a proper tea pot and cups and it's all showing up today (hopefully not broken) and I'm unreasonably excited about it. Also, SymmetryrtemmyS, I got some mint from Mountain Rose and it's very nice. Picked up some of their gunpowder green too and have been mixing up my own Moroccan mint and that was very good too. Thanks for the recommendation!
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Oct 31, 2019 16:15
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hope and vaseline posted:Yo oolong has one of the widest varieties in the kinds of processing and tastes you get out of a type of tea, if you like the milk oolong you're in for a whole world of possibilities Good to know! I'll snag a photo of the oolong I'm drinking right now for future reference, who knows if I can buy it online 
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Oct 31, 2019 16:54
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I’ve been drinking my milk oolong grandpa style these days, which is just dropping the leaves in a mug and refilling it with hot water (about 190) when there’s still about 1/3-1/4 of the mug left. With a big leaf tea like that you never have to strain them through your teeth and the flavor keeps going all day. Though I use enough leaf to almost fill the mug. That’s why I started doing it that way, because no strainer I have is big enough to not compress such gigantic leaves when I’m using 5g or more
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Oct 31, 2019 18:41
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Stuporstar posted:I’ve been drinking my milk oolong grandpa style these days, which is just dropping the leaves in a mug and refilling it with hot water (about 190) when there’s still about 1/3-1/4 of the mug left. With a big leaf tea like that you never have to strain them through your teeth and the flavor keeps going all day. Though I use enough leaf to almost fill the mug. That’s why I started doing it that way, because no strainer I have is big enough to not compress such gigantic leaves when I’m using 5g or more Phreow, that seems like a lot of tea leaves, filling up the mug! I just kind of eyeballed it myself this morning as, like you said, it's a big leaf and I can't really measure teaspoons of it that easily. Is oolong a tea where using more leaves is kind of the norm? I upped the amount of green tea leaves I was using a few days ago and it was toeing the line of being a little too bitter.
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Oct 31, 2019 20:47
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For non-grandpa brewing, increasing the leaf-to-water ratio should let you get a tasty brew while reducing infusion time and temperature. Generally, the compounds that make tea astringent and bitter extract slower, especially at lower temperatures, so increasing the ratio is often a way to fight bitterness. People get really picky about ratios and temperature but the "best" way to make a tea--within a certain band of sanity--probably depends more on what you're in the mood for than anything else. also yeah rolled taiwanese oolongs can expand massively, like easily 10x the volume when fully opened
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Oct 31, 2019 23:30
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Oolong can really benefit from using more leaves than you’d think necessary. Mostly because it’ll taste stronger a lot more steepings into it. When I use only 3g for a cup I stop around 5-6 steeps. When I double that I can get 8-10. So it really depends on how many times you’re going to refill with water. Similar with greens but I never run into astringent or tannic issues unless my water is too hot or sits too long on the leaves.
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Oct 31, 2019 23:33
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Johnny Truant posted:Phreow, that seems like a lot of tea leaves, filling up the mug! I just kind of eyeballed it myself this morning as, like you said, it's a big leaf and I can't really measure teaspoons of it that easily. Is oolong a tea where using more leaves is kind of the norm? I upped the amount of green tea leaves I was using a few days ago and it was toeing the line of being a little too bitter. I should probably mention I usually drink out of 16 oz mugs, but yeah 5g of milk oolong open up to fill it more than halfway, those leaves get so big. I think that’s about 2 teaspoons dry (could be more because I use a cha ze scoop that’s a bit bigger). I get six or more mugs out of it and it never gets too bitter if I’m using cooler water. If the oolong is a greener one I go down to about 180-190 degrees. A dark oolong about 195-205 degrees. For green teas, you definitely want to go lower to avoid any bitterness. If in doubt, I always go lower and have had mostly success that way, grandpa style or with an infuser A variable temperature kettle has made brewing tea so much easier... and a scale. Best investments I’ve made out of all my tea things Also Teavivre is having another sale. My poor wallet 
Stuporstar fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Oct 31, 2019 |
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Oct 31, 2019 23:41
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With tea you can also use more leaves (or equivalently less water) and decrease the steep time by a lot. The idea is you use exactly as much water as will fill your cup then expose it to the leaves for only 20-30 seconds, then strain. You can repeat usually up to 4 or 5 steeps with quality tea. I forget the chinese name for this style but it's how a lot of pu'er teas are prepared. Definitely worth trying with greens and oolongs.
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Nov 1, 2019 05:47
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Booyah- posted:With tea you can also use more leaves (or equivalently less water) and decrease the steep time by a lot. The idea is you use exactly as much water as will fill your cup then expose it to the leaves for only 20-30 seconds, then strain. You can repeat usually up to 4 or 5 steeps with quality tea. Gongfu
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Nov 1, 2019 06:04
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Reading this thread made me go and drop $10/oz. on a fine milk oolong you sonsabitches
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Nov 1, 2019 06:07
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Here’s an example of how much a tea can expand in a gaiwan. I brewed one of these giant white ball teas gongfu style (it was 9g in a 4oz gaiwan) https://www.teavivre.com/moonlight-dragon-ball-white-tea.html First steeping at 50s (longer than you would for a typical fermented pu-erh, also because it was in such a tight ball)  This was steeping 5 or 6  By 9 or 10 there was still dry leaves tightly bound in the center, so I had to pull it apart with my tea pick  This is about 15, and it completely filled the gaiwan  It still had more in it. I kept going for a bit but eventually gave up because it went into the evening and I was getting a little tired of it. In retrospect this is one to drink grandpa style in my 16 oz mug instead of doing it proper gongfu style, unless I have company Stuporstar fucked around with this message at 06:36 on Nov 1, 2019 |
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Nov 1, 2019 06:32
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Teavivire is having sales all the way until black friday https://www.teavivre.com/info/best-promotion-up-45-off.html I already did an order at the beginning of the month aaaaaaaaaa https://www.teavivre.com/black-friday-sale.html Stuporstar fucked around with this message at 17:48 on Nov 11, 2019 |
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Nov 11, 2019 17:43
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So the other day I butterfingered my glass teapot and shattered it all over the kitchen floor. When buying a new one, I decided to go a little bit "all in" and also picked up a small kitchen scale, a beverage thermometer, and a selection of samples from Upton. I've got some of their more expensive greens and oolongs coming, as well as my first pu-erh. I think I'll keep notes on ratios, temperatures, steep time, and flavor to REALLY dial in that perfect cup. I was messing around with first flush darjeelings earlier in the year, but was just eyeballing the amounts and only managed to NAIL it once or twice. I also didn't keep notes on flavor and already forgot which of the four I had was my favorite... I think it was the Selimbong Estate? Anyways, just sharing because I'm excited. I'll keep y'all updated when the teas arrive and I have some tasting notes.
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Nov 21, 2019 08:23
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I brew my own iced tea at home. Recently I noticed some batches would have a bad taste/smell to them at some point. I'm pretty sure that's the culprit, what the hell is it? It settles out immediately after brewing and is fine if it's just chilling at the bottom. If it gets dispersed at all it's immediately noticeable through taste and smell. It seems to mainly happen with one variety I've used, but I've had it happen with several to varying degrees.
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Nov 26, 2019 19:17
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Are you using a specific blend? Do you make it in the same container every time?
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Nov 26, 2019 19:39
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Heath posted:Are you using a specific blend? Do you make it in the same container every time? The biggest offender is the Upton Iced Tea Blend. Same kettle but I rotate between 2 pitchers, generally using one for a week before it goes into the dishwasher and then I grab the other. It happens with both pitchers. On days where I work I'll brew tea and then take it to work in this and it seems to get worse in that somehow. e: I use these to brew fknlo fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Nov 26, 2019 |
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Nov 26, 2019 21:05
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I finally got around to following up on this:Trabant posted:Oh poo poo, you just gave me an idea for my next idiot project. and made a pu-erh pick: OK, yes, technically, it's more of an ice pick. A pu-erh pick should have a flat section towards the top, but I didn't have the oxyacetylene to get the steel hot enough for reshaping. As my wife pointed out, instead of breaking up the tea cake at work with a pocket knife, I'll now be doing it with a high-end shiv. So, you know, not much of an improvement re: looking like the office psycho.
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Nov 30, 2019 00:36
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Trabant posted:I finally got around to following up on this: Wow, that looks fuckin excellent. Now you're at least the classiest office psycho! 
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Nov 30, 2019 01:09
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If your workplace is anything like mine, drinking tea that doesn't come in a bag already makes you look like a psycho Everybody makes fun of my gaiwan  
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Nov 30, 2019 01:11
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I'm 100% certain that my corporate legacy will be "Oh yeah, that guy with the kettle and cubicle full of tea. Whatever happened to that guy?"Johnny Truant posted:Wow, that looks fuckin excellent. 
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Nov 30, 2019 04:08
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Heath posted:If your workplace is anything like mine, drinking tea that doesn't come in a bag already makes you look like a psycho Monsters How do you manage a gaiwan at work though? I can barely integrate it into working from home without the tea-making completely taking over and getting not much work done at all.
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Nov 30, 2019 04:20
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I work in a sterile area and my gaiwan has to stay in the break room, so my tea tastings are limited to breaks.
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Nov 30, 2019 04:32
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Anyone have any experience with Hario tea pots? I just ordered one for the wife for Christmas, along with some Upton tea.
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Nov 30, 2019 18:07
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Anyone have a favorite online vendor for Japanese greens? A reasonably priced gyokuro in particular would be great.
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Nov 30, 2019 20:32
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I was always a fan of o-cha.com but it’s been a while. They stock a range of price points but you have to pay shipping from Japan also.
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Nov 30, 2019 21:23
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Can anyone hazard a guess for a reasonable delivery time for a Teavivre order to US/Texas? It's been 3 weeks since I got the original "it's on its way" email and the tracking still says just "Your order is in transit."
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Dec 4, 2019 18:11
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Trabant posted:Can anyone hazard a guess for a reasonable delivery time for a Teavivre order to US/Texas? It's been 3 weeks since I got the original "it's on its way" email and the tracking still says just "Your order is in transit." It’s a month tops for regular mail to North America. Also they send an email to confirm if your packaged arrived safely as soon as it registers as delivered. If they used China Post tracking, I’ve taken the tracking number to the actual China Post website and used google translate on the results with more success than the Teavivre tracking page. Lately they’ve been registering my packages with Canada Post, ever since they accidentally mixed up my order with someone from Australia. They were really good about sending a replacement for my order fast. It arrived at the same time as the Australian person’s order and they let me keep all the extra tea and gave me extra reward points for the inconvenience. So even if something happened to your order, their customer service is excellent and they’re quick about fixing poo poo. You could probably contact them now if tracking through China Post turns up nothing helpful.
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Dec 4, 2019 18:30
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Thoht posted:Anyone have a favorite online vendor for Japanese greens? A reasonably priced gyokuro in particular would be great. do you prefer your gyokuros to emphasize sweet or savory flavors? o-cha stocks an uji gyokuro which is of the craziest, most savory teas i've ever had; way more so than even most yame gyokuros. o-cha in general kicks rear end, good value on their teas and they know how to ship green tea well. i'll also take the chance to broken-record plug koyamaen's product line, which you can get from only slightly sketchy rakuten resellers or if you have a real taste for adventure, emailing koyamaen directly for their order form and then sending it in by fax machine in tyool 2019. i've only had their tama-homare, which is pretty midline in price, but it was really good, more sweet and aromatic than the kamejirushi i suggested above. e: safest option, of course, is ippodo, you're paying a pretty decent surcharge for convenience but nobody's ever said the tea was bad
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Dec 4, 2019 20:43
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Stuporstar posted:So even if something happened to your order, their customer service is excellent and they’re quick about fixing poo poo. You could probably contact them now if tracking through China Post turns up nothing helpful. Thanks!
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Dec 4, 2019 21:03
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Sweet, thanks for the recs!
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Dec 5, 2019 17:18
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Tasting report: Picked up samples of China Shou Pu-erh, Royal Pu-erh, Formosa Jade Supreme Oolong, Gyokuro, and Organic Tamaryokucha from Upton. I had never had a pu-erh before this, and I gotta say, I have been VERY pleasantly surprised. The Shou Pu-erh is incredibly rich, deep, and strong. I brewed a strong cup, 3 grams in 12oz boiling water steeped 6 minutes. It has a very earthy, woody aroma with some hints of more volatile organics that I can't really put my finger on. On the palate though, it opened up a lot and had a wonderful floral characteristic to it. I'm definitely going to be seeking out more like this. The Royal Pu-erh was also good, but lacked the depth and richness the shou has. The first time I brewed it I did 4g in 12oz boiling water for 6 minutes, but it came out too strong and had an unpleasant, oversteeped bitterness to it. A second shot with 3g in 12oz for 5 minutes got it to a better place, though it was still a bit more bitter than the shou, and lacked the complex floral palate. It was a solid and enjoyable dark tea, just didn't blow my socks off like the first example. The Formosa Jade Supreme was an excellent example of a high quality Oolong, as I would hope it would be for the price. 4g in 12oz 82° for 3 minutes. I can't say anything about it was surprising or blew me away, but as a fan of Oolongs it was certainly one of if not the best I've ever had, and I would definitely like to treat myself to it again. Bright, balanced, floral, sweet. Similar to the oolong, the Gyokuro was a great representation of what premium green tea can be. Nothing earth shattering or surprising, but an incredibly mellow, sweet, rich and floral cup. 4g in 12oz 78° for 2 minutes. I'm going to need to revisit the Tamaryokucha, I didn't take much in the way of notes and it didn't leave a very stong impression on me, but it was certainly a good cup of green tea.
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Dec 12, 2019 20:11
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I know shou pu-erh is supposed to be brewed at 100C, and that Royal Pu-erh is a shou as well, but shengs brew at 95C, so if you’re getting bitterness you could try taking it down to a slightly lower temperature. You can also try decreasing the steeping time. I’ve had a few really bitter shengs that turned out much better when treated more delicately. My tea haul from Teavivre arrived, along with my first full cakes ever.  I’m trying the smaller cake first, the Fengqing Chun Yun Ripened Pu-er 2006  A bit of dust in the rinse, but not too bad for a first pry  At first the aroma was leather and wood, and the first sips were a bit astringent and tangy, but it immediately mellowed out into an almost fruity sweet taste with a bit of wood and umami. The texture is nice and silky, though not as thick as the more expensive shou cakes I’ve tried. It’s a really good buy for $17. The other big cake is the Big Snow Mountain raw pu-erh. I had a sample of it, and for a young sheng it’s already complex with lots of tobacco notes. It’s a 2017 so I plan on putting it away for a while. Stuporstar fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Dec 12, 2019 |
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Dec 12, 2019 22:15
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My local shop has a Puerh blend called Chocolate Aire and it's probably my favorite drink. I've loved every Puerh I've had, actually (not a ton. But several)
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Dec 12, 2019 22:18
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How do you all know what temp things should be brewed at? Is there a good cheat sheet somewhere, or is it just from trial and error? I've found some sheets that will just say "green tea" and "black tea" but not one that breaks it down by varietals. I have some teas that tell me right on the package, but not all of them do. Also how do you actually track your temperature when brewing? I have an electric kettle that has kind of broad temperature settings but I can't dial it in to a specific temp. Should I get an IR thermometer?
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Dec 12, 2019 22:40
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Upton lists recommended temps for all their teas on the product page, I was following those. I'm sure you can find cheat sheets that give you the right range with a bit of google-fu though. I use a beverage thermometer (the kind you'd use for steaming milk) to know when the water in the kettle is where I want it, or when the water in the pot has cooled to where I want it.
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Dec 12, 2019 22:47
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I brew younger shengs cooler and raise the temp for more aged stuff. 10 yrs and up i just straight up use boiling
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Dec 12, 2019 22:49
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I have a kettle I can program in 5 degree increments, but before that I used a thermometer. When the tea doesn’t come with recommended temperatures on the website or packaging, I search for similar teas online that do have time/temperature suggestions. Failing that I go by variety and adjust by trial and error. The thing about some of those cheat sheets is whites, yellows, greens, and oolongs can taste best at a huge range of temperatures. Like the Yunnan whites on Teavivre have 95C recommendations, while others need super low temperatures like 70C. Darker oolongs seem to brew better at 95C, which is black tea temperature (I only do shou pu-erh at 100C), while green oolongs I go down to 80C. Also I love chocolatey Yunnan teas, though I find that note most prominent in their black teas. The Guangxi Liu Bao Cha Dark Tea I got was actually the one I tried first out that tea haul. It’s not a true pu-erh but processed like one, so it borders on tasting like a shou. I found it really mellow and sweet, almost fruity. Actually quite similar to the cake I’m drinking now, but this cake seems a little more thick and complex. Stuporstar fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Dec 12, 2019 |
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Dec 12, 2019 22:51
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I stick my Thermapen in the kettle and get an idea of where I'm at. (It is fully worth the $85 and you will use it constantly for all sorts of cooking and baking things. It doesn't replace a candy thermometer but can work in a pinch.) I find that I can generally get good results with black tea without much fuss on time & temperature, but greens I have a list of times and temps of everything because it can all be so different.
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Dec 12, 2019 23:33
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