>>21107033
i cant wait for year of the snake wrapper kino

>>21107033
Where's the rat

>>21107151
isn't the squiggle above the flowers a stylised rat with a tail and ears? maybe a chinese letter calligraphed to look like a rat

>>21107033
Made my yearly tea order.
Last year, I liked my long jing the most, so I mostly focused on greens.
Pheonix 58-Dian Hong, I really liked it last year, so I bought 2 packs of 380g this time. I might gift one pack away.
Otherwise, I brought some Alishan teas during my trip of Taiwan.
The Alishan oolongs were really really good, I highly suggest them if you see them at a reasonable price. I got mine at about 10cents/gram directly from a plantation, Alishan black teas are pretty good, they're a lot softer taste than the Yunnan black teas that I've had, and the Alishan green tea I sampled wasn't to my taste, it had a very gentle taste and felt a little watered down.
I got about 400 grams of oolong and 200 grams of black tea while there.
I might have over-ordered a little bit, but since I order only once a year I think it's ok. I'll just gift some of the excess away.

>>21107198
Otherwise, I was eying the wuyi oolong sampler last year, but it was sold out, so I missed it. This time I made sure to get it.
I'd like to order more oolongs next year, but not really sure where to start. I hope the sampler helps.
White tea was more of a buy at a whim, not particularily sure on what to expect, my experience with white teas is that I'm struggling to get the temprature and brewing time right, so they're constantly overbrewed or underbrewed.

>>21107198
This is from dragon tea house, right?
>>21107204
If you like Alishan oolong, you could buy from teahome, the Taiwanese site that's been getting some hype on here for it's good value. They have Alishan, dong ding and other Taiwanese oolong. The downside is it's in Chinese.
For leafy white tea like that Xiaguan, I would just use boiling water. I was eyeing that cake at some point too. If you don't like it, you could try aging it, white tea ages faster than pu-erh.

I'm going to pull the trigger on a sample-focused order on Awazon. I want to find a few diamonds in the rough to buy a lot of. I know the site isn't secure, anon's order once came with book lice on one of the cakes, and when finalizing the order the final screen is sometimes an error message although a confirmation email goes is received and it hasn't been a problem. I'll probably cancel my card after the shipment is confirmed in the interest of security. Anything else I should know order from Awazon?

>>21107518
the payment is through paypal, it shouldn't be unsecure

>>21107521
That's a good call out. The rest of the site however, including login/registration, is over HTTP rather than HTTPS. Don't reuse passwords in general, but especially don't reuse a password on Awazon.

>>21107033
Thots on this style of clay? I am under no illusions that grainy made with a mold is high-end but I'm wondering if it's a legitimate style or something to sell the laowai.

Can I get a QRD on this longjing? I really want to dislike a local shop but it seems like they're buying in very decent stuff and being transparent about it. Matcha's been great, dianhong seems pretty good after a few cups, earl gray and chamomile are deliciously fragrant. No idea about comparative prices as I'm getting this stuff for free(wrong deliveries to my brother's coffee shop). Their cakes seem a little sketchier than the loose but I might just have to pay them back and order a few.
https://www.hugotea.com/collections/green-tea/products/session-longjing-green
https://www.hugotea.com/collections/cakes-compressed-tea/products/not-from-concentrate-2023-white?variant=46958278574381

>>21107528
Oh yeah for sure, it's just the payment that's secure

>>21107543
Check the clay pot shape chart that's floating about

>>21107609
Looks solid. I'm no expert on longjing, but the yellowish green color looks right for high quality longjing and the description is very detailed in terms of sourcing. Price doesn't seem outrageous for a coreish area longjing

The white tea is more vague, if it is ancient tree the price makes sense, otherwise it's quite pricey for a moonlight white.

>>21107659
Oh wait, I just scrolled down and it's also very specific. Personally I have no idea how terroir and tree age affects white tea though, so can't say of it is worth it

>>21107649
I'm not talking about the shape, I'm talking about the materials. It says Nixing clay made with sand, obviously made with a mold.

>>21107518
Does the shipping cost also contain VAT on awazon?

>>21107672
nixing clay is good, its comparable to zini yixing clay so it will mute flavours fairly hard so its more suited for aged teas, shu puerh and maybe roasted oolongs, a nice thing about nixing is that its much harder to get scammed with it since most fake teapots get sold as yixing clay instead
https://mudandleaves.com/blogs/teatime/nixing-clay?_pos=1&_sid=976e8efa4&_ss=r

>>21107033
if my white tea doesn't look like I picked it up off the forest floor, I don't want it

>>21107198
Looks like a nice order anon. Have you had that chun mee before?

>>21107334
Yeah
>>21107789
Nope, but I hope I don't get scammed. I got it mostly because it was quite cheap per gram. Hoping it'll be my daily drink together with the black tea.

>>21107793
Good luck with it, will be interested to know if it's decent

redpill me about oolongs being riddled with pesticides
I love oolongs and always give them a wash anyway but I am mildly concerned about what I've heard about them requiring way more pesticides due to growing conditions

I have no idea what I just bought, I just clicked randomly for things that seemed interesting.
Is any of this good?

>>21107935
Black gold is always good
the Drunk on red is also pretty nice but its been awhile since I've had it

>>21107803
You can get organic certified oolongs if you really care. I think even teahome has some, they mention their gaba is organic at least.

pesticides are good they make tea yummier. your health can take a back seat

what is /tea/'s postion on fortnum & mason?
I don't drink tea often but when I do it's their royal blend which I bought in london 2 years ago

>>21108267
Never heard of them but looking them up it reminds me of Harney & Sons. High-quality normie tea essentially, nothing that will surprise a tea autist but it's probably good for what it is. I like the design of the tins, I have an H&S tin that doesn't seal right since it's dented, wouldn't happen with the round lid like that.

Any thoughts on the clay pots over at taiwan tea crafts? I'm intrested in a clay pot but don't really want to get into the clay autism too much.
My gut feeling is this is not famous clay or whatever so a decent pot should be affordable.
https://www.taiwanteacrafts.com/shop/product-category/teaware/teaware-by-material/clayware/?v=7885444af42e

hey anons do you prefer young or aged raw puer?
I see aged tends to be regarded as fancier and more desireable, but yesterday i had a 2011 gushu and a few steepings in I was knida wishing I was drinking any of my young raws instead. It's been like that almost every time I've tried an aged tea except for this one really fancy sample I got once that's out of stock now and I'll never get to drink again.

>>21108527
For me it's aged, but there's certainly a lot of people who prefer young raw or drink it exclusively.
Both can get insanely expensive if you want them to, it really depends who you ask whats desireable. I got the feeling valuing aged is more common in the older generation.

>>21108517
Pretty much.
>it is a good quality teapot that will be sure to render years of good service at a fraction of the cost of similar quality authentic Yixing ware.
Much better than fake Yixing on Amazon, and probably just as good as the real thing if you don't have clay tism.

>>21108684
Cheers anon. I'll mull over it a little more but that raises my confidence.

what are good caffeine-free teas?
or lower caffeine teas?
Is rooibos good?

>>21108894
>Is rooibos good
yes
also worth trying are sideritis, lemon verbena and ivan chai

>>21108894
Kukicha and Kenya purple tea have less caffeine, but not none.
Mugicha has no caffeine since it's barley.
Greek mountain tea is an interesting one.
For decaffeinated tea, there are multiple ways it can be done, carbon dioxide is the only method that sounds good but I don't know how you would make sure that's the method used. https://www.teabloom.com/blog/5-popular-ways-your-tea-is-decaffeinated/
Don't assume you can drink infinite amounts of tisane the way you can tea (which isn't a super idea either but the effects are very well known).

>>21108527
I prefer aged raw, but aged ~20 years and not in dry storage
imo a 2011 tea is more "semi-aged" than aged. I'd usually rather drink either young raw or old raw over semi-aged.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749198001870
>brick tea has the most flouride
>that's the kind they send to Tibet
Where's my tinfoil hat?

>>21109036
> In order to prevent development of fluorosis, the maximum consumption of fu-brick tea and black brick tea should be 1.7 litres and 4.8 litres/day respectively.
nice, we are good.

>>21109059
1.7 liters isn't impossible, although I've never had fu-brick tea.

>>21108539
>>21109018
>aged, two for two
>2011 is semi-aged
I see, maybe I'm just not trying the good stuff then... the oldest thing I've had has been from 2009 which is not much older.
any recs for a good one to try?

>>21109104
Except for the "really expensive" ones, these are all aged raws I sampled and liked enough to buy a cake of. The really pricey ones are really good but the price of a full cake/100g is still hard to swallow. I'm glad I tried them though.

Cheaper stuff that works great as a daily drinker for me. Not super complex or anything special, but good.

https://kingteamall.com/products/2006-changtai-si-pu-yuan-tong-an-hang-65s-year-of-hk-tongan-tea-cake-400g-puerh-raw-tea-sheng-cha?_pos=1&_sid=f8b1e2acb&_ss=r
https://kingteamall.com/products/2004-changtai-chen-hong-chang-yi-wu-yiwu-cake-400g-puerh-raw-tea-sheng-cha?_pos=1&_sid=6e15a8718&_ss=r

Kind of middle ground price/quality wise

https://yunnansourcing.com/products/2004-millenial-old-tree-big-snow-mountain-mengku-raw-pu-erh-tea-cake?_pos=14&_sid=a9b2cd1d6&_ss=r

But the good stuff is pretty expensive

https://essenceoftea.com/products/1990s-special-order-red-mark (one of my favorites)

Or really expensive

https://yeeonteaco.com/collections/new-release/products/2000-7532-menghai-tea-factory-25-years-of-traditional-experience-manufacturing-raw-pu-erh-tea-cake

https://essenceoftea.com/products/70s-loose-leaf-puerh?variant=35144423407773

>>21109169
hoooly those last 2 are really expensive. And here I thought I was mr bigshot buying gushu on FL lol
I'll grab samples of the other ones though; the red mark one sounds especially interesting from the description, looking forward to that one the most.

Suggestions for a dark/roasted oolong?

>>21109192
It gets even crazier
https://yeeonteaco.com/collections/puerh/products/1970s-little-yellow-mark-cnnp-7542-raw-cluster-pu-erh-tea
But nice, I hope you enjoy them. Maybe someone else will come through with more suggestions.

>>21109226
>>21109192 (Me)
>26.99 total for shipping
Hurt my soul a bit, but I'll live. I've been spoiled by William's low free shipping minimum. I think I'll hold off on the YS one since I'm not looking to get anything else from there right now. I've also been curious about that KTM oolong an anon posted a couple threads back so I decided to go for that too. But really the red mark sample is the one I'm excited for. I decided to throw in an aged white last minute since I've been meaning to try that too, so if I was already paying the shipping I figured I might as well.

And now, I wait. Thanks for the recs anon! I'll post about the red one once it gets here.

>$280 for 8g sample
I had to click the weight dropdown a couple times to make sure it was loading correctly. That's actually insane.

>>21109169
I remember reading somewhere you shouldn't trust the date on any loose leaf puer so I haven't tried anything like that but im curious

What is the most caffeinated of teas?
I work nights in a place where we alternate between nothing going on and bursts of steady activity so I need to keeps buzz going

>>21108527
I prefer young raw, but I like aged too
I feel like aged being more desirable is because of smaller supply, aging costs and a historical prevalence of blends made for aging. But for teas that aren't made as punchy rough factory blends, aged is just different, not better.

>>21109059
they're probably talking about tibetan butter tea too, which is boiled for a long time to be incredibly strong

>>21109210
teahome legend of tung ting
if you want cheap yancha, the ones from KTM were decent

>>21109322
I like yerba mate for keeping awake. but a strong sheng pu-erh will also do the trick, those can get strong as fuck

>>21109322
Highest caff I ever had was High Grown Kenyan by Twinings. It is a strong CTC Assam style black tea.
Problem with caffeine is tolerance build up. At some point you stop feeling it.

Finishing free sample of FarmerLeaf Jingmai Gushu Autumn 2023
Very soft tea with almost no bitterness but some astringency if pushed. Flavor is balanced and understated, the active, complex mouthfeel and depth is the main focus. There is some huigan and cooling effect. I'm not one to rate qi, but I do feel relaxed and elated in a good way.
Nice tea overall. Main downside is it's on the weaker side, needs to be pushed a little and won't give too many infusions. Price is not too bad for a gushu, 80$ for 2024 cake. Maybe I should compare it to TFLZ, that one stands out more flavor-wise, but maybe less mouthfeel

>>21109319
>you shouldn't trust the date on any loose leaf puer
If it's a specific year rather than a decade, or if it's not from a reputable vendor like EOT I agree.
I trust EOT enough to buy a sample based off of their description. And while I'm far from an expert on old tea, that EOT '70s puer tastes similar to the 3 or 4 other old puer I've had, so I believe the claim. I guess it's possible that all of those old puers have been bs, but they all taste distinct from anything else I've ever had. It's interesting how shou approximates that flavor profile.

>>21109448
I'll add that much more important than
>I believe the claim
is that I think the tea tastes good irrespective of what year it really is or where it came from.
I almost wish I lived in China/Taiwan so I could visit tea shops and try all sorts of crazy teas like these without having to shell out a good amount of money for a sample and shipping.

>>21109345
They compared the brick to normal teas, and used chemical testing and two standardized methods of boiling the tea (repeated infusion and continuous infusion). Any increase in fluoride is from brick tea using older leaves. Fallen leaves were the highest because they had absorbed fluoride for their whole life cycle, brick tea was the clear winner among actual teas, but Chinese black tea came in second.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749198001870)

>>21109820
Also neither tea brewing method looks like it was designed to represent a drinkable cup of tea, in both methods they used 1g tea per 100ml water, which is too weak although continuous brewing might have eventually gotten strong enough since it went for up to 6 hours, but would probably have tasted terrible.
They were just comparing relative levels of fluoride released into the water.

SHUANG XIONG
I got this '05 cake from adventure in every cup

>>21110038
It seems to be looking and smelling nice

why are cakes 357grams? Is this a conversion from a round number of a chinese weight system or does the 357 mean something like 520 does?

>>21110062
357 on a motherfuckin cop

>>21110062
357gram is the equivalent of 7 liang and 7 was considered a lucky / round number. And the weight of 7 cakes is equal to 5 of another Chinese unit of measurement, so that was nice and round too

pic rel is my go-to for green tea

>>21110109
Neat. I'll buy that when I run out.

>>21107137
cspuerh snake cake is already up if you want an early snake dose

Does the specific water temperature REALLY matter that much?

>grab a teabag's worth, put into in-mug strainer
>pour near-boiling water
>wait a few minutes
>remove strainer
Done. For literally all teas

I've tried the complicated methods before but there is literally almost no difference. Take back convenience, take back your life.

>>21110284
I've had some really bitter teas because of way too hot temps, but I do agree you don't need much control
if it's a delicate tea I just wait 10mins after it boiled to cool down a bit

>>21110284
Only for Japanese greens.
Everything else is just boiling water and quick steeps.
I'm not talking about tea bags tho, with those you can probably do anything, since that tea is bottom of the barel quality.

>>21110284
nah not really. I usually find it easier to control the tea by amount of leaf than by temperature/steep times.
Though I think it probably does matter when it comes to certain greens.

>>21110284
for jap green temperature make can a difference even down to 5c, but for everything else i mostly agree. if you have an electric temp kettle it's not much effort to stick to guidelines though

Thinking of getting a shipment from Awazon. So far I have three picked out. 2021 Yunnan Old Tree Tea White, 2006 Awazon Bulang Mountain Arbour Raw, and 2018 Mijing Early Spring Raw. Has anybody tried these?
Also, would it be better to wait a week to order? I'm hoping that they have some form of a lunar new year sale.

>>21110284
>Does the specific water temperature REALLY matter that much?
yes and no. I once tried to brew my green tea with boiling water and it just tasted like burnt bike tires. It doesn't need to be specific to the degree, but it should be a good amount below boiling. Similar thing for some oolongs. for all my other teas I don't care much.

>>21110302
The white tea is alright for its cost.
Haven't tried the bulang cake, but I've got another awazon branded cake and it's pretty good.

>>21110302
I ordered some of those and would let you know but my shipment is currently sitting in Guangzhou

>>21110346
it was just a little mistake
a l-little mistake
little mistake

>>21110284
If you always boil tea, you lose any right to complain about the flavor of green, white or oolong teas.
I can already imagine the copes about how it's a personal decision how to make tea, as if the solubility of bitter compounds can hear you.

>>21110786
i steep my whites in boiling water and they're delicious tho
agree on greens and most oolongs tho

>>21110939
Some shou mei gets really bitter. I suppose with some of the lighter ones there's not a lot of flavor without boiling.
YS recommends hotter water for oolong than black tea, and 95 celsius for raw sheng.
Ultimately, some unorthodox decisions can work, but there's a difference between experimenting with temperatures and "fuck it, boil it, green tea sux btw".

>>21110284
if you're brewing gongfu or anything like it (on the side of more leaf + shorter steeps) I feel like you can just use boiling water for everything*
the caveat everyone else mentioned about greens applies but I don't drink those
>>21110786
I use boiling water whenever I brew oolongs and it's fine

>>21111051
Even light oolongs? Rule of thumb is that the oxidation level determines the temperature.

>>21111051
I only use boiling for the first steep and 195f for the rest with oolong, light or dark. Also no rinsing. Dumping the first steep is retarded. It tastes good. Rinses are for drinking moldy tea.

i have never tried aged white and I’m scared because most people who praise it seem like also like shou and describe common tasting notes for some (i’m pretty sure forest floor is actually the fishy taste and different people perceive it differently)

>>21110284
This will flat out ruin some ie: greens and yellows, and some whites. Maybe you like bitter tea.

>>21111064
NTA but I always use boiling for every oolong (including light/greener oolongs like jinxuan, alishan, anxi tgy) and they're only ever bitter if I oversteep them.
A couple times I used too high of a leaf to water ratio and that caused bitterness too.

whats a good tea to sip on at night?

>>21111363
>i have never tried aged white and I’m scared because most people who praise it seem like also like shou and describe common tasting notes
the aged whites I've had tasted nothing like shou. white tea aging only takes a few years and IDK if there is much fermentation going on. it just oxidizes, gets darker and maybe develops some hong cha or aged sheng notes

>>21111619
>>21111363
I could see the confectionary sweetness and fruit notes being similar to shou. There's some overlap you don't find in other teas.

>>21112273
the aged whites I've had reminded me more of dry stored raws or fu bricks

>>21108894
I tried to reduce excessive tea drinking with hibiscus, lemon verbena and rooibos, not worth it for me. While they can taste nice, it's just no replacement caffeine addiction-wise. Also, if you are trying to combat side-effects of excessive tea drinking, it isn't necessarily only about the caffeine but other plant compounds/heavy metals/fluoride etc. that you'll probably find in herbal teas. So if you are just replacing one thing with a worse substitute (because no caffeine), it better be good. For me I just felt like I was tricking myself, so I rather just try my best taking break days.

>>21112558
Is it really something to worry about?

Like of all the addictions in the world, tea has got to be one of the most harmless right. Seems to have worked out just fine for the east asians for the past 8000-whatever years

>>21108894
According to some tests on reddit, the caffeine level can vary significantly. I was especially surprised about the difference between random fukamushi sencha and kabusecha. Like the decaf article from the other anon, you could probably just rinse the leaves for significant caffeine reduction.

>>21112566
>Like the decaf article from the other anon, you could probably just rinse the leaves for significant caffeine reduction.
We have had this discussion several times already and iirc rinsing to get rid of caffeine is a myth.

>>21112563
Depends on circumstances, and moderation is key. I don't have great appetite to begin with, and then if I drink 5+ cups of Japanese tea that binds minerals and blocks protein absorption and I'm a nervous wreck, and have other unexplained health issues, and I can't help but do it almost every day, then yeah then it's a problem. You can overdose with all kinds of safe things, and especially when tea is seen as such a health product you can supposedly consume unlimited amounts, the more the better. But depends on circumstances, a lot of tea could be helpful for losing weight for example, but that's the opposite of my problem.
It's pretty simple to test really, just cut consumption by 80% and see if your problems go away, you can do that for a week, right? But your addiction doesn't want to find out.

>>21111363
I once had some random raw puerh mini cake, it tasted like wet socks, interesting but a bit disgusting. Maybe there are better ones
I love aged white, some silver needle and baimudan cakes felt like a old paper from my grandpa's 50 year old books, nice and comforting. An older shou mei with dark leaves was more like autumn leaves (clean dry ones, the wet leaves on the forest floor are probably your puerh). One is like tropical wood.

>>21112589
this and also roasting reducing caffeine is a myth. one thing of note is that final flush leaves will have less caffeine

>>21112645
>Maybe there are better ones
If it was the kind of mini tuo Fullchea gives out for free, then those are horrid and not representative of good sheng pu-erh

>>21112589
>>21112647
Yes but at the same time you'll be able to get more tasty steeps out of an aged roasted oolong or something for the same amount of caffiene, so its a good choice if you're trying to cut back a little bit and refresh your tolerance

>>21112645
>random raw puerh mini cake, it tasted like wet socks
Those go straight to the trash. No way they are getting anywhere near my mouth.

it's too late anyways, fin d a new hobbyh

>>21112755
for what

>>21112566
>>21112589
Rinsing technically *does* reduce caffeine, but it reduces everything else too, so you would have to brew it longer to look and taste like tea and the caffeine would be there too.
The water method described in the article isn't just rinsing the tea, they return the non-caffeine compounds to the leaves, allegedly. So it's essentially as if you're on your first steep flavor-wise but your 3rd or 4th as far as caffeine is concerned.

What's my opinion on flavored tea?

>>21113184
It depends on if you're looking for an experience or simply a taste you enjoy, so basically >>21113317. Both sides have their merits, so long as the flavoring isn't done merely as a marketing ploy. The flavoring should enhance the tea, not become the tea. Good jasmine tea is great stuff

Guys. I'm a tourist in /tea/ threads. But coffee's surge in popularity in the Americas is due to the steamship and better transportation from south america, plus trains and whatever. Basically it was just cheaper than tea being imported from the other side of the planet.

How is it tea hasn't become more commonplace in the US now that shipping anything from the other side of the planet is cheap and easy? Like hot tea being a standard like coffee?

>>21113500
Our founding mythos is literally "reject tea, embrace coffee". Sure nobody's seething at the Bri'ish any more but coffee was firmly entrenched by then.
Plus, it has more caffeine. I drink tea (obviously) but I start the day with a coffee.

>>21113184
the flavor needs to be good

>>21113500
ALL coffee tastes good to ok plain in a cup, you need zero knowledge to be into coffee and enjoy yourself. Automated coffee machines are entrenched and have gotten pretty good. Americans are lazy. And the inertia is great.

My mom could not possibly get into quality teas today. If she tried she'd end up buying some floral pine nut weight loss meme matcha blend from one of the female owned BIPOC forward meme coops and get angry at the staff for existing, go home, and make a mess with a strainer. Meanwhile here we are, massive autists, ordering teas and teawares direct from small businesses in taiwan and random chinese wet markets, prying apart cakes, and gong fuing everything.

She could easily get into quality coffee by walking down the road and buying a bag of locally roasted shit and a french press from some hipsters.

Also, it stains your teeth faster than coffee but most people aren't aware of this.

>>21113184
>>21113347
>It depends on if you're looking for an experience or simply a taste you enjoy,
Plenty of unflavored teas aren't experiences and are just basic tastes to enjoy.
There is so much variety in tea that I never feel any need to drink anything with flavor added. Life is short and I'll only be able to drink a limited number of teas, why waste my time with stuff that wasn't good enough to sell with adding flavor to it? As for
>The flavoring should enhance the tea, not become the tea
Every flavored tea I've ever had is completely dominated by the added flavor. It's not worth trying any more for me because I can't even imagine that a balanced flavor addition would make for a decent drink, and certainly not a better drink than a decent tea.
Tea is so interesting to me because it's all just camellia sinensis leaves. It's fascinating that different growing/processing methods lead to such wildly different drinks. I never think of the range of flavor profiles between Japanese sencha and liubao and think "hm, nope, none of that sounds good today, give me some bergamot".
But really, just drink whatever you like. I'm just a purist/snob I guess, but not because I think it makes me any better than anyone else, just because I like tea so much. I've been wanting to get into coffee for a while now but I never find the time because there's just so much good tea to drink.

>>21113622
>you need zero knowledge to be into coffee
Idk, you need more equipment for coffee
For a lot of tea you can just grandpa it with no equipment needed. For coffee you need brewing equipment and possibly a grinder

>>21113184
traditional flavored teas like jasmine, osmanthus or earl gray are fine. other than those, it's 99% slop that's made to sound good, smell good but not taste good (the target demographic will just add 4 spoons of sugar and say it's yummy)

>>21107033
>cheap white edition
What's your favorite cheap white?
What about your favorite flowery strong white, like yue guang bai or T-18 red jade/white jade?
(I ask this in every other thread and still haven't gotten a relevant answer)

>>21113896
can't say I have that much experience with whites so far, but the thread favorites seem to be:
>2016 Lao Bai cha from KTM
>Bada white from Chawangshop
>Awazon white tea (opinions are split, but cheap as fuck)
>2018 "Chen Nian Shou Mei" Aged White Tea Cake of Fuding from YunnanSourcing
>""""Jingmai Ancient Tree""""" white tea from Fullchea (cheap, trading blows with Awazon)
>Moon Waffles from white2tea

>>21113720
>Every flavored tea I've ever had is completely dominated by the added flavor.
This is the problem. It would be interesting if tea could have hints of complementary flavors from other than what you can grow out of that one plant, but to achieve that, you would probably need to use 1/20th of the normal amount.

I bought some green yunnan gun powder tea and an infuser

how hot should the water be (roughly, I don't have a thermometer) and for how long to steep it and how many times can I do it?

>>21110062
357g is 1/7th of a tong, a historical unit of measurement equivalent to about 2499g, which was likely common because at some point the lower taxable weight limit on merch moved from one place to another was 2,5kg.
No idea why the tong was divided by 7 and not 8 or 9 though.

I won't be happy until I find a plastic-free glass kettle.

>>21114083
80-90 degrees Celsius
as for brewing, there are different methods. gunpowder is rolled, so I'm guessing you can do at least two brews western style

>>21114328
i'm not sure it will exist. It feels like glass at the bottom will shatter under direct heat from the element. Or not conduct the heat well. The metal based ones presumably have silicone bonding the base to the sides.

Best month to purchase Nihon Green Tea?

>>21114083
Try 80 to 90 degrees celsius
Check out brewing parameters in rentry in the OP

what is the most flavourful tea on it's own that is not too expensive

I like to drink tea while fasting but I'd like something with a lot of flavour to trick myself, should be cheap because I'll be drinking lots of it or be able to be steeped for like 10 cups

>>21114421
shu pu-erh is very thick and flavorful, tends to be gentle on an empty stomach too. not everyone likes the fermented flavor, but it's probably the most meal-like tea

examples of decent but not expensive shu pu-erh:
>https://kingteamall.com/en-pl/products/2022-dayi-7562-brick-250g-puerh-shou-cha-ripe-tea?variant=43781056757990
>https://www.fullchea-tea.com/products/haiwan-2019-yr-pu-er-cha-9978-batch-191-shu-puer-te-357g
>https://white2tea.com/products/2022-waffles?_pos=3&_sid=01b537131&_ss=r

>>21114398
when spring harvest becomes available, in the late spring. it depends on the year, but May should be good

>>21114446
thank you anon for the recs

>>21114421
>>21114446
>>21114492
Shou while fasting is a blessing.

>>21114421
Avoid shou it tastes like fish or dirt. Look up how its made. Look at the pictures of how its made. Google puerh mycotoxins. And then drink white jasmine teas and hojicha/hojicha genmai like a sane person.

>>21114709
What about the fungus tea

>>21114328
>>21114391
The only ones I know of are the stovetop bombs.
You can however get one piece stainless electrics with no bottom gasket.

>>21114008
A lot of the more common herbs you can grow at home and try to blend yourself

>>21114709
>white jasmine
never even seen this one. sounds like a meme for 40 year old women, why would you want to flavor the most delicate-tasting tea?
>hojicha
minmaxing heavy metals intake from late harvest bottom of the barrel Jap greens? very healthy.

this is a pu-erh lesbian general, heterosexual women need to get the HECK out!

>>21114746
>pu-erh lesbian general
this is a young raw puer chad general
fishy puer dykes need not apply
but yes white jasmine sounds mid. white tea is perfect as is.

I went to a few local chinese shops, I found it funny that most of the diverse teas were in teabags and the only loose leafs were jasmine and the gunpowder green
there were even 2kg bags of jasmine, seems like that's the preferred tea
forgot to buy it though...

>>21114813
Because thats what notmalfags buy. I'm thankful to have a couple shops that focus on loose leaf even though one of them is mostly brit coded flavored stuff and the other is pretty limited selection

>>21114808
so true sis, I am also a butch young raw drinker

just finished my 2023 Snoozefest today. maybe I should have bought another one this year, it aged well over a year. was too vegetal at the start

>>21110191
>2025 zodiac is already up
Fuck me the time flies. I remember it like yesterday when I was ordering my 2024 zodiac.

>>21114933
>Fuck me the time flies.
It really does. The year of taobao is over but I never got around to making a taobao order.

>>21114421
Taiwan oolong

>>21114939
The year of taobao was officially extended anon, you're good

>>21111522
black tea

>>21107543
burning money

>>21107609
pale transclucent white ok, yellow / green bad

>>21107803
you not exercising, or eating fast food will kill you, not the pesticides

>>21108267
too expensive for what it is

>>21110284
yes & no

>>21114933
How did you like the 2024 one?
Sounds like it could be a good value buy.

>>21115048
I exercise 4-5 days per week and don't eat fast food - I get your point but if I didn't take my health seriously I wouldn't be concerned enough to ask in the first place

where do the different teas stand on caffeine content? I want to get absolutely wrecked on tea and don't know how much I need of what kind?

>>21115135
>I want to get absolutely wrecked on tea
won't happen unless you drink enough to dehydrate yourself and die

>>21115135
i don't know any actual stats but last week I drank 9g of this late at night and wasn't able to go to sleep until like 5am
https://www.farmer-leaf.com/collections/yunnan-pu-erh-tea/products/spring-2024-bangwai-small-trees

>>21115127
Its good but not my thing so I keep drinking other stuff.

>>21115135
Assamica has the highest caffeine, although shade-grown matcha is also pretty high.
Contrary to popular belief, oxidation has almost nothing to do with caffeine, it's just that black tea is usually assamica.
>>21115158
Fake news, tea is net positive hydration.

>>21115135
You need sheng pu-erh. Preferably some really powerful stuff from Menghai.

>>21115207
if you drink too much of anything you will piss out your electrolytes thus dehydrating yourself

>>21115238
You'll get tea drunk well before water intoxication, either you're being weird or you haven't experienced cha qi.

>>21115250
>you haven't experienced cha qi.
I haven't

so how long would a typical big puerh disk last me for if I drink it every other day?

>>21115293
if one gong fu session is 6 grams, it will take you 61 sessions to finish a cake. so if you have a session every other day, it will take you 4 months

>>21115297
that makes sense

>>21115133
I understand, i dont mean your life specfically, im saying you would look elsewhere if you were taking your health seriously

>>21115385
What is this blatant sweeping just buy organic if you care about pesticides.
Immediate deflecting just makes you look like you're involved somehow.
>you wish to not consume poisons, yet you are not a professional athlete, curious. I am very intelligent.
Fuck, people are allowed to care about things you don't care about.

>>21115668
>What is this blatant sweeping just buy organic if you care about pesticides.
im addresing their concern, which i percieved as their health

>Immediate deflecting just makes you look like you're involved somehow.
involved how? what do you think this is?

>Fuck, people are allowed to care about things you don't care about.
i never said they couldn't, stop projecting, im not your dad yelling at you

Are caffeine contents consistent for Chinese teas determined by type or does type tend to vary a lot? Is there a good source to look them up? I looked on google and it was all over the place, I am not sure if I'm searching correctly.
I recently became interested in tea and am really enjoying it. I want to drink it more and during the evening, but the caffeine keeps me awake too long.

>>21115798
Yunnan long leaf has higher caffeine.

>>21115798
Measurements vary wildly. My intuition is it mostly depends on whatever varietal is being picked more than anything.
If you don't want caffeine don't drink tea, basically.
Subjectively I find most heicha and heavily roasted teas like yancha don't disturb me.

>>21115798
>Is there a good source to look them up?
Didn't answer it sorry, you can find this kind of info by searching for papers on google scholar.

>>21115798
supposedly low altitude second flush(summer) pickings would have more as caffeine is an insecticide and you get more bugs in lower altitudes and summer. makes sense that more processed teas like shou and fu would have less than green and whites

>>21113184
>tea blended with naturally grown leafs/herbs of other plants
Do like, if it's a well done blend

>plant matter which got hijacked by added concentrated flavoring
Dislike, with that method any plant matter can taste like anything else. The plant carrying the flavor concentrate becomes exchangeable. Just use cat litter as a base at that point.

That being said Earl Grey is a nono for me. Jasmine I'll sip lying to myself it's made with the traditional precedure where Jasmine buds open naturally in a sack of green tea which is likely never the case in the cheap trash I gulp.

>>21113184
The natural preparations are some of my favorites -- I adore osmanthus in particular. Artificially flavored teas can be fun as an occasional drink the way a can soda is: a novelty that's terrible for you, but okay as a once-in-a-while treat. I do have a soft spot for overly-sweetened boba tea, after all. But when it comes to actual leaf tea, I just want the leaves to give me what they've got.

Am surprised at how swamped this place is with drug addicts. What happened to drinking tea for its taste?

>>21116230
Literally none of this is true. Don't make stuff up and repeat it as fact.
>>21116493
It started with a discussion of low-caffeine teas, but somebody flips the script and we're all caffeine addicts?
I mean, I know I am but that's beside the point.
The weird thing is it's all easily searchable information, and you'll get more scientific answers from google than from here, and this is enshittified google we're talking about.

>>21116720
>Literally none of this is true. Don't make stuff up and repeat it as fact.
suck my dick
https://www.biology-journal.org/fulltext/v2si1/ijapb2s-2-18.pdf

>>21116775
>first flush teas have higher caffeine
https://danfetea.com/blogs/tea-blog/everything-about-first-flush-tea
>puerh has more caffeine than green
https://chineseteas101.com/does-pu-erh-tea-have-caffeine/

>>21116798
>Literally none of this is true
im still right about altitude. so suck half my dick.

apparently someone found a rodent jawbone in the cheap CNNP liu bao basket from KTM... I think it's the one I've sampled lol

bought a random glass jar of oolong at the asian grocery store, "fu mao chun brand"
actually not bad, better than the fullchea stuff i ordered from amazon at least

>>21116856
I've never been bothered by tea treasures, but that is genuinely revolting. I would have to ask for either a refund or replacement.

dxjd 2009 shoumei

>>21116856
I wish I'd saved that picture from years ago of somebody finding an action figure leg in a cake.

>>21116803
Kek.

>>21116856
That's kinda cool desu.
Think the rest of the rat is out there somewhere?

>>21116856
market it as a grab bag and people will order it in droves

>>21116990
Someone should organise a groupbuy to find the rest of the rat
Then put it together, like Exuma from Yu-Gi-Oh

>>21117040
>Exuma from Yu-Gi-Oh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-4gnxxtPtI

>>21116937
really like that teapot anon, did you buy it online by chance?
magpie plum blossom is cool

>>21117065
mindslip lol
I love that album, I used to listen to it a lot while having my morning yerba mate. maybe I should resume that tradition

similar voodoo vibes for getting high on cha qi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijZUoSsnRPU&list=PLNPGM2D7aODfV7SZLULYgKUsZtGIDet6M

>>21116937
>dxjd 2009 shoumei
god damn

>>21117124
Yes online, i think ebay

>>21117132
decent price

>>21117132
Why so pricey? Cause there isn't that much shou mei of this age around?

Was looking for gaiwan, found this.
At first glance, this looks like an improvement over gaiwan in that the lid just stays where it is, tea just flows through small holes.
It also seems to be an improvement over small teapots in that it's (supposedly) trivial to rinse/clean.
But it's the first time I see this design. Why isn't it popular?

>>21117611
Another variation.

>>21117611
>>21117617
These seem like they wouldn't filter as well as a gaiwan, instead of going through a tiny crack in the lid they go through the holes. Also the only reason a westerner would use a gaiwan is ancient chinese brewing method folded 200 times, so a non-traditional design doesn't have that appeal.
I do have a tiny teapot that's a pain to clean, so it might be better than that.

>>21116856
I've worked in flour mills, the amount of rats pulverized by grindstones is remarkable, it's either that or eating poison, so I wouldn't care

>>21117611
>Why isn't it popular?
No special reason. Traditionally these have been made without holes in them so the segment of people who want to approach their tea with some kind of tradition may not want to buy them.

Also most people didn't buy them online (vessels in your grandpas or parents cupboard) or if they bought online they didn't care enough to find some modernized design like this one, just bought whatever was top in search results and that's likely what they were familiar with already.

So it's just simple pre-existing proliferation and the resulting inertia from it.

If you want to buy gaiwan with holes make sure it does have the back-hole for air (otherwise pouring will suck) and some kind of extra porcelain or whatever where your hands touch it (like the first pic) otherwise you will get burned when pouring. All the details have to be right.

>>21117611
>>21117617
typically called easy gaiwans, guess people just dont like them?

>>21117611
>>21117617
i guess those are a bit different than a houhin but they're basically the same thing, you'll be able to find plenty of this concept by looking for houhins if you're interested

>>21116493
The taste is good, that's why it works to help me kick my sugar addiction

Wanted to try awazon out, and also a bit new to tea. Randomly clicked around the cheap shit, tried to get one of every category. Anyone have any thoughts on these?

>>21117611
The little nubs get hot.

I think there's one with a wraparound wood handle. that one works ok. Personally I just use a normal gaiwan because if it's easy for scrawny chinese people it can't be that hard. Imagine chickening out on something even scrawny chinese people can handle.

>>21117617
This one looks like it would be fine

>>21116856
And this is why I only buy tea from taiwan and japan

>>21117990
w-wait awazon isn't just a funny way to spell amazon?

>>21117611
I strongly recommend just learning to use a standard gaiwan so you can also use it for tiny-cup grandpa style. The $10 Yxhupot one on amazon is actually pretty good. Thick enoygh, porcelain on the inside, grippy clay on the outside. Anything more is for appreciators of artisanal teaware and special glazes that might not be 100% food safe.

These are just shittier houhin/kyusu.

>>21117996
nah brto, it's a whole ass chinese tea merkt

>>21117990
I wouldn't buy bi luo chun from them desu, fuck knows if it's fresh or 10 years old

honestly Awazon doesn't seem like the perfect store for a newbie, the chance of buying something bad is probably high. as much as people here like to rep Awazon and Fullchea because they're cheap, it's better to stick with recommended teas from those stores as a lot of their stuff is cheap for a reason

>>21118002
Houhin/shiboridashi, you mean. Kyusu is just any Japanese teapot.

any stores doing a Chinese New Year sale?

>>21117990
>>21118724
This is a good point. The Year of Taobao does seem to be supplanted by the Year of Awazon, but Awazon is not for a first tea purchase. A first order should come from Yunnan Sourcing, White2Tea, Bitterleaf, something like that.

>favorite tea is from a singular online store and the type is completely unnamed
I will die if they ever go out of business

>>21119195
what store is it? sounds like white2tea

>>21118002
Somehow in my meandering around Amazon I never found Yxhupot, thanks for recommending.
>>21118724
People have been mid on Fullchea lately, they must have ended up on the wrong side of the cheap/good spectrum.
>>21119195
Can you ask them where it's from? Don't make it as if you want a backup plan, make it a tea snob thing.

What is an "aged ripe pu-erh tuo?"

I thought "raw" pu-erh was aged and then pressed into tuo. And "ripe" pu-erh was something different? Can it be both? What am I about to buy?

>>21119682
Ripe goes through fermentation process before pressing. Raw is just pressed then ages naturally

>>21119723
So they're both aged then it sounds like? Only difference is ripe is fermented first?

Sideritis chad here

>>21119747
Ripe is intentionally quick fermented in an attempt to mimic aged raw flavors. Didn't really work but became its own thing instead. 50ish years later people are still enjoying the same ripe recipes from the 70s.

>>21119770
I see, thanks.

>>21119753
SSSSSNIFF

>>21119791
it smells really good, kind of like hops and lemon

>>21119753
You grow these yourself?

>>21119856
No, my friend gives me a box every few months, her father grows em in his garden. They are super low maintenance, it doesn't really matter if you water them - they grow anyway. I'm in eastern europe and I've seen on hills, I've also seen em grow in greece when I've gone hiking.

>>21119682
>raw
unfermented
>ripe
fermented

both can be aged, but raw will change more with age

>>21119939
All puer is fermented.

>>21119946
Young sheng isn't puerh now?

>>21119976
Is this a bit?

Aren't all tea leaves harvested when they're ripe????

If one is ripe and the other is not, that means raw puerh is unripe tea leaves or what?

>>21120057
From my search, the leaves are the same, the process is the same, except the aging step.
Raw puerh is very simple, it's still fermenting when you get it, that's why it gets more complex the older it is.
While ripe puerh goes through accelerated aging, called wet piling, to go through the fermentation faster so you get the complex flavors developing earlier. This means it doesn't change as much as it ages.
I guess this is why it's "raw" and "ripe", it's like buying yellow or green bananas.

>>21120057
no, in this case ripe means literally decomposing, as in like (controlled) composting. from what i understand they have a huge humid pile of leaves on the floor of a warehouse so the leaves can decompose and they'll turn it periodically like a compost pile so it happens evenly. I guess that's why it tastes "funkier" and "earthier" and smells like "petrichor" (the earth after it rains) lol, it's literally what it is, it's the leaves on their way to becoming dirt. "raw" puer is letting this happen naturally over many years while "ripe" is when they make it happen really fast on purpose.
Also not all leaves are picked then they're ripe in the 'fully grown' sense either, many are picked when they're still baby shoots that haven't opened into proper leaves yet, that's what it means when people say a tea has buds.

>>21117990
how could awazon be so cheap?
I want to buy tea but I never know what to get, especially since my budget is pretty low

>>21120147
The shipping will about double the price but its still a good deal seemingly. I'm still waiting on my order so I can't say whether those cakes are any good

>>21120147
They're a large warehouse outfit who appears to do a fuckload of wholesale. Seems like they're set up to make buying a shopload of samples very easy, then you'd deal with them over email. Make sure to grab some $4 2013 xiaguan brick. Other sites have it younger for $15.
http://www.pu-erhtea.com/TeaDetails.aspx?TeaID=796
https://crimsonlotustea.com/products/2019-xiaguan-holy-flame-baoyan-sheng-raw-puerh-tea

bros you guys are really tempting me with these awazon orders...
$6.99 for a whole cake is insane if it's actually good.

>>21120177
I have a low budget but it's not like I drink a ton... it usually comes in waves. I definitely can't do a whole tong though and I should try smaller samples of better stuff, maybe off of YS

>>21120184
Heres the order I was putting together a few weeks ago but my cart reset and I was too lazy to remake it. I'm a big fan of the xiaguan. I've got probably 7 bricks of various years left and want to stockpile more.

>>21120187
Oh someone else also rec'd this when I posted. Good price for the age iirc.
http://www.pu-erhtea.com/TeaDetails.aspx?TeaID=1051

>>21120184
I realize that I have enough 357g cakes from fullchea (some good some bad) so I might as well do something a little different. I'm looking to end at about 100 bucks total if anyone has some more suggestions

It's interesting that awazon changes shipping price by item, certain items are cheaper to ship than others, and they stack.
Do they send the order in multiple packages? Or is it the shipping to arrive at the main warehouse, if it has one

>>21120222
It's purely by total weight I believe
>>21120177
They have some good stuff, lots of meh and some really lousy stuff so caveat emptor. There's a lot of stuff nobodys tried and reported back on

>>21120077
>I guess this is why it's "raw" and "ripe", it's like buying yellow or green bananas.
I think sheng is "raw" because the chinks call shou "cooked".
>>21120177
>$6.99 for a whole cake is insane if it's actually good.
If it was any good they would be able to sell it for more than $0.02/g. For $7 though, fuck it, might as well try it. I've paid a lot more for 25g samples that I didn't end up liking.

>>21107518
>anon's order once came with book lice on one of the cakes
what's the best thing to do in this case? I guess it shouldn't be surprising to find bugs in closed tongs that have just been sitting in a warehouse for years, but I'd rather not start an infestation in my house desu

>>21120475
I vac sealed and froze the cakes for like two weeks in a chest freezer. Can't tell you how effective it was, still saw a few for a while after that. Old tea autist forum knowledge just said brush them off and pay them no mind.

>>21120475
Ancient chinese secret: Do not buy anything from a chinese man who has no liability

>>21120514
hmm I see, i do have a vac sealer so I could do the same if I find any
>>21120540
kek but what if the chinese man is offering white tea cakes for $7 each

puerbros, how do you brew your young sheng? for months I've been basically just doing flash brews, pouring in the same spot every time (on the rim of the gaiwan) because I'm scared of it getting super bitter. Towards the end when it's actually getting weaker I'll start adding a couple seconds and hitting the leaves more directly. However, I just watched a farmerleaf video where William does everything pretty much opposite (see picrel). I'm gonna try this way tomorrow and see if I've been messing up my tea this whole time lol. But how do you anons do it? short->long, long->short, circle pour, same spot pour?

video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIsS1iNIFeE

>>21120754
If it's a strong one that gets really bitter then I flash steep until the flavor starts to fade then I start increasing the time.
If it's not strong/bitter then I start with 5-10sec and go from there.
I always just pour in the middle of the gaiwan.
>scared of it getting super bitter
Even if it does get unpalatably bitter, just dump that brew and don't brew it so long next time. You won't learn the tea's limits unless you push them a bit.

>>21120184
>>21120187
didn't an anon just get his order of a lot of awazon stuff not long ago? I remember it included the lao cha tou. maybe he'll review it

>>21120754
I always thought pouring on the rim was a meme, I just pour in the middle
as for time, it depends on the tea. I just do a flash rinse, then a longer first brew, much shorter 2nd and 3rd brew, then make them longer again as the tea weakens

>>21120808
I'll add that because I rinse with a flash, the first brew will often be even longer for me to get it to open up

>>21120754
>you HAVE to pour the water in this specific way!
Dork

2008 Xiaguan Happy Tuo
Mouthwatering aroma of savory barbeque and fruit
Taste is similar, but more tannic wood. Some tartness and a hint of bitterness, but less than in many other tuos.

Glad I bought another one of these, such a great daily drinker. Nothing too deep or complex, but the smoke flavor is integrated in the best way and the tuo tastes well aged and totally ready to drink

if I pick leaves off a plant and boil them immediately, what type of tea is that?
Is it green tea?

>>21119236
Minor local one
>>21119495
It does have a location name but knowing it's from the largest tea plantation in the country doesn't really help me kek

>>21120955
looks nice, my cheap ass glass gaiwan burns my fingers and the knob on the lid isnt solid so it catches a little tea and again burns my fingers

>>21120987
I still don't know if I want a glass or a porcelain gaiwan (or gaiwan-like teapot), but this one doesn't seem to have any apparent flaws, I might order it.
https://aliexpress.com/item/1005005236604626.html

>>21120222
>20$ shipping for 100g of tea
Think this will even out with other sites anyway because of the shipping cost, unless it contains VAT but the site doesn't say anything about that

Might send an email asking

To the german that ordered and got it sent back, looks like they don't ship there now.

>>21121056
you sure you're picking the cheapest option? it was more like 15$ for 500 grams when I ordered, same rates as KingTeaMall pretty much

it did not contain VAT and also, they didn't lower the package value, so I had to pay full VAT. it might be the only Chinese store I bought from that didn't lower package value, I think maybe Fullchea also didn't do it

>>21121068
My country only has express available

>>21121056
>>21121075
that sucks, my country is also express only but it starts at $8 shipping, I can get 1.5kg of tea for $20 shipping

>>21121068
>buy from fullchea
>order total is 30$ + shipping and tax ~12$
>on the package they declared the value at 18$

What is the point of this? Can they pocket some of the tax i pay or are they "protecting" me from potential customs tax.

>>21121146
they are protecting you from customs tax. it works too for many countries, I only have to pay like 5$ VAT for most of my orders. last time a 70$ FarmerLeaf order only cost me like 2$ VAT lol

>>21120882
It seems like they only made that one in 2008 which is a bit sad. Gotta pick up a stack or two of those fuckers at some point

>>21121319
I'm liking it more than the Chengtai Yiwu 2005 cake so far. That one is very aged tasting and maybe a bit bland, though very smooth

It's been nearly one year since my last Awazon order, and here are my thoughts:
The black and white were both pleasant, but boring. Excellent choices if you're poor, but pointless if you're not. I've had way better teas for only a little more money.
The sheng had the nice pu'er mouthfeel, but almost no flavour. I definitely agree that milk or butter drinks is all it's good for.
I haven't had much of the shou, since I have many others to get through first, but it tasted like every other budget shou, so I'm happy with it.
For my next order, I really look forward getting more interesting teas, rather than cheap ones.

>>21121152
Guess i should order from places that don't have me pay VAT upfront

>>21120754
>30s rinse
What? But anyway, just do short steeps.
Too bitter? Shorten the time.
Too weak? More leaves/increase time.
It's that simple, don't fall for some special meme way.

I never buy that shit, because unflavoured tea simply tastes better, but my mum gave me a bunch of flavoured tea for christmas, and drinking them is really [spoiler]fun[/spoiler].

>>21121342
They have a few more interesting picks like that 2002 ripe tuo

Which cheap whites did you like more?

>>21114083
In my experience, gunpowder is incredibly forgiving, so you can use anything from 70C to boiling, depending on preference. Brew-time will vary depending, of course.

>>21117661
>and some kind of extra porcelain or whatever where your hands touch it (like the first pic) otherwise you will get burned when pouring.
git gud

>>21121442
meant for >>21121404

I'll get off my lazy arse and do some awazon reviews
Will do another batch later

> 2010 Awazon "Nahan Ancient Tea" Organic Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake
Nice tea. It's 15 years old but I'd believe you if you told me 5. Classic semi aged taste, still some lively mouthfeel I associate with young raw, and some smoke. A bit burly but the age has rounded the harder edges. I've ended up liking this style of tea quite a lot, I'll enjoy the cake.

> 2012 Superfine Grade (Teji) Loose Pu-erh Tea
Smells good, no pile or storage smell, doughy and dark, sweet. Nothing atypical but appears to be well made. If you like your heavier factory ripes this will be ok. For me I just got it out of curiosity for the quality of the loose ripe. It's ok.

> Yunnan Quality Black Tea Songzhen Pine Needle One Bud Two Leaves (pic)
From all their black teas I picked this one just because I thought the material looked neat. Dry leaf smells really nice. Pinchy, tannic smell on the wet leaf. The brew is nice, no distinctive notes, a little too sharp with tannins for my taste but that's not a huge deal. I would not buy this one, but if you wanna buy an awazon black tea, I would say they're likely to be pretty good standard chinese black tea. I would also say you should just buy that xiaguan dian hong box instead, it's better.

>>21121442
>>21121477
Annoyingly, ones from local retailers, both online and physical, not something I can get reliably. It's out there, at least.

white2tea's Green Hype is pretty darn good. It's been one I've been reaching for most mornings if I need a sheng. Checking the price, it's a little more than I wish it was but it's still solid.

>>21121641
any comparisons to other sheng? would be useful to compare it to other popular offerings like Snoozefest or Fa Zhan He. or cspuerh Zodiac, as that's also a punchy blend from what I hear

This shit is really fucking good

>>21121819
>sold out on .us
REEEE
I'll have to settle for this yunnan black tea. It's breddy good.

>>21113951
Thanks for the input, I'll have a look at them.
>ancient tree tea from fullchea
Based on my experience with them (not bad but no better than their low prices would suggest) there's 0% chance that's from an ancient tree.

Unfortunately ordered just a little too late to get my awazon shipped before the 2nd of feb.
I'm also getting a cheap gaiwan off of amazon so I can brew that way instead of about 5-6g to 20oz at 90-100C for 5 mins
the 2nd order I didn't really like anything except the mini cakes wrapped in foil
The silver needle was definitely worth re-ordering

>>21122408
I ordered my stuff at the start of the year and the tracking hasn't updated for weeks so I'm not sure it getting in before the deadline really matters. Shit isn't getting shipped either way

>yunnansourcing reports the value of the package without discounts
I fucking hate customs VAT

The liquid proust black friday tea grab bag I ordered came in. Not really sure what to expect with it. The one labled "Andrews secrets" smells very smokey. I would have preferred less samples of a larger weight instead of more at less weight. Regardless I am excited to give them a try. I think I will try one of the ripes tomorrow, havent decided as to which yet. I'm curious to see how the two misty peaks teas compare.

>>21122972
I love the gay hormone themed ziplocks. don't forget to shave your Misty Peaks afterwards.

>>21122990
glad i'm not the only one. got a box of something unrelated in that style last week and that connection was my first thought. made me chuckle

>>21121489
Some further awazon stuff
> 2024 Ripe Pu-erh Tea Lao Cha Tou (Ripe Pu-erh Tea Block)
I don't drink a ton of these, but seems like pretty good lao cha tou. Nice fruity smell. Like you'd expect it brews up slow in a gaiwan but it's a plus for grandpa style. Taste is well-rounded, better vs the "teji" one. Nice and practical, to avoid floaty bits in my cup.

>Orange Pu-erh Tea (pic)
http://pu-erhtea.com/TeaDetails.aspx?TeaID=911
First time I tried one. It was a little surprising just how much dried orange smell is on the tea, and in the cup. You can't taste the details of the tea that much, it's like sipping on a potpourri with tea in the background. I wasn't expecting to like this really but turns out I think it's pretty nice. There's no obvious production or storage flaws.

> 2002 "Six Famous Tea Mountain" 6FTM Ripe Pu-erh Tea Tuocha 100g
I haven't had a tea quite like it before. Woody, a little smoke. It brews almost like a raw. I guess this is pretty lightly fermented. Tastes like attic beams. The first time I brewed it like a ripe which isn't a great idea, now I'm brewing it properly I'm liking it quite a bit.

>>21123346
>It brews almost like a raw. I guess this is pretty lightly fermented. Tastes like attic beams.
yep, it has a lot of that old furniture / attic smell. I also got a bit of smoke. quite an interesting ripe

these lao cha tou sound like a good deal, they are very cheap. I like that fruitiness in ripe

>>21123346
>The first time I brewed it like a ripe which isn't a great idea, now I'm brewing it properly
The rentry FAQ states that raw and ripe brewing is almost identical, just 4 degrees difference in water temperature.

Uhh, what gives? Are there other secret different things you're supposed to do to raw puer?

>>21123679
>Are there other secret different things you're supposed to do to raw puer?
You can simply be a lot more careless with ripe, as it does not get bitter. For raw pu-erh you have to watch the steeping time more, if it oversteeps it can get pretty nasty.
I always use boiling water for both.

That being said, I thought that 2002 Tuo tasted well brewed like ripe too, it was just heavy on the bitter chocolate notes. Like cigarette-flavored dark chocolate milk.

>>21123692
>Like cigarette-flavored dark chocolate milk.
I'm perversely intrigued.

>>21123692
>>21123737
welp

>>21123679
Rentry guide is a good place to start but over time you'll intuit some preferences I guess.
I tend to use a lot more leaf for ripe and longer brew times. And I use water off the boil for both.

>>21123741
Sad, I could've seen myself picking up a couple more.

>>21121674
It's balanced, I'll say that. There's old material and new material. Doesn't swing far in any direction. I haven't had Snoozefest and I'm kicking myself for skipping it twice now. It's not really similar to Fa Zhan He which is pretty distinct and young. There is the slightest, tiniest hint of smokiness that reminds me of the way young Xiaguan shengs have it, but much weaker. It's hard to place exactly where it sits. It isn't too punchy either. Relatively mellow, but not so much that it's gentle.
>>21123346
>a little surprising just how much dried orange smell is on the tea
>You can't taste the details of the tea that much
>like sipping on a potpourri with tea in the background
You nailed it. If you get one stuffed with a nice woody ripe, like what KTM has, that flavor tends to outlast anything else and if you really wring out the tea for what it's worth, those chen pi notes subside and the woody ripe stands out in a defiant last stand. It ends up being more dynamic than you might expect. Good note about storage. I'll pick up some in my upcoming Awazon purchase.

My Aunt gave my Dad and I some tea and she gave one particularly large 4 inch by 4 inch teabag of some mix of peach tea. How much water and for how long am I supposed to steep this? I really don't want to let it go to waste

>>21123993
Weigh it and compare it with a normal tea recipe.

>>21123993
probably doesn't matter

>>21123888
>I haven't had Snoozefest and I'm kicking myself for skipping it twice now
don't kick yourself over it, it's just a decent sheng blend at a cheap price. good value, but not really better than Fa Zhan He on sale

>Floating leaves jin xuan winter harvest
This doesn't taste like anything, or I use 8g and blow the lid off my gaiwan. 212f.

Only good in a mug and it'll go fast. How is it so weak?

Been really enjoying my matcha set, two scoops seems to be the better one for me but I've tried four. I guess I'm just not doing a good job whisking as there's still a bit of sludge at the bottom. I usually just pour a little extra water from the kettle in there to down the dregs.
I'm not a big caffeine guy but I'm not really feeling it from a cup like some people are saying. I still enjoy the taste so it's not wasted but once I run out of my current stock I probably won't be rushing to get some more until next winter because I admit jts nice to have a cup of something nice and hot to savor with a unique flavor that doesn't have an extended brew time and is good to drink by the time I'm done whisking.