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    Tea!

    This is mostly a place to dump some of my thoughts on my favorite beverage. Of course, others are free to post as well and share the love. Let's start with several rookie mistakes a lot of people make
    1) Most teas do not do well with boiling water. a good rule of thumb is as follows
    black tea: 190F

    green teas
    Japanese sencha: 160F
    gyokuro: 140F
    genmaicha: 170-180F

    white teas
    silver needles: 190F
    white peony: 140F
    shoumei: 160-180F

    oolong teas:
    darker, more roasted oolongs: 195 to boiling
    high mountain oolongs: 180-190
    Oriental Beauty: 190

    pu erh
    raw pu erh: 190F
    ripe pu erh: boiling

    2) you don't actually need to go organic. in fact, organic labeling is of greatest benefit to mid-to-low quality producers who want something to command higher prices among gullible westerners. the best Chinese and Japanese teas sell out locally, so they don't have need to go through the expensive and bureaucratic process of getting organic labelling. additionally, the higher elevation of most quality tea plantations means that pesticides are unnecessary and traditional organic methods are being used anyway.

    3) you aren't using enough leaf. generally, for conventional ("western style") brewing, 1-2 tablespoons is the right amount. for traditional Chinese/Taiwanese brewing ("gong fu"), fill up a much smaller vessel about 1/4 to 1/2 full. this will yield a smoother, more flavorful brew which you can steep 5-10 times as opposed to 1-3 for western style.

    4) make sure you're buying from a supplier who physically goes to China, Japan, Taiwan, etc to scope out single-farm teas. As with point 2, the best tea producers have little incentive to reach out to American or European retailers or to larger bulk wholesalers. you need someone who goes to them.

    #2
    boba is trash, though sweet tea is pretty good.
    Apparently there's this type of tea specific to North China called "red tea"- was gifted a pack and it was h e a v e n l y
    Used to love jasmine tea (the Vietnamese one), now kinda hate it. IDK what happened. Probably had too much.
    Earl Grey has about a 50-50 chance depending on the brand to taste either like a chemical spill or a royal garden
    Bought this tea called "Yunnan" from the local asian mart... for some reason it tastes like turtle -_-
    Matcha is all around a decent tea, can't complain but can't say it excites my taste buds that much either
    I once made my own mix from white chrysanthemum and rose buds. Made for a great summer drink but I've forgotten the ratio T.T Think I'll try to make it again but add dandelion to it.
    "If you are God, and the delusion becomes reality,
    About what kind of the noids you get?
    Is it the sensual world? The despotic society?
    The destructive sanctions?
    Or..."

    -Chaos;Head title screen

    Comment


    • BalalaikaBoy
      BalalaikaBoy commented
      Editing a comment
      it's not specific to Northern China. "red tea" is the proper translation of what we call "black tea" because the color of the liquor is closer to the color of a garnet. on the other hand, hei cha refers to a broad category of teas that go through intense fermentation and literally translates to "black tea", which can be observed in the liquor. I recommend trying it at some point (if you've heard of pu erh, that's a subfamily within hei cha). they typically surprise westerners who have seldom tasted anything remotely similar, but if you acquire a taste for them, they can be quite addicting!

    #3
    actually, there is a lot to respond to here, some more points
    1) the tea that "tasted like a turtle" was likely a poorly fermented or stored example of the hei cha I mentioned above. you have to source good material or it can be high risk and end up tasting fishing or rotten. when you get it right, it should taste like fresh earth and smell like a wet cave during a spring rain.
    2) chrysanthemum and rose petals are relatively forgiving. re-discovering the ratio shouldn't be too difficult
    3) the market is FLOODED with cheap earl grey. personally I never acquired a taste for it, but if do get it, best to get it whole leaf from a supplier who also sells quality unscented teas.
    4) matcha is an experience rather than just a drink. you'll notice a difference is you get a quality variety and take a solid hour or so to enjoy it in stillness
    5) since you appear to go for sweet and floral overall, I'd suggest expanding to include more white teas. they're sweeter, less drying and less bitter, and, like rose and chrysanthemum, they're generally forgiving if you don't get the brew just right.

    Comment


    • vermilionplum
      vermilionplum commented
      Editing a comment
      Ooh thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely give them a whirl!
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