Tea |OT| Oh, tea.

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I thought the thread might appreciate the Onion's latest NSFW gem:

http://www.theonion.com/article/relaxing-tea-better-fucking-work-53948

In other tea news, I've actually worked on my Tea Acquisition Syndrome, and stopped myself from buying new tea while I still have other tea. I just drank my stash down this week (all I have is two Adagio Earl Grey individually wrapped samples, and some chamomile bags I bought when I was sick). But I finally get what I want; a new batch of tea, all of which is fresh at the same time.

The tea shop trip this weekend is going to be epic.
 
Does anyone know a good place to get individual cup tea strainers like this:

idealisk-tea-infuser-stainless-steel__18699_pe103854_s4.jpg


I used to get these dirt cheap ones from Ikea but all the ones I've bought lately have all been slightly bent and let all the leaves through.

Cheaper the better. UK btw.
 
octopiggy said:
Does anyone know a good place to get individual cup tea strainers like this:

idealisk-tea-infuser-stainless-steel__18699_pe103854_s4.jpg


I used to get these dirt cheap ones from Ikea but all the ones I've bought lately have all been slightly bent and let all the leaves through.

Cheaper the better. UK btw.
Click to expand...

they probably have this on amazon uk:

had good luck with this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002WB12WK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

and this

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003Y3B8T2/?tag=neogaf0e-20

because the one you had a picture of always had too wide a mesh and got bend like you said.
 
octopiggy said:
Does anyone know a good place to get individual cup tea strainers like this:
I used to get these dirt cheap ones from Ikea but all the ones I've bought lately have all been slightly bent and let all the leaves through.

Cheaper the better. UK btw.
Click to expand...

I got tired of these breaking and bending.
So now i use tea bags. Found a brand that doesn't have strings or heat sealing, it just folds on itself like a pillow case.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/112132271656
(This is just an example of the type of bag i am talking about, there are a bunch of sellers on bay.)
 
Putting tea in my coffee maker is my cheat code for life. I use six sticks of sassafras and two white tea bags for 12 cups of wonderful.
 
hmm, historically not a fan of coffee or those celestial seasoning blends, but I tried some black tea a month ago and now i'm addicted... i'm looking at french presses and bulk loose leaf amazon purchases online now. this is from someone who previously was 99% water in terms of intake... what has become of me. I guess i just needed an entry point that resonated.

might have to revisit the herbal blends down the road and see if I feel differently... but black tea + a splash of sugar is just... perfect. 🙌

helpful OT btw.
 
After drinking almost nothing but Earl Grey bags for years this OT convinced me to get some pricey loose leaf tea and a set of infusers. Kind of underwhelmed honestly. It's good. It's totally fine but it's more work and I'm not seeing a noticeable increase in quality. The biggest upside is the loose tea makes a better 2nd cup than a bag does.
 
I've found that I really like green teas I can get from sushi restaurants...they sort of have an earthy smell and taste with a tiny bit of sediment in it.

Is this a sencha or a gyokuro?
 
ColdPizza said:
I've found that I really like green teas I can get from sushi restaurants...they sort of have an earthy smell and taste with a tiny bit of sediment in it.

Is this a sencha or a gyokuro?
Click to expand...

Most likely some sort of sencha. Kinda hard to pinpoint with that description though. Japanese green tea in general has more of a grassy, earthy flavor as it's being steamed instead of roasted (well, as long as it isn't kamairicha). Gyokuro in general is really expensive though. I got 50g of some gyokuro that cost me like 25€s in my cupboard and that's far from being a top end gyokuro. Sencha is more of a daily drink while gyokuro the expensive, reserved for special occasions, tea. Most gyokuro is being served in very small cups in multiple infusions.
 
ColdPizza said:
I've found that I really like green teas I can get from sushi restaurants...they sort of have an earthy smell and taste with a tiny bit of sediment in it.

Is this a sencha or a gyokuro?
Click to expand...

How weird, I just spent like 2 minutes searching thru my sub history to find this thread so I could make a post about all the green tea I've been drinking lately and how it reminds me of the days when I could afford to eat at the sushi bar a few times a week.
 
I'm slowly making my way into the world of teas. Shortly after moving into an apartment with my wife I bought a stovetop kettle. I started out with Chamomile tea in an attempt to help me sleep and them moved into the Sleepytime Extra variety that Celestial Seasons makes.

I've also been drinking green tea and making iced green tea as an alternative to water in my continued attempt to ditch soda.

Eventually I'll pick up an infuser and try loose leaf teas.
 
Why is Earl Grey so good?

I've been drinking the stuff since childhood and it probably constitutes 90% of my bloodstream.

I had some kind if craft Earl Grey Ale the other day, very warming Earl Grey after-taste, bloody splendid.
 
ColdPizza said:
I've found that I really like green teas I can get from sushi restaurants...they sort of have an earthy smell and taste with a tiny bit of sediment in it.

Is this a sencha or a gyokuro?
Click to expand...

more often than not, sushi shops serve genmaicha (brown rice green tea) as their house tea. it's hard to fuck up and goes well with sushi.
 
Rektash said:
Most likely some sort of sencha. Kinda hard to pinpoint with that description though. Japanese green tea in general has more of a grassy, earthy flavor as it's being steamed instead of roasted (well, as long as it isn't kamairicha). Gyokuro in general is really expensive though. I got 50g of some gyokuro that cost me like 25€s in my cupboard and that's far from being a top end gyokuro. Sencha is more of a daily drink while gyokuro the expensive, reserved for special occasions, tea. Most gyokuro is being served in very small cups in multiple infusions.
Click to expand...

Looking for an every day drinker I guess. I'm just expressing the qualities I enjoy in green tea whenever I go out for sushi.
 
Been meaning to step up my tea game now that I'm trying to be healthier and bought an electric kettle on Amazon.

My first tea I want to try is matcha. I was wondering what do you guys prefer: thin, thick, or extra thick? Not sure which one to buy. What do you think tastes better?
 
Gee, thanks for the help TeaGAF! /s

Anyway, I bought both thin and extra thick and just tried my first bowl of thin matcha.

It was amazing. The fuck was I drinking before this... ?
 
Sorry for my line of posts here, this thread seems pretty dead. Is there a new one or something?

Anyway, the extra thick matcha I got from Harney and Sons was amazing, much better than the thin grade. However, it's also $50 for a small tin. https://www.harney.com/collections/matcha/products/unjonotomo-matcha-loose-30-g-tin

I usually have 4oz (half a cup) in the morning and another 4oz at night to equal 1 cup a day and each 4oz has two scoops of matcha with a chashaku so I use it up fairly quickly. (btw, is that too much matcha for 4oz?)

Anyone know a seller that has Matcha Unjonotomo for a little cheaper?
 
BizzyBum said:
Sorry for my line of posts here, this thread seems pretty dead. Is there a new one or something?

Anyway, the extra thick matcha I got from Harney and Sons was amazing, much better than the thin grade. However, it's also $50 for a small tin. https://www.harney.com/collections/matcha/products/unjonotomo-matcha-loose-30-g-tin

I usually have 4oz (half a cup) in the morning and another 4oz at night to equal 1 cup a day and each 4oz has two scoops of matcha with a chashaku so I use it up fairly quickly. (btw, is that too much matcha for 4oz?)

Anyone know a seller that has Matcha Unjonotomo for a little cheaper?
Click to expand...

Is it expensive for you to order from Japan?
I don't live in the US, so the shipping cost from japan is probably cheaper for me than from the US.
I have previously ordered green tea from:
http://www.hibiki-an.com/index.php
and
https://www.o-cha.com/
There are a few others as well.

For Chinese tea i order from dragonTeaHouse on ebay. I think he has Japanese as well, but i didn't really like the ones I ordered.
The Japanese shops ship very fresh tea during the harvest season, i suspect that the Japanese green tea from the Chinese seller might be older.
 
Okay, it's probably somewhere in this thread but I wouldn't know with all these pages.

I drink Tazo Passion tea from Target every work day along with just water. I enjoy it Hot and cold.

I also like black/green tea but ONLY hot. I can't stand once it starts to cool then it gets nasty.

Anyone have recommendation for Tasty tea that's good Hot and Cold? Beneficial?
 
Is there a guide for matcha?
I am not asking about good/bad, but about the taste.
I have picked 2, kinda randomly in Japan, and one of them (ippodo Ikuyo-no-mukashi) is quite strong, while the other (no idea what it is, picked up at the airport http://i.imgur.com/TL0MYuO.jpg ) has a sweetness to it that the ippodo one doesn't.
So, what should i bee looking at to figure out which to buy when i order online?

Edit:
Looks like the mystery is kind of solved. The bag matcha contains sugar.
Still, I see a few types of matcha from various places. Any guide to the differences? Anything like the difference between Assam and Darjeeling in black teas?
 
After drinking practically nothing but varieties green tea for the last six months I've decided to branch out into black tea. Picked up a Twinings variety pack as I wanted to try out the typical English Breakfast Tea as an alternative to coffee for morning caffeine.

F05320_1_Bags.png


Lady Grey is probably the best of the bunch.

I'll eventually make my way into oolong tea next.
 
There's a stash of Twinings in my parents' house, courtesy of my younger siblings, but I mostly get my tea from Adagio nowadays. Their Earl Grey Bella Luna just has me spellbound.
I really need to invest in an infuser mug or something, though. I've been using coffee filters and don't make enough tea in a sitting to justify my infuser teapot. It's about time I tried pu erh, too.
 
I tried a few Twinings teas and didn't like any of them.
From my experience so far looks like the french are good at making blends (palais des thes, kusmi tea - apparently founded by a Russian)
 
Damn, just found out about this thread. Subbed !

So it's perfect actually because maybe you girls and boys will be able to help me. I'm a tea lover and, always been and always trying to find ways to experience tea in better, optimal ways and as much as possible no matter where I go.

I saw a video on youtube a few times ago, an interview of Thierry Marx, the french chef (it's in french but if you have any knowledge of it, I recommended watching it it's super interesting). There's a part where he shows what he carries around in his satchel and he has this little "pot" with a beak, it is called a shiboridashi (which is part of the japanese ritual of drinking gyukuro, some of the finest, special green tea you can have). Anyway, before that I didn't know much about it but I thought that's atually a great idea to have one to carry around with you ! It allows to drink tea quite easily and I find the object itself to be a simple, beautiful to thing in and on itself. You can watch the part I'm talking about here : https://youtu.be/o58EEh4MFac?t=1395 The one he has is very shallow, which is exactly what I'm looking for (for carrying purposes, more practical) but seems to be the hardest to get.

Problem is if you don't live in Japan, it seems like mission impossible to get. I've been trying, looking around and except importing directly from pottery artisans there which sell crazy expansive, I've been out of luck.

I would really like to get one, so if any of you, especially EU GAFfers know a lil' some some about where to grabe one, I'm all ears.

Random dump of beautiful shiboridashi pics :

hokujo01b.jpg

hakusan006a.jpg

20150716_afbefa.jpg

Flying_Saucer.jpg

20150716_9df98d.jpg

20150716_7dee95.jpg
 
nitoo said:
Damn, just found out about this thread. Subbed !

So it's perfect actually because maybe you girls and boys will be able to help me. I'm a tea lover and, always been and always trying to find ways to experience tea in better, optimal ways and as much as possible no matter where I go.

I saw a video on youtube a few times ago, an interview of Thierry Marx, the french chef (it's in french but if you have any knowledge of it, I recommended watching it it's super interesting). There's a part where he shows what he carries around in his satchel and he has this little "pot" with a beak, it is called a shiboridashi (which is part of the japanese ritual of drinking gyukuro, some of the finest, special green tea you can have). Anyway, before that I didn't know much about it but I thought that's atually a great idea to have one to carry around with you ! It allows to drink tea quite easily and I find the object itself to be a simple, beautiful to thing in and on itself. You can watch the part I'm talking about here : https://youtu.be/o58EEh4MFac?t=1395 The one he has is very shallow, which is exactly what I'm looking for (for carrying purposes, more practical) but seems to be the hardest to get.

Problem is if you don't live in Japan, it seems like mission impossible to get. I've been trying, looking around and except importing directly from pottery artisans there which sell crazy expansive, I've been out of luck.

I would really like to get one, so if any of you, especially EU GAFfers know a lil' some some about where to grabe one, I'm all ears.

Random dump of beautiful shiboridashi pics :
Click to expand...

I know I'm replying a little late here... O-Cha has one that looks exactly what you're looking for. I've made many purchases on their site, always had great service. Here's the one I'm talking about: https://www.o-cha.com/mogake-shiboridash-teapot.html?category_id=57

Keep in mind, it's very small, only 80ml. Most Shiboridashi you'll find will be very small since Gyokuro is usually brewed in very small amounts. Sounds like the size might actually fit your purposes better though.

You could also keep an eye on Artistic Nippon's website. I don't see any shiboridashi on their site now, but they've had some incredible ones in the past. You'll pay more on their site, but it's worth it for the awesome quality of the pieces they sell.

Another option, if you're willing to go for something a little less elegant, would be a Chinese Gaiwan. I Just recently purchased this one myself, for brewing tea at work. It comes in a very small case, easy to carry. You can brew pretty much any type of tea in one (although if you're going mainly for Gyokuro then a Shiboridashi would be best).
 
Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on the Zojirushi hot water dispensers. From what I've seen they do everything I want for making hot water for tea, not having to boil water every time I want tea. Almost like a water Kurig I guess.

I was looking at a stainless steal one on Amazon. Thanks in advance!
 
Heero5 said:
Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on the Zojirushi hot water dispensers. From what I've seen they do everything I want for making hot water for tea, not having to boil water every time I want tea. Almost like a water Kurig I guess.

I was looking at a stainless steal one on Amazon. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

I used one for a few years. They're good for several people, and incredibly convenient, but kind of overkill if you're living by yourself. Keeping the water at 170 constantly adds a bit to your energy bill, especially if you opt for the cheaper one that isn't vacuum sealed. It also takes a few minutes to heat 4 litres of water when refilled, so if you refill it from empty you will be waiting several minutes for hot water.

I'd say it's easily the best if cost isn't an issue. Otherwise just get a variable temp electric kettle.
 
ameratsu said:
I used one for a few years. They're good for several people, and incredibly convenient, but kind of overkill if you're living by yourself. Keeping the water at 170 constantly adds a bit to your energy bill, especially if you opt for the cheaper one that isn't vacuum sealed. It also takes a few minutes to heat 4 litres of water when refilled, so if you refill it from empty you will be waiting several minutes for hot water.

I'd say it's easily the best if cost isn't an issue. Otherwise just get a variable temp electric kettle.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply! Is it safe to leave water in an electric kettle and reheat it throughout the day? I currently use a Nesco electric kettle, and while I like it a lot, refilling it 3 times a day can get a bit tedious.

Any recommendations on a quality kettle?

Thanks again.
 
Heero5 said:
Thanks for the reply! Is it safe to leave water in an electric kettle and reheat it throughout the day? I currently use a Nesco electric kettle, and while I like it a lot, refilling it 3 times a day can get a bit tedious.

Any recommendations on a quality kettle?

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

I can't imagine why it wouldn't be safe. I use this kettle and like it a lot.
 
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