-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Tea |OT| Oh, tea.
- Thread starter morningbus
- Start date
- Status
Arsenic Yellow
Member
Pu'erh teas are great for digestion. I bought a large collectible can of the weight loss tea the skinny from David's tea (oolong and pu'erh) and its really helped my digestion. I plan on buying a large tin of Mandala's Loose and Lucsious Lancang this in a few months
morningbus
Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
I really like Harney's Earl Grey Supreme.
Arsenic Yellow
Member
Quoted for the new page!
Participants so far:
1.Arsenic Yellow
2. morningbus
3.Egnirys
4.thcsquad
5. robertm
more people need to sign up!!
Thats right guys! Its a tea swap!
After a wonderful turnout during the anniversary contest. Morningbus and I thought it would be an awesome idea to have a tea swap and I've decided to run it! This will allow us to give teas to people who would normally not have the chance to buy, whether they wouldve never thought to buy it or just havent experienced many teas. This is also a wonderful chance to interact with each other members of Tea Gaf. Dont be scared if youre new to tea and feel like you dont know enough about teas, you can always browse Steepster and see what sort of reviews the teas have.
A few rules apply:
1. The deadline to sign up is Friday, May 17th.
2. I will pm you on Sunday, May 19th with your tea pair
3. Pm your tea buddy and swap addresses, if you prefer, you can pm me and Ill pm your partner with your address.
3.You MUST mail your tea care package by May 31st.
Its not required, but it would be nice if everyone told us what tea/teas they got as a swap as well as a review of their teas.
There is no specific price range, but please try to strive for at least one tin or bag of at least 50 grams (2oz) of loose tea. No bagged tea!
How to register:
If youd like to participate, please post in this format:
Username:
Country of residence:
Your favorite teas:
Favorite flavors:
Things you dislike, allergies, cant tolerate:
Where you buy your teas from:
Additional Notes:
I really hope we have a good turnout! Although this is the first one with no particular theme, if this goes well, it would be awesome to have seasonal tea swaps (summer teas/winter teas). Maybe Im getting a little ahead of myself, but this event just seems so fun!
Anyways Ill go first:
Username: Arsenic Yellow
State/Country of residence:Massachusetts, USA
Your favorite teas:I love all tea types, but my favorites are Almond Rooibus, Peach Rooibus, Orange Rooibus, and Coconut Oolong. Honeydew Mate from Davids tea is becomming a new favorite as well.
Favorite flavors:I love nutty Fruity and creamy flavors.
Things you dislike, allergies, cant tolerate:chocolate, Lavendar, coacoa and coffee
Where you buy your teas from: Tealuxe, Metropolitan Tea Company and Davids Tea
Additional Notes: Im seriously up for anything. I love unique blends. One tea type I havent tried is Puerh, but Im nervous because Ive heard that it typically smells a little fishy which doesnt sound so pleasant considering Im a vegetarian. Whenever Im out in Boston, I usually buy at least 50-250 grams of teas, so my tea collection is fairly large, but its pretty much entirely from Tealuxe and Davids Tea.
I also want to add, you don't have to buy JUST tea, if you want, you can include additional tea goodies as well. Some examples: Honey sticks, cute teacup, measuring spoon, mate gourd, bombillas, etc.
Edit: I'd also like to add that this is for full tea tins, not just samples of your own tea. Example: I love sencha from tealuxe and my partner has never tried it before. Instead of giving my tea partner a baggy of sencha. I'll go to tealuxe and buy them a small tin. of course that doesn't mean I can't include samples with my package. I'm not saying to go all out and give crazy amounts of tea, but a small tin would be nice
Participants so far:
1.Arsenic Yellow
2. morningbus
3.Egnirys
4.thcsquad
5. robertm
more people need to sign up!!
Thanks I will try these.
Arsenic Yellow
Member
I also meant add, the large collectible can is pricey, but you are getting $30 worth of tea for 19.99. Not too bad.
morningbus
Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
Well, time to start building my starship:
Starbucks Adds Teavana to List of K-cup Brands:
Teavana tea from a k-cup machine. I didn't know this layer of hell existed.
Starbucks Adds Teavana to List of K-cup Brands:
Teavana tea from a k-cup machine. I didn't know this layer of hell existed.
Arsenic Yellow
Member
God I hate Starbucks/teavana. I have two teas from them, bought them a year ago. I'm so tempted to just throw them out at this point. The teas are fine but I hate the company an it's policies.
StarCreator
Member
Oh, I guess I should actually sign up for this tea swap thing, though I'm afraid of not sending enough tea D:
Username: StarCreator
State/Country of residence: Maryland, USA
Your favorite teas: I pretty much drink green teas exclusively - Jasmine green tea being my solid favorite - though I haven't met a whole leaf tea I didn't like.
Favorite flavors: I suppose since I like Jasmine I tend to like flowery flavors?
Things you dislike, allergies, cant tolerate: No allergies I know of but I'm not big on teas from powders and lattes are completely out. I generally drink all teas unsweetened unless iced.
Where you buy your teas from: I buy exclusively from TenRen these days but a lot of tea I drink are random teas gifted to my parents.
Additional Notes: It probably won't come as a surprise that my partner will be receiving Jasmine green tea. I'll make sure it's a higher grade than I usually buy though!
I know Teavana was bad news before the buyout but Starbucks is pretty damn good to their employees I thought and the buyout could only improve things on the Teavana end. Is there something else wrong with them?
Username: StarCreator
State/Country of residence: Maryland, USA
Your favorite teas: I pretty much drink green teas exclusively - Jasmine green tea being my solid favorite - though I haven't met a whole leaf tea I didn't like.
Favorite flavors: I suppose since I like Jasmine I tend to like flowery flavors?
Things you dislike, allergies, cant tolerate: No allergies I know of but I'm not big on teas from powders and lattes are completely out. I generally drink all teas unsweetened unless iced.
Where you buy your teas from: I buy exclusively from TenRen these days but a lot of tea I drink are random teas gifted to my parents.
Additional Notes: It probably won't come as a surprise that my partner will be receiving Jasmine green tea. I'll make sure it's a higher grade than I usually buy though!
I know Teavana was bad news before the buyout but Starbucks is pretty damn good to their employees I thought and the buyout could only improve things on the Teavana end. Is there something else wrong with them?
morningbus
Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
I personally don't mind Starbucks too much, but there can be a lot of animosity due to the Walmart effect (they move in and close smaller, often better competition).
I'll also say that their Tazo line of teas aren't that bad either, for what they are.
I'll also say that their Tazo line of teas aren't that bad either, for what they are.
So I've been using the Breville Tea Maker daily for about a month and decided to clean it with baking soda and water as recommended by the instruction manual. I've cleaned it extensively with warm water afterwards and boiled 2 pots of water with it, but it keeps bubbling ever since. Is this related to the baking soda (presumably) and is it bad for the machine? It's sounds like a fizzing noise and it surprised me at first. If it is related to the baking soda is there a way to clean it further so it doesn't fizz? It's really off putting and makes me worried. Anyone in this thread have any advice or suggestions?
Arsenic Yellow
Member
Sorry Marcus I can't help you I had work yesterday in South market/ Faneuil hall and brought my brand new timilino tumbler for my commute. Sadly it was was lost or stolen on my way home. By the time I got into my car, I was in tears. Anyways, I go to David's the today to purchase a new one, while being rung up I casually mention to them what happened and they gave it to me for free. I was so shocked. God I love David's tea .
Also tried two of their summer teas this week, coconut grove and mango madness. Coconut grove was amazing, ended up pickin up a tins worth. Their mango madness was a little weak. Next week I'll pick up mint julep and pink passion fruit, both smell amazing.
I had work yesterday in South market/ Faneuil hall and brought my brand new timilino tumbler for my commute. Sadly it was was lost or stolen on my way home. By the time I got into my car, I was in tears. Anyways, I go to David's the today to purchase a new one, while being rung up I casually mention to them what happened and they gave it to me for free. I was so shocked. God I love David's tea . Also tried two of their summer teas this week, coconut grove and mango madness. Coconut grove was amazing, ended up pickin up a tins worth. Their mango madness was a little weak. Next week I'll pick up mint julep and pink passion fruit, both smell amazing.
morningbus
Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
Try using some white vinegar. It should get rid of any residual baking soda (via chemical reaction).
Sorry Marcus I can't help you
Also tried two of their summer teas this week, coconut grove and mango madness. Coconut grove was amazing, ended up pickin up a tins worth. Their mango madness was a little weak. Next week I'll pick up mint julep and pink passion fruit, both smell amazing.
This is why DavidsTea needs to win in the imaginary war in my head with Teavana.
Sorry Marcus I can't help you
Also tried two of their summer teas this week, coconut grove and mango madness. Coconut grove was amazing, ended up pickin up a tins worth. Their mango madness was a little weak. Next week I'll pick up mint julep and pink passion fruit, both smell amazing.
Oh my god, thank you for sharing this story. I actually lost mine too yesterday when I was in class. We had a quiz and needed to put our things away and under our seats. I don't know where it ended up, but when I got home from class and realized it wasn't in my bag I almost cried. I was going to make a trip to the nearest store to buy another one and to pick up some tea.
morningbus
Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
Dunno man, I was reppin' this stuff all the way back in 2010 in the old tea thread:
I finally got my order of Guayusa from Runa in and have prepared a few cups already.
"What is guayusa? I just heard about yerba mate, man!"
Son, guayusa is the Ecuadorian cousin of yerba mate and it is actually one of the rarer teas out there. In fact, I've only found one company currently up and running that sells the stuff.
"You're not my dad. Anyway, what does it taste like?"
Surprisingly, it taste like a mixture of a few strong herbs and vegetables. It is actually really hard to figure out what it is similar to and it barely resembles the taste of yerba mate. I'm still getting a feel for the tea, but overall I'm pretty positive about it.
Funny how much stuff has changed in three years. I can find guayusa at my local grocery store now!
morningbus
Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
Okay, so I did the suggestion above regarding the marks on my Breville tea maker. The marks seemingly disappeared instantly, but after washing it with water the fizzing and bubbling still happens. It has a slight smell after boiling too. What the fuck...?
I did a clean cycle and recorded it so you guys know what I'm talking about. I'll post it after it gets processed on YouTube. If I remember correctly it's just past the store return period so I'd have to deal with Breville if I can't fix it on my own.
Here are some pictures. The first is of the marks, and the second is the bubbles that happen before it even gets that hot. Once it gets hot it's a lot worse.
I did a clean cycle and recorded it so you guys know what I'm talking about. I'll post it after it gets processed on YouTube. If I remember correctly it's just past the store return period so I'd have to deal with Breville if I can't fix it on my own.
Here are some pictures. The first is of the marks, and the second is the bubbles that happen before it even gets that hot. Once it gets hot it's a lot worse.
Arsenic Yellow
Member
David's tea has guayusa
it's been on my wish list from them, but I have too many other seasonal teas to get first.http://www.davidstea.com/organic-guayusa?&TF=A3D8A15D878C&DEID=Edit: ended up picking up 2oz and a tin. Can't wait to try it.
Here's the YouTube video I uploaded of the issue. It's not really all that bad until the last quarter of the video. It was bubbling like crazy. I mean it obviously bubbled before the cleaning but it never used to bubble THAT much, nor have that much audible noise.
Arsenic Yellow
Member
Just a reminder that tomorrow is the last day to sign you or the tea swap. I've extended the deadline a little bit due To being extremely busy with work. Monday morning ill pm you your tea partner and their info. It's up to you guys to exchange addresses via pm
blame space
Banned
I can't stop drinking this tea! AHHHHH
Username: RobertM
Country of residence: US of A
Your favorite teas: I love me some matcha green tea. Coconut oolong is up there for me in terms of richness in flavor.
Favorite flavors: fruity teas, nutty teas, rooibos
Things you dislike, allergies, cant tolerate: don't really like sweet teas too much (ie David's Tea birthday cake)
Where you buy your teas from: Tealuxe, Davids Tea, Georgia tea company
Additional Notes: I try to avoid black tea (strong bitter ones) due to my gastritis
Country of residence: US of A
Your favorite teas: I love me some matcha green tea. Coconut oolong is up there for me in terms of richness in flavor.
Favorite flavors: fruity teas, nutty teas, rooibos
Things you dislike, allergies, cant tolerate: don't really like sweet teas too much (ie David's Tea birthday cake)
Where you buy your teas from: Tealuxe, Davids Tea, Georgia tea company
Additional Notes: I try to avoid black tea (strong bitter ones) due to my gastritis
Arsenic Yellow
Member
I pmed everyone their tea partners i can't wait to post what each of us got!
Also, I picked up a Steeper from Davids tea this weekend. They have a promotion right now that if you buy a steeper from them,you get a card that gets you 15% off every 4oz purchase of loose tea until labor day. Bought the larger size and am completely in love with it. I was originally looking at their new ice tea dispenser, priced at $60. i thought it would be a beautiful piece to add to our brand new apartment. The manager at washington street location in Boston showed me the Steeper instead, which was priced at $24. It's made ice tea so simple, put double the amount of tea, half the amount of water and fill your cup to the top with ice, instant iced tea. It's great with hot tea, super easy cleanup and the dispenser on the bottom seems to work better than adagio's version of this. You just sit the steeper on top of your cup and the tea is dispensed from the bottom.
i can't wait to post what each of us got!Also, I picked up a Steeper from Davids tea this weekend. They have a promotion right now that if you buy a steeper from them,you get a card that gets you 15% off every 4oz purchase of loose tea until labor day. Bought the larger size and am completely in love with it. I was originally looking at their new ice tea dispenser, priced at $60. i thought it would be a beautiful piece to add to our brand new apartment. The manager at washington street location in Boston showed me the Steeper instead, which was priced at $24. It's made ice tea so simple, put double the amount of tea, half the amount of water and fill your cup to the top with ice, instant iced tea. It's great with hot tea, super easy cleanup and the dispenser on the bottom seems to work better than adagio's version of this. You just sit the steeper on top of your cup and the tea is dispensed from the bottom.
Going for my first proper afternoon tea later this week, at The Wolseley in London. Supposed to be really good without being stuffy about dress codes and things like that. Anyone been there? Is it good?
Tried the Savoy hotel first, but they were fully booked the next 8 weeks. But they were twice as expensive as The Wolseley, so I'm not very disappointed.
Tried the Savoy hotel first, but they were fully booked the next 8 weeks. But they were twice as expensive as The Wolseley, so I'm not very disappointed.
morningbus
Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
Well, looks like we've been moved to community! Make sure you and the ones you love are subscribed!
Oooh snap I forgot about this.
Username: BlueSteel
Country of residence: USA
Your favorite teas: Oolong
Favorite flavors: Fruity teas, but not tart ones
Things you dislike, allergies, can’t tolerate: Meh on white teas
Where you buy your teas from: Adagios, DavidsTea, some other stuff in Chicago
Additional Notes: Surprise me!
EDIT: LOL I missed it. FUARK.
Username: BlueSteel
Country of residence: USA
Your favorite teas: Oolong
Favorite flavors: Fruity teas, but not tart ones
Things you dislike, allergies, can’t tolerate: Meh on white teas
Where you buy your teas from: Adagios, DavidsTea, some other stuff in Chicago
Additional Notes: Surprise me!
EDIT: LOL I missed it. FUARK.
JusTea is having an Indiegogo Drive to raise money to teach Kenyan tea farmers to handpress their own leaves and sell them direct instead of making peanuts by selling them to middlemen.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/justea
You can give $10 and get a tea sampler, $25 and get a bunch more tea, etc. You can even adopt a tea bush for $500, or create a tea blend that they'll sell on their site for $1000.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/justea
You can give $10 and get a tea sampler, $25 and get a bunch more tea, etc. You can even adopt a tea bush for $500, or create a tea blend that they'll sell on their site for $1000.
Nice. Where'd you get the Kabusecha?
O-Cha
Really enjoying the tea. My only hangup would be that it doesn't stand up well to multiple infusions like other Japanese green teas I've tried.
We're in the middle of a heat wave in Boston (90-95 degree highs for the past few days), so it's time for iced tea! I cold brewed some English Breakfast overnight. Unsweetened, no nonsense, just some delicious, smooth, refreshing cold black tea. I wish I had a nicer container to showcase it in, but oh well:
Collete
Member
Jeeze I totally forgot to use the 25$ gift certificate I got from you, Morningbus, apologies.
I finally went to order the following from Adagio; can't wait!:
We'll see how all of them taste!
(I know thai chai is good though, I like it)
I finally went to order the following from Adagio; can't wait!:
- Irish Breakfast
- Earl Grey Moonlight
- Cream
- Peach Oolong
- 3 oz Thai Chai
- White Peach
- Dragonwell
We'll see how all of them taste!
(I know thai chai is good though, I like it)
virtuoso88
Member
Collete
Member
I just got my tea in, and first thing is first I tried the overhyped Cream tea.
It didn't really taste how I hoped and I'm starting to feel all the tea I make tastes like subtle hints of hot water.
Tea GAF, what am I doing wrong? Is the temperature not right? Do I need to steep the tea longer?
It didn't really taste how I hoped and I'm starting to feel all the tea I make tastes like subtle hints of hot water.
Tea GAF, what am I doing wrong? Is the temperature not right? Do I need to steep the tea longer?
morningbus
Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
Let's try to troubleshoot:
1) What are you brewing in? Make sure there is maximum exposure to the hot water. Regardless of the vessel, stir the tea once after pouring in the hot water and again halfway through brewing.
2) How hot is your water? For black tea, make sure it is just off the boil.
3) How long are you brewing? Black teas usually require 4 minutes, but 5 minutes is not uncommon. I even have some black teas that brew up to 7 minutes.
4) What is your source of water? Freshly pulled/aerated water is best.
1) What are you brewing in? Make sure there is maximum exposure to the hot water. Regardless of the vessel, stir the tea once after pouring in the hot water and again halfway through brewing.
2) How hot is your water? For black tea, make sure it is just off the boil.
3) How long are you brewing? Black teas usually require 4 minutes, but 5 minutes is not uncommon. I even have some black teas that brew up to 7 minutes.
4) What is your source of water? Freshly pulled/aerated water is best.
Collete
Member
1) I'm brewing in Adagio's stainless steel infuser. Maybe I should use a pot to steep the tea?
2) I'm pretty ghetto when it comes to my tea and use a microwave and put the cup of water in for a minute. What about green and herbal teas? what should I do for those?
3)I follow directions for each tea, so for this instance I brewed for 3 minutes for Cream tea. How long should I brew green and herbal teas?
4) It's from a fridge water dispenser...Was that OK? <_<
Hope you guys don't mind me butting in, but I figured it couldn't hurt to post my thoughts.
1) While there shouldn't be any issues with using a steel infuser, if you have access to a French press, I would highly suggest trying that. Also, you said: "I'm starting to feel all the tea I make tastes like subtle hints of hot water." This might come from using a infuser in a cup too large for it. In that situation the water in contact with the leaves will get infused, and the water outside of the infuser won't. Sure, it'll all mix together when you remove the infuser, but it still won't taste the same as if it were brewed in a French press, or traditional tea pot. (It's kind of like brewing a concentrated tea, then diluting it.)
2) I'm really not sure on that... I can't imagine it would have any effect on the tea, but I really don't know. Maybe try a kettle just to eliminate the possibility? I think the main reason microwaved water isn't usually recommended for tea is lack of accuracy in water temperature.
3) Following the suppliers directions is usually ok. For green teas, 2-3 minutes should be good (varies depending on your taste). For most herbal teas 5-7 minutes is fine (again, adjust based on your taste). You only really have to worry about green tea here; it's hard to ruin an herbal tea.
4) Should be fine. Pretty sure most fridges have a filter on them (only important if you have bad tap water), and the water will be fresh.
My suggestion would be to brew the tea in a glass vessel where all of the tea leaves are in contact with all of the water. Obviously something made specifically for tea would be best (a French press really would be great in this situation), but you can always use any glass cup and strain the tea if you have to. This is just to eliminate the possibility that the issue lies in your brewing vessel/infuser. If the vessel absorbs a lot of heat, you also might consider pre-heating it with some boiling water first.
The amount of water used when brewing is important too. Upton's instructions are all for the standard British method of brewing tea; so always 2g tea leaf, 6oz water, and temperature based on the tea you're brewing. If you used even 8oz of water, that could explain your tea tasting watery.
Hope that helps. If I missed anything, or if you have any questions, just let me know.
Collete
Member
Thank you for the in depth help. This helps explain why things work the way they do. Think it will help others along with me. But my instructions the amount of water always says a cup. I should reduce the amount?
Going to try that next time.
For now I have tried Cream not using the infuser. It's a very smooth black tea with after taste of subtle Cream. I would have this as my go to black tea but I might steep it less than 3 minutes to see what might happen.
Trying dragonwell at the moment and I know for a fact I steeped it too little, gonna try 3 minutes next time.
Oh. I thought you ordered from Upton, but I see now you ordered from Adagio. Sorry about that. Yeah, if they say a cup, that should be fine. Still, feel free to experiment with the leaf to water ratio if you like it better that way.
By the way, Adagio has a page on brewing tea, are those the instructions you were using? They recommend 3g of leaf for an 8oz cup of water.
morningbus
Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
Another bit of advice that's important: while increasing your brewing time will help if your tea is a little weak, it will only go so far before it becomes bitter. Instead, try using a little more tea. For herbal teas, I usually always double the amount suggested per 8oz cup.
Collete
Member
Yeah will do
No...I was actually just following package instructions...still I don't know how much 3g is per teaspoon in all honesty and I don't really have a scale of use..=\
Yeah......
I steeped Cream tea for 7 minutes and it was way too bitter, I think that works with some teas, you're right.
I'll try to use a little more tea next time I do Cream.
Ah didn't know it was OK to double on herbal teas...Wish I had more money to buy herbal teas now that I know that =(
morningbus
Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
I like my teas on the stronger side, but that's the beauty of loose leaf: you can tailor it to your tastes.
As for the amount to use in general, I suggest a "heaping teaspoon" over a "scant teaspoon." Heaping means basically whatever will comfortably fit on the teaspoon (keep in mind we're talking about a small spoon used for eating, not the measurement spoon used in cooking). Scant means that the tea has been "leveled" on the spoon.
Collete
Member
What?!
It's not the measurement spoon???
Wow that's something I did not know, gonna try that next time. Probably explains a lot lol
morningbus
Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
Yeah, that definitely explains a few things! Can't wait to hear your update.
Collete
Member
Ok well did the small spoon thing (it's slightly bigger than my teaspoon) and I think it's working.
Did White Peach just now and got faint taste and aroma of white peach but it's a very light tea. Probably should follow steep times in the OP <_<
Edit:Also read on Adagio that someone used tablespoons instead of teaspoons as recommended. I wonder if I should do that as well or it just varies by tea? (Think it's the latter)
To be honest, it's neither. Brew each tea the way you like it. Try tablespoons instead; if you like it better, continue to brew it that way. Just experiment until you find something you like.
VitalNerve
Member
I'm trying to get my dad into tea and want to ease him into it with some sweeter teas but don't know what would be good since there is like a million different flavors, it's quite overwhelming. He loves coffee, so I was thinking black tea considering there is a good amount of caffeine, what kind of black tea is a good start for someone new?
So we should post our reviews of the tea we got in the swap, right? I haven't seen any yet, so I don't know if there's an embargo or something so Arsenic can post it in a big update. If not, I'll post a mini-review (though I've only tried each tea once, maybe I should have some more before I review).
edit: Also, I ordered a $25 tin from JusTea last week. They're sending them out in August, I guess?
edit: Also, I ordered a $25 tin from JusTea last week. They're sending them out in August, I guess?
- Status