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[thcsquad]

I was at a mall and needed something to drink, so while I wouldn't buy looseleaf tea for home from Teavana, I did pick up an iced mate (Caribbean something) for walking around the mall. I'd never tried a mate before, and this convinced me I needed to start. Though I still don't know what a straight mate tastes like, as this had some slight fruit flavors which worked really well. I'll need to pick up some mate the next time I'm at the tea shop.

I also figured out where I can keep my tea. We had these unused glass jars from Ikea:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/images/products/rajtan-spice-jar__19625_PE104932_S4.jpg

I know light isn't supposed to reach the tea, but I keep it in the cupboard so the light shouldn't be an issue. I think I need more, though, or something else in addition to them. The green matcha takes up two and a half of them by itself (200g bag). So I either need to buy some bigger ones or just stick to buying in smaller quantities (which I usually do anyway).

 

[upandaway]

Finally had the chance to go to that store. The dude was awesome so I tried some things and went with "Earl Grey Finest", "Earl Grey Darjeeling" and Chai. My dad picked some loose-leaf tea bags (they're all huge and puffy), dunno what's in them. ~15 dollars for 20 tea bags, what the hell.

So I tried one of the bags, but my mom was impatient and DEMOLISHED that bag by ramming it with a spoon, so I reverted to the "Earl Grey Finest" (in a tea pot).

And, yeah. Well, yeah. I love this. That definitely tastes better. I could use some less particles in the cup but they all sink to the bottom anyway.

I need to buy some cinnamon sticks, I used to love putting those in my tea.

(edit: they also gave me 10 grams of some new blend they have, it has a crazy smell. gonna try it later)

 

[pax217]

Russian Czar (Russian Earl Grey + Earl Grey Cream + Frothed Milk):

Tried, but don't have anything to froth the milk with so I tried a few different ideas... nevertheless didn't get it right. Will probably try again this afternoon.

 

[thcsquad]

Does anybody have any experience with matcha (Japanese green tea powder)? It seems weird to actually mix it in and drink the entire tea leaf. Thinking of trying it soon.

 

[D23]

sipping on a hot green tea right now, while browsing gaf

 

[morningbus]

I'm glad someone bumped the thread! I'll try posting a bit more regularily showing some of the weirder stuff from my collection.

Does anybody have any experience with matcha (Japanese green tea powder)? It seems weird to actually mix it in and drink the entire tea leaf. Thinking of trying it soon.

It can be a little weird. To properly emulsify the tea and water, you'll need a matcha whisk (about $15, but I've also had success using a hand-held milk frother, too). Otherwise the suspended leaf will just sink to the bottom of the cup.

It's also great iced, too. Definitely worth trying.

 

[sasimirobot]

Finally got a proper whisk, scoop, and bamboo sleeve set for my "matcha".

Only cost 9$ and makes a big difference in the quality of green tea, and also helps cool it down. It now looks
like this and tastes as lovely as it looks.

Highly recommended!

 

[pax217]

Finally got a proper whisk, scoop, and bamboo sleeve set for my "matcha".

Brand/set name? Where's the best place to buy?

 

[sasimirobot]

I'm in China so I can't help you there...
A search for "tea whisk" on amazon.com turns up quite a few

 

[morningbus]

Mighty Leaf; 20% off Loose Tea and Iced Tea. Extra 15% off by signing up for their email newsletter. Free shipping on orders over $75.

Kind of a ridiculous free shipping threshold, if you ask me. But I do enjoy their tea when at an independent coffee shop.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

I bought some loose leaf green tea in Mexico while I was visiting, and just tried my first cup. It has a pleasant enough taste, but the aftertaste is seriously bath water. I didn't even know that was a taste, but it is. Whatever though. I still drank it all.

It's funny how all the teas being sold in Mexican markets have signs above them listing all of the ailments they cure. There's usually about 10-15 for each tea. I told them I couldn't believe how lucky I was to finally find a tea that cured diabetes, several types of cancer, and depression! My gf told me to shut up.

 

[mt1200]

Holy shit.

I wanted to taste "real" non-bagged green tea, but it's expensive as hell.

I don't know how the prices are for you gaf but 8 dollars for 50 grams seems like a scam to me.

 

[sasimirobot]

Holy shit.

I wanted to taste "real" non-bagged green tea, but it's expensive as hell.

I don't know how the prices are for you gaf but 8 dollars for 50 grams seems like a scam to me.

If you are talking about the powder, I paid around 15$ for 35grams. It has lasted over a month, it is super concentrated you don't need that much.

 

[thcsquad]

Holy shit.

I wanted to taste "real" non-bagged green tea, but it's expensive as hell.

I don't know how the prices are for you gaf but 8 dollars for 50 grams seems like a scam to me.

Make sure you only use what is necessary. If you use a teaspoon per cup like you're supposed to, that 50 grams will last you for a while. Maybe 25 cups? 33 cents per cup is not bad.

8 bucks is right about in the middle of what I pay for Tealuxe tea. Their bottom tier is $5.50 per 50 grams, and their middle tier is $11. I've haven't yet bought anything from their higher tier.

Mighty Leaf; 20% off Loose Tea and Iced Tea. Extra 15% off by signing up for their email newsletter. Free shipping on orders over $75.

Kind of a ridiculous free shipping threshold, if you ask me. But I do enjoy their tea when at an independent coffee shop.

I might have to try that! I've been looking for a good tea to make iced. Have you had any of their iced teas enough to make a recommendation?

 

[Ostinatto]

i usually drink 4 cups per day

i'm addicted to this brand

http://www.whittard.co.uk/

ohh yeah... caramel tea

 

[TheExodu5]

I need to start buying proper tea. I get tea bags (chai tea, pumpkin spice, etc..), and they're really acidic. I need something better.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

So I'm down to the last 2 tins of the tea sampler present I received:

I looked online and I couldn't find any brewing times/temps for them. Could anyone help me out?

 

[X05]

Nice to see a few mate mentions
Sad that most of them were about cold mate (I don't like tereré D: )

I drink 1L of this every morning

Spoiler

and afternoon

 

[Winnie the Pimp]

i've been drinking like 2 or 3 cups of green organic Sencha extra fine japanese loose leaf tea (pre-Fukushima of course) for a while now and it's AWESOME! It actually benefits your teeth in a huge way as it remineralizes them or something, they feel super smooth since i drink it, i love the taste as well, too bad i gotta reduce the number of cups since it kinda makes my gastritis a little worse it seems hmm, anyway highly recommended!

Make sure you only let it sit for max. 2 minutes though, else the taste goes to waste imo

 

[kathode]

Finally got a proper whisk, scoop, and bamboo sleeve set for my "matcha".

Only cost 9$ and makes a big difference in the quality of green tea, and also helps cool it down. It now looks
like this and tastes as lovely as it looks.

Highly recommended!

Looks awesome. Why did you put matcha in quotes?

 

[Train of Midnight]

Just tried Jasmine Green tea for the first time. Blech. Tastes like perfume.

 

[TheExodu5]

Ordered a few kinds of teas from http://samovarlife.com/

Anyone ever try it?

This blood orange tea looked too good: http://shop.samovarlife.com/Blood-Orange-Pu-erh-Tea-p/0502blor.htm

 

[nakedsushi]

Just tried Jasmine Green tea for the first time. Blech. Tastes like perfume.

Yeah, jasmine scent in teas is really off-putting to me too. Go for regular green tea minus the jasmine. Tastes MUCH better. Use cooler water so it doesn't get bitter. Or if it's too hot to drink hot tea, you can cold-brew it:

A bunch of leaves in cold water, store in fridge for 24 hours, strain out the leaves, drink, profit.

 

[Train of Midnight]

I prefer to just brew my iced tea over ice, or brew it normally and then leave it in the fridge for a while. Cold brewed tea is too weak for me, plus I worry that you don't get the same amount of antioxidants/theanine/goodstuff if it's not heated.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

Blasphemy! Jasmine green tea is the beverage of kings.

 

[Train of Midnight]

Blasphemy! Jasmine green tea is the beverage of princess tea parties.

FTFY

In other news I just got some Strawberry Black tea from The Ceylon Pearl that is honestly the most delicious flavored black tea I've ever had. Smells like Strawberry Pez.

This blood orange tea looked too good: http://shop.samovarlife.com/Blood-Orange-Pu-erh-Tea-p/0502blor.htm

I've never had pu-erh. Lemme know how it is!

 

[cozo]

|OTea|

 

[leroidys]

Just tried Jasmine Green tea for the first time. Blech. Tastes like perfume.

I used to love Jasmine but I got a tin of it that was so horrible I can't even drink it any more.

There is definitely a VAST range of quality with jasmine (and all tea in general, but bad jasmine is really, realy bad).

FTFY

In other news I just got some Strawberry Black tea from The Ceylon Pearl that is honestly the most delicious flavored black tea I've ever had. Smells like Strawberry Pez.

One of the few things I Miss about Russia. All kinds of fantastic Strawberry, Raspberry, & other lightly flavored teas.

 

[TheExodu5]

Well I ordered some Jasmine Grean Tea from Samovar as well. Also got some Chai Tea and some Bai Mu Dan White Tea.

I'm pretty much new to loose leaf brewing...only really had tea bags up until now.

I moved onto fresh, locally roasted coffee last year so I figured I'd step up my tea game as well. I find the tea bags undrinkable now, so hopefully I like what I ordered.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

Peasants, the lot of you.

I was reading about mate and how it has been linked to increased cancer incidence, and I found this interesting:

Other studies have highlighted limited evidence showing an association between esophageal cancer and hot mate drinking. Some research has suggested that this effect is almost entirely a consequence of hot mate's temperature; similar links to cancer have been found for tea and other beverages generally consumed at high temperatures. While drinking mate at very hot temperatures is considered as "probably carcinogenic to humans" on the IARC Group 2A carcinogens list, mate itself is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans.

It makes a bit of sense after learning about "promoters" in my entry-level biology of cancer class. I'm guessing that when you drink really hot beverages, it sears off the top cells lining your esophagus, which your body then has to repair. Anything that makes your body constantly have to repair itself is a promoter, because it promotes cell growth. Increased cell growth rate means increased risk of cancer. So you might want to wait a little longer before you take a sip of that hot tea sitting in front of you right now.

Spoiler

This is all complete speculation and I'm not a medical student, so I could be way off.

 

[Train of Midnight]

I need a new Oolong. The last stuff I had was from Zealong, and it was fucking amazing, but their prices went way up and now I need to look elsewhere.

That Pure Zealong... I still have dreams about it

 

[morningbus]

Ordered a few kinds of teas from http://samovarlife.com/

Anyone ever try it?

This blood orange tea looked too good: http://shop.samovarlife.com/Blood-Orange-Pu-erh-Tea-p/0502blor.htm

I've ordered from Samovar in the past. Very high quality tea, but very expensive.

Peasants, the lot of you.

I was reading about mate and how it has been linked to increased cancer incidence, and I found this interesting:

It makes a bit of sense after learning about "promoters" in my entry-level biology of cancer class. I'm guessing that when you drink really hot beverages, it sears off the top cells lining your esophagus, which your body then has to repair. Anything that makes your body constantly have to repair itself is a promoter, because it promotes cell growth. Increased cell growth means increased risk of cancer.

Spoiler

This is all complete speculation and I'm not a medical student, so I could be way off.

I'm not convinced by any studies showing a link between mate and cancer. The ones I've seen didn't really account for outside factors, like chewing/smoking tobacco. The worst reports have always had mate consumed at high temperatures, but the rates line up almost exactly with consuming hot coffee, tea, and even plain water. I've even seen reports saying that the risk of cancer decreases with lower temperature mate.

Basically, it's all over the board at worst and no worse than anything similar at best.

 

[nakedsushi]

Ordered a few kinds of teas from http://samovarlife.com/

Anyone ever try it?

This blood orange tea looked too good: http://shop.samovarlife.com/Blood-Orange-Pu-erh-Tea-p/0502blor.htm

Ugh...orange pu-erh sounds awful. Regular aged pu-erh is pretty good but can be a acquired taste. Someone says it tastes like a barnyard. I think it tastes pretty pleasant and reminds me of the wet leaves smell of a forest after it rains. I've had some foul pu-erh that tasted like scummy pond-water. So YMMV.

I don't really understand the whole thing with fruit-flavored teas. If you want strawberry flavored tea, why not just drink strawberry juice? For me, tea has such a distinct flavor on its own, it's kind of a waste to disguise it with flavorings.

That said, I do have a particular fondness for non-tea-leaf type teas like roasted barley tea, soba tea, chrysanthemum tea, rose tea, etc. Especially in the evenings when I want to sip something and relax.

 

[Train of Midnight]

THIS JUST IN: EVERYTHING CAUSES CANCER AND EVERYTHING ELSE WILL REDUCE YOUR RISK OF CANCER

-That is all-

 

[Head of Vengarl]

I haven't been able to enjoy oolong yet. It just tastes... off to me. The rest of the teas in my sampler tins are great so it can't be a quality issue. Eh... I'll try it again soon. With honey.

I'm not convinced by any studies showing a link between mate and cancer. The ones I've seen didn't really account for outside factors, like chewing/smoking tobacco. The worst reports have always had mate consumed at high temperatures, but the rates line up almost exactly with consuming hot coffee, tea, and even plain water. I've even seen reports saying that the risk of cancer decreases with lower temperature mate.

Basically, it's all over the board at worst and no worse than anything similar at best.

Yeah, I'm guessing it'll come down to it being an issue of the temperature and nothing more.

 

[upandaway]

Peasants, the lot of you.

I was reading about mate and how it has been linked to increased cancer incidence, and I found this interesting:



It makes a bit of sense after learning about "promoters" in my entry-level biology of cancer class. I'm guessing that when you drink really hot beverages, it sears off the top cells lining your esophagus, which your body then has to repair. Anything that makes your body constantly have to repair itself is a promoter, because it promotes cell growth. Increased cell growth rate means increased risk of cancer. So you might want to wait a little longer before you take a sip of that hot tea sitting in front of you right now.

Spoiler

This is all complete speculation and I'm not a medical student, so I could be way off.

What's considered "high temperature" in this context?

 

[GBONZZZZ]

I don't drink tea, but I'd like to mention that this thread title is fantastic.

Bravo.

 

[thcsquad]

What's considered "high temperature" in this context?

I doubt anybody has a real value as it's all speculative right now. But I'm probably safe because I'm a huge wuss with hot beverages and wait longer than most people to drink. I find the high temperature effect kind of masks the flavor a bit too, so all signs point to 'continue to drink tea at the same temperature I already am'.

 

[M-PG71C]

Tea? Hell yeah, got it covered bitches.

Nah, seriously, I just started drinking hot teas and holy crap, are they far better than coffee. This thread is going to guide me to tea nirvana before too long. Good work OP!

 

[morningbus]

What's considered "high temperature" in this context?

Usually, from the studies I've seen, very close to boiling.

 

[bob page]

Busted open the holy grail of my tea collection yesterday:

 

[X05]

Peasants, the lot of you.

I was reading about mate and how it has been linked to increased cancer incidence, and I found this interesting:

It makes a bit of sense after learning about "promoters" in my entry-level biology of cancer class. I'm guessing that when you drink really hot beverages, it sears off the top cells lining your esophagus, which your body then has to repair. Anything that makes your body constantly have to repair itself is a promoter, because it promotes cell growth. Increased cell growth rate means increased risk of cancer. So you might want to wait a little longer before you take a sip of that hot tea sitting in front of you right now.

Spoiler

This is all complete speculation and I'm not a medical student, so I could be way off.

Just saying, if this were true, Uruguay wouldn't exist any more

 

[thcsquad]

Usually, from the studies I've seen, very close to boiling.

Do people actually drink anything that hot? That's genuinely surprising.

 

[morningbus]

Busted open the holy grail of my tea collection yesterday:

Aww yeah. I'm still working my way through some of their breakfast tea a friend brought back from France a while back. Great stuff.

Just saying, if this were true, Uruguay wouldn't exist any more

Yeah, the fact that for many of these studies to hold water, an almost necessary increase in cancer rates in South American countries would need to be demonstrated is pretty telling.

Do people actually drink anything that hot? That's genuinely surprising.

I was pretty surprised when I found that out too. I had a friend in the restaurant industry tell me that some people can't enjoy their coffee unless they get that burning sensation on the roof of their mouths. It's crazy.

 

[cousins]

Busted open the holy grail of my tea collection yesterday:

where can I buy this online?

Edit: Nvm, I found it here

Is ~$35 a good deal? But, I'm not ever sure if they ship to the US, anyway.

 

[Devolution]

This tea is a life saver when I have throat issues.

 

[bob page]

where can I buy this online?

Edit: Nvm, I found it here

Is ~$35 a good deal? But, I'm not ever sure if they ship to the US, anyway.

It's really high-grade matcha so if you're looking to try matcha for your first time, I'd go with something more basic (like something from Matcha Source or Teavana). My girlfriend got it for me from France, so I'm sure it's probably expensive to import.

 

[thcsquad]

My pickups for the weekend.

Haven't actually tried either of them yet, but when I do I'll update. I generally only buy 25 grams at a time (hence why the bags look almost empty) so I can end up trying more flavors. This will be my first mate other than the iced one I tried a few weeks ago. I bought Tealuxe's Mocha Nut Mate for my mom a couple of months ago and she remarked that it tastes very much like coffee. I might have to try that next, but I wanted my first bag of Mate to be as basic/standard as possible.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

Just saying, if this were true, Uruguay wouldn't exist any more

Haha, good point.

I was pretty surprised when I found that out too. I had a friend in the restaurant industry tell me that some people can't enjoy their coffee unless they get that burning sensation on the roof of their mouths. It's crazy.

Wtf. That is insane. I can't stand it when I burn my mouth on hot drinks and then my tongue gets that weird rough/fuzzy feeling for the rest of the day.

 

[Train of Midnight]

Wtf. That is insane. I can't stand it when I burn my mouth on hot drinks and then my tongue gets that weird rough/fuzzy feeling for the rest of the day.

Worst of the worst