Who likes tea? I like tea.

[Nungali]

21 minutes ago, kevin_wallbridge said:

 

There is a trick from Chinese Gongfu Cha. When the bubbles are as big as crab eyes the water is 70 degrees (good for lighter teas: green, white, fragrant wulongs, etc.). When the bubbles are the size of fish eyes the water is 90 degrees (good for more robust teas: reds, pu'er, etc.).

 

I like this   ^  ( I was hunting a cooking themometer today )  but  ......  Is that a Chinese crab or an Alaskan crab ?

 

and the fish eyes .... errrmmmm

 

 

- yeah, they are fish .

[C T]

11 hours ago, anshino23 said:

 

Yes. There's lots of cheap and mid-priced puerh and oolongs that taste great! But they're not the same as the high priced and special teas you can get with special connections... It is the same with herbs. There are masters and lineages that access specific herbs that are treated and cared for in a very special way and are used medicinally and are increibdly expensive and unable to be found unless you have the direct or right connections.

 

Unfortunately just the way it is. 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed it  

 

Absolutely! I was just concerned in case you were being misled. Guess the worry was unjustified.  

That was my retirement fund converted to what I hope is a good tea investment, hence the enjoyment of that particular tea remains solely in the realm of fantasy only lol. 

[SirPalomides]

9 hours ago, Nungali said:

 

I like this   ^  ( I was hunting a cooking themometer today )  but  ......  Is that a Chinese crab or an Alaskan crab ?

 

and the fish eyes .... errrmmmm

 

 

- yeah, they are fish .

 

 

Crabs can be tricky too

 

[Nungali]

 

 

 

 

 

I better not get too off topic . To return to it , I make you all a nice cup of crab tea

 

 

 

[ilumairen]

 

On 6/1/2020 at 1:08 PM, daojones said:

I think the next issue with Jasmine tea is the water temp. I know theres an ideal temp and I don't have a thermometer for my kettle. Which is probably the 3rd issue. I think boiling water in a pot is really the best, and then having it boiled on gas or fire even better. I've also tried different cup materials and that has affected the taste as well. Still unsure what the best cup material is.

 

There is a tea shop in town here, and they give notes on temperature and time for each and every tea purchase there. Personally I have a preference for the citrus or fruit infused varieties, and I love a good chai.

 

But back to the point this short article gives a wonderfully simple solution to the question of how to make jasmine tea with water which is at an appropriate temperature without a thermometer. Perhaps you will find it useful.

 

https://www.letsdrinktea.com/types-of-tea/green-tea/jasmine-tea/

 

 

[Rara]

On 01/06/2020 at 6:22 PM, daojones said:

I'm not a fan of pu'er tea, which is very popular in high end tea drinkers.

 

Heresy! Hehe.

 

Pu'er is one of my favourites. I can also obtain green darjeling leaves from one merchant in Leeds which is very tasty. I was astounded, because for me, black darjeling is overrated but if you ever get a chance to get your hands on the green one, it is VERY tasty.

[Rara]

I had a white tea called "snow dragon" once but it was so expensive to import that my guy stopped selling it. It was from somewhere in China, not entirely sure where exactly now, it's been years.

[Rara]

On 01/06/2020 at 6:37 PM, Mithras said:

Thanks for the guides and source to get tea from. Definitely will check out adagio.com and start experimenting

 

Though, on a side note, for people who aren't big fans of caffeine; should we be messing with this stuff?

Edit: I suppose so. didn't know there were non caffeinated teas, I'll try them out.

 

You can try green tea, boil water and pour into first cup/pot.

 

After 10 seconds, pour the water away. This will take out a lot of the caffeine.

 

Then pour in water around 70-80°C for drinking

[Rara]

On 02/06/2020 at 6:46 PM, C T said:

 I paid $15k before for 3kg of a rare-ish Pu'er many years ago. Its value have gone up a bit since.  

Gets a bit ridiculous after a while, but enthusiasts and collectors here call it 'investment'. 

 

Yeah man. In fact, I think I still have some of my "high end" pu'er from over a year ago. I buy this stuff sparingly like someone would a bottle of champagne.

[C T]

1 hour ago, Rara said:

 

Yeah man. In fact, I think I still have some of my "high end" pu'er from over a year ago. I buy this stuff sparingly like someone would a bottle of champagne.

A true connoisseur 🍾👍😉

[Vajra Fist]

On 02/06/2020 at 7:44 PM, silent thunder said:

Gynostemma is one of my all time favorites.

Body and Awareness both respond so beautifully to it.

Cascade effect of lovely awesomeness.

 

Came here to see if anyone had mentioned jiaogulan, wasn't disappointed. This tea is absolutely magical.

 

I fell in love with it through Ron Teeguarden's Spring Dragon Longevity tea but its very expensive (at least in the UK) because he infuses it with other herbs too (schizandra, and a few others). I use the one from Na'vi organics on Amazon. Its more bitter but it still feels like a warm bath. 

Edited June 7, 2020 by Vajra Fist

[daojones]

@Vajra Fist Jiaogulan the poor man's ginseng

I've drank my fair share of Jiaogulan in Thailand, and I never found it to be so appealing. To me, it has a taste that is similar to this green super food...I think spirulina? Anyhow its very healthy tea, I just couldn't get into it.

The spring dragon mix looks like quite the tonic!

[Vajra Fist]

6 minutes ago, daojones said:

@Vajra Fist Jiaogulan the poor man's ginseng

I've drank my fair share of Jiaogulan in Thailand, and I never found it to be so appealing. To me, it has a taste that is similar to this green super food...I think spirulina? Anyhow its very healthy tea, I just couldn't get into it.

The spring dragon mix looks like quite the tonic!

 

Yeah jiaogulan can be quite bitter in its raw form. The spring dragon tea is amazing, the mellowness without the aftertaste. It also has a berry-like flavour too. Ron specialises in tonic herbs, its not tea but he also does a brilliant green powder called Tonic Alchemy which is just sublime 

Edited June 7, 2020 by Vajra Fist

[daojones]

Will check those out when I need a tonic!

@RaraThe green darjeeling sounds very interesting. Would love to try - where do you recommend looking for this?

[CCD]

I'd like to like tea, but every tea I try always just tastes like bitter, dirty water to me.

[Rara]

11 hours ago, daojones said:

Will check those out when I need a tonic!

@RaraThe green darjeeling sounds very interesting. Would love to try - where do you recommend looking for this?

 

This is the thing, mine comes from a market in the North of England, 20 miles from where I live. Maybe try having a search online? You can always DM me whatever you find, if you find it at all, and I can double check it for you.

[Rara]

3 hours ago, CCD said:

I'd like to like tea, but every tea I try always just tastes like bitter, dirty water to me.

 

Which ones have to tried? Usually bitter tastes come from bags (red teas, aka black teas in the west) because they are lower quality. If I know, I might be able to give a few suggestions

[CCD]

7 hours ago, Rara said:

 

Which ones have to tried? Usually bitter tastes come from bags (red teas, aka black teas in the west) because they are lower quality. If I know, I might be able to give a few suggestions

You're right that I've only tried bagged, but I've tried a variety, including green tea. Basically all of the assorted Bigelow tea packets at work I've given a try at least once. I have the same problem with coffee all tasting terrible, but everyone just tells me to add tons of cream & sugar until I stop hating it, which I really feel defeats the point.

[daojones]

@CCD You are right that putting lots of cream and sugar defeats the purpose. The reason they recommend that is because bigelow is Pißwasser. Of course you'd need to crowd out the taste of garbage in order for it to be palatable.

[SirPalomides]

I think the Western way of drinking tea with milk and sugar has its own merits, but yes, the tea they are working with is not high quality and is not meant to be enjoyed that way. I like how Russians add jam to their tea.

[Nungali]

The hippy cup of tea  ( I hate this ! ) ;

 

" Would you like a cup of tea ?"

 

"  Yes please . "

 

" We only have Earl Gray tea, is that alright ?"

 

" Ugh ! Well, if that's all you have . Do you have any milk ?"

 

" We have  some  soy milk ."

 

" Sugar ?"

 

' We have some honey . "

 

    another friggin  cup of Earl Gray tea with soy and honey .... bleeee yerk!

 

Now I just say "No thanks"  as 95% of the time its going to be a t-bag  ... double  bleeee yerk!   Faint taste of tea over ridden by the taste of  processed tissue paper .

 

Sign outside tea shop in the local city ;  ' If your friends make you tea with a tea bag  - get new friends .'

[Nungali]

I was going to suggest that t-bag tea is made from the tea factory floor sweepings .

 

That is, until I found out where they store the good tea  before packaging ;

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2020 by Nungali

[CCD]

8 hours ago, daojones said:

@CCD You are right that putting lots of cream and sugar defeats the purpose. The reason they recommend that is because bigelow is Pißwasser. Of course you'd need to crowd out the taste of garbage in order for it to be palatable.

Most of that post was actually about coffee, but I guess it still applies.

[daojones]

I hate early grey. Sorry Picard.

[Limahong]

On 6/2/2020 at 1:08 AM, daojones said:

• Who likes tea? I like tea.

 

Hi daojones,

 

I also like tea... when I was born... we were colonized as British Subjects.

 

Here's to tea... for two... at least...

 

 

Stay healthy.

 

- Anand