What's steeping? A tea thread

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jedy617 said:
fruitier mellow white
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i have enjoyed hojo's DXS white teas. could try W29C/W35C, for example.

jedy617 said:
good Darjeeling
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https://www.thunderbolttea.com/
the only web store i know that gives consistently good dj tea. tons of disappointing (or even fake) dj out there.
ordering from him kinda sucks though. shipping takes forever, and the prices are high without a coupon. there are good coupons (like half off, lol), but if you want a specific tea of which there is low qty available, it's often sold out by then.
it's the only dj shop i still order from, but lately i have been getting trial batches from a different guy who lives there – tea processing consultant to some gardens, no web store. the tea has different character but also good.

jedy617 said:
green that isn't super grassy
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not 100% sure if i get what you mean by grassy. do you like japanese greens? i would probably not go hojo for those because imo his specialty is old fashioned style greens that don't get super fertilized and are relatively low in umami. more strong polyphenol kinda taste.
 
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sansho said:
i have enjoyed hojo's DXS white teas. could try W29C/W35C, for example.


https://www.thunderbolttea.com/
the only web store i know that gives consistently good dj tea. tons of disappointing (or even fake) dj out there.
ordering from him kinda sucks though. shipping takes forever, and the prices are high without a coupon. there are good coupons (like half off, lol), but if you want a specific tea of which there is low qty available, it's often sold out by then.
it's the only dj shop i still order from, but lately i have been getting trial batches from a different guy who lives there – tea processing consultant to some gardens, no web store. the tea has different character but also good.



not 100% sure if i get what you mean by grassy. do you like japanese greens? i would probably not go hojo for those because imo his specialty is old fashioned style greens that don't get super fertilized and are relatively low in umami. more strong polyphenol kinda taste.
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mmm I dont know some greens have a very like straw or hay taste, and are super vegetal in nature. I have had some senchas I like?
 
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Everyone shares brands of delicious teas and tips, but everything is wrong with me, I will not enrich this topic with a new brand of tea, I will just talk about my experience (I hope it will be useful), because I love tea very much and drink it all my life.
I usually drink 3-5 cups of strong tea a day, usually large-leaf black tea with a tart rich taste.
I drink both just black tea and with additives to it, I add mint leaves, lemon balm, thyme, dried wild strawberries, raspberry leaves, linden inflorescences, a cherry leaf plucked from a tree near the house🙂. I also make fermented tea from cherry leaf (pictured), raspberry leaf, and another local plant.
I choose black tea according to my taste, as it often happens when a tea manufacturer changes raw material suppliers, improves equipment, etc. as a result, the tea changes the taste and I have to look for a new tea again.
I am writing this post after a morning cup of tea 🙂. Yes, I also drink coffee, 3-5 cups a year🤣.
 

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I grew up drinking yerba mate and find it a great substitute for coffee, particularly in the summer. Brew a strong batch with a few peppermint leaves and melt some honey in, then pour over ice. I find it far more refreshing than iced coffee. It's hard to get good stuff locally so I usually make do with Guayaki or a few Amazon-ordered brands I've played with but I hate the carbon impact of ordering something consumable like that so often. Normally do coffee/espresso in the morning and mate in the afternoon so you don't have the gastronomic effects and it's a cleaner "up"

Tea Forte is my reasonably priced go-to for darjeeling and other stuff, I've avoided going too deep down the rabbit hole but there's an awesome tee house in Asheville, NC I always stop at to sober up mid brewery-hopping that really opened my eyes to the wider tea world.
 
Not a fan of green teas. I prefer single origin black tea from Kenya, Ceylon and Tanzania. The selection in Germany is, let's say, less than optimal so I buy in bulk when I visit the UK. Usually from this company

https://www.tea-and-coffee.com/
After Brexit they stopped shipping to the EU.
 
As an Englishman I am finding all this talk of strange coloured/flavoured teas and associated teapots slightly disturbing. ;)

Tea should be a propper builders tea, brewed in a mug (mines 1pt), milk (after not before) to taste, but I like only a dash. Bags should be Tetley/PG tips/Yorkshire, and none of this "Breakfast Tea" that they seem to server in hotels these days.

I do drink a lot of tea (to my Dental Hyginests disgust) A box like this one lasts me about a month.

Cheers
Nipsy

(Banana for scale, as it seems compulsory on the internet these days)
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A delicious green tea today when I was polishing; Gyukoro Okabe. A hint of corn, sweet and a touch of floral. Was damn delicious!
 

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nipsy said:
As an Englishman I am finding all this talk of strange coloured/flavoured teas and associated teapots slightly disturbing. ;)

Tea should be a propper builders tea, brewed in a mug (mines 1pt), milk (after not before) to taste, but I like only a dash. Bags should be Tetley/PG tips/Yorkshire, and none of this "Breakfast Tea" that they seem to server in hotels these days.

I do drink a lot of tea (to my Dental Hyginests disgust) A box like this one lasts me about a month.

Cheers
Nipsy

(Banana for scale, as it seems compulsory on the internet these days)
View attachment 259290
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After reading JK Rowling's detective novel series, which is a heavy immersion in all things British, I've been exploring the world of proper English tea, but I could not quite manage the supermarket bags. Instead I have been exploring blends which, Upton Tea Company assures me, were created by an actual Englishman.

Chatsford teapot, the best whole milk I can find, added after. 12 grams for a 16 oz mug's worth. After a long winnowing process, I have settled on these blends, which I make alternately:

Leadenhall Street
Bond Street
South Street
Richmond Park

Now I just need to schedule a visit, so I try a Gregg's sausage roll, and make it out to...ummm...some seaside community whose name begins with C, which I will have to look up in the books, for the best fish and chips. Also I have a longtime goal of trying steak and kidney pudding. A gentleman I met once said I would find the best one at a restaurant called The Engineer.
 
Rangen said:
After reading JK Rowling's detective novel series, which is a heavy immersion in all things British, I've been exploring the world of proper English tea, but I could not quite manage the supermarket bags. Instead I have been exploring blends which, Upton Tea Company assures me, were created by an actual Englishman.

Chatsford teapot, the best whole milk I can find, added after. 12 grams for a 16 oz mug's worth. After a long winnowing process, I have settled on these blends, which I make alternately:

Leadenhall Street
Bond Street
South Street
Richmond Park

Now I just need to schedule a visit, so I try a Gregg's sausage roll, and make it out to...ummm...some seaside community whose name begins with C, which I will have to look up in the books, for the best fish and chips. Also I have a longtime goal of trying steak and kidney pudding. A gentleman I met once said I would find the best one at a restaurant called The Engineer.
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Have we met? I'm sure I had a very similar conversation the other week.

You lot are really over thinking your tea! Teabag, cup, boiling water, mash, remove bag and add milk (any whole milk, doesn't need to be from an artisan dairy). We brits drink this stuff like Americans drink filter coffee. Unless it's a special occasion or at a hotel a teapot is left in the cupboard.

Not quite sure what the Americans have done to our national drink, but try this less poncy brew! Tetley USA | Classic Blend (100-count) | FAST 1-3 Day Delivery . Not quite sure why they are mentioning can be served hot or iced (Heathens!)


I'd avoid the greggs, they are cheap for a reason.

Assuming The Engineer is the one in Peckham, looks a bit posh for Steak and Kidney Pudding. It's a working mans comfort food. You want a decent London Cafe (not that I have eaten there, but somewhere like this REGENCY CAFE LONDON), or a rougher round the edges kinda pub. Sadly not an easy dish to find these days, to much work for the poor old kitchen staff. Steak and kidney pie is more common as its quicker to make and you can make one huge one and slice it up to order.

You are all keen cooks here (unless all those knives are just for display) If you have a spare 5 hours! try this :- Steak & kidney pudding recipe | BBC Good Food
If you fancy making English food, that website is a goldmine. Particularly check out the "Hairy Bikers" recipes.

Currently my favourite Fish and Chips are from here:- Alexander's Fish & Chips · 186 Stanpit, Christchurch BH23 3NE, United Kingdom
 
nipsy said:
Have we met? I'm sure I had a very similar conversation the other week.

You lot are really over thinking your tea! Teabag, cup, boiling water, mash, remove bag and add milk (any whole milk, doesn't need to be from an artisan dairy). We brits drink this stuff like Americans drink filter coffee. Unless it's a special occasion or at a hotel a teapot is left in the cupboard.

Not quite sure what the Americans have done to our national drink, but try this less poncy brew! Tetley USA | Classic Blend (100-count) | FAST 1-3 Day Delivery . Not quite sure why they are mentioning can be served hot or iced (Heathens!)


I'd avoid the greggs, they are cheap for a reason.

Assuming The Engineer is the one in Peckham, looks a bit posh for Steak and Kidney Pudding. It's a working mans comfort food. You want a decent London Cafe (not that I have eaten there, but somewhere like this REGENCY CAFE LONDON), or a rougher round the edges kinda pub. Sadly not an easy dish to find these days, to much work for the poor old kitchen staff. Steak and kidney pie is more common as its quicker to make and you can make one huge one and slice it up to order.

You are all keen cooks here (unless all those knives are just for display) If you have a spare 5 hours! try this :- Steak & kidney pudding recipe | BBC Good Food
If you fancy making English food, that website is a goldmine. Particularly check out the "Hairy Bikers" recipes.

Currently my favourite Fish and Chips are from here:- Alexander's Fish & Chips · 186 Stanpit, Christchurch BH23 3NE, United Kingdom
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Thanks for the great tips! I am hoping to do the visit next year.

It does not surprise me that The Engineer is a posh restaurant, because the fellow who recommended it to me was posh himself. I did start out wanting steak and kidney pie, but he assured me that I should really seek out the pudding instead. I actually had a frustrating trip to London, in pre-Internet days, where I was on a quest to find a steak and kidney pie, and could not find one, except a pathetic obviously-microwaved version that was at supermarket level. However, I did find Real Ale, and was very impressed.

That recipe looks very promising. Oddly, they don't say what type of kidneys to use. Is that just so well known that they don't need to specify? I'm used to pork kidneys, from Chinese cooking. Would those do, or should I seek out lamb?

Is the sausage roll a dish worth exploring? Where would I look? Gastropubs?
 
OK figure this might be the place to ask: haven't drunk tea for a while and feel like I want to start up again, but I need a new kettle. Any suggestions? Every one I see on Amazon seems to die rather quick (or have other stupid issues). Adjustable temp would be nice but not a hard requirement at this point.
 
It's harder to be a tea person in the U.S. Everything is designed for 110V x 15A, which is much less good than 220V x 10A. Same goes for irons.

One solution is the Zojirushi heater, which holds 3 or 4L of water at one of a set of three temperatures, selected for Green (175), Oolong (195), and Black (205) tea, respectively. It's great if you want to grab a cup anytime, and have your hot water waiting when you wake up.

There is the fancy, adjustable Fellow. Very precise about temperature selection. A bit slow. The water heats quickly to about 5 degrees below the target, then some sort of more-precise but slower part takes over, to bring it up to the exact setting. Bonus: it looks cool, and actually drew a compliment from my wife.

For a more conventional, non-adjustable kettle, my Royal 1.7L has held up well, much longer than the cheapies. Plus it's transparent so you can see the boiling, which is kind of fun.
 
The Fellow is more that I want to spend at the moment (although I do have to say it looks quite cool). Some of the 1-stat reviews on Amazon make me question thought.

Zojirushi looks like a nice idea, but I don't have a need to keep that much water warm.

There is a Cuisinart like the Fellow that I just might try.
 
esoo said:
OK figure this might be the place to ask: haven't drunk tea for a while and feel like I want to start up again, but I need a new kettle. Any suggestions? Every one I see on Amazon seems to die rather quick (or have other stupid issues). Adjustable temp would be nice but not a hard requirement at this point.
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America does not have kettles? Am I reading this right? How do you make instant coffee?
 
nipsy said:
America does not have kettles? Am I reading this right? How do you make instant coffee?
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Unfortunately due to the Great British Conspiracy, there is no more kettles on the North American continent - particularly in my kitchen. According to any review, they've been designed to self destruct exactly one hour after the warranty expires.

Coffee is disgusting. Why would I want to make it?
 
An American that doesn't drink coffee! You will be telling me you don't drive an SUV or own 20 guns next!

Try this, no moving parts, so can't go wrong!
 
nipsy said:
An American that doesn't drink coffee! You will be telling me you don't drive an SUV or own 20 guns next!
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As a Canadian I laugh at that. I don't drive a SUV (they're stupid for 99.9% of what I do) and I don't own a gun (I have no interest).

I did go to WalMart and buy a kettle today though.
 
Rangen said:
Thanks for the great tips! I am hoping to do the visit next year.

It does not surprise me that The Engineer is a posh restaurant, because the fellow who recommended it to me was posh himself. I did start out wanting steak and kidney pie, but he assured me that I should really seek out the pudding instead. I actually had a frustrating trip to London, in pre-Internet days, where I was on a quest to find a steak and kidney pie, and could not find one, except a pathetic obviously-microwaved version that was at supermarket level. However, I did find Real Ale, and was very impressed.

That recipe looks very promising. Oddly, they don't say what type of kidneys to use. Is that just so well known that they don't need to specify? I'm used to pork kidneys, from Chinese cooking. Would those do, or should I seek out lamb?

Is the sausage roll a dish worth exploring? Where would I look? Gastropubs?
Click to expand...
https://www.britsuperstore.com/usa/catalogsearch/result/?q=fray+bentos
yo could try one of these, not the same as a real one, but surprisingly good.

Personally not a fan of sausage rolls unless homemade, easy to make your self though. Sausage meat, and puff pastry. More a Cornish pasty person myself.
 
I want in!

Like @ethompson I come from a heavy coffee drinking background. Mind you, not good coffee, just coffee. For context, I've been in the field poured a pouch of instant coffee from my MRE into my mouth, swished it around with some water and swallowed it down. 😁

The past couple years I've cut way down and a few months back began exploring teas in the "Grocery-store-other-than-Lipton-or-Bigelow" category. I've stepped up a bit, probably more in cost and marketing than tea quality but ya know...

I received this for Christmas:
20231228_122543 1.jpg


Love it! I know it's probably still not approaching the experiences you all describe here but it is enough to push me over the line into wanting to get more serious.

Now, by that I don't mean dropping a bunch of coin but I do want to do things "right" in whatever way that seems best. I like the idea of a steeping pot but not necessary.

Talk to me like a child in small, easy to understand words. 😝

Where do I start???
 
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I've been drinking good loose leaf tea for about 15 years now, I'm still using a little mesh tea strainer on Amazon directly into a cup, and use a nice kettle. One day I should get a nice pot.

To add, recently I got this from what-cha and really enjoying it: Taiwan Four Seasons 'Red Pearl' Oolong Tea

Highly recommend what-cha by the way, been ordering from them for 6-7 years. Found the shop on Reddit long ago, and Alistair still includes a nice hand written note and a free sample on each order. I would recommend one of his mystery tea collections (Mystery Tea) and you get a bunch of different samples you can try out. Really fun way to dive deeper into the hobby and see what teas you enjoy
 
ethompson said:
I've long been an avid coffee drinker (usually 10-15 cups per day) and have recently gotten into tea. I figure there must be a few of y'all lurking around here.

For those of you who dabble in the world of oolong, loose leaf green, and pu'er, what are your recommendations? Who do you buy from? How do you brew? What are the best resources to learn more?

Some of my favorites so far are:
  • Sencha sedogawa - this one had a straight up grilled fish aroma... and I kinda loved it?
  • wild yabao
  • Ya Shi Xiang oolong
  • 2006 Dayi Laochatou pu'er
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About 6,110,000 results (0.33 seconds)





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They found that participants who consumed more than six cups of coffee each day had a 53-percent increased risk of dementia and smaller total brain volumes. Healthy adults are advised to limit their daily coffee intake to about four or five cups, which is roughly 400 milligrams of caffeine.Jul 23, 2021

New study finds drinking too much coffee can shrink ... - The Hill​

 
Logan said:
About 6,110,000 results (0.33 seconds)





​

They found that participants who consumed more than six cups of coffee each day had a 53-percent increased risk of dementia and smaller total brain volumes. Healthy adults are advised to limit their daily coffee intake to about four or five cups, which is roughly 400 milligrams of caffeine.Jul 23, 2021

New study finds drinking too much coffee can shrink ... - The Hill​
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Bet you’re fun at parties 🙄

Actually though, appreciate the concern. I have since cut back quite a bit. More along the lines of 3-5 cups per day plus a cup of tea or two in the afternoon.
 
HumbleHomeCook said:
I have these two sitting in my cart:

https://www.harney.com/products/organic-earl-grey?variant=35000702918
https://www.harney.com/products/osmanthus-oolong?variant=51262019718
Any thoughts? I know it is very subjective. Just trying to do a toe-dip just now so the Earl Grey is a little safe.
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I'd say it's hard to go wrong there. The only tea I ordered from them that I disliked was the pu-erh but that's more me disliking the style. As long as you get close to the recommended brewing temps you'll get a good cup.
 
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