1st for black tea

File: PXL_20260515_214905635.jpg (2.6 MB)

Yeeontea order just came in
Two best taste ripes, the notorious 2001 Pine Crane Xiaguan tuo and some samples of CNNP puerhs I hears were solid

>>22021856
Can I ask what makes the 2001 Pine Crane Xiaguan tuo notorious?

Do y'all be wildin' out on your fancy teas like man be doing on coffee or just sip-sip-ahh type beat?? asking for a friend

>>22022017
Could you please phrase your question in proper English? If you want a useful answer, present a clear, well formed question otherwise the response you receive may not address what you intend.

>>22022018
what a surprise the tea drinker is a fag

>>22022017
yo fo sho nigga shit's fire ong, you cap?

>>22022017
See >>22017559 for an informative graph

>>22021851
Post some then.
For me its ha giang deep forest black from vietsun.
It full of funky notes like fermenting fruit.

File: 1763798751974006.jpg (32.2 KB)

Any of you faggots into incense sticks? I bought bunch of japanese ones and so far like the frankincense ones such as https://item.rakuten.co.jp/kohsen-in/ten-006/ . They are good to use in interior unlike actual pieces of frankincense or other aromatic resins which gave off relatively lots of smoke when burned.
>offtopic
don't care

>>22022144
not my problem

I'm running low on bulk midshelf loose blacks and whites for making kombucha. So far YS has been my source for those; is there a solid alternative right now? Cheap but not dirt cheap. I'm in the US for reference.

File: 1770004244690732.jpg (251.9 KB)

>>22021856
Nice anon. Did you buy when they had the discount? I ended up not pulling the trigger myself. I will enjoy it vicariously through you.
>>22022172
Did you have their Black Gold Bi Luo Chun? Used to be one of the more popular recommendations here.
You ought to look at King Tea Mall as your next shop to explore. Pick a few things that sound interesting and are the right price, then run your cart by the thread before purchasing.

>>22022144
Premium Shoyeido or bust. Moss garden is good if you're cheap.

I don't know much about tea, but I'm thinking of replacing my daily coffee with tea. What would you recommend that isn't too expensive? I was thinking of buying a loose-leaf English Breakfast blend.

>>22022012
Cause it's like the only hong kong traditional storage xiaguan sheng on the market in western facing stores
Making it a niche cult favourite

>>22022144
An anon here used to shill these Tibetan incense sticks years ago.
https://incense-traditions.ca/shop/tibet/tibetan-therapeutic-and-relaxation-incense/holy-land-incense/

I never tried that exact one, but I bought some other kinds from that website. It's powerful stuff.

>>22022229
For "normal" indian tea, english breakfast or ceylon are probably the most standard and common, cheap everywhere and easy to find decent quality loose leafs even in local stores (at least in bongland but I would assume in most places in the west)

Chinese teas have a ton more variety than indian ones, many are not even ore expensive but you will likely have to order from chink shops and wait a few weeks for shipping, and there's dozens of different types to choose from
I will however shill liubao, buy a box of this https://kingteamall.com/en-gb/collections/dark-tea/products/2020-sanhe-liu-bao-cha-liubao-tea-1st-grade-loose-leaf-100g-tin-boxed-liu-pao-tea-dark-tea-wuzhou-guangxi and see if you like it. It's very earthy and hearty

>>22021824
Interesting.

>>22022049
Puerh lesbians are not fags. Gaymin don't fuck with puerh.

>>22022859
speak for yourself straight faggot i love tea that tastes like it was stored in a flooded west virginia dirt basement

File: IMG_4529.jpg (95.1 KB)

Discuss.

>>22022991
>basic bitch shou that was discussed like 10 posts ago
>a single sample
>a fucking horrid photo of the screen
Honestly pretty decent bait

>>22023024
I only trust factory ripes desu.
Even though I have ordered a few samples of different non factory ripes from YS

File: 1770388644700360.jpg (101.8 KB)

Earl Grey anyone?
Tried postcardteas which was ...okay. Indian plantation tea basically, better than random shit in grocery store, but nothing special.
Also tried hugotea and was disappointed. They use some kind of basic bitch chinese plantation tea and it's very mediocre.

File: 1754784825336255.jpg (52.7 KB)

>>22022576
why do anons keep shilling Liu Bao? its shitty chinese boomer plantation tea. you buy that for nostalgia and none of us here grew up in 80s hong-kong

>>22023568
It's just ripe pu-erh but better in every way. And aged ones are much cheaper and more available than ripe puerh

>need a healthy alternative to energy drinks
>green tea always tasted so weak I'd just put in honey which defeated the point of drinking something healthy
>decide to try out current fad macha lattes with beetroot powder
>spend £40 getting macha, premium oat milk, beetroot powder, sugar free vanilla syrup and a frother
>make it up
>expect it to be horrible because whenever I do this shit on a whim it ends up terrible

It actually turned out really nice, I didn't expect that. Only issue is it's very quick to drink and I like something I can sip over an hour or so

>>22023576
sounds zoomer as fuck
why not stick with pure matcha or green tea with honey
anyways whatever it is you made its still step up from energy drinks thats for sure

>>22023576
>Only issue is it's very quick to drink and I like something I can sip over an hour or so
Get into gong fu style brewing (where you put a lot of leaves in a small teapot and do many strong espresso type brews) and buy some pu-erh. If you want one that tastes like green tea but much stronger, more interesting, a little bitter and with a bigger caffeine kick, you can choose something from FarmerLeaf.
The stuff can also be aged for darker, woody, tobacco, earthy type flavors which are smoother and less bitter but can be an acquired taste. If you want to try that, QuicheTeas is the best value store for those.

>>22023032
>he doesnt infuse his monitor with tea
ngmi

>>22023583
Green tea just tasted too weak and attempts to make it stronger just made it way too bitter. Realised I was just drinking honey water with a herbal backdrop and having 2-3 of them a day isn't great as my goal is making sure I don't get diabetus. I may try stronger macha with less milk (did 1 tsp macha, 1 tsp beetroot powder, a pump of vanilla and the rest ice and frothed oat milk in a 275ml glass).

>>22023585
Ironically I don't like the taste of standard British tea so tried out green tea because of it having a different kind of flavour. Was considering different kinds of tea or chai blends as well

>>22023598
>Ironically I don't like the taste of standard British tea
gong fu wont taste like standard British tea. you use short steeps with much more whole loose leaf, you'll get a strong flavour but no bitterness.
>Green tea just tasted too weak and attempts to make it stronger just made it way too bitter.
buy loose and brew with 80c water not boiling, instead of over brewing for strength add more leaf

I have a tea set collection addiction

>>22023568
Multiple people here like it. I find that the (typically) earthy, mildly funky, syrupy, mineral, etc profiles I get from it to be pleasant. I second the anon who replied to you and compared it to shou, but "better in every way". It's my favorite for when I'd want to relax and/or meditate ('grounded' aroma qualities), but I don't have any left. I want to try liu-an someday. The ones on Chawangshop are very appealing for the price. I only hope they don't sell out by the time I convince myself the cost is worth it.
>>22023677
Consider showing us some of your favorite pieces, anon.

>>22023576
>green tea always tasted so weak
uh did you try to brew it stronger? There are some green-similar teas (eg raw pu erh from the Farmer Leaf catalogue, as the other anon suggested), which have a punchy pleasant bitter note. Japanese Sencha teas can be brewed strong to give an insane umami taste. Assam black can also be quite brutal.

>Only issue is it's very quick to drink and I like something I can sip over an hour or so
Other that a coffee sitting, in a tea session you chug 800ml+ easily. So with tea you drink a more liquid compared to other caffinated beverages. In a beer and wine analogy, coffee is paced more like wine and tea is paced more like beer.

>energy drink substitute
Make your own ice tea? (black tea + sugar + lemon juice)

>>22022219
>Did you buy when they had the discount?
Yes.
I already had one session with the Pine Crane, I can write down some impressions when I have it again. First impressions were bretty gud, not sure if better than their 2008 7542, but it had a nice strong menthol aftertaste to it and was smoother.

>>22023598
>or chai blends as well
I make a sort of masala chai using ginger, cinnamon, star anise, clove, cardamom, cascara, and rooibos. Plenty sweet and flavorful and healthy and it's no more work to assemble than matcha is. You could do it with something like Indian black tea instead of cascara or sugar instead of rooibos but I like this version a lot.

>>22023598
>Ironically I don't like the taste of standard British tea
"Standard" British tea is basically just Indian tea. By Chinese tea instead, it's very different, even normal blacks don't taste like indian blacks at all - not to speak of all the autistic other types, green and white and yellow and oolong, fermented and roasted and smoked, etc.

I don't know what to do I've never tead before this looks like a lot.

File: PXL_20260518_162244562.jpg (2.2 MB)

>>22025420
Forgot pic

>>22025421
Pour water over it

>>22025421
It's a medium amount I guess, I could drink it in a month
What are you going to drink first?

>>22025434
I dunno yet. It's a starter pack to see what I'm interested in. Never had proper tea before.

>>22025435
What are the properties of proper teas?

>>22025439
Not a Lipton bag? You tell me.

>>22025421
Do you have a gaiwan mister Anon?

>>22025440
Stab the bi luo chun open and drink it already

File: PXL_20260518_164436142.jpg (2.1 MB)

>>22025442
No, I have this. I guess that's my next purchase? Or can I get by with this as a beginner for now? I have thermometers so I can cool down the water before steeping...

>>22025458
This one doesn't change color with the water temp? You need a mug deep enough for your metal steeper. Open your "black gold bi luo chun" take about 5 grams out (don't have to weight it) put it in the steeper inside the mug wait for the water to boil then put it in the mug wait 5 seconds pull the steeper out and put the tea into another smaller cup then sip.

>>22025458
All you need basically.
I have done my gong fu with the equipment on your pic for quite a while. I upgraded now, but it's mostly for style. Nothing wrong with the useability of a mug strainer.
You can go up to 10g, depends on how much tea you want in the end and how big your mug is.
My rule of thumb is 8g of tea for ~1.2l total amount of tea.

>>22025458
the steeper will do. you can also brew "grandpa style" by just rawdogging the leaves, it can work well for some teas like your bi luo chun and charcoal roasted tie guan yin
buy a cheap gaiwan / teapot / testing kit sometime in the future

File: PXL_20260518_205600214.jpg (1.3 MB)

>>22025477
>>22025749
Ok anons on it. Starting with 5g.

>>22025767
Me - do I HAVE to do that rinse??

>>22025773
no

>>22023677
Trans coded post

>>22025421
>>22025458
>>22025767
Hell yeah. That's a big mug. You may want a little more time or a little more leaf. Most importantly, play around with parameters and figure out what you like or what you don't.

Black Gold Bi Luo Chun also makes a good cold beverage. You can brew up 5 grams in a mason jar for 5-10 minutes, then remove then leaves and stick it in the fridge for tomorrow.

Accidentally put smoked tea in my long-term puer storage container for about a week :(

>>22025421
this is like two weeks worth of tea
ys really doesnt make sense for such small orders
25g isnt enough for you to figure out how much heat and what kinda water the tea responds well to unless youre rainman level gongfu autistic and can tune on the fly
>>22022991
>monitor steeped

>>22026293
It's fine.

>>22026305
If you've never had real tea before and don't have any clue what kind you'll like (if any) this is a good amount of tea. Three sessions of each is enough to decide if it's actually something you want to buy more of and drink, then you can worry about optimizing your brewing parameters. Brewing it "close enough" is fine for someone just starting out

>>22026376
>too much leaf, not enough leaf
>water to hot, not enough heat
>too long a steep, not enough steep
>too hard a water, water too anemic
>shitty porcelain gaiwan didnt hold heat
>dogshit technique poured too slow
>shitty yixing pot poured too slow or too fast
>you have 25g of tea to figure this all out
it isnt happening
skill can compensate for bad tea
good tea cant compensate lack of skill

>>22026508
What "isn't happening"? When you have never had real tea before none of this (besides hard water) really matters yet. As you drink more tea and get a feel for what you're doing, then (some of) it starts to. You're making this way more complicated than it really is for someone who is just starting out.
Not only do you not need some sort of "perfectly brewed" cup when it's your first time drinking tea, you are not going to get a "perfectly brewed" cup because you don't know what you're doing or even what a "perfectly brewed" cup tastes like. A "good enough" cup is very easy to achieve (just follow the rentry table) and will absolutely suffice.
>skill can compensate for bad tea
No, it can't. That's such a bad take that it's hard to believe you're posting in good faith.

>>22025773
No, the rinse is for aged or compressed teas mostly. So they open up and lose some unwanted flavors.

>>22026293
It's ok, smoke improves the aged sheng taste profile anyway

>>22026508
>shitty yixing pot poured too slow or too fast
Yeah man I'm sure the noob buying the YS starter pack has a yixing pot.

>>22025767
Color of the water is for the temp Anon. How was it?

>>22026629
Color of the water stayed blue throughout, then turned off at a roiling boil.
I did a 5 second rinse and then a 2 minute steep. It was dark. It tasted earthy, but that's every tea I've ever had. Not bitter in the slightest. I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I'm going to continue to have a cup or 2 of this black gold one every day until it's done, then go for another and try to note the differences.
How many cups of tea a day is "normal?"

>>22026682
Earthy is not really the note you should get with that tea. Black teas like those don't really need rinse in my opinion maybe would be better to try gong fu with short steeps to taste the evolution of the tea instead of western 2 minutes. You should try other teas instead of drinking only one so you can taste the differences between them and not get use to one taste. Black bi luo chun should taste like malt and chocolate at least a little, honey but not so easy to taste usually it's at the end of the sip people get different taste out it more or less covering the others. Which water did you use because "earthy" is not really what it should be.

>>22026508
>tea's bad because anemic water
>tea's bad because water poured too slow
>tea's bad because low quality porcelain
>skill can compensate for bad tea
I think you're making an exaggeratedly big deal out of things that hardly matter, we're doing little more than drinking hot leaf water here.
Also, for someone who's just starting out, I think the most important thing to learn from a sampler is what kinds of tea they like, after which they can buy a lot more of something they will likely enjoy and experiment more.

Currently drinking Awazon's CKG/2015 Menghai raw, it's a shame they're out of whole cakes because it really is a good tea and a great value.

>>22026682
I haven't had this tea, but these yunnan black teas usually taste like normal black tea but more chocolaty and sweeter

>>22026737
>>22026682
Also, the other teas will be more different from the black tea you know

>>22026725
>Which water
Tap water. I think the water where I live is admittedly a bit hard.

>>22026725
Maybe I confused earthy for chocolate (I had no milk or sugar in it, I'm assuming this is the correct way). Again, first time so I'm still finding my vocabulary. I'll try it without the rinse today.

>>22026780
Tap water is bad that's maybe why the tea doesn't taste like it should. Buy a water bottle and try again, if you need recs you need to tell us which country you live in for water brands. No milk or sugar needed at all, it's already sweet if brewed the right way. Before you try today buy decent water and try glash brews 5 seconds then pull the steeper out taste it then do another for 10 seconds or so and over and over until it doesn't like anything but water.

>>22026787
Murrica.

>>22026844
Do you have any water bottle at home to try? You need low dry residue, in europe it's written on the bottle don't know about us. Usually 25-75 can go higher for some oolongs or older teas but can vary from brand to brand depending the real content of it.

>>22026508
>too much leaf, not enough leaf
You will get then hang of it in time. Also depends how strong you want your tea given session.
>water to hot, not enough heat
Use 100C for everything(ignore meme Japanese teas)
>too long a steep, not enough steep
Is it bitter yet? No? Then you could steep it a little longer.
>too hard a water, water too anemic
You can always try a bottled water but it's usually not that big of deal(fragrant teas get killed by hard water, rest is usually fine)
>shitty porcelain gaiwan didnt hold heat
Lol
>dogshit technique poured too slow
Lol
>shitty yixing pot poured too slow or too fast
Serves you right for using meme equip I guess
>you have 25g of tea to figure this all out
That's like 3 good sessions. Should be plenty to figure out if you like it or not
>skill can compensate for bad tea
I've been waterboarding leaves for some time now and I don't really believe in "skill".
It's just experience. You kind of know what to expect and with that in mind you try to brew something drinkable.
Also you will develop resistance to bitterness so even if you fuck up and oversteep it's not that big of a deal.
This experience also comes into play when buying new tea. You kind of know the house taste of different makers and different areas and try to make educated bet on some tea that could be interesting. Or you just yolo buy random cake.
In my experience the success rate doesn't differ that much.

File: wtf.png (168.5 KB)

I witnessed this abruptly and hastefully raise from 20 to fucking 30. "Matcha" is cheaper than it now. what the actual fuck

>>22026735
>CKG
Tried quite a number of cakes but wasn't really able to find a satisfying replacement. Ah well
Would like to hear about it if anyone ever comes up with anything

>>22021856
Drinking Best Taste Ripe
really lives up to its name desu, I think it's my favorite ripe though I haven't tried any fancy ones
but I like it more than purple mark, it has more classic vanilla ripe flavors next to the wet storage. very easy drinking.

>>22025421
Beware the temp for green bi luo chun (70-75°C), the rest can take boiling. I'd recommend a different tea for each session instead of finishing them one after the other.

>>22027203
>Beware the temp for green bi luo chun (70-75°C)
yeah, i had some that was insanely bitter no matter what EXCEPT strangely with full boiling

>>22025421
>Pu'er
>Total noob
Uh... Good luck? Never liked ys pu'er myself anyway.
The black gold is probably Scott's best seller and is a solid cheap ass tea. Would buy again.

>>22026508
i dunno bro I just put my leaves in a cup
sometimes it's too much or too little leaves on the first try, might take like two brews to get it right

>>22025421
Looks good

none of you will ever amount to anything

>>22028014
I just need more heat and leaves is all.

>>22026549
I do a minute rinse in my gaiwan. Might do 90 seconds from now.

Regarding pic in op, how many cups am I supposed to have in one session with a pot and cup like that?

>>22027823
Tea isn’t for you. Don’t post here again.

>>22028144
Depends on the tea. Anywhere from 4-10+, 6-8 is probably most typical for me.

File: The-Chronicles-of-Riddick-2004-Tea-Cup-as-a-Weapon.jpg (39.5 KB)

>>22021835
>Pitch Black edition

>>22027823
This is what it is like to live with mentally deficient capacities.

Going to order some Russian Caravan so I can have it while reading a book about The Silk Road. Any brand recs?

>>22028479
Could order a cake / brick while you're at it if you really want to roleplay. Back when caravans were a thing a lot of tea was pressed into bricks or tea cakes for ease of carrying and trading

>>22028482
I'll just get a cake then

>>22028488
Most common cakes are puerh, but there are some black tea ones too if you look around

Like this one:
https://kingteamall.com/en-pl/collections/black-tea/products/2017-xiaguan-gao-shan-yun-wu-lao-shu-hong-high-mountain-cloud-old-tree-black-tea-cake-200g-hong-cha-dian-hong?variant=30875876950119

I prefer coffee

>>22028872
Have you tried liu bao?

>order green tea
>tastes like the ocean
>order from the same place again a few months later, taste is completely gone
Why is that

>>22028968
You grew up and developed your pallet.

>>22028872
You are a loser.

>>22028968
Green tea doesn't age well and is best consumed fresh. You probably got some older green tea that had been sitting around for awhile.

>>22029130
Who ages green tea

>>22029178
Mostly vendors with unsold stock

I used a hand blender to turn my sencha leaves into dust. Is it normal that I enjoyed a cup with a teaspoon of this much more than sencha brewed normally?

>>22029197
Isn't this literally what matcha is

>>22029241
No, matcha is ground up tencha.

>>22029187
Are you being smart with me?

>>22029241
Not exactly, matcha is heavily shaded so it should be more similar to ground gyokuro

>>22028968
Was it Japanese green tea? Those can have oceanic notes. Chinese greens are very different.

Anyone have reccs for sencha? Or should I just order from o-cha, their Chiran and Saemidori fukamushi was good

>>22029703
yes
>>22029130
so unless I order from a place that specifies when it was harvested it's up to luck?

>>22029715
>so unless I order from a place that specifies when it was harvested it's up to luck?
Yes. You can assume it's not the freshest if they don't specify the year it's from.
Main sencha harvest is in the spring and the freshest ones have already started being added to japanese stores.

>>22028968
With Japanese greens I only buy factory sealed packages. These are either vacuum sealed or nitrogen flushed. After opening, try to consume within month.

My optimal Japanese tea strategy: Buy at bulk at the beginning of harvest. Freeze some for the winter. Refrigerate some for the late autumn. The ones I'm drinking within 6 months, I store in room temp. Reasoning: Freezing and refrigerating generally preserves the green freshness, however, I've noticed that some volatile aromas get ruined by refrigeration. These will dissipate within 6 months no matter what so for the long-term stored ones, refrigeration is better. I'm not yet sure about the up/downsides of refrigerating vs freezing, but some sources don't recommend freezing, however from last winter I had some success. Also, all of this depends on the exact tea, with Yabukita-based large leaf spring teas and ones with bright yellow liquor and overall "edgy" teas being best consumed early, while kabusechas or more sweet fruity fukamushis better for refrigeration.

Drinking pu erh milk tea rn

>>22030141
shou with milk is unironically what it deserves

>>22030185
it is a casual, cheap tea at heart

>>22030185
>>22030188
Tea has to be boiled though

>>22030193
alhamdulillah

Sippin the ex soviet Georgian Maghali Etseri Mountian black tea today.
Its really unlike any other black tea I had. Mild with pronounced dried Mango flavor.
I gifted a bag of this to my /tea/ aunt and she also likes it. She said good for the afternoon when a regular black tea would hit to hard.

>>22031643
Yeah I only had one georgian black tea and it was like that. Very light and fruity. That one as more like dried apples though.
It's not my favourite profile for a black tea, I prefer more intense chocolaty ones. But for people who like lighter fruitier ones like darjeeling, it is a cool thing to try.

I'm in such a bad mood.
Really hopeless about my near future.
What (kind of) tea do you suggest for this mood?

>>22031722
Liu bao and yancha are my personal comfort teas
Or best taste ripe if you happen to have it.

>>22031722
Ma Huang.

Cmon will where are the cakes?
I have crisp 50 euro bill in my pocket just begging to be exchanged for some samples.

>>22025421
I'm this guy. I finished that black gold pack. Again, it tastes like a less bitter version of every tea I ever had l. I'm new at this, and every tea I've ever had has been Lipton bag shit. The robots say my water temperature is too hot, and you guys say my water may be too hard.
So I got myself a variable temperature kettle, and am purchasing a shit ton of bottled water and maybe a filter for the tap.
TIL every tea comes from the same plant. Is that also why it all tastes the same to me?
How do I brew the ones in the red packaging?

>>22031904
>The robots say my water temperature is too hot
That's retarded, you should brew black tea in boiling water
>TIL every tea comes from the same plant. Is that also why it all tastes the same to me?
You've only had one type of tea. You will see the difference when you try other ones

>>22031914
Also, bottled water can help a lot if you have bad water for tea, the difference can be pretty big

>>22031916
I'm thinking it's this. The other kettle I used would shut off at a roiling boil, so it may not be temp but whatever, I got that covered with the new kettle. So it's either my water, or me (my taste buds are retarded, or I'm doing something wrong, but this shit isn't rocket science...).

>>22021856
>>22022219
second session with Xiaguan 2001 Pine Crane Jia Ji tuo
this has the classic yeeon storage flavors but woodier, so I guess there is the xiaguan character in there. I don't get smoke.
the standout is the texture, it feels very weighty and full bodied, a tea you can really chew on
also, strong menthol cooling aftertaste. no astringency, slight hint of bitterness

it's good, like this super thick broth of wood and menthol and beetroot. needs more testing to see if I like it enough to pay 60$ for a 100g tuo again. would probably rather spend that on a 400g cake of 2005 t8653 from QuicheTeas, but the trad storage and year or production makes the price difference understandable

>>22031945
I'm sippin some too, the texture really is nice. The total lack of smoke surprised me quite a bit
Good tuo

>>22031904
>How do I brew the ones in the red packaging?
its oolong so 100c. but how much leaf and how long? i do 5g/100ml gaiwan for 25seconds, then i'll reuse the leaves adding an extra 5 seconds, keep going until it no longer gives any flavour. oolong is fragrant so smell the wet leaf, they'll hopefully taste vegetable likes greens/broccoli
>I finished that black gold pack
one of my favourite teas :). nice, cheap, good flavour, should be malty and not bitter.
>Again, it tastes like a less bitter version of every tea I ever had
should be malty. try 90c instead of full boiling, again 5g/100ml, 20seconds then +5. or farmerleaf suggests with black teas you flash brew them i.e pour the water out as soon as your vessel is full because the flavour compounds are on the surface of the leaf and over brewing will wash them off faster

the cozy ripe should be smooth, thick and black like coffee but no bitterness

wu ti shan rock oolong will be closer to black than the other green(red bag) oolongs

>>22031972
>The total lack of smoke surprised me quite a bit
I think xiaguans get less smoky with heavy storage. I guess after 25 years of trad storage they can be completely smokeless

File: Kamiina Botan.webm (3.0 MB)

This anime doesn't have puerh lesbians but it has alcohol lesbians. Reminds me of tea autism.
If they ever make a tea anime, it will be over for Japanese tea prices. As if it already isn't due to the matcha craze.

File: Werner Herzog is Clinically Sane - 0-59-05.png (59.3 KB)

>>22021856
have you tried the red mark? or the secret beengs? you boughted TWO best tastes?
anytime the HK care package arrives this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU9QpwsisO0 plays somewhere in the distance

>>22030141
Stuffing my 'wan with shou, letting it brew for 5-10 minutes, and then pouring it into a tall glass of milk has been my jam this past winter.

>>22032414
>smt v
i found the base game disappointing but the rerelease with an extra story route was a very good improvement

>>22032414
>have you tried the red mark? or the secret beengs? you boughted TWO best tastes?
Yeah, I bought two 100g bags of best taste ripe. Yeeon's shipping prices to my location are weird and suddenly double above 400g of tea. I'm not paying 40$ for shipping 400g, that's absurd. So I tried to keep under that limit.

Only other yeeon teas I tried were:
>2009 raw clusters
good and cheap raw that already tastes fully aged. smooth, simple flavour of beetroot and potato but with a nice mineralic earth aftertaste)
>Purple mark
Pretty good but I prefer the slightly less funky and more vanilla-creamy Best Taste
>2008 7542
Still has a bit of bite. It's good though not super strong or long lasting. More complex than the clusters. And it's fun to try a trad stored dayi, rare thing nowadays

Today I am drinking the 2007 8871 CNNP raw. It's okay, but the pine crane is much better (though it's twice the price).

>>22032897
Very splendid. Try boiling.
17 grams into 1.2L boiling water.
Boil 10 minutes.
Filter through ultra fine strainer many times.
Pour filtered tea into pot and make sure it is 950ml. If less, just add water.
Final tea volume should be 950ml. Stir it.
Heat back up.
Serve with milk or evaporated milk.

>>22032897
Also, using different pu-erh types yields different profile milk tea also.
Using this atm

File: IMG_4605.jpg (167.1 KB)

>>22033758

I frew up again drinking too much black tea in the morning.

I left a bag of gyokuro out and my dog ate it while I was gone. At least there was only like 5g left.

>order very cheap puer for the first time
>it comes as fine powder
>try to measure with a cheap scale
>the measurement was all wrong
>drink some of the tea
>it was so strong it fucked up my stomach for two days
It was pretty decent once I got the hang of the quantity.

>>22034340
Don’t buy cheap or low quality tea

File: 16494625734.jpg (17.1 KB)

i ran my tea through a grinder and dropped it onto the floor

>>22034314
Weird. I wonder if they liked the grassy smell or just went after something that smelled like your hands. It might make a dog pretty sick if they managed to eat enough of it though.

File: PXL_20260524_081655162.jpg (2.5 MB)

Second session with Xiaguan's Love Forever Paper Tong
This tastes a lot like the 7542 cake I have. None of the typical Xiaguan strong woody and smoky tastes. More savory, sharp and mineralic Menghai taste with some fruit, leaning more red fruit than plums. Also some honey.
It's alright, can be a little astringent. Value wise though I'd definitely recommend the 2010 7542 from QuicheTeas more, it's like 3x cheaper for a similar semiaged Menghai experience

File: 1777503001576690.png (123.2 KB)

You don't need sleep. Just drink the tea, anons. It doesn't matter anymore.

>>22034435
Yeah it is weird. I let her smell my tea (liquor) after brewing it sometimes but she's never interested, but I also rarely drink green.
She didn't get sick luckily, but she did seem pretty hyper earlier lol

>>22034566
To me these aged shengs just taste like a wood.
Love forever is you would take a cherry branch, turned it into shavings and steeped that.
I really don't get the appeal, but different folks different strokes I guess.
I member it being quite stimulating.

>>22034656
very different appeal to young sheng for sure
have you had trad stored sheng like the ones from yeeontea? those are quite different. that Pine Crane I'm having recently is much more to my taste than this Love Forever Paper Tong, it is a very thick and textured tea with a nice minty aftertaste too

>>22034642
i thought dogs cant process caffeine which is why chocolate is toxic to them

>>22034796
I think it's some other component of chocolate, but idk. In any case it's been >12hrs and she's fine, hasn't gotten sick or anything

File: Prince of Wales - Sir Evelyn de Rothschild.jpg (987.6 KB)

I'm close to finishing this "2013/2019 Chaze 'Da Huang Yin' Yellow Label Ripe Pu Erh Tea Cake": https://teasenz.eu/products/da-huang-yin

Kung-fu brewing: 7g/100ml, 100°C, 10s rinse, 15s, +5s.
Dry leaves: wood and stone fruit.
Wet leaves: caramel.
Liquor: wood, caramel, spices, stone fruit - mostly cherry. Smooth, soft blend. Nice complexity. Very elegant.
Good for 8 steeps.

>>22034796
It's something else, I don't remember what.

File: cap_Senke.nad.Balkanom.2017.HDTV.720p.S01.EP01_00:10:23_01.jpg (103.7 KB)

>>22034656
>To me these aged shengs just taste like a wood.
There's more than wood in there: tobacco, leather, fruit (usually stone fruit, or something tropical), sometimes smoke.
Even the woodiness can be layered, with different types of wood, some veering into spices, but you need a proper palate for that.

made ice tea with darjeeling, lemon and sugar today
was very nice in this hot weather

File: P_20260524_153328.jpg (3.6 MB)

Sup

>>22035299
Curious what premium oolong is like. Describe.

>>22035276
Probably tastes so fucking weak lol.
Do a 1m rinse.
Then at least 1mins steep man.

>>22035361
>1m rinse
Why would you do that?

>>22035364
So it opens up and next steeps taste good and better and more flavorful.
Why drink pu erh but do 15s steeps. That doesn’t even bring out that deep, rich and thick flavors.

>>22035364
You clearly don’t care about mouthfeel and richness.

Sell me on sencha and matcha. I've tried them, the first one tasted like nothing, the second tasted like weird flour.
All I drink is loose leaf green tea of silver snail or the like. I use the leaves twice or thrice and then I eat them. I have literally no idea how you're supposed to tea

>>22035370
>>22035379
A minute is way too long, you've gotta be pouring out like the first few steeps worth of tea. It opens up fine if you pour the rinse out immediately and wait a few minutes with the lid on

>>22035391
> you've gotta be pouring out like the first few steeps worth of tea.
3-4th and after steeps taste the best anyways so that’s the point. And I do like 2m plus steeps.
>It opens up fine if you pour the rinse out immediately and wait a few minutes with the lid on
I can try the wait a few minutes with lid on part.

>>22035391
You clearly enjoy weak and thin mouth feel tea.

>>22035389
>Sell me on sencha and matcha
gotta have fresh sencha from this year. it goes stale quickly
also, try to brew it in the traditional proportions and brew times, it will be quite intense that way, stronger flavor than chinese greens imo

>>22035402
He stopped replying. You owned him. kek

File: Massimo D'Alema.jpg (44.1 KB)

>>22035361
>Probably tastes so fucking weak lol.
No, it doesn't, you absolute moron.
It's a rather intense taste.
>Do a 1m rinse.
Absurd.
>at least 1mins steep
Are you a smoker, by any chance?

File: irish-travellers.jpg (966.7 KB)

>>22035370
>Why drink pu erh but do 15s steeps
Oh, you don't know what "+5s" means.
You add 5 seconds for every steep after the first one.
So it's: 15s, 20s, 25s, ...
I assure you, that's enough extraction - with boiling water and 7 grams of leaf in 100 ml of water.

File: Germans training in USSR.jpg (399.9 KB)

>>22035399
>3-4th and after steeps taste the best anyways so that’s the point.
Seeing how the taste evolves between steeps, not just cutting to the chase.
Kung-fu brewing requires patience.

It's conventional wisdom to store tea out of direct sunlight, but does the wrapping paper of compressed tea provide enough protection? I occasionally store some of my cheaper cakes openly near windows, and I've never had issues, but I imagine you guys probably have more conclusive experiences.

>>22035465
>It goes stale quickly
That's probably it, I got mine from a local vendor who most sells coffee.
I looked at recipes online and they seem to use double the amount I do? I use a teaspoon for about 600ml of tea cumulatively. (Though I was eyeballing the leaves by volume based on how much of unwrapped leaf I had in the cup after brewing, about a tablespoon? I don't have a kitchen scale)

>>22035685
If you store your cakes in just their wrappers, they will also dry out and the flavor may get worse. Keep them in something airtight unless you live somewhere very humid like south east Asia.

This year, I finally learned my lesson and only bought one package of shincha. Hopefully, I should have it finished before the year is out, this time. I bought Hibiki An's Fukamushi Sencha. I got a very nice sweet, green, oceanic flavor. I also got hit with the most subtle but pleasant and refreshing bitterness and astringency. The body was rather nice. I would say it was medium-thick side. The color was a very beautiful jade. I brewed it four times at a temperature of 175C as recommended. The first brew was 45 seconds, second brew was 10 seconds, and final brew was 1 minute. I'll say I liked this more than the O-cha tea I bought last year. However, I'll say that it felt a bit overpriced for what it was. So far, Yuuki-cha is still at the top, for me. Has anyone bought anything from Yuuki-cha this year? If so, how are their offerings this year? Next year, it will probably be Ippodo.
Also, what can I do with year old matcha (O-cha)? I'd been drinking on it slowly, but my drinking patterns had been disrupted by being temporarily displaced to a different location where I did not have my tea. I think I will make lattes, but it feels like a sin to do so with nicer matcha.
Another thing is, how do I prevent my kettle from getting mold again? I ideally wanted to dry it, but I realized the opening of it was far too small for me to stick my arm in. I've got the lid opened and am currently air drying it, but I can't keep it open all the time because [spoiler] small little roaches have been coming from the outside, and I've had to kill one of the little buggers on the wall before it could get to my kettle. [/spoiler]

File: 2024 Black Cat White2tea 5th infusion.jpg (2.7 MB)

>>22035370
here's what a 5th steep ripe looks like starting at 15 seconds and adding 5secs every time, so 35 seconds.

File: tea drawer.jpg (3.6 MB)

>>22035685
i keep them in drawers, there's some on top in glass jars but i keep my curtains closed. honestly i put zero thought into long term care, its just tea for drinking not ageing or reselling

File: 2019 Xiaguan Jinbang GAN Puer Ripe 1st and 15th.jpg (1.5 MB)

>>22036179
the first is weak, no denying, especially as i never bother rinsing but from the ~3rd onwards i get thick black brews until it peters out

File: 20191220_172137.jpg (2.7 MB)

>>22036188
some random freebie.
there seems to be a divide between short micro and long +min steeps. no idea if one method gives more total tea/flavour than the other but i imagine that after a certain time the water become saturated and extra brew time doesn't accomplish anything.
but you can get deep thick ripe tea from just 20-30 second steeps without needing a rinse to open up lumps

>>22035290
Sounds good. I ran outta ice, in which case I go for boiled milk tea, made some cutting chai

>>22036169
>How do I prevent my kettle from getting mold?
Tbh I just keep the lid open and toss the insects out before boiling if any got it. Or wrap a rag around a wooden stick/paddle and dry it with that. I clean my thermos that way.

>>22036169
>Another thing is, how do I prevent my kettle from getting mold again?
boiling water and constant use, air dry after boiling water in it

>>22036232
>he doesn't keep his kettles full of water 24/7 to always be ready for tea-time

File: mom found the tea drawer.jpg (160.4 KB)

>>22036184

>>22035588
> No, it doesn't, you absolute moron.
It's a rather intense taste.
It obviously isn’t intense.

>>22035592
It is not enough. The first 120s of total steep timet tastes week. Especially if each steep and pour yields 3 gong fu cups, I am not drinking like 6-9 cups of weak tea. Grown up.

>>22036179
>5th
So why bother drinking steep 1-3? It is weak and unflavourful.

>>22036965
only the first is weak and id rather not have to deal with waste water at my desk

>>22036973
You’re weak

Anyone else pay for the essence of tea monthly club? I realized that I slowed way down on sampling and trying new teas and I like their regular offerings, so I signed up to freshen my tea drinking up a bit.

>hurrrr I pressure cook my japanese greens after boiling them as a rinse, fight me
How do we get rid of trolls/schizos?

>>22037773
By developing a palate and spine.

File: Ameritard pen grip.jpg (202.6 KB)

>>22036963
>The first 120s of total steep timet tastes week. Especially if each steep and pour yields 3 gong fu cups, I am not drinking like 6-9 cups of weak tea. Grown up.
No, Bubba. Your taste buds are fucked.
I'll ask you again: are you a smoker?
Anyway, you have no business larping here.

>>22037820
Larping what. You’re just a weak eurocuck so even your tea brews are weak.

>>22037773
Ignore it.

love me some breakfast tea with milk and honey
it's peak tea comfort

File: holocaust survivors 2016-2020.png (324.8 KB)

>>22037824
>You’re just a weak eurocuck so even your tea brews are weak.
Tea is not coffee, Bubba.
The number of taste buds also decreases in old people.
What are the chances that you've been smoking for the last 60 years and now switched from coffee to tea because your Medicaid doctor told you it would help with your metabolic syndrome (it won't)?

>>22037957
>doesnt deny being a europoor
Sit down, eurocuck. Enjoy your weak tea.
We really need flags here. Socialist loser.

Hekai for $88 with the discount is tempting, but I think I'm gonna wait to see the new cakes.

>>22038244
Could also get one of the pouches

Tea bump

https://yunomi.life/products/furuichi-seicha-satsumakaori-sencha-green-tea
Damn, this tea's price doubled. Pretty sure it was 1300 yen last year, now 2600 yen. (1.8x price in euros due to yen rate). Well, it was one of my favourites, I had like 4 packs of them last year and it felt stupid to buy anything else. Some kind of mystery mix of cultivars, likely unshaded, medium fukamushi, strong but balanced aroma of fruity, acidic, uniquely chocolatey and grassy notes.

reporting back with my first KTM Dayi brick after breaking up and airing it out per anon's advice and it is definitely slowly reducing the anchovy quality, the stench of which is being overtaken by a sweeter more appealing prune smell. Brewed it a couple times after over a week of sitting it out.
I picked the 2022 7562 as my first shou puer because of its unanimous mild, floral etc. "daily drinker" reputation and amazingly mine tastes instead like a rotten old boat. Kelp, dirt, warped and smoky wood, a tinny metallic high end and something like bitumen beneath a fading but persistent fish taste that won't brew out with successive steeps, and a hidden sweetness of sugarcane and tart stone fruit, like a plum. A very normal black tea flavor comes out strong when I brew it long and hot but that also makes the kelp and fish nearly come alive and makes me feel like I'm drinking from a neglected, algal fish tank, at which point I lose interest in drinking any more. It seems like it could go for 20 steeps and still hold steam. Hoping the fish continues to fade because the rest of the tea is really interesting. I wasn't expecting the jolly roger.

>>22039032
So do you like it or not?

>>22039074
Both, there's parts of it I like and parts that I don't. I mostly like it, and even the off putting fishiness I can appreciate for how bizarre it is.

Once again kindly suggesting people get their brewing water sorted out. Big gains to be had for cheap.(4chan always hates the links for whatever reason)
>tea secrets water guide
>empirical water

>>22039094
>bizare
That’s not a good description for a factory ripe. I think the word you’re looking for is “lower quality” even if the tea isn’t low quality tea

>>22039138
I see. I have nothing else to compare it to, never tried a pu'er before so I picked something mid to find my footing on. Maybe the brick format made it stew in itself. Does higher quality manufacturing make a tea generally more resilient against the fishy tide even in rough storage/transit conditions or is this sometimes just an inevitability of importing fermented tea?

>>22039180
As long as it isn’t off-putting for you.
I have a cake with slightly fishiness but it isn’t bad per se. But to be honest, lets face it, the cake we have is lower quality even if not low quality.

>>22039032
let it rest a bit more if it's fishy
>unanimous mild, floral
it's not mild and floral, it tastes like a typical shou pu-erh with woody, earthy and creamy flavors

where do i buy genmaicha

>>22039515
I just buy it at my local Japanese grocery store, I don't know if it's worth going to a specialty tea shop for it.

>>22039523
I don't have a local japanese grocery

File: 817Qer3BMTL.jpg (355.0 KB)

Give me your honest opinion.

>>22039604
even good darjeeling is kind of mid for my tastes, I prefer sweeter chinese black teas
somehow I doubt teabag darjeeling is any good

>>22039604
I liked the darjeeling tea bags from Ahmad a lot more. I had those a few years ago but the Twinings more recently

>>22039604
Twinings actually makes high quality teabags so you might get more than just dust.
The issue is the price. You get twenty teabags and it might cost you like 15-20 quid. For those same 15 quid you could get like 150g of loose leaf instead.

Also obviously this is going to be some autumn harvest, probably not fresh, but that goes without saying. I do think first flush darjeeling is overhyped - like the other anon, I've come to appreciate chinese tea variety a lot more - but first flush is supposedly the "real" darjeeling.

File: me-mer-klassik-25er.jpg (87.6 KB)

>>22039604
sure, why not. it's better than pic related.

>>22039604
I have a tin of the lose "Pure Darjeeling" from Twinings. It is not bad, but I'd say uneventful. Just a muted black tea. There are more interesting Darjeelings out there. My favorite is "Rauf Darjeeling Flight Tea", which is green leaning and quite funky overall.

>>22039032
>tastes instead like a rotten old boat
>the kelp and fish nearly come alive
yupp, sounds about right

i want to make "tea" with herbs other than tea leaves. does anyone else have experience with this? any insight? i would especially love to get my hands on the leaves from the caffeinated plant native to the usa (i forgot the name)

>>22040337
I make herbal tea with the mint I grow in my backyard

>>22021835
I want to buy the tea from the Goring hotel in London but they don't sell it online and won't ship it. Any idea what it is?

>>22040441
idk some kind of english breakfast mayber

>>22040441
>>22040446
https://www.thegoring.com/media/ehep5f2m/thegoring-teablend-menu.pdf#
found this

>>22040450
Yea I don't think they'll let me buy and ship it internationally. I've emailed a few times. And I'm sure the blend is proprietary or something.

Some of you are homosexual.

>>22040337
Yaupon?
If you want caffeinated herbs that aren't tea, there is also yerba mate, which can be interesting to explore

Indians cannot make good tea. Yes I am racist.
Just buy Chinese.

>>22040337
This is technically called a "tisane" or "herbal tea" (and lots of people just call it tea anyway as a shorthand). There's lots of common ones in existence already. Mint, chamomile, rooibos, fruit teas, ginger tea, mountain tea, various herbal blends, etc.

You can basically make an infusion out of anything that isn't poisonous. I'm guessing really weird options like dandelion tea or nettle tea are not common simply because they probably don't taste like anything special, but there's nothing stopping you from experimenting. You can put most flowers in boiling water (again checking that they're not poisonous).

Someone post that webm of the chink brewing random autumn leaves from the ground

File: IMG_3770.jpg (507.0 KB)

Does anyone where to get a jinshu kyusu? Everytime I’ve checked around the past year they’re pretty much sold out

>>22042357
Is there a practical reason for the flat shape? Or is it just neat?

File: PXL_20260529_174728255.jpg (2.7 MB)

Sweetest dew order just came
Heard their white tea is good, so I got an aged cake z some bai mu dan and silver needle. Anyone ordered from them before?

>>22042731
looking good, though I'm a bit put off by the 'chinese tea gift bag' packaging after sampling some mystery meat eBay teas.
I suppose it is possible to put a good tea into this type of bag, however I haven't had that experience yet.

What kinda tea is the big guy?

File: sweetest spill.jpg (708.2 KB)

Also lmao at the spillage in the sweetest dew sample pictures.

>>22042884
The big cake is a leafy fujian white tea
Yeah I wasn't expecting that packaging too. The store is supposedly good and ran by some foreigner living in Fujian or something

>>22021835
How long do I let tea bags sit in the hot water.

>>22042955
I guess you mean tetleys or whatever. With milk, 2-3 mins is fine.
You could boil it even if you're adding sugar just you get diminishing returns as the water cools.

File: earlgreybigelow.jpg (281.8 KB)

>>22042961
These

Try 3 mins, wiggle the timing around from there based on your tastes

>>22042968
>>22042962

>>22042887
I like these photos.

>>22042968
>>22042970
k thnx

>>22042887
It's a white guy too, so the serial "chinks spill water everywhere" posters can't complain about it.

>>22043347
I would say he's a wannabe chink, but he even spilled the leaves. That's just some kinda special autism.

>>22042731
The bai mu dan is great. Creamy, vanilla, egg yolks, lemon, sweetness
Qimen and herb shop white cake seemed decent. The green tea seemed kind of mid, generic
All first impressions after one session

>>22042528
IIRC it's supposed to help with extraction of umami from gyokuro. idk how or how well it does that though

>>22045190
yeah thats most likely bullshit

File: Bildschirmfoto vom 2026-05-11 21-10-39.png (362.2 KB)

>>22036184
I absolutely despise the paper bags they use. the glue of the zippy thing gets brittle relatively quickly.
>big bag of souchong liquor
>open up bag
>glue breaks off and all over the tea
>spend half an hourse picking out tiny white specks
I spent a shameful amount on money at meileaf, but the packaging, import costs to the EU, shipping time from the UK to Austria and them generally being pricier made me look for alternatives and an alternative I found - Yoshien from Berlin

pic related was my sample order and the important teas, the mi lan yiang and hou kui, are excellent.
the mi lan xiang's aroma is to die for and it carries through at least 8-10 infusions.
the hou kui on the other hand is very delicate and has a very nice and subtle chestnut taste. cold brews are more intense
the genmai matcha is good for 1 +2 infusions, as expected, but it tastes fine.
the mountain tisane is good, too - very herbal and minty. you get the who plant, not just the flower

>>22045581
>I absolutely despise the paper bags they use. the glue of the zippy thing gets brittle relatively quickly.
yes, they're terrible. theres a good 30% chance the ziplock will break the first time you open it and i've had the sides spit spilling tea all over the place more than once. they are pricy, i normally only buy from them now if they have something interesting like their Bizarrely Aged Dianhong, kombucha fermented ripe or oolong with rose petals

File: l’art_du_the.webm (2.3 MB)

you do use the designated pouring hole, right anon?

>>22045830
hate this type of performative shit

>>22045831
looks like a hotel trying to upsell you an 'experience'. no different that restaurants using french to make food sound more fancy, Chantilly cream? oh you mean whipped, crème anglaise? custard, crémeux? thick mousse. Croque Monsieur? mr crunch.

>>22045830
"food pairing" green tea with a bunch of chocolate
impressively stupid

File: NESTLE-KitKat-x-Itoen-Chocolate-Coated-Wafer-Biscuits-Matcha-Chocolate-10pc_91a4a0e2-0be2-4c72-bb3a-c6894816b1aa.dee6f916a22b7096fb3bb19d91a96760.jpeg.png (483.8 KB)

>>22045863

There are anons here who drink tea steeped for only 25 seconds.

File: Screenshot_20260531-200043.png (552.4 KB)

>>22025421
I'm this guy. I bought this.

Is this the chinamaxxong thread?

i only drink matcha in the morning
what's some good dark teas, i mean the darkest categories and where do i order them?
i want something real tasty with lots of caffeine

>>22046627
>what's some good dark teas, i mean the darkest categories and where do i order them?
>Ripe / shu pu-erh
Very dark, as seen in OP picture. Tastes like earth, wood, fermented cookie dough, cream, cocoa. Smooth, thick body.
>Aged raw / sheng pu-erh
More complex and interesting than ripe, but not as smooth. Tends to go more woody. Can be stronger with some bitterness and tartness.
>Liu bao
Similar to ripe pu-erh but with added aged notes usually earthier
>Black tea
Self-explanatory
>Yancha / wuyi oolong
Dark roast, high oxidation oolong. There are other oolongs like this too, but this one is the most popular


If you want good value aged raw, buy one of the bestsellers from QuicheTeas. If the other categories interest you more, you can try KingTeaMall. I can give you some specific reccs if you want.

>>22046650
dang, thanks
definitely going to try some
>QuicheTeas/KingTeaMall
this is where you guys mostly order?
>I can give you some specific reccs if you want.
sure, go ahead

>>22046654
>this is where you guys mostly order
Farmerleaf is also very popular here. But they specialise in unaged sheng pu-erh, which is not dark, it's more like a strong green tea. It can be very strong and caffeinated though.

From Quiche, you can buy the cheap V93, some other ripe and 2005 t8653 or Jinse Yinxiang for smoky aged raw. Could throw in one of their wuyi oolongs too, I haven't had them but they should be dark and heavy roast.

>>22046691
>>22046654
And from KingTeaMall, you can grab some cheap Dayi ripe like 2022 7562 + a 2008 Xizi Happy tuo and some AT110 Sea Dyke or WuyiStar silver can 1st grade lao cong shui xian if you prefer that shop and its bigger but less curated selection

Does anyone know of any good fu bricks? I liked the 2021 Sun Fu from white2tea. It's not too expensive, but I'd like to bulk buy a golden flowers/eurotium cristatum tea.

>>22046627
I think the darkest tea by taste is probably liubao. Tastes like earth, damp soil, loam.

Regarding the other suggestions from >>22046650:
Ripe puerh is a lot sweeter and lighter in my opinion. More cookie dough, cream, cocoa, even bubblegum, less damp earth or wet wood. They do make for the most opaque pitch black liquor though, almost like coffee, but I think the taste is a lot more lightweight than the color suggests.
Aged puerh can be pretty earth as well, ancient wet wood, old damp forest kinda feel. But it's also very, very varied, some are more earthy, some are a lot more light, some taste of fish(!), some are just downright bad. IMO sheng/aged is not worth it unless you wanna try a bunch of types and get into it as a hobby.
Black tea, especially chinese, is often a lot lighter than the fermented teas; nutty, almost sweet, with a golden liquor. In china, it's called "red tea", while fermented teas are called "dark teas", for a good reason.
Roast oolong has a strong chestnut and/or cocoa taste, in my experience. It's good but also not what I would go for the "darkest" tea.

>>22046776
See fu anon's review >>21824250

>>22046808
Thanks anon, that's exactly what I needed.

File: misty tea terraces.jpg (453.4 KB)

which tea should I drink today?
>yeeon pine crane
>keemun mao feng
>tanyang gong fu
>wuyistar shui jin gui

>>22046936
I have decided on the keemun, "daily drinker" from sweetest dew
it's good, bready, cocoa, some red fruit. solid black tea, better than cheap dianhongs. I still prefer the tanyang gong fu though, it has a similar robust flavor but is sweeter with more honey and less tart fruitiness

>>22046936
Based taste, we pretty much buy the same tea ( I guess you are anon who I've spoken about these teas with).
I'll have to try that keemun.

>>22047086
yeah most likely
the bai mu dan and herb shop whites from sweetest dew give really good first impressions
first pluck da fang seems mid though after two sessions. but then I am not a big fan of longjing style greens

File: IMG_4666.jpg (2.1 MB)

What could this be, lads?

>>22047706
Looks like a KTM package.

File: IMG_4669.jpg (203.2 KB)

>>22047737
:O

File: IMG_4670.png (2.2 MB)

>>22047880
Marry Christmas!!

>>22047889
Cool bro

>>22047889
Has anyone tried this?

Are there any teas with that same sort of grassy taste you get with some Japanese greens? I would get some but they only last so long and when I make an order it means I really only buy greens.

>>22048030
boil some grass

>>22048030
Could try some Chinese greens. Maybe enshi yulu. Maybe there are sheng puerhs put there for that itch too? Those at least don't go stale quickly

File: PXL_20260602_153922682.jpg (2.4 MB)

Best taste ripe is not false advertising

>>22048460
It's good stuff. I also drink it after/with greasy food

File: at110.jpg (137.5 KB)

drinking Seadyke AT110 Lao Cong Shui Xian
I can recommend this if you want a cheap yancha. On KingTeaMall it was half the price of Wuyistar silver can, but tastes very similar to me, I'd have to side by side them but I don't think there is a huge difference

File: e64ef704-185b-47ee-8a9d-fe7390962631.jpg.jpg (195.8 KB)

i got my first gay wand and did a few pours just now with puerh, with a quick rinse. first pour was about 20 seconds. salright. 2nd pour was about 40+ seconds and holy shit. picrel. looks like coffee. tastes like woody chocolate. i want more, deeper flavors. it's not bitter yet at 40 for the second pour. can i get more flavor with less pours without getting bitter? or is that pretty much "the game" at that point?

>>22050278
Experiment. But ripe pu-erh is a simple and smooth tea most of the time that delivers that dark chocolate, woody profile with a good thickness.

>>22050278
It never gets bitter except for lao man e

>>22050297
>>22050358
so i can steep this for 2 minutes+ if i wanted?

>>22050360
Try it, most ripe you could boil in a pan if you wanted. There's the odd ripe that can go bitter but you'd probably know if you had it.

>>22050360
I literally boil it for 10 minutes.

>>22050375
Holy Aura

>>22040337
Pine needle tea is interesting if pretty bitter, just don’t poison yourself

>>22040337
I have some pear tree leaves processed as black tea. The material is deeply purple and tastes lightly of pear and black tea. I'd like to process fig tree leaves this way but it seems quite convoluted in terms of temperature, humidity, duration and steps.

>2001 Pine Crane from Yeeon
>2025 Autumn Jingmai Gushu from FL
doing some contrasting sheng today

>>22050811
Interesting, at the same time or no?

>>22050817
no
but actually I lied, instead of the Jingmai I will be having 2005 Xiaguan t8653 from Quiche

of the aged Xiaguans, this is the better value for my taste for sure. they aren't very comparable though, as the pine crane is heavily yeeonified and tastes more like a yeeon tea than a xiaguan if that makes sense. none of the barbeque that this t8653 brings

>>22050836
Hm I might have to pick up a cake from quiche. I have a cake of 2004 Xiaguan t8653 from jade leaf that I enjoy quite a bit, but it's 2x the price of the '05 from quiche.
And yeah I know what you mean about yeeonified lol. I've had two jiaji tuos, one from yeeon and another from somewhere else, and they're very different teas.

>>22050848
the 2004 and 2005 should be similar. I think they are both taiwan storage too
the flavor of 2005 I would describe as strongly woody, some barbeque smoke, charred wood flavors. no fruit. it has a bit of astringency but is quite smooth and aged tasting overall. it has a very nice texture to it and can have a bit of menthol aftertaste

>>22050861
>the 2004 and 2005 should be similar. I think they are both taiwan storage too
Yeah that's what I was thinking. Your notes line up with what I remember from the '04 as well. It's also quite strong caffeine wise as well which is nice every so often

File: 60aca652-33eb-41ee-a9cd-f214344b5a18.jpg (3.2 MB)

This is a reminder to drink tea at work.

Just made milk tea with dragon pillar dayi 2023. Will report back.