Camellia Sinensis

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miles
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Camellia Sinensis

Post by miles »

Thread for tea.

Tea only please [herbal/tisane welcome].
miles
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Re: Camellia Sinensis

Post by miles »

I pretty much only drink Japanese tea because that's what I work with every day.

Recently

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Single Cultivar Asahi Matcha from Uji


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Chiran Sencha from Kagoshima. Teas from this area undergo a very limited firing so they have more of a "wet leaf" taste. Very rich and fresh tasting.


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Room temp brewed aged Shincha from Fukuoka. The tea was picked as Shincha in June and then cold stored for six months. Still has the taste of summer! Room temperature brewing brings out more sweetness and umami.


Personally I don't get the nervy jitters I got when I was drinking coffee every day. So that's been a really great change.
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skunk ape
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Re: Camellia Sinensis

Post by skunk ape »

Please post your setup.

I just put whatever tea leaves I have on hand (currently Gyukuro Imperial, which I quite like) into a tea strainer like

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and pour hot water on top, but I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of specialist minutiae that I know I would probably get too deep into if it were made available to me.
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rubymtn
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Re: Camellia Sinensis

Post by rubymtn »

I usually make tea Persian-style in a samovar like this. It's acrid as fuck but fun to sip on over hours with a friend.

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Sometime's I'll have "chaayee nabaat" which is just rock candy with a string of saffron in the middle dipped in tea. It's obviously delicious.

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Bleeker
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Re: Camellia Sinensis

Post by Bleeker »

Thanks for making the thread Miles! Apart from the new world of flavor that opened up for me drinking tea, but just like you said the effects of the caffeine are so much more manageable for me compared to coffee, and that's what really got me hooked aside from the aesthetic aspects.

My go-to tea over the winter was a mid-grade Bai Mudan that I drank while studying because of its comforting aroma and its ability to laser in my attention. Other hearty teas like Lapsong Souchong or Gaba Oolong are gonna have to make way for some lighter ones as springtime comes, looking forward to using my Kyusu and trying more green teas. I also want to drink cool Gao Shan milk oolong like it's peach ice tea in the summer.

Gear-wise I started out with a little 100ml gaiwan which is still serving me well. I'd recommend a regular 150ml porcelain one and a few cups for anyone starting out, shouldn't be expensive either. Over time you get an idea of what you like and what type of gear suits that (that's the phase I'm in now) and can make an informed investment without getting too deep right off the bat.
miles
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Re: Camellia Sinensis

Post by miles »

Here's some of my tea stuff.

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Left to right: Kyusu, Tea cup, Strainer, Resin Kyusu, Yuzumashi (aka water cooler)

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Whisk, Matcha Bowl, Sifter, Tea scoop and sifter paddle etc.

I have an unnecessary amount of tea cups but what I like about the current set up is that everything is dialed in to work with 120ml of water. The water cooler holds 120ml pretty much exactly, as does the smaller kyusu. So I don't really have to think about the water if I don't want to and can just measure out the tea.

Imo, one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of making tea is the water. It really makes a huge difference if you use filtered water rather than water straight out of the tap (especially if your water is hard). Poland springs or something like that is perfect. If you think about it the only two ingredients are tea and water if the water has an off taste that will come through easily.

Also boiling water and letting it come down to the correct temperature rather than just heating it up to 175F or whatever your target is.
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rjbman
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Re: Camellia Sinensis

Post by rjbman »

miles wrote: Mon Mar 29, 2021 2:20 am Imo, one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of making tea is the water. It really makes a huge difference if you use filtered water rather than water straight out of the tap (especially if your water is hard). Poland springs or something like that is perfect. If you think about it the only two ingredients are tea and water if the water has an off taste that will come through easily.
i once went to a brew class for c*ffee and they really pushed that point
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Re: Camellia Sinensis

Post by oucho »

Having never been a tea drinker I got really into herbal teas when I moved to the south of France. I never knew that people made teas out of things like thyme and rosemary until I saw it in the supermarkets there and we obviously grew all those plants in the garden I worked in and I had my own little garden too. It was very nice to just be able to pop outside and grab whatever you wanted to make tea from, I did dry some mint a few times but in general I just harvested things fresh.

Overall rosemary tea is probably my favourite herbal tea, I was shocked at how gross sage tea is but in the end it kind of grew on me. It was also fun to experiment with different things, some successful like lesser calamint which is a decent mint alternative and tarragon also makes a pretty nice tea. Some less successful like wormwood which is absolutely disgusting.

Although it didn't make a very good tea the funniest herb I ever came across is costmary which tastes like chewing gum
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skunk ape
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Re: Camellia Sinensis

Post by skunk ape »

Today's mug:
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Today's tea:
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miles
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Re: Camellia Sinensis

Post by miles »

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High Grade Shincha from Fukuoka. Shincha is the first picked and processed tea of the year. This one is very smooth and mellow compared to most Shincha, with notes of melon and a little nuttiness.
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Bleeker
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Re: Camellia Sinensis

Post by Bleeker »

7 pm stanky ripe pu-erh to accompany some GIS practice work I'm doing. Gong fu brewing this is so good because it's pretty low maintenance (brew temp 100ºC, short steeping time, low risk of overbrewing) and allows me to do something alongside light work.
This Yunnan pu-erh has pretty low caffeine content and is pretty warm, which makes it nice to drink in the evening, especially now when it's cold and dark.

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aroma is a little funky at first, my first association was dried fish or fall leaves, but it's smooth and savory on the tongue, so it's kinda like a nice cheese.
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funyuns
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Re: Camellia Sinensis

Post by funyuns »

my parents regularly send me tea from hong kong. i like tea but no means a connoisseur (more my parents being v into it), but one thing nice is they send me the new spring and winter crops, which are notedly more fragrant than the usual tea i get (currently drinking maojian and tieguanyin/iron goddess)
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