BARBELITH underground
 

Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.


Underground > Conversation >

Tea

  
  

Page: 1(2)34

 
 
Axolotl
19:41 / 29.06.06
While my normal cup of tea is fairly basic (stewed 'till orange with a dash of milk) I do dabble in more delicately flavoured waters: Recently I'm going through a phase of drinking various chai blends black (not a big dairy fan). I enjoy going to Tchai-Ovna (a teahouse in Glasgow). My big dream is get a samovar, though I think it would have to be electric -I like tea, but not to the extent of having a small woodburning stove in my flat- as my few experiences of this type of tea I've greatly enjoyed.
 
 
MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!
19:50 / 29.06.06
I have an infuser-mug (a holey cup-thing sits inside a larger mug) at work that I bought in Chinatown several months ago, and lots of loose tea. I make tea about once an afternoon, pouring boiling water into the infuser mug, waiting 2-3 minutes and removing the "tea holder" at the top, letting it drip into the mug below for a few seconds...

...and have noticed with both the Darjeerling and the Prince of Wales leaves that small tea-bits get through the infuser holes, drift down into the teacup, and become much larger, bitter chunks of wet tea-leaf when I drink.

Is this, er, good or bad nor neither? I'm not sure if I should be using a tea ball instead, with the tiny metal mesh, or if this is a deliberate design thing because the leaves at the bottom add Awesome Tea Flavour(TM), or if the Chinese just like their tea chunky, or what.

I don't MIND this, except that occasionally I'll get Tea Leaf Tongue, which tastes pretty gross.

I'm the only person I know of that drinks leaf tea, so I have nowhere to turn for guidance. Is there a quantifiable difference between "big hole infuser tea" and "tea ball metal mesh" tea?
 
 
grant
23:51 / 29.06.06
if the Chinese just like their tea chunky,

The hint might be in the fact that neither "Prince of Wales" nor "Darjeeling" is a Chinese name. The Chinese teas I have are either in bags (because lifted from hotel rooms) or cut pretty large.

I have noticed that even the teas in bags from China are good for a lot more infusions than similar teas bought here. Like, one bag of jasmine tea from a Guangzhou hotel is good for five to seven decent cups, while something similar here (even if made in China) starts getting lousy after the second cup's done. Thus, I suspect that even the teas *in* the bags are less minced up than the ones I'm used to.
 
 
foolish fat finger
00:07 / 30.06.06
Intersting, I wonder if anyone has ever explored the parallels between Christianity and Islam in their use of heavily sweetened tea as a catalyst for social activity, where the American South, the British heartlands and the Arab world have quite a bit in common.

hmmm, that is fascinating, cube. I wish I had an answer for you- I will meditate on it. but you are quite correct- in fact, I would add that coffee (sorry, O/T) is a further defining line somehow...

myself, I currently drink de-caff earl grey, with... MILK! OMG... Call tha cops...!
 
 
MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!
00:12 / 30.06.06
The hint might be in the fact that neither "Prince of Wales" nor "Darjeeling" is a Chinese name.

Excuse me while I pound my head on the desk for a minute. I'm such a dolt. I think I'll break out a steel-mesh tea bag then, and when I run out of the current stuff I'll invest in real Chinese tea. Thanks for pointing out what should have been obvious.
 
 
Proinsias
00:27 / 30.06.06
Matt, I typed most of this out and then seen grants post. Fuck it, tea no matter where it's from could benefit from a little Chinese knowledge to brew it nicely, they've put a lot of effort in.
This knowledge does not come directly from China but via a slightly drunk person in Galsgow.

Tea floating around the bottom generally isn't a good thing from a brewing point of view. The idea is to steep the tea leaves at the correct temperature for a set amount of time, own preference, and then remove all the tea.That way you can enjoy the whole cup of tea as oppossed to drinking weak tea at the start and then having to rush so as not to encounter tar-like tea at the bottom. I realise this is greatly exagerated as I'm moaning about large ceramic teapot problems and not a small cup with a few bits at the bottom but the principle is the same.

The small mesh ball will cut down on the crap at the bottom. Using the ball means a lot less room for the leaves to move and consequently you need a slightly longer brewing time which will bring out a little more of the bitterness in the tea (that's why the Chinese method is a tiny, 2-3oz, teapot stuffed full of leaves). If you're the kind of person who'd rather use a wet wipe than reuse a cleaning cloth you can get empty teabags from quite a few sites and fill up yourself.

I've also heard great things about the ingenuiTEA from Adagio sibyline mentioned earlier although I've never tried it. I'm going full time in a call centre over the summer and I don't rekon I could get away with it on my rather small desk. I've opted for one of the thermal mugs with the small drinking hole like a throw-a-way coffe cup that evey dept store and supermarket are selling and drinking large leaf tea, green or light oolong, with litte or no fine stuff. Lighter tea is also less likely to go bitterly wrong . I can fill up my cup with green tea add some warm(60-70) water and keep topping up for 1.5-2hrs, maybe 4/5 mugs without any bitterness. I do occasionaly get an inch long leaf bidding for escape but that ain't really a problem.

If you're keen on darjeerling the first flush darjeerling teas are really worth trying, if a little dearer. They seem to be somewhere between green tea and black tea but nowhere in the middle if that makes any sense and I imagine would work rather well for your brewing situation as it is at the moment, possibly giving you two or three brews/cups - don't use boiling water leave it for a good 8-10 mins. Please bang your head on the desk in between brews as you my disturb the tea otherwise.

Phyrephox

Tchai-Ovna's a fine place although I'm visiting far less due to the arrival of the smoking ban coupled with a gift of a hookah pipe from a friend in Abu Dhabi. Did you ever make it to the No.1 Tea Art Studio just minutes away from the west end Tchai-Ovna? Even discounting the tea the place had some of the finest chinese food imaginable (couldn't even taste MSG!).
 
 
MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!
11:00 / 30.06.06
Thanks, Proinsias... I shall apply those recommendations forthwith, but the IngenuiTEA isn't yet available in Canada. The kitchenette/kettle will have to do.
 
 
_Boboss
11:17 / 30.06.06
best = the ball plus tea strainer at the pouring stage.
 
 
Proinsias
12:11 / 30.06.06
A super fine strainer like this this makes quite a difference.
 
 
Proinsias
12:50 / 08.08.06
A tea set to put your finest china set to shame. A bargin at a mere $69500. Better be quick though only around 100 kicking about.
 
 
nixwilliams
00:00 / 15.08.06
oh, i'm so excited! i work at a tea shop, selling loose-leaf teas: The Tea Party. and i love it!!! we've got a medium range, including buddha's tears (white tea, infused with jasmine, hand-rolled into balls and wrapped in silk to dry. when you infuse the balls, they unravel, and look a little like spiders sitting inthe bottom of the glass), lotus balls (white tea with a flower in the middle, that opens up like an anenome when infused), a lot of sencha-based flavoured green teas (natural flavouring), a stack of rooibos (plain, to lemon myrtle and lemongrass, to caramel), indian and african teas, oolong (which nobody ever buys), lapsang souchong (pretty much my favourite), moroccan mint, turkish apple (really just sugar, isn't it?), earl grey, rooibos earl grey, lady grey, french earl grey (with fruit and rose petals), chai (traditional, vanilla, roase & citrus, one on a green tea base, and one on a rooibos base) and flavoured blacks such as vanilla, blood orange, and chocolate. and also herbals and fruit/berry infusions. I LOVE TEA! and i'm not a tea snob except when it comes to people putting lots of sugar into it, or using syrup or powder to make (nooooo!) CHAI LATTE!

while i know that the scotch & coke analogy is very fair, what's wrong with people enjoying black tea with additives? everyone has their foibles. and, often, people are used to drinking such disgusting tea that it's no wonder they put milk and/or sugar and/or lemon in to disguise the taste. chai is traditionally made with both milk and a sweetener (someone mentioned that already, didn't they?). i also think iced tea with fresh fruit or mint etc. is perfectly ok...

i recently had an amazing african tea - very full bodied, well-rounded, strong, and not very tanniny at all.

i'm blabbing on, but thought some people might like to know a couple of things:
1. it's often the tannin in tea that causes upset stomachs - black and green teas are quite high in tannin, white tea less so, and rooibos has very little.
2. the majority of caffeine in a cup of tea comes from the first 3-5 seconds of infusion, so you can lower the content significantly by infusing the leaves briefly, emptying the water, then refilling the cup.
3. you can get infuser cups which are really good for making green tea, as there is lots of room for the tea to expand and the water to circulate, and you can take the leaves out after a couple of minutes.
4. the three things that can make good green tea go bad: (A) you use too much per cup. one teaspoon is plenty, usually. (B) you pour boiling water over the leaves, it scalds them. wait a couple of minutes after the kettle has boiled before you pour water over the leaves. (C) you infuse the tea for too long. i usually only infuse mine for 2 and a half to three minutes or else it stews. this doesn't really apply to white tea, or to genmai cha with its high rice/corn content. also, i know that some people and cultures do otherwise, so i'm willing to back down on this one!

ok, enough from me. except to say - i haven't developed a liking for macha. is that because i've never had good stuff?
 
 
Proinsias
11:30 / 15.08.06
Hi nixwilliams,

You jammy, jammy bastard. Now that I've got that out of the way congratulations on the new job.

I've not got a problem with people drinking milky sugary tea I just have no interest in it. I used the scotch analogy just to emphasize I was talking about good quality tea and not something off the supermarket shelf, althouh supermarket sencha seems to be getting a little better these days in the UK.


things that can make good green tea go bad:

you pour boiling water over the leaves

Some of the Taiwanese tea masters advise the use of boiling water with green tea saying that tea of a sufficient quality will not become bitter if brewed correctly. I worked up the courage to sacrafice some rather nice Liu An Gua Pian green tea to boiling water and was pleasantly surprised, not a hint of bitterness.

you use too much per cup...
you infuse the tea for too long

I usually use quite alot of tea around 5/7 grams in a 250ml jug with water a good ten mins off the boil; infusions start at 2/3 secs and go up to just under a minute when I get to over 15 infusions. The more leaves, less water makes for a rather nice cuppa but does mean that you're kinda committed to drinking tea for the next few hours. If I'm pushed for time I use a small gaiwan
and just drop a few leaves in topping it up when required, I keep the water fairly cool for green tea in the gaiwan.

The problem with the matcha I beleive is not only the quality but also the preparation. An excerp from the Teamasters blogspot:

So, how do you make Sung dynasty tea?
1. clean your hands,
2. clean your Tian Mu bowl and the bamboo spoon with a dedicated, clean and beautiful fabric,
3. Slowly pre-heat the bowl with just boiled water and then empty the bowl,
4. Put several spoons of matcha up to the zhi kou (the height where the glaze stops on the outer walls of the bowl). Usually just a few millimeters.
5. Add some just boiled water (95 degrees Celcius +) as slowly as possible. Take the bamboo whisk and mix water and tea.
6. Repeat step 5 several times (ideally 7 times)
7. Slowly take the wisk out when a layer of foam floats on the surface. Tea is ready to drink.
8. Rinse and clean the wisk, the spoon and the bowl with hot water. Let them dry before storing them away.

The most difficult about this technique is how to handle the wisk. From your movement depends the taste of your tea. I have been learning with Teaparker recently. I was amazed at how different poorly wisked matcha (I made in my first attempts) tastes compared to the one Teaparker makes. Here are 2 links to videos of Teaparker making this tea.

Some principles for handling the whisk:
- Never stop until it's over. Foam will only happen at very high temperature. If you stop, then you loose time and your chances for success diminish,
- Don't move the whisk up and down: you would break some branches
- Try to keep more or less the same speed and the same direction,
- Use your whole body to make this happen. Think of this like a way to channel your energy into the tea bowl. A clear and happy mind will produce a good tea.
- The final result must be a thick layer of fine foam covering the whole surface. And it should be even thicker in the middle, where you took the whisk out.
- Sweating is almost garanteed.

It takes several months of practice to master this technique. Good luck!

I've never had matcha before as I intend to try and do it properly when I get round to it, at the moment I've just got too much on my tea tray.

Lastly, if people don't buy the oolong try something lighter than the formosa like a nice tie guan yin and use it to target the green tea drinkers. My last order of tie guan yin from jingteashop smelt so good the last two people I've showed it to immediatly ate some leaves out of the jar.
 
 
iamus
11:45 / 15.08.06
::Rabbits the rest into mouth::

What?
 
 
Proinsias
11:58 / 15.08.06
::Rabbits the rest into mouth::

What?

Double what??
 
 
Proinsias
12:03 / 15.08.06
Ahh gotcha, in my first draft which crashed and died I had mentioned that my rabbit eats the used green tea leaves hence my confusion thinking you got to see the forever lost directors cut of my post.
 
 
nixwilliams
23:11 / 15.08.06
thanks! i know, i have a fantastic job!

i have wondered with the boiling water and bitterness of green tea - i notice that this has been no problem with white teas, although they are obviously processed in a different manner (and it seems that over here the white teas are of a fairly consistent [high] standard, whereas green teas are all over the place).

amusingly, after i posted i went to a cafe with a couple of friends. my partner asked the waiter what tea they had, and he said "english breakfast, earl grey, darjeerling, white tea, green tea, peppermint tea". so we asked for white tea... we should have checked, because out came the pot of english breakfast with a little jug of milk. ahh, white tea!

milk/sugar/lemon/etc: i think some people don't really like the taste of tea... i was thinking about this, because i have milk in my coffee, and very occasionally a bit of sugar, but can't stand coffee neat. but i really like my flat white, or decaf skinny soy latte. ok, maybe not the last one!

i'll also pass the idea regarding oolong to the owner/buyer. formosan oolong is quite dark, and we might have more luck with something lighter. it's also a problem with merchandising in the shop, as we have to choose whether to put it with the green teas or the black teas, and it always ends up on the bottom shelf.
 
 
MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!
13:38 / 22.08.06
Given that I need to steep a tea ball (or in my case a cute little tea strainer that looks like a teapot itself) a little longer to let the water work around the tea leaves, is there any particular benefit to:

(a) jiggling the thing around by the chain every once in a while to agitate it,

(b) adding more/fewer leaves into the ball (will stuffing it full make "stronger" tea, or just inhibit the motion of the water around the leaves?)

And do I pour boiling water on the tea ball, or drop the tea ball into the boiling water?
 
 
nixwilliams
03:05 / 24.08.06
oh, those teapot things are odd. i hope you're not using green tea in it, because there is no way you could get a good cup of green tea out of one. so, assuming you're using black tea... adding more leaves is not really an option because the dooverlacky you're using is too small to handle it, and also using more can mean the flavour of the tea is not as enjoyable, as it condenses (like putting too much salt or sugar in a dish, so the other flavours are overpowered)... i am a jiggler, but that's because i'm impatient. i think it makes sense, also, because as you say it allows the water to circulate more. you could also use a larger, mesh teaball/infuser. and of course the other way to get a sronger cup of tea is to use a stronger blend.

but i'm not the mighty answerer of all tea questions, so i recommend you experiment!

i remembered the other day a tea i've only had a couple of times - prepared in a tibetan (i think) style, with milk and butter and a little bit of salt. it was amazing - such a different style to what i'm used to. yay new tea experiences.
 
 
Proinsias
21:06 / 25.10.06
Translated from a tea blog:

3 men with guns rushed into a pu-erh* store in TaiChung, Taiwan around 12:15pm yesterday(Oct/24). They tied up the store owner, Mr. Chen, and took away more than 10 pieces of antique (Hao and Yin)-grade pu-erhs and 30+ mushrooms on the shelves. The store owner offered to give them money, but the men said,

"No money, just want pu-erhs!"

Oh my Oh my... isn't it a sign that pu-erh market is over-heated!

and I thought I had a bad tea addiction!

*aged tea
 
 
grant
15:30 / 26.10.06
Tastes something like stables, but some people quite like it.
 
 
Kali, Queen of Kitteh
15:31 / 26.10.06
I have a cup every morning. Then another in the afternoon.
 
 
grant
15:38 / 26.10.06
From the Rec.food.drink.tea FAQ:

Pu-erh differs from other teas because it is "refermented," or oxidized a second time. This secondary oxidation sometimes is used to develop a thin layer of mold on the leaves. (Although this is unusual for most tea, skittish Western tea drinkers ought to keep in mind that mold is also a key ingredient in widely consumed Western products such as cheese.)

Pu-erh is renowned for its alleged medicinal effects on the digestive tract. Some Chinese, in fact, drink it only as medicine. In any case, it is an acquired taste. The term 'earthy' applies almost literally, as some pu-erh tastes remarkably like dirt. This is not a criticism, but novices should taste the tea before buying it.
 
 
Proinsias
01:10 / 05.11.06
Pu erh tea is divided into two main catergories cooked and raw(shu & sheng). I belive the puerh you are talking about, the kind availible in tea bags and on supermarket shelves is cooked pu erh which has been oxidized and then left to oxidize further.
Raw pu erh is processed roughly as green tea is, I think, and then left to age(oxidize). This is the pu erh that is prized by collectors and can fetch 1000's of dollars per cake. Cooked pu erh, if done well, can also fetch high prices but does not gain the same reputation as raw tea. Raw pu erh does not taste like dirt or even stables, in my experience, but can be a little bitter if you can't afford something that has been aged very well for a long time.

In short: pu erh is fantastic and you shouldn't be put off if you've only drank some nasty loose leaf cooked shit.

I've got around 6 grams of raw pu erh, from a compressed cake, on the go just now. I've had over three litres from that set of leaves today and it tastes like it will still be begging for more hot water tomorrow morning.
 
 
gingerbop
16:47 / 05.11.06
I made my flatmate drink her first cup of tea last week. She is 19 and is English. How appauling is that?

"I think it's an aquired taste," she said.
Sigh.
 
 
Spaniel
17:52 / 05.11.06
Yes it is an aquired taste.

It is acquired by being brought up properly.

Damnit!
 
 
Proinsias
20:51 / 05.11.06
I wouldn't be too bothered about her not liking tea as long as she is able to prepare you a cup when required.
 
 
HCE
00:52 / 06.11.06
tea

Intro to Fine Teas:
East Frisian BOP (Assam)
Moondakotee 2nd Flush (Darj)
China Keemun
China Yunnan TGFOP

White Tea Sampler:
Shou Mei Special Grade
Pai Mu Tan White
Fuding White Treasure
White Point Reserve

Intro to Oolong:
Formosa Oolong Fine Grade
Formosa Amber Oolong
Formosa Jade Oolong
China Oolong Se Chung

British Blend Sampler:
Bond Street English Breakfast
Finest Russian Caravan
Baker Street Afternoon Blend
Richmond Park Blend

Premium Darjeeling Sampler:
Castleton 2nd Flush FTGFOP1
Arya Estate Organic Ruby
Singbulli Estate SFTGFOP 1st Flush
Margaret's Hope FTGFOP 2nd Flush Muscat *

* My favorite
 
 
gingerbop
23:48 / 06.11.06
Ah. Yes. We later had to teach her how to prepare a cup of tea, as she'd never done that either. How right you are about a proper upbringing. These southeners, I tell you.
 
 
Proinsias
11:06 / 26.04.07
Quantum tunneling observed in tea.

Another reason for me to drink litres of the stuff that doesn't involve me admitting I have an addiction.
 
 
iamus
13:56 / 26.04.07
What's next?

Leptonice?
 
 
Katherine
14:49 / 26.04.07
Unless you are like me and read Barbelith not signed in you may not have seen the google ad for this thread;

Mighty Leaf Teas

A rather nice site with some interesting teas for sale, I like the sampler sets.

I have been drinking Gunpowder tea at work or a own herbal mix tea but I rather like the look of the Manadarin Rose and some of the classic blacks. They do have a selection of the Pu-erh teas but as I have never tried them I can't comment or whether these are good ones or not, although I am tempted to try them, any recommendations?

My own herbal tea varies as time goes on, depending on my mood when topping up the tin. At the moment it pretty much is just Raspberry Leaf but that's more down to the fact I haven't gone near Neal's Yard or Baldwins just recently.
 
 
petunia
17:09 / 30.05.07
I started drinking green tea a couple of years back and it has taken over my hot drink input. 'Normal tea' (PG tips or whatever it is) doesn't sit right with me anymore - it's too bitter and dry without milk and too greasy with. Green is what i like.

I drink quite a bit of gunpowder, which i like for its pellety coolness and the nice kick it gives. I also picked up a nice organic green in a stall in Dublin which has taught me what real flavour can be like. The guy in the stall was pimping an organic tea/toasted rice blend which smelled lovely, but was out of my pricerange. woe.

So now i'm stuck in teasnob land. I don't like 'normal' tea and there are about two cafes in manchester that sell the green. I have resorted to taking a baggy of looseleaf into work and to friends houses for if i want a cuppa.

Now i don't mind doing this. I've become used to the odd looks. But i'd really like to have a container that isn't a dope-bad looking disposable plastic affair. I figure my tea deserves more than to be taken for an eight of skunk.

I'm thinking of a nice ornate little box that would slip easily into a pocket but carry enough tea for a good few cups, but i'm not sure such a thing exists.

Does anybody know of such a contraption or am i going to have to use a snuff box?
 
 
grant
17:16 / 30.05.07
I suppose you could just use one of the little metal canisters you get tea samplers in at the Far East groceries?

You'd have to buy the tea first, of course.

But why not carry it around like dope? WHY CAN'T YOU SUPPORT THE REVOLUTION??
 
 
Sibelian 2.0
17:42 / 30.05.07
1. There's a tea thread!

2. It's time for my evening pot of Earl Grey.

3. Shortbread, anyone?
 
 
Spaniel
17:55 / 30.05.07
I have been put off this thread by the frankly appalling abstract.

"Talk of milk and/or sugar will be treated with contempt"

The fuck?

Now, I'm not sayin' there's no place for poncey teas, and blends, but a discussion of tea that excludes milk and sugar, and is likely equally disdainful of brown tea for builders, is not only 100% wrong, it's like talking about beans without toast. Ridiculous.
 
  

Page: 1(2)34

 
  
Add Your Reply