Tea Party

[Taleisin]

I'm on a small holiday visiting my family, and I found a bunch of tea cans from Twinings. Out of all of them, only one had any tea inside, and it was full at that. The others were well used and had no tea in them, but this Lapsang Souchong was intact inside even though the outside was as weathered as the rest.
View attachment 49957
This stuff is pretty old so I feel a bit like Steve1989MREInfo. Let's get this out onto a tray...
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Nice.

The text outside talks about it being a smoky tea appreciated by connoisseurs, but I didn't pay it any mind and pried it open (it was very hard to open).
The smell was literally that of smoked salt. I guess that's why the previous owner didn't actually try any of it.
Still, there's no need to discard it without trying it first, so I'll brew up a small cup
View attachment 49958
The smell after brewing is very smokey and very strong. Drinking it is 90% smell and 10% taste, and if I cover my nose as I drink it doesn't really taste of much. And the smell is just smoked *something*. It's hard to describe and I don't know how much the fact that this tea is 20-30+ years old affects anything.

After a bit more research this tea is used for blends, which makes sense, but it's also used as a base for stock (!).
So I can make some stew from tea aged for 30 years

It sounds like some of the tea flavours degraded, but not the scent. It should taste like a deep, slightly smokey black tea

 

[mauer]

I don't know if I ever posted in this thread after my first one or two, but I recently got some proper loose-leaf teas. very comfy. Several types, but one of my favorites is the lapsang souchong. I don't get the impression it's the highest of quality but it's still really tasty. Smoked black tea over some kind of fir or pine.

 

[eve]

amazing, tastes sosososooooooo good :D

 

[Taleisin]

Picked up some red Korean ginseng root pieces, time for nice energising tea

 

[Oasisboi]

Picked up some red Korean ginseng root pieces, time for nice energising tea
View attachment 54254

<It looks amazing

 

[Taleisin]

<It looks amazing

tastes great too! needs some honey though, it's quite earthy and too bitter without.

and surprisingly cheap: £20 for 50g, you use 1-3g per cup (3g is too stimulating for me)

 

[ECHETLAEUS]

My favorite teas are:
•Goji Acai
•Cardamom tea with cinnamon and ginger
•Chamomile

 

[Oasisboi]

My favorite teas are:
•Goji Acai
•Cardamom tea with cinnamon and ginger
•Chamomile

You have good taste my friend

 

[Jessica3cho雪血⊜青意]

What do the Agora Tea Master denizens think about the Steepologie brand?

250+ Teas to Explore - Join Thousands of Teas Enthusiasts

All orders are hand packed and shipped fresh directly to you. Order at Steepologie.com. Blending artisanal teas since 2016 - black tea, green tea, herbal tisanes, rooibos, oolong, white tea, pu-er and much more like teaware and gift packs!

www.steepologie.com

I've had a few teas from them that I liked and their packaging was fairly convenient. Are they just an overhyped name brand, though? Does anyone have any better suggestions for unique tea companies?

 

[Taleisin]

This is the closest agora has to a herbal medicine thread, so

Just started steeping a red ginseng, aronia berry and ginger tincture.

Hopefully the nice red colours in the herbs will come out into the liquid.

Ingredients: aronia 60g, red ginseng 23g, 1x ginger root, vodka to 1L.


Edit: that was fast

 

[CognacDefender]

What do the Agora Tea Master denizens think about the Steepologie brand?

250+ Teas to Explore - Join Thousands of Teas Enthusiasts

All orders are hand packed and shipped fresh directly to you. Order at Steepologie.com. Blending artisanal teas since 2016 - black tea, green tea, herbal tisanes, rooibos, oolong, white tea, pu-er and much more like teaware and gift packs!

www.steepologie.com

I've had a few teas from them that I liked and their packaging was fairly convenient. Are they just an overhyped name brand, though? Does anyone have any better suggestions for unique tea companies?

Shit.

 

[LostintheCycle]

COFFEE DRINKERS

TEA DRINKERS

MILK ""TEA"" DRINKERS

I got no problem with those popular boba pearl milk drinks, but I refuse to call that tea, it's sugar milk. Calling it tea makes it sound healthier than what it is.

Anyway I bought some Japanese green tea from a store that sells Asian groceries, and it is so different from Twinnings green tea. I didnt like green tea until I got that honestly. I think its called 'Yabukita Blend'. Taste is much stronger compared to weak ass Twinnings, but I dont think that shop stocks it anymore.
The one benefit to Melbourne's incredibly high Asian population is that they have Asian vending machines, which sell unsweetened green tea in bottles/cans. The ingredients are just green tea leaves, water, antioxidant, and some other unimportant thing, and it is so good that I don't have as many sugary drinks anymore.

 

[№56]

What do the Agora Tea Master denizens think about the Steepologie brand?

250+ Teas to Explore - Join Thousands of Teas Enthusiasts

All orders are hand packed and shipped fresh directly to you. Order at Steepologie.com. Blending artisanal teas since 2016 - black tea, green tea, herbal tisanes, rooibos, oolong, white tea, pu-er and much more like teaware and gift packs!

www.steepologie.com

I've had a few teas from them that I liked and their packaging was fairly convenient. Are they just an overhyped name brand, though? Does anyone have any better suggestions for unique tea companies?

Vahdam has a good selection of western-style loose leaf black tea and chai that's sourced directly from India. I recently ordered a big bag of Earl Grey from them and have been loving it. Their website is mega gay, but that's par for the course when it comes to online tea retailers.
Yunnan Sourcing is great for traditional Chinese teas like pu-erh and oolong that are more suited for a gaiwan than a western-style teapot. The storefront can be a little overwhelming and some of the teas are overpriced, but sorting by best-selling will give you a good idea of where to start. Orders can take a while because they ship directly from China, but they also have a separate US-based storefront with a more limited selection.
This pastebin from the /tea/ general on /ck/ has a long list of recommended stores and other useful information. I would also recommend giving /tea/ a look if you've got more questions, the people there are really knowledgeable and it's surprisingly comfy for a long-running 4chan general thread.

COFFEE DRINKERS
View attachment 54547

TEA DRINKERS
View attachment 54545

MILK ""TEA"" DRINKERS
View attachment 54546
I got no problem with those popular boba pearl milk drinks, but I refuse to call that tea, it's sugar milk. Calling it tea makes it sound healthier than what it is.

Anyway I bought some Japanese green tea from a store that sells Asian groceries, and it is so different from Twinnings green tea. I didnt like green tea until I got that honestly. I think its called 'Yabukita Blend'. Taste is much stronger compared to weak ass Twinnings, but I dont think that shop stocks it anymore.
The one benefit to Melbourne's incredibly high Asian population is that they have Asian vending machines, which sell unsweetened green tea in bottles/cans. The ingredients are just green tea leaves, water, antioxidant, and some other unimportant thing, and it is so good that I don't have as many sugary drinks anymore.

Buy a gaiwan and you will begin to look, act, and talk like this guy:

 

[Oasisboi]

Buy a gaiwan and you will begin to look, act, and talk like this guy:

REAL SHIT

 

[Taleisin]

Update on that tincture, it's very dark and almost opaque now. Gonna steep for 2 weeks more I think

 

[Oasisboi]

W

 

[Taleisin]

I got impatient and strained my tincture, I think I'll celebrate finishing my university dissertation with it in a few days

Came out a lovely colour, and actually tastes pretty good! woody, spicy, slightly tart and overall pretty drinkable

 

[CognacDefender]

I got impatient and strained my tincture, I think I'll celebrate finishing my university dissertation with it in a few days

View attachment 56369
Came out a lovely colour, and actually tastes pretty good! woody, spicy, slightly tart and overall pretty drinkable

Looks like jenkem.

 

[Oasisboi]

I got impatient and strained my tincture, I think I'll celebrate finishing my university dissertation with it in a few days

View attachment 56369
Came out a lovely colour, and actually tastes pretty good! woody, spicy, slightly tart and overall pretty drinkable

Excellent method! I'm sure the wait was worth it!!

 

[№56]

I got a "Puerh beginner package" from Liquid Proust a couple months ago and have finally gotten around to trying all the different teas that came with it. I definitely like "ripe"/shou puerh better than "raw"/sheng puerh, despite the latter's reputation for being more high-quality. The shengs I've tried were too bitter (one of them tasted like an ashtray) and lost their flavor too quickly, but I may have been steeping them too long. My kung fu gongfu skills are getting better but I still have a ways to go.
It turns out that the arab grocery store near my house has a big loose leaf tea selection. I went there and picked up a package of Alwazah brand ceylon tea after hearing a guy rave about it on /ck/. It's good, solid, black tea. Nothing mind-blowing, but the quality is great for the price I paid ($6.00 for 350g).
I've also started drinking hibiscus tea at night, which looks and tastes a lot like cranberry juice.