tea anyone?

[tweeds]

how vast is your pot collection, chicken?

cast iron pots have always given me the same tingly feeling one associates with nails scratching across chalkboards, unfortunately.......:eek:

[Chicken]

heh, i don't collect kyusu or anything. i just have about one at a time. it's just that i grew up with a bunch of them. my family drank about ten cups of green tea per person on a weekend day, and there were five of us. therefore, lots of kyusu to go through.

so over time, i guess i developed my own preference.

and i think i'm feelin you tweeds, for typical tea like bancha or genmaicha, i think regular ceramics or those reddish-brown ones work well for the taste. but the iron cast ones seem to work for much darker tea.

but in the end i guess they're preferences.

[2000dB]

How about glass? They're easy to clean and dont affect the taste and you can see the tea, which can be pretty.

My taste in tea got weird while I was in paris. All they'd drink at work was vanilla tea which is quite shitty, but now Im used to it.

[dolly]

I'm a huge fan of 'blend 103' from the tea emporium in toronto... it has really pleasant floral undertones, and it's enjoyable any time of day

http://www.theteaemporium.com/customer/product.php?productid=814&cat=&page=1

[phate]

any of the japanese teas with rice in them i love. the smell is just amazing

[Chicken]

that would be genmaicha.

[mpcec]

I work at a gourmet coffee shop and since I don't drink coffee I've been starting to try the teas out. We sell tons of loose leaf teas and a few bagged ones from Republic of Tea. Only thing I hate about tea is that the water is usually at like 125 degrees so it takes a while for it to cool down, I think I 'm just going to start making a more concentrated batch of tea, and then pouring it over ice/ keeping it chilled in the fridge.

Any of you tried Russian Caravan (blend of keemun and lapsang souchong)? Smells awful but I'm interested in trying it.

[englandmj7]

that would be genmaicha.

Mmmm. I've been buying this from the Japanese tea store 'Lupicia' (they have a store in Century City) but I need to get it cheaper somewhere. I'm hoping I can get a good deal at a place like Mitsuwa.

[mr fluffernutter]

right now i'm pretty into earl grey, but i want to try something new soon

[timber]

I'm drinking the second worst tea of my life right now -- a white/raspberry tea that I thought sounded alluring, but then I forgot about it and it sat, becoming thicker and stronger for about an hour. Now it's cold, but damn if I don't drink it.

[kpnv]

^ russian caravan tea is interesting. tried it in melbourne loose leaf variety.

its smoked and has a really deep, smoky (duh but true) flavour. quite an intense brew. the smell might put some off but i find it quite interesting. wouldn't drink it everyday because it seems rather coarse to me, as in the flavour's pretty strong, not that its bad. i'd much rather drink longjing or something like that for everyday. if i were in sg, it'd be teh o pengs though.

i'm currently in a white tea/chrysanthenum phase. looking to try some mate now.

south east asian teas are markedly different from the rest of the world. here teas tend to be thick and rich, sweet and cloying if you're thai and typically mixed with condensed/sweetened milk. all down to the colonial era etc.

the tea used in general tends to be cheap assam scraps. which is unique in and of itself and still tasty, particularly down to ingenuity and marketing. pulled tea is like starbucks. the action froths the drink which adds a certain textural quality and it also cools the tea down to a more suitable drinking temperature. and all that for under a dollar.

[Guest]

right now i'm pretty into earl grey, but i want to try something new soon

second that

[DaBestSpoona]

I really like harney and son's earl grey

[mpcec]

^ russian caravan tea is interesting. tried it in melbourne loose leaf variety.

its smoked and has a really deep, smoky (duh but true) flavour. quite an intense brew. the smell might put some off but i find it quite interesting. wouldn't drink it everyday because it seems rather coarse to me, as in the flavour's pretty strong, not that its bad. i'd much rather drink longjing or something like that for everyday. if i were in sg, it'd be teh o pengs though.

i'm currently in a white tea/chrysanthenum phase. looking to try some mate now.

Cool, I think I'll try some tomorrow morning. I'd like to try mate too, my spanish teacher from uruguay brought in one of the (don't know the word for the small cup with straw thing you drink it from) and it interested me. I wish we carried mate, I think it could be a cool niche thing for people to try out like getting a french roast for their table or their own tea pot and tea to make. Not sure how well drinking from the same cup would go over with Americans though.

[bluespring]

I just bought a glass tea pot from mitsuwa and marriage freres loose tea. It's so good.

[jyoni]

Fresh, loose Earl Grey is my favorite. It's like a quality drug. Once you've had really good Earl Grey, you can never downgrade to teabags or shelved tins.

[Analyst]

Cool, I think I'll try some tomorrow morning. I'd like to try mate too, my spanish teacher from uruguay brought in one of the (don't know the word for the small cup with straw thing you drink it from) and it interested me. I wish we carried mate, I think it could be a cool niche thing for people to try out like getting a french roast for their table or their own tea pot and tea to make. Not sure how well drinking from the same cup would go over with Americans though.

She probably bought in a mate, which is made from a decorated hollowed gourd, and its metal straw, called a bomba. The straw acts as a sieve to allow the "infusion" through while preventing the yerba debris from being ingested. This is typically used predominantly in South American countries.

[Analyst]

Has anyone ever tired tea infused from coca leaves, which can be further processed to make cocaine?

I know that in Peru and Columbia, the leaves from the coca plant is also used to brew a strong tea. In Amsterdam, while browsing the numerous head shops, I came across several establishments that sold small packets of coca leaves. Of course these places also sold tons of cutting agents (mannitol) and weighing devices and various other paraphernalia. But I was always curious about the coca de mate brew!

[jyoni]

This morning I tried a sample of some Oolong that was allegedly "hand" picked by trained monkeys.

Lawl.

[Gabriel]

the trained monkey tea actually exists! I didn't know it was oolong though.

I drink yerba mate everyday and I'm curious about the Peruvian coca mate... My question is, if you mix it with regular yerba, does it do the alkaloid reaction thing??? Slurping cocaine haha!

[jyoni]

I would like to have one of those monkeys around. But I suppose it would need a tea tree to feel any real sense of purpose.

[lestat]

This morning I tried a sample of some Oolong that was allegedly "hand" picked by trained monkeys.

Lawl.

"Ma Lao Mee" good stuff

[Analyst]

the trained monkey tea actually exists! I didn't know it was oolong though.

I drink yerba mate everyday and I'm curious about the Peruvian coca mate... My question is, if you mix it with regular yerba, does it do the alkaloid reaction thing??? Slurping cocaine haha!

I think consuming unprocessed coca leaves shouldn't give you the common "coke high". Unfortunately any absorption from eating it or drinking the tea would be a lot slower than snorting rails or smoking base.

Any Peruvians want to chime in and provide some first hand knowledge here?

[twistedtrees]

the trained monkey tea actually exists! I didn't know it was oolong though.

I drink yerba mate everyday and I'm curious about the Peruvian coca mate... My question is, if you mix it with regular yerba, does it do the alkaloid reaction thing??? Slurping cocaine haha!

I knew a guy in high school who had a goal to get one of those monkeys but train it to pick weed, and a dog that sniffed out the weed. He wanted to send the monkey out riding on the dog's back every morning and have them return at night with bags of weed.

I think it was the smartest idea he ever had.

[jyoni]

"Ma Lao Mee" good stuff

Oh yes, it was good.

[Analyst]

second that

If you want another black tea with a very distinctive flavor, try the Lapsong Souchong. Very deep and smokey, with hints of burnt pine needles. The taste can stay on your palate for a while.

I would experiment with the steeping time to find the right level for yourself.

[2000dB]

coca leaves are nothing like cocaine. My dad recently came back from staying in peru for a while and he told me that coca leaves are a pretty big part of the alimentation over there. The tea they brew doesn't seem to have any notable stimulant effect according to him. I haven't tried it myself though.

[concealed]

i like hangzhou xihu longjingcha

its the green tea of emperors, i picked up some handpicked AAA quality stuff, from a local village while i stayed at the west lake.

[2000dB]

word. good longjing is one of my favorites.

ugh, I really need to get off my ass and go pick up some tea, but I'm lazy.

[Fabulaz]

i like hangzhou xihu longjingcha

its the green tea of emperors, i picked up some handpicked AAA quality stuff, from a local village while i stayed at the west lake.

I don't know squat about tea but my mom has been drinking tea since she was born. Her freezer is stuffed with that stuff she hoarded in from China.

I drink this stuff: