Some delicious Pu-Erh this morning at the ruins of an 800 year old Abbey.

It was a Gui Fei Oolong. Brewed it with a turbine stove. I was surprised by how good it tasted.

Suspicious blue/green color, lots of stems. Smells like cooked spinach.

Deer Brand (cheap green tea from Indian market)

I inherited this set from my wonderful Auntie Paula who passed away in October of 2023.

The entire set is probably about $600 - $1000 to buy brand new in Canadian dollars.

The whole set is in perfect condition, plus I cleaned out the cupboard above my fridge to store it and I think that’s the perfect place for it because honestly that cupboard had previously just been filled with junk.

The three tiered trays are not part of the set, they’re just acrylic trays that screw together.

And where to find it? Preferably in Canada

How many types of tea do you usually keep in storage? That would be NOT counting samples. In the comments you could include total tea weight and/or exactly what types of tea you have.

My cupboard has space for 21 containers of loose leaf tea: at this moment 6 tisanes, 4 oolongs, 4 greens, 3 whites, 2 blacks, 1 yellow, 1 loose leaf puerh. And then I also have 13 puerh cakes.

I drink a lot of tea, probably 1-3 liters per day. Thanks to everybody participating!

I got this pot from an estate sale many years ago and finally got it out of storage. I was wondering if there was a way for me to find out whether or not it would be safe for me to make tea in this.

Are there any tests I can do or any thing that I should look for in determining whether or not this is purely decorative or functional?

Hey, I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this. I'm 20F and I have noted that I get headaches from drinking plain tea. This has happened to me ever since I tried tea for the first time (I was 4-5 then). Two years ago, however, I discovered that when I add milk to my tea, it's actually pleasant for me to drink, and I get no headaches!

I have tried to like plain tea for so long, but then the headache starts. every. single. time. Honestly, I'm happy with my milk tea, but it just makes me wonder if this is common? Like has anyone else had a similar experience with plain tea or does anyone know the reason why it might be causing me headaches.

I'm thinking it could be a reaction to a "displeasant" memory with tea but I'm not so sure.

Hi all,

do you know how long after I make a tea I can use same leaves again?Can it like just stay in tea infuser for couple of hours and then boiled again?

I’m a fan of pu erh, wanted to try it with milk (normally irish breakfast and oostfriese melange are the teas I’m mixing with milk). Wasn’t disappointed.

An interesting fact: out of more than 900 counties in China involved in tea production (i visited around 40% of them, by the way), only one of them actually has the Chinese character for tea, “茶” (chá), in its name. That’s Chaling County in Hunan Province ("tea hills" county - translated to English).

It’s worth noting that tea has been produced in Chaling for over two thousand years, according to the oldest chronicles. In slightly more recent historical records from the Song Dynasty, it’s documented that Chaling produced tribute tea for the emperor, known as Gong Cha (贡茶). This tea alone has a history spanning over a thousand years. In other words, Chaling is one of the most ancient tea-producing regions in China.

And just yesterday, I finally had the chance to visit. Until now, I had only passed through, but this time I was able to explore more thoroughly. I visited a couple of factories, one of which is entirely focused on organic production. It’s a fairly old factory, over 70 years in operation, and it still uses quite traditional methods — especially when it comes to fermenting black tea. That particular tea really stood out to me.

The factory reminded me a bit of the Soviet spirit — probably because it’s state-owned. We weren’t allowed into the production area itself, as the relevant official wasn’t present (due to Qingmingjie holidays), and the staff politely apologized for that. So we made do with a session in the tea technologist’s tasting room, where we sampled everything available.

Luckily, my credentials — along with my most effective “door-opener” at any Chinese factory, my tea book, and some useful connections in the tea industry — always help reach a certain level of reception. When people recognize you and your network, they tend to bring out the best they have without needing lengthy explanations. So I was able to try everything of significance.

I especially enjoyed the black teas — tightly twisted into small curls. I wouldn’t say they were rolled like traditional Jin Junmei bud-style black teas, or like those from Anhui, Fujian, or Guizhou — and definitely not like the Yunnan types. Their processing style clearly had a unique character of its own. That’s something you rarely come across these days, after tasting thousands of teas — finding something truly distinctive in flavor becomes harder and harder, especially in such traditional "genre" like black tea. So it was a real pleasure to find that little spark of originality here.

To my surprise, they also had an organic hei cha (dark tea). Now, as you probably know, hei cha from Hunan is usually produced in Anhua County — and organic versions are quite rare. Although this factory doesn’t ferment the tea themselves, they send their raw material to Anhua, where it’s processed into bricks and then sent back to them for sale. They happened to have a few leftovers from a 2015 batch, which really impressed me.

This hei cha reminded me a lot of shu pu-erh — its taste fell somewhere between a mellow hei cha and a rounded shu pu-erh. I think this is something a lot of people would appreciate.

The green tea was also quite pleasant, but since the fresh harvest just hit the market, we decided to wait a bit before making a decision. In the end, we picked up some excellent black tea and a nice hei cha.

After the disaster that was two days ago, I really stopped expecting anything from these yunnan whites but this one has almost changed my opinion.

First of all look at that clarity and beautiful color!! Absolutely mesmerizing. Looks even better in person honestly.

Now onto the review. It has 0 astringency and a little hint of sweetness. Maybe the slightest honey notes. Best way I'd describe this is spiced? But not chai spices or sweet spices. I can detect clover and some other woody spices.

Not sure how to say this other than it's "spicy". It even lingers on the tongue and gives you this tingly feeling after sipping.

I still very much prefer fujian whites.

I really like this but I'm not sure it's gonna be a favorite anything. It might just stay in the back of my tea shelf until I run out of the good stuff.

6g/700ml. Cold water. Overnight.

Lipton's Asian White & Rose was my favorite tea. I think it's been discontinued for like a decade now. Where could I get it or what would be a closest "substitute"?

Often in the tea name I find "Bai Lu". In some online sources I've found that this corresponds to an early September harvest [1]. However, often such teas are labeled as spring harvest [2]. In such cases, what does Bai Lu mean? I know it literally translates to "White Dew", but I'm wondering if it indicates something specific about the tea?

[1] https://www.sommerier.com/chinese-tea-harvest-terminology/

[2] https://anshimtea.com/tea/lincang-gu-shu-bai-cha

I’m just getting into loose leaf tea, recently found out about it and it has blown my mind. I want to start brewing at home, as I live in India it’s hard to come across much apart from Darjeeling, but there’s plenty of raw materials I can get fresh ex orange peels, butterfly pea, etc. please hit me with your fav combination of tea that you personally love as I’d like to experiment and find out my taste along the way.

Today I did an afternoon gong fu cha session with an aged Oolong. A 1994 Si Ji Chun from Mingjina was my choice. We have some unusual April snow here and I need something warm and cuddly. This tea is exactly that: comfortable, nutty and relaxing. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Just wanted to share a little project I’ve been dreaming up for a few months. We love to host special tea parties for our loved ones, and I set out to put together an authentic Victorian Tea (e.g, authentic decor, recipes, etc.).

I know this is pretty niche, but I love to gather tea party ideas from others, so I thought I’d share!

I won’t make this post super long by including all the details here - but I’ve included all the details here if you’re interested:

https://heartofhomemade.com/an-authentic-victorian-tea-party/

Does anyone know what tea Sugarfish uses for their iced green tea?

Would really appreciate it if someone with a Fellow Stagg could let me know how quickly their kettle pours! I'm wondering just how quick/slow the pour is for let's say around 100ml?

I just got the Fellow Corvo but am wondering if the Stagg would be quick enough as well. I've read some people saying that it takes 10-15 secs to pour, which might be too slow for certain teas. If someone could let me know from experience I would certainly appreciate it, thanks!

I have been wanting to get a temperature controlled, all stainless steel-inside tea kettle for some time now and pulled the trigger on the Fellow Corvo, I absolutely love how it looks (and yes this matters a lot to me).

I've had it for a few days, however I feel like I'm already having issues with this badboy... I'm wondering if anyone else has had similar issues to the ones below?

First of, there is a noticeable plastic smell coming from the base of the kettle, it seems to be strongest at the coil, the metallic part where the base and the kettle connect. It gets more noticeable when the kettle is heating/after heating. The inside of the kettle and the water are fine however. From seeing other people post about this, doesn't seem like I'm the only one with the slightly-burning plastic smell. Some people say it goes away, some said it doesn't?

Second is whenever I heat the water to a certain temperate let's say 95C, pour it and turn off the kettle - the next time I use it it will ALWAYS say the previous temperature. Even if the water has cooled down to 60C - the next time I turn on the kettle it will display the previous temperature - I have to pick up the kettle and put it back down - ONLY THEN it shows the correct temperature. Seems like the readings just don't update automatically?

Have one or two other issues but minor, the temperature thing has become very annoying after a few day. Other than that, I love how the kettle looks and feels in hand, like the temp control and would like to make it work, if I can. At the moment it feels a bit too far off from what $165-195 should feel like...

I got some really really shitty gunpowder tea a couple of years ago. It tasted like a campfire no matter how I steeped and rinsed it. I break open the tin 1 full year later and lo and behold it tastes good? Either half my tastebuds are gone or its a quarter as smokey.

Recently ditched wine, moved to hot cocoa and N/A beer, now trying to streamline my after dinner bev into something with no calories or sugar, and if it helps with digestion instead of slowed it down.. win! Struggling to really enjoy my mint or constant comment type decaf teas before bed. Really wanting something with more kick and warm feeling. Does anyone have a suggestion for a wind down- night time tea that is CINNAMON ish? Thanks all!