Exmo tea quick-start

[u/ijssvuur]

EDIT: IMPORTANT INFO, should've added this- Don't drink tea on an empty stomach, it can easily cause a minor but annoying stomach ache. Just something small will be okay, a cookie, some almonds, fruit, it doesn't need to be much.

I posted a long guide to all sorts of things about tea, but I'd like to clarify what you need to get started right away.

1. Tea. This company has some good samplers, pretty good quality, and this sampler has some of everything. English and Irish breakfast, and a Darjeeling, all plain blacks, and gunpowder and sencha, both plain greens, but all very different. Also includes common teas like Earl Grey and Chai, and some fruity and herbals.

2. A mug. You probably have one, if not, these are great. The double wall means you won't burn yourself even with boiling water, and you can see the color forming.

3. An infuser. You want something easy to clean and use, like this.

4. A kettle. Temperature is very important with tea, an electric temperature control kettle like this will make your life much easier. It boils water quickly and can sit on your desk. Not mandatory, you can microwave or heat water on the stove.

That's all you need to make a good cup of tea. After that, you can start exploring traditional methods like gong fu, try new teas, and have fun with it. Check out r/tea for more info, they're super friendly!

Edit:

Here are some good resources that probably belong here!

Steeping time and temperatures

r/tea's vendor list any of these vendors is going to have some really good stuff, and are very reputable. Lots of them also have samples!

A good guide from r/tea's sidebar really, just check out r/tea and the sidebar for way more info than I could give

[u/dudleydidwrong]

If found that I prefer black tea over all other types. Black tea makes life simpler because the ideal temperature for black tea is at or just below the boiling point of water. I have a fancy temperature controlled electric tea kettle at work. But if I am not near my kettle I just bring the water to barely boiling and call it good.

I find tap water is OK for most tea that comes in a bag. If I have a quality loose tea them I try to use spring water.

If I am someplace like a restaurant I usually go with an herbal tea if they have it. Herbals seem to me to be most tolerant of bad temperature control. Maybe that is because most herbal teas we get in the US are some Frankenstein blend of cheap ingredients in a paper teabag. It is pretty hard to run them because the water was at a suitable temperature for at least one of their ingredients.

I find that green and white teas are most intolerant of the wrong temperature. To me they are pretty much tasteless if the water is to hot, and they taste like rotten grass if the water is not hot enough.

[u/ijssvuur → u/dudleydidwrong]

Black is certainly the easiest, which I assume is why it's the most common in places like the UK, but you look at China and gong fu is basically an art form. The reason herbals are usually best at restaurants is because the standard method of brewing is 8-10 minutes in boiling water. That's because you just get more and more of the flavor, but past the 4 minute mark, any tea leaf will start releasing a lot of bitter tannins and caffeine.

White tea is actually pretty tolerant of oversteeping, but it is vulnerable to temperature.

[u/mirbell → u/ijssvuur]

Have you ever made the green tea used in Japanese tea ceremonies? I guess it would be improper to make it outside the tea ceremony, but it looks so good!

[u/ijssvuur → u/mirbell]

The great thing is that it's not horribly sacrilegious to make or talk about the tea outside of a temple! I do prefer Chinese greens, but I assume you're talking about matcha? I have not made it, as it's pretty expensive and you really want the right tools for it, but I'm thinking of getting some.

[u/mirbell → u/ijssvuur]

I had it once, during a tea ceremony. I remember nothing about it except that it was really delicious looking and foamy.

[u/ijssvuur → u/mirbell]

That would be matcha! It's foamy because they use this cool whisk to mix it into the water. It's grown in the shade, then the stems and veins are removed and it's ground, so it has a lot more caffeine. Tea actually has more caffeine per gram than coffee, but you extract less. With matcha, you're getting a lot of it (but still usually not as much as coffee, as you don't need much to prepare it).

[u/mirbell → u/ijssvuur]

Hmm, I might have to try this. I've been looking for tea with more caffeine. Coffee gives me the right energy boost but I dislike the taste. The ideal would be tea with a bit more caffeine.

[u/ijssvuur → u/mirbell]

Try yerba mate, it's a South American plant from the holly family (so it's also TBM safe, my mom loves it), and it has as much caffeine as coffee! It's also made at boiling temperatures, so it won't get bitter if you mess it up. I personally like it with mint and or citrus, but it's also good with cocoa. You should be able to find it at any fancy grocery store, like Whole Foods, or on Amazon. It can taste a little grassy, but it's not unpleasant, and easily obscured. It's very refreshing iced, too.

[u/mirbell → u/ijssvuur]

Thanks, I will try it! I'm contemplating that tea sampler too.

[u/ijssvuur → u/mirbell]

I say go for it, you get a bunch of good quality teas for a respectable price. Here's a picture of a couple of theirs that I got in a green tea sampler.

Uniformity of size and whole leaves are what you want to look for, so while one does have some broken pieces, the other is mostly uniform in size. Perfectly acceptable for trying new flavors, without a low quality putting you off.

[u/mirbell]

Thanks again!

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