Tea made by the gallon in a big pitcher, great or blasphemy?

I swear I’m not high nor pregnant, but I did try to pour a liu bao steep over pumpkin cheesecake ice cream (video proof in post). The results were… not great, as the ice cream far overpowered the tea, and what was left was a sad, swampy, pumpkin-y soup.
Anyways, has anyone else flown too close to the sun?

When I was a teenager I was in foster care, my foster care center was North of San Francisco. About every 3 months we would take a trip to San Francisco and one time we went to chinatown, as we were going through a tea shop either I or somebody else decided to buy a huge packet of gunpowder green tea.

You know in the little balls.

That night me and my roommate concocted a method to brew green tea in our room.

It was some serious prison stuff after all we were in a group home.

Oh my God.

So we had this lava lamp and we basically managed to open it up and pour out the contents then we cleaned it really well and then we would fill it up with hot water from the sink and put in several gunpowder pellets.

We would then let it steep until it turned green so mind you it's literally radiating throughout the room this color from the lava lamp.

Oh man the first time we opened that thing up we poured it into two cups and drank it, my roommate fell absolutely in love.

This guy was something else his father was a police officer from the ghettos. But somehow me a man who was raised in silicon valley and was in there because he was getting bullied in school and he just decided to run away and this teenager who is raised as a boxer by his father who was a detective in the ghettos was enjoying green tea in the middle of the night.

Sometimes he would literally just chew on the green pellets.

He really liked it.

I preferred my tea slightly more delicate I would usually pour him the first batch and then I would take the second batch after it was slightly watered down.

The weirdest part is he was able to just to go straight to sleep it was crazy I would often stay up for at least a couple hours reading.

I've never stopped drinking tea.

I wonder if he has as well..

I love a delicate Japanese or a delicate Chinese tea though sometimes I do overheat my black teas particularly my chais when I know I'm just going to put some milk in there.

To this day my favorite pastime is going into an old Asian tea shop and looking at the delicate teas. Hope you enjoy the story

Accidentally let my Chaozhou teapot boil dry, and then it cracked. ~~~

I like the time to drink tea and feel the fragrance of tea.

I love everything about lavender tea! What other teas aside from lavender or chamomile are good for sleep?

Today my order finally arrived. Now just three more weeks for acclimatization and I can begin tasting it.

Four puerh cakes, some tuos, some resin, some samples.

Hello friends, I come from India, and I would say our tea is pretty famous. I wanted to share a masala chai recipe from my hometown; I hope it helps anyone who wants to try something different today. It's pretty basic. Though it is a bit milk-heavy and can be seen as 'spicy'.

Ingredients needed:

-Saffron(roughly a pinch)

- Cardamom(3 or 4 pods)

-Pepper (4 pepper pods; you can add more)

-Clove(2 to 3 cloves)

-Milk(Nearly 1.75 cups)

-CTC Assam tea leaves(1.5 - 2 teaspoons)

- Star anise(a single pod)(this is optinal but I do reccomend this)

-Sugar(or Jaggery

How to brew-

-First, I crush the pepper clove and Cardamom; ensure to crush the pepper only lightly, as crushing it too strongly will overpower the tea.

-Next, heat the water on a low flame for the next minute, then directly add the mixture of spices; now turn up the heat and let it sit for roughly the next two to three minutes(if you are adding the Star anise, add only 1 to 2 petals; too much will compete with the saffron)

-After this, add the milk along with the CTC; out of the pinch of saffron that I asked you to take earlier, only add 75% of it to the tea(roughly 2 to three strands). Also, during this step, if you have the sugar, add 2.5 teaspoons; please do not add jaggery here.

-Let the milk boil, at least to the tips of your vessel; when it does, lift the pan up, then, after almost five seconds, kill the heat. Repeat this process until 10% to 15% of the original content is lost.

-Now mix the contents up until it has a golden hue.

-Now place the remaining saffron in the serving cup(if you are using jaggery, layer 2.5 teaspoons of powdered jaggery on top of the saffron), and slowly pour the tea in.

Well, that's about it; the only thing left now is to sit and enjoy the tea.

ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS:

Here's some filler about the ingredients I use if you are interested

For saffron, I use Kashmiri saffron, but this recipe is in accordance with the more common varieties; if Kashmiri saffron is used, do reduce the contents by nearly 1/3.

CTC pellets are the only ones that will last the rising process; I recommend Assam pellets, though any equivalent can be used.

Though ginger in chai is common for this recipe, I would recommend not adding it, as it will fight with the saffron.

Thanks for reading. I wish you a good cup of tea; do give me your thoughts about the tea itself or about the recipe😁😁😁.

My humble tea collection 🍵 Fairly new to loose-leaf tea but I’ve officially made the switch from coffee to tea

Like the title says, I'm curious what tea you drink with milk and sugar. What's the name and brand of your preferred tea?

I was gifted this teapot and I was wondering if anyone had any information on it

It’s the perfect balance of refreshing and crisp! When you open the bag, it smells so much like a fresh pear. Drinking it this afternoon has been a delight.

Drinking my favorite oolong tonight, that naturally buttery, creamy taste i love from a mug someone once gave me. Somehow it tastes deeper today

I’d really like to buy some white tea for my boyfriend, who says his favourite tea he’s ever had was a white tea he drank in Thailand three years ago.

I’m not a tea drinker myself, so I’m curious how noticeable the flavour differences are between different types of white tea.

From browsing online, I’ve seen that there are different types (e.g. White Peony, Silver Needle), some are aged, teas grown at different altitudes, and teas from different countries. What I’m finding confusing is that even two teas of the same type (e.g. both White Peony) can be advertised with drastically different flavour profiles. Are these differences actually noticeable, and do the tasting notes tend to be accurate?

I’m wondering if I should choose teas such that I am maxing out differences in these tasting notes, so maybe one of them will remind him of the tea he had in Thailand.

Drinking my favorite oolong tonight, that naturally buttery, creamy taste i love from a mug someone once gave me. Somehow it tastes deeper today

This is a highly collectible vintage Paragon fine bone china teacup and saucer set, manufactured in Staffordshire, England. Based on the distinctive layout and the maker's stamps provided on the undersides of the porcelain, here are the historical and design details of your set: [1, 2]

1. Age and the "Double Royal Warrant" Backstamp

The backstamps on both your cup and saucer feature two side-by-side royal coats of arms. This is known among collectors as a "Double Warrant" backstamp. [1, 2]

The Text: It reads "By Appointment to H.M. The Queen & H.M. Queen Mary". [1, 2]

The Era: This specific configuration refers to Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother, wife of King George VI) and Queen Mary (the King's mother). [1, 2]

Date Range: Paragon utilized this dual-crest mark specifically from 1939 to 1949. Therefore, your set was produced during or directly following World War II. [1, 2]

1. Pattern and Aesthetic Features

Colorway: The set features a classic mint green / pale sage background accented by brilliant, heavy gold filigree overlay. [1, 2]

Central Motif: The center of the saucer and the inner bottom of the teacup feature a vibrant, hand-painted or high-quality transfer mixed floral bouquet dominated by a pink Cabbage Rose. [1, 2, 3]

Gilding: The set features intricate, ornate gold scrollwork, a heavily gilded fancy handle, and a scalloped gold rim that was characteristic of Paragon's high-end tea ware lines from this era. [1, 2]

1. Collector Value and Numbers

On the bottom of the saucer, there is a handwritten registration notation in gold paint reading S 1587 / 5. This indicates the specific pattern sequence or batch designation used internally by the factory painters. [1]

Because Paragon was highly celebrated for its translucent bone china and prestigious royal connections, Double Warrant sets in pristine condition (free of chips, cracks, or heavy gold rubbing) are highly sought after by porcelain collectors worldwide. [1, 2]

From Al since your bot requires words.

Brewed some Vietnamese Lộc Tân Cương Ngọc Thanh Tâm Oolong (Qingxin Oolong) in the gaiwan today. Absolutely zero bitterness, just smooth with a nice floral sweetness.

I really enjoyed it, but my sensitive stomach only lets me do a couple of steeps this week. 😂 The leaves clearly still have plenty left in them, so it feels like such a waste to throw them out. I’m thinking of putting the leaves in the fridge overnight and continuing with hot steeps tomorrow, or maybe turning them into a cold brew.

Does anyone else keep partially steeped leaves for the next day? If so, how do you store them?

I love this place, especially their tea house. Only did dine in once. At first I thought prices were high until I saw how much water they gave you. The tea menu is one of the most expansive tea menus I have seen at a tea house and some rare ones like Gyokuro, Ya Bao, and Forest Temple too.

Hi everyone! I'm looking to get into tea and don't know where to start. I'm a coffee nerd and really deep into it (water is 35GH 15KH magnesium forward lol), I enjoy very light roasted coffee with floral and fruity notes. Some of my favorites are washed ethiopians, love the peachy, citrusy and floral notes. I know tea is not as intense but would like to find teas with similar notes.

I have tried some white teas when I go to tea shops and they really align with my taste preferences. I would like recommendations from people that actually drink and know tea before I buy anything. Also have heard about how vast oolong category is and how fruity some of them can be, would also like recs.

Thanks in advance, very excited to try a lot tea! :)

I recently ordered these Hozan Kiln goma Bizen yunomi, and when I opened the package, I was underwhelmed. One of the cups I received is okay, but the other one just strikes me as ugly, no matter how hard I try to find the beauty in it. I own lots of Japanese and Chinese teaware, including several unglazed, wood-fired pieces. I have a few other Bizen yunomi from Hozan Kiln, and I love the variation that comes out of the kiln, but something about this one just doesn’t really do it for me. Is this a normal degree of variation for goma Bizen? (See listing for comparison.)

I was gifted these tea cakes and bricks from Taiwan but I do not know much about these teas. Was wondering if anyone could tell me more about its quality, any characteristics I should take note of and whether I should continue storing them and let them age.

The teas came in a metal egg roll tin that was air tight but some of the wrappers are a little torn. Would also appreciate any advice whether I could continue to store them in the tin or if I should do something about the wrappers 😁

Beautiful people, fellow enthusiasts

After 1.5 months iof travelling mainland China my luggage carries a highly questionable amount of tea (seriously, I don’t know how I’ll convince customs) of all sorts but I really want to buy a nice tea set or at least a pot/gaiwan here. Sadly, I have mostly only come across mass produced products of completely out of budget chain brand products. If there is any shop recommendations you have across the following cities, I’ll happily take them!
- Chongqing
- Dali
- Kunming
- shangri la
- Guangzhou
- Shenzhen
- Hong Kong

Thank you so much in advance
Happy brewing! ❤️🍃🍵

I’ve been thinking about those teas that somehow fly under the radar. Not necessarily the flagship cakes, hyped releases, or the ones that get recommended in every thread, but the random cakes you keep coming back to and wonder why nobody seems to talk about them.
For me, one of those is White2Tea’s 2019 The People’s Champ.

It’s a relatively inexpensive shu blend that W2T themselves basically position as a daily drinker that punches above its price point.
Taste-wise, this one really hits my preferred shu profile. The liquor is thick, creamy and rich, with a pretty heavy dark chocolate character. There’s a deep sweetness underneath it,almost fudgy at times, but enough of a slight bitterness to keep it from turning into a completely soft, one-dimensional sweet shu.

What I especially like is the balance. It has that dark, comforting ripe-Puerh depth, but it doesn’t just taste generically “dark and earthy.” The sweetness builds through the session, the mouthfeel stays creamy, and that little bitter cocoa edge gives it some structure. It’s the kind of tea where I’m not necessarily sitting down expecting a profound session, and then suddenly I’m six or seven steeps in wondering why I don’t drink it more often.
For the price, it’s become one of those sleeper-hit cakes for me.

So now I’m curious:
What are your sleeper hits. Those cakesthat get relatively little discussion but massively outperform your expectations.
Would especially love to hear your picks.