122 replies to this topic

[splinky]

the thought of either chocolate or milk added to a puer makes my palate and head spin

that's what i was thinking. it was fancy food show swag so i thought i'd at least try it. i'm not a milk in tea person so perhaps it's worse than i thought for me to even suggest it. i'm happy to send you a packet to try. it was not like any puerh i've even tried in the past.


the marketing description sounds even worse

[memesuze]

the thought of either chocolate or milk added to a puer makes my palate and head spin

that's what i was thinking. it was fancy food show swag so i thought i'd at least try it. i'm not a milk in tea person so perhaps it's worse than i thought for me to even suggest it. i'm happy to send you a packet to try. it was not like any puerh i've even tried in the past.


the marketing description sounds even worse

No thanks.
With all that static going on, there's no way to taste the pu-erh - which might be the point for a company not known for its quality of its pu-erh or for its ability to handle marketing of a real pu-erh. They appear to leaping on the tea bandwagon - like those companies which market green tea in a bag and instruct the user to brew with boiling water for 3 minutes!

I'm not a pu-erh aficionado, but I"ve had a few brewings. It's close enough to the teas I usually ingest that I'd want the pu-erh taste to shine instead of running away in horror.

[splinky]

the thought of either chocolate or milk added to a puer makes my palate and head spin

that's what i was thinking. it was fancy food show swag so i thought i'd at least try it. i'm not a milk in tea person so perhaps it's worse than i thought for me to even suggest it. i'm happy to send you a packet to try. it was not like any puerh i've even tried in the past.


the marketing description sounds even worse

No thanks.
With all that static going on, there's no way to taste the pu-erh - which might be the point for a company not known for its quality of its pu-erh or for its ability to handle marketing of a real pu-erh. They appear to leaping on the tea bandwagon - like those companies which market green tea in a bag and instruct the user to brew with boiling water for 3 minutes!

I'm not a pu-erh aficionado, but I"ve had a few brewings. It's close enough to the teas I usually ingest that I'd want the pu-erh taste to shine instead of running away in horror.

i concur. it seems like they are trying to push it as a coffee alternative. perhaps because it's not the best quality. in any event, i'd never be tempted to buy it.

[memesuze]

I did a quick search and couldn't fine a separate thread on tisanes [herbal teas and other brews made with plants other than the camellian sinensis and family].

I'm a fan of cold or iced mint tea in the summer, but never seem to get around to brewing it. I have this big sprawling patch of spearmint outside and decided to try cold-brewing it. I took six or so long [~~ 15"] sprigs, stripped off the leaves, and muddled them a bit in my big thai mortar and pestle [because the first non-muddled batch was too bland], plopped them in a pitcher, filled it with water and steeped in the fridge overnight. After straining, I ended up with a big batch of full-flavored mint tea and didn't have to heat up the kitchen or wait for it to cool down before putting away.

[Stone]

I've been drinking licorice root tea lately, and I quite like it. It doesn't suck the way most tea does. I've also tried yerba matte -- indifferent. Didn't feel no buzz, but I did have an urge to take people out back in shoot them in the head.

[splinky]

has anyone tried this tea yet? steven smith tea maker

this is the guy who started stash and tazo before selling out.

[Daisy]

I've been drinking licorice root tea lately, and I quite like it. It doesn't suck the way most tea does. I've also tried yerba matte -- indifferent. Didn't feel no buzz, but I did have an urge to take people out back in shoot them in the head.

Careful with drinking too much licorice tea. I was drinking vats of Yogi's Breath Deep,its primary ingredient licorice root, suggested by my doctor to help alleviate my asthma. When I was hospitalized in October I had blood work done and my potassium was very low (and a potassium i.v. is literally a pain in the arm--it burns going in). Doctors were puzzled by this. I did a little research and it seems that ingestion of large quantities of licorice fucks with your potassium levels.

[ghostrider]

has anyone tried this tea yet? steven smith tea maker

this is the guy who started stash and tazo before selling out.

Haha I like this bit -

Smith moved to Avignon with his wife, Kim and their ten-year-old son. But after a year of wearing scarves and eating lunch for two hours, the path of tea called them back to Portland.

[Suzanne F]

has anyone tried this tea yet? steven smith tea maker

this is the guy who started stash and tazo before selling out.

Yeah--I got some as swag when I was last in Portland.

What can I say? It's good tea. Really enjoyed the tastes we had at his location, but then those were brewed fresh, under perfect conditions. I'm not enough of a feinschmecker to know if it's great stuff.

[splinky]

feinschmecker

can you say that on a public forum?

[Suzanne F]

feinschmecker

can you say that on a public forum?

Why not? it's not a religious term, is it?

[prasantrin]

Anyone ever make iced tea concentrate? I did some reading, but proportions and times are all over the place (one had you steep black tea for 10 minutes--wouldn't that make for a very bitter concentrate?).

I'm thinking for black tea (in this case, Mariage Freres Bolero), twice as much tea per cup of water, steeped for the usual amount of time, then use two parts water per part concentrate.

Sound reasonable?

But for iced herbal tea (peppermint), I'll do 3 or 4 times the usual amount of tea per cup of water, but the same dilution. I like strong iced peppermint tea.

[splinky]

Anyone ever make iced tea concentrate? I did some reading, but proportions and times are all over the place (one had you steep black tea for 10 minutes--wouldn't that make for a very bitter concentrate?).

I'm thinking for black tea (in this case, Mariage Freres Bolero), twice as much tea per cup of water, steeped for the usual amount of time, then use two parts water per part concentrate.

Sound reasonable?

But for iced herbal tea (peppermint), I'll do 3 or 4 times the usual amount of tea per cup of water, but the same dilution. I like strong iced peppermint tea.

i do it all the time. i tend for steep for about 5 minutes but steeping time and ratios of water to tea are really up to your personal taste. sometimes i add simple syrup to the concentrate other times i leave it unsweetened.

[ghostrider]

After 7 minutes all of the good stuff is out of the tea leaves & you are getting nothing but an increasing concentration of tannic acid, which is bitter & unpleasant. So I would not steep a tea for 10 minutes.

[prasantrin]

Does it keep for a long time? Like one week? Two?

I have a squirter of simple syrup at work so I can add sweetener as needed/desired (I've got a bottle of homemade coffee concentrate in the fridge at work, and now will add tea concentrate to my stash)