Okay I can't deny that this completely works

[jon-nyc]

He didn’t even try it. Just thought they looked cool.

[Rainman]

You guys keep saying how easy it all is. Sounds pretty complicated to me.

So, if you are going out to dinner somewhere, where would you go to get "authentic" tea like you are talking about? I never go to Starbucks, but is that a place that makes this easy/complicated tea?

Asking for a friend, of course.

[Aqua Letifer]

@Rainman said in Okay I can't deny that this completely works:

You guys keep saying how easy it all is. Sounds pretty complicated to me.

So, if you are going out to dinner somewhere, where would you go to get "authentic" tea like you are talking about? I never go to Starbucks, but is that a place that makes this easy/complicated tea?

Asking for a friend, of course.

It really isn't complicated; it's just fundamentally different from the tea bag method, both in terms of process and the social component: it really makes the most sense to do this method when drinking several cups, especially with somebody, or you're gonna be wasting your money on tea you barely used. You don't just pour hot water into a cup and go, you drink several in one sitting, preferably with other people, so the tea doesn't go to waste. And, each brew's better than the one before, so making just the first cup makes no sense. But it is faster than a tea bag on a per-cup basis, and and far less messy.

As for restaurants, I dunno, I guess it really depends. If they use tea bags, fuggedaboutit. If they do the thing where they keep the tea leaves in the water, unless they're using a very specific kind, they're faking fancy and ruining the tea anyway.

Starbucks tea is crap. They don't get especially good tea—how could they? Every Starbucks sells the same products, and they're everywhere. So to move that kind of volume they go with the mass-produced stuff with slightly fancy marketing. It's slightly chunkier tea dust, not whole leaf. They also buy tea that comes in the pyramid bags, but they suck. They're still a bag, so the brewing process is ass, and a lot of those bags are made out of plastic. So your tea tastes like plastic. Third, they use boiling water or very near boiling water, so the tea is scorched.

Making it the way I described above is easier, less messy, much better-tasting, and much cheaper than Starbucks (yarly). You don't need fancy ass tea to do this, good whole leaf stuff is actually pretty cheap. I get a month's worth for about 10, 15 bucks. That's like 3 to 7 Starbucks runs.

Just to piss D'Oh off I'll record the process I did today and show you.

[Doctor Phibes]

1. Get some loose leaf Yorkshire Tea, or teabags are fine. Not pyramid teabags, we're not bloody Egyptian FFS.

2. Boil the water. I can't stress this enough, Americans. It needs to be boiling. Bubbles. Not just 'hot'. Freaking boiling. If you feel the need to use a thermometer, this is 100 Celsius, but it should be obvious to even the dimmest bulb.

3. Pour the BOILING water on the tea.

4. Leave it for 4 minutes. No, not 10 seconds, what are you, retarded?

5. Take out the tea leaves/bags.

6. Put some milk in. Not too much.

7. If you're nine years old, add sugar.

Drink the stuff. You don't need to brew it multiples times, or spit out the dust, or throw away the first four shitty attempts. Just freaking drink it.

At this point there is no need to stand around talking pretentiously about how this is just like so much better than Starbucks, but you can if you wish. Why you would is beyond me, they don't serve tea at Starbucks.

[kluurs]

I don't use tea bags. I used to drink green tea by the gallon but at home, I find myself drinking less of it. I don't use boiling water but a slightly lower temperature and brew approximately 2 minutes. I use a fair amount of tea for that 12 oz of tea. They have a scoop that is larger than a teaspoon and I use 3 heaping scoops of tea. I tried the Aqua method - and felt the tea lacked flavor. It may be that you've found a useful brewing method for your particular tea. Once one finds a favorite tea, it is challenging to move away from it.

Actually, one of my favorite teas comes from a local Chinese restaurant. I've wanted to talk to them about how they make tea as it tastes divine. They use a proprietary mixture of teas.

Phibes, milk in tea? Gahh! What a horrendous concept. And yes, they do serve tea at Starbucks - but they have no idea WTF they're doing.

[Aqua Letifer]

@Doctor-Phibes said in Okay I can't deny that this completely works:

1. Get some loose leaf Yorkshire Tea, or teabags are fine. Not pyramid teabags, we're not bloody Egyptian FFS.

2. Boil the water. I can't stress this enough, Americans. It needs to be boiling. Bubbles. Not just 'hot'. Freaking boiling. If you feel the need to use a thermometer, this is 100 Celsius, but it should be obvious to even the dimmest bulb.

3. Pour the BOILING water on the tea.

4. Leave it for 4 minutes. No, not 10 seconds, what are you, retarded?

5. Take out the tea leaves/bags.

6. Put some milk in. Not too much.

7. If you're nine years old, add sugar.

Drink the stuff. You don't need to brew it multiples times, or spit out the dust, or throw away the first four shitty attempts. Just freaking drink it.

At this point there is no need to stand around talking pretentiously about how this is just like so much better than Starbucks, but you can if you wish. Why you would is beyond me, they don't serve tea at Starbucks.

Get out your phone. I demand a tea-off.

[Aqua Letifer]

@kluurs said in Okay I can't deny that this completely works:

It may be that you've found a useful brewing method for your particular tea.

Internet research indicates that this is correct. And we're going to rely on the internet here because I don't know what I'm doing.

I also don't know a damn thing about tea-tasting. But the above method led to a ton more flavor, not less, and it didn't taste like bitter yard clippings. I'm gonna try black tea next and see if I can find the optimal brewing time.

[Axtremus]

You’re all wrong. The right way to drink tea is with bubble.

If you want to be a bit unorthodox you can substitute with grass jelly, but that’s about it.

[Doctor Phibes]

I will concede that you shouldn't boil the water for green tea. Where I come from if you drink green tea, well...let's just say it's not considered socially acceptable. Much like reading poetry in the park.

I normally don't like it, but I have to admit I was given some by a Japanese customer that was absolutely fantastic. I got the distinct impression that the stuff we get over here is crap, and they knew as much. Much like all the widely available black tea, almost all of which is absolutely shocking. Due to Covid shortages, I was recently supplied with a box of Red Rose tea as a replacement for what I asked for. Ghastly stuff.

[Mik]

An argument about how to brew it really teas me off.

Jeez Louise.

[mark]

Earl Grey, Hot. Boil that water!

Tried it with milk and with honey, and with milk and honey.

I can drink it plain or with any combo of the above. I prefer plain or with just a touch of milk.

[Catseye3]

@mark said in Okay I can't deny that this completely works:

I can drink it plain or with any combo of the above. I prefer plain or with just a touch of milk."

TMI, Mark. TMI.

[mark]

@Catseye3 LMAO! I didn't see the typo.

[mark]

@Catseye3
And I accidentally edited your post. lol

[Axtremus]

@Doctor-Phibes said in Okay I can't deny that this completely works:

I will concede that you shouldn't boil the water for green tea. Where I come from if you drink green tea, well...let's just say it's not considered socially acceptable. Much like reading poetry in the park.

I normally don't like it, but I have to admit I was given some by a Japanese customer that was absolutely fantastic.

If we're going to zero in on green tea, my absolute favorite to date is the green powdery stuff from Ginkaku-ji, the name of which translates to something like "ten thousand year jadeite". It was over a decade ago when I first tasted it while visiting Ginkaku-ji. Loved it so much that I bought a tin to take home with me. Finished it in a few months. Haven't been able to find any other green matcha that comes close.

[Doctor Phibes]

@Mik said in Okay I can't deny that this completely works:

An argument about how to brew it really teas me off.

Jeez Louise.

I'm trying to civilise the nation. I have a dream that one day I'll be able to order a cup of tea in an American cafe, and not be provided with a mug containing warm water and a bag, or even worse, cream.

[Optimistic]

This is my tea gear.

The thermos is for maté (hot), and the pitcher is for tereré (cold). There are people who get really into it (of course, like anything) and will tell you which yerba is better for maté and which for tereré, and also which type of guampa (the recipient) is best for each one.
I just use whatever. For maté, I have some chamomile that I add on top of the yerba, and for tereré I throw mint leaves into the pitcher of ice water.

I have a bunch of guampas, some just for decoration, but the two I have here are the ones I actually drink out of. One was hand-carved out of some wood indigenous to Paraguay, and the other is just cheap and metal inside.

You really don´t need a guampa/gourd to drink it properly, but I think having a bombilla (the spoon straw thingy) is pretty important. I´m sure people can come up with something comparable, but you can find them cheap online so I´d recommend that if you like maté, get a spoon straw thingy and just stick it in a mug. Additionally, when you are drinking tereré, it makes the whole process so much more refreshing. Whatever you do, avoid any of that maté in tea bags.

All that being said, I usually do prefer coffee.

[Aqua Letifer]

Nice, Opti! I like that term, "recipient." With Chinese tea sets, they call the pitcher the fairness cup. The terminology alone is hilarious, and as Phibes would say, in a "reading poetry in the park" kind of way.

I've gone back and forth with tea and coffee so many times. But I think now, for me, tea wins out. Simply because you can get jacked on the caffeine, but the theanine in the tea keeps the caffeine from making you feel wired or jittery. So you just feel generally excellent for about 6 hours and no crash.

(CULTURAL APPROPRIATION TRIGGER WARNING.) I also bought a gaiwan online for about ten bucks. It's basically just a very specifically-shaped tea cup with a lid. But you use them to brew the tea, not drink out of. I like that they're cheap (because I'm absolutely going to break it), quick and easy to use, stupid easy to clean, and no metal or plastic, no silly filtering required.

[Doctor Phibes]

I can't wait until he's old enough to drink beer.

[Aqua Letifer]

@Doctor-Phibes said in Okay I can't deny that this completely works:

I can't wait until he's old enough to drink beer.

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT HOMEBREW!!!