What Black Are You Drinking

[klepto]

I have 100 grams of some Wild Lapsang Souchong from Wuyi Origins in my war chest. I'm normally drinking Oolong tea daily but this one calls me from time to time.

[Ethan Kurland]

That's a good tea! John B. gave me about 15 grams of that a few years ago. Cheers

[Balthazar]

Chawangshop's 2019 Baoshan Yesheng Hongcha this morning.

I'm trying to find a new office daily drinker, something in the ~$.10-.15 per gram price range that I can safely buy a kilo or two of. I was hoping Farmerleaf would release a new bath of their Jingmai sun-dried black (both spring and autumn of 2019 was outstanding for the price, I've gone through about 800 grams of the latter and just don't get tired of it), in which case that would be my obvious choice, but so far nothing has shown up....

This Baoshan wild tea is a strong contender though. Sweet and almost no astringency, a very good choice for grandpa-style brewing.

[Arthur]

Good day, Ladies and Gentlemen,

My wife and I are both heavily addicted tea drinkers, gulping more than 6 cuppas a day. For maternity related reasons, my wife has to cut down the intake of caffeine. We have tried 3 brands of decaf teas: Dilmah, absolutely dissapointing; Yorkshire, acceptable; PG Tips, not bad.

I understand that the process of decaffeination destroys and removes the nature and flavour of teas, but surely there is at least one, just one decaf tea out there that tastes close enough to the proper flavour. I also understand that deliciousness is a very subjective matter. I would like to know, what is the most tasty decaf tea (non-flavoured black blend that goes well with milk) that you have come across so far?

Thank you very much

Kind Regards

Arthur

[Victoria]

My wife and I are both heavily addicted tea drinkers, gulping more than 6 cuppas a day. For maternity related reasons, my wife has to cut down the intake of caffeine. We have tried 3 brands of decaf teas: Dilmah, absolutely dissapointing; Yorkshire, acceptable; PG Tips, not bad.

I understand that the process of decaffeination destroys and removes the nature and flavour of teas, but surely there is at least one, just one decaf tea out there that tastes close enough to the proper flavour. I also understand that deliciousness is a very subjective matter. I would like to know, what is the most tasty decaf tea (non-flavoured black blend that goes well with milk) that you have come across so far?

Welcome to TeaForum Arthur. I have not had a really tasty decaf black tea which I could recommend. Maybe try roasted oolong (without milk), I’ve found these have a pleasant calming focus effect. Fermented Pu’erh also would be a tea to explore. Assam leaf, used for many black teas, is very large and has the highest caffeine content. Darjeeling has smaller leaves and slightly less caffeine. So you might explore loose leaf Darjeeling as well. Processing of the leaf though will also influence resulting caffeine.

[cerbu]

Good day, Ladies and Gentlemen,

My wife and I are both heavily addicted tea drinkers, gulping more than 6 cuppas a day. For maternity related reasons, my wife has to cut down the intake of caffeine. We have tried 3 brands of decaf teas: Dilmah, absolutely dissapointing; Yorkshire, acceptable; PG Tips, not bad.

I understand that the process of decaffeination destroys and removes the nature and flavour of teas, but surely there is at least one, just one decaf tea out there that tastes close enough to the proper flavour. I also understand that deliciousness is a very subjective matter. I would like to know, what is the most tasty decaf tea (non-flavoured black blend that goes well with milk) that you have come across so far?

Thank you very much

Kind Regards

Arthur

not black but try sannen bancha , https://yunomi.life/products/tarui-tea- ... nen-bancha

[pantry]

Fengqing jinya dianhong 2020
Good stuff

[Victor661]

Hello!
I have been drinking teas for some years and I am looking into some tips and hints related to mixing true teas together.
Like black tea and pu-erh. Or Gunpowder with another green tea with a softer nuance.
Do you have any tips? What mistakes should I avoid?

[Ethan Kurland]

Hello!
I have been drinking teas for some years and I am looking into some tips and hints related to mixing true teas together.
Like black tea and pu-erh. Or Gunpowder with another green tea with a softer nuance.
Do you have any tips? What mistakes should I avoid?

Welcome!
I do not mix leaves together. If you do, you risk wasting good leaves on unsuccessful experiments.

I suggest that when you prepare one tea (e.g., pu-erh) that you keep a little bit of the brew to mix with the brew of another tea (e.g., black tea). If results are promising, you can proceed to preparing the two separately but simultaneously to experiment further with the brews in greater amounts; then perhaps moving to a mix of leaves.

If you have 2 teas that alone do not satisfy but do work well for you together, I'd like to read the details about that. Learning about finding ways to get good use of something that seemed useless, is good news.

Not exactly the same thing, but I am bothered that I only get 2 excellent infusions from the leaves of black teas. This summer I have been preparing a 3rd infusion (with much longer steeping) to drink cold after being mixed with sugar & lemon or sugar & milk; or mixed with a brew made of roasted chicory, sugar, & milk (which tastes like an old carbonated beverage called Moxie.)

[Victoria]

Hello!
I have been drinking teas for some years and I am looking into some tips and hints related to mixing true teas together.
Like black tea and pu-erh. Or Gunpowder with another green tea with a softer nuance.
Do you have any tips? What mistakes should I avoid?

Hello @Victor661 welcome to TeaForum. In the past I’ve experimented with mixing a few black teas, for instance one was too smoky, the other too neutral, worked out well. I’ve added rose pedals, osmanthus, to medium grade oolong and mint/lemon grass to gunpowder and black teas with success. Haven’t tried mixing green teas with oolong, white or black teas, seems a little odd to do so. Have you been mixing different types of teas?

[debunix]

If you're going to mix teas, I'd mix the leaves, but mix only one infusion's worth at a time, and weigh them, so when you get a ratio you like, you can either mix some larger quantity of leaves at that ratio, or simply reproduce it as you like at the same ratio.

I rarely do this because different teas taste best to me with different infusion temps, times, leaf/water ratios, etc, and I don't buy teas I don't like to drink by themselves. I most often mix things like a bit of osmanthus leaf in black or dark oolong teas, or go straight to spice/herbal infusions.

[wave_code]

Chawangshop's 2019 Baoshan Yesheng Hongcha this morning.

I'm trying to find a new office daily drinker, something in the ~$.10-.15 per gram price range that I can safely buy a kilo or two of. I was hoping Farmerleaf would release a new bath of their Jingmai sun-dried black (both spring and autumn of 2019 was outstanding for the price, I've gone through about 800 grams of the latter and just don't get tired of it), in which case that would be my obvious choice, but so far nothing has shown up....

This Baoshan wild tea is a strong contender though. Sweet and almost no astringency, a very good choice for grandpa-style brewing.

I really loved both of these teas. If I remember correctly the Farmer Leaf was maybe a little more refined all around, but the simplicity of the Boashan was a big part of its charm to me. Both were super forgiving and really good brewed any way. The Baoshan was my daily drink for a while there. I should get some more of that... hmm... If you do find other nice big leaf sun dried style blacks like this (at daily drinking prices) I'd be keen to hear about it.

[StoneLadle]

I just picked this up yesterday after trying it at a tea shop while wandering around after lunch. It was a timely stop, as I'd consumed a rather rich and fatty dish of tossed egg noodles Hakka style in late, garlic and soy with sides of vegetables stuffed with meat and fish, also in the Hakka tradition.

It's a 2014 commercially packed Liu Bao by the China Tea (Wuzhou) Co. Ltd. I think the expiry says sometime in 2020 but seeing as I can't read characters it could also mean prime drinking date, who knows? It retails for USD23/500g and is outstanding value based on aroma, cleanliness, good muskiness and upfront betel nutness. Managed to take it for a spin properly after a lunch of cheeseburgers today and I'm a happy camper.

I suspect also, that this little box of goodness would age quit well, so I'm gonna drink this box now and spread some love around to my grandma and aunts and see how the other one does after a while

IMG_20200814_165359.jpg (252.23 KiB) Viewed 7747 times

[Ethan Kurland]

Thanks for the post, StoneLadle. New references for taste are a welcome challenge.

Rarely do we read about "late" garlic nor the taste of betel nut. (Chewing betel nut dulls one's taste buds for drinking tea, I've heard; so, I never tried it.)

[StoneLadle]

Thanks for the post, StoneLadle. New references for taste are a welcome challenge.

Rarely do we read about "late" garlic nor the taste of betel nut. (Chewing betel nut dulls one's taste buds for drinking tea, I've heard; so, I never tried it.)

Ahhh... Typo.. it was meant to read as lard, garlic...