What's the best tea for a sensitive stomach?

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d.manuk
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Sun Oct 13, 2019 10:17 am

A lot of people find green teas (especially Japanese greens) to be hard on the stomach. Same for young puer.
So, if we're talking about high quality grades of tea only, what do you think is the least likely to upset someone's stomach if they are a sensitive person? My friend has recently been having some acid reflux from too much tea drinking, and is in the middle of taking a tea break for a week or two. I know that I also experience issues if I drink tea too frequently for a prolonged basis without taking a break. There are a lot of people that aren't like us though and drink tea all day every day and right before bed too, so this question may sound strange to you.

For me, I think a Chinese red tea might be the easiest tea to drink. Maybe because it's so oxidized and that its about as far away from being a green and wild leaf as possible so that a lot of the leaf's natural defenses have been eliminated. You just have to be very alert when brewing so there isn't an acidic/tannin flavor that comes out when red tea is over brewed.
Another obvious answer might be black teas like liu bao or shou puer, which can even be considered medicinal by some. My experience isn't as positive and I always feel like there's something a bit off about them when I drink them. I personally find aged sheng to still be rather potent so I didn't mention it ($I love it a lot though$).
Roasted oolong, thinking of something like red water oolong which is closer to a black tea, can also fit the bill.

Of course, something like a ginger tisane is likely the best answer, but we are talking about tea here. :lol:
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_Soggy_
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Sun Oct 13, 2019 11:05 am

I do sometimes find tea giving me acid reflux specifically from young sheng. It generally happens in the afternoon if i drink young sheng soon after i eat. I find that most of my black tea tends to be slightly more tannic and brisk so that generally doesn't help either. Darker oolongs seem to be better I think as long as they are moderately roasted or decently oxidized. Just as long as the roast isn't heavy/fresh as that almost makes it worse. Some to consider: Dong ding, various yanchas, muzha tgy, red buffalo/tiger, and OB.
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lUKAV28
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Sun Oct 13, 2019 1:41 pm

I have problems with green tea and young sheng if I drink them on an empty stomach. Red tea is nicer to my stomach so I tend to drink it at job If I hadn’t had time for breakfast.
swordofmytriumph
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Sun Oct 13, 2019 4:53 pm

I can’t do Japanese greens on an empty stomach at all. If I’m already not feeling good, I also can’t do roasted teas.

The best teas for me to drink when my stomach or acid reflux is giving me trouble is pretty much any golden bud-type Yunnan black tea which I have found to be very smooth and soothing. Yunnan sourcing has plenty of these and what I have had so far has been fairly tasty, especially for the money. My fave is the imperial gold Bi Luo Chun they sell, for ultimate smoothness. ;)
John_B
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Sun Oct 13, 2019 8:40 pm

Conventional wisdom would seem to indicate that shu is mildest, with mild versions of black tea not so far off that.

Other hei cha would probably be fine, something like an aged version of Fu brick tea (which may be redundant). Those can be mild, moderately complex, and interesting, and don't tend to cost much.

For Liu Bao I'd expect that older versions might work better than younger ones, and degree of initial fermentation would come into play. Shu also varies in degree of fermentation but even for versions where that's lower the tea has usually transitioned enough that I'd expect most of the compounds to be causing problems to be changed over. Younger Liu Bao can have a rougher edged character, so maybe not.

It's hard to judge this without having more problems myself. If I drank green tea or young sheng on an empty stomach I'd feel that, but I don't, so it never comes up. All oolongs seem relatively mild to me, but again someone having problems would be a better judge.
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Baisao
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Sun Oct 13, 2019 10:35 pm

I agree with previous comments about shou and heicha. Of course quality makes a difference as some are positively nauseating. I was able to get my hands on some delicious aged shou and bought all of the seller’s stock.

I used to have terrible dyspepsia but haven’t in years (can’t explain why) but I still think I have a weak stomach. Green tea doesn’t bother me in the least but unaged sheng and assams both tend to give me belly aches.

I have a friend who can’t drink sencha or gyokuro but for some reason gets along great with matcha!

As I have said elsewhere, I think a lot of these things are individual in nature.
Janice
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Mon Oct 14, 2019 10:04 pm

swordofmytriumph wrote:
Sun Oct 13, 2019 4:53 pm
I can’t do Japanese greens on an empty stomach at all. If I’m already not feeling good, I also can’t do roasted teas.

The best teas for me to drink when my stomach or acid reflux is giving me trouble is pretty much any golden bud-type Yunnan black tea which I have found to be very smooth and soothing. Yunnan sourcing has plenty of these and what I have had so far has been fairly tasty, especially for the money. My fave is the imperial gold Bi Luo Chun they sell, for ultimate smoothness. ;)
I’m ordering a pot from Hojo so I thought at the same time I’d try his Golden Bud Autumnal tea. It’s from Guangxi, not Yunnan. I’m hoping that’s close enough to have the same gentle qualities.
swordofmytriumph
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Tue Oct 15, 2019 3:21 am

Janice wrote:
Mon Oct 14, 2019 10:04 pm
I’m ordering a pot from Hojo so I thought at the same time I’d try his Golden Bud Autumnal tea. It’s from Guangxi, not Yunnan. I’m hoping that’s close enough to have the same gentle qualities.
The Jin Luo? B20C on his tea list?

What pot are you getting?
Janice
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Tue Oct 15, 2019 1:47 pm

swordofmytriumph wrote:
Tue Oct 15, 2019 3:21 am
Janice wrote:
Mon Oct 14, 2019 10:04 pm
I’m ordering a pot from Hojo so I thought at the same time I’d try his Golden Bud Autumnal tea. It’s from Guangxi, not Yunnan. I’m hoping that’s close enough to have the same gentle qualities.
The Jin Luo? B20C on his tea list?

What pot are you getting?
The Golden Bud is b03c. I was considering that one because it sounded the most like the one you recommended. Do you have experience with the Jin luo?

I’m getting another Koniwako pot that’s smaller than the one I already own - 70ml as compared to 110ml. I need to use small pots with Japanese greens.

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D1BD46B2-53DC-4D34-BD29-3B25454B951A.jpeg (60.99 KiB) Viewed 6083 times
Update: I ended up ordering a small bag of each black tea to experiment with, plus some ripe puerh with the word “chocolate” in the description. Most of my visitors don’t want anything other than black tea so there’ll be takers even if I don’t like them.
swordofmytriumph
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Wed Oct 16, 2019 4:46 pm

@Janice, the Jin Luo is a golden snail type tea from Yunnan, like the stuff I was recommending from YS, I expect that it’s flavor profile will be much the same.

About the b03c, I’m not seeing it on his list. Am I missing something? This is where I am looking https://hojotea.com/img/tealineup10.pdf
Janice
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Wed Oct 16, 2019 5:54 pm

swordofmytriumph wrote:
Wed Oct 16, 2019 4:46 pm
Janice, the Jin Luo is a golden snail type tea from Yunnan, like the stuff I was recommending from YS, I expect that it’s flavor profile will be much the same.

About the b03c, I’m not seeing it on his list. Am I missing something? This is where I am looking https://hojotea.com/img/tealineup10.pdf
It’s page 7 of 36.

Here’s a link to the description:

https://hojotea.com/item_e/b03e.htm
swordofmytriumph
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Wed Oct 16, 2019 6:34 pm

Janice wrote:
Wed Oct 16, 2019 5:54 pm
swordofmytriumph wrote:
Wed Oct 16, 2019 4:46 pm
Janice, the Jin Luo is a golden snail type tea from Yunnan, like the stuff I was recommending from YS, I expect that it’s flavor profile will be much the same.

About the b03c, I’m not seeing it on his list. Am I missing something? This is where I am looking https://hojotea.com/img/tealineup10.pdf
It’s page 7 of 36.

Here’s a link to the description:

https://hojotea.com/item_e/b03e.htm
Wow. I had been ordering off the spreadsheet, that’s why I was t seeing it. I wonder if the spreadsheet has the more “special edition” type stuff?
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Baisao
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Wed Oct 16, 2019 10:23 pm

Unsubscribing from topic since it’s now in the weeds.
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Victoria
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Thu Oct 17, 2019 1:59 pm

John_B wrote:
Sun Oct 13, 2019 8:40 pm
For Liu Bao I'd expect that older versions might work better than younger ones, and degree of initial fermentation would come into play. Shu also varies in degree of fermentation but even for versions where that's lower the tea has usually transitioned enough that I'd expect most of the compounds to be causing problems to be changed over. Younger Liu Bao can have a rougher edged character, so maybe not.
I have also found aged Lui Bao to have medicinal properties. Calming to the stomach and whole body. I have an 80s Lui Bao that is special in this way. Otherwise, I’d probably take a break from camellia sinensis teas and go to herbs and roots like ginger, camomile, mint, peppermint, fennel, bitters, and try and identify the root cause of a sensitive stomach.
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d.manuk
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Thu Oct 17, 2019 3:42 pm

I am actually towards the end of having a session with 90’s Duoteii 1st grade Lou Bao from EOT right now.


While I do find it rather neutral energy-wise, I find it slightly upsetting for my stomach. Not in an uncomfortable way, but rather I am noticing a sensation in my stomach whereas normally I wouldn’t feel anything. This happens with shou too for me — not uncomfortable, but not necessarily beneficial it seems. The black tea I had earlier this morning definitely got me caffeinated, but I didn’t have this sensation in my stomach. Just an interesting observation!
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