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Post by mattacottam on Jan 1, 2013 17:26:35 GMT -5
I feel this is a necessary thread. As I have no experience in tea making, tea equipment, or even the differences between types of tea. I figured this would be a good place to learn and experience.
Post any tips and general knowledge to pass on. I hope to edit this post many times in the future and eventually make it a source for newcomers (like myself) to learn about tea.
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Post by AdamMY on Jan 2, 2013 16:50:44 GMT -5
This is an oddly hard question to deal with. The least expensive option would be to just have a way to boil water, and try out several different types of teabags of varying types of tea.
For something a little more in depth, the first question is do you want big steaming cups of tea, or do you want to do many strong but very flavorful steeps of tea, which would be a lot of smaller cups of tea?
For big steaming cups of tea, you would want a larger teapot, ceramic usually is preferable, and some teas you would like ( I will get to the topic of teas in a bit). Then you would use about one tablespoon of tea ( or if you have a scale 3-5 grams) for about every 8-10 ounces of tea you want to make, and steep it for several minutes ( really depends on the tea).
For many smaller cups of tea, you will want smaller brewing devices, if you want to go the Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean or even Indian tea route, a gaiwan is very useful, though can be difficult to use. Or if you find a basic glazed ceramic pot whether porcelain, glass or similar, that could also work. Brewing depends really on the strength you want, your ability to handle caffeine, and the type of tea, so I will not go into that can of worms until talking about a specific tea.
Other than that the goal is to try teas. The basic types of tea are:
Red/ Black tea the classic examples are Lipton, English Breakfast, Assam, Cylon, Darjeeling... But there is a whole lot more as basically any tea producing country produces some sort of fully oxidized tea which is in this category. These tend to be more astringent, darker, slightly malty, a lot of robust flavors.
Green Tea: Depending on where the green tea is from it can be very different, Japanese Green Teas tend to be steamed so they have a very strong vegetable flavor. Chinese green teas often come across as lighter and more delicate, but really can cover the whole range of green teas. Korean well I'll leave korean alone for now as its rather hard to describe. These teas go through processing that stops them from oxidizing keeping them "green" hence the name.
Oolong Tea: This is basically any tea between Green tea and Black/ red tea on the oxidation scale. These often give fruity flavors, and depending on the tea can also be roasted, adding another dimension of flavor. The lightly oxidized teas can sometimes be confused with green teas, while the heavily oxidized or roasted teas can sometimes be confused with red teas.
White and Yellow: These are teas that are hard to find on a consistent basis. White teas are minimally processed, while Yellow teas I am hazy as to the processing details ( it could be one of those items where its given almost anything that doesn't fit into the other categories).
Puerh and Hei-cha: A type of tea that has a fanatical following, possibly due to the fact that some view it as a drinkable investment. Known for being rather harsh while young, which is why it is intentionally aged. The aged teas, and the Hei-cha (dark teas) often taste earthy, musty, sometimes even like a damp storage space.
These are the basic types.
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Post by judyike on Jul 14, 2014 6:35:07 GMT -5
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