Well,im trying to get into gongfu style tea,and its really hard and expensive to get some tea here (i live in South America) and there are very few types of tea,and i dont know if i can use western style loose leaf tea and some stores have just aome pu'er in balls style.
Honestly,there are many tyoe sof teas and many chinese too,but idk kf they are same loose leaf ad true chinese
So I've been hearing that letting the tea rest for a week after you've received it (especially if it's been shipped internationally) is recommended. Do people actually do this, and if so, does it make a difference to the taste?
I had this bai mu dan from yunnan sourcing, it was spring 2024 harvest and I usually go for silver needles but this one was so great. It was creamy and thick without the woody/hay undernotes that I tasted in other bai mu dans. So, did anyone try this one before and what else can you recommend similar to this one?
p.s. I've tried the Fuding one from YS, it was nothing like this one.
I’ve noticed that many Americans are not familiar with Gongfu tea. What tea flavors do Americans usually enjoy?
I'm getting a 375g cake for about 80$ which is around 7800 INR. That is a lot of money. I'm just wondering if anyone has ever tried this one. If yes then how was it? What's the flavours like and is this worth the $$$. From what my friend who I am buying this from has told me this is Qie Luo Xiang Aged Shu Pu-Erh.
I bought some oriental beauty a couple months ago from beautiful Taiwan tea and it instantly became my favorite. Had the most amazing citrus and honey scents and flavors, but the new 2026 batch I have here has none of that. It also has these malty notes that I am personally not a fan of.
Very disappointed, but I will still drink it regardless.
There are so many sellers on Amazon, I honestly can't tell who's reliable. My budget is around $100.
Looking for recommendations on a good quality gaiwan, ideally one that handles heat well and looks nice too.
Update: Thanks everyone for all the advic, I ended up buying a $60 Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain gaiwan from oriental-artisan.com.
I know you don't need to spend that much on a gaiwan if you're just using it to make tea, but I also wanted something that I could collect as a piece of art. I already have quite a few cups that cost over $100, so I was okay spending a bit more on this one.
Thanks again for all the recommendations
What is your favorite wuyi rock tea ?
Bei dou and shui xian are the 2 I love the most
Finally got my first Yixing teapot in a small 60 ml size. It's still early to notice the difference between a Yixing teapot and a regular gaiwan especially that it is still not seasoned, but there're already few noticeable differences (with Rock Tea).
-The roastiness is slightly mellowed. My Rougui is extremely aromatic, but the roast is slightly too heavy, it's easily to push too far. In a teapot, it's more rounded without compromising the aromatic aspect. Although I suspect this would be a problem for lighter roast rock teas like Bai Ji Guan.
-The tea can be pushed to another 2 fuller brews. A gaiwan usually gives 4-5 great brews before the mineralic rock rhyme drops considerably. In a teapot, the minerality is still present after the 5th brew and it drops less abruptly after that. I think this aspect would also improve with more brews.
-And finally, it's more convenient to hold.
(I got the teapot from @zoeys_tea from Instagram. A great merchant and her tea is also worth trying).
Gongfu tea and raising goldfish are my two main practices, when I saw Purple Cloud TH had these of course I had to get it. Now I have something to bridge my two hobbies. I feel so complete now.
Cups are 30 ml, gold rimmed with painted goldfish motifs, Paper thin, delicate, beautiful.
Christening it to the table with an Eight Immortals (八仙) dancong, a sample provided with the order brewed in my little shuiping also from PCTH.
An amazing tea that I got from a very good
friend. Dry tea leaves have a light caramel aroma and have undergone decent roasting (not too strong). Tea soup is thick, has a light cassia barl taste and beautiful fresh finish that reminds of unripe plum.
A nice cloudy day out today. I’ve been enjoying the morning by drinking and reading some things I’ve been needing to get through.
I am just so proud of finally having my own teaset that I wanted to share with you guys. Excited to built upon this set.
Usually it’s too hot and miserable to be outside let alone drink hot tea but the rain brought some relief. Took advantage of it and had a session in the garage.
Brewed up a Shui xian I got from my buddy who also practices the Chaozhou style gong fu. He got it from this vendor named Rob in Taiwan, apparently it’s boujie stuff. Compared to my own selection it was much tastier. Heavy roasted, almost coffee-like in that way with a mild sweet flavor. The early soups were rather thick and coated the mouth but the red bean mooncake helped refresh the palate and of course dry/coolness of that minerality at the end. Tart almost.
I seriously can’t wait for it to be cold so I can do this more. I miss outside teatimes, my study is nice but Im starting to feel cooped up in there. Just a few more months!
This morning I had a session of 5g of 2025 Traditional Process Dian Hong Black Tea of Feng Qing from Yunnan Sourcing. It was the bottom of the bag, so the leaves and buds were fairly broken. My collection is stacking up, so I'm trying to finish off the various bags of less than 10g I have scattered around the boxes. I brewed it with flash infusions in my 100ml gaiwan with ~95°C water from my giant thermos into my new lovely 200ml bowl I got from the Asian market. A very unassuming setup that gave me an unforgettable session.
I drank the first infusion/wash, and it was very thick, floral, and chocolate malt sweetness, but there was of course the hollow and sour taste of the wash. The first real infusion was even sweeter and was ripe with antique wood, darker cacao, and strawberry. I was surprised to be feeling the cha qi already, but the tea was the only thing I had had this morning.
Anyways, on the next infusion, I experienced the most clear daydream I have ever been lead on by tea so far. The antique wood note turned into a very vivid vision of walking through deep, dark woods and the taste of heavy brown maltiness and cooked fruit. The tannins were pleasantly active on my tongue, going from gripping to juicy with an airy floral finish. With the next infusion, the taste became far more green, the darker flavors fading into the background, but the floral aromatics remained active. I was surprised to find myself walking out of the woods and into a field of tall grasses and wildflowers and towards a winding stream. The first sensation that hit me on this infusion was actually a cool, sunny warmth on my face.
A strong honey note came out with the next brew, and I could tell the tea was on the downswing, which made sense with how broken the leaves were. The taste wasn't as strong as I would've liked, but I appreciated the gentleness of it. I felt as if I wandered over to a tree that had a beehive dripping with honey and buzzing with friendly bumblebees, and I laid down to sleep in its shade. I brewed the next one a bit longer and was rewarded with the malty depth making a reappearance. It felt like the humid chill of evening was covering the land as the sun was setting. The brew almost tasted like a purple tea and made me feel I was drifting off to sleep. The final real brew was fairly weak, despite extending the brew time further, but faint notes of spices and the last kiss of honey came out, and my imaginary self was definitely asleep.
This was one of the most transformative, impactful, and pleasant sessions I've ever had. It was such an unassuming tea from last year that I only chose in order to finish off the bag, since my collection of shipments in my tea corner is becoming a wall of cardboard that I need to sort and consolidate.
Has anyone else had a similar experience to this?
I'm really happy with how it looks but its tight quarters and I wound up spilling tea next to the little chapan I am trying to learn dry brewing but I keep splashing water everywhere 😅 the tea came out great though
This green tea is a really different animal! HUGE, long, lancet-like leaves with a fresh green color. Dry tea aroma has a lot of grass, but wet leaves smell of light chestnut. Tea soup is golden green, no bitternes or astringency, with 2nd and 3rd steeps revealing its true character: fava beans, chestnut and an orchid/floral finish. A good friend who know his tea, mentioned that this actually might be the TaipingBuyi and not TaipingHoukui, as the edges of tea leaves are serrated. This particular batch wasn't of superlative quality but it was a fun experience. Did the first steep grandpa style, but continued with my trusted gaiwan.
Pretty solid tea! I got a bunch of small 7 gram compressed squares to bring along while traveling. I have a handful of packages left so I thought I’d drink one this morning.