a friend gave me this tea and i dont like it so much. it's so bitter brewed hot and also has a bitter aftertaste brewed cold. i have a lot of high quality teas but i feel so bad for this one laying around for 2 yrs with no use.

Is this Bezos brew going to kill us all? It’s only $2.50 or so a box, I’m told. Look for it in a workplace near you! I can’t complain—it’s provided to me free of charge.

I made this Yixing persimmon teapot as a birthday gift.
It is shaped like a persimmon, which symbolizes good fortune and “everything goes well” in Chinese culture.

My favorite tea has been discontinued! Does anyone have a suggestion for a replacement? Can be loose leaf or in bags.

The Serenity tea is mild and very slightly sweet.

Disclaimer, please read!
Yes, I know what a tisane is. No, this isn't just fresh/dried mint leaves put in hot water. No, I didn't invent anything new.
This is a followup to a previous post where I light-heartedly introduced this topic, not paying enough attention to the level of details.
here I want to redeem myself, talking about a fun experiment where I apply some orthodox Camellia sinensis processing techniques to other botanical species (such as Mentha spicata, spearmint, in this post), to develop a deeper flavor profile on a molecular level!
You can find the previous post for context here.
Also, quick TL;DR: if you're interested in the process to try making this "GABA" mint tea more than in my endless yapping, scroll down!

Premise

Standard tisanes have something in common: they are made from dried herbs and plants. Passive dehydration leads to a baseline volatile profile (mostly monoterpenes). Furthermore, on the contrary of what one could think, leaves are not super permeable and that's why tisanes usually require 100°C and well above 5 min of infusion (I have some that suggest over 10). Orthodox tea processing is exactly what historically served the purpose of improving these factors:

• Cellular stress: needed to alter metabolic pathways. Plucked leaves are still live organisms with working metabolism; bruising, rolling, anaerobiosis... are processes that alter it and develop a different flavor profile, mainly through oxidation.
• Thermal deactivation: to stop enzymes responsible of said oxidation (PPO and such), fixing the final product at a specific oxidation level (think of the 6 orthodox tea categories).
• Precursors: light carbohydrates are broken down, aminoacids are accumulated, and volatile compounds generated through roasting are given time to escape the cellular matrix, developing a round and balanced flavor profile.

The (Old) Experiment

As I said, I haven't invented anything. Cultural traditions involving "tea processes" applied to different plants (mint, fireweed, berry bushes) are as old as tea itself, but somehow they disappeared through time, forgotten or substituted. Why? I don't know, I'm interested in this aspect but that's outside the scope of this post, but there are a lot of YouTube channels, articles and blogs talking about this phenomenon.

And this is where my previous controversial post starts. One of said channels, called Honoring Nature, made its way to my homepage and presented me a world of possibilities I haven't previously considered (but many did, and I'm glad for that!): applying orthodox tea crafting to other plants that biologically and chemically allow it.

Now: I have a lot of wild spearmint in my garden. I don't know what to do with it. I recently started trying these "fake teas" picking up plants from my garden, and I thought: could I do the same with all this mint? When bruised, it oxidises and gets bitter very fast... are there any processes in the tea industry that can prevent this from happening?
I ended up reading about GABA oolong tea, which undergoes anaerobic stress to induce production of its namesake aminoacid, and decided to try this process.

Procedure

I've talked enough, now it's time to get our hands dirty.

I picked the youngest leaves possible (since we are in late summer, and here spearmint is almost flowering sadly), gently brushed them with a soft cloth being as light as possible and then started the real process. This is what I did, but it is still heavily improvable:

1. Withering: Indoor, for 4-6 hours at max, until leaves lose their initial stiffness and become somewhat flaccid.
2. Anaerobic Stress: Real GABA tea would require a nitrogen-saturated gas chamber, which I obviously don't own. While the process is not strictly the same, the idea here is to completely stop oxidation (PPO requires oxygen) by putting the leaves under vacuum. This was performed by using food vacuum containers. I left the leaves in a dry cool area in complete darkness for 12 hours.
3. Kill-green: Pan-fired on a hot wok, measured temperature with IR thermometer at around 130-150°C. This is needed to fix the color and stop the oxidation (enzyme denaturation), that would otherwise start again once out in the air: 130°C is indicative, but should allow for a rapid and homogeneous heat transfer, time required depends on your batch (small batches are done in under two minutes of consistent heat). Move the leaves often, with the help of a soft clamp (heat-safe) or your hands with heatproof gloves.
4. Drying: Residual water has to go, ideally as fast as possible. I left the leaves in the oven at 50°C with the lid open (with the help of a wooden spoon) for around 20-30 min, or as soon as the biggest leaf can be snapped in half with no resistance or flexibility.
5. Resting: This is the most important part when making tea (both real and "fake") at home. The leaves need to rest, allowing the various aromatic compounds to set and develop a balanced and characteristic flavor profile. I left my mint in the same, cleaned glass container from before (but NOT under vacuum!) for at least 1 week.

Then it's time to brew!
I got under 2g of dry leaves, so it was barely enough for a decent gongfu session, but it surprised me how the leaves were able to infuse for over 4 total minutes at 90°C, developing a smooth, clear liquor with fruity sweet notes and a pleasant minty aftertaste, which was nowhere near strong enough to overcome the other flavors.

Things to improve

While the final result was really pleasant and unexpected, dare I say it was insane, it was not without mistakes and downsides.
The leaves gradually became darker infusion after infusion, proving the kill-green step was not 100% complete; anaerobic stress worked (fruity notes that were absent in the original mass), but I suspect it could go a bit longer; and most obviously, I could've picked the spearmint when it was fresh and aromatic, rather than approaching flowering and losing part of its fragrance... there's still plenty of room for improvement.
Also, I study Chemistry, but biochemistry is not my main field, so please if you have more details or tips please tell me!

Again, I want to remind that this is not my invention, I'm sure many have actually tried making this type of tea and documented a better and more accurate process than mine...
My aim with this post is just to share with you my personal experience, and encourage anyone that wants to try and make their own tea by doing something slightly more challenging than just drying wild herbs. Tea biology is unbelievable and we all love it, but nature is wonderful and many other plants have such an underexplored or underappreciated potential in this sector.

Please be careful about what you pick/identify and potential safety hazards!

My new order just came in. Restocked on some Shu Pu-erh and a medium roast GABA oolong, plus the seller threw in a few Sheng samples and some snacks. I really enjoy a good roasted GABA, especially for that incredible sweet aroma it leaves in the empty cup. This stash should be enough tea for at least a couple of days... hopefully.

Both tea shops in western Michigan I stopped by, Global Infusion in Grand Rapids and HumaniTea in Ludington, are small outfits wirh small selections. Global Infusion had the wider tea options, but i enjoyed the atmosphere at both. Global had more of a laid-back hippie vibe to it: it also boasts a small gift shop. I bought some mango black tea and had some of it iced. Really hit the spot. In Ludington, I was in a hurry to get out of town so I could catch my train out of Kalamazoo, but the manager and I chatted for several minutes while my blackberry sage tea steeped. Neither shop is hardcore tea nerdity, but for me that's not always the point. A major thing I've noted over the years of visiting tea shops is how eager manager and staff are willing - even eager - to chat. It doesn't even have to be about tea. Mind you, it *starts* with tea, but the conversation can evolve from tea to travel or the community or even what's happenibg at the local library. I don't get this as much at coffee shops or bars. When you get down to it, tea makes me feel like I'm at home no matter where I am.

I was surprised to see that they call Pu-Erh "té rojo" (red tea)

Do you know why they name it that way please ? I'm curious.

Today is Tie Guan Yin day for me, as I got two different TGYs to try and this one in particular impressed me.

This one specifically came from DTH (I do not want to advertise, so I'll abbreviate that) and what you see is the first steep of 2 mins, Western style there at 90c, 330ml. I did a quick 5s rinse before.

This is the third Iron Goddess of Mercy I ever tried, and this one is by far most delicious and it better be at $200/1kg, not the most expensive TGY, but certainly not cheap either.

They claim it's "Top Handmade Organic" from South Fujian from late 2026 spring, but I learned not to trust DTH marketing naming, although it's one of the pricier ones they have in their site.

The good:

1st steep immediately came floral AND sweet, which is a surprise to me, because I'm used to sweetness requiring 2nd steep at least. My guess is that it owes this to very loosely rolled oolong tea balls that open up much quicker than usual rolled oolongs.

The color of the soup is very light gold, and the leaves are pretty green, definitely a lightly oxidized oolong very close to green tea. They even put anti-oxigen packet inside the 50g tea baggie, so guess that's further indicator of light oxidation.

2nd steep got a bit darker, I did oversteep that one a bit because I was busy taking pictures, but still it turned out fine if a bit stronger than I like. I like lighter teas.

The less good:

After 2nd steep I laid leaves on a plate (you can see that in the last photo) and to me they seem not quite the "top" grade the vendor implied, and while I'm not an expert, I do not see much of the red edges that TGY is supposed to have, but maybe it's because it's green? Still delicious, but I'd like it to be a touch lighter, although that's on me making 2nd steep 3 mins.

I imagine instead of top, this would be a solid mid-range, but that's the CN vendor marketing for you.

One more issue, less with the tea itself but with a vendor, it put completely outlandish steeping directions on the label such as 100c water, which is 100% off and makes no sense to me for such a green oolong.

Overall, the best TGY I drank so far, but I'm not some huge expert, so take my word lightly here.

There is now a growing list of green teas in China that look remarkably similar. Anji Baicha, Huangshan Maofeng, Lushan Yunyu, Guzhang Maojian, Shucheng Orchid Bud, Huoshan Huangya, etc. Traditionally, these were all distinct teas made from highly localized cultivar materials and equipment. If you drink Chinese green tea, chances are, regardless of the name on the box, you have had light, tightly straight tea that was made with a machine like this one.

Yesterday, tea producers across Western Anhui turned for a demonstration of this increasingly widespread set of equipment. One producer who came out for this demonstration in Yuexi claims that it was in his native Shexian back in the late 1980's that the first experiments were carried out to combine the straightening and kill-green process in a single device. Today, it can be found almost anywhere straightened green tea is produced. Whereas older generations of producers had to carry out the kill-green process in a wok or heated tumbler, then straighten the tea leaves either by hand or with a cold straightener, that is no longer the case. Wok-frying for needle-shaped green teas like these have been antiquated for decades, while the industry-standard heated tumblers can still occasionally produce an inconsistently cooked product, with some leaves being either charred or left internally green; the older generation of straighter machines required weighted rods to roll the leaves into the desired shape, but they also caused some breakage. I am sorry to admit that this kill-green, straigtener combine device seems to have neither of these problems.

No burnt spots or evidence of straighteninguneven cooking; no damage in the straighening process. These alone are good selling points for interested tea factories and household workshops. Producers are further promised they can use this combine to cut their processing costs in half. The pellets the machine burns make fuel costs cheaper than traditional wood or coal-fired equipment; the combine requires only one person to operate, and best of all: the whole process is done in just 20-30 minutes. All this means a factory can put out more tea in less time, with less labor and cheaper fuel.

While such equipment will cannot become the norm for curlier teas like Xinyang Maojian, Biluochun, or Golden Green, and more premium handmade green tea will always have its place, we are well on our way to a major technical transformation in green tea production.

Ive figured out my work tea brewing method. I’ll do the first steep normal western style in my basket to control the bitterness. Then I’ll dump the leaves into the mug and do grandpa style the rest of the day, gradually raising the temperature of the water by 5-10 degrees with each top-off. This lets me get long steeps and enjoy the same tea throughout the day.

Pictured is some Luan Gua Pian (melon seed) green tea.

Whats your workday brewing method?

I’ve been looking for a caffeine free tea to drink at night. I ordered some Rooibos on impulse, have to say, it’s really nice.

Perfect way to unwind in the evening. Usually I am a white Tea or WuYi Rock tea drinker, so this makes a nice change of pace.

In the past 1.5-2 months I’ve gotten my hands on some the front row of loose leaf teas and I’ve been enjoying everything so far.

I initially started off about 3 years ago with bagged teas similar to the ones in the back. With my recent additions of loose leaf’s I’ve really grown even fonder of this little hobby. Problems have come up such as “How do I brew this?” Or “Bagged just isn’t the same anymore” or the biggest question “Where can I get more teas with emptying my coffers to get some?”

As I’m writing this I’m trying out the earl grey from the sampler set on the left for the first time… Just took my first sip and damn, that’s kinda perfumy (?) Hopefully the second steep tastes better. Anyways! I guess I’m making this post as a reminder and log of my journey into this hobby because I’m having fun with it.

Hopefully round 2 will have a better outcome if I wait for the water to cool a bit before pouring like another post who said 95degrees was the right temp.

Why am I posting in r/tea? Because I googled and saw someone else asking for help regarding their Whittard of Chelsea cup. I don't know what else to say - I'm desperate.

I bought this cup just recently on Ebay and had it sent to my friend in London because I am overseas. The package was delivered but STOLEN before he could grab it. This stupid mug NEVER shows up on Ebay. I've NEVER had stuff stolen or even known a friend who has. The ONE time in years that it shows up on Ebay and that's the package a lowlife thieving neighbor of my friend decides to grab. This mug cost like 12 quid when it first came out and here I am offering almost ten times that. I'm absolutely livid about this because it completes a collection. I want to take a hammer to the rest of the series right now and just sit in the corner and cry. If anybody has this design, new or used, I WILL BUY IT FROM YOU. The particular design is called "Painting the Roses" - I have searched online everywhere and I can't find it. Please, I am asking for r/tea's assistance here. Let me find some peace.

"Duck Butter" Yashixiang and "Bee balm" Milanxiang

How good are they? Are they good for the price? And how are they compared to regular non pressed Dan congs?

Hi. I recently bought this book, it’s quite interesting and an easy read but kinda short and not very in depth. But it does contain some useful tips and tricks and a glossary that really comes in handy at times.
I was looking for more info though, especially about pu erh history and diversity, but since it’s called a handbook it makes sense. Do you have any other recommendations ?

Tea in cup is Wu Liang Shan Tuo Cha Shou Pu erh