Questions tagged [tea]
Questions about the selection and preparation of tea leaves and beverages.
253
questions
5
votes
1answer
248 views
What is this Thai tea, spiral plant-part?
I bought these, for me, nicely spiral looking dried fruits(?) in a tea-specialized shop in Bangkok in the area of the bridge leading from Phra Khanong towards On Nut (pictured below a cooked product).
...
6
votes
1answer
740 views
Should I consider water temperature in kettle or in cup to infuse my tea?
Most, if not all, teas have an ideal infusing temperature. Is this temperature the real water temperature at the time of infusion, or the water temperature while pouring it from the kettle ?
For ...
3
votes
1answer
162 views
Which appliance to use for masala chai?
Many regions have special devices or at least custom namings to brew tea and similar beverages:
Teapot in Western countries
Caydalnik in Turkey
Samovar in Russia
Samavar in Kashmir
Is there any ...
1
vote
1answer
110 views
Is it safe to drink dark tea dating to 1970?
The tea has been saved in a glass bottle with metal top, stored in dark kitchen cabinet all these years.
1
vote
1answer
151 views
Are there green tea variants that can be made with 100 °C?
Green tea is usually prepared with 80 °C water. However, I found some variants in a supermarket (they are pretty cheap), where there is 100 °C written on the box. Is it some kind of fraud made by the ...
0
votes
1answer
170 views
Bugs in loose leaf tea [duplicate]
I had my first loose leaf tea today. Black tea, with pieces of dried fruit in it. As I was throwing the used leaves away, I noticed what seemed to be a dead worm. Is this at all common and safe, or ...
24
votes
2answers
5k views
How much caffeine would there be if I reuse tea leaves in a second brewing?
If you look for information about the amount of caffeine present in a cup of tea, the amounts vary depending on the kind of tea, if the tea is bagged or loose leaves, the brand, and other factors. ...
1
vote
1answer
74 views
Preventing matcha deposits
I've recently started preparing matcha latte at home, I bought matcha powder and I proceed as follows:
Put 2 tsp of matcha powder in a cup through a sieve
Add 2 tsp of brown sugar
Add 2 tbsp of hot (...
1
vote
2answers
296 views
Can you make coffee by boiling it?
Google results have confused me so much. I learned to make a Nescafe Classic coffee a year ago.
All I would do is: Add some coffee and sugar in a mug/cup, add a few drops of water or milk and start ...
1
vote
2answers
198 views
What is the typical composition of English Breakfast tea?
"English Breakfast" tea usually combines blends from Assam, Ceylon, and Kenya.
Typically what proportions of these three teas are used?
Edit: I have been asked to edit to explain why the answers to ...
3
votes
1answer
127 views
Are there any variable temperature electric kettle which boil water before letting temperature drop to the desired temperature?
I am a green tea enthusiast so I'm looking for a variable temperature electric kettle but since the water in my home is not very clean I don't want to buy one which just heats the water to a given ...
3
votes
1answer
214 views
Is it okay to keep opened loose leaf tea packages in the freezer?
I've bought approximately 10 kilograms worth of tea and it's taking up a lot of space in the fridge. Family isn't happy about the sudden lack of fridge space, and so I'm thinking of stashing 80% of ...
2
votes
2answers
78 views
How long can home dried herbs be stored?
I am growing the "heal-all herb", Prunella Vulgaris, and am planning to dry the leaves and flowers in order to make a medicinal tea. How long is it safe to keep the herb once dried? I would prefer to ...
1
vote
1answer
1k views
What is the stringy slimy stuff in Peace Tea?
I bought a Sno-berry Peace Tea today that had a slimy stringy substance in it. I pulled it out of my mouth after unknowingly drinking it, and I put it into a napkin. Once the moisture was out of it, ...
4
votes
1answer
196 views
Discoloration in tea kettle
I have a two piece tea kettle used for brewing black Turkish Tea. The bottom part is used strictly for water (specifically faucet water), whereas the top is for steeping the concentrate of the tea.
...
0
votes
2answers
10k views
My tea had expired(?) for about 9 years already, can I sill use it? [duplicate]
is doesn’t say if it’s best before or expiring date
It smelled okay.I saw a blog saying that it’s okay to use it,but I’m a bit skeptical about it.
4
votes
2answers
170 views
What type of oolong is Twining's oolong? Or what would this be closest too?
Edit: From the UK site, there is good reason to believe that Twining's is ALSO Iron Goddess of Mercy, but it tastes nothing like the IGoM I got from Numi. From what I've read about oolong, "nutty and ...
1
vote
0answers
31 views
How to get boba pearls as dark as commercial ones?
Does anybody know what I can add to the tapioca dough to get pearls that are as dark as commercial boba (bubble tea tapioca pearls)? Brown sugar alone is not dark enough to provide much color. I want ...
5
votes
2answers
320 views
Storing matcha tea in a thermos?
lately i started to drink matcha tea, as an experiment instead of coffee, and i have read many descriptions about it.
I want to drink matcha tea to work, but i dont want to make it every time here,...
2
votes
2answers
217 views
Should I “sponge” tea?
I went to a tea shop for Chinese New Year and the owner was incredible adamant about rinsing, sponging and reusing the tea. Is this a normal thing? Should I be doing it? What teas should I be doing ...
2
votes
1answer
72 views
What type of lavender is normally used in tea blends?
I was looking through a plant catalog, and am confused as to what type of lavender to grow this year to make tea with.
Does each species taste different?
Which ones are easier to pick?
1
vote
0answers
59 views
Gold tea steeper changed colors
This gold tea steeper changed colors after it has been used once for tea steeping.
Anyone know why the color of one side has changed?
My guesses are that the gold plating has been removed, or that ...
5
votes
4answers
591 views
Samovar Tea: Let it brew the whole day?
I recently got a samovar tea kettle and am not sure about how to use it. For those of you confused about what I am talking about, this is my samovar (electric):
The metal part is a kettle for boiling ...
1
vote
3answers
555 views
How to slow down evaporation when cooking?
Does water evaporate faster when rolling boil with a lid or simmer without a lid? If I use a certain stove plate with a certain sauce pan set to its lowest setting it will cause the water to roll boil ...
4
votes
1answer
312 views
Tea leaf grades and plucking standards
How do the plucking standards of tea (imperial pluck,
fine pluck, …) actually relate to the leaf grades?
PG Tips claims “we pick the top two leaves and a bud known as the tips”, so that would be ...
-2
votes
1answer
168 views
How can I manage sugar in tea?
I don't know how much sugar I use in tea for a gathering. Because some are like more sugar and some less. So how can I manage sugar in tea?
1
vote
1answer
2k views
Safe to put honeycomb in tea?
I put a big chunk of honeycomb in my tea. And it looks like my boiling tea completely melted the comb. But now the water has a weird texture to it. And now I'm worried about drinking the wax. Is it ...
0
votes
4answers
144 views
How can I add flavor to green tea at home?
I often buy green tea with different flavors like lemon, strawberry, and jasmine from the market. I want to add these flavors at home. Can you recommend how I might do this?
0
votes
2answers
211 views
What is this strange tea?
What sort of tea is this and how is it drunk? It doesn't look like any tea I am familiar with.
3
votes
3answers
857 views
How do I strain ginger powder to make ginger tea?
I was thinking maybe a coffee filter would work, but then it might not have enough time to fully brew the ginger. I don't know what other ways to filter are good. The powder is very fine-grained, and ...
2
votes
1answer
4k views
When to add Milk powder while preparing a cup of Tea (Chai)?
Tea is prepared by adding water+sugar+tea powder in a bowl, and boiled it properly. After pouring into the cup, I added 2 spoon of milk powder (Nestle product) and stirred up well. But I found big ...
3
votes
1answer
218 views
Why do turkey tail mushroom experts say to tear up the turkey tail, and not powder it?
I've seen a few videos on making turkey tail mushroom tea, and they suggest ripping it up. Why rip it up, and not blend it into a powder so you can have the whole mushroom effect?
5
votes
2answers
386 views
How to identify CTC tea?
The Harney and Sons Guide to Tea has the following to say about CTC tea:
Today, both Flowery and Broken teas are also called “Orthodox” teas, to distinguish them from “CTC” teas. “CTC” teas (so ...
2
votes
4answers
101 views
What is the difference between fruit teas and pure fruit teas?
In this Livestrong article they make a distinction between "fruit teas" and "pure fruit teas". The only difference i picked up on is that pure fruit teas have more sugar. But dont fruit teas also have ...
2
votes
2answers
922 views
Can you oversteep herbal teas?
Herbal teas don't contain tea leaves (Camellia sinensis), which means they do not release tannins into the water. Does that mean you can steep herbal teas for as much as you like without worry of them ...
3
votes
2answers
207 views
What is a reliable source for the caffeine content in tea?
If you do a quick google search for "Tea caffeine content" you may get varied results anywhere from 20mg up to 45 for black tea. I wonder:
Where do all these numbers come from? Are they estimations? ...
1
vote
2answers
300 views
Is it normal to find something in tea?
I often buy Chinese tea by weight in some local stores and at times I find some inclusions that should not be there. Up to this date I have found:
A human hair
Some sand
Some white dots (presumably ...
0
votes
2answers
293 views
Two different gynostemma teas taste completely different, why?
So i've ordered 2 different brands of gynostemma (or jiaogulan in chinese) and they each taste very differently. The first one I've ordered tastes extremely bitter, the second one I've ordered tastes ...
1
vote
2answers
796 views
Will swishing or moving a teabag around affect the steeping time in any way?
Often times I find myself swishing, dunking, or moving a teabag around to affect the steeping time. Does it have any effect at all on the tea infusion, or am i actually hurting the flavor?
1
vote
1answer
147 views
Are electric kettles a good choice for tea?
From my experience, electric kettles stop only when the water is at a rolling boil, which is bad because:
The water loses oxygen when at a rolling boil
If you make teas other than black or herbals (...
4
votes
3answers
1k views
What makes small tea leaves better than big tea leaves?
According to wikipedia, the smaller the leaf (especially the buds) the more valuable it is.
Tea leaves of different sizes just after plucking. Small leaves are
more valuable than big ones.
From ...
1
vote
5answers
816 views
Better way to make Iced Tea
Should I brew at full strength, allow to cool to room temperature before refrigerating, or should I brew at a higher strength and “shock cool” over ice?
1
vote
1answer
131 views
Are these dregs or what?
Made some tea using a drip style coffee maker by placing tea bag where coffee would normally go, namely on the standard fibrous (paper) coffee filter. After the tea has been on the warmer for a while, ...
40
votes
4answers
25k views
Tea water: heat to 80 °C or boil to 100 °C and let it cool down to 80 °C?
Boiling water is too hot for some teas. Today I heard that it's better to boil water to 100 °C and let it cool down to 80 °C rather than heat water to 80 °C. Is this true? Does it really affect ...
8
votes
1answer
582 views
Why does tea with hard water (lime) taste different?
It seems that tea with lime water (hard water) tastes different.
Different enough that tea manufacturers have a different product to cope with the difference in taste.
My question is: Why does tea ...
0
votes
2answers
134 views
How to preserve tea taste for 6-7 hours?
I am new to this site and I hope my question is clear to everyone.
I prepare 4 cups of black tea in the morning by bringing water and tea powder to boiling.
Then I pour this into flask by filtering ...
6
votes
2answers
289 views
What can you add to water to make it hard enough for tea?
I was living in southern California where the water is one of the hardest in the country, but once passed through a Brita filter it was perfect for tea.
Now I am living in a country where the water ...
2
votes
0answers
100 views
Why does this homemade herbal tea always boil over?
I make my own herbal tea with: ginger, turmeric, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon sticks, goji berry, cilantro/parsley, and lemon. I boil the whole in water but for whatever reason I need to be around ...
3
votes
0answers
256 views
Is my 3 years old loose leaf tea safe for me to drink? [duplicate]
I have some cinnamon orange tea in my kitchen that has been sitting there for 3 years. Would it still be safe to drink?
It is in a container with a lid.
3
votes
2answers
6k views
black residue in tea kettle
I have a stainless steel tea kettle, with sprayed on porcelain enamel. The interior is sprayed black, with little white dots. A very common design in the old ovens, and in many tea kettles.
When I ...
