@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de
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babelcarp

@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de

Accepting bitterness is the leap of faith in the religion of tea.
#tea

I try to follow people who are either friends of mine or people I learn things from. (Delightfully, there is overlap between the two categories!) If I get the impression that you’re here mainly to display your moral or aesthetic superiority, I will try to ignore you.

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babelcarp, to tea
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

As far as is known, Abraham Lincoln never said, “Waiter, if this is the Thai iced tea, I’ll have the Thai iced coffee; if this is the Thai iced coffee, I’ll have the Thai iced tea.”

@tea

babelcarp, to tea
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

We decided to get a jump on Memorial Day weekend with a walk along the, uh, Brooklyn Riviera.

But first, for lunch we tried an Ipoh-style Malaysian restaurant in Bensonhurst. Because the menu included “Ipoh-style milk tea” (怡保奶茶) it was my duty to try it.

It tasted like “Thai tea” at a random Thai restaurant made with sweetened condensed milk. I asked the owner if it was made with black tea; he replied, “Thai tea.”

¯_(ツ)_/¯

@tea

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Later on Brighton Beach, I took out the tea jar I’d put once-infused leaves of Bermiok second flush into 2½ hours earlier. It was too bitter for Spouse but just fine for me: minty with just a hint of wintergreen.

As with cinnamon, I enjoy wintergreen only at doses barely above the subliminal level.

@tea

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@nomadbynature I’ve heard Ipoh is a great place to find aged liubaocha.

@tea

ellestad, to tea
@ellestad@sfba.social avatar

I do still think the 2024 Mei Tan Mao Feng was my fave from the spring green MyTeaPal shipment, no matter what it says about my taste in tea.

@tea

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@ellestad From here?

https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=Mei2+Tan2

What would be wrong with that?

@tea

ellestad, to tea
@ellestad@sfba.social avatar

Is it a suspension or a solution? (Very nice Meng Ding Mao Feng from MyTeaPal club).

@tea

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@ellestad Both!

@tea

ai6yr, to tea

My preferred cheap black tea. Oddly, only found at local Indian markets, and produced here by Unilever Canada.

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@ai6yr Yes, it’s loose leaf, but it’s made by the CTC (crush, tear, curl) process designed to yield a reddish liquor as fast as possible. Pretty much the same stuff that goes into most tea bags.

I’m not telling you to be unhappy with what you’re drinking, but tea manufacturing that does less violence to the leaves provides a range of experiences you won’t get from CTC.

@rustoleumlove

babelcarp, to tea
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

I’m happy to note that Rudy Giuliani has not endorsed any tea: https://rudy.coffee/

@tea

babelcarp, to tea
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Sometimes I think there’s no such thing as bad tea, just badly brewed tea.

Today’s mild spring weather in NYC impelled me to dig some 5-year-old plebeian dian lü—that is to say, stale green tea—out of my stash.

https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=dianl%C3%BC&define=1

Brewing it pretty hot but in very short steeps, the liquor is aggressive in a dianlü way but pretty nice, and I get a warming feeling in my chest and shoulders.

Totally unexpected: a honeyed beidixiang.

@tea

baptnz, to tea
@baptnz@vis.social avatar

TIL mōji, the tiny hair of @tea leaves floating in sencha liquor

e-mōji, the pixel version of tea dust

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@baptnz This is the corresponding word in Chinese tea terminology: https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=maozhuangti&define=1

@tea

babelcarp, to tea
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

We went out for a long walk this afternoon. Before that I’d done a couple of nice mellow gongfu steeps of some adolescent Fuding white tea, so I dumped the leaves into the tea jar and poured in boiling water before we set out.

By the time I took the first sip maybe a half hour later, the liquor was like some overboiled vegetable, not really drinkable. Should’ve stuck with short steeps!

@tea

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Today it’s a much nicer day. After two gongfu steeps of Bermiok second flush, the leaves go into the tea jar with cool water for our walk.

It’s sooo much better: fragrant and with manageable bitterness about an hour later.

@tea

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@lite It definitely works with green tea too.

@tea

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@ellestad I can’t get a rise out of New Yorkers, and I’ve tried countless times.😥

@lakelady @tea

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@dave_heumann Oh, that’s a great tea.

@ellestad @tea

babelcarp, to tea
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Today, for the second time, we visited a friendly, tasty Uyghur restaurant in Bensonhurst. With our laghman noodles we had a black fungus salad and what they call naan: a puffy roll with a central depression, studded with black and white sesame seeds.

(Yes, of course they make their own noodles.)

They comped us with a big pot of tea, but it came to the table with lemon slices and sugar already in it. Next time we’ll bring our own tea leaves.💡

@tea

ellestad, to tea
@ellestad@sfba.social avatar

When I complemented the proprietor of MyTeaPal on their 2024 Mei Tan Mao Feng they said, "For the two Mao Feng teas, the picking grade is lower than the other two teas, but having more leaves makes the flavor more rich. I can see why that's the case for a puerh drinker like you." Which, I dunno, is that a bit of a slam? Heh, well, it is true, I like richer flavored green teas...

@tea

Mao Feng Green Tea in a dragon bowl.
Spent Green Tea Leaves.

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@ellestad We barbarians have a right to drink tea too.

@nathanlovestrees @tea

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@LeafyEricScott And this is why tea is so great—there are so many more than one ways to do it!

@ellestad @tea

babelcarp, to tea
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Don Mei has a video about mouthfeel: not taste, not aroma, not finish, but the physical feel of the liquor while it’s in your mouth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qctxCuEkYgQ

Interesting points: why you should pay attention to a tea’s mouthfeel before its taste; trichomes and pectin as influences on a tea’s thickness.

@tea

davew, to random
@davew@mastodon.social avatar

I can’t wait for the UIs of settings on systems like Mac Or Android to go through the AIs. No more hunting through menus to not find the setting where you’re sure it should be.

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@davew You have a problem with General?🙃

alex, to tea EN
@alex@social.alexschroeder.ch avatar

Enjoying some Oolong tea from Taiwan. Gang Kou Cha, 港口茶 – something about the sea? In German, it's named "Meer Oolong". Babelcarp to the rescue: https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/junk.cgi?phrase=%E6%B8%AF%E5%8F%A3%E8%8C%B6 → "literally Harbor Tea: a lightly-oxidized Pingtung oolong, traditionally rolled and dried in the same wok, with appearance similar to meicha"
I like it! @tea

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@alex If divers recovered the leaves submerged during the Boston Tea Party, that would be harbor tea, right?💡

@tea

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@lite Lightly smoked? I was thinking more of heavily salted.

@alex @tea

babelcarp, to tea
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

This article says Japanese black tea production is taking off: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2024/05/13/food-drink/food-black-tea-wakocha-revival-japan/

It strongly implies that black tea is flourishing in Japan at least in part because green tea is stagnating due to over-standardization due to rigid regulations. Consequently smart and enterprising tea producers are going over to the dark side, so to speak.

@tea

ellestad, to tea
@ellestad@sfba.social avatar

Sunday is a "day", so perfectly acceptable to drink "daily milan" (a not too fancy Milan Xiang Dancong oolong from White2Tea).

@tea

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@ellestad When I grow up I’m going to law school and then specialize in tea law.

@tea

babelcarp, to random
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Our Singapore friend gave us some deluxe serial numbered liubaocha, aged 4 years before packing, from the Wuzhou factory. It’s great: sweet, thick, with a prominent betel nut taste (as they say; I think I know what they mean by now) in the early steeps.

The packaging includes a brochure showing it’s within the limit for each of >100 contaminants.🧐

Cup with dark red liquor, gaiwan with dark brown leaves

babelcarp,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

> betel nut taste in liubaocha

https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=binglangxiang&define=1

It occurred to me that I could get all the fixings for experiencing actual binglang xiang at shops in the south Asian neighborhoods of NYC.

But then I read up on paan. Using it takes a fair amount of preparation and skill. Worse, its addictiveness works via the same receptors as nicotine.😵‍💫

I decided it’s just not that important to me.

@tea

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