Help me to understand

For general/other topics related to tea.


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Jan 4th, '10, 00:28
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Re: Help me to understand

by Chip » Jan 4th, '10, 00:28

Cold brewing tames the bitterness in just about any tea ... makes it milder as well, lacking the high points .......

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Jan 5th, '10, 22:26
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Re: Help me to understand

by tenuki » Jan 5th, '10, 22:26

chris&amy wrote:the cheap is very good cold but when it is hot it is lacking.
Common characteristic of cheap tea. There's a inside joke at the tea shop I frequent - 'This tea would make very good iced tea.' - translates to 'this tea sucks'.

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Jan 6th, '10, 00:23
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Re: Help me to understand

by Chip » Jan 6th, '10, 00:23

bad tea always ends up in the house iced tea reserve ... I have enough to make a tanker full of iced tea by now. :oops:

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Jan 7th, '10, 14:52
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Re: Help me to understand

by teaisme » Jan 7th, '10, 14:52

chris&amy wrote: Now call me crazy and no I do not have a answer but for some reason the cheap is very good cold but when it is hot it is lacking. If anyone has a answer please explane.
When you hot brew you extract more catechins(a type of polyphenol, fitting into the label of 'tannins') and caffeine. These cause bitterness. So your cheap tea is brewed without as much bitterness, making the flavour stand out more.

On a related side note, I have found that brewing a 'cheap' oolong tea in a small brewing vessel is not ideal ie 80ml-200ml. It is better to use bigger pots like 300 ml, and not necessarily more leaf, but longer steeps. Expect 2-4 good cups vs the many more from a kungfu session. I don't think this applies much for japanese green teas though for many reasons.

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Jan 11th, '10, 06:44
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Re: Help me to understand

by skilfautdire » Jan 11th, '10, 06:44

Geekgirl wrote:But this braggadocio regarding your ghetto utensils... is that meant to be some kind of statement?
Thanks for your reply. Since you began with a smiley icon, I presume it is some kind of English humour.

I had to look up the word braggadoccio. It might be very common in English, used by everyone everyday, but since English is a second language, I had to look it up.

And so Merriam-Webster points to: Loud arrogant boaster, empty boasting, arrogant pretension.

Well, if you believe sincerly that you have love for your bowls and drinking cups of various sizes for various drinks, then you should not be put off by a beginner simply stating during the course of a conversation what he's currently using to drink matcha.
Geekgirl wrote:It seems we readily acknowledge the superiority of a chasen over any western tool that could be substituted, so why is there such resistance to acknowledging the superiority of the chashaku?
Is this from Monty Python's ?

It's like saying the 'superiority' of a hammer to nail nails is clear, then so is the 'superiority' of a totally different tool to do a totally different job. Works fine only in comic sketches and infomercial tv adverts. You surely must be joking.

For that matter, the chasaku it is a spoon. A normal small spoon found at every store works very well.

And the superiority of a chasen ? I'm afraid I do not jump at seeing things superior or inferior. It obviously does the job but as I've said, that's only because it seems no other similar tool is available in local kitchen stores. So far. Or maybe ... maybe that small metal whisk I use to mix miso with mirin could do it ...

Thanks again for your reply. For two reasons. First, it made me try whisking matcha with a simple small metal whisk and it works. And second, to remind me that if I ever get into fancier tea hardware, to remember not be so damn snob about it.
chawan04012010-085316-000001-nb.jpg
Matcha in IKEA bowl whisked with common metal whisk
chawan04012010-085316-000001-nb.jpg (10.78 KiB) Viewed 686 times

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