TeaChat

entropyembrace wrote:I like putting chocolate milk in yunnan black

is one of the few teas that can stand up to milk...and the creamy chocolately flavours blend with it so nicely.

What kind of chocolate do you make the chocolate milk with (I'm a bit of a chocolate snob )?

This is an interesting idea--chocolate milk with the tea. I love my chocolate milk (70% Scharffenberger, about 1 oz chocolate to 1 cup of milk, plus one of several spice mixes)), and my Yunnan gold.

I may have to try some chocolate milk in Yunnan tomorrow morning. For tonight, I have probably already have damaged my sleep with a Dan Cong comparative tasting.

Poohblah wrote:

entropyembrace wrote:I like putting chocolate milk in yunnan black

is one of the few teas that can stand up to milk...and the creamy chocolately flavours blend with it so nicely.

What kind of chocolate do you make the chocolate milk with (I'm a bit of a chocolate snob )?

I´ve just used the basic chocolate milk from the jugs at the grocery store.

It´s kind of a simple comfort...I´m depressed and want chocolate AND tea kind of thing...but I imagine it would be even better with good chocolate

I typically do not use milk in my tea unless it is an english breakfast tea.

I prefer to have tea alone to enjoy the flavor.

Take care,
Matt

Tried the chocolate milk and golden yunnan, and it was not a felicitous combination for me. To get a dense enough chocolate flavor, I had to add enough to overpower the tea; a little enough chocolate to not overpower the tea just was odd. Perhaps a sweeter chocolate would have been better.

But I'll stick with my osmanthus as the primary blend with YG for now.

Hmmm....I just used regular grocery store chocolate milk...that 70% cacao and spice mix sounds like it would be quite a bit stronger and not as sweet...also I used black Yunnan with almost go gold bits...those Yunnans of all golden buds seem to be milder with more high notes. The Yunnan I used is very choppy and almost totally black with only a few small pieces of golden leaf. Less refined than the pure golden bud Yunnan´s but I think it can stand up to strong flavours like chocolate better.

entropyembrace wrote:Hmmm....I just used regular grocery store chocolate milk...that 70% cacao and spice mix sounds like it would be quite a bit stronger and not as sweet...also I used black Yunnan with almost go gold bits...those Yunnans of all golden buds seem to be milder with more high notes. The Yunnan I used is very choppy and almost totally black with only a few small pieces of golden leaf. Less refined than the pure golden bud Yunnan´s but I think it can stand up to strong flavours like chocolate better.

Yeah, milk chocolate, especially generic brand, tastes much more like sugar than "real" chocolate; I expect that a Schaffenberger would not get that effect. Actually sugary milk chocolate mixed with a black tea does not sound too bad... but out of principle I don't have any milk chocolate on hand

MimzyCaterpillar wrote: And what makes Teavana rude? Have you gotten enough info on this company to make that assumption? I like the different things from what all tea companies offer which is why I am defending Teavana. You are making this into a ridiculous argument.

Anyone that has set foot into a Teavana after being in a small independent tea shop has more than enough info. Yes, the employees (at the store near my house) are friendly, but I find it a bit ridiculous when not one single employee knows you and gives you the exact same sales pitch every time after buying stuff 30+ times.

Here is a list of sales pitches I get every time I walk into the store (often from the same person):

-1 pound discounts on tea
-Get a 1 pound tin instead of the 9 oz tin because it's only a dollar more
-Get some white tea mixed into whatever tea you order for cancer-fighting properties (note: this automatically makes your cup of tea cost $5 because they charge you the 'premium/rare' tea price)
-Same exact spiel about each tea when I ask to smell one

On tea being good or bad for you; as far as I am concerned unless its a primary literature source that's a peer reviewed academic journal, it's not worth wasting my time reading. I am building up a nice repository of articles. In fact, a good review just came out about the chemistry of catechins.
I am highly skeptical of much of the tea lore. That's why the tea classics really don't do much for me. It seems that most of the art of tea is just based on the placebo effect. If its good tea and you like it, great.
Tha'ts my 2c

brose wrote:On tea being good or bad for you; as far as I am concerned unless its a primary literature source that's a peer reviewed academic journal, it's not worth wasting my time reading. I am building up a nice repository of articles. In fact, a good review just came out about the chemistry of catechins.
I am highly skeptical of much of the tea lore. That's why the tea classics really don't do much for me. It seems that most of the art of tea is just based on the placebo effect. If its good tea and you like it, great.
Tha'ts my 2c

Unfortunately, studies are constantly conflicting making it hard to come to conclusions.

But it is good to know you have such a repository ...

I have seen the article about milk removing the antioxidants in tea. Then months later i seen an article that said, "we were wrong about the milk/tea study, it does not remove antioxidants".

Reminds me of the 15 studies about eggs, first they are bad, then good, then bad again, i think they are good for you now.

Alucard wrote:I have seen the article about milk removing the antioxidants in tea. Then months later i seen an article that said, "we were wrong about the milk/tea study, it does not remove antioxidants".

Reminds me of the 15 studies about eggs, first they are bad, then good, then bad again, i think they are good for you now.

Yeah, I hear you. I guess they are good or bad depending on which study is most current? So for now I am loading up ...

So many foods and drinks are like that... No one ever knows whether or not they're actually healthy because the results of so many experiments are being released all the time. I agree, though, with those who said earlier on that tea should not be drunk just for the health benefits of antioxidants, etc.-- it should be more than that, somehow. Actually, though, a good few cups of tea seem to de-stress me regardless of antioxidant levels or any of that because tea is just so comforting.

On the subject of tea and chocolate milk-- I have put jasmine green tea leaves, post-steeping, into dark chocolate yogurt and run it through my ice cream maker. The yogurt was fat-free so I guess it was a healthy combination of tea and dairy. (And it was so good!!)

teahawk wrote:My gut feeling says: since my favorite dairy tea is a Tibetan butter tea, with heaping teaspoons of salt, butter and cream, antioxidants are the last thing on my body's mind!

I too love Tibetan tea. I thought I was the only one. Haha! I have the butter shipped to me here in Guilin. I don't use the salt though.

Just curious: I've read that the compressed tea bricks carried over the tea-horse road were the original inspiration for puerh, but am wondering what kind of tea is currently used for this purpose in Tibet--something more like a sheng or a shu puerh? And whether it is typically aged?

As I have no access to yaks, I will not be making authentic yak butter tea anytime soon, but am trying to imagine what it might be like, and want to know what kind of tea to 'work' with here.