TeaChat

I have been trying to get my green tea to taste like the China Green Tips at Starbucks. I know this not the best green tea, but there is something about the taste that I really like. Anyways, I bought a few boxes of it and have trying to make it at home. At first my results were pretty bad. I ended up with something that had almost no flavor. I also notice that the tea I make looks much more oxidized (a lot darker and it leaves a brownish film on the cup) like it had been sitting out for a long time.

I checked the tea kettle and it was full of a film from water deposits. So I threw that out and got a new stainless steel tea kettle and some bottled water. The results were a lot better. There was no more oxidation or tea film on the cup, but it still lacked a lot of flavor. It is like there is just a hint (a strong hint) of the flavor of a cup at Starbucks. I have tried different temperatures and have even used the same cups that they use at Starbucks.

What else should I try? Should I get distilled water? Never let the water reach a boil? What am I doing wrong?

Get some tepid water and put a teabag in it for five minutes.

Carefully watch the people at Starbucks when they make it.

Monkey see, Monkey do.

Space's terse advice is probably the way to go. In tea-geek that translates to "Use a cooler temperature and longer steep."

For greens you generally want your water at 180° or cooler. I am often happiest at 155° to 165° for the first steep and then increase the temperature for subsequent infusions.

Fukamushi Dynasty wrote:
Monkey see, Monkey do.

Nice racist comment, jerk.

Racist? How so?

GTFO Darkness. You can lick the leaf off my floor no matter what race you are.

Stupid fool. Next you're gonna say cars are a symbol of racism because they roll on black tires.

Darkness, don't take things to such an extreme. It's a very old saying.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.p ... +monkey+do

And thanks to the online aphorism dictionary, peace was restored to tea-land...

As for the Starbucks tea, for Green or White Tea, a good rule of thumb is 180 degrees should be your maximum temperature- Hotter than that, and you destroy the flavor.

Try pouring the boiling water into a first mug to cool, then into a 2nd mug to cool a bit more. Do this once or twice. That should do the trick!

And no more than 2.5 to 3 minutes max steeping time for loose-leaf green tea. Let the tealeaves expand throughout the cup or teapot, then strain when you pour it- Don't stuff the leaves into a small, cramped, constrained infusing device and expect much.

And the 2nd rule of thumb with any tea is experiment... try slightly different amt's of tea, steeping times, etc, until you find what you are looking for! Varying these factors will make a surprising amt. of difference in the taste of the tea-

Lastly, if you want some better Chinese Green Tea, try these vendors:

http://www.sevencups.com/
http://www.teaspring.com/
http://stores.ebay.com/Dragon-Tea-House

And since this is an Adagio Board, I will plug them as well! Prob a good shop if you are new to tea:
http://www.adagio.com

Good luck!

Man, you will never find better context examples than at the Urban dictionary. Can you picture Merriam-Webster writing about a sibling duo of pyromaniacs?

In my next life, I will be a lexicographer.

...hmmm, more Green Tea For Oregon.

Hmmm...welcome Darkness to TeaChat, an equal opportunity forum.

Chip wrote:...hmmm, more Green Tea For Oregon.

Hmmm...welcome Darkness to TeaChat, an equal opportunity forum.

As long as you like tea.

Mary R wrote:Man, you will never find better context examples than at the Urban dictionary. .

Fo shizzle. . .

Starbucks has one of those handy-dandy Bunn instant hot water thingies, right? And I think they just use tap water plumbed directly into their equipment. My former employer had one and they are less than boiling, which ticks off the health dept. . . however they are inconsistent w/temp because it fills up every time you dispense hot water. You should be able to produce these same results at home!

I also notice they put two tea bags in the venti and grande (Large & Medium). I have ordered the green tips indesparation on a road trip once. It's the only acceptable tea product you can find at Sbux, IMO. And no one there knows anything about tea, other than to stick the bag in a cup and get some hot water.

augie wrote: I also notice they put two tea bags in the venti and grande (Large & Medium). I have ordered the green tips indesparation on a road trip once. It's the only acceptable tea product you can find at Sbux, IMO. And no one there knows anything about tea, other than to stick the bag in a cup and get some hot water.

I thought they used Tazo -- am I wrong on this?

augie wrote:And no one there knows anything about tea, other than to stick the bag in a cup and get some hot water.

Seems to be the usual routine at 99% of coffee/tea shops in our dearest US of A...

And while we're on the subject, if only we could get the masses drinking tea instead of coffee and soda, think how much drastically lower our health insurance premiums would be?

Not to mention, it's better for the soul... just the act of stopping for a minute and paying attention long enough to brew some leaf into a beverage properly each day would do wonders for society...