Making dried fruit for tea.

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Jun 19th, '15, 18:16
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Making dried fruit for tea.

by Dryicefox » Jun 19th, '15, 18:16

So today I decided to get some lychees from my not so nearby asian market, Hiep Thai. After eating about half of the 2.5 pounds of lychee I got, I decided it would be a good idea to save the skins and make some dried lychee skins to use in my white tea.

I used my oven to cook them for about 45 minutes at 200 degrees Fahrenheit and they are very crunchy. The first batch, I set for 2 hours thinking it would take as long as regular fruit would, but I decided that 45 minutes was enough. The second batch, however, wasn't so graceful. I set the clock and turned off the oven! Leaving my batch in a hot oven that was NOT set to 200 degrees! The third batch ended out totally fine.

What are your stories in making dried fruit and things for tea?

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Jun 20th, '15, 17:21
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Re: Making dried fruit for tea.

by Chip » Jun 20th, '15, 17:21

Not too interesting, albeit.

Years ago when I began my tea journey which consisted of mostly flavored tea, I set out to make my own healthy flavored tea with homemade dried fruits, etc.

However, when my teas brewed rather pale by comparison to commercial offerings, I learned quickly that flavored teas had dried fruit mostly for show. The flavors were derived mostly from "fruit flavorings" sprayed onto the tea and not from the showy fruit.

I abandoned this leg of my journey ...

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Jun 20th, '15, 18:25
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Re: Making dried fruit for tea.

by Chip » Jun 20th, '15, 18:25

... a bit off topic. I swatted a dangling spider that was in my face as I was brewing shincha today literally as I was reading this topic. Turns out, it landed in my hot water that was cooling in a pitcher for shincha.

I thought for a milli second ... should I pour it into the kyusu or ditch the pitcher of water which always seems wasteful to me.

I ditched the water. :mrgreen:

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Jun 21st, '15, 04:32
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Re: Making dried fruit for tea.

by kyarazen » Jun 21st, '15, 04:32

Chip wrote:Not too interesting, albeit.

Years ago when I began my tea journey which consisted of mostly flavored tea, I set out to make my own healthy flavored tea with homemade dried fruits, etc.

However, when my teas brewed rather pale by comparison to commercial offerings, I learned quickly that flavored teas had dried fruit mostly for show. The flavors were derived mostly from "fruit flavorings" sprayed onto the tea and not from the showy fruit.

I abandoned this leg of my journey ...
indeed... the same for flower scented teas too, especially jasmine tea, pearls, yinhao etc, mostly easily touched up with jasmine absolutes these days. i had bought several times dried jasmine flowers, petals, and even those that they used to grind into powder for making amulets in thailand.. and non of them really smelt lush/"deep in the night" feel. the only way to get that feel is to capture the best moments of the jasmine by processing it into absolutes and then work from there

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Jun 21st, '15, 04:33
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Re: Making dried fruit for tea.

by kyarazen » Jun 21st, '15, 04:33

Chip wrote:... a bit off topic. I swatted a dangling spider that was in my face as I was brewing shincha today literally as I was reading this topic. Turns out, it landed in my hot water that was cooling in a pitcher for shincha.

I thought for a milli second ... should I pour it into the kyusu or ditch the pitcher of water which always seems wasteful to me.

I ditched the water. :mrgreen:
dang... i might have thought the next spiderman was coming..

Jun 24th, '15, 01:46

Re: Making dried fruit for tea.

by Maven_sh » Jun 24th, '15, 01:46

Generally, tea made from steeping dried black currant leaves and fruit in boiling water is rich in antioxidants and anthocyanins, or compounds found in berries that alleviate inflammation. You can dry fruit with a few tablets of Vitamin C, an oven and a jar

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Jun 24th, '15, 13:33
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Re: Making dried fruit for tea.

by Chip » Jun 24th, '15, 13:33

Maven_sh wrote:Generally, tea made from steeping dried black currant leaves and fruit in boiling water is rich in antioxidants and anthocyanins, or compounds found in berries that alleviate inflammation. You can dry fruit with a few tablets of Vitamin C, an oven and a jar
Copied ... or should I say plagiarized.

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Jun 24th, '15, 15:35
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Re: Making dried fruit for tea.

by Psyck » Jun 24th, '15, 15:35

I steep goji berries, mulberries, etc. in the water while making flavoured teas.

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