Masterclass on Tea (Fantastic 8 chapter video series)

[goingrey]

Watching this. Figured some here might find it interesting. Many parallels to the cannabis world.

 

[gedLang]

Thanks for posting this. I drink a lot of tea and have visited tea estates in India. I started the video expecting to hate on this guy, thinking he's some youtuber who went to China for like two weeks and thinks he's an expert. But then he said he just completed his phd in tea science... in Mandarin... damn he proved me wrong!

I hear you on having a lot of parallels to the cannabis world. Dark tea is like cob-curing! Vaping is like using a gaiwan - you get different flavors as time goes on. And I do really want to hear about the soil microbe research he was talking about. I'll definitely work my way through this series.

 

[goingrey]

We need the same kind of standard systemized procedure for formal testing for cannabis that they have for tea.

 

[gedLang]

I think at some cannabis competitions they have a standardized method, like I've heard that they require the use of something like a Grav upline taster and hemp wick. But I never understood how someone is supposed to rate the high of 20 different strains in the same day. I recall some breeder on here was doing side-by-side testing by using each strain as the first thing they smoked that day, meditating prior in the same room, and writing down their mind state and mood before and after using. That's as scientific as it gets for something that happens only in your own head, I guess.

 

[goingrey]

I can see the one hitter pipe, it is the best option for taste. But hemp wicks taste like candles, they are just hippy marketing nonsense IME butane burns cleaner. Then again if it's the same standardized candle taste added to everything I suppose the comparison is valid. Old high times smoke reports used to be standardized to Club papers and matches I think?

Yeah I also don't see how 20 different highs can be evaluated in the same session or even 3 but while the cup wins have immense marketing value I don't take them so seriously, neither in the good nor the bad, it is just a fun get together for like minded enthusiasts, not the be-all and end-all of cannabis tasting and testing. I think, haven't been to any.

 

[xtsho]

I've thought about buying a couple Camellia sinensis and growing my own tea. I don't drink coffee but I drink a lot of tea.

I also make my own herbal teas using blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, and other leaves. I ferment them in jars far around 10 days and then dry in a food dehydrator. I mix that with other things like lemon balm, mullein, dried ginger, orange, lemon, and lime zest, and mint. It makes a delicious tea that's packed with antioxidants. Mullein is good for the respiratory system.

I have some leaves fermenting right now.

Real men drink tea.

 

[gedLang]

It takes a much warmer climate than mine to grow camellia sinensis. They do have them in the Southern US, but I've heard that the tea from them is just not any good.

I've never heard of anyone fermenting leaves like you. From the picture it looks like they are packed wet into a jar? How does the flavor change?

From what I remember, camellia sinensis is pretty much almost oxidized and dried as soon as possible after picking. The aged dark teas/pu-erh are partially processed and then left to age in a slow ferment. But I could be remembering wrong, I haven't gotten through all the video series yet.

 

[xtsho]

It takes a much warmer climate than mine to grow camellia sinensis. They do have them in the Southern US, but I've heard that the tea from them is just not any good.

I've never heard of anyone fermenting leaves like you. From the picture it looks like they are packed wet into a jar? How does the flavor change?

From what I remember, camellia sinensis is pretty much almost oxidized and dried as soon as possible after picking. The aged dark teas/pu-erh are partially processed and then left to age in a slow ferment. But I could be remembering wrong, I haven't gotten through all the video series yet.

I'm at 45N latitude and they're growing tea very close to me. Plus they just changed my growing zone from an 8 to a 9. Just got to find the best variety. I'll probably start from seed and have tea in 4-5 years.

"In the U.S., the tea plant is commercially cultivated in Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, and some parts of the Southeast."

Growing Tea: The Complete Guide to Plant, Grow, and Harvest Tea

Tea lovers rejoice, you can start growing tea in your backyard no matter where you live. Are you ready to learn how to grow tea? Keep reading!

morningchores.com

 

[goingrey]

I just bought some last week

Sold as 3 but it is actually 13 seedlings. I did put one outside but do believe it won't make it over the winter. So the goal is to keep one or a few around as a houseplant.

 

[Hmong]

my tea is Cannabis, started brewing the trim shizzle
teaspoon of coconut oil added to absorb the potency, green tea sachet for the taste, works like edibles.

 

[exoticrobotic]

I just bought some last week

View attachment 19008087

Sold as 3 but it is actually 13 seedlings. I did put one outside but do believe it won't make it over the winter. So the goal is to keep one or a few around as a houseplant.

I bought ten of them last year for Christmas presents as the in-laws are all big tea drinkers. Big amounts not big people, although extremely tall.

Unfortunately, the U.K outside isnt at all like Darjeeling or Assam though and they went crispy .

The harsh Winter and the dog's particular liking to pissing on that Camelia Sinensis plant meant it didnt last long, but i DID get a few cuppas out of it ( when it was inside out of reach of dog )

It made a verry nice cup of green tea.

 

[goingrey]

I bought ten of them last year for Christmas presents as the in-laws are all big tea drinkers. Big amounts not big people, although extremely tall.

Unfortunately, the U.K outside isnt at all like Darjeeling or Assam though and they went crispy .

The harsh Winter and the dog's particular liking to pissing on that Camelia Sinensis plant meant it didnt last long, but i DID get a few cuppas out of it ( when it was inside out of reach of dog )

It made a verry nice cup of green tea.

View attachment 19008103

They are growing in Cornwall nowadays

Tregothnan

tregothnan.co.uk

 

[exoticrobotic]

camellia sinensis is pretty much almost oxidized and dried as soon as possible after picking. The aged dark teas/pu-erh are partially processed and then left to age in a slow ferment.

Quite amazing the range of flavours within Tea from the various different processing methods, from green, brown, black to gunpowder and mountain monkey tea.

All from the same plant with varying ferment/cure times.

 

[exoticrobotic]

They are growing in Cornwall nowadays

And why not?

Darjeeling

Cornwall

 

[gedLang]

I bought ten of them last year for Christmas presents as the in-laws are all big tea drinkers. Big amounts not big people, although extremely tall.

Unfortunately, the U.K outside isnt at all like Darjeeling or Assam though and they went crispy .

The harsh Winter and the dog's particular liking to pissing on that Camelia Sinensis plant meant it didnt last long, but i DID get a few cuppas out of it ( when it was inside out of reach of dog )

It made a verry nice cup of green tea.

View attachment 19008103

Did you try to oxidize/dry the leafs at all, or just pluck them and steep them?