I got me a nice (dishwasher-safe) stoneware teapot, and a tea strainer ball thingy.
The cold season is coming and I’m looking for a new evening habit of drinking a gallon of afternoon tea (instead of drinking a gallon of Cola…)
Anyone got any recommendations on this front?
I’d say find a local tea shop and get small amounts of a couple different types. The tea that makes it to western markets is usually pretty low quality, black teas are the most likely to be decent. There isn’t gonna be a huge quality difference between brands either. If you want really good stuff, you gotta order online from specialized sellers, usually from asia.
Also, ditch the tea ball thingy and get a steeping basket or steep straight in the pot, the leaves don’t have room to expand in there and you don’t get good flavour.
I can try to recommend something more specific based on which flavours you like the most (earthy, woody, chocolate, malty, fruity, floral, vegetal, grassy, nutty etc.)
Puer is delicious, strongly flavourful, can’t really be oversteeped and has a wide flavour range.
Someone else already mentioned alishan oolong - any high mountain taiwanese oolong is a good choice. Tie guan yin (tyeh gwan yin - iron goddess of mercy) is another popular oolong.
Local tea shop near my house sells me Alishan Secret Garden High Mountain Oolong which is heavenly.
Dan Cong oolongs (try KingTeaMall), raw Pu’er (try Farmerleaf), Liu Bao (good in cold weather).
Ditch the ball strainer, and just brew in a mug when you don’t want a whole pot, and either strain with your lips or decant to a different mug holding the leaves back with a strainer.
Ditch the ball strainer
I’m starting to feel this - more often than not, the strainer just gets blocked too easily and almost nothing comes out
