Im a tea aficionado, and I’ve gone through countless videos about tea, made by more mainstream channels as opposed to the real tea experts. This is the first time I see a not tea dedicated channel that provides the right information to its viewers. No myths, fake facts or click bait here. Highly appreciate it 👍🏻
@@ethelryan257 I agree geeks can sound snobbish but here's my defense on the thermometer. Brewing tea is like brewing coffee. Brew too hot and you cook it, over extract, and whatnot. Brew too cold and you underextract and miss out on alot. Temperature is important, specially when dealing with specialty teas. Its like toasting a slice of bread too hot, too cold or just right. A thick slice of bread needs longer time and lower temperature to crisp the whole thing (eg. croutons). Thinner slices like wonderbread, toast high to get crisp top but still chewy middle. (or am i the only one who geeks out on toast...) The swirling tho is just to make sure everything is even. Clockwise counter clockwise, stir with a metal spoon or straw or wooden chopstick, doesnt really matter.
For anyone who wants to learn more about Tea: Mei Leaf runs a channel where they both have great background info, AND do deep dives onto individual brewing methods, individual strains, sampling sessions, everything you could ever want to know. I HIGHLY recommend Mei Leaf's channel for anyone passionate about tea.
Fantastic introduction. Am in Taiwan every couple of years and my students have gifted us some of the most wonderful high mountain oolong. My fave: Quanyin Iron Goddess of Mercy.
Excellent job. I've taught friends to make great iced tea from New Mexico to Alaska to Connecticut. Soooo many people don't think they like it because they've only had it badly made. I love tea so much that I remember ordering hot tea AND iced tea with meals for both sensations. When eating out, badly made tea is enough of an offense that it can ruin a great meal.
Tea is a passion for me, and this video does an amazing job introducing it. Seeing gongfu brewing described and recommended warms my heart, and big kudos for shouting out Mei Leaf! Great info all around.
High mountain Oolong tea all the way. Even within that category, there are so many choices. It’s like wine... find the taste you enjoy, and go with the price you can afford. It can get very expensive vey quickly. Personally, I would skip the basket in the teapot for brewing. Excellent video!
Oriarm teas are sold on Amazon and I've been impressed by their honesty in marketing and the quality within each category that they offer, and they do offer a pretty decent spread. My current favorite of theirs is the Taiwanese Milk Tea, which has buttery aromas that fade away to honeysuckle and orchid and then progress finally to a pleasant minerality before you run out of steeps. Truly a lovely tea. It isn't cheap, but it also isn't exorbitantly expensive when .25oz gets you six to eight steeps, easy. They also sell some of their teas in different grades, so you can buy what you can afford and splurge on a better version when you have the cash.
Perhaps the most important thing people need to know when exploring white and green teas is that temperature of the brewing water is extremely important. Black tea lovers often blithely douse their tea with boiling water straight from the kettle. This can yield unpleasant results when applied to more delicate teas such as whites and greens. Also, the length of brewing time can have a very significant impact. 30 seconds vs 60 seconds can create a very different result. Serious white and green tea drinkers will often buy a digital electric tea kettle that allows a precise desired water temperature to be selected. Tea aficionados will often include time and temp in their tasting notes in tea forums to help others have the same experience with a given tea. It is an amazing sensory journey to explore the world of tea, but be advised it can be a bit more involved than you might initially think.
Dan! I want to learn about Yerba Mate!! I've been trying to find scientific articles to learn more about the research, but it's far and few between. It has so many interesting properties behind it. The Test Kitchen should crack the case!
Yerba Mate is an incredibly interesting plant with some deep cultural ties to south and central America. It's also another example of a plant that produces caffeine in commercially viable quantities for extraction. It comes in roasted and raw formats and the flavors are markedly different, with a market preference for roasted. It is, unfortunately, not my preferred beverage, but the traditional preparation method involves putting several teaspoons worth in the bottom of a metal-rimmed dried gourd cup and letting it sit for a couple minutes to cool and infuse, then using a straw with a metal strainer on the end to sip the beverage through. The flavor is quite polarizing. It is usually intensely bitter, like an espresso made with robusta coffee, with grassy and roasted flavors if you're using a roasted yerba mate. It's definitely a beverage that you either like or you don't, as it takes quite a long time to grow accustomed to its unique flavor.
As someone who has seen some version of this tea lecture a few times, I really loved the examples you used for the different oxidation levels! I was like: oh! I get it now!
I have been drinking tea (all kinds) for years and I know a lot about it. I also recently started a blog (and still have a lot to learn about blogging). When I saw the title of this video I thought tjah, another “tea expert” ... but when I watched it, I changed my mind. Short, concise, right to the point... Anyone who has no idea about tea in these 9 and a half minutes can find out the most important facts. Congratulations .... and you have one new subscriber
There are more than enough videos that go on and on about the culture & history behind tea, so it's refreshing to see something so straight to the point with tea itself. And thank you for not shoehorning tisanes in haha I live in Japan and Gyokuro is my absolute favorite. One of the most interesting green teas I've tried here is Hikozou, a sencha that's matured in cold, pitch-dark wine cellars. I wish you'd briefly touched on Chinese black teas like Keemun because they're so distinct from Indian and Sri Lankan ones. Nonetheless I loved this video.
The best tea can't be found in a supermarket. I am lucky to visit a large city's chinatown a few time a year. Jamon puro de bellota is the best Spanish ham; but, try an authentic Chinese ham if you get the chance!
I love tea!! I trying to understanding matcha green tea. I have some but I need to learn to make. I drink lot of black orange tea like lipton and bigelow green tea. At night hit green tea with raw honey mixed in it. Yum!!! Since I was a child tea always calms me down. I rather have tea over sodas any day
The last tea you made was yankee tea. I learned the hard way being from the south that if you ask for iced tea anywhere north of Richmond VA you need to also ask for sugar, with your iced tea
Yep,I bring my tea to a rolling boil and immediately take the pot off the burner and place a saucer on top and steep for four minutes then I pour it into a partially filled up pitcher with ice and squeeze the tea bags dry then fill the pitcher the rest of the way with water and stir and let it sit for a few minutes. That's the perfect steep with no bitterness
Does herbal tea also come from Camillia sinensis? Or are we misusing the word “tea” in the same way that we say “Kleenex” instead of “facial tissue” or “champagne” instead of “sparkling wine?”
Puerh is arguably the most complex and varied with two main kinds (cooked/wet-piled and raw). Highly recommend people do the dive on those if you're interested in tea.
Thank you I never knew so much about tea ! But i prefer it then to coffee gives me the runs so I'm back to tea I drink it as my mother made it with just lipton and yes a little bit of milk! Oh sugar. Thank you!!!
What about herbal teas and the science of milk, sugar, honey, lemon, etc. in tea? I’ve been told that adding milk halts the steeping process, but then I’ve heard that Chai is traditionally brewed in milk. How does adding different things affect the chemistry of the tea?
Dan, if you do another video about tea, could you talk about gaiwan more in depth? Most of the ones I see are only 3oz. Yours looks more like 6-8 oz. What size should we be looking for? Also some websites for sourcing would be helpful.
You missed two major black tea leaf variations. Adding oils ala Earl Grey and pre-smoking ala Lapsang Souchong. Can't get much better on a cold night than the camp fire smokiness of Lapsang Souchong!
Love the passion on display Mr. Dan, (but how do you feel about tea really?) :-) how about coffee? another kettle of beverage to explore for test kitchener's..delight
Dan didn't talk about the temperature of the water. Green tea is best at 160-170°F for 3 minutes max. Oolong 170-180°F for 3-4 minutes. Black 180-190° for 3-5 minutes.
I call myself a tea-aholic I wake up thinking "hot or iced?" My friends and family tease me about it My reformed alcoholic girlfriend invited me on her boat with "Don't worry, there's tea on the boat!" My friends give me tea, teapots, tea eggs and strainers, etc I buy my tea from Indian grocers Darjeeling is my favorite
