The citrusy aroma of fresh orange pairs surprisingly well with the rich, malty notes of black tea. Simple, cozy, and refreshing.

Have you ever added fresh fruit to your tea? What combinations do you like?

Found this brand (Chafolio) at my local farmers market. I've bought everything they sell except the competition grade gonna get one can this weekend. The honey black tea is my favorite so far.

My Tokoname-yaki shiboridashi (handleless teapot) is one of my favorites in my collection. And a cup I got from a ceramic class sale.

Yes, I do want more tea cups and tea pots. Yes, I do have a problem. No, I won't stop. Its the only hobby I have.

Slowly building a ritual that keeps me calm and collected. My ADHD loves the ritual.

Well.

Gonna go do more research, tastings, and purchasing (moderately).

Hope you all have a wonderful day.

I've been interested in milk tea(both boba and royal milk tea style) since childhood. Also I've been a great fan of green tea ice cream, green tea cookies and green tea latte. But I became more into tea and tea brewing after I entered and took a role in a tea club in University. So I am curious how others got into tea. Would you share the story?

P.S. Hongyun has a great pair with sour fruits!

Date: 2026.09.01

Name: Hong-yun black tea

Type: black tea

Year of harvest: 2024 winter

Tea farm: Sun Moon lake, Taiwan

Tea brand: Eum, Korea

Where I bought this: Eum online store - Korean seller in Taiwan delivers to Korea

Water type: Seoul tap water “Arisu”

Tea pot: Hartmann

Temperature: 100C -> 85C

Tea ware I used: Tiger gaiwan, handmade

Where I bought this Tea ware: "park_sungmi_ceramist" in Korea

Hi everyone. Just wanted to pop in and say I have been a lifelong hot drink hater. I hate the smell and taste of coffee and when I had tea as a child, I thought it tasted like a candle. I recently went to Japan and drank some tea that was given to me because I wanted to be polite. Oh my god. Tea is so good. I don’t even know what I’m getting into here. I was sick last week and genuinely so excited because it meant I’d have a reason to seek out some hot tea. Obviously I know I don’t need to be sick to enjoy tea, but I was excited to use it as a jumping off point. I like green tea and chamomile and sleepy time tea (lol) but I’m aware those are entry level teas. So please enlighten me, what are your tea routines and rituals? How often do you have a cup of tea? Has anyone here used it to curb their addiction to soda? I still don’t like sweet iced tea, but I’m also thinking anything is possible at this point. I’m a 30 year old woman and I’ve always been somewhat of a picky eater, but something clicked for me around 27 and my attitude towards food changed to “people pay to consume this, so it must be good to some extent” I feel like my entire world is opening up and I don’t want to lose momentum.

I kept getting bitter cups and assumed I was oversteeping. Turned out I was using too little leaf for the volume, then compensating with longer steeps, which pulls more tannin.

Switching to more leaf and shorter steeps fixed it almost entirely. Same leaf, completely different cup.

Is ratio-first the consensus here, or do people find temperature is the bigger lever? Curious whether this is obvious to everyone and I was just slow to it.

Enjoying a nice Chinese green tea at the moment

Got myself this early Birthday present. Cant wait to have it right next to me as I enjoy some tea and watch some movies. Been into this tea thing for a month and it truly brings me relaxation. I know there are probably better and cheaper out there but the design and color got me.

I tried brewing a 2014-aged Shoumei four different ways: in a glass cup, a gaiwan, a teapot, and a thermos.

I didn't try to keep the tea-to-water ratio or steeping time exactly the same, since each method works differently. Instead, I used the way I normally brew tea and used 100°C / 212°F boiling water for all four methods.

• Gaiwan: 5g tea + 100mL water, around 30 seconds per steep
• Glass cup: 3g tea + 300mL water, around 4–5 minutes
• Teapot: 5g tea + 800mL water, simmered for about 5–8 minutes
• Thermos: 5g tea + 800mL water, steeped for more than 2 hours

The results actually surprised me.

1. Glass cup Brewing

This was definitely the simplest method of the four. The flavor was fairly gentle and simple. As the tea steeped longer, a subtle date-like aroma gradually started to come through, along with more sweetness.

After the second and third steep, the overall flavor became lighter, but the sweetness seemed even more noticeable.

1. Gaiwan Brewing

Gaiwan brewing is usually considered one of the best ways to brew high-quality tea, but this time, the result wasn't quite what I expected.

The woody aroma was much more noticeable, and the flavor was most complex of the four methods. However, the astringency became more pronounced toward the later steeps. Personally, I didn't enjoy this texture as much.

1. Teapot Brewing

The extra heat from boiling seemed to bring out much more of the aged Shoumei's date-like aroma. At the same time, the flavor became richer, while the texture felt rounder, smoother, and fuller. The sweetness was also quite noticeable.

 4. Thermos Brewing

This one surprised me the most. Even after being steeped for such a long time, the Shoumei didn't become bitter. Instead, it became sweeter, silkier, and more concentrated. The longer it steeped, the rounder the texture became, and the tea soup felt thicker and richer. The date-like aroma also became more pronounced.

Maybe that's part of the charm of aged white tea. Different brewing methods can bring out completely different flavors, and perhaps the most interesting way to get to know a tea isn't to look for the "correct" or "best" way to brew it, but to try different methods and taste the differences for yourself.

Which method would you prefer for enjoying aged white tea?

Personally, I usually like brewing aged white tea in a thermos. I'll put the tea in before bed and drink it the next morning. By then, the temperature and flavor are usually just right.

Hi Tea friends,
I've gotten into gongfu brewing (or at least brewing in a gaiwan) in the last few months, and I've found I use way less tea leaves than everyone else seems to.
The bitterness seems to appear really quickly for me if I try and make it stronger, though I'm also aware that I am more sensitive to bitterness in food as well compared to most people.

I usually use 1g of leaves in my 4oz gaiwan (1g tea to 70ml water), and double that in my 8oz gaiwan.
55-80c water for every tea (greens are lower, puerhs are higher, etc etc).
Steeping time is usually as long as it takes me to pour water in (gooseneck kettle), put the lid on, and pour it out - or longer once the leaves start running out of energy.
The leaves usually last me for more steeps than they're "meant" to, though I do notice the drop in flavour and colour throughout the session.

Is there anything I'm missing that could account for using 5x less leaves than most people do?
If it changes anything, white teas, a weak green teas, and shou puerh are my favourites, and I struggle to find a black/red tea that I can enjoy.

No bitterness no astringency. Perfuming sweetness, penetrating and long lasting, deep Houyun喉韵, powerful Qi

Recently, I saw a post on Reddit’s r/tea where someone asked how much a gift box of West Lake Longjing (Dragon Well) tea from a friend was worth. Many helpful tea enthusiasts chimed in to estimate the price. However, my attention was drawn to a rather specific detail: the inconspicuous QR code tucked away in the upper-right corner of the box.

The truth is, the answers regarding this tea’s origin, grade, and even authenticity might all be hidden inside that little QR code. It is China’s digital traceability label for specialty teas.

China’s tea trade history spans centuries—much of the tea dumped into the harbor during the Boston Tea Party was Chinese tea procured by the British East India Company. However, for a long time, China lagged behind in agricultural product standardization and regional brand protection. It lacked the clearly quantified classification and anti-counterfeiting systems seen in French wine (the AOC system), specialty coffee, or single-origin chocolate.

To tackle the long-standing problem of counterfeit famous teas flooding the market, China adopted the internationally recognized concept of Geographical Indications (GI) to safeguard the regional reputation of teas produced in specific terroirs.

Hangzhou’s West Lake Longjing has been a pioneer in this effort:

2001: Hangzhou introduced dedicated regulations to standardize the management of West Lake Longjing tea production bases.

2011: The "West Lake Longjing" Geographical Indication certification trademark was officially registered.

2020–2021: The system was upgraded into a "Digital Traceability Special Label."

Simply put, the core logic of this system is straightforward: "Production quota determined by acreage; a unique code for each unit."

Every year, regulatory authorities calculate the theoretical annual yield based on the verified tea garden acreage owned by certified tea farmers or enterprises, issuing an exact quota of anti-counterfeiting QR code labels accordingly. Only authorized farmers and producers can obtain and apply these labels; any tea without official authorization is strictly forbidden from using the name "West Lake Longjing."

When you scan this QR code with your phone (it usually works best when scanned via WeChat), not only can you verify whether the tea is genuine, but you can also trace it right back to the specific tea farmer, tea village, plantation acreage, verified production quota, and recorded sales volume for that batch.

This model of combining Geographical Indications with QR code traceability has proven highly effective and has since expanded across Zhejiang Province and throughout China's major tea regions.

For example, with Anji White Tea (Anji Baicha), scanning the code pinpoint-locates the specific mountain plot and farmer. Renowned varieties like Fujian's Wuyi Rock Tea (Yancha) have also established their own origin-tracking and anti-counterfeiting systems. Consumers no longer have to rely on blind trust or fancy packaging claims—there is now an official layer of verification.

Of course, this traceability system currently covers primarily core protected origins and recognized brands; it has not yet cover all tea produced in China.

We should view this reasonably: tea without a QR code isn't inherently bad, but tea with an official traceability code provides a solid guarantee of authenticity, terroir, and transparency.

Next time you receive a gift box of famous Chinese tea, look for that QR code on the box—give it a scan, and its true origin and journey might just be revealed right before your eyes.

Image credits: Xiaohongshu (RED) and my friend

Shot glass, cheap fairness pitcher and Yeti Wine Rambler and Stanley thermos for hot water.

Tea: Organic Young Sheng Puerh loose leaf

The leaf that escaped into my pitcher was a fugitive. He was promptly returned to the gaiwan. =]

I've been using it for tie guan yin exclusively for 8 years.

How is my patina looking?

Can anyone read the writing on the side?

Thanks in advance!

Not sure what I did to my kettle to get this, but I want to keep using it. Is this safe? It doesn’t scrub off.

I confess, I have been microwaving my water. I had no idea that it was such a vile practice until now though

Anyway I did an experiment recently, and tried drinking tea made with microwaved water and tea made with water boiled in a pot, side by side
The latter really ended up tasting better, the microwaved tea taste felt tainted and so muted in comparison

Can't go back now, but I also can't keep boiling my water in a pot, as the stove waiting time is sucking all the joy out of having a cup

I'd appreciate if you could give me some advice, I've manly looked for ceramic kettles as I drink lots of black tea, and I read that stainless steel can mess with the taste (please do correct me if I got it wrong)

I really liked this ceramic one from brand Dongfangqin (pic!) that I found on Rednote, but it is unfortunately unavailable in the western market

There's also those really popular glass ones that honestly seem kind of silly, though I'm looking for something where I can both heat and brew my tea in, and I've seen people mainly do that with glass kettles?

Sorry for the long post and thank you if read all the way :)

The highest elevation tea regions in Taiwan only harvest three times a year. And the middle harvest is primarily in preparation for the winter harvest. The in between harvest is way cheaper than spring and winter harvest. It doesn’t mean that it’s way less quality. We really gotta check it from season to season in this era of climate change. Spring Tea still holds its own for the most part. But it really is different than it was 30 years ago. So anyway, we made this 20 g sample of the recent fall harvest into iced tea and it was yum. Two 700 mL water bottles full of quality Li Shan High Mountain Tea and took it on our weekend adventure. Boom!

I've never properly used a teapot before so I went for something simple. So far I've only used it for my favourite tisane but it's worked great! Now I just need to practice enough so that I don't spill tea every time I pour it... (Which I managed to do on my third attempt)

This is actually my second teapot. I bought another one online that arrived late last week. I got a glass teapot with a strainer because of advice people on here gave me... and the spout broke off the first time I went to use it. It must've gotten damaged during shipping, which is really annoying. Thankfully it was a clean break and there wasn't any glass to pick up (mainly because the spout landed directly in my mug) -- just tea...

That incident has put me off glass teapots for the time being but if I ever find a good one in-person I'll probably try them again in the future. For now I have this, which does its job very well. Also, I'm in love with the colour!

(And yes I did ask for a refund for the broken teapot and the store I bought it from online (from a country-specific version of eBay essentially) refunded me almost immediately with no questions asked, so shoutout to them for being understanding. It was packaged properly and everything so I really do think it was handled poorly during shipping. Especially considering it was delivered to the neighbour's house and not mine)

After a streak of truly remarkable teas from Mei Leaf, I suppose it’s about time I made a truly terrible purchase. Do not buy this tea unless you are prepared to wait long enough for the insane astringency to mellow out. A September 2023 gushu blend should theoretically taste better, on sale for 50 something dollars still fails to justify the lack of pleasantness after promising “salted custards, fruit and toffee” and getting astringency and rose hips.

Tasting Notes:

Dry leaf: largely dark cake with parts in various states, with lots of whole stringy leaves. Smells of roasted bananas and dried mushrooms, currants and mulberries.

Wet leaf: stewed cranberries and roasted bananas, weathered old rocks, with notes of a sun withered Yunnan black tea scent.

Liquor: pale gold and dotted with small flecks of leaf.

Cup smell: rose hips and overripe bananas.

Tasting notes: slightly astringent but on the middle of the tongue and not the sides, with a starchiness like a green young acorn or a banana peel. When inhaling the mouth fills with the aroma of something like apricot and roses. The tea is smooth and soupy in texture which makes the immense bitterness more tolerable. The taste of bitter fruit skins, like wild black cherry, is very intense, but carries an undertone of rose hips.

Body sensation: warmth in the chest and the immense astringency does not dry anything out.

I swear I just meant to order a single tea (Duck Shit) that I'd run out of... Next thing I know I've spent $150 on tea. First I had to pick a Duck Shit and I decided to get two different ones to compare and then there was another oolong that looked interesting. then I remembered I needed to stock up on a more Autumnal selection so I grabbed a couple more teas. I was looking at pu'erh and I saw a cake I just had to have. I don't even know if I'll like it, but the artwork was irresistible.

I fucking love tea and drink it all day but I need a caffeine free tea for night time so I sleep better.

Have tried camomile, rooibos, lemon/ginger, apple chamomile, peppermint, Bengal spice and while they are ok I don't really enjoy them nearly as much.

I'm a big fan of Madura green tea and ALDI chai tea. I like black tea but don't drink it often and earl grey can get fucked.

Not the biggest fan of herbal fruity flavours.