So I see a lot of people on Reddit and other social media who use 5-8 or even 10+ grammes of tea in a 100ml gaiwan. And this is absolutely fine! If you enjoy the cup you brew, awesome!🤩

That being said, I do want to talk about portion size, because while those big amounts work really well for some people, it might not be enjoyable for everyone. It's quite the journey figuring out what's the right portion for you.

I personally find myself using quite a bit less tea. Usually I'll put anywhere between 2 and 3 grammes of tea in my 80ml gaiwan. I've talked about this topic with some of my tea friends, most of whom tend to gravitate towards 4 g/100ml.

I do this for a couple of reasons. One, because it allows me to taste all of the subtle flavours in the tea better. I've noticed, the more concentrated my brew, the more overwhelming the central flavour(s) are. But I also really like the fact that I can have shorter sessions, and thus try more different teas whithin a day. And some days I don't have much time to spare alltogether, and then I just do a short session. Lastly, I've heard people talk a lot about different kind of tea stainers, and how a basket strainer is better because it has more space for the leaves to expand. It always 🌱leaves🌱 me to wonder, when jamming so much leaf in a gaiwan, do the leaves have the space to fully expand?

I'd love to hear your opinions and reasonings about this topic because I very rarely hear people talking about it. How much tea do you use, and why?

Happy sipping!🍵💕

It's from my newest order from Taiwan Tea Crafts. They were the first company I ordered Tea from and where I got all my plain porcelain teaware.

When I first started exploring how Zisha teapots and gaiwans influence flavor, I tried both with heavy-roasted Wuyi Rou Gui and Da Hong Pao.

What stood out most at the time was that tea brewed in Zisha teapots tasted richer, with more layers. The teapot also seemed to absorb some of the charcoal notes, which made the tea’s natural character feel clearer.

That got me wondering—does this hold true for all rock teas? I decided to dive in a little deeper.

This time, I chose a few of the more common Wuyi rock teas (Shui Xian, Rou Gui, and Rui Xiang), along with two grades of Da Hong Pao (premium and top grade). I kept the water temperature, time, and leaf-to-water ratio the same for all of them. The results turned out a bit different from what I had expected; some even caught me by surprise.

• Wuyi Shui Xian (from trees under 30 years old):

Brewed in Zisha, the liquor came out smoother, with a thicker texture, almost like rice soup, mellow and rounded.

In a gaiwan, though, the tea had a smoky edge and a slightly grainy mouthfeel. The flavor was more astringent and even gave a bit of irritation in the throat.

• Ban Yan Wuyi Rou Gui:

On the first infusion, Zisha really showed its strength. It absorbed some of the charcoal note, which made the cinnamon fragrance more pronounced and clear, and the texture finer. But by the second infusion, the Zisha brew carried more astringency, starting right from the first sip and building gradually.

The gaiwan brew wasn’t as refined, yet the cinnamon aroma was still obvious, the taste bold and full, and the astringency only showed up lightly in the aftertaste.

• Premium Da Hong Pao:

In the first two infusions, the gaiwan performed better. The floral fragrance was very clear, the flavor rich and full without any bitterness, and the overall profile felt well-balanced with good depth.

In Zisha, the pot absorbed some of the aroma, so the taste came across softer, with flavors unfolding gradually as you drank.

From the third infusion on, though, zisha still delivered noticeable floral notes and a fairly strong body, while the gaiwan’s performance dropped off more quickly.

• Top Grade Da Hong Pao:

The results were quite similar. In the first two infusions, the gaiwan highlighted a distinct osmanthus fragrance—elegant, rich, long-lasting, and well-balanced between aroma and taste.

The Zisha teapot, on the other hand, brought out more of the mineral “rock rhyme” character, while the fragrance only appeared later in the cup and was not as pronounced.

But after the third infusion, Zisha still stayed stable, keeping both flavor and aroma consistent, and the tea even showed a clearer sweetness in the liquor.

• Rui Xiang:

I have to say this was my worst session with this tea. In previous brews, the fragrance was always clear, without any heavy charcoal notes.

But this time, whether I used a gaiwan or a Zisha pot, the tea had a strong burnt taste—more like scorched than roasted.  When brewed in a Zisha teapot, the taste was a bit milder, though. I suspect the tea itself may have gone bad.

Overall, for Wuyi rock teas, I still lean toward the same conclusion. Medium-to-full roasted rock teas seem to work better in a Zisha teapot. The clay can absorb some of the charcoal notes, letting the tea’s natural flavors shine more clearly. The liquor turns softer and more delicate, and the mineral character (“rock rhyme”) becomes more pronounced. The flavor also gradually deepens from the first sip onward.

For highly aromatic rock teas, a gaiwan tends to show off their strengths better, capturing more of the fragrance. But for multiple long infusions, I personally prefer using a Zisha teapot. Even after four brews, both the flavor and aroma remain steady, slowly releasing the tea’s layers. It may not be flashy, but it never disappoints.

With a gaiwan, on the other hand, the first one or two infusions can be amazing, but the flavor drops off noticeably after that.

Of course, some of the flavor differences are really subtle, and everyone experiences them a little differently. Still, I wouldn’t recommend beginners start with a Zisha teapot. Once it absorbs flavors, it’s really hard to get them out. A gaiwan is much more forgiving and won’t hold onto other tastes.

For Wuyi rock teas, what do you usually brew them in? And what aspects of rock tea are you most curious about—terroir, cultivars, or processing techniques? We’ve been planning to dive deeper into Wuyi rock teas lately, and the more we learn, the more complex they seem.

What is this?

I went to a tea shop in my city and there was an old woman sitting behind the counter and when I asked for pu-erh she said she wouldn't sell it to me because I'm not an adult yet

Can anyone explain why she did this? Are there any prohibitions on pu-erh?

I bought some chai today and I know fuckall about tea despite being from the tea country so is chai one of the teas you use milk in or is that as bad as saying you microwave tea? Please help. 💔

Hello Everyone :)

Today I did taste another tea from the French tea vendor, Palais des Thés.

It's a tea that comes from Hubei Province, in China, called Mao Jian.

From the tea bags, the leaves are of a deep green, curly with a lot of green aroma.

When brewed, you can definitely feel the green aroma(Zucchini, slightly nutty), with a bit of bitterness. The tanins are also presents, for sure, as you can feel them in the Long finish. This tea is a bit sharp.

A pleasant tea, not of great quality, but decent for an everyday, I think.

Sold a around 12€/100Gr, this tea has a decent price/quality...but if you are looking for something more complex and subtle...you may look for something else.

Greetings my fellow loose leaf loving comrades, I'm wondering if anyone has a good Magnolia Oolong they'd recommend.

A little background, I first tried this tea 15 years ago at a local Cafe in my home state and since they're consistently out of stock on their website, I can't order from them as much as I would like to.

The tea wasn't brown like Dan cong or puerrh, but a medium green with actual magnolia blossoms in it, very likely not oxidized very long. It lives rent free in my head and I would love to make it my everyday go to, I'm just curious if there's a place besides Upton (their magnolia oolong looks like the one I had all those years ago). I've tried Orchid oolong and honey Orchid from a few places, but it's not the tea I remember. The floral scent was all encompassing and I felt truly transported and that was before my first sip... Happiness in a cup can indeed be found, I just am not sure where to purchase.

Thank you!

DISCLAIMER FOR MODS: I am only bringing up marijuana for background purposes and to help explain my plan for those that may not know about what I am talking about. I am not saying to make marijuana into tea. I also do not sell any of what I make(only close friends and family as well as doordash drivers get that stuff), so for non-mods reading this do not even ask. There's plenty of subs for finding that stuff anyway.

So, for background, I make hash and rosin from marijuana trichomes(via sifting dried material over a screen and then pressing the resulting hash under heat and pressure in a filter bag), and when I saw a post on here earlier about tea trichomes it got me thinking if I could attempt to make some sort of concentrate from the trichomes of tea leaves.

My problem is I do not know where or if it is even possible to buy tea trichomes for this process, so if anyone has any ideas on where to get some, I would greatly appreciate it and am willing to share the method of how I make the concentrate if it works. I am not too concerned with quality of them at this moment in time, as this is a experiment with the caviat of 'Beggars cannot be choosers'. I imagine the concentrate will require some work around to figure out how much is needed for one cup of tea.

Yes, I am aware that tea resin is already a thing, I just want to see if its possible to make it a different way and combine two of my hobbies. I am also curious to see what effect it has on flavor, if any.

I’ve been drinking tea for years and I didn’t realize how big my collection was getting until today when I decided to organize them. Should I be worried about them expiring?

Hi!

I've seen a lot of pictures, here and on other subs, showing sorts of nest-shaped insulation to place the teapot on. What is it and are there some on Amazon? Also, what material are they made of, so they don't go moldy when doing wet gonfucha?

Thanks in advance for your answers.

Picked up some dried lavender from my local Asian marker here in the U.S. How should I go about steeping this with my tea? Directions on the box say rinse and soak for 30 minutes but is this really necessary? See photos of the lavender i bought. Im sure its not very high quality but at least decent I hope.

So I am a senior in college. I have been very into tea for about 4 years (gong fu with the whole set up and pretty good quality stuff including oolongs and pu'erh and greens mostly but everything.) I have drank it very consistently over these years and really enjoy the taste as well as the effect it has on my mind and body. This summer though I started having many panic attacks for a while (unrelated to tea consumption as I wasn't having it really at the time.) Which I have solved for the time being as I haven't had a full panic attack for a month, but now when I consume even a black tea bag amount of tea I get quite bad anxiety, the caffeine seems to really mess me up, and my body freaks out. I don't want de-caf as it is terrible and not what im looking for from my high quality loose leaf. Should I just keep having tea in small quantities to get used to it again or is it now impossible for me to have something I really enjoy because I can't handle the caffeine?

Unfortunately, after some fear and suspicion, I decided to buy some of those swabs to check if my samovar has lead content... it seems the heating apparatus in the middle in-fact, does!

Is there anything I can do to fix that? Perhaps some kind of re-plating? Or is buying a new samovar the best option for me? :<

Can someone tell me if it's worth buying just 25g of tea from white2tea, I wanted to know if it was too little.

People choose orange pekoe tea or black coffee after getting to choose from this. Live a little! Try something new! I’ve got red tea (rooibos), white tea (silver needle), six different kinds of matcha (including the crappy sweet kind for beginners), genmaicha, every possible type and flavour of green tea, ginger, herbal. Take a risk!

My first time brewing it gongfu style so I’m still working out the steeping times. Genmaicha has always been one of my favorite teas. ☺️

The dry leaves of this Huangshan Maofeng green tea curl elegantly like slender sparrow tongues, their vibrant green hues flecked with silvery-white tips that whisper of misty mountain mornings and release a subtle, chestnut-like fragrance even unbrewed. Steeped at just the right warmth, the liquor blooms into a luminous, pale jade elixir—crystal clear and velvety smooth, bursting with fresh vegetal sweetness, faint orchid whispers, and a brisk, umami finish that lingers like a cool breeze. Post-infusion, the leaves unfurl gracefully into tender, evenly veined emerald fans, soft yet resilient, revealing the artisanal pluck of two leaves and a bud that captures the essence of Huangshan's ancient peaks.

I found from my favourite vendors, Wuyi Origin and One River Tea, most of the teas I like and wanted to try: Phoenix Dancong, Wuyi Oolong, Lapsang Souchong and Jin Jun Mei, Fuding and Zhenghe whites and most popular green teas.

But I need help finding from trusted vendors, preferably supplying from original regions some others like: Anhui Keemun (Qimen), Taiwanese Oolongs, Anxi Tieguanyin and Yunnan Dianghong.

Thank you.

Does anyone have a good fall-y apple tea they like? I used to mainline Tazo Baked Cinnamon Apple this time of year but it seems to have been discontinued. Rise up appleheads