Firstly, thank you so much Don for this incredibly valuable information you're giving us here! I am starting a tea trading business with a friend in germany, and we already wondered why so many retailers weren't answering us anymore when we asked questions of origin. After watching your video I'm even more assured that we will be a company with strict transparency rules, raising the standards as you said at the end of the video. I'm so grateful I got into tea and I'm really excited of what's to come. One day I will visit you in London. Thank you master for all your knowledge you provide us with! :)
I'm relieved that my thoughts on lack of tea information from retailers are valid. I didn't know if I was just super interested, like industry-level interested in my tea, or if there was really a lack of vital information from retailers. Now knowing that this is a problem in the tea industry has made me want to join the cause of teaching tea drinkers to ask questions and be interested and informed about their tea purchases. The more you learn the more enjoyment you get, absolutely! Thank you again for another cracking video.
I think the reason why industrial sellers don't show much information is that fine tea doesn't exist in industrial scales. Plus these sellers have to provide the same tea under the same name for years, but with each harvest the taste of tea changes depending on lots of factors, so sellers will blend a bunch of teas from giant plantations in different proportions depending on the year, and also to sell you older, drier tea for which it wouldn't look good if they put the age on the pack...
Oh so agree, there’s so much to the tea world that I never new bout. The sad thing though in the states I don’t think we’ve even got anything close to mei leaf.
@@tinahuttner7280 there's lots of small sellers in the US, you just have to find them. I recommend the facebook group Gong Fu Cha, you can ask for advice there, people are quite knowledgeable, they'll recommend sellers to you and this way you have a varied source of info
I have just recently discovered your informative and interesting videos on tea, and I am pleased to be learning, after so many years of solo exploring.I love your analogy to wine, and suddenly realize that it is just common sense to want to know the details and provenance of the tea I buy. I have wasted more money buying tea blindly than i have on anything else that is part of my daily life. This video in particular has awakened my desire to ask for, and demand more information. Thanks so much, I am now a subscriber and will happily review all of your other stuff.
I had the chance to buy and sellers hidden information. I will never buy again from people who change name of tea. They just changed 1/2 letters in terms to don’t give u the chance to buy elsewhere. And you are right ! I have proof about that. ONIHAGI say thank u for that!!
Can I just say....THANK YOU SO MUCH for providing this info and posting allllll of the videos that you post to this channel. I appreciate the level of detail and information you provide, and it has significantly helped me navigate and expand my tea-tasting repertoire! Being able to visit your shoppe one day is high on my Bucket List! God bless you! And thanks again!
I'm from the US, and have been a Teavana shopper for years but I am switching over to Mei Leaf now. I ordered the black yunnan tuo 98 and am anxiously awaiting its arrival. I've also switched over to gongfu style and I am really liking it.
+Joe Locco welcome Joe and we hope that you enjoy the Tuo tea. It is quite a jump in taste if you are not used to cooked PuErh so make sure that you give it a chance. Many people dislike cooked PuErh at first but it becomes their favourite.
You are doing a great job sir. We need to educate people regarding the best quality of tea rather than just buying tea bags which is just the tea dust. People need to stop believing in myths associated with tea. All the points you have covered in the video specially seoson and altitude, is very important for good quality of tea.
This is pretty good guide. I recently just started exploring looseleaf tea and have very limited sources in my locality and price range. I thought I was just on my usual nerdy mindset when I kept notes on the sourcing and origin aspect of the products at my reach. Glad to know my dissatisfaction in some lacking info is warranted. 😂
Very useful! It is not that I would actually request all those parameters, but I would use their availability as a way to gauge the teashop. IF they have that info, I'll at least for now just nod and be content with the quality check, and will then go on to read their review of that particular tea. As I become better acquainted with what the actual effects of these parameters are, I may try guesstimating the tastes from that.
also Adam is bang on mate or its impossible to go on about tea like this! let my curry ass break it down for U boil water, pour over tea, wait a min , drink !!!
I appreciate you sharing your hard earned knowledge with us, much appreciated. I'm learning a lot from your videos and plan to order from you some time in the future after I use up some of my stores of tea I already purchased recently. I saw you on Alex's videos and subscribed immediately. Anyone that passionate about tea with the desire to share knowledge on the subject is worthy of being followed and purchased from. Thank you.
How important is it the tea be delivered in the original wrapper. why are the tea sellers rewrapping cake? You are so right. so many tea sellers are literally rewrapping. why? A cake is a cake. you are so right, i would not buy wine in a bottle not produced by the producer, animals are cute, but they serious take from the authenticity. I DOUBT BOSS MONICLE... enough said
I like the level of information that you provide both on your website and in your videos. One thing I would suggest however is to include VAT in the prices and not only at the checkout because most people will expect UK consumer prices to include VAT unless it has "exc. VAT".
It all makes good sense; yet... Unlike wine, where there are forgeries, tea is way beyond that, to the point of being ridiculous. I'm sure you know that. We as buyers are far removed from the source and rely exclusively on good faith of all the previous chain of supply: it's quite common then that at the end any information we get is far from reliable. A few cases in point: gushu pu-erh, da hong pao, all the fake menghai cakes etc. etc. If, as it happens, several producers or dealers declare a yearly production of lao ban zhang gushu cakes EACH bigger than the total harvest for the year, how likely is it that the $400 cake you got is for real? Pretty slim... I do get very detailed information about the teas i get from all the sellers i buy from; some i trust more, some less. I'm sure most of this info i have to take with caution; it's more marketing oriented than real education. Not all the dealres are close to the source, knowledgeable, trustworthy and transparent as you... Indeed very few.
Don, how can I get some of what you are drinking in this video! As always very useful information especially for people to good quality whole leaf teas! Well those of us who have drinking them for sometime have probably learned at least some of this over the years, it's always good for a refresher course😊! Your SCOPE information is always appreciated when I'm purchasing from your quality selection of teas and tea ware. In short, it helps to know who your purveyor of teas are in regards to how they select what they produce (from all aspects grower, processing, "factory", broker. Etc.) and all the way down to the quality retailers like MeiLea. Kudos!
You also want to know if it has a quality "string"... because sometimes you are pulling the bag too hard to -you know- to really get the flavor in there, and then the string will become lose, and then you have to stick your fingers in the cup... it's a mess
Thank you for the new video. I got into good tea thanks to you guys, and learnd a tremendous amount about tea with the help of your amazing videos. I noticed that getting the desired information is quite hard. Beeing a quite new teahead, im not sure how old a tea should/can be to still buy it. For example should i buy a 2015 spring picked Milky Oolong? Would be amazing if you could do a Video about that, or just give a short answer if possible :D. Keep up the good work and greetings from germany!
MeisterVasqus if you plan to buy a tea the longest you can store it in an air tight non see-through jar( never store it in just the paperbag you got and but you can put the whole bag inside the jar for extra protection) is about 3 years but there are some that are more sensitive some ppl dont recomend storing it more then 3 months so I would recomend you to drink all tea you buy the same year but then you have pu'reeh and aged Oolong they are stored for a long time and you can save old tea( 3years) by put it on slow heat in a dry Pan and carefully stir it until it smells good again( but I recomend you to try using it up fast after that) That being Said everyone has different tastes, sure spring picked Teas are popular and Mei leaf always recomend it but I like authum Teas for the richness of it( i think of how the plant has been soaking up those rays of sunlight and the plant are getting ready for the long winter it start to work extra hard to store energy) I like spring Teas too but they are lighter, like they just seem fresh. So as a newbie I would recomend you to try different seasons of Teas to see which tea you like and you might want to start thinking About when you are going to drink the tea is it in the morning or the evening? And then base your choices with that in mind a tea with LOTs of coffein arent good to drink at bed time but is good in the morning, a green or white( silvertip) spring picked tea is My fav for mornings( because I like a light flavour in the morning)though and I might choose a tea picked around aug for an afternoon tea( like earl gray) when I want to phonder about life. And I would choose a Oolong at the evening. The tea You wonder about is a spring picked Oolong which would suggest it to be a low caffein tea and there for it would be a good evening tea but if you usually drink your tea in the morning you might want a stronger pick me up.
Oh wow. Grazie😊. Le migliori informazioni sul mondo del tè, fino ad ora, le ho trovate nel libro "tea sommelier", dal titolare del negozio teaworld di Como e da questo canale (tu). Quindi, nuovamente come già feci anni fà, torno a ringraziarti per la competenza e la precisione con cui affronti il mondo del tea. ringrazio anche il titolare del teaworld di Como per la sua competenza e voglia di insegnare(sia mai che si offenda se non lo menziono.... 😅). Nel caso non capissi nulla di ciò che ho scritto ti invito ad utilizzare Google translate.sperando traduca correttamente😅... Nel caso: thanks for the quality of your video, for your great knowledge and for give us lots of details about teaworld.
Q: have you ever looked into Teavana? its a popular tea shop over here in the States. my mom's friend (both of them are mainly into western style but consider themselves "tea connoisseurs"/ "tea total-ers") reasured me that they actually have some good tea in the "special tins" and you just have to ask. but i never see anything in reference to gongfu or eastern style tea brewing at their shop. and i know of a local private shop that sells a lot of "quality tea" that she goes to china to get herself, and her shop references gongfu style a little bit but its mostly a western style shop, and ive gotten some of their stuff and it just mostly tastes overly scented and just flat, no depth like the teas i tried from you guys and the Hyperion Herbs kid. just not the same, and good lord i tried them gongfu style and they were still no good. theyre prolly better off used in the way that the shop mostly advertises for - western style brewing. but theyre still not as awesome as you guys'. so yeah i was telling my mom's friend how i wish there was a tea house/shop around that was like legit quality stuff and eastern gongfu style. and then she told me how Teavana has "special tins" of the "good stuff" and i had a hard time taking that seriously after all that ive learned from you guys. (plus how is she supposed to know any different when shes old school english and all shes ever known was western style with milk and such and flowery mixed scented teas and such?) but i may have to inquire about that myself and try it out for myself. ive only been a solid tea head since about the beginning of the year and im totally sold haha and i feel like i can now already tell if a tea is worth my time when brewing gongfu and especially western style. like i know theres teas that i dont personally like but i can sorta still tell that they have more to them than the lower-quality stuff i had been trying. the average stuff i had always known is actually more like just flavored water, so flat and watery and one-dimensional, and then i tried legit high mountain oolong for the first time and it was soooooo delicious like it was nOt just water, it was its own substance haha. anyhow, just wondered if u know anything about Teavana and if their "special stuff" is really actually good.
WeAreBullets-AnnieBananie Teavana is low quality in my opinion. I bought from them before I found better places, and I have to say that I did not enjoy them. Teavana's jasmine silver tip needle is of low quality and I found crushed leaves and twigs along with flowers (which add nothing g by the way). Actual silver tip needle tea shod only be the pods and nothing else. Also, jasmine tea should never have any petals in them. For their other stuff, you can easily detect chemicals that they spray on the tea leaves. Lastly, the quality of the actual leaf is so low that they have to use much more of the tea leaves to actually flavor their stuff. Remember, you want tea, and not just leaf juice with sugar that Teavana provides.
@WeAreBullets-AnnieBananie If you are looking for a really good tea seller in the US then I can truly recommend Seven Cups in Arizona. www.sevencups.com Both Zhuping and Austin Hodge are experts in tea and source directly from the farmers. Stay away from Teavana or any other tea company specialising in fancy aromatized teas.
yeah i mean they seem like the Olive Garden or McDonalds of the Tea world lol. i liked their fruity teas, but just as much as i would like a fruity juicy iced tea drink from the super market, its not tea, its just a flavored water or juice drink lol.
oh thanks i'll check them out! yeah i mean ive tried Teavana's mixed fruity "teas" but its not tea, its just flavored water or juice, i might as well just buy some juice drink at the super market if i want something like that lol.
OK, this is off topic, but I was wondering what the tray you're use is called. I have not gotten to the point of needing a full gung fu set, but I did buy a yixing teapot from you and would like to at least get something like that for any spillages. thank you
I just discovered your channel (and online shop), and I think I'm going to be enjoying it immensely! I've been ordering teas from Compagnie Coloniale, but I definitely want to try some of the teas from your shop and will place an order soon. :)
An average serving of tea is between 4 and 10g so buy as much as you would like to taste. Storage of tea is actually very simple - cool, dark and relatively airtight. Tins are perfect for most tea storage.
First of all thanks for all your very helpfull and intresting video's! As i just started my tea journey where i have a million of questions and where I sometimes loose the overview, your video's make things perfectly clear! But often it also brings up some more questions or subject i would like to know more about :) After watching this video i got curious about which tea you like from which season. So what could you teach us about winter, sping,summer and autumn tea? Why, where and which tea's are from a specific season? Once again thans for your video's and greatings from a fan from Holland.
There can't be a generalized statement about tap water as it is dramatically different depending on where you live. It can be very suitable for tea (for me this is the case) or it can be very bad for making tea. You usually want water with a low hardness so that the water doesn't influence the taste of the tea too much but that doesn't autoamtically mean that it will taste worse with harder water. I would definitely cross out mineral water and, even worse, water that was bottled in plastic bottles. Water that was stored in plastic has a very distinct sweet taste that comes from the chemicals that are used in the process of making the bottle. So the best options are either having great quality tap water (like me) or filtering water with reverse osmosis. Don't drink the water filtered this way directly though, only use it for tea because the lack of minerals in the water can cause problems for you.
The water we have here where I live is so clean that the governement puts minerals into it so that it is safe for consumption. It is still extremely soft and clean water.
Ultimately, it depends on everyone's personal taste. But I think that reverse-osmosis water is not really suitable for tea. Some people use it and like it but I wouldn't recommend it. At least, try it before you buy a reverse-osmosis filter system. And as you said, there may be even health issues involved. The best thing is to experiment. I tried tap water, filtered tap water through different filters, and several different types of bottled water. I had the best experience with two specific types of bottled water (Italian Lauretana and German Black Forest). The problem with bottled water is that it is expensive, inconvenient and too precious to use it for a tea rinse let alone for showering your pots. So I settled with filtered tap water and I'm quite happy with it. I'm using a standard filter based on the common ion exchange principle (removes calcium and magnesium ions by exchanging them with hydrogen ions). That makes the water soft (under 3 dGH) and reduces pH. In addition, the filter also removes lead, copper and chlorine. In general, you want to look for water with low mineralization (total mineral amount preferably under 50 mg per liter, but not zero) and a pH value of around 7, preferably slightly under 7. Especially calcium, magnesium, and hydrogen carbonate should be low. But again, just my experience.
I don't think there are health issues with drinking tea made with reverse osmosis water but it wouldn't be a problem at all to just mix the osmosis watre with some unfiltered tap water to increase the minerals and adjust the amount of minerals and hardness to the desired sweet spot.
great tips, thanks a lot! I will definitely try some of your suggestions.. however, I would still like Don to make a nice video about water.. perhaps a blind tasting of different types of water? that should be interesting.. :)
Thanks for that video Don. I'll use this acronym for sure ! Quick question not directly in relation with your video though. Are you gonna do a video about "yellow teath". It is widely knows that tea tends to leave stains on one's teath and we see that despite of the amount of tea you drink, your teath are still pretty white. Any pieces of advice ? Cheers and keep up the good work.
John Tedonneraipasmonnom I know you were asking Don, but as an avid tea drinker in my mid 30's, this is something I worry about quite a bit. I rinse my mouth out with water really well after I drink tea if I can't get to my toothbrush. Besides brushing my teeth regularly, I also oil pull with coconut oil a few times a week, and brush or oil pull with both tumeric and activated charcoal once a week. I also use a few whitening strips every few months, if I feel like my teeth are looking a little dingy. I also get my teeth professionally cleaned twice a year, as recommended. I've been able to maintain reasonably white teeth, despite drinking (mostly black)tea several times a day.
Is TeeGschwendner a reliable source ?? I recently bought a japanese sencha extra fine there for around 14$ but now I m really unsure of the quality. Expertise is needed!!! Cheers
As far as I know, the prices at TG are fair, and you often get the right quality for the money. The name of the extra fine Sencha does not quite fit, it is a fine Sencha but not an extra / premium Sencha these usually start at 20 euros.
Bitte schön und ich wünsche dir einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr ;-). Falls dir langweilig ist und du Informationen über Tee lesen magst ist das hier eine gute Adresse: www.teetalk.de/forums/
Hi I am from India; a tea enthusiast. I live in the state of West Bengal which is the home to famous Darjeeling Tea. I have following you from last few weeks but sadly your RUclips channel or your website does not discuss or sell Darjeeling Tea respectively. I would be highly obliged if you answer my quarries.
Hi. I cant find a single video or info on your website about how to properly store tea (fresh, not for additional infusions). Does it need to breathe or be airtight? Where can I find this info?
It does depend slightly on the tea (if you want to age PuErh then some humidity is advised for example) but the key things to avoid are: Heat Light Smells Humidity We recommend using our stackable tea tins which are relatively airtight and should cover all of these issues.
How do you go about finding a reputable tea seller? Everything in this industry is so secretive it's frustrating. I'm just looking to find a seller that I can trust that I can buy small bulk amounts of high quality tea... but I also want the information on the tea source etc. why is that so hard to find?!
Well unless you can find one here in the states, you’ll gave to go overseas. Wouldnt buy from the farmers market person either, there’s isn’t authentic.
Hey ! Nice Video. I am anxious why you don’t talk about Indian tea in your video. I have seen 4-5 of your videos but none have any reference. Some one with your knowledge should also discuss Indian Tea. India is one of the largest exporter of tea - in London many brands pack Indian tea. Would lobe to hear your review on some indian estates.
It´s a so called Teaboat! It does just the same job as a tea tray, but is a bit more compact :) I also heard from some people, that it helps keeping your yixing pots/gaiwan/teaware relatively warm between the steeps if you put hot water over the pot or directly into the teaboat (correct me if I´m wrong) ^^
I know I'm 10 months late, but here's my advice anyway. The best way to measure pH would be by buying those measuring papers from a hardware store or ordering them online. If that's not an option, you can quite fittingly also use tea for that. Black tea changes colour based on pH, going from a light yellow in an acidic solution to a darker brown in alkaline. If all you need is a broad idea of the pH, you could arrange a makeshift experiment where you brew 3 cups of tea with bottled water, add lemon juice to one, nothing to one and baking soda to one. Then brew a fourth cup of tea from your tap water and compare the colour. But naturally it won't be very reliable or accurate, so it'd be best to just buy some litmus paper.
But usually I don´t want to spend much money and buy tea without these information because it is cheaper. Even wine I usually buy cheaper, not the cheapest ones, but cheaper and in general stores. And if I drink more tea than wine, it just would be a lot money. Don´t forget that UK is richer than some contries.
I have made that suggestion before and Don replied that they like the idea. There is a chance that they will do it at some point but I think they have been very busy with their rebranding and new website and now that spring is here they are surely drowning in samples right now. My guess is that they will do some fan sampling in the summer.
Yep +metalbirne we have samples like crazy and we are about 5 mins away from heading to China and Japan for more sample hunting. But we are up for this viewer sampling. You can even send your fishy PuErh and watch us try! I will put out a call for any samples in a future video but you can always send to Mei Leaf and make sure to include your details.
Excellent job as always! It's like going to school! ....For free.... Is there any way you can provide the Chinese/Japanese for the names and varieties of tea and specialized tea terms you mention in your videos? Thanks! Sometimes stuff is lost in translation.
Summary: Critical information: - Type of tea - Country of origin - SCOPE = - Season (and year) - Green tea must be fresh! (1-2 years after plucking max) - Generally, spring picked is the best (First Flush) - Cultivar (variety) - Origin (Location => Province/ mountain) - Picking & Processing information - Elevation (Good to know, not critical)
Out of the theme question, what do you know about smoking tea leaves? Do not know who to ask so I ask you :D and I am not smoker, just heard about it and curious :D and good video again! :)
Okay real quick there are a few types of people who get really into tea 1 old women 2 spiritual people 3 stoner I am a stoner now why does he have the same intro as customgrow 420
Dude, stop smiling so much. I'm sure they told you to grin like an idiot at whatever marketing course you took, but you would really improve your image with the "tea heads" if you tried being a tiny bit serious. You're not selling trinkets to teenagers, you know?
At any point in this video, regardless if you like it or have watched any of it make sure you smash the like button, and follow. Do it! Do it now! Nevermind the tu quoque fallacy of saying if you like it more videos will show up.
PanzerKami Dumb? It is a passion for tea-if you had watched some other videos of him talking about it he becomes very animated and excited about the subject. It's not our fault if you can't see that because you have no common sense. That's on you, pal. Shut your trap if you can't say anything nice-didn't your mother teach you any manners?
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
Firstly, thank you so much Don for this incredibly valuable information you're giving us here! I am starting a tea trading business with a friend in germany, and we already wondered why so many retailers weren't answering us anymore when we asked questions of origin. After watching your video I'm even more assured that we will be a company with strict transparency rules, raising the standards as you said at the end of the video.
I'm so grateful I got into tea and I'm really excited of what's to come. One day I will visit you in London. Thank you master for all your knowledge you provide us with! :)
I'm relieved that my thoughts on lack of tea information from retailers are valid. I didn't know if I was just super interested, like industry-level interested in my tea, or if there was really a lack of vital information from retailers. Now knowing that this is a problem in the tea industry has made me want to join the cause of teaching tea drinkers to ask questions and be interested and informed about their tea purchases. The more you learn the more enjoyment you get, absolutely! Thank you again for another cracking video.
I think the reason why industrial sellers don't show much information is that fine tea doesn't exist in industrial scales. Plus these sellers have to provide the same tea under the same name for years, but with each harvest the taste of tea changes depending on lots of factors, so sellers will blend a bunch of teas from giant plantations in different proportions depending on the year, and also to sell you older, drier tea for which it wouldn't look good if they put the age on the pack...
Oh so agree, there’s so much to the tea world that I never new bout. The sad thing though in the states I don’t think we’ve even got anything close to mei leaf.
@@tinahuttner7280 there's lots of small sellers in the US, you just have to find them. I recommend the facebook group Gong Fu Cha, you can ask for advice there, people are quite knowledgeable, they'll recommend sellers to you and this way you have a varied source of info
What great tea education. This video has now become one of my favorites.
I have just recently discovered your informative and interesting videos on tea, and I am pleased to be learning, after so many years of solo exploring.I love your analogy to wine, and suddenly realize that it is just common sense to want to know the details and provenance of the tea I buy. I have wasted more money buying tea blindly than i have on anything else that is part of my daily life. This video in particular has awakened my desire to ask for, and demand more information. Thanks so much, I am now a subscriber and will happily review all of your other stuff.
I had the chance to buy and sellers hidden information. I will never buy again from people who change name of tea. They just changed 1/2 letters in terms to don’t give u the chance to buy elsewhere. And you are right ! I have proof about that. ONIHAGI say thank u for that!!
Can I just say....THANK YOU SO MUCH for providing this info and posting allllll of the videos that you post to this channel. I appreciate the level of detail and information you provide, and it has significantly helped me navigate and expand my tea-tasting repertoire! Being able to visit your shoppe one day is high on my Bucket List! God bless you! And thanks again!
I'm from the US, and have been a Teavana shopper for years but I am switching over to Mei Leaf now. I ordered the black yunnan tuo 98 and am anxiously awaiting its arrival. I've also switched over to gongfu style and I am really liking it.
+Joe Locco welcome Joe and we hope that you enjoy the Tuo tea. It is quite a jump in taste if you are not used to cooked PuErh so make sure that you give it a chance. Many people dislike cooked PuErh at first but it becomes their favourite.
Mei Leaf can't wait to try!
You are doing a great job sir. We need to educate people regarding the best quality of tea rather than just buying tea bags which is just the tea dust. People need to stop believing in myths associated with tea. All the points you have covered in the video specially seoson and altitude, is very important for good quality of tea.
This is pretty good guide. I recently just started exploring looseleaf tea and have very limited sources in my locality and price range. I thought I was just on my usual nerdy mindset when I kept notes on the sourcing and origin aspect of the products at my reach. Glad to know my dissatisfaction in some lacking info is warranted. 😂
Very useful! It is not that I would actually request all those parameters, but I would use their availability as a way to gauge the teashop. IF they have that info, I'll at least for now just nod and be content with the quality check, and will then go on to read their review of that particular tea. As I become better acquainted with what the actual effects of these parameters are, I may try guesstimating the tastes from that.
You're not fooling anyone. You've got whiskey in that glass! :)
Whisky and Tea is also a match made in heaven...
Shirosen I think you might have a problem, Shiro. ;)
What makes you think that? :p
also Adam is bang on mate or its impossible to go on about tea like this!
let my curry ass break it down for U boil water, pour over tea, wait a min , drink !!!
Amaretto in tea is soooo amazing
A culture of tea-drinking changes your life --definitely for the better.
I appreciate you sharing your hard earned knowledge with us, much appreciated. I'm learning a lot from your videos and plan to order from you some time in the future after I use up some of my stores of tea I already purchased recently. I saw you on Alex's videos and subscribed immediately. Anyone that passionate about tea with the desire to share knowledge on the subject is worthy of being followed and purchased from. Thank you.
+MacyLouWho thank you Macy and welcome to our Teahead community!
Truly believe that's a "must see" for any tea seller!
How important is it the tea be delivered in the original wrapper. why are the tea sellers rewrapping cake? You are so right. so many tea sellers are literally rewrapping. why? A cake is a cake. you are so right, i would not buy wine in a bottle not produced by the producer, animals are cute, but they serious take from the authenticity. I DOUBT BOSS MONICLE... enough said
I like the level of information that you provide both on your website and in your videos. One thing I would suggest however is to include VAT in the prices and not only at the checkout because most people will expect UK consumer prices to include VAT unless it has "exc. VAT".
It all makes good sense; yet... Unlike wine, where there are forgeries, tea is way beyond that, to the point of being ridiculous. I'm sure you know that. We as buyers are far removed from the source and rely exclusively on good faith of all the previous chain of supply: it's quite common then that at the end any information we get is far from reliable. A few cases in point: gushu pu-erh, da hong pao, all the fake menghai cakes etc. etc.
If, as it happens, several producers or dealers declare a yearly production of lao ban zhang gushu cakes EACH bigger than the total harvest for the year, how likely is it that the $400 cake you got is for real? Pretty slim...
I do get very detailed information about the teas i get from all the sellers i buy from; some i trust more, some less. I'm sure most of this info i have to take with caution; it's more marketing oriented than real education.
Not all the dealres are close to the source, knowledgeable, trustworthy and transparent as you... Indeed very few.
Couldn't say it better!
no one knows who picked ur tea or if they picked their nose right before ur leaf!!! need a very trained tongue to tease those subtle aromas !!
Daniele Chiesa great points and makes sense
I agree with you and I'm always looking for recommendations if you know trustworthy sellers!
Really really likes your tea's information ... Thank you sooo much
Thank you for this!
Hey Don, thanks for the great videos. I was wondering if you could name some good reading resources for building knowledge about tea?
Don, how can I get some of what you are drinking in this video! As always very useful information especially for people to good quality whole leaf teas! Well those of us who have drinking them for sometime have probably learned at least some of this over the years, it's always good for a refresher course😊! Your SCOPE information is always appreciated when I'm purchasing from your quality selection of teas and tea ware. In short, it helps to know who your purveyor of teas are in regards to how they select what they produce (from all aspects grower, processing, "factory", broker. Etc.) and all the way down to the quality retailers like MeiLea. Kudos!
Very valuable information
You also want to know if it has a quality "string"... because sometimes you are pulling the bag too hard to -you know- to really get the flavor in there, and then the string will become lose, and then you have to stick your fingers in the cup... it's a mess
Thank you for the new video. I got into good tea thanks to you guys, and learnd a tremendous amount about tea with the help of your amazing videos. I noticed that getting the desired information is quite hard. Beeing a quite new teahead, im not sure how old a tea should/can be to still buy it. For example should i buy a 2015 spring picked Milky Oolong? Would be amazing if you could do a Video about that, or just give a short answer if possible :D. Keep up the good work and greetings from germany!
MeisterVasqus if you plan to buy a tea the longest you can store it in an air tight non see-through jar( never store it in just the paperbag you got and but you can put the whole bag inside the jar for extra protection) is about 3 years but there are some that are more sensitive some ppl dont recomend storing it more then 3 months so I would recomend you to drink all tea you buy the same year but then you have pu'reeh and aged Oolong they are stored for a long time and you can save old tea( 3years) by put it on slow heat in a dry Pan and carefully stir it until it smells good again( but I recomend you to try using it up fast after that)
That being Said everyone has different tastes, sure spring picked Teas are popular and Mei leaf always recomend it but I like authum Teas for the richness of it( i think of how the plant has been soaking up those rays of sunlight and the plant are getting ready for the long winter it start to work extra hard to store energy) I like spring Teas too but they are lighter, like they just seem fresh. So as a newbie I would recomend you to try different seasons of Teas to see which tea you like and you might want to start thinking About when you are going to drink the tea is it in the morning or the evening? And then base your choices with that in mind a tea with LOTs of coffein arent good to drink at bed time but is good in the morning, a green or white( silvertip) spring picked tea is My fav for mornings( because I like a light flavour in the morning)though and I might choose a tea picked around aug for an afternoon tea( like earl gray) when I want to phonder about life. And I would choose a Oolong at the evening.
The tea You wonder about is a spring picked Oolong which would suggest it to be a low caffein tea and there for it would be a good evening tea but if you usually drink your tea in the morning you might want a stronger pick me up.
Jayamila Persson thanks you
Oh wow. Grazie😊. Le migliori informazioni sul mondo del tè, fino ad ora, le ho trovate nel libro "tea sommelier", dal titolare del negozio teaworld di Como e da questo canale (tu). Quindi, nuovamente come già feci anni fà, torno a ringraziarti per la competenza e la precisione con cui affronti il mondo del tea. ringrazio anche il titolare del teaworld di Como per la sua competenza e voglia di insegnare(sia mai che si offenda se non lo menziono.... 😅). Nel caso non capissi nulla di ciò che ho scritto ti invito ad utilizzare Google translate.sperando traduca correttamente😅... Nel caso: thanks for the quality of your video, for your great knowledge and for give us lots of details about teaworld.
♥ Ty! 🍵
Q: have you ever looked into Teavana? its a popular tea shop over here in the States. my mom's friend (both of them are mainly into western style but consider themselves "tea connoisseurs"/ "tea total-ers") reasured me that they actually have some good tea in the "special tins" and you just have to ask. but i never see anything in reference to gongfu or eastern style tea brewing at their shop. and i know of a local private shop that sells a lot of "quality tea" that she goes to china to get herself, and her shop references gongfu style a little bit but its mostly a western style shop, and ive gotten some of their stuff and it just mostly tastes overly scented and just flat, no depth like the teas i tried from you guys and the Hyperion Herbs kid. just not the same, and good lord i tried them gongfu style and they were still no good. theyre prolly better off used in the way that the shop mostly advertises for - western style brewing. but theyre still not as awesome as you guys'. so yeah i was telling my mom's friend how i wish there was a tea house/shop around that was like legit quality stuff and eastern gongfu style. and then she told me how Teavana has "special tins" of the "good stuff" and i had a hard time taking that seriously after all that ive learned from you guys. (plus how is she supposed to know any different when shes old school english and all shes ever known was western style with milk and such and flowery mixed scented teas and such?) but i may have to inquire about that myself and try it out for myself. ive only been a solid tea head since about the beginning of the year and im totally sold haha and i feel like i can now already tell if a tea is worth my time when brewing gongfu and especially western style. like i know theres teas that i dont personally like but i can sorta still tell that they have more to them than the lower-quality stuff i had been trying. the average stuff i had always known is actually more like just flavored water, so flat and watery and one-dimensional, and then i tried legit high mountain oolong for the first time and it was soooooo delicious like it was nOt just water, it was its own substance haha. anyhow, just wondered if u know anything about Teavana and if their "special stuff" is really actually good.
WeAreBullets-AnnieBananie Teavana is low quality in my opinion. I bought from them before I found better places, and I have to say that I did not enjoy them.
Teavana's jasmine silver tip needle is of low quality and I found crushed leaves and twigs along with flowers (which add nothing g by the way). Actual silver tip needle tea shod only be the pods and nothing else. Also, jasmine tea should never have any petals in them.
For their other stuff, you can easily detect chemicals that they spray on the tea leaves. Lastly, the quality of the actual leaf is so low that they have to use much more of the tea leaves to actually flavor their stuff.
Remember, you want tea, and not just leaf juice with sugar that Teavana provides.
@WeAreBullets-AnnieBananie
If you are looking for a really good tea seller in the US then I can truly recommend Seven Cups in Arizona. www.sevencups.com Both Zhuping and Austin Hodge are experts in tea and source directly from the farmers. Stay away from Teavana or any other tea company specialising in fancy aromatized teas.
yeah i mean they seem like the Olive Garden or McDonalds of the Tea world lol. i liked their fruity teas, but just as much as i would like a fruity juicy iced tea drink from the super market, its not tea, its just a flavored water or juice drink lol.
oh thanks i'll check them out! yeah i mean ive tried Teavana's mixed fruity "teas" but its not tea, its just flavored water or juice, i might as well just buy some juice drink at the super market if i want something like that lol.
What is the bowl your cup is on called and where can I get one?
I believe this was answered in another comment.
OK, this is off topic, but I was wondering what the tray you're use is called. I have not gotten to the point of needing a full gung fu set, but I did buy a yixing teapot from you and would like to at least get something like that for any spillages. thank you
I believe this was answered in another comment.
I just discovered your channel (and online shop), and I think I'm going to be enjoying it immensely! I've been ordering teas from Compagnie Coloniale, but I definitely want to try some of the teas from your shop and will place an order soon. :)
LilBoyBlue was trying to look up the site,you sure if the spelling?
I'm excited about buying tea but need to know how much at once time should I buy and how should I store the tea I buy before using it? help.
An average serving of tea is between 4 and 10g so buy as much as you would like to taste. Storage of tea is actually very simple - cool, dark and relatively airtight. Tins are perfect for most tea storage.
Mei Leaf thank you
Mei Leaf I purchased a bunch of tea today.
First of all thanks for all your very helpfull and intresting video's! As i just started my tea journey where i have a million of questions and where I sometimes loose the overview, your video's make things perfectly clear! But often it also brings up some more questions or subject i would like to know more about :) After watching this video i got curious about which tea you like from which season. So what could you teach us about winter, sping,summer and autumn tea? Why, where and which tea's are from a specific season? Once again thans for your video's and greatings from a fan from Holland.
Do you ship to the states? How is the shipping costs?
Michael Murphy ya they do, I put in a order and waiting for it here in mn 😀
Please instruct, how to buy tea you talk about?
You can visit our website meileaf.com
Man, the old link with the tea brewing chart is gone... do you have another one?
Felipe Blanco Do you mean this one? meileaf.com/resources/pdf/mei-leaf-tea-brewing-guide.pdf
PLEASE make a video about the best type of water to brew tea with... tap water, filtered, bottled - it's so confusing!!
There can't be a generalized statement about tap water as it is dramatically different depending on where you live. It can be very suitable for tea (for me this is the case) or it can be very bad for making tea. You usually want water with a low hardness so that the water doesn't influence the taste of the tea too much but that doesn't autoamtically mean that it will taste worse with harder water. I would definitely cross out mineral water and, even worse, water that was bottled in plastic bottles. Water that was stored in plastic has a very distinct sweet taste that comes from the chemicals that are used in the process of making the bottle. So the best options are either having great quality tap water (like me) or filtering water with reverse osmosis. Don't drink the water filtered this way directly though, only use it for tea because the lack of minerals in the water can cause problems for you.
The water we have here where I live is so clean that the governement puts minerals into it so that it is safe for consumption. It is still extremely soft and clean water.
Ultimately, it depends on everyone's personal taste. But I think that reverse-osmosis water is not really suitable for tea. Some people use it and like it but I wouldn't recommend it. At least, try it before you buy a reverse-osmosis filter system. And as you said, there may be even health issues involved.
The best thing is to experiment. I tried tap water, filtered tap water through different filters, and several different types of bottled water. I had the best experience with two specific types of bottled water (Italian Lauretana and German Black Forest). The problem with bottled water is that it is expensive, inconvenient and too precious to use it for a tea rinse let alone for showering your pots. So I settled with filtered tap water and I'm quite happy with it. I'm using a standard filter based on the common ion exchange principle (removes calcium and magnesium ions by exchanging them with hydrogen ions). That makes the water soft (under 3 dGH) and reduces pH. In addition, the filter also removes lead, copper and chlorine.
In general, you want to look for water with low mineralization (total mineral amount preferably under 50 mg per liter, but not zero) and a pH value of around 7, preferably slightly under 7. Especially calcium, magnesium, and hydrogen carbonate should be low.
But again, just my experience.
I don't think there are health issues with drinking tea made with reverse osmosis water but it wouldn't be a problem at all to just mix the osmosis watre with some unfiltered tap water to increase the minerals and adjust the amount of minerals and hardness to the desired sweet spot.
great tips, thanks a lot! I will definitely try some of your suggestions..
however, I would still like Don to make a nice video about water.. perhaps a blind tasting of different types of water? that should be interesting.. :)
when you are speaking to your sources are you able to speak to them in Chinese, do you rely on a translators, or can you rely on their English?
Trevor Humble His father is Chinese, so I think he can speak Chinese.
Yick Lui he looks more indian lol.
Thanks for that video Don. I'll use this acronym for sure !
Quick question not directly in relation with your video though. Are you gonna do a video about "yellow teath". It is widely knows that tea tends to leave stains on one's teath and we see that despite of the amount of tea you drink, your teath are still pretty white. Any pieces of advice ?
Cheers and keep up the good work.
John Tedonneraipasmonnom I know you were asking Don, but as an avid tea drinker in my mid 30's, this is something I worry about quite a bit. I rinse my mouth out with water really well after I drink tea if I can't get to my toothbrush. Besides brushing my teeth regularly, I also oil pull with coconut oil a few times a week, and brush or oil pull with both tumeric and activated charcoal once a week. I also use a few whitening strips every few months, if I feel like my teeth are looking a little dingy. I also get my teeth professionally cleaned twice a year, as recommended. I've been able to maintain reasonably white teeth, despite drinking (mostly black)tea several times a day.
What camera and phone app do you use to control it?
Is TeeGschwendner a reliable source ?? I recently bought a japanese sencha extra fine there for around 14$ but now I m really unsure of the quality. Expertise is needed!!! Cheers
As far as I know, the prices at TG are fair, and you often get the right quality for the money.
The name of the extra fine Sencha does not quite fit, it is a fine Sencha but not an extra / premium Sencha these usually start at 20 euros.
@@askialuna7717 Dankeschön 🙏🏼
Bitte schön und ich wünsche dir einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr ;-). Falls dir langweilig ist und du Informationen über Tee lesen magst ist das hier eine gute Adresse: www.teetalk.de/forums/
Hi I am from India; a tea enthusiast. I live in the state of West Bengal which is the home to famous Darjeeling Tea. I have following you from last few weeks but sadly your RUclips channel or your website does not discuss or sell Darjeeling Tea respectively. I would be highly obliged if you answer my quarries.
Hi. I cant find a single video or info on your website about how to properly store tea (fresh, not for additional infusions). Does it need to breathe or be airtight? Where can I find this info?
It does depend slightly on the tea (if you want to age PuErh then some humidity is advised for example) but the key things to avoid are:
Heat
Light
Smells
Humidity
We recommend using our stackable tea tins which are relatively airtight and should cover all of these issues.
How do you go about finding a reputable tea seller? Everything in this industry is so secretive it's frustrating. I'm just looking to find a seller that I can trust that I can buy small bulk amounts of high quality tea... but I also want the information on the tea source etc. why is that so hard to find?!
B. Mechele buy from this guy pay the shipping from the uk deff worth it
Rico Suave I don't think they sell bulk... otherwise I would! But I'll check again!
B. Mechele oh that’s a different story haha i only bought a couple types of each type of tea ... go to China meet the man get the goods
Well unless you can find one here in the states, you’ll gave to go overseas. Wouldnt buy from the farmers market person either, there’s isn’t authentic.
What kind of tea do you buy
Hey ! Nice Video.
I am anxious why you don’t talk about Indian tea in your video. I have seen 4-5 of your videos but none have any reference. Some one with your knowledge should also discuss Indian Tea. India is one of the largest exporter of tea - in London many brands pack Indian tea. Would lobe to hear your review on some indian estates.
You've got the 1000th like from me! Nice video.
a question! ♡ : what is that ceramic bowl-like-thing you used as teatray? It's so pretty! would make a nice gift.
It´s a so called Teaboat! It does just the same job as a tea tray, but is a bit more compact :)
I also heard from some people, that it helps keeping your yixing pots/gaiwan/teaware relatively warm between the steeps if you put hot water over the pot or directly into the teaboat (correct me if I´m wrong) ^^
thank you! I have been admiring it for a while and I like how small it is. Great for tea picnicks in nature ^^
its a opium holder!!
Darjeeling tea info.. are thy good..
Great great info, thanks Don! Cheryl
How to buy?
I have three packages of oolong tea that only say "High Mountain Good Tea" all different lables, all given as gifts.
You’re awesome!!
Amazing thank
My Dad said aged green tea is good!
Darjeeling , Assam, ceylone???
Is it may tea company?
Hello! Whilst I can check the temperature of my water I don't know how to check it's PH..can anyone advise? Thanks.
I know I'm 10 months late, but here's my advice anyway. The best way to measure pH would be by buying those measuring papers from a hardware store or ordering them online. If that's not an option, you can quite fittingly also use tea for that. Black tea changes colour based on pH, going from a light yellow in an acidic solution to a darker brown in alkaline. If all you need is a broad idea of the pH, you could arrange a makeshift experiment where you brew 3 cups of tea with bottled water, add lemon juice to one, nothing to one and baking soda to one. Then brew a fourth cup of tea from your tap water and compare the colour. But naturally it won't be very reliable or accurate, so it'd be best to just buy some litmus paper.
It really is true......Oz never gave nothing to the Tin Man that he didn’t already have.
Thank you for that Video!
Damn! That was a good video.
But usually I don´t want to spend much money and buy tea without these information because it is cheaper. Even wine I usually buy cheaper, not the cheapest ones, but cheaper and in general stores. And if I drink more tea than wine, it just would be a lot money. Don´t forget that UK is richer than some contries.
Just a suggestion. Let your fans send you some of their samples for you to do a review.
I have made that suggestion before and Don replied that they like the idea. There is a chance that they will do it at some point but I think they have been very busy with their rebranding and new website and now that spring is here they are surely drowning in samples right now. My guess is that they will do some fan sampling in the summer.
Yep +metalbirne we have samples like crazy and we are about 5 mins away from heading to China and Japan for more sample hunting. But we are up for this viewer sampling. You can even send your fishy PuErh and watch us try! I will put out a call for any samples in a future video but you can always send to Mei Leaf and make sure to include your details.
We must have the highest qualiTEA Brew.
Excellent job as always! It's like going to school! ....For free.... Is there any way you can provide the Chinese/Japanese for the names and varieties of tea and specialized tea terms you mention in your videos? Thanks! Sometimes stuff is lost in translation.
Summary:
Critical information:
- Type of tea
- Country of origin
- SCOPE =
- Season (and year)
- Green tea must be fresh! (1-2 years after plucking max)
- Generally, spring picked is the best (First Flush)
- Cultivar (variety)
- Origin (Location => Province/ mountain)
- Picking & Processing information
- Elevation (Good to know, not critical)
Don, if you were a long distance runner, what tea would you drink?
How good is green gunpowder tea?
I love you!
Out of the theme question, what do you know about smoking tea leaves? Do not know who to ask so I ask you :D and I am not smoker, just heard about it and curious :D and good video again! :)
how can we (and you) choose & trust chinese tea sellers if we know the enormous level of pollution in china?
+Attila Juhász we did a video covering some of these questions called 'Are Organic Teas Better?'
+Attila Juhász essentially it depends on sourcing.
Okay real quick there are a few types of people who get really into tea 1 old women 2 spiritual people 3 stoner I am a stoner now why does he have the same intro as customgrow 420
there are no such tea called generally oolong right? they must have specific name like tie guan yin oolong, tie lou han oolong,...
Merlot tastes the same as Malbec etc.. Any difference is invented. Wine snobs are just wankers.
I want nugets
aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Dude, stop smiling so much.
I'm sure they told you to grin like an idiot at whatever marketing course you took, but you would really improve your image with the "tea heads" if you tried being a tiny bit serious. You're not selling trinkets to teenagers, you know?
At any point in this video, regardless if you like it or have watched any of it make sure you smash the like button, and follow. Do it! Do it now! Nevermind the tu quoque fallacy of saying if you like it more videos will show up.
PanzerKami he owns his own company. I don't think it's a marketing ploy but a passion for tea.
"I don't think it's a marketing ploy but a passion for tea."
So naive. Touching but dumb.
PanzerKami must be fun at parties.
PanzerKami Dumb? It is a passion for tea-if you had watched some other videos of him talking about it he becomes very animated and excited about the subject. It's not our fault if you can't see that because you have no common sense. That's on you, pal. Shut your trap if you can't say anything nice-didn't your mother teach you any manners?