Blooming teas have been around forever, nothing really original about it.

The tocha of Japan was likely directly inspired by the doucha 斗茶 custom of Song China — except the rules and game were completely different in Japan. In Song China, the aim was to produce the whitest froth, the longest lasting froth, and finally and most skillfully, conjure pictures in froth (much similar to latte art). Unfortunately, the lat…[Read more]

You might try something like the Teavana Contour Tumbler (see under Most Popular tab). The exact same cup is available at other retailers. That one works pretty well. Don’t worry about the plastic parts – they don’t impart any odor to the tea.

As I said above, they’re not the ideal solution for every tea type, but they work; and they’re convenient.

No, they weren’t like pan roasted tea leaves. They were either brewed spent leaves, or leaves brewed once; allowing the leaves to fully open up; then fried in oil. The texture was very crunchy – almost potato chip crunchy.

I think the perfect container still has yet to be developed. What is available on the market now hasn’t really solved 2 problems: leaf size/particle variability, stewed leaves.

Just about every day, I use a stainless steel insulated tea travel cup. Leaves are placed at the bottom, the filter (with large holes) does not filter out fine tea leaves…[Read more]

I’ve actually had deep-fried tea leaves in Fuzhou. They were in a dish with fried shrimp. Meant mainly as a decorative element, the texture was very interesting, not your wilted, limp damp leaves from a teapot, but whole, flat, and most importantly, crispy, tea leaves. The tea variety was some cheap green tea; and they had a slight grassy…[Read more]

Making tea really depends on tea type, tea quality, and the present situation. If at home, for convenience, I choose a medium-grade work tea (any type – jasmine, oolong, green, white, black), steeping it in a […]

As @bram said above – compare side-by-side: same-type steeping vessel, same-type equipment, water temperature, water source, same-type tasting cup, same amount of tea. Use boiling water (no mater what type of […]

As @bram said above – compare side-by-side: same-type steeping vessel, same-type equipment, water temperature, water source, same-type tasting cup, same amount of tea. Use boiling water (no mater what type of […]

If I can recall correctly, even orange pekoe tea bags do reveal that reddish-copper color when you open them up.

As far as oolong goes, oolong is at once a tea type (as in black, green, yellow, white, red) and […]

Black tea is called read tea in China because of the copper color of the brewed leaves. For some black teas this is more noticeable than others – because of production techniques. But generally, this is the […]

@xavier It’s one of those fully-cooked puerhs, not the raw (sheng) kind, so your friend could drink it anytime. Aging it is not going to make any difference.

@jackie I could translate it, but I can’t open the photo link from here. If @xavier emailed me the photo instead, then I might be able to help.