I am already 10 steps ahead of you.
The issue is that the tea that the chinese restaurants use is sold direct to them. They don't sell it at the super market or online.
You can get stuff that is very close, but not quite the same.
I like both, but my preference ultimately lies with coffee.
You could always get the old fashioned Moka espresso maker.
When I was designing coffeemakers at Black & Decker we were a member of the Coffee Institute of America and they would come in and train us 'the right way' to make coffee. Perfect temperature, water, grounds, etc. They told us that vacuum coffeemakers produce the best tasting coffee.
They are a bit strange but fascinating to watch. Water in the bottom, coffee and filter in the top. When the water boils it goes up the tube into the coffee brewing chamber. As it cools, a vacuum forms in the bottom and sucks filtered coffee back into the pot. Then you take the top off and pour. Somehow all off this happens automatically (no electronics needed) at the perfect temp and contact time with the grounds. Amazing!
edit: I read more about it and vacuum coffee combines Full Immersion (like a French press) and Drip Filtering (to get every last bit of flavor from the beans).
B&D looked into to making one, but there was no way to improve the simple glass design by adding electricity. Ours was basically the same thing with a hot plate screwed onto it.
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OH NO! That one uses a tiny piece of stainless steel that touches the coffee... NO METAL MAY TOUCH THE COFFEE! God, what the hell family did I marry into...?
On a side note, while tea is obviously superior, tea flavored things are generally terrible compared to coffee flavored things like ice cream.
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Can you find a local Asian market? I love those places. So many good bargains (I found a nice chef knife) and all sorts of exotic foods.
It's mate 
The British add cream and sugar to their tea. In my opinion, this is sacrilege, but to each their own. I like my antioxidants absorbed.
Moka pot is, what my coffee journey actually started with.
I have never mastered it, unfortunately. The result vary, and I mean a lot.
Don't know what the problem is. Either it's flame, which I'm trying to keep as consistent as possible, or I don't know.
Sometimes, it tastes fine (The taste is plain, "empty", comparing to french). Other times, it's over bitter.
Beans themselves are not an issue here, definitely.
I always order the green tea ice cream, not the coffee flavor. But I like the smell of coffee beans.
Wish it was that simple, but its the caffeine that affects my Crohns, its not so bad with tea, so generally best to avoid it.
A lot of places in the UK provide you with a tea pot that only contains tea and water, nothing added, of course this is so the drinker can make it how they like e.g milk, sugar etc.
Also in the UK you may find people referring to tea as Witch Piss, generally because it has been butchered in some machine instead of a proper pour.
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im going hard necro, because i dont wanna start a whole new thread for a question:
so im a heavy coffee drinker. 6 to 8 coffees a day (each with extra espresso shot) is a bit much.
so my question is basically:
what kind of green tea would you recommend for people when they wanna switch from coffee to green tea?
any recommendations?
loose leaf, smaller leaf releases more of it’s caffeine. I like to go to a shop, smell and taste for myself tbh. Loose is the best and cheapest way to do tea.
Matcha is a good, but expensive for the real stuff. Personally I like a mix of Green and Oolong if I want a pick me up.
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To co-opt the revival. I have run out of instant, yes yes I know get over it its for work, and I need suggestions that are readily available in Ireland or the UK usually gets the same and possible Europe at large. Just some thing decent that will warm me and make the workshop more bareable.
I finished a can of Kenco Millicano for reference. Not great, not bad, hot brown coffee flavoured liquid.
What you got?
At home I make coffee in a French press so it is not all terrible.
I have recently bought some Tesco finest coffee. Was dirty cheap and way better than the Lavazza shit 
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It can be quite good yes. Instant or just regular coffee, I have regular covered, I need the instant for work.
I haven’t tried any instant coffee for a long time. I didn’t read your post carefully enough, sorry for that.
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Coffee. Black. 100% of the time. I basically live on Coffee.
I am someone who really likes non-sweet drinks. It’s hard to come by once you look into it. It’s basically Water, Beer and Coffee (tea to some extend). Everything else is sweet and full of sugar. So black coffee it is.
I really like the “concept” of tea, but i’ve always been missing a strong flavor. It’s either a really mild flavor or tastes really bad once you let it sit for longer. Maybe some of the Tea drinkers have a recommendation on how to get a tea that’s not sweat and has more flavor than your typical “Supermarket Black Tea”? I’d be really curious for something i can drink in the evening that’s not as high in cafeine but still warm and not-sweet.
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Coffee = heated up muddy water for low to middle class income folks to be able to make it through their miserable day of work.
Tea = Water infused by nature, enjoyed by people of high class and culture during meditation and mindfulness.
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Tea = a hint of dead shrubbery in hot water that only reinforces that people are fine with watered down trash.
Coffee = scientifically crafted and efficiently extracted to deliver bold flavor and stimulate mental aptitude to face off the harsh realities of life.
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