Green tea has EGCg in it which is the “health” part of green tea. All tea will dry you out a bit, but in general you want loose leaf (short is said to produce more caffeine in the tea)
I would search for a local tea shop, I don’t know any good online sites off hand
Pu Erh and Earl grey have kept me awake many a night shift. A word of caution though, Pu erh has a very strong smell but tastes completely different. It is not aromatic in any way shape or form. I love it though. Also, almost all black and green* teas are strong and should keep you up a fair bit
Variable temperature kettle for the different tea types, Chinese style tea cups and western, gai wan and gong dao bei, porcelain tea pot and glass tea pot both with filters, pu erh tea pick and a tea tray for spilling.
Teas include various greens, shu pu erhs and a gushu sheng pu erh, blacks, oolong and herbals. Mostly Chinese teas for me, but my wife likes to drink assam.
Edit: Also have a couple of tins of matcha in the fridge.
That one was a treat, celebrating my wife’s 1 year anniversary here in the UK. I would like to start collecting tea cakes but I don’t make enough money to justify going that deep into the hobby yet. I have one tea cake making its way to me from China as we speak and I have one stored given to me by my parents (who got it from my brothers girlfriend at the time who was from China).
Not a cake like that. It refers to the tea leaves being pressed and stored in a cake shape. This was done in ancient times to preserve the tea for longer and help carry more of it for trade. In modern times it is done to ensure a slower rate of aging of the tea leaf. Some Pu erhs reach peak flavour after 40 to 60 years of aging.
I would use the strainer when cleaning out my teapot. I was planning on using water to fill up the teapot and dump the leaves/water mix into the strainer.
Currently when I clean my pot, I dump the leaves into the trash. If any remain I fill the pot with water and dump it into the sink using a paper towel as a filter
Adagio sent me a week’s worth of their CommuniTEA sampler thing as a freebie, which I am now drinking out of order as the mood suits.
Today was Earl Grey Bella Luna, which presents less of a black tea flavor than coconut. I was surprised this was an Earl Grey, because the citrus notes I detected were more lemon than bergamont, but not unpleasant. I detected none of the creme notes they describe.
The aroma of the coconut makes me want to try some of their other blends that feature it, but I won’t be adding this into my rotation anytime soon.