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hardly_trying t1_j7s2r1m wrote

Worked at a tea shop chain once and had to memorize a bunch of facts about the different types of tea and their benefits. Tea is wild, man. Loose leaf ftw

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redlinezo6 t1_j7sh3t7 wrote

Are there types of tea you are/aren't supposed to add milk to? or is it preference?

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draw2discard2 t1_j7sw3dj wrote

You can't add milk to chamomile "tea" (or herbal teas that may have it or something similar in it). It curdles the milk, so you get a bunch of milk solids floating around in your cup.

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klusterdas t1_j7vvcg5 wrote

If it isn’t made of tea tree leaves it’s not tea, is it?)

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draw2discard2 t1_j7wx3ne wrote

"Tea" is used for basically any infusion with leaves and hot water even though these are not all tea. Chamomile tea, herbal tea, fruit tea are not tea but referred to as tea. A tricky one is "red tea" which people often think is just another color like green or black or white, while it is actually just a wild plant from South Africa (roibos) that isn't tea at all but is used as tea.

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Absorbent_Towel t1_j7vxupn wrote

If tea leaves are steeped in water, it's a tea. Herbal teas use more than just the leaves like stems, roots, and flowers.

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hardly_trying t1_j7shya2 wrote

Entirely preference. Most important thing is knowing how hot and how long to brew each type of tea. The rest is preference.

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Pay08 t1_j7uwx0z wrote

It still baffles me that British people drink tea with milk.

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cbeiser t1_j7v2epu wrote

You're missing out of you're not. We are talking about black tea tho

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Lebrunski t1_j7ss1o8 wrote

LOOOSEEE LEEEEEEAAAAFFF LIIIIIFFFFEEEE

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Hambulance t1_j7v2kw6 wrote

You seem like the person to ask about best/easily cleanable loose tea vessels.

I just can't win.

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Lebrunski t1_j7v2ulz wrote

Strainers? I find them easiest to clean right after steeping. Little bit of warm water usually is all I need and a bit of finger nail for the more stubborn pieces.

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Hambulance t1_j7v2yq4 wrote

Is a strainer a tea ball?

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hardly_trying t1_j7wdp5j wrote

Yeah, same idea. Little metallic strained with a chain and/or hooks onto the side of your glass. Can also find them in "spoon" form.

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Crosstitch_Witch t1_j7w5oip wrote

If you don't mind me asking, what makes loose leaf better?

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hardly_trying t1_j7w7t5b wrote

You can assure it's freshness by actually observing it and storing it properly. Also, you can dry out leaves that have been steeped once and reuse them. And bagged tea is typically ground and grainy. Loose leaf tea allows for pieces of fruit, flowers and whole spices. (I'm talking actually pieces of star anise and all spice, etc.) Finally, traditional teas from the cultures where tea leaves are grown are almost always loose leaf (or loose powder, for matcha) and they were designed to be best experienced in that form.

Also, if you enjoy tea, eventually invest in an electric kettle. None of this heating a mug in the microwave nonsense. Or, heavens forbid, do not BOIL a bag of black tea on the stove. It makes the tea gods sad.

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Crosstitch_Witch t1_j7wbfyg wrote

Apparently, i am a heathen who has probably been causing the tea gods severe depression because i do both of the things you said not to do. Lol I've never had loose leaf before, it always seemed like a hassle to get into, but I'm also a very lazy person.

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hardly_trying t1_j7wca8k wrote

Its understandable. I was raised in the Southeast US and I have seen/done my share of tea sins before I was aware. lol. Really, just a kettle and a little metal steeper are all you need. Use a tsp or so of tea and don't let it steep more than 2-3 minutes. Sweeten as desired.

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Crosstitch_Witch t1_j7wdlay wrote

Yes, i am South US and southeners really like to do things the easy way, it becomes a bad habit that's hard to break. I may get into it, I'd have to get all the things though. I just found out there's a tea bar not too far from me that uses loose leaf tea too, so maybe i can try some there as well.

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hardly_trying t1_j7we3hf wrote

Pricing may scare you at first! Just remember you only need a couple of ounces to begin with and you can get 2-3 steepings out of a single tsp of high quality leaves. So, you'll get 15-30 cups out of that two ounces.

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Crosstitch_Witch t1_j7wegqq wrote

Oh neat! Thank you very much for all the info, I've been getting more into teas lately since i can't have coffee as much anymore, so I'll definitely look more into loose leaf.

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[deleted] t1_j7tganq wrote

[deleted]

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minion_is_here t1_j7tlbh9 wrote

weed and tea come from the same plant? nature be crazy

edit: lol I was riffing off "it's the same thing;" obviously they're comparing the idea of strains of weed to types of tea

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slvl t1_j7tudcv wrote

Nope, different species entirely. But I guess you could make tea from hemp.

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Funny_stuff554 t1_j7u8n3w wrote

Weed and green tea are definitely not the same plant lol. Cannabis has thc while tea has caffeine...

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gonejahman t1_j7rn6ke wrote

Wait until you find out about pickles and cucumbers

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jamescookenotthatone t1_j7rt1nr wrote

The hard part is inflating the pickles into cucumbers.

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[deleted] t1_j7s5vc7 wrote

Oh! This’ll be the fourth time I get to explain this on Reddit!

Cucumbers can be pickled, but the pickles you’re used to are actually separate varieties, not just small cucumbers. A raw pickle (like the california bush pickle for example) doesn’t actually taste the same as a cucumber, in my opinion.

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Fearless-Golf-8496 t1_j7s6t8c wrote

Gherkins, you mean? I believe they're what's known as 'dill pickles' in the US.

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[deleted] t1_j7s7hlo wrote

There’s a whole bunch of different varieties, gherkin is one. I’m actually pretty sure dill pickles are gherkins pickled with dill specifically, but I’m already the nerd correcting people about cucumbers vs pickles and I don’t need to get weirder right now.

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Fearless-Golf-8496 t1_j7s7yu8 wrote

We only get the gherkins in the UK, but that might be because we tend to go more for chutneys than pickled vegetables. We have pickled gherkins, pickled beetroot and pickled onions, and that's about it.

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totoropoko t1_j7s3g81 wrote

As a non-american I am always amazed at what passes for a pickle here (though I admit it is technically a pickle since it's made the same way as other pickles)

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Sea_no_evil t1_j7s20wd wrote

Or cauliflower and brussels sprouts.

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ZhouDa t1_j7shy1y wrote

Screw Brassica Oleracea. The only good product to come out of the wild mustard plant is cabbage.

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jamescookenotthatone t1_j7rse3c wrote

If anyone is wondering, orange pekoe is not a special technique, it is a grade of black tea.

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ffnnhhw t1_j7s8crf wrote

not just how they are processed

the same species of plant, but not the same variety

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draw2discard2 t1_j7swbzq wrote

There are differences based on varieties, and the soil where it is grown etc. but those differences are very small compared to whether it is simply dried (green tea) or fermented for various periods of time under different conditions (most other types of tea), smoked, etc.

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science-i t1_j7uc2e7 wrote

Tea is only very rarely fermented (puerh and hei cha). It's allowed to oxidize to a greater or lesser extent, which is sometimes incorrectly called fermentation especially in older resources. Green tea is also not simply dried; in order to prevent the tea from oxidizing to make green tea, tea needs to be 'fixed', generally involving some kind of heat treatment; baking, pan-frying, etc.

I would also not say those differences are very small. Tea has the same kind of variation based on terroir that wine has, if not more. You might not be able to pick out specific notes (frankly I'm pretty bad at it myself) but there's a ton of variation within eg just black (red) tea or just green tea or just oolongs, such that if you were given two cups from different regions but prepared roughly the same it would be very clear that they were different. This is less pronounced with commodity grade tea (what you're likely to find in a tea bag) because it's intentionally blended to have a specific and consistent flavor profile.

All that said, the difference between black (red), oolong, yellow, white, green, and dark tea is absolutely one of processing not of variety or region. While certain varieties in certain regions are often used to make a specific kind of tea, they don't have to be, and having eg an oolong of a tea usually used to make green tea can be interesting.

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Afraid_Assistance765 t1_j7sbfe5 wrote

Camellia sinensis is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves and leaf buds are used to produce the popular beverage, tea. A few years ago I actually found a local nursery that had some and bought 2 plants.

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Fearless-Golf-8496 t1_j7rudsp wrote

I... thought this was common knowledge? But then, I am British. Lapsang Souchong is made by rolling and drying tea leaves, placing them in bamboo baskets and smoking them over wood fires. Source: Taylors of Harrogate.

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ToeJam_SloeJam t1_j7s913e wrote

Good sir, you may have just cracked a case I have been trying to solve since high school

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RedSonGamble t1_j7rm46z wrote

It is funny how at least here whatever it is in a tea bag is called tea. Mint tea. Herbal tea. Sleepy tea. Regardless of if it has tea leaves in it.

But then idk what you would call it. Bag of mint leaves in boiled water

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dethblud t1_j7rt2zf wrote

When there's no tea in it, you've got a tisane or an infusion.

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RedSonGamble t1_j7rzfhn wrote

Ahhh. But then I sound all fancy being like I’m having some mint infusion. Although even in this comment it has grown on me

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Mitthrawnuruo t1_j7s3zom wrote

Dethblud is correct. It is a tisane. Not a tea.

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RedSonGamble t1_j7suw2k wrote

Yeah I didn’t say they were wrong? lol my ahhh was in new knowledge being learned

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Ryengu t1_j7srrnc wrote

Hot leaf juice

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RedSonGamble t1_j7sur5n wrote

I like this the most out of the choices I’ve been given

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omar1993 t1_j7v9tz5 wrote

How can a member of my family say something so horrible!?

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LunarPayload t1_j7sze8g wrote

Tisane is the old word, rarely used these days. Herbal "tea" and sometimes infusions are the terms used more often, now

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gibgerbabymummy t1_j7ykrnw wrote

I'm British but my teen ask for a hot salad water in the morning..

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fuckswitfish t1_j7rfo2y wrote

What!

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BrokenEye3 t1_j7rjncy wrote

THEY SAID THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF TEA COME FROM THE SAME PLANT!

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Ethereal42 t1_j7sk3hl wrote

What until you hear about Olives, that's right, it's been an industry secret for decades. Black and green - same bloody thing. Google it if you don't believe me.

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Bubbly-Incident t1_j7rk2yj wrote

Everything can be tea if you boil it enough.

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Mitthrawnuruo t1_j7s43l9 wrote

False. It can be a brew. Or a concoction. Or perhaps a tisane.

But not a TEA

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dragoonts t1_j7saeav wrote

I can't wait to see the look on OPs face when he finds out veal is young beef and lamb is young mutton

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TunaOnWytNoCrust t1_j7ssiz9 wrote

Ha! I only just learned about this 2 days ago, sucker!

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grieverx99 t1_j7t7ivk wrote

Not all teas rooibos come for a different plant

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strugglingtobemyself t1_j7tk542 wrote

Has anyone here ever heard of nabob tea? Can’t find it ever since my childhood

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Fearless-Golf-8496 t1_j7tzyl7 wrote

Just did a quick search and apparently it's the name of a brand which has been discontinued in the US, but might be available to buy online.

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crimsonfucker97 t1_j7tnxbo wrote

Same with kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts

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Nard_Bard t1_j7wju12 wrote

Green and Red Bell peppers are the same plant, just harvested at different stages.

Theres a reason you rarely see "Roasted green peppers". It's because the green ones are not as ripe as the red ones.

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[deleted] t1_j7siphg wrote

What the hell! 🤯

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curliegirlie89 t1_j7t2s4a wrote

Thank you for this! I had no idea. TIL!

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Funny_stuff554 t1_j7u8ivd wrote

Wtf. So green tea and black tea basically are the same plant...

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chunkybuttflake t1_j7uk523 wrote

So thats where oolongs name comes from in dragonball, neat.

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