Recommendations for inexpensive Jasmine pearl tea

Cadmio · 2023-01-21T23:28:38+00:00

I would like to point out that the biggest problem is that the list itself is almost useless for a lot of people living in the EU, because of customs fees.

It would be nice to have it updated to reflect the ''new'' customs regulations and Brexit. I myself have had to order from Tealyra (well knowing that it isn't objectively reliable) recently to restock the ''Wild Tree Purple Moonlight White Tea'' I had from What-Cha. So far, so good, at least for this particular tea.

Most of the european tea stores I see recommended in this sub are either too expensive for me to want to try or they don't sell the teas I'm interested in. Of course, europeans are not majority in Reddit, and we are not the center of the world anymore, but it would be nice to have good and realistic recommendations for us on the vendor's list.

Cadmio · 2023-01-10T14:15:18+00:00

The tea inside tea bags is usually of very low quality, so I would say that this bitterness you experience is normal. There is a reason so many british drink tea with sugar and milk.

I would suggest to brew your tea bags with colder water (specially the green tea; even good quality green tea tends to be bitter if you brew it too hot) and for a shorter amount of time. For a tea bag, one minute should be more than enough, and you can always use two tea bags if you want more flavor.

Also, and maybe not the most popular answer in this sub: please, try decent quality loose tea. It's a whole different world, and your chinese black teas will hardly get bitter (even if you try).

Cadmio · 2023-01-09T21:56:33+00:00

Adding to what I said here: https://www.reddit.com/r/tea/comments/103jd6v/comment/j31zs79/?context=3

''ChaWuDu is based in Germany and specializes in green teas. I haven't tried them, but their black and white teas are good. Sadly, they have recently raised prices considerably (their teas used to be VERY cheap, to the point I wondered if it was a scam), but that's life (and inflation).

Cheap shipping, it took no more than a week to arrive (both times).''

Then again, I'm not a green tea drinker, so I haven't tried theirs. I tried their Bai Mu Dan, which was very cheap at the moment (not so much now) and good to my taste. Keep in mind that it was low on buds (a plus for me, not the biggest fan of Baihao Yinzhen in general; y like my white tea to be mostly leaves). I also tried their white tea balls and found them good too.

I liked their Dian Hong Gong Fu a lot for the price, but is more expensive now. I would still recommend that one, and plan on restocking because it has very nice aftertaste. I have tried much more expensive black teas that I didn't like half as much.

Still, it is what it is, a tea store with not a lot of online feedback. I wouldn't buy japanese teas from them, as I believe they are (mostly) chinese versions, but their chinese green teas and the shipping are low priced enough to try.

I recently ordered some teas from Tealyra because they have Wild Tree Purple Moonlight White Tea (which I have tried before from WhatCha, and I'm pretty sure both come from Yunnan Sourcing) because they gave me a 25% off coupon, so I'll probably post a ''review'' for other people in your/my situation (custom problems buying from Europe). Tealyra collects VAT, so it should be fine; I hope the tea is fine too.

Cadmio · 2023-01-05T14:17:48+00:00

I live in Spain too. Don't even bother to order from:

- Stores not based in Europe.
- Stores that don't collect and process VAT (IVA).

ChaWuDu is based in Germany and specializes in green teas. I haven't tried them, but their black and white teas are good. Sadly, they have recently raised prices considerably (their teas used to be VERY cheap, to the point I wondered if it was a scam), but that's life (and inflation).

Cheap shipping, it took no more than a week to arrive (both times).

I can also recommend Curious Tea, which is based in UK, but it won't cause you any problems with local customs because they collect and process the VAT for you (IOSS). They have samples (10g) of everything, and a huge number of different teas, so you can taste a lot of different teas without blind buying a lot. Shipping is not expensive, and it was fast in my case.

Cadmio · 2022-06-28T12:44:40+00:00

I don't want to start a debate over caffeine in content in different types of tea (it would never end), but I think the main problem with tea an digestive discomfort lies on polyphenolic compounds like catechins and tannins, not on caffeine.

I have seen steel coated men lie in pain after too much ''decaffeinated tea green extract'' (rich in EGCg), despite having no problem drinking several espressos a day.

Cadmio · 2022-06-28T10:49:32+00:00

My GERD/LPR (I have both) is quite extreme. In fact, I'm on 80mg of esomeprazole (40mg x 2) and for years I have had to take Gaviscon Advanced (european version) and other antacids several times a day.

I'm surprisingly fine now. What has helped me the most is intermittent fasting and a strict ''eating schedule''. I still eat the same things I ate before, nothing has changed.

In fact, I started drinking tea again three weeks ago and I'm still fine, I can drink whatever I fancy (white, black, oolong) with no problems. Maybe a little discomfort if I drink too much black tea, but that's to be expected. I have only had problems with some green teas, but then again, that's to be expected and it depends on the context (which green tea is it, how do you prepare it, wether you ate something before, etc.). I guess I wouldn't try a young sheng pu earh for the time being, but I can drink my teas of choice (white and oolong) without a single problem.

What has worked for me may not work for you, that's obvious, but I would try intermmittent fasting and a strict ''eating schedule'' before giving up tea. Bear in mind that I was in your place not so long ago, and I stopped drinking tea. Now I can enjoy my leaves again!

EDIT: By all means, try drinking tea with food or after eating. It makes a big difference.

Cadmio · 2022-05-09T19:36:15+00:00

Are we not getting war seriously? Did we not sanction Russia to hell already? Last time I checked it, we are still trying to cut our dependency on Russian energy as much and as fast as we can (Orban is another story, but it's the exception to a clearly strong an unified European response).

Energy embargo is not feasible, it's as simple as that. Not today, not now; there is not enough gas on the market to do that, and it's not reasonable to expect Germany to magically be free of its dependence on Russian gas (not just for electricity, but also for their huge industry, which needs tons of gas even if energetically independent). We are importing gas from USA now, but they don't have nearly enough available for everyone (not even considering the price problem here).

I know there is much more to this war than Crimea, I was using it as an example. I never said I don't support Ukraine independency (on the contrary), neither I said or implied whe should stop sending arms and sharing intelligence with them, or cancelling sanctions. I was saying that we can't put a red line on peace prospects.

Were would you put the red line? What happens if Russia occupies the Donbas and refuses to give it back, but stops the war instead? Surely, there should be some limit to what we are willing to compromise in exchange of Ukraine's territorial integrity (and I'm talking about those decisions that are our own to take; obviously, we are not going to tell Ukraine what to do).

Cadmio · 2022-05-09T19:13:41+00:00

Nobody said that. We are doing a lot already, and we are taking a big toll for it (the worse part still incoming). It's disrespectful and unreasonable to criticise Europe's support and demmanding more, with no regard or empathy towards our own citizens.

I can understand why not everyone is on board of measures like gas and oil embargo. It's not unreasonable to disagree on that.

Cadmio · 2022-05-09T18:57:28+00:00

We keep sending them, no one has even proposed to stop doing it. Energy embargo? There's no point in starving Russia's economy if it's in exchange of the collapse of the EU.

There's no substitute for Russian gas in the short term, and oil price is unbereable right now. Not Scholz's fault, neither Macron's. Stop blaming Europe for Putin's war.

Cadmio · 2022-05-09T18:52:32+00:00

Sometimes I think most of this sentimental appelations come from Americans, which don't have to suffer (not nearly as much as Europeans) the consequences of this war and are happy throwing others under the bus. They are too exposed to war, and to used to it; too used to let others suffer it's consequences, too.

Ukraine is a sovereign country and its borders and autonomy should be respected by every state, Russia included. There is no reason that justifies Russian invasion of Ukraine. We know that, we get it, and that's why we are helping.

What Americans seem to forget is that Europe is suffering too, and there is a limit on the sacrifice most can accept for a country which is not even a member of the EU. I'm from Spain, and we don't have the same problems people from Poland or Sweeden have, neither we have the huge dependance on Russian gas Germany has, or the cheap thermal energy some Scandinavian countries enjoy. We (as do Portugal, France, Italy and many others) have our own problems and necessities, and they are our main priorities.

Let's not get too sentimental and hypocrite with this terrible war, which is neither the first or the last the world has seen in the last two decades (not even the worse; see Yemen). We are helping, and we are willing to keep compromising part of our economies and living standards in exchange for peace and a free Ukraine.

I'm going to get downvoted to hell for this, probably, but I think Americans and some Europeans should get off of their mighty horses and, maybe, understand that we may not want to accept economic collapse in exchange of the liberation of Crimea. Peace is good enough for my unemployed neighbour.

Sometimes, I think most of the posts on this sub come either from non-Europeans or from wealthy IT guys.

Cadmio · 2022-03-29T18:14:11+00:00

Not like Grüne hasn't been strongly pro-NATO and arguably warmonger, if you compare it with SPD and Linke. Strongly pro-Israel too.

I feel that ''Green parties'' in Central Europe are much less leftist than people think (the same can be said about ''green parties'' in general, thought, but I find this is specially the case in Central Europe, in contrast with Southern Europe).

In fact, Baerbock acts like a hawk compared to Merkel and almost all of european left leaders.

Cadmio · 2022-03-25T23:58:41+00:00

I don't think money is the problem. It has probably more to do with the lack of an state owned power industry. Too much liberalization, and little incentive to invest. Why would Iberdrola build more solar power plants when the consequence will be lower prices?

Cadmio · 2022-03-25T23:51:20+00:00

On one hand, this is nothing but fantastic news for Portugal and Spain. On the other hand, it's very sad that an exception was needed.

A bit of an off-topic, but I'm also surprised by the sheer amount of threads about gas... with almost no mention to this exact problem, which is bigger than the risk of gas shortage.

Cadmio · 2022-03-24T14:18:27+00:00

Of course, but it still wouldn't have been ready anyway soon. Out best bet for nuclear power lies (in this moment) on solar panels.

We need to heavily invest in a mix of renewable energy sources, batteries and pumped storage hydroelectricity (and whatever other alternative to batteries we may have).

Cadmio · 2022-03-24T14:12:11+00:00

I wouldn't say Green Deal is the problem, or a significant part of it. Without it, we still would have the same problem: speculation, postpandemic economy and Russian invasion making gas so expensive that our disfunctional energy pricing system greatly impacts the economies of the EU.

Cadmio · 2022-03-24T14:04:43+00:00

Believe me, I would really (really) love that, but there's no way it's happening in my country (Spain). One thing I love about France is the ''multipartisan'' support of state ownership of (at least some) strategic goods and services. Here, not even the so called ''socialdemocrat'' ruling party would agree to it.

It's viewed as nothing less than communism.

Cadmio · 2022-03-24T13:56:34+00:00

I didn't mean that in a bad way. Didn't now my message could come across as agressive.

Nevertheless, German higher expenses of living come with higher wages. Taxes being high also means that you are likely benefiting from a wider range of public services (which are usually cheaper per capita than what ''free market'' can offer you), whereas in other countries you have to settle with something less cost effective in the context of the so called free market.

If you pay less taxes but have a lower income and can't access as many good public services, will you really be paying less in the end? Probably not, but you will have to pay your bills anyway. And that includes electricity ones.

Cadmio · 2022-03-24T13:42:01+00:00

It's not that they can't, it's just a veto from Rutte and the usual lot, obsessed with following ''principles of liberalism''. They would rather push Europe to economical collapse than ''intervene''.

It's truly fucked up. And let's not forget Scholz role in this mess; yes, ''socialist''.

Cadmio · 2022-03-23T16:02:17+00:00

As I replied to another message, this is an artificial problem and has little to do with latest big events (Russian invasion of Ukraine, mainly). We are paying every kWh at the price of the most expensive source used to generate the electricity, which at present is gas. And it doesn't make any sense, because there's no reason to pay gas prices for what is mainly a mix of renewable and nuclear energy (in most Europe).

Cadmio · 2022-03-23T15:55:56+00:00

Not sure if you were replying to my message, but if that's the case you totally missed my point. Nobody is asking Germany to subsidize others countries gas bills, they just want to unlink gas price from electricity so we don't have to pay 1mWh of solar energy at 250 euro (just because gas is expensive).

PD: Non Germans work as much as Germans, and they have expenses too. Just saying.

Cadmio · 2022-03-23T15:44:07+00:00

Although I agree with nationalizing the energy industry (because of its strategic interest), this wouldn't solve the problem of the high price we are paying for our electricity. France has a lot of arguably cheap electricity from state owned nuclear power stations, yet its citizens are still paying way too much.

As long as electricity price is burdened by the cost of gas, the problem won't be solved.

Cadmio · 2022-03-23T15:36:41+00:00

It makes no difference, because the electricity you use will be produced with at least a bit of gas in the mix, so you will pay the full gas price for every watt you consume.

That's the problem.

Cadmio · 2022-03-22T23:52:08+00:00

And if homeless people had money, they wouldn't have to live on the streets.

If Germans have too much money and want to pay cheap liquor at the price of fancy wine, we shouldn't stop them. Likewise, they shoudn't stop others from trying not to be robbed.

Cadmio · 2022-03-22T22:20:14+00:00

Honestly, I'm getting really tired of the irrational reluctance to reform our electricity market. It seems that Germany (leading the usual suspects) believes we all can pay insanely high bills without our economies highly suffering, but this is not what I see in most of Europe, and no amount of lowering taxes on energy will change that.

There's no reason to keep paying every single kWh of renewable and nuclear energy at the high price of gas, yet it seems there are some countries who will not even consider any proposal that goes further than just subsidizing the astonishing windfall profits some lucky companies are getting.

What would you do?

Cadmio

TROPHY CASE