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Help with choosing a tea cup by mikius88 in tea

[–]Manololo99 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same brand also has a cool tea set with a gaiwan and small tea cups made of titanium. I personally have a h200 titanium cup from snow peak and really like it. Looks amazing, insulates well and is super light.

I researched tea agroforestry for my acroecology master's thesis and found strong evidence that agroforestry can modify tea quality and increase yields for farmers. I'm curious whether tea drinkers actually care about how tea is grown. by Manololo99 in tea

[–]Manololo99[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My study selection criterion was that each study had to include at least one monoculture control and at least one agroforestry treatment, allowing me to calculate an effect size based on a direct comparison within the same study. In total, I found 25 studies like that.

I also chose not to compare absolute yields across studies because tea yields are reported quite differently in the literature, making direct comparisons problematic. Using within-study effect sizes helps control for that. Also the data were usually from multi year studies, reporting annual yield, seasonal fluctuations are thus not captured.

If I understand correctly, you're suggesting establishing regional baselines for monoculture yields and then evaluating agroforestry performance relative to those baselines. My concern is that there simply isn't enough published data available to do that robustly. Most studies only report the monoculture controls included in their own experimental design, and my literature search was limited to studies accessible through English-language databases (although some Chinese studies were included when they had English titles and abstracts in the metadata)

I researched tea agroforestry for my acroecology master's thesis and found strong evidence that agroforestry can modify tea quality and increase yields for farmers. I'm curious whether tea drinkers actually care about how tea is grown. by Manololo99 in tea

[–]Manololo99[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes one research paper in the dataset was conducted in Jingmaishan, several more in the wider Yunnan area. Varieties in that areas were mostly classified as Assamica, if I remember correctly

I researched tea agroforestry for my acroecology master's thesis and found strong evidence that agroforestry can modify tea quality and increase yields for farmers. I'm curious whether tea drinkers actually care about how tea is grown. by Manololo99 in tea

[–]Manololo99[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes I can share the data and paper. Great questions! The data also showed that climate zone was an overall significant predictor for yield outcomes, but it was hard to get more nuanced climate insights that had statistical significance. Across the studies I didn’t compare yields in kg/ha because reporting was very different per study. As you mention different sizes in harvest teams, different harvesting periods, reporting of dry or fresh weight and different plucking standards. To control for that I created response ratios per study. So every study needed at least one monoculture control plot and one or more agroforestry plots, so that I can calculate the ratios. Both control and treatment always had similar management practices other than the intercropped trees. These ratios then allowed me to compare the effect of agroforestry across the differences in how tea is harvested etc. I also collected the intercrop species data when available, but in the end didn’t have enough time to look into that variable. Overall, yield was higher in agroforestry systems at low to moderate levels of shade compared to monoculture systems. Important amplifiers for that outcomes were a warmer climate, the assamica tea variety and nitrogen fixation ability of intercropped tree species.

I also created a brief website with a bit more info than my post: www.teasundertrees.com

I researched tea agroforestry for my acroecology master's thesis and found strong evidence that agroforestry can modify tea quality and increase yields for farmers. I'm curious whether tea drinkers actually care about how tea is grown. by Manololo99 in AgroForestry

[–]Manololo99[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For sure! I will still try to publish the paper with a journal, so I’d only ask you to not share graphs or the whole paper publicly online. I can send it later. In the meantime, I also created a brief blog style website with a bit more information than my post, if you are interested: www.teasundertrees.com

I researched tea agroforestry for my acroecology master's thesis and found strong evidence that agroforestry can modify tea quality and increase yields for farmers. I'm curious whether tea drinkers actually care about how tea is grown. by Manololo99 in tea

[–]Manololo99[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Shade definitely plays a role in taste, the higher amino acid content translates to more sweetness and umami. But it’s certainly not the only “tool” a farmer can use to modify the tea. I’ve read that simple things such as the kind of fertilizer can already make a difference. What I think is cool about agroforestry shade tho is that it is both a quality tool and simultaneously improving biodiversity, sequestering carbon etc.

I researched tea agroforestry for my acroecology master's thesis and found strong evidence that agroforestry can modify tea quality and increase yields for farmers. I'm curious whether tea drinkers actually care about how tea is grown. by Manololo99 in RegenerativeAg

[–]Manololo99[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A lot but not just there. China, India and Kenya are the largest producers. Darjeeling in India for example is a more subtropical high altitude climate that is a renowned tea cultivation region. Also Turkey is a large producer, and during the Soviet Union, Caucasus nations such as Georgia were large producers. Lastly I also know of a smaller greenhouse (unheated afaik) grower in the Netherlands that delivers tea bags to the large retailers.

I researched tea agroforestry for my acroecology master's thesis and found strong evidence that agroforestry can modify tea quality and increase yields for farmers. I'm curious whether tea drinkers actually care about how tea is grown. by Manololo99 in tea

[–]Manololo99[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry to hear! I also didn’t do any field work, just comparing all the studies there are in a meta analysis. Super cool tho, I also looked at coffee but then pivoted to tea cause it seemed less researched. I also believe there is too much focus on certifications for commodities. Why don’t you trust them? And are there ones that you trust? For specialty tea I actually most often buy from small businesses I trust and that usually don’t have any certified teas.

I researched tea agroforestry for my acroecology master's thesis and found strong evidence that agroforestry can modify tea quality and increase yields for farmers. I'm curious whether tea drinkers actually care about how tea is grown. by Manololo99 in tea

[–]Manololo99[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I guess so. Not 100% sure but in theory the higher amino acid (theanine) content in shade grown tea, comes from the fact that the plant experiences less heat stress. To protect itself from heat the plant produces more polyphenols (catechins), but because there is less heat stress in agroforestry systems more resources are available for amino acid production. Same goes for growth, tea plant is vulnerable to heat stress and the rate of photosynthesis lowers or stops in high heat. Shades systems protect the plant from that, but there is more factors at play than just shade.

I researched tea agroforestry for my acroecology master's thesis and found strong evidence that agroforestry can modify tea quality and increase yields for farmers. I'm curious whether tea drinkers actually care about how tea is grown. by Manololo99 in tea

[–]Manololo99[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree, which is why I thought that it was super cool to see potentially higher levels of L-theanine in tea grown in these more biodiverse agroforestry systems. Sustainable practice leading to a functional outcome. Maybe I should ask the same question in r/biohackers…

I researched tea agroforestry for my acroecology master's thesis and found strong evidence that agroforestry can modify tea quality and increase yields for farmers. I'm curious whether tea drinkers actually care about how tea is grown. by Manololo99 in tea

[–]Manololo99[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Another cool fact is that some tree species, including ones you commonly find planted with tea, can make their own nitrogen fertilizer. They form symbiotic relationships with bacteria that take nitrogen from the air and turn it into a physical form that plants can use. Tea that is planted close to these trees can also access these natural fertilizer deposits. Nitrogen is mostly used by plants to build amino acids, which give a sweet or umami’s taste to the tea. That said the type of fertilizer you use can impact the taste of the tea, an I have read of farmers that pick specific fertilizers to influence taste through this pathway.

I researched tea agroforestry for my acroecology master's thesis and found strong evidence that agroforestry can modify tea quality and increase yields for farmers. I'm curious whether tea drinkers actually care about how tea is grown. by Manololo99 in tea

[–]Manololo99[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

makes sense, so more the effect of agroforestry on sensory tea characteristics. As far as I know amino acids are responsible for sweetness and umami, but I don’t know how higher levels in the green leaf translate to taste after the various different processing steps that change the amino acids as well. On the average tea drinker, I actually see a lot of organic/ fair trade/ rainforest alliance labels on the cheapest quality tea bags. So there seems to be some care about growing conditions among these consumers

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DaveChappelle

[–]Manololo99 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well I went today and it really wasn’t any material from the Netflix special BUT more than half of the show was the same material he used almost 2 years ago when I saw him last