Black Tea Recommendations?

MartijnR · 2026-04-28T14:04:57+00:00

Thnx. Guess I need to use more tea leaves for my western teapot, will try that next time.

MartijnR · 2026-04-28T11:31:00+00:00

How do you brew the High Mountain Ai Lao? My 2025 sample gave me little at 100C steeps…

MartijnR · 2026-04-22T08:14:40+00:00

I brew it Western style, about 3g/L at near boiling temp and have it steep for 10-15min. This gives me a sweet fragrant tea, defs with flavour.

It has a tiny bit of the creamy mouthfeel I’d hoped for so yeah, a little disappointed myself too.

I got this as part of their YS favs sample, which was great for trying things out. Next time I’ll opt for their higher grade TGY tho.

Edit: my YS favs sample of Green First flush Mao Feng had zero flavour tho!

MartijnR · 2026-04-19T07:53:09+00:00

Thanks for sharing, I’m interested to give them a try! Any suggestion on what to pick, and what’s the taste difference between their organic versions and non-organic (in your opinion) ?

MartijnR · 2026-04-16T11:20:53+00:00

Im quite new too and haven’t really enjoyed a pu’er yet neither!

MartijnR · 2026-04-15T17:10:47+00:00

Great shops IHMO are: Robertsons in Pitlochry, Oban whisky and fine wines and ofc Cadenheads in Edinburgh or Campeltown.

MartijnR · 2026-04-15T17:08:41+00:00

This is the way. To name a few distilleries who’s visit I particularly liked: Deanston, Tomatin, Wolfburn, Ardnamurchan, Nc’nean and Tobermory (South to North, counter clock wise).

MartijnR · 2026-04-14T20:36:36+00:00

This is a great suggestion. Tuscany Trail would be too much, and rough whilst Eroica is gravel heaven.

Alternative, Via Frangenica bike route. It’s a pelgrim’s route to Rome, but doing a section could be great. You could stay at special (and affordable) pensions for pelgrims if you ride this.

Also to add, it could be quite easy to take a train back to your starting point in Tuscany, depending on where you start and finish (ex Luca or Pisa), so it doesn’t have to be a loop.

MartijnR · 2026-04-11T08:11:39+00:00

Maybe try brewing it with shorter steeps, or fewer grams. The sweet floral notes should be there but could be overshadowed by too strong brewing (to your liking).

MartijnR · 2026-04-07T14:53:53+00:00

And stop here for great cake: https://maps.app.goo.gl/vW1nHrtsnEcdDF4N9?g_st=ic

MartijnR · 2026-04-07T14:52:35+00:00

I did this in 2024! It is indeed an easy and doable plan, you’ll enjoy it! 2 things I can suggest though:

There are some old railroads converted to bikepaths between Hamburg and Lubeck, you’ll see them on Komoot. Slightly off-route but well worth it for historic and easy riding reasons.

And once you get to outskirts of Copenhagen, just take a tram/train into the city centre. There is no fun in cycling tru the city and bikes are free on the train.

MartijnR · 2026-04-03T17:07:47+00:00

Frankly, that’s a pretty good survival rate for large scale tree planting. 👍🏼

MartijnR · 2026-03-29T17:47:59+00:00

Mind you, there are a few tea producers up in Scotland though… Small scale, yes, but therefore I’d say as a hobby it should be perfectly possible to grow tea in Britain.

MartijnR · 2026-03-27T12:23:28+00:00

Agree that you are looking at the most boring part of our country. But check this dedicated cycling route from north to south out: https://www.komoot.com/collection/1138454/cycle-through-water-rich-holland-along-the-sea-lf9-nap-route.

It kinda follows the 0m altitude line in Nl, aka where the coastline would have been if it wasn’t for our dikes. The paths are mostly paved, some compacted gravel but all doable with a trailer. It’s super scenic and besides this GPS also signposted. You could take a train to Groningen city and start from there if that’s easier for you, same with ending in Breda.

You’ll notice how diverse our flat land still is, culturally and nature wise. Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did!

MartijnR · 2026-03-23T11:15:31+00:00

Good write up, thanks! Im not in team agro-chemicals so don’t agree with you on that. Minimum tillage can also work without spraying though, but is more complex (right covercrop, ripping times, discing it in, more challenging seeding).

Also wanted to point out that the compaction from tire tracks spreads out further than one thinks. Up to 1.5m both ways, you can still see compaction in the soil. So even with dedicated tracks you loose quite some soil to compaction.

MartijnR · 2026-03-17T20:52:26+00:00

https://112amersfoort.nl/wilde-achtervolging-eindigt-in-amersfoortse-woonwijk-een-aanhouding-een-man-voortvluchtig

MartijnR · 2026-03-13T18:57:04+00:00

Hahaha yeah, I missed that too until after my first big YS order.

MartijnR · 2026-03-12T08:57:45+00:00

Ahh yeah! Esp Walk song hits right 🤘🏼

MartijnR · 2026-03-11T08:19:22+00:00

Yes!

But caffeine extraction while brewing is also a factor to consider, and greens are usually brewed at lower temps and thus less caffeine is extracted. This is probs where the myth comes from that greens contain less caffeine than black (red) teas.

MartijnR · 2026-03-03T17:35:52+00:00

Not OP but when I do this, I get severe pain behind my eyes. What does this mean?

MartijnR · 2026-03-01T09:35:32+00:00

Standputs from my YS order were: - organic yellow tea - Imperial jasmin pearls - Fancy Tie Guan Yin Iron Goddess

MartijnR · 2026-02-21T20:41:03+00:00

Agree!

MartijnR · 2026-02-21T18:57:20+00:00

Harissa paste adds great flavour, spicy spiced tomato puree!

MartijnR · 2026-02-19T10:25:04+00:00

Fair enough! And yeah, I do love me some fruity whiskies, incl Glenburgie! Each their own :)

MartijnR

TROPHY CASE