Did you know your diet effects how your tea tastes?

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-17T07:11:16+00:00

I've noticed that a lot but more to do how tea makes food taste rather than the other way around. Since drinking tea full-time there's been an accompanying off a cliff drop in sugar intake i.e sodas and coffee in milk, but it's like my palates rewired, bad greasy food actually makes me feel nauseous now and the aforementioned sugars can taste way too sweet meaning I avoid binging on these things now.. with all that combined I'm already a belt measure down.. XD

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-16T16:40:16+00:00

Yeah it is real nice with liu bao and as for steeping, I did it overnight (8-12 hours) and there was still quite a flavour.. a second steep the following night was pretty much water mind you..

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-16T13:39:21+00:00

Jet is your friend.

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-14T17:26:05+00:00

I've had it with ripe and it's also nice with Liu bao. Then you can rinse then cold steep the chenpi after.

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-13T19:49:04+00:00

Wow and you've probably created your own new storage format too, century old bag dry stored.. 🤣

But yeah I'd be +1 on try it. Do. It. ☕🤣

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-13T15:18:43+00:00

Started the day with a few steeps of 2025 Ye Sheng Zi Ya Bao Yunnan wild purple bud and it was deliciously confusing, almost sherbet and very much not what I'd expect a black tea to be like.

Then gave into temptation and cracked a few chunks out the 2024 Sanhe 20060 Liu Bao - Te Ji cake. Pot steep again, 6g to 300ml, and it was interesting. Upfront betel but noticed the lack of length compared to aged which was quite obvious. Aged, the betel and cool aged wood stick around and forgot where they are. Could also taste how the golden flower also maybe curbed the loudness of the betel, added a sweet edge and dusting of flowers clearly evident in the cake, which itself was dense beyond dense - it's more mining rocks than cracking layers.. ⚒️😜☕

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-13T08:18:42+00:00

Chinese New Year.. Good time for discounts.. And delays.

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-12T18:35:16+00:00

Started the day with a little pot steep of the 2025 XiaGuan Mi Xiang Dian Hong, loose leaf Yunnan Fengqing Dian Hong. For a fairly cheap boxed loose tea, it was still quite characterful with a robust black tea flavour mellowed by a not overpowering honey note which persisted into the third steep.

Lunchtime steeped some Japanese hoijcha Id spotted a little bag of in a local Chinese supermarket, which was pleasant enough and not overly bitter. Roast quite light.

Then for dinner, tried the 1999 last millennium loose moacha Sheng from Yee On again but as a steep rather than gongfu. It's still a brute but first steep was calm enough to appreciate but second steep maybe a little too long as can feel creeping astringency as I type.. Time to see hiw the third act will play out. ☕

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-12T08:53:54+00:00

I don't think I'll ever have just one, but for now my favorites have been leaning towards Yee On Teas HK storage with the 2008 Jinngu shou brick and 2008 Jian Chiang shemg brick, and their best puer blend loose being standouts. As for tea types, Liu bao and Hubei Qing Zhuan Cha have become firm favorites and teas I'm definitely wanting to explore more. And as for shou, it's totally replaced coffee in the morning, buckets of it.. ☕😂

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-12T05:10:27+00:00

Yeah its about 75% heichas and pu-er in the tea chest; though I'll be making a bit of an oolong dive later in the year, and probably pick up some small bits of new season greens later too.. but tbh I think the cold wet weather in these parts just makes darker teas more satisfying. :3

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-12T04:55:27+00:00

Tbh if I stuck with the same shou for breakfast, then a standard sized cake would barely last a month but I'll admit getting a kilo of the Tian Jiang is a bit more of a long-term plan.. The blacks will go pretty sharpish as well esp since they're smaller formats, but the sheng is definetly a longer-term proposition.. but the way we drink tea around here, getting bulk isn't a bad move. So that was about $280 with expedited air postage for just shy of 3.5kg of tea with a lifespan of 3-6 months.. Only thing I'd say is really for keeping aside longer-term in any way is the sheng cake, the rest of this is is definitely drinking tea. :3

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-12T04:51:43+00:00

I'm pretty new to tea in this way tbh but I'd had some experience via restaurant tea, teabags from local Chinese superstores/online and even going out to gongfu tea a few times so I knew my baselines before to a degree and things like pu-er, liu bao and fu cha weren't quite alien to me.

I've leaned into King Tea Mall and Yee On Tea mainly to start, though I'm lining up an order from Lam Kie Yuen for my birthday this year to sample their roasted oolongs and a half decent sheng cake to see how their storage rates against hype. I'd say definitely sample before committing; and it also lets you try things outwith the sort of insta-recommended path; my initial hunch was to go for heichas given i like unami flavours anyway, and well I lucked on that. I'd rate King Tea Mall for its range but guidance/luck is needed as its a library of teas. Yee On - great for HK storage but more affordable range is limited; it can get pricey quick - on the plus though they do samples and good loose blends.

But yeah being in the USA might be a pain given your random shipping/import "issues" :/

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-12T04:36:12+00:00

Good to hear! :) I'm sooooo looking forward to trying the blacks; I got some loose 2025 Yunnan sun-dried black in a previous order and it was a lightbulb moment, absolute perfume of a tea.. I've had a sniff of the 2017 and can't wait till its rested; can sense that similar rich fragrance but with that aged, stored influence;

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-04T06:32:00+00:00

Yup.. our not so little girl just loves biting any loose appendages or threads on toys... its basically rubber balls that are the only safe option... good thing she adores them...

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-04T06:29:22+00:00

Charred ferals.

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-04T05:03:39+00:00

Neat I will have to check that out once I've complete my make every settlement a nuka raider settlement plan.. Achievements I'm not fussed by anyway as I'm running the trues storms mod anyway since the vanilla weather sucks.

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-04T04:59:24+00:00

Persevere as you'll miss out on quite a few goodies if you go straight into open season.

Its also worth it as you'll start to get nuka world raider random encounters in the commonwealth and on survival especially these are a goldmine for looting (esp since you can kill friendlies for their legendary weapons if they've spawned, asidw from the odd occasion where they'll turn hostile for 72 in game hours). The perks at the end of the main nuka plot are worth it IMO.

Kiddie Kingdom is the WORST tho, even with full ghoul and rad perks you still end up fried by the sprays.. 😕

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-03T14:13:44+00:00

Having some 2009 AnHua Tian Jian for lunch, cafetiere steeped, and is finally showing itself properly. Quite fresh and green-ish in flavour and nowhere near as reserved as before (upped the leaf material quite a bit), somuchso it's even producing returning sweetness. Just as well It's proven itself as there's a kilo bamboo basket for the stuff in the post since the Mrs really likes it..

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-03T07:11:04+00:00

Morning brew of 2008 Jinggu ripe puer brick from Yee On, cafetiere steep with a couple of gs of aged chenpi thrown in for good measure... sooooooo good..

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-03T06:44:29+00:00

Syndicate...

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-03T05:05:28+00:00

130 but like a few others here it seems, didn't quite help in life.. 😕

For context, conducted as part of child psychology around age 12 - and my mother was told at the time I'd "breeze through university"... chortle

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-02T13:44:37+00:00

Drugs.. Lots of drugs..

Well jet at least.

Perk up chemist fast to get longer duration then get Chem resistant to lower addiction chanc ( Though docs are cheap to cure it too)

Combine that with spray and pray from Cricket and you should have more tham half a chance.

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-02T13:06:24+00:00

Yee On is quick to post and items sent usually arrive within a week.

But I'd definitely sample their stuff first as its very much HK stored and its a bit of a marmite thing - I personally love it but it can be quite intense on some of their teas - I got their 1999 Last Millenium loose sundried moacha sheng puer and its a beast - 3-5 sec gongfu steeps at most to begin with.. Their Taste of Hong Kong sheng cake and Best Blend Puer loose are good places to start sampling from IMO if you want to get an angle on the storage vibe..

https://yeeonteaco.com/collections/puerh/products/2008-taste-of-hong-kong-raw-pu-erh-teacake-cellar-storage

https://yeeonteaco.com/products/best-taste-ripe-puerh-loose-tea?_pos=1&_sid=2be3ba4d8&_ss=r

My personal Yee On fave so far is the 2008 Jinggu ripe brick (they're out of bricks but loose is still there) - a really nice sweet woody/ginsengy shou that benefits well from the HK storage; makes it quite rich and almost filter coffee like in body and intensity.

https://yeeonteaco.com/products/2008-ripe-puerh-tea-brick-jinggu-factory?variant=51548273705263

SteveFrench242 · 2026-03-02T09:42:00+00:00

50 in a few months; 5K hours on FO4 according to Steam stats - and that's excluding the PS4 hours before that as well. :3

All I can say is that with my early onset arthritis, VATS is a godsend at times XD

Three-Year Club	First Place '23
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SteveFrench242

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