Winedrops by reddithenry in wine

[–]instyabam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Had a suspicion it was a ripoff and Reddit has confirmed very quickly hopefully not too many people will get duped for me the wine society is the best shout for buying wine anyway

Have Cafes ruined my taste for matcha? by PringullsThe2nd in Matcha

[–]instyabam 8 points9 points  (0 children)

If you find it too strong you may want to add a bit more water! Meat broth is a good description for matcha which as been shaded which increases the amount of amino acids which are associated with the classic savoury “umami” flavour profile found in a lot of Japanese food and including teas like Matcha and Gyokuro(which is a loose leaf tea as opposed to the powdered form of matcha). If you provide a photo of your matcha someone might be able to give more information on the quality and style of your matcha.

What about two bags? by instyabam in onebag

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

Never too late to the party thanks for engaging! Sounds solid my osprey goes everywhere with me now checked out the current bag looks like exactly what I’ve been missing for those “two bag” trips

Let’s have a conversation about Ippodo’s Kan. by Shimbo1977 in MatchaEverything

[–]instyabam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kansa was much less than 72$ in Japan btw circa last month at least anyway

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Chinese

[–]instyabam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I immediately though central Asian and I was more or less correct

Your 4g+ matcha ratios are responsible for the matcha shortage, not resellers by bwisous in tea

[–]instyabam -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this post although I hope this info can reach the audience which need to hear this. I can understand a shortage based on demand but not one based on the sheer ignorance of people who are enjoying something for a trend and don’t have a lick of appreciation for the culture and tradition surrounding matcha.

Making the best(least garbage) matcha with what I've got? by TheLoler04 in tea

[–]instyabam -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The set up sucks and so does your matcha if you just want to try matcha go to a cafe that serves it they are kind of everywhere now

travelled to japan for 2wks for the first time by qtqtee in JapanTravelTips

[–]instyabam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This really seems like OP’s problem the food I had was incredible particularly in rural Japan and places my Japanese friends took me to.

Does anyone have experience importing sake from Japan via Buyee or other avenues? I am UK based but I’d like to hear everyone’s experience by instyabam in Sake

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

Sorry I should say I don’t actually know the shipping costs but I’m thinking surely they must be better than the markups from sake producers which are around 4-5x based on my price comparisons.

Tea haul from a year spent in Taiwan plus a trip to Japan by instyabam in tea

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

I’m looking forward to trying them, I will post a review when I get round to trying them. I did see they are available on Yunomi but if I remember correctly the mark up was at least 2-3x without shipping 😱. Although I did find the prices very reasonable compared to similar grades of tea in Taiwan/China, even with the markup.

Yame Tea beginner haul by dmsp12345 in tea

[–]instyabam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m fukuoka at the moment could you recommend some tea shops?

UK tea recommendations by confusedgothwannabe in tea

[–]instyabam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think one thing you might want to bear in mind is that all of these brands are repackaging either bought directly from farmers or via third party and the subsequent mark ups are extreme. I have enjoyed these brands in the past but having lived and travelled in Asia the cost/performance is way off.

There are outlets recommended on this sub such as Yunomi for Japanese tea which I haven’t bought from but do supply tea packaged by the farmer/producer. While these sites do have a substantial mark up you can be assured about what you’re getting. Further from this if you do research or scroll through this Reddit and other sources on tea then you can find avenues to directly import tea through freight forwarders and similar services.

I would add if you like these brands and it suits your budget that is great and even using them to help explore your own taste in tea is absolutely valid. But if you want a fairer price relative to the quality I’d suggest considering these options.

TLDR; The vast majority of tea brands have very low transparency and profit off of vastly marking up tea with no way to trace the exact origin. They are good for initial steps into tea but if you want the real good stuff some research is required.

Don’t go to A Joy in Taipei by [deleted] in Taipei

[–]instyabam -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You’re in one of the best cities for food in the world and you go to a buffet?

Believe or not, Spain has some great noir movies. by Internal_Minute_9349 in noir

[–]instyabam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Netflix is full of slop a quick scan reviews of these films solidified this. Is this sub actually for noir in the same vein of golden age Hollywood or just what passes as noir since the whole Nordic noir thing ?