There is only one thing I think you need to know before diving into tea: Get the water temp right for the type of tea and don’t over-steep. When I first started, I thought all tea was just undrinkably bitter, but I was just steeping everything for too long in boiling water.

Then, my one recommended tip is to write a few notes about what you think about the teas as you try them. For the first year, my notes consisted of “bitter” or “I like this”. I can’t remember what the teas tasted like years later, so I wish I wrote down more.

Then, I just advise that you experiment yourself to find what works for you. Try out different tea-to-water ratios, water temps, steep times, and of course, many types of tea!

Don't feel bad. If you enjoy your tea, then it's a good tea!

😄 You were drinking the good stuff to start. Gotta balance tastes with your wallet now. 🥲

That's a tough question. It depends on how much you can spend and what you are looking for.

I recommend samples, that way you can try many types of tea without too much money or commitment. You can try a single tea from each tea type and explore from there.

Yunnan Sourcing website does many samples. That's just my go to, but I know there are many other sites others would recommend. For more black tea blends, like your English breakfast, try Upton Tea Imports.

But if want even less of a commitment than that, try just spending more for your tea from the store than you usually do. Price does equal quality for most teas you'll buy. Trying whole leaf tea will get you higher quality teas as well.

I haven't tried much vanilla in tea. Where do you buy it from?

Well said! You get what you pay for with tea, to an extent. Just spending twice as much as you would for supermarket tea can get into some good quality teas. Online shops are where I buy all of my tea. I do wish I had a quality local tea shop though.

https://www.arborteas.com/...

... cooling in the mouth and wonderfully spicy. Think of it as a blend of flavors including mint, lemons, basil, chamomile, cardamom, rosemary, and nutmeg ...

Wow, that's a powerful profile from a single plant! I'll keep it in mind next time I order.

Expensive tastes 😋😅

One light and one with bite. 😋

Do you have a source/website of matcha that you would recommend? I have only tried matcha a couple times, of varying quality.

Yunnan Sourcing has low-to-mid price options and seems to have a reliable enough quality. They do have many types and styles available as samples, so I would recommend them for random sampling.

😋 Those are some nice cups! I like cups that have a white inside, so you appreciate the tea's color.

Some sellers will give you results of tests done on the tea. Others reassure you that, once you pay a certain amount for high quality tea from older tea bushes/trees, you can assume that the farmers treat the tea with care and have no need for harsh chemicals.

Be careful with the former, of expecting certifications though. Here is a succinct explanation of why that expectation can limit your tea selection, from Jeffery McIntosh, a tea youtuber. See point at 3:50.

https://youtu.be/tZj1MGRhd6s

Yeah, tea bags are convenient. Sounds like you need a small lidded trash bin nearby. :D

I can relate to the desire for simplicity and easy cleanup. While I admit that using a gaiwans requires more attention and effort than a tea bag while steeping, for me, the cleanup is similar to teabags. I simply rinse our my gaiwan and cup, just as you would a tea mug when using a tea bag. To be sanitary, I rinse my gaiwan and cup with boiling water when I steep next time. I do a full soap cleaning after a while of this low-effort cleaning.

Oh wow, interesting. I've never seen a pot filter like that. Thanks for looking that up.

That looks more useful to me, if the filter design actually works well.

English breakfast is always a safe bet. Where do you buy the golden oolong? Is that tea in a bottle? That's what I found when I searched.

Thanks for the recs!

Interesting, so you add a little east Frisian to other blacks? I've had that feeling with some teas before. Blending on your own can be be fun.

I'm here to get ideas myself for this. I don't have a great method. For a large enough group, I give up and use teabag tea sometimes, just steep in hot water and call it a day. 😅

Yunnan Sourcing (US & China sites) - for all types of tea, but also my source of puer

Mei Leaf - just the cheaper teas (still expensive) and samples

King Tea Mall (Etsy) - just samples, so far

Arbor Teas - bulk black and white tea I use for western brewing

Ah, ok. Thanks for the info.

The newer one is like this? If so, this forces you to fill even more. The picture you first showed may be better, in my opinion.

One thing about teapots like these is that they could be useful for group sessions. But really, I still prefer gaiwans for a group. To get more tea, I just bring out more gaiwans and serve multiple types at once.

Oh wow! I really like the look of this! My only worry would be, how reliable the service is and whether I could download my data if it came down to it. I'll look into this some more to ease my worry. Thank you for the recommendation!