Slip the most common pickles in the UK and Europe are onions, followed by beetroot, then gherkins/cornichon (cucumber), cabbage, capers, ash keys, cauliflower walnuts, fish and even beef is pickled as well. Not counting chutneys etc. which obviously come from our ties to India. Do you not have pickled peppers in the US sweet and hot both. And sauerkraut is a pickle too. The best pickles in my opinion from India are the oil pickles, aubergine/eggplant and lime. Anyway thanks for the Info on the pickled tea that's something I did not know.
I've got some Genmaicha, but I'm not a big fan of the burnt popcorn taste . Though I hate it distinctly less than most people I know. I'm infusing one right now. Chai is indeed wonderful. I particularly like it as a dessert tea, with cake and milk. It's one of the rare teas I don't mind adding milk to (the other being some of the aggressive teas like English Breakfast. I know White Tea is not thaaat expensive, but Pai Mu Tan is still the most expensive tea my favorite teahouse carries. I did buy some tin box claiming to be Pai Mu Tan grade tea in a herbal shop in Chinatown, but I wonder if it really is, considering how cheap it was. I get the feeling it was cut with cheap green tea. Here; a comparison shot so other tea enthusiasts can help me judge the matter.
I love chai tea as well, tiny bit of milk and a little sugar. Awesome stuff. The benefits of green and white tea are innumerable. I don't particularly like green tea all that much and prefer others, but to get the benefits I glug the extract every day. Definite perk in the morning too. The added benefit is that I get the equivalent dose of the important goodies to 10-15 cups of green tea which not many people could/should actually drink anyway so IMO the extract is actually better health-wise.
I used to not be much of tea drinker. I finally found a tea I like, and it just so happens to be green tea. Right now I'm working on drinking unsweentened. Added sugar in food is like a disease. You can purchase tea that has as much added sugar as a soda. Kinda defeats the purpose ya know? Especially with the fructose corn syrup they use.
What Is What is this new "White Tea", Slipthejab, my partner is now in Hong Kong working for a week. He's a profiler as well, following a lead...Phuket to Kalampor to Hong Kong....Good man
I actually didn't know a whole lot about the 'White Tea' until this article frankly. I spend most of my time drinking Tibetan Chai tea... my missus see's to that. I've sent you a PM about your mate in HK.
Here's all I know about white tea (though you can find most of that on Wikipedia): White tea is made from younger tea leaves as well as recently opened buds. It is called White tea because the buds are silvery/white. Being even less processed (it's steamed rather than pan fried or oxidised), it retains more of its natural attributes. White tea is usually grown in China, in the Fujian region. It comes in different grades, which usually refers to the ratio of buds to leaves. The more buds, the more expensive. Silver Needles (Bai Hao Yinzhen) is the more expensive, and somewhat of a luxury item; it is made exclusively from top quality buds. White Peony (Pai Mu Tan) is more common and affordable (though it is still expensive as far as teas go), with one bud for two young leaves. The flavor is delicate, somewhat sweet. It's delicate nature makes it a harder tea to infuse correctly, though. Do not use boiling water to infuse it; use slightly less than boiling, or your tea will likely taste warm water. I usually count one to three minutes after getting my water to boil before infusing. You'll need more white tea than you normally use with other types and need to infuse it for a longer time. While I infuse one English Breakfast pouch for 30 seconds and still find it more agressive than black coffee, you need to infuse white tea for over 8 minutes. Personally, I usually use 2 teaspoons of tea per cup and infuse for 15 minutes, but of course, it depends on your preference, grade of tea, and the size of your cup . It infuses to a peach color, going to orange if you keep it infusing longer. ----------- Say, Slip; have you got any idea what's the difference between Indian and Tibetan Chai? As far as I know, I've had Indian Chai, but is it any different except for the region it's grown/processed/drinked in?
Guizzy - nice post on the white tea bro. As for the differences between Tibetan and Indian tea... generally when asked I say it's soley down to that my better half is Tibetan - since it's her job to make bed tea (traditionally Tibetans drink their first cup of tea in bed) and she's Tibetan... my bed tea is Tibetan Chai. What else? The tea we use comes from Tibet is and is quite strong. We quite literally have an entire cupboard full of large bricks of it. Everytime someone comes from Tibet (rarely) or India (very common) they will bring back bricks of it that the family has sent. Older Tibetans treat tea in much the same way that many older Chinese or Japanese treat rice... with much reverance. Well I guess most older generation Asians treat tea with reverance really... at any rate the Tibetans in India seem to be very worried that I'm running out of tea... only I haven't the heart to tell them that I've got about a decades supply in my cabinet. All over India there are many different ways of making Chai Tea - that many of the Tibetans I know are from near the Kalempong and Darjeeling area - they make a slightly different tea than do the Indians in Calcutta or Delhi. Some of that comes down to the masala spice mix used - commercial Chai teas are usually crap. And usually very watery. It truly takes a lot of practice to make a cup of Chai that will pass Tibetan standards... a room full of very serious old Tibetans is quite intimidating - so needless to say... I don't try to show off - I call for the missus to make it. What most people know as Chai tea (Starbucks or storebought brands) is a rather poor substitute for the real deal. Most of it is far too watery and generally the wrong color. Again this comes down to the kind of tea used... I've tried making Chai with many different teas and have been read the riot act for attempting anything so foolish. In typing this I realize that I don't really know exactly what makes it different... but I'm guessing that it's down to the masala mix the type of tea and milk used. Needless to say.. anyone trying to make Chai Tea by using a bit non-fat milk as the milk in it... will not cotton much favor from Tibetans. edit: One interesting footnote - I don't actually know where most of the tea in Tibet comes from? Is it India or is it China? Historically I'm curious where it's come from so I'll have to ask more questions that get funny looks from the Tibetan crowd... lol... I'm used to it by now.
If I were to introduce someone to green tea, I'd start them on white, regardless of the cost. It doesn't have the "bitter" flavour that newcomers often perceive in green tea such as sencha (which personally I think is not a nice tea, apart from the shincha variety). Obviously tea goes dry and bitter if you let it stew, but even if you brew it correctly, people used to black tea still think it is bitter. Another way to get them into it is to stick honey in it, and gradually ween them off Occassionally, when people drink black tea or coffee, they'll have loads of both milk and sugar in there I think of asking them "so you don't like tea/coffee then, do you?" I don't like milk in any tea. If a tea requires milk, I generally don't drink it. Unless you lot can convince me otherwise
I'd say a cup of proper Tibetan Chai would convince you. I've always found it a bit odd that people add milk to tea... yet I drink plenty of Chai - and many of my favorite coffee drinks have milk in them (cappuccino etc.) as well as I generally drink a fair amount of milk anyhow.
Failing that you could easily do with a Nepalese, a Sikkimese, a Bhutanese or in a pinch a Mongolian will even do.
Yeah Ghurkas make good chai especialy if they get hold of some goat's milk. Don't even try the stuff with butter in it though.
does anyone drink green tea? we all heard of its benefits but the taste of it is somehow what do you do about it? do you add sugar or honey? i tried it but still that taste is still there
i wanted to know what you guys think of the taste and do you do something about it, and not what you usually drink.
drink all my teas straight, unless I have a sore throat then, green tea and honey is a pretty killer combo. For you tea lovers out there: http://www.republicoftea.com/index.asp This is where I get all my tea personal favorite is Gu Zhang Mao Jian Tea mmmmmmm
Damn Slip you know more about Tea than anyone else I have ever come across intresting stuff though. I switched to green tea last year, most people in England just look slightly bemused when I start talking about green tea and the only other people I know who drink it are women of a "certain age" who do not really like it but are on a health trip.
I have a tub of green tea extract powder which I keep at work. The taste is pretty foul at first, but you get used to it. Definitely an acquired taste though. I put it in some hot water and drink it like normal tea. Funny enough, I've got into the habit of drinking a sip of that and then having a bite of cheese afterwards. They actually go quite well together.
