Tea & Kombucha

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Blackhawk
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by Blackhawk »

hitbyambulance wrote: Tue Oct 29, 2019 2:25 pm
em2nought wrote: Tue Oct 29, 2019 1:01 pm ...and matcha seems to be a big deal now. Is it deservedly so, or just some fad that any green tea could fill? Maybe it's more about the presentation with all the special utensils which is the kinda thing that escapes the barbarian in me. :mrgreen:
matcha is super good when prepared correctly (also why it's so popular as a flavoring in Japanese desert items). i personally haven't gotten into making it myself but i wouldn't be opposed to it - i think i just need the bamboo whisk.
I really, really love matcha. I don't have the proper gear, and the match itself is pretty expensive, but on the few occasions I've had it I've loved it. And it blows regular green teas -- even good quality ones - out of the water.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by hitbyambulance »

Blackhawk wrote: Tue Oct 29, 2019 2:34 pm Thanks! The one thing that would probably be a problem in the short term is the heat. It looks like I'd have to buy a heating mat for it, as there is no place in my house that is even remotely warm enough during the cool months. The process seems pretty simple, though.
my place is routinely is in the low 60s during the winter and it brews ok with no heating mat. slower than usual and the new SCOBY that's created is pretty meager, but it works.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by Z-Corn »

I bought cheaply on Kindle and still see on sale occasionaly the book that the owners of the above site sell, The Big Book Of Kombucha.

I like to have all the info at hand versus looking it up on a web site. But once you know what you are doing it's pretty automatic to get into a rhythm with it.

I haven't brewed any in a while and I need to acquire a new SCOBY. There is a brewer here in town that is highly regarded and I'll probably just buy a bottle of that and liberate the SCOBY. When I homebrewed beer, yeast ranching from commercial micros' bottles was my side hustle.


I also used to do water kefir. Kombucha is much easier and tastier.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by Isgrimnur »

Z-Corn wrote: Tue Oct 29, 2019 5:46 pm I haven't brewed any in a while and I need to acquire a new SCOBY. There is a brewer here in town that is highly regarded and I'll probably just buy a bottle of that and liberate the SCOBY. When I homebrewed beer, yeast ranching from commercial micros' bottles was my side hustle.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by hitbyambulance »

last two batches grew mold - i hadn't done *anything* different, so i gave up for two months. since i have no pellicles to start a brew my usual way, i'm trying it without, and just doubling the amount of 'starter fluid'. this time i used three black tea bags and one serving of yunnan red tea (both on their third steeping) and a serving of ginseng oolong tea leaves (on their fifth or sixth steeping) as the tea mixture.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by em2nought »

Publix had some blood orange jalapeño tea in the deli that I had to try. After tasting it, I don't think pepper in my tea is for me. Still really happy making ice tea from the PG Tips though. I hoarded three boxes of PG Tips in April and I'm on the last one now.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by hitbyambulance »

i've now found that the big boxes of assam tea from the Indian grocery is pretty good and it's super cheap - one $10 box lasts me for _at least_ a year, probably more.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by A nonny mouse »

Isgrimnur wrote: Tue Oct 29, 2019 5:51 pm
Z-Corn wrote: Tue Oct 29, 2019 5:46 pm I haven't brewed any in a while and I need to acquire a new SCOBY. There is a brewer here in town that is highly regarded and I'll probably just buy a bottle of that and liberate the SCOBY. When I homebrewed beer, yeast ranching from commercial micros' bottles was my side hustle.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by hitbyambulance »

both vats of experimental non-pellicle kombucha do appear to be forming a pellicle on their own. success!
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by hitbyambulance »

going to start trying to brew jun - https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn ... g-jun-tea/ the process of converting a kombucha SCOBY + starter to jun SCOBY looks like it'll take a while, but straightforward and easily doable. i have a ton of matcha tea bags that i will use as the 'seed' tea (since those really need to be used up).
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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I've just had to give up kombucha as of today. The acids in it can affect blood PH by turning it more acidic, which can cause my new medicine to be metabolized an a significantly increased rate. As it is I've had to move my multivitamin to evening (vitamin C does the same thing), but I can't drink kombucha that late or I'll be swimming in heartburn. I'll miss you, kombucha.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by hitbyambulance »

i'm abandoning jun brewing after this next batch. i prefer the flavor over kombucha, but dealing with raw honey as an ingredient is a PAIN, and it's waaaay more expensive than sugar.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by Blackhawk »

I just received an order of gunpowder green from Amazon. One kilo. A 5"x5"x5" cube - or about 70 fluid ounces. I cannot for the life of me find a suitable canister that will hold it all!
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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Two half-gallon Mason jars maybe?
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by Blackhawk »

Z-Corn wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 10:07 am Two half-gallon Mason jars maybe?
It's possible, or a large glass/plastic canister, but they'd both require some work. The two things you can't have with green tea are air and light, so I need something that seals and is opaque, plus is designed for food (you don't want your tea to taste like plastic.) I'd thought about getting a large glass/plastic canister and spray painting the outside.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by Z-Corn »

Ah, I didn't think about it needing to be light tight.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by hitbyambulance »

https://www.teavivre.com/info/green-tea ... -tips.html

i like the ceramic altar + quicklime method, myself
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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If you don't mind the effort of having to do up your portions ahead of time, what about https://www.amazon.com/Thicken-Double-S ... B07CSVPMN1.

And there are also containers specifically designed: https://www.amazon.com/Weeworld-100ml-g ... B08DP41GGV

Though I didn't look at sizes. So it may be that getting enough storage to be useful makes it prohibitively expensive.

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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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FYI, we have some resealable ziplock vacuum bags. I was trying to see if those come in a non-clear variety. I would think something like that would help because it would also allow you to get the air out.

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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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TheMix wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 2:48 pm If you don't mind the effort of having to do up your portions ahead of time, what about https://www.amazon.com/Thicken-Double-S ... B07CSVPMN1.

And there are also containers specifically designed: https://www.amazon.com/Weeworld-100ml-g ... B08DP41GGV

Though I didn't look at sizes. So it may be that getting enough storage to be useful makes it prohibitively expensive.
Those bags aren't horrible. They have some larger ones, and I could always get a more standard tea tin to make tea from and then 'long term' store the rest. I do wish they'd give volume in volume measures rather than by weight. Tea leaves vary quite a bit.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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Note: It's probably smart to start buying Japanese green tea and avoid Chinese tea in general. Apparently Chinese teas have been found to have significant amounts of lead, aluminum, and arsenic which leaches into the water when they're brewed. Not trace amounts, either - enough to actually cause harm. I've been digging and comparing a number of articles on it this morning. Bags have less than loose (possibly because bags tend to have more pannings - stems, dust.) Green tea (which is most of what I drink) has less than older teas (black, oolong), and is probably safe in normal amounts, although it varies by region.

All in all, it's probably worth it to choose non-Chinese teas if you drink any amount at all. Lots of teas are available from Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Africa, and other places that don't have this problem.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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Side note: Taylors of Harrogate uses tea from Africa and India. That's a relief.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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Tried bottled kombucha. It's a bit "sharper" than I expected, probably from that bit of natural alcohol, but otherwise, basically tastes like "natural" soda of sorts.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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Blackhawk wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 9:10 am Note: It's probably smart to start buying Japanese green tea and avoid Chinese tea in general. Apparently Chinese teas have been found to have significant amounts of lead, aluminum, and arsenic which leaches into the water when they're brewed. Not trace amounts, either - enough to actually cause harm. I've been digging and comparing a number of articles on it this morning. Bags have less than loose (possibly because bags tend to have more pannings - stems, dust.) Green tea (which is most of what I drink) has less than older teas (black, oolong), and is probably safe in normal amounts, although it varies by region.

All in all, it's probably worth it to choose non-Chinese teas if you drink any amount at all. Lots of teas are available from Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Africa, and other places that don't have this problem.
i've sorta suspected this, and it's unfortunate. wondering if my fancy-pants pu'ers are affected. i've already switched my oolong consumption from Chinese to Taiwanese origin.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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hitbyambulance wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 7:36 pm I've already switched my oolong consumption from Chinese to Taiwanese origin.
Any brand suggestions? I do enjoy oolong (and Pu-Erh.)
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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Kasey Chang wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 6:15 pm Tried bottled kombucha. It's a bit "sharper" than I expected, probably from that bit of natural alcohol, but otherwise, basically tastes like "natural" soda of sorts.
I'd be surprised if you noticed the alcohol at all. The sharpness comes primarily from acetic acid.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by Kasey Chang »

Blackhawk wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 10:21 pm
hitbyambulance wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 7:36 pm I've already switched my oolong consumption from Chinese to Taiwanese origin.
Any brand suggestions? I do enjoy oolong (and Pu-Erh.)
Ten Ren Tea is from Taiwan and should have mainly Taiwanese stuff.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by hitbyambulance »

Kasey Chang wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 12:34 pm
Blackhawk wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 10:21 pm
hitbyambulance wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 7:36 pm I've already switched my oolong consumption from Chinese to Taiwanese origin.
Any brand suggestions? I do enjoy oolong (and Pu-Erh.)
Ten Ren Tea is from Taiwan and should have mainly Taiwanese stuff.
i was going to suggest this, but i definitely have gotten better quality from the tea purchased in Taiwan than the export stock. but the High Mountain oolong i would get from a friend who lived in Taiwan at the time was fantastic - miss it a lot.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by Blackhawk »

And they have gunpowder green, good quality sencha, and others, too. And good prices!

And searching around shows multiple citations from the FDA and from California health officials for undisclosed hazardous ingredients (they were written on the packaging in Chinese, but skipped in the English translation) and lead contamination, plus other (less official) reports of pesticide contamination.

Sigh.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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Blackhawk wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 3:04 pm And they have gunpowder green, good quality sencha, and others, too. And good prices!

And searching around shows multiple citations from the FDA and from California health officials for undisclosed hazardous ingredients (they were written on the packaging in Chinese, but skipped in the English translation) and lead contamination, plus other (less official) reports of pesticide contamination.

Sigh.
in your 'net trawlings have you found any good source(s) that goes into detail on various tea contaminants?



oh hey, reddit content is previewable here... didn't know that
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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I've been trying to. There are a lot of variables - tea grown in one province might be safe, while that from one particular section of that province might not be. One study shows that Chinese teas are safe, but then another shows they are not. So you go and buy Japanese or Taiwanese teas... that are often grown in China, then processed in Japan or Taiwan. Unfortunately, exactly where they came from isn't included on the box most of the time. Other times (Twinings), they deliberately keep it secret.

Anyway, here's one study.
Methods. Common off-the-shelf varieties of black, green, white, and oolong teas sold in tea bags were used for analysis in this study. Toxic element testing was performed on 30 different teas by analyzing (i) tea leaves, (ii) tea steeped for 3-4 minutes, and (iii) tea steeped for 15–17 minutes. Results were compared to existing preferred endpoints.
All teas contained significant amounts of aluminum. [...] Only 2 teas had levels above acceptable limits at 3 minutes of brewing but 6 of the teas had levels greater than the upper acceptable daily limit of 7000 μgm/L. Clearly letting tea steep for longer than 3 minutes is not advisable. Two of the organic green teas had levels above 10,000 μgm/L brewed for 15 minutes.

[later]

All teas had significant levels of aluminum and 6 out of 30 teas brewed for 15 minutes had unacceptably high levels. Drinking more than 4 cups of tea a day may contribute significantly to a toxic load.
Aluminum bad. Also, aluminium.
All brewed tea and tea leaves had detectable lead levels with Chinese oolong teas having the highest levels, followed by green tea and regular black tea having lower levels. Organic white teas had the lowest lead level.Levels ranged from 0.1 μgm/L to 4.39 μgm/L after subtracting the level found after brewing distilled water in fine china cups.

[later]

The allowable limit for lead ingestion for adults is 15 μgm daily. All brewed teas had detectable levels of lead above that found using distilled water in fine china tea cups and one of the teas had 4.4 μgm/L of lead. Since tea is only part of what may be ingested on a daily basis this may be significant.

[earlier]

The acceptable limit of lead in reproductive health is 0.5 μgm on a daily basis. All but 5 teas or 83% of teas had levels above this limit when consuming 4 cups of tea daily.
If your only source of lead from tea, and you're drinking several cups per day, you'll be fine (except for whichever oolong had the 4.39 μgm/L.) But it isn't. Whether it is old pipes or candy or supplements or fruit juice or imported foods or cosmetics or Michigan, it builds up. The fact that just one beverage can get you most of the way to the limit by itself if it is from a certain country is enough of a problem to look for an alternative.

They also tested for and found smaller levels of other toxins - cadmium, tin, arsenic, etc., but not enough to be a problem entirely on their own:
Brewed tea appears to contain numerous toxic elements such as arsenic and cadmium. However, none of these toxicant levels were above present day acceptable standards.

[...]

Despite smaller amounts of cadmium and arsenic there is concern for long-term bioaccumulation.
One important point:
Steeping tea for longer periods of time increases the levels of these contaminants by 10 to 50% over steeping for 3 minutes. Therefore steeping for longer than 3 minutes should be avoided.
It isn't enough to panic. I haven't thrown out any of the teas I own that came from China (and I have quite a few.) I even drank a cup of gunpowder green while writing this. But it is enough to make sure that when I run out, the next batch is from somewhere else.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by hitbyambulance »

Blackhawk wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 4:00 pm
Steeping tea for longer periods of time increases the levels of these contaminants by 10 to 50% over steeping for 3 minutes. Therefore steeping for longer than 3 minutes should be avoided.
would this be over three minutes per brewing, or cumulative? i ask this as a given serving of oolong leaves is brewed and re-brewed multiple times, in 30-60 second durations
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

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As are some other teas. I wondered the same thing, and have no clue. It is a question of how much heavy metals are leeched out, but I don't know how that works chemically. It's probably down to whether it is linear (as in twelve minutes leeches out four times as much as three minutes), or it is a matter of the heat and water causing it to leech out faster the longer the leaves are exposed.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by hitbyambulance »

this is a great value for assam tea - two pounds for $9 ! and the quality is good (having just gone through a two pound bag of this myself - had to keep most of it in the freezer at all times, since it lasted me two years):

https://teaindia.com/products/ctc-assam ... 2672990243

i purchased mine at an Indian grocery in Austin, TX for just a dollar more.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by Blackhawk »

I'm tempted. I don't know straight assam, though, to be honest. What's it like?
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by hitbyambulance »

Blackhawk wrote: Sun Aug 15, 2021 6:53 pm I'm tempted. I don't know straight assam, though, to be honest. What's it like?
it's more or less your standard black tea, but is very 'malty'. if not overbrewed, it has a very pleasant... maybe i should say robust and satisfying... flavor. of all the varieties of black tea, it's my favorite and i drink it straight, fully steeped, with nothing added. i'm sad when my first cup runs out in the AM because it's so good. (i rebrew the grounds because i always want more and to minimize waste - and for the reduced caffeine content - but it's much weaker and just not as good. but two cups at first-brew strength is too much for my system to take.) https://tealeafed.com/assam-tea/

if too strong it can ofc be 'diluted' with milk and sugar - which is a good way to go for second brewing. it's also the standard base for chai masala, which is a great afternoon tea and one of the few kinds i drink blended with milk.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by Blackhawk »

I never put anything in my tea except distilled water and tea leaves.

/edit - chai, to be clear, isn't 'tea' to me so much as it is a tea-based drink, so the 'drink it plain' philosophy doesn't apply.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by hitbyambulance »

you can do masala chai without milk, but it never tastes right (or even very good) to me that way.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by em2nought »

The announcer at the Queen's Platinum Jubilee today said he's given up PG Tips in favor of the Yorkshire Gold, which has been mentioned here before, so I'm gonna need to try some of that one of these days.
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Re: Tea & Kombucha

Post by Blackhawk »

It's one of my favorite black teas, and it is surprisingly affordable. Just don't over-brew it. Stick with the recommended times, or you will end up with a cup full of bitter tannins.
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