I believe every single time somebody offers to buy tea for me or gets me to go out for tea with them, I get the worst frickin tea I’ve ever had in my life.
Typically, when I go out to these places, I get a jasmine or oolong tea, which is typically their specialty, and they absolutely bastardize it. Overbrewed garbage, either steeped too long or temps too high, but it just releases sour acidity in the tea. They have the fucking audacity to ask me if I didn’t like it because it’s “heavy-roasted”. It’s not because the leaves are roasted, it’s because you fucking overbrewed the tea.
Anyway, ofc the general populace gives these places good reviews for their sugary milk teas and thinks it’s the best shit ever.
In my experience those milk/bubble tea places purposefully over brew the tea so you can taste it against all the flavors they mix it with. Like how Starbucks brews espresso that tastes like car tires so it stands up against a milk shake.
That makes sense. I wonder if the flavor goes through if you brew it correctly
It’s definitely surprising how many coffee shops that sell fancy coffee (fancy as in single estate beans in pour overs) will still absolutely destroy a green tea by pouring boiling water from the drip machine and then overstepping it.
Ah ok, thanks. I’ve just found some coffee places near me that have tea, I might have to check them out if anybody forces me out for tea/coffee
Uncle Iroh? Is that you?
If it is let him know that it really is just hot leaf juice.
I rate your rant 3/7. You picked an original topic but you really gotta up your swearing!
6/7
Summarized what was wrong, and I learned something new about brewing tea. And I find a light touch on the swears makes them more fucking impactful.
TIL in some places in the world, the tea is brewed for you instead of just giving you a cup of hot water and a tea bag.
I run a coffeeshop, we carry loose leaf teas and on the top of each jar I have written the steep time and temperature. Oolong is 180-190 for 2-3 minutes. I honestly do not know what a milk tea is.
Keep looking: places that care do exist!
I think for stuff like oolong and puer you are also supposed to do a hot rinse before the first steep as well.
Maybe! I’ll ask my tea supplier what they think about that. I don’t serve puerh because people call it poo-air and I’m just not gonna deal with that. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Honestly, never found a place like you described
I had green tea once from Dutch Bros and it was so, so bitter without enough honey. Terrible. Not worth paying for. I bring a tea bag with me if I go out for breakfast. The diner doesn’t usually screw up hot water.
What do you mean when you say tea place?
I live in the US where no one knows how to make tea. If i go to a tea place, it’s somewhere that have gaiwan and not single tea-nappy (teabag) in the store. The 6+ in my city have all been good to excellent, they’ve all actually known how to make tea.
But outside of a dedicated teahouse, you have to assume that no one in the US can make a cup of tea.
I am also in the US and I mean those milk tea places everybody goes to
Ah, yeah it sounded like that’s what you meant. Those places are not supposed to have good tea. Like how a caramel frappechino will not use decent coffee. There’s no need, that’s not really the point of the drink.
“what kinds of tea do you have?”
“Uh, tea” hands over a red rose packet
I am also a big tea fan and have just too much of it. I really never get tea when out, I would never trust someone to do it for me. The exception is going to an old school teashop, like a Chinese place, where they really put time and effort into it. Otherwise, I will only have tea out if it’s required because of travel or some such.
Overbrewed tea is great. I can taste the caffeine entering my bloodstream
You can roll boil assam tea too and it has one of the highest caffeine contents
Capitalism
Really it’s more of a cultural issue. Most people just don’t get it, haven’t been taught how to get it, and aren’t sufficiently self-motivated to teach themselves how to get it.
You have to ask why that is, and look at what forces encourage this behavior ultimately. It’s the same pressure on both sides.
Go on then give is the marxist analysis as to why capitalism makes a shop over brew its tea.
*us
My finger fat
My finger fat for fairness. Fuming Ferrymen feint forever fearing fragrant frills, frolicking, f******** furiously.





