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.

  • AWistfulNihilist@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    12 hours ago

    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.

  • swicano@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    21 hours ago

    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.

    • AppleTea@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      2 days ago

      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.

  • zout@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    2 days ago

    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.

  • Cursed_Fig@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    2 days ago

    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!

    • socsa@piefed.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 days ago

      I think for stuff like oolong and puer you are also supposed to do a hot rinse before the first steep as well.

      • Cursed_Fig@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 day ago

        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)_/¯

  • MrWrinkles@leminal.space
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    1 day ago

    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.

  • Hegar@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 days ago

    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.

      • Hegar@fedia.io
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 day ago

        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.

  • stoly@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    2 days ago

    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.

    • Cursed_Fig@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 day ago

      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.