Tea

[ubs]

Philboid Studge wrote

ubs I believe your first assertion is false, but being false supports the second assertion, which otherwise can't be measured. What do I win?

No man. We lack the neurons to detect water. We can detect bacteria and some impurities, but not the water itself.

We know animals do because they can find water when we can't and because in the lab we can see their brain light up.

However, I was wrong about it being most animals. There are only a few that can.

So we both lost, but if we had won our reward would be the second greatest joy on Yarth - bragging rights!!!!

[nkb]

ubs wrote

To humans nothing.

Then I'm confused. Are you saying that, although it smells good, it has absolutely no taste?

ubs wrote

Did you know that most animals perceive water as having a "taste?"

I did not. However, would water have a smell, instead of a taste, if it's based on some animals being able to find it?

[Philboid Studge]

ubs wrote

No man. We lack the neurons to detect water. We can detect bacteria and some impurities, but not the water itself.

I'm aware of this, but a) taste and smell are not the same thing, and b) We are talking about tap water, are we not? That, being 'impure', has both taste and smell (to the sophisticated palate it does, anyway. )

We know animals do because they can find water when we can't and because in the lab we can see their brain light up.

Are they finding water that has no 'impurities'? And as long as you're reviewing b above, see a. (Man.)

ubs wrote

Thanks Lily. That's great info about Den's. I'm going to try ordering something from them. Who knew Torrence was so cutting edge.

Den offers new customers a sampler for $3 that is worth several times as much. You also get enough information on Japan, tea culture and proper brewing of the various varieties of tea that he sells to open your own tea shop! I was just looking at the home page again and it looks like there is a retail store as well as the Internet business, so if they are close enough to you, you could pop in. I would love to do that because they also offer a lot of tea accessories that I would like to find out more about.

[Whisper]

ubs wrote

Our problem is that the tea thing is only now picking up steam. We have these little shops popping up all over the place, but the supermarkets are behind the curve and the tea in a US supermarket has generally been sitting on the shelf for quite a while, there's isn't much of selection, and all of it is in tea bags.

You guys are number two in the world as far as tea consumption per capita. I'm betting that even your every day stuff is very good. Likewise, even our most remote country stores will have respectable coffee beans, but not tea.

I have to say, I've visited America twice, and niether time did I get a decent brew anywhere. You lot do coffee brilliantly, but tea? Nah, not so much.

Though I think you're right about our tea - I've tried most of the rather wide selection of black tea available, and while there are the few that are bloody awful, generally they're all damned nice and worth trying.

I'll have to look into the good ones for you if you want

[Captain Relativity]

We know animals do because they can find water when we can't and because in the lab we can see their brain light up.

But... if we're not animals, or vegetables or minerals, whatthefuckAREwe?!

[Kate]

We're PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-ple!!

[ubs]

nkb wrote

Then I'm confused. Are you saying that, although it smells good, it has absolutely no taste?

Yes. If held my nose, I would not know this was tea.

nkb wrote

I did not. However, would water have a smell, instead of a taste, if it's based on some animals being able to find it?

Well, they said some animals have olfactory senses for water, which we do not. That could be taste buds or smell, so I'm not sure.

Philboid Studge wrote

I'm aware of this, but a) taste and smell are not the same thing, and b) We are talking about tap water, are we not? That, being 'impure', has both taste and smell (to the sophisticated palate it does, anyway. )

See above (I'm sensing some neuro-envy here. It's like you're bitter about the limitations of our species or something)

Lily wrote

Den offers new customers a sampler for $3 that is worth several times as much. You also get enough information on Japan, tea culture and proper brewing of the various varieties of tea that he sells to open your own tea shop! I was just looking at the home page again and it looks like there is a retail store as well as the Internet business, so if they are close enough to you, you could pop in. I would love to do that because they also offer a lot of tea accessories that I would like to find out more about.

Thank you for the tip about the sampler Lily. That looks like a good deal. I only venture up to LA a couple of times a year, but when I go next, I will go in the store and take pics (if they let me). What are you in the market for?

Whisper wrote

I have to say, I've visited America twice, and niether time did I get a decent brew anywhere. You lot do coffee brilliantly, but tea? Nah, not so much.

Though I think you're right about our tea - I've tried most of the rather wide selection of black tea available, and while there are the few that are bloody awful, generally they're all damned nice and worth trying.

I'll have to look into the good ones for you if you want

Thank you Whisper. Hopefully you will see some improvement in our tea over time. It would be cool to know what brands you usually drink. My guess is it isn't Lipton.

Captain Relativity wrote

We know animals do because they can find water when we can't and because in the lab we can see their brain light up.

But... if we're not animals, or vegetables or minerals, whatthefuckAREwe?!

I know. I was referring to the animals that can taste water. I didn't mean that people weren't animals.

[Philboid Studge]

ubs wrote

Well, they said some animals have olfactory senses for water, which we do not. That could be taste buds or smell, so I'm not sure.

Really? Citations, please! (As I understand it, olfaction enhances taste, but it's not the end-all be-all of taste. That's why a good Savignon Blanc can have a nose of cat piss but taste like the morning dew.)

See above (I'm sensing some neuro-envy here. It's like you're bitter about the limitations of our species or something)

Do I taste (or smell) bitter to you? You taste umami to me. (That's a compliment over here on Planet Truffle Oil.)

[ubs]

Philboid Studge wrote

Really? Citations, please! (As I understand it, olfaction enhances taste, but it's not the end-all be-all of taste. That's why a good Savignon Blanc can have a nose of cat piss but taste like the morning dew.)

You are correct. My mistake. I always thought it was both. Finally, a winner.

[ghoulslime]

ubs wrote

Thanks Lily. That's great info about Den's. I'm going to try ordering something from them. Who knew Torrence was so cutting edge.



Thank you sir. You and Eva and Lily and psychodiva now have me convinced I'm trying the wrong kind, so I will give green a try, and bring down the temp of the water and if that doesn't do it, I will try jasmine.




Our problem is that the tea thing is only now picking up steam. We have these little shops popping up all over the place, but the supermarkets are behind the curve and the tea in a US supermarket has generally been sitting on the shelf for quite a while, there's isn't much of selection, and all of it is in tea bags.

You guys are number two in the world as far as tea consumption per capita. I'm betting that even your every day stuff is very good. Likewise, even our most remote country stores will have respectable coffee beans, but not tea.

UBS, I was thinking about your tea experience this morning while eating Kashmir food and sipping some Indian tea.

Oolong tea is not the right tea to use as a coffee substitute. It is great hot for after a spicy/oily meal. At it's best, it is bitter and watery.

I recommend either some of the hot spiced black / green teas, sweetened initially. Also, try a cold Thai tea (red tea) sweetened and with Boba. My favorite tea is organic jasmine green tea, iced, no sugar.

Here is an excellent source for tea:

http://www.myteastyle.com/

These ladies have some of the best quality tea I have had anywhere in the world.

Tell them I recommended you, and they will probably give you something free.

[ubs]

ghoulslime wrote

I recommend either some of the hot spiced black / green teas, sweetened initially. Also, try a cold Thai tea (red tea) sweetened and with Boba. My favorite tea is organic jasmine green tea, iced, no sugar.

Here is an excellent source for tea:

http://www.myteastyle.com/

These ladies have some of the best quality tea I have had anywhere in the world.

Tell them I recommended you, and they will probably give you something free.

Thank you GS. I will do that. Where the heck do you get Boba? 99 Ranch? We have a 99 Ranch down here.

Thai tea is amazing. Unfortunately, it is hard to find. I once got a restaurant in Harvard Square to sell me a bag from their distributor but I have never seen it for sale. The Thai restaurants here serve it cold as a dessert drink. I only recently learned that it is supposed to be drunk cold-- I had always had it served as hot tea in the Thai restaurants I haunted in New England. It is highly spiced with stuff like star anise, crushed tamarind seed and I don't know what all else. It also has a kick that will kill. While it doesn't taste strong, it must contain a lot of caffeine. If you can get your hands on it, it is definitely worth trying.

[ghoulslime]

I regret to confess this, but Starbucks actually has a pretty fair iced green tea. Take it unsweetened. They put some mint in it that makes it almost taste sweet.

[ghoulslime]

One obvious point about tea has been overlooked so far. The water is the most important ingredient. One cannot expect to heat up a pot of water that reeks of chlorine and is full of grit, and expect to make good tea of it. Use some bottled water, or invest in a filter, if you don't have access to clean, pure water flowing from a spring behind your house.

I have tasted some of the best teas in the world, brewed in vile Shanghai city tap water or the piss that flows from the pipes in some American cities, and they are of course awful. Clean water!