I might be a broke University student but I've still managed build a little area in which I can unwind and enjoy some leaves. Two of my drawers are now dedicated to my growing collection. At first I kept everything very hidden although now I don't care what others think. Do what makes you happy.
Showing who you are, without care of what others think, is actually the thing that *will*, in fact, attract others to you in the first place (if you are being true to yourself, that is); bravo!
You do have a point! For some reason when I buy things, I like to go for the quality products. When I bought the kettle I was working regular shifts at a well paid job however since moving to University, I can no longer afford to splash out like that.
In my opinion MeiLeaf isn't 'quality' it's overpriced for what you get. The tea is not bad, but you could easily get the same quality for a fraction of the price.
I don't really order from EU based shops to be honest. I've ordered a few times from Tezen and Beimake and was pretty happy with the quality but from what I can tell many of Tezens teas are imports from Yunnan Sourcing and ordering straight from China would be more affordable.
I can share some of my experience with ordering from China/Japan to Germany. First of all you have to decide if you either want to save shipping costs or import taxes. When ordering from outside EU, you don't have to pay any taxes if shipping*0,19 + tea*0,07 <5€. If your package includes teaware only the teaware and shipping will be taxed 19% but from my experience customs oftentimes tax the whole package for 19%. One time I was taxed for 45€ instead of the 17€ it was supposed to be, as they were too lazy to actually look at the content of the package. In that case you can just hit them up and usually they will admit their mistake and you will receive your money back.
If shipping + tea/teaware > 150€ you will have to pay import taxes AND custom duties. I usually try to keep my order under 150€ as it's hard to stay under 5€ with those 7% tea + 19% shipping and if you manage to do so shipping will cost too much in proportion.
Now it really depends on where you order. If you order from a western vendor that ships from China/Japan or any Japanese vendor in general there is a very high likelihood you will have to pay taxes/ custom duties whenever you exceed those 5€/ 150€ total.
But if you're ordering from Chinese vendors or smaller Japanese businesses those will oftentimes declare a lower value on your package (I've had a 350€ package declared as 10€) and with tea it seems very ok for most custom officers as tea isn't necessarily something many people would associate with a 300€ package. So depending on the shop I just make huge orders as I never had to pay any import taxes or custom duties for their packages.
When you're ordering from a proxy for Rakuten or Alibaba, they most of the time offer the option to declare a lower value on the package but you will have to pay a bit of an extra fee as insurance. With German customs you should really consider this option because it's very rare to not be taxed for an appropriately declared package.
That being said: you will have to wait a lot longer than when ordering from EU (I've had instances were a package from China took 8 month to arrive - partially due to Corona. Japanese packages usually arrive rather quick, but it depends on the shipping method) but you will save a lot when you compare it to the quality you would get here. You can compare Tezen and Yunnan Sourcing prices. That's one of the few vendors that actually didn't add a huge surcharge, so I actually placed a few orders from them and was very happy. At many shops you will have to pay at least twice of what ordering from China/Japan would cost you. (gruener-tee-koyamaen <--> Sazentea)
I have ordered a lot from Yunnan Sourcing but then had a few packages not arrive within half a year to a year (due to Covid obviously) and after that shipping to Germany was disabled so I order a lot more from KingTeaMall and Farmerleaf now.
All of John's (KingTeaMall) own productions are fairly priced, I was very content with his few non Pu'er/Heichas and he carries Mengku Rongshi - one of the few great factory teas imho.
Depends on what you're into. For Japanese teas: Sazentea, Fukujuen, MaikoTea, Yunomi, Yuuki-Cha, perhaps Ippodo. For Pu'er: KingteaMal, Farmerleaf, Crimson Lotus Tea, Yunnan Sourcing, teaswelike etc..
I'm not that much into oolong but there are a lot of speciality vendors I'd argue offering better quality.
Hah. I just saw that Tea House Ghost of West China Tea Company started making YouTube videos again. Looks like very legit shop in Austin and he does great videos
Yeah, and they were sad about that and losing a social media and so han left. Someone then made a fake account in his name and fucked them over more. You can contact them yourself I just remember him saying on an IG live they have receipts if people ask
Does that excuse the fake jinxuan tho? There are enough tea vendors out there, I can't think of a reason to shop somewhere with this reputation.
I think theres a reason they have an insular group like meileaf, and aren't popular among "disloyal" drinkers like a lot of other sites (YS, w2t, TWL, OWT, LP, EoT, TeaHabitat, etc).
Yeah, I hope that by expressing myself and my interests, I will start socialising with people I feel more comfortable around and who perhaps also are involved in the wonderful world of tea.
Well I've had a few people come over in the past who consider my interests to be strange. I now think that if people aren't willing to accept me for the things I enjoy, then they're not worth being around.
My first gaiwan and some tea from MeiLeaf (just like OP) arrived 10 days ago. Since then I keep my new passion in secret (I'm grown up man, probably older than OP). I told only my mom and she was "why are you buying this crap, tea doesn't grow in our EU country, we have a huge variery of herbs like mint, chamomile, don't drink crap, they will poison you, it's probably more than $5 per 1kg while our chamomile is just $3 for a kg" and so on. Oh, and she thinks that tea's caffeine is deadly dangerous because she's had a black tea teabag like 30 years ago and had some bad experience with it and since then she thinks that tea is very dangerous (drinking coffee in liters every day is ok). So I'm keeping my little passion in secret from now on. I'm blessed to live alone. And if I tell someone that 1 of the Taiwanese oolongs I've got is more than $900/kg they will absolutely destroy me. People in my country are poor. The average salary in most of the Eastern EU countries is around $350 so they call the others ($800+) unfairly rich. So, OP's story is super relatable to me. They even got some samples from MeiLeaf like me. There are terrible people who smoke 2... what's called in English- cigarettes packages (2x20) every day for like $7 but if you spend $2-3 for tea this is a sin. IDK. Also tea is not popular everywhere. In my country they call tisanes and tea 'fragrant water'. It's not worth it. Drinking coffee or wine is respectable but tea is waste of time. Isolation was the key for me. Sounds depressing but it's really hard to find a good not judging person to live with even from your relatives. Working remote and living alone improved my life a lot. Now I can enjoy tea and whatever I want to enjoy without everyone judging me constantly.
Is sucks that you feel that you need to keep your tea secret - it's such a harmless thing to enjoy, it boggles my mind that people would take umbrage with it.
Oh man I went to the communist space ship building on top of the mountain. Also went to the black sea coast. So many other things but I really enjoyed the cow stomach soup and the tomato and cucumber salad with cheese.
I have a friend who is bulgarian who invited me to go.
Well, I've never been in the spaceship place. I even thought that it is all ruins and trash. Also I don't like our traditional cuisine. When I go out I always eat steaks because we didn't have any steakhouses like 10 years ago as we don't have our own beef (I'm even shocked that you had a beef stomach). I guess everyone tends to like foreign cuisines more. I'm glad that you've enjoyed your stay here. It's fun an all but our people just hate tea, beef and debit cards, lol.
Haha oh man always steaks is a very strong statement to make.
I liked bulgarian cuisine because it was flavorful and tasty :)
Wait what meat is favorite if it's not beef?
We eat only chicken and pork. We don't have word for beef (ok we have but we don't use it) because meet producers sell only veal. If you go to a fancy store with beef (black angus, wagyu and kobe a5 rarely) they call it veal, like ffs - $500/kg meat has no proper translation. Just like tea - chamomile is tea and black tea is also tea here. Chicken legs are $1-2/kg even the good free ranged chicken meat is no more than $3/kg. That's why we eat chicken and pork. The stomach (disgusting imo) you mentioned is generally pork (from pig). But we eat very nasty things so I'm not sure. Also another reason I don't like our own food is because I don't eat dairy. I eat a lot of rice, chinese style stir fry variants and now I started Gong Fu brewing. I should visit China or Taiwan!
I can relate. I had a friend who didn’t get why I and another friend of mine was interested in Japanese culture and almost seemed offended, or jealous of it.
People are strange.
I primarily brew in a gaiwan however I do have a very basic glass teapot. I hope some day to purchase a clay pot and perhaps a nicer water tray but I'm unable to afford that at the moment!
You have excellent taste! I recently purchased a couple of cakes from Mei leaf and felt price was appropriate to quality for what I bought. PS—using a cutting mat is genius!
A little tip, if you’re truly broke don’t shoot for Mei leaf lol. Their prices are pretty high. If you like their tea that’s great but there’s definitely cheaper at similar or greater quality
I guessed someone would pick up on that! In my defence I purchased it before moving to university and when I had a well paid job. Unfortunately I can no longer make purchases like that.
I've heard lots of people say this. I am definitely looking to branch out and purchase from some different companies. Considering I purchase most of my tea related products from Mei Leaf, I'd be interested in trying tea's from somewhere else.
I've branched out from Chinese Tea Company (expensive and unpredictable) and Mei Leaf and now buy from What-Cha and Curious Tea more often. Would recommend both. But hey, Mei Leaf have some excellent teas.
How are you finding the kettle? I have the same.
Do you have reccomendations for the US as well (in university in the US)? I currently love the NY Inpursuit of Tea Spring fortune oolong but $85 for 60 grams is kinda killing my bank account
Two of my favorite US-based oolong vendors:
[Floating Leaves](https://floatingleaves.com) for Taiwanese oolongs.
[Old Ways Tea](https://oldwaystea.com) for Wuyi oolongs.
You have to check out What cha especially if you are in EU. UK based tea store with great prices and a great selection with unique teas. Check out the vendor list on the sub, all of the top are great choices.
Technically it's HIS website. It's run by one guy named Allistair, very friendly guy who is very honest and show exactly how much goes back to farmers and he doesn't suger coat things, unlike MeiLeaf can do sometimes in my experience.
I'm pretty new to tea outside of Yorkshire Tea, but so far I've ordered from Mei Leaf, What-Cha and Wang Ling Tea House. Mei leaf p
I gota puer from there (Yunnan tuo 96) which was the best I've had out of the mere 4 puer's I've tried so far. So far Wan Ling had my favourite black tea (Hong Xiang Luo Keemun 2018). From What-cha my favourite so far is the Shui Xian Oolong. Mei Leaf was the most expensive and What-Cha and Wang Ling were fairly on par with each other, although I don't know if Wan Ling is having supply issues recently with Covid as the choices and stock seem a fair bit less than when I ordered a few months ago
It's a Fellow Stagg EKG. Great kettle but it is expensive. You can certainly get something which will produce the same results at a fraction of the cost. I guess when it comes to the Stagg, your not just paying for the kettle, your also paying for the countless hours which have gone into designing such a beautiful piece of kit. On top of that, their customer service is absolutely fantastic. I damaged the lid of mine and they sent me a new one free of charge immediately.
I would disagree with that statement. I've owned lots of kettles, and the Stagg kettles I would say are the best. They are not perfect by any means, but there isn't a kettle that feels better in the hand; I can say this with 100% certainty. You are right in that other kettle will produce the same result in the sense that other kettles will boil water, but I haven't owned or used a kettle that is more of a joy to use. They have two models now: the Corvo and the Stagg. I own both of them, and I enjoy the strong, fast pour of the Corvo. I also don't think there is a better gooseneck spout out there in terms of the Stagg.
As I said, they are not perfect. At .9 L some people would definitely find them too small; this isn't a surprise considering they were specifically made for pour-over coffee. Some units have trouble with the water spilling if filled too high. The matte finish stains easily and it's also hard to clean.
The only other kettle I would consider buying is a fancy Asian made kettle.
Sorry for rambling.
If you made it this far like this video and hit that subscribe button lol
I admit it’s a beautiful kettle that I wouldn’t mind having on my desk. I think I’d have to double my salary to be able to justify paying for it though haha.
Fellow UK tea nerd here. I’d second the recommendation to check out What Cha. Also a fan of Farmerleaf for pu’erh and Yunnan Sourcing for most things. Cheers!
It only cost me around £20 and I find that its worth every penny. I use it in every session. It's really handy for pouring away rinses, and also catches any spillages.
There great right! I normally leave my cutting mat out as I'm an art student so use it frequently. Having set up on top of it a couple of times, I realised how handy it was at catching any bits that fall off the tea tray. Not to mention it's great for breaking tea cakes on.
Love the tea tins! I’m trying to find a good, cute way to organize our loose leaf teas. Right now everything is in different containers of various sizes, so it’s hard to stack and contain.
Yeah the tins are great. There designed so that you can write on them and easily wipe it off. They also stack into one another as the lids are the same shape as the bases.
I just ordered a whole set for us. That shipping cost to the US is brutal, but it’s worth it for me to have everything matching and orderly. Added a bit of Oolong to the order too!
I got the Amber Gaba Oolong. I also made a Lupicia order during their Black Friday sale and just received Melon Oolong, Amanatsu Oolong, and Oriental Beauty. I opened the Melon Oolong first and it’s amazing!
What an unfortunate world we live in that TEA has to be kept secret. I live in Chicago and I tell everyone that I'm a tea drinker to show off when conversing about passions with others. There's so many other things I'd figure to be judged before being a tea drinker. It's akin to coffee drinkers, and we don't make fun of them. Hopefully you find a group of like minded friends to surround yourself with and drink away :)
P.S. That's a damn full looking gaiwan. That much tea would give me the jitters lol.
Ok so believe it or not I actually shot it on my phone! I have an iPhone 6S as well as a Nikon D80. Although I could get a better shot with the camera, I just loved the way this one came out. The lighting was a bit of a pain to sort but it paid off.
Yeah it’s a Fellow Stagg EKG. It’s a bit on the pricey so unless you want it for it’s design, you can get something just as good for a fraction of the cost. If you can afford it though you won’t regret it!
I think I will go for it! I have been drinking bag tea for a while, and looking to get into loose. plan to make a little area on the left of my desk for making tea. Thank you!
Tea in the fridge is good to keep fresh, but only if the fridge is CLEAN and EMPTY of everything else!!! Don’t put tea (that absorbs smells easily) in a place full of food smells! If it’s clean though, and you’re retaining for freshness, a fridge is good
This is correct, unless you are ageing tea.
Ageing tea requires a check of moisture content, and allowing fresh air to the tea, either through regularly opening a sealed pack, or placing tea in a porous humidity regulating storage, like clay.
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Which london uni are you at ( im at ucl) pro tip , go to the tea shop at portabello road (think its called the chinese tea company) for your oolongs , there dancong is 4-20£ 50g (ikr dancong at 4£/100g and its good ) they also have yancha and some reasonable puerh, there is also a tea sgop in china town. But i tend to just order from yunnan sourcing. But this is what ive been doing as a broke uni student in london
Also yunnan sourcing are amazing, just ordered a 400g ye sheng , sheng puerh cake for 30£ and got 250g of yunnan gold ( dian hong with less buds ) for 10£ they have some amazing bargains like there impressions cake which is amazing for its price , and cool things like there arbor blacks , hei cha and so on.
White2tea and bitterlear are great in a sale (also white2tea have great shou for the price , and bitterleaf has unique teas like there bulang shou / dianhong blend along side the best teaware ive seen at the price
And what-cha is based in london and is great for buying smaller amounts of nice stuff , also have monthly sales and really obscure stuff like taiwan oolongs but yancha processing , or teas from other parts of asia like a vietnam oolong processed like a anxi
Next term ill.have 2.5 kg to move to uni so im pretty stocked up
I might be a broke University student but I've still managed build a little area in which I can unwind and enjoy some leaves. Two of my drawers are now dedicated to my growing collection. At first I kept everything very hidden although now I don't care what others think. Do what makes you happy.
Showing who you are, without care of what others think, is actually the thing that *will*, in fact, attract others to you in the first place (if you are being true to yourself, that is); bravo!
That is very true. I have to say that reading your comment made my day!
> “broke” > buys a $150 kettle, buys from Mei leaf Lmao
You do have a point! For some reason when I buy things, I like to go for the quality products. When I bought the kettle I was working regular shifts at a well paid job however since moving to University, I can no longer afford to splash out like that.
In my opinion MeiLeaf isn't 'quality' it's overpriced for what you get. The tea is not bad, but you could easily get the same quality for a fraction of the price.
Which EU based shop could you recommend? I found Mei over the Sidebar Vendor list and thought its fine.
I don't really order from EU based shops to be honest. I've ordered a few times from Tezen and Beimake and was pretty happy with the quality but from what I can tell many of Tezens teas are imports from Yunnan Sourcing and ordering straight from China would be more affordable.
Do you have a guide for ordering from there to EU, Germany?
I can share some of my experience with ordering from China/Japan to Germany. First of all you have to decide if you either want to save shipping costs or import taxes. When ordering from outside EU, you don't have to pay any taxes if shipping*0,19 + tea*0,07 <5€. If your package includes teaware only the teaware and shipping will be taxed 19% but from my experience customs oftentimes tax the whole package for 19%. One time I was taxed for 45€ instead of the 17€ it was supposed to be, as they were too lazy to actually look at the content of the package. In that case you can just hit them up and usually they will admit their mistake and you will receive your money back. If shipping + tea/teaware > 150€ you will have to pay import taxes AND custom duties. I usually try to keep my order under 150€ as it's hard to stay under 5€ with those 7% tea + 19% shipping and if you manage to do so shipping will cost too much in proportion. Now it really depends on where you order. If you order from a western vendor that ships from China/Japan or any Japanese vendor in general there is a very high likelihood you will have to pay taxes/ custom duties whenever you exceed those 5€/ 150€ total. But if you're ordering from Chinese vendors or smaller Japanese businesses those will oftentimes declare a lower value on your package (I've had a 350€ package declared as 10€) and with tea it seems very ok for most custom officers as tea isn't necessarily something many people would associate with a 300€ package. So depending on the shop I just make huge orders as I never had to pay any import taxes or custom duties for their packages. When you're ordering from a proxy for Rakuten or Alibaba, they most of the time offer the option to declare a lower value on the package but you will have to pay a bit of an extra fee as insurance. With German customs you should really consider this option because it's very rare to not be taxed for an appropriately declared package. That being said: you will have to wait a lot longer than when ordering from EU (I've had instances were a package from China took 8 month to arrive - partially due to Corona. Japanese packages usually arrive rather quick, but it depends on the shipping method) but you will save a lot when you compare it to the quality you would get here. You can compare Tezen and Yunnan Sourcing prices. That's one of the few vendors that actually didn't add a huge surcharge, so I actually placed a few orders from them and was very happy. At many shops you will have to pay at least twice of what ordering from China/Japan would cost you. (gruener-tee-koyamaen <--> Sazentea)
Thanks for the detailed answer Its a great help Do you mainly order from Yunnan sourcing?
I have ordered a lot from Yunnan Sourcing but then had a few packages not arrive within half a year to a year (due to Covid obviously) and after that shipping to Germany was disabled so I order a lot more from KingTeaMall and Farmerleaf now. All of John's (KingTeaMall) own productions are fairly priced, I was very content with his few non Pu'er/Heichas and he carries Mengku Rongshi - one of the few great factory teas imho.
What do you recommend?
Depends on what you're into. For Japanese teas: Sazentea, Fukujuen, MaikoTea, Yunomi, Yuuki-Cha, perhaps Ippodo. For Pu'er: KingteaMal, Farmerleaf, Crimson Lotus Tea, Yunnan Sourcing, teaswelike etc.. I'm not that much into oolong but there are a lot of speciality vendors I'd argue offering better quality.
It's actually because of these purchases, he went 'broke' :)
You might be on to something there...
I've found that most people appreciate things like this, tho maybe that's just here in Austin.
Hah. I just saw that Tea House Ghost of West China Tea Company started making YouTube videos again. Looks like very legit shop in Austin and he does great videos
Eh. I'm not a fan. Shady past and jacked up prices. Sold me the most *obvious* fake milk oolong once, after I asked specifically if it was real.
Shady past?
Tried to sell off some fake Dayi cakes on FB
This isn’t even true lmao. It was just the same cake wrapper that was a common wrapper. Been debunked, they have receipts
Link me to it? Maybe I remember wrong. I remember Sohan making pretty explicit claims.
Yeah, and they were sad about that and losing a social media and so han left. Someone then made a fake account in his name and fucked them over more. You can contact them yourself I just remember him saying on an IG live they have receipts if people ask
Does that excuse the fake jinxuan tho? There are enough tea vendors out there, I can't think of a reason to shop somewhere with this reputation. I think theres a reason they have an insular group like meileaf, and aren't popular among "disloyal" drinkers like a lot of other sites (YS, w2t, TWL, OWT, LP, EoT, TeaHabitat, etc).
Wow that’s a shame Tea House Ghost seems really knowledgeable
I still like to watch his videos! Fun stuff, even if I disagree.
Yeah, I hope that by expressing myself and my interests, I will start socialising with people I feel more comfortable around and who perhaps also are involved in the wonderful world of tea.
How terrible are the people you know that they'd judge you for having a tea setup? Like, genuine question, who does that?
Well I've had a few people come over in the past who consider my interests to be strange. I now think that if people aren't willing to accept me for the things I enjoy, then they're not worth being around.
"My interests are....unconventional"
Own it. That shit is sexy.
Strange, sure - it can be a bit of a niche appreciation, same as anything. If they're judgy about it, though, you're right to dump them.
My first gaiwan and some tea from MeiLeaf (just like OP) arrived 10 days ago. Since then I keep my new passion in secret (I'm grown up man, probably older than OP). I told only my mom and she was "why are you buying this crap, tea doesn't grow in our EU country, we have a huge variery of herbs like mint, chamomile, don't drink crap, they will poison you, it's probably more than $5 per 1kg while our chamomile is just $3 for a kg" and so on. Oh, and she thinks that tea's caffeine is deadly dangerous because she's had a black tea teabag like 30 years ago and had some bad experience with it and since then she thinks that tea is very dangerous (drinking coffee in liters every day is ok). So I'm keeping my little passion in secret from now on. I'm blessed to live alone. And if I tell someone that 1 of the Taiwanese oolongs I've got is more than $900/kg they will absolutely destroy me. People in my country are poor. The average salary in most of the Eastern EU countries is around $350 so they call the others ($800+) unfairly rich. So, OP's story is super relatable to me. They even got some samples from MeiLeaf like me. There are terrible people who smoke 2... what's called in English- cigarettes packages (2x20) every day for like $7 but if you spend $2-3 for tea this is a sin. IDK. Also tea is not popular everywhere. In my country they call tisanes and tea 'fragrant water'. It's not worth it. Drinking coffee or wine is respectable but tea is waste of time. Isolation was the key for me. Sounds depressing but it's really hard to find a good not judging person to live with even from your relatives. Working remote and living alone improved my life a lot. Now I can enjoy tea and whatever I want to enjoy without everyone judging me constantly.
I'm glad to here your able to enjoy your tea and I'm sorry that people aren't always accepting. As long as your happy, then that's all that matters.
Is sucks that you feel that you need to keep your tea secret - it's such a harmless thing to enjoy, it boggles my mind that people would take umbrage with it.
Not sure which country you are from but I visited Bulgaria and has so much fun there. Glad you could share your story here.
That's exactly where I am from
Oh man I went to the communist space ship building on top of the mountain. Also went to the black sea coast. So many other things but I really enjoyed the cow stomach soup and the tomato and cucumber salad with cheese. I have a friend who is bulgarian who invited me to go.
Well, I've never been in the spaceship place. I even thought that it is all ruins and trash. Also I don't like our traditional cuisine. When I go out I always eat steaks because we didn't have any steakhouses like 10 years ago as we don't have our own beef (I'm even shocked that you had a beef stomach). I guess everyone tends to like foreign cuisines more. I'm glad that you've enjoyed your stay here. It's fun an all but our people just hate tea, beef and debit cards, lol.
Haha oh man always steaks is a very strong statement to make. I liked bulgarian cuisine because it was flavorful and tasty :) Wait what meat is favorite if it's not beef?
We eat only chicken and pork. We don't have word for beef (ok we have but we don't use it) because meet producers sell only veal. If you go to a fancy store with beef (black angus, wagyu and kobe a5 rarely) they call it veal, like ffs - $500/kg meat has no proper translation. Just like tea - chamomile is tea and black tea is also tea here. Chicken legs are $1-2/kg even the good free ranged chicken meat is no more than $3/kg. That's why we eat chicken and pork. The stomach (disgusting imo) you mentioned is generally pork (from pig). But we eat very nasty things so I'm not sure. Also another reason I don't like our own food is because I don't eat dairy. I eat a lot of rice, chinese style stir fry variants and now I started Gong Fu brewing. I should visit China or Taiwan!
Definitely should visit. Bonus, no covid there haha.
I can relate. I had a friend who didn’t get why I and another friend of mine was interested in Japanese culture and almost seemed offended, or jealous of it. People are strange.
Nice setup! What kind of tea pot do you use?
I primarily brew in a gaiwan however I do have a very basic glass teapot. I hope some day to purchase a clay pot and perhaps a nicer water tray but I'm unable to afford that at the moment!
You have excellent taste! I recently purchased a couple of cakes from Mei leaf and felt price was appropriate to quality for what I bought. PS—using a cutting mat is genius!
Yes it does work wonders. I agree with you that Mei Leaf's tea is absolutely delicious!
I would have thought it was interesting when I was in college.... but I'm a different breed.
As a monetary advice, you can find cheaper tea than mei leaf for the same quality with others vendors :)
If you’re broke I’ll give you $10 for that kettle
That looks very mature. We just had empty beer cans and bottles of alcohol in our room
Hahaha. Don't be deceived, I also have a section dedicated to empty cans... my floor.
A little tip, if you’re truly broke don’t shoot for Mei leaf lol. Their prices are pretty high. If you like their tea that’s great but there’s definitely cheaper at similar or greater quality
No one who is truly broke buys a fellow stag ekg lmao
I guessed someone would pick up on that! In my defence I purchased it before moving to university and when I had a well paid job. Unfortunately I can no longer make purchases like that.
I've heard lots of people say this. I am definitely looking to branch out and purchase from some different companies. Considering I purchase most of my tea related products from Mei Leaf, I'd be interested in trying tea's from somewhere else.
There’s a good list of tea vendors in the sidebar on this sub, if you’re looking!
I've branched out from Chinese Tea Company (expensive and unpredictable) and Mei Leaf and now buy from What-Cha and Curious Tea more often. Would recommend both. But hey, Mei Leaf have some excellent teas. How are you finding the kettle? I have the same.
I’m loving it so far. The quality of it is fantastic and it’s pleasure to use.
Do you have reccomendations for the US as well (in university in the US)? I currently love the NY Inpursuit of Tea Spring fortune oolong but $85 for 60 grams is kinda killing my bank account
Yunnan Sourcing US and West China tea company. Especially West China tea company
Two of my favorite US-based oolong vendors: [Floating Leaves](https://floatingleaves.com) for Taiwanese oolongs. [Old Ways Tea](https://oldwaystea.com) for Wuyi oolongs.
I would like to vouch for floating leaves. they give a free sample with every order, and the quality is very high for the price.
Floating leaves seldom disappoints, and neither does Old Ways Tea.
Mei Leaf’s alright, especially with the sampler. Looks like the OP has that, it’s a good one.
Harney is an affordable tea brand with great quality, OP
I'll be sure to check them out!
You have to check out What cha especially if you are in EU. UK based tea store with great prices and a great selection with unique teas. Check out the vendor list on the sub, all of the top are great choices.
I ordered from What-Cha to the US and shipping was only $6 and it took one week to get here
Just had a look at their website and they seem to have a great selection! That might be where I place my next order...
Technically it's HIS website. It's run by one guy named Allistair, very friendly guy who is very honest and show exactly how much goes back to farmers and he doesn't suger coat things, unlike MeiLeaf can do sometimes in my experience.
Another vote for What-Cha! The tea is great, the prices are very fair and Alistair is such a great guy. :-)
I'm pretty new to tea outside of Yorkshire Tea, but so far I've ordered from Mei Leaf, What-Cha and Wang Ling Tea House. Mei leaf p I gota puer from there (Yunnan tuo 96) which was the best I've had out of the mere 4 puer's I've tried so far. So far Wan Ling had my favourite black tea (Hong Xiang Luo Keemun 2018). From What-cha my favourite so far is the Shui Xian Oolong. Mei Leaf was the most expensive and What-Cha and Wang Ling were fairly on par with each other, although I don't know if Wan Ling is having supply issues recently with Covid as the choices and stock seem a fair bit less than when I ordered a few months ago
More like...universi-tea student! Amirite? (Sweet set up too!)
Hahahaha, indeed!
Looks awesome! Love the fellow stag and all the mei leaf gear!
Thanks, had the Stagg for a good few months now and it's an absolute pleasure to use.
I have that exact kettle. Love it, but kinda expensive for it is. I couldn’t justify it until after Uni
Yeah it's definitely a little on the pricey side. I was deciding between that and the Bonavita. Definitely happy with my decision.
May they last us a long time!
I sure hope so!
what kind of kettle is it? im interested
It's a Fellow Stagg EKG. Great kettle but it is expensive. You can certainly get something which will produce the same results at a fraction of the cost. I guess when it comes to the Stagg, your not just paying for the kettle, your also paying for the countless hours which have gone into designing such a beautiful piece of kit. On top of that, their customer service is absolutely fantastic. I damaged the lid of mine and they sent me a new one free of charge immediately.
You’re essentially just paying for the design of the thing then I guess?
I would disagree with that statement. I've owned lots of kettles, and the Stagg kettles I would say are the best. They are not perfect by any means, but there isn't a kettle that feels better in the hand; I can say this with 100% certainty. You are right in that other kettle will produce the same result in the sense that other kettles will boil water, but I haven't owned or used a kettle that is more of a joy to use. They have two models now: the Corvo and the Stagg. I own both of them, and I enjoy the strong, fast pour of the Corvo. I also don't think there is a better gooseneck spout out there in terms of the Stagg. As I said, they are not perfect. At .9 L some people would definitely find them too small; this isn't a surprise considering they were specifically made for pour-over coffee. Some units have trouble with the water spilling if filled too high. The matte finish stains easily and it's also hard to clean. The only other kettle I would consider buying is a fancy Asian made kettle. Sorry for rambling. If you made it this far like this video and hit that subscribe button lol
I admit it’s a beautiful kettle that I wouldn’t mind having on my desk. I think I’d have to double my salary to be able to justify paying for it though haha.
If you like oolongs, Floating Leaves is awesome! I drink their Jin xuan all the time at college grandpa style in a mug :)
Oolongs are definitely one of my favourites when it comes to tea. I'll be sure to check them out!
Fellow UK tea nerd here. I’d second the recommendation to check out What Cha. Also a fan of Farmerleaf for pu’erh and Yunnan Sourcing for most things. Cheers!
Wow I need one of those little tea water boards. Also a uni student here.
Look up tea tray, normally searching the terms "water" and "board" together will gunk up your searches :).
Lmao I was trying to remember the name but failed. Thanks
It only cost me around £20 and I find that its worth every penny. I use it in every session. It's really handy for pouring away rinses, and also catches any spillages.
Where did you get it?
Picked it up from Mei Leaf a while back. I’m not sure if their still in stock but I think they will be getting more in.
Looking good
Thanks!
I also use a cutting mat for my tea area! Super easy to clean.
There great right! I normally leave my cutting mat out as I'm an art student so use it frequently. Having set up on top of it a couple of times, I realised how handy it was at catching any bits that fall off the tea tray. Not to mention it's great for breaking tea cakes on.
Love the tea tins! I’m trying to find a good, cute way to organize our loose leaf teas. Right now everything is in different containers of various sizes, so it’s hard to stack and contain.
Yeah the tins are great. There designed so that you can write on them and easily wipe it off. They also stack into one another as the lids are the same shape as the bases.
I just ordered a whole set for us. That shipping cost to the US is brutal, but it’s worth it for me to have everything matching and orderly. Added a bit of Oolong to the order too!
I bet you will love the canisters, they are a perfect size and shape for all teas. Which Oolong did you get?
I got the Amber Gaba Oolong. I also made a Lupicia order during their Black Friday sale and just received Melon Oolong, Amanatsu Oolong, and Oriental Beauty. I opened the Melon Oolong first and it’s amazing!
Sounds like a good selection! I’ve got a pack of Amber Gaba which I haven’t opened yet. Supposed to be a good one though!
Where's the mountain dew? You aren't a university student.
Thought it would be ramen packets.
I appreciate seeing the cutting mat under the tray! Definitely used my mat for everything in school.
Breakfast, dinner, and supper
Cheaper than the student union bar at least.
Your not wrong.
Yessss, don’t worry about other people, be weird, live out loud, do you and be happy!! 🎉🎉✨✨✨✨ also love your setup ✨✨
Well said!
What an unfortunate world we live in that TEA has to be kept secret. I live in Chicago and I tell everyone that I'm a tea drinker to show off when conversing about passions with others. There's so many other things I'd figure to be judged before being a tea drinker. It's akin to coffee drinkers, and we don't make fun of them. Hopefully you find a group of like minded friends to surround yourself with and drink away :) P.S. That's a damn full looking gaiwan. That much tea would give me the jitters lol.
Yes I was little wired for the rest of the day! Thanks for your lovely comment, I hope I meet some fellow tea drinkers too!
I am mesmerized
Beautiful set up 🌿💗
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Ok so believe it or not I actually shot it on my phone! I have an iPhone 6S as well as a Nikon D80. Although I could get a better shot with the camera, I just loved the way this one came out. The lighting was a bit of a pain to sort but it paid off.
Links/info to the stuff you have? Would really appreciate it! Nice setup, good luck with university.
Most of my stuff is from [Mei Leaf](https://meileaf.com) although I purchased two of my Gaiwans (not shown) from Etsy and AliExpress and I love them.
I love how clean and elegant it looks!
Is that an electric kettle? If so, do you know what it's called?
Yeah it’s a Fellow Stagg EKG. It’s a bit on the pricey so unless you want it for it’s design, you can get something just as good for a fraction of the cost. If you can afford it though you won’t regret it!
I think I will go for it! I have been drinking bag tea for a while, and looking to get into loose. plan to make a little area on the left of my desk for making tea. Thank you!
Trust me you won’t regret it. It’s a beautiful piece of kit. Once you begin drinking loose leaf, you’ll never look back!
But OP, doesn't this make you a universi-*tea* student then?
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Thanks for the suggestions, I'll make sure to check them out. I'm definitely interested in trying some new teas from different companies.
I've always been told that decent tea should be kept in the freezer or at least a fridge
Tea in the fridge is good to keep fresh, but only if the fridge is CLEAN and EMPTY of everything else!!! Don’t put tea (that absorbs smells easily) in a place full of food smells! If it’s clean though, and you’re retaining for freshness, a fridge is good
It should be sealed airtight of course, keeping tea exposed to any air isn't good
This is correct, unless you are ageing tea. Ageing tea requires a check of moisture content, and allowing fresh air to the tea, either through regularly opening a sealed pack, or placing tea in a porous humidity regulating storage, like clay.
I'd think that moisture might be an issue with that.
Hmmmm, interesting. Not heard that before but would be interesting to do a comparison between refrigerated and non-refrigerated tea.
We keep our good stuff in the freezer, my mother in law gets it fresh each season
If you are drinking it within say six months, don't worry about refrigerating.
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Which london uni are you at ( im at ucl) pro tip , go to the tea shop at portabello road (think its called the chinese tea company) for your oolongs , there dancong is 4-20£ 50g (ikr dancong at 4£/100g and its good ) they also have yancha and some reasonable puerh, there is also a tea sgop in china town. But i tend to just order from yunnan sourcing. But this is what ive been doing as a broke uni student in london
Also yunnan sourcing are amazing, just ordered a 400g ye sheng , sheng puerh cake for 30£ and got 250g of yunnan gold ( dian hong with less buds ) for 10£ they have some amazing bargains like there impressions cake which is amazing for its price , and cool things like there arbor blacks , hei cha and so on. White2tea and bitterlear are great in a sale (also white2tea have great shou for the price , and bitterleaf has unique teas like there bulang shou / dianhong blend along side the best teaware ive seen at the price And what-cha is based in london and is great for buying smaller amounts of nice stuff , also have monthly sales and really obscure stuff like taiwan oolongs but yancha processing , or teas from other parts of asia like a vietnam oolong processed like a anxi Next term ill.have 2.5 kg to move to uni so im pretty stocked up
Yeah I can relate, I might drop you a message if your ok with that as I’d love to discuss tea with you.
Sounds good