10 Jan 2005 | Brad Hurley said...

Wow, that's great!

Jason, you are personally responsible for making me a tea snob too: it was your post on In Pursuit of Tea last year or the year before that did it.

Green tea gets a bad rap for being bitter, but that's due to two common mistakes: 1) using water that's too hot and 2) steeping the tea too long. If you pour the water just when the steam starts to curl out of the spout and then let the tea steep for just 1-3 minutes (depending on the variety), the flavor is exquisite.

10 Jan 2005 | SH said...

I love this site! Jason is responsible as well for getting me to switch from coffee (8+cups a day) to tea, and Adagio has helped make the transition so. Much. Easier. Something that's super nice is their tea timer, but it's unfortunately not available for Macs. The whole temperature/steeping/dropping thing is forgein to someone who's let Starbucks do all the work for them, but I've found that some simple modifications (like the right temp) have really improved the taste of the tea I'm making. My favs are the apricot green and the mandarin tea.

Also, J: "A bit" of a snob? :)

10 Jan 2005 | Will Hayworth said...

Thanks, Jason!

I love green tea, but I've always found it to taste weird when other people make it (I don't like my tea "that" hot so I'll stop the kettle almost prematurely) and sometimes when I make it as well. I'll probably order the UltiTEA.

By the way, do you have any other tea sites that you recommend? (Offering loose, preferably)

10 Jan 2005 | Randy Peterman said...

Doh! Good to know that about green tea. We've been 'cooking' it too much!

10 Jan 2005 | Jonathan Lipps said...

As a mere fledgling tea snob, I thought I'd share a link to a product line that might help push others into at least the quasi-snob category as well. Check out the Teavana perfect teamaker and teas.

This is where I learned (and why I can claim to be any kind of tea snob) that green teas should be brewed at 180F and black teas at 210F.

So far, I haven't needed to utilize this distinction because I don't know why I would ever brew anything but this Thai tea blend I have (black tea blend). Mmm.

10 Jan 2005 | Eric Peacock said...

A mac tea timer is available here:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/10854

and here:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/15041

I remembered seeing these long ago, but ironically I've never used either to brew my tea. One is a dockling from the 2002 OS X days, but it still works with 10.3. They look OK, but it's not really the perfect app. This would be something that a company like Panic would be well to do.

10 Jan 2005 | Eric Peacock said...

I'd recommend the Teacup in Seattle for buying good tea.

They will ship stuff from their online website though I buy from them in person I luckily live within walking distance. They're worth checking out if you want to try something new.

10 Jan 2005 | andrew said...

One of my favorite Good Eats episodes is all about making tea. It didn't convert me into a tea snob (Dunkin Donuts coffee is just too good), but I did learn how to make a proper cup.

11 Jan 2005 | CM Harrington said...

Of course, if you only want 210F, then you'll never get a rolling boil, unless you are below sea level.

A really cool "multi-tasker" tool I've found is an IR thermometer. It's a gun that you aim at the object that needs its surface temp checked. Very fast and very accurate, it's good for finding the proper temp of water. Personally, I like to boil the water, then let it sit, then pour it onto the leaves, let steep, then pour a cup.

No bags for me, please. Bagged tea tends to be made up of what seems to be pencil shavings, and as it gives much more surface area to (what's left of) the leaf, the bitterness will be conveyed too quickly to the pot. The faster you fledgling tea drinkers switch to loose tea, or better still: "whole leaf" tea, the happier you'll be.

11 Jan 2005 | Anthony Rubin said...

For green tea I boil the water (electric Bodum kettle) and then let it cool for a few minutes before steeping. I buy a lot of my loose leaf tea from Peet's. My favorite is probably Yin Hao Jasmine.

11 Jan 2005 | Bogie said...

For the people in Europe who read this forum:

180F is 82C
210F is 98C

12 Jan 2005 | Winston Churchill said...

Of course us Brits already knew that Bogie 'cos we're weened on tea from birth.

12 Jan 2005 | Jeff Rhodesow said...

My trick for getting the temperature close to ideal for green tea is to mix boiling (212 degree) water with room temperature water (72 degree) water in the correct proportion to yield a cup of around 170 degrees:

212x + 72(1 - x) = 170
140x = 98
x = .7 (close to 2/3)

So, if you fill the cup around 2/3 of boiling water and 1/3 room temp water, it should be close enough. If you like the temp a bit closer 180 degrees, use a 3:1 ratio instead.

Incidentally, since you are going to be in Seattle at the end of the month, you should check out Teahouse Kuan Yin (http://tinyurl.com/42g7c) in Wallingford. They have really high quality teas and it's a good place to hang out - free wi-fi too.

13 Jan 2005 | johnza said...

you should try the green/white bottled tea by etoen - it even comes with a haiku

see more at http://marketingplaybook.com/2004/06/26/packaging_as_poetry.html

13 Jan 2005 | Ryan said...

Excellent find, Jason! I drink white tea about 70% of the time and being able to get just the right temperature will be a great help.

In addition to Jeff's recommendation, The Panama Teahouse in Seattle is also great (and has free wi-fi). I visited there a day or two after seeing you speak at Web Design World last year. :)

13 Jan 2005 | Sally said...

Hooray for Adagio - one of my favorite sites; for tea & toys, and for functionality (I love the order tracking that pops up a window to ask if you want to schedule regular deliveries!).

And thanks, Brad, for the "steam curling" method.