@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de cover
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

babelcarp

@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de

Accepting bitterness is the leap of faith in the religion of tea.
#tea

I try to follow people who are either friends of mine or people I learn things from. (Delightfully, there is overlap between the two categories!) If I get the impression that you’re here mainly to display your moral or aesthetic superiority, I will try to ignore you.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

kolev , to tea group
@kolev@babka.social avatar

Dug around in the cupboard. Found Bigelow Constant Comment. Much better than Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Sunset.
@tea

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@kolev The tea of my youth!

@tea

babelcarp , to tea group
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

The last several years, meihua bingcha weren’t the only things crossing the border between Kokang and Yunnan — there was a massive trade in financial scams and human trafficking. That is, until the Chinese government decided that too many of the victims were Chinese nationals:

https://wapo.st/3Ry8Fuj

https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=Kokang

@tea

babelcarp , to tea group
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

On day one of the June heatwave in NYC, I knew I wanted fukamushi sencha and remembered the Korean brew cup I rarely use.

@tea

Left: cup with dark green liquor. Right: ceramic infuser basket containing brewed leaves sitting in upturned lif.

kolev , to tea group
@kolev@babka.social avatar

How does Diānhóng differ from Bai Lin? @tea

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@kolev The short answer is that Bai Lin Gongfu and Dian Hong are made from different cultivars: different subspecies, actually, since DH is made from assamica. Beyond that, by now, 85 years since its creation, DH covers a wide range of teas.

@tea

babelcarp , to tea group
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

From Indi Khanna’s blog, a strange and poignant story from his tenure managing a tea estate in Assam: https://teanteas.wordpress.com/2024/06/18/stayed-on/

@tea

baptnz , to tea group
@baptnz@vis.social avatar

Sunday afternoon maocha
2024 Spring Nan Nua Shan from Essence of Tea

@tea

dry leaves in clay pot
liquor in glass pitcher and cups

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@baptnz I think you mean Nan Nuo Shan: https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=Nannuoshan&define=1

@tea

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@baptnz No need to apologize!

@tea

babelcarp , to tea group
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Fifth steep, Thunder Dragon Green from Bhutan. Only now willing to soak the leaves thirty seconds. Not done yet for sure.

@tea

babelcarp OP ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@nomadbynature Nice full body. The aromatics are different from any Chinese, let alone Japanese, green I know—hard to describe.

@tea

futurebird , (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

There is something very special about the way that the brain processes faces. And why wouldn't there be? Being able to tell people apart is an important human social skill. Without this extra sensitivity everyone might look kind of the same.

There is also something really interesting that happens to the way people react to photos of insects they might be indifferent to, or dislike if you can get a good photo of the insect's eyes and face.

I think there is a nugget of a study here.

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@futurebird Maybe you already know this, but there’s wide variation in humans' ability to recognize faces.

People near the bottom of this ability range have what’s called facial agnosia. Among them was your late lamented fellow Bronxite Oliver Sacks.

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@futurebird He sure did. See the “Notable people” section of this Wikipedia page: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia

da_beda , to tea group
@da_beda@mstdn.social avatar

TIL: it is possible to integrate and use the awesome dictionary within the Pleco Dictionary app. It is available as free add-on in Pleco’s add-on manager.

http://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/BabelPleco.html

@babelcarp @tea

#茶

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@da_beda Changes to the Babelcarp database don’t flow automatically to Pleco; I have to run a conversion program to get it into Pleco’s format and then submit that to Michael Love, the owner of Pleco.

I don’t like to impose on him by doing this really often.

/cc @elkmovie
@tea

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@elkmovie Please don’t apologize! Honestly, I don’t know how you manage to do it all.

Is there documentation of 4.0 user dictionaries that you can point me to, please?

@da_beda @tea

tfb , to tea group French
@tfb@functional.cafe avatar

@tea

Old comrade 9968 tea box

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@tfb Oh, I didn’t know they made bricks!

@tea

da_beda , to tea group
@da_beda@mstdn.social avatar

Spring 2022 Ba Da Ye

#茶 @tea

Dry tea leaves in gaiwan
Gongfu tea set
Tea leaves in gaiwan after second infusion

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@da_beda Are you feeling the chaqi they advertise?

https://www.farmer-leaf.com/products/spring-2022-ba-da-ye

@tea

tfb , to tea group French
@tfb@functional.cafe avatar

I really like treating first-flush Darjeeling tea like any other oolong

@tea

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@tfb Yeah, but it can also be spectacular big-pot style, especially in the summer when you’re thirstier.

@tea

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@tfb Today’s t-shirt

@tea

babelcarp , to tea group
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Green tea is fine in the summer, but now that it’s muggy in NYC I find myself craving astringency.

Dancongs pushed hard; Himalayan foothills teas of which the best in my stash is Bermiok second flush; Dian lü.

I actually regret that I don’t have any young drink-me-now shengpu of the type purists hate.

@tea

da_beda , to tea group
@da_beda@mstdn.social avatar

2022 Chawangshu Xiashu 茶王树小树

#Tea #茶 #dailytea #puerhtea #shengpuerh #rawpuerh #teaencounter @tea

Gongfu tea set

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@da_beda Xiashu->xiaoshu

@tea

ellestad , to tea group
@ellestad@sfba.social avatar

Emerald Buds green tea in a plunger pot, slightly refined. 7 g dry tea, 500ml 190F/90C water, 2 min first steep, 4 min second steep.

#GreenTea #LüCha #White2Tea #Tea #Cha #DailyTea @tea

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@ellestad Do you decant all the liquor after a steep, or do you feel you can count on the plunger to halt extraction?

@tea

da_beda , to tea group
@da_beda@mstdn.social avatar

2020 Green Hype

#Tea #茶 #dailytea #puerhtea #shengpuerh #rawpuerh #White2Tea @tea

Gongfu tea set

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@da_beda That golden liquor hue looks like aging to me.

@tea

da_beda , to tea group
@da_beda@mstdn.social avatar

2023 Hua Zhu Liang Zi Gushu 滑竹梁子古樹

#tea #茶 #dailytea #puerh #puerhtea #shengpuerh #rawpuerh @tea

Gongfu tea set

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@da_beda That would be this fabled place: https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=Hua2+Zhu2+Liang2+Zi3

@tea

babelcarp , to tea group
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Since the polyphenol oxidase is still intact in white tea, Akira Hojo warns that brewing white tea runs the risk of speedrunning enzymatic oxidation, almost turning the leaves into black tea: https://hojotea.com/en/posts-287/

If I read him correctly, this even applies to brewing the leaves at room temperature, but not in the fridge.

@tea

babelcarp OP ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@nomadbynature I am not a biochemist … but Akira Hojo is.💡

@tea

babelcarp OP ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@tfb I enjoy those flavors too. One, two, many Darjeelings, I say!

@tea

babelcarp OP ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@tfb It occurs to me that more and more white teas are being pressed into cakes these days. But pressing means steaming. Is the steaming enough to denature polyphenol oxidase? :blobcatthink:

@nomadbynature @tea

baptnz , to tea group
@baptnz@vis.social avatar

Airport @tea is improving considerably
Zealong origins pure oolong

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@baptnz Which airport?

@tea

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@baptnz Ao-tea-roa!

@tea

da_beda , to tea group
@da_beda@mstdn.social avatar

2023 Ba Ka Noy 坝卡囡

#tea #dailytea #puerh #puerhtea #茶
#shengpuerh #rawpuerh @tea

First tea infusion in cup
Tea leaves after second infusion
Gongfu tea set

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@da_beda Hmm, who spells it that way?🧐

https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=Ba4+Ka3+Nan1

@tea

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@da_beda Yeah, it gets complicated. Example: the so-called Bulang call themselves Blang, which is unpronounceable in Mandarin.

@tea

babelcarp , to tea group
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Just for fun, Max Falkowitz reviews some novelty teas: https://open.substack.com/pub/leafhopper/p/tea-trend-novelties?r=pld&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Some are a lot wackier than others.😕

@tea

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I feel like I need to say that Trump had a rally in the Bronx after all. He even found some black people to stand with him. It seems like he's making friends at the courthouse ... people he can commiserate with about how mean those prosecutors are. The guys he was with are notorious criminals. Gang leaders responsible for shootings.

They are not well liked at all.

But I can see how Trump would find them ... relatable. They are his peers in so many ways.

https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/trump-appeared-on-stage-at-his-bronx-rally-with-19477236.php

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@futurebird re preachers: he did get Ruben Diaz Sr.

babelcarp , to tea group
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Looking at some carefully manufactured dry dian lü leaves and thinking of how many more, say, bi luo chun leaves it would take to weigh 4g, it occurred to me: all else held equal, the lower cost of plucking dayezhong tea should make it cheaper
to the consumer.💡

@tea

babelcarp , to tea group
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

As far as is known, Abraham Lincoln never said, “Waiter, if this is the Thai iced tea, I’ll have the Thai iced coffee; if this is the Thai iced coffee, I’ll have the Thai iced tea.”

@tea

babelcarp , to tea group
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

We decided to get a jump on Memorial Day weekend with a walk along the, uh, Brooklyn Riviera.

But first, for lunch we tried an Ipoh-style Malaysian restaurant in Bensonhurst. Because the menu included “Ipoh-style milk tea” (怡保奶茶) it was my duty to try it.

It tasted like “Thai tea” at a random Thai restaurant made with sweetened condensed milk. I asked the owner if it was made with black tea; he replied, “Thai tea.”

¯_(ツ)_/¯

@tea

babelcarp OP ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Later on Brighton Beach, I took out the tea jar I’d put once-infused leaves of Bermiok second flush into 2½ hours earlier. It was too bitter for Spouse but just fine for me: minty with just a hint of wintergreen.

As with cinnamon, I enjoy wintergreen only at doses barely above the subliminal level.

@tea

babelcarp OP ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@nomadbynature I’ve heard Ipoh is a great place to find aged liubaocha.

@tea

ellestad , to tea group
@ellestad@sfba.social avatar

I do still think the 2024 Mei Tan Mao Feng was my fave from the spring green MyTeaPal shipment, no matter what it says about my taste in tea.

#GreenTea #LüCha #MyTeaPal #Tea #Cha #DailyTea @tea

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@ellestad From here?

https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=Mei2+Tan2

What would be wrong with that?

@tea

ellestad , to tea group
@ellestad@sfba.social avatar

Is it a suspension or a solution? (Very nice Meng Ding Mao Feng from MyTeaPal club).

@tea

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@ellestad Both!

@tea

babelcarp , to tea group
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

I’m happy to note that Rudy Giuliani has not endorsed any tea: https://rudy.coffee/

@tea

babelcarp , to tea group
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Sometimes I think there’s no such thing as bad tea, just badly brewed tea.

Today’s mild spring weather in NYC impelled me to dig some 5-year-old plebeian dian lü—that is to say, stale green tea—out of my stash.

https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=dianl%C3%BC&define=1

Brewing it pretty hot but in very short steeps, the liquor is aggressive in a dianlü way but pretty nice, and I get a warming feeling in my chest and shoulders.

Totally unexpected: a honeyed beidixiang.

@tea

baptnz , to tea group
@baptnz@vis.social avatar

TIL mōji, the tiny hair of @tea leaves floating in sencha liquor

e-mōji, the pixel version of tea dust

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@baptnz This is the corresponding word in Chinese tea terminology: https://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=maozhuangti&define=1

@tea

babelcarp ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@slomo Well blow me down! That works in Mandarin too (máoróng) though it isn’t that widely used pervweb search.

@baptnz @tea

babelcarp , to tea group
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

We went out for a long walk this afternoon. Before that I’d done a couple of nice mellow gongfu steeps of some adolescent Fuding white tea, so I dumped the leaves into the tea jar and poured in boiling water before we set out.

By the time I took the first sip maybe a half hour later, the liquor was like some overboiled vegetable, not really drinkable. Should’ve stuck with short steeps!

@tea

babelcarp OP ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

Today it’s a much nicer day. After two gongfu steeps of Bermiok second flush, the leaves go into the tea jar with cool water for our walk.

It’s sooo much better: fragrant and with manageable bitterness about an hour later.

@tea

babelcarp OP ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@lite It definitely works with green tea too.

@tea

babelcarp OP ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@ellestad I can’t get a rise out of New Yorkers, and I’ve tried countless times.😥

@lakelady @tea

babelcarp OP ,
@babelcarp@social.tchncs.de avatar

@dave_heumann Oh, that’s a great tea.

@ellestad @tea

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