I tried to start a tea shop/hacker space in SF which failed spectacularly a few months ago. Everyone, don't do retail!<p>Finding decent tea can be a challenge. Here are a few places to start looking for tea online, and in SF:<p><a href="http://www.teaspring.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.teaspring.com/</a> -- Chinese Tea.<p><a href="http://www.redblossomtea.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.redblossomtea.com/</a> -- Chinese Tea from SF. Fantastic oolong and Dragonwell. Check out their location next time you're in Chinatown.<p><a href="http://www.runa.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.runa.org/</a> -- Guayusa, related to Yerba Mate. The kids building this company are true hackers!<p><a href="http://www.omshantea.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.omshantea.com/</a> -- A cool tea house in SF (mission). Learn about Pu-erh and Jiaogulan here.<p><a href="http://www.yunnansourcing.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.yunnansourcing.com</a> -- A place to try your luck and buy Pu-erh.<p><a href="http://www.itoen.com/estore/index.cfm" rel="nofollow">http://www.itoen.com/estore/index.cfm</a> -- Sencha, Gyokuru, Matcha. A solid selection of Japanese Greens.<p>These places have great herb selections, and will make you realize how much you're overpaying for mid-grade tea:
<a href="http://www.sfherb.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.sfherb.com/</a>
<a href="http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/</a><p>I also love Korean tea, but don't have a good recommendation on where to get it.
A wonderful place to get high quality greens:
<a href="http://www.hibiki-an.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.hibiki-an.com/</a><p>The best hot water kettle w/ temperature control I've found is:
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/PINO-ST-8706-Digital-Kettle-Pro/dp/B001HC54O2" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/PINO-ST-8706-Digital-Kettle-Pro/dp/B00...</a><p>I've tried every kettle and this one is the best. It's all stainless inside too - water never touches plastic.
If you'd like to start drinking tea, I heartily recommend the Adagio IngenuiTEA and sample kit to get started. It's dead simple to use and clean, and their teas are really reasonably priced: <a href="http://www.adagio.com/gifts/holiday_ingenuiTEA.html?SID=094a8e6f6640eda7ad237ce0b678e4f4" rel="nofollow">http://www.adagio.com/gifts/holiday_ingenuiTEA.html?SID=094a...</a><p>I'm a giant fan of their Spiced Green and Gunpowder green varieties.<p>Incidentally, if you're anywhere near Chicago they have a retail store in Naperville where they'll brew up any of their teas for you to try. It's fun.
Being in the UK, I typically enjoy a substantial amount of tea during the day. None of that poncy herbal tea though - stricly strong white tea.<p>The British Armed Forces are supplied with a particular brand of tea from NAAFI (<a href="http://www.ringtons.co.uk/shop/tea/naafi-tea" rel="nofollow">http://www.ringtons.co.uk/shop/tea/naafi-tea</a>), which is now available to the public too. I had it described to me by an ex-forces friend that 'it's a tea to clean your gun with', but I actually find it to be one of the heartiest and warming drinks I've had.
Maybe it's just me, but maybe a "hacker's guide" to tea shouldn't contain wild speculation on the health benefits of matcha.<p>And since everyone seems to be dropping recommendations for tea shops, then I'll say I get my tea from Marketspice in Seattle, though you have to fight your way through swarms of tourists to get there.
This is a better guide to tea drinking, at least the British way of tea drinking:<p><a href="http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/</a>
>If you are drinking something that did not come from this plant (chamomile, mint, tulsi, rooibos, etc) it is not tea).<p>I hear this every once in awhile and at best it's pedantic and at worst it's just wrong. What do you call chamomile tea? An infusion? Even if it is technically wrong everybody calls infusions "tea" and I think it's safe to argue that the word has evolved beyond the original meaning.
If you're a tea person like me and you've read Lu Yu's Tea Classics (茶經) before, you'll appreciate good tea.<p>The one that I usually purchase is from Japan--and it is now orderable online, including to overseas addresses. The tea purveyor is IPPODO (一保堂) and their gyokuro (玉露) is some of the best. IPPODO has been around since 1717, so they are likely to have a good idea, especially since they have supplied tea to the Japanese king.<p>Gyokuro is a pleasant tea because its flavors are so subtle that it's not like any green tea you've had. Theirs is very light yet sweet and full-bodied. IPPODO's gyokuro, in particularly their Below Heaven tea (天下一) or Tenka-ichi, has a savory flavor that almost tastes a bit like nori.<p><a href="https://shop.ippodo-tea.co.jp/shop/en/" rel="nofollow">https://shop.ippodo-tea.co.jp/shop/en/</a>
<a href="http://www.ippodo-tea.co.jp/" rel="nofollow">http://www.ippodo-tea.co.jp/</a>
The true principles of tea-drinking were enumerated (there are eleven) and explicated in antiquity (defined as the golden time before my birth) by renowned tea expert George Orwell. I can personally attest to the veracity of Mr. Orwell's first principle; namely, that one ought to drink only Indian or Ceylonese tea, on the grounds that "one does not feel wiser, braver, or more optimistic after drinking" the Chinese variety. (It was after a nice cup of uplifting Indian tea that Orwell bravely and wisely wrote the optimistic <i>1984</i>.)<p><a href="http://orwell.ru/library/articles/tea/english/e_tea" rel="nofollow">http://orwell.ru/library/articles/tea/english/e_tea</a>
I'm off the tea habit now, but the best investment I made was getting a variable-temperature water kettle. Just set the temp and let it worry about getting it right. Plus it keeps the water at that temp all day long -- no screwing around with pots and kettles and such for your third cup.<p>I also took a great liking to white tea: expensive but worth it (in my opinion). At first I really liked the heavier oxidized teas, but I found that my tastes went greener and greener the more I experimented.<p>Drinking tea is a wonderful habit, and it's good for you too. I had to quit for a while because of the caffeine. While less than coffee, I found it still messed up my system.
Hm, I have to disagree with the steeping chart for green tea (after having been doing it that way for 12 years).<p>Recently, I got some medium/high quality Sencha at my favorite place Ten Ren down in Chinatown.<p>Lessons learned from their main man:<p>0. Never use boiling water, but instead around 80-85 degree Celsius (okay, that seems to be common sense)
1. If the quality of the tea is so-so, discharge the first steep after 1-2 seconds. High-grade tea needs no cleaning. This step gets rid of the dust and ensures a clear color.
2. First steeping for maximum 1 minute 30 seconds.
3. Second steeping for only about 40 (!) seconds.
4. Third steeping for about 50 seconds.
Great resource for tea beginners and experts alike: <a href="http://steepster.com" rel="nofollow">http://steepster.com</a><p>Discover new teas, get recommendations, and keep a tasting journal.<p>Disclosure: I'm a co-founder.
If you ever go to Japan make sure to try Matcha, it consists of very finely ground green tea leaves.<p>And seems to be very difficult to prepare! I brought some back to the UK, that I'll have to try out soon :)<p><a href="https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Matcha" rel="nofollow">https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Matcha</a><p>One other thing I found pretty cool, in a Cafe, they would bring a sand timer, to tell you when the tea in the teapot had brewed.
If you're interested in the focusing-increasing benefits of L-Theanine, Gyokuro, Matcha, and Silver Needle are all good teas to drink.<p>I get my Gyokuro & Matcha from <a href="http://hibiki-an.com/" rel="nofollow">http://hibiki-an.com/</a><p>Silver Needle I had a harder time finding, but I got them from <a href="http://chicagoteagarden.com/" rel="nofollow">http://chicagoteagarden.com/</a>, the tea shop of the OP.<p>Incidentally, they're both delicious.
I've been sampling a wide variety of teas over the past few years, and wrote up a page describing flavors and steeping time, which is a little more detailed (but not as broad) as the article: <a href="http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~prewett/archive/tea/tea.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~prewett/archive/tea/tea.h...</a>
Neat article. For those like me that struggle getting 170 degree water for green tea, I found a good trick which is to just put an ice cube on top of the tea, and pour the hot water on top of that. That prevents singeing the leaves that can kill a nice cup of green tea. I find it a lot more reproducible than 'waiting longer than a minute'.
I didn't know about L-theanine; this goes a long way towards explaining why I feel like tea helps me "stay awake" for longer, compared to coffee which seems to fail me after about a half hour, despite it usually having more caffeine.
Great article. We love the tea here in Northern Ireland, and our impression is that most off-the-shelf bagged tea here is of very high quality in comparison to the US. We're drinking lots of 'Punjana' these days.
As if there aren't enough suggestions on where to buy tea, I get all mine through SevenCups (<a href="http://www.sevencups.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.sevencups.com/</a>) and TeaSpring (<a href="http://teaspring.com/" rel="nofollow">http://teaspring.com/</a>). Both companies are excellent. SevenCups has a few very nice sampler packs.<p>I've been kind of annoyed how long TeaSpring has been out of Bai Mu Dan, though. It's is incredible. They specialize in Chinese tea. So if that's your thing, check them out.
In 1980 the British Standards Group produced a document, <i>Method for Preparation of a Liquor of Tea</i>, setting out the British Standard method of tea brewing. This was BS 6008:1980.<p>ISO Technical Committee 34 (Food products), Sub-Committee 8 (Tea) later created ISO 3103 from this.<p>You can see the documented process at Wikipedia: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BS_6008" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BS_6008</a><p>It's an interesting read and won the Ig Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999.
It's technically true that tea is only made from the camellia sinensis plant, but you can get the same experience from other "hot, tea-like drinks" as well such as Herbal and Rooibos "teas".<p>Please take a look at <a href="http://www.theteafinder.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.theteafinder.com</a>. It's a tea search engine that I made after getting motivated reading HN a few weeks ago! You can search for tea by flavor and health benefit.<p>Would love feedback from other tea-drinking hackers.
<a href="http://www.hibiki-an.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.hibiki-an.com</a> is where I get most of my tea (Japanese green tea only). Shipping from Japan to Europe takes about a week to arrive.
<a href="http://www.nbtea.co.uk" rel="nofollow">http://www.nbtea.co.uk</a> in the UK is also a good place for tea (various types from various locations) but I still thingk Hibiki-an's tea better quality.
<a href="http://www.harney.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.harney.com/</a>
Harney and Sons is my favorite.<p>I love their english breakfast and their earl gray.<p>Their chocolate tea:
<a href="http://www.harney.com/Chocolate-Tea-Loose-tea-by-the-pound/productinfo/41613/" rel="nofollow">http://www.harney.com/Chocolate-Tea-Loose-tea-by-the-pound/p...</a>
Is is delicious, but man does it raise your heart rate!
If you're ever in Boulder, the Celestial Seasonings factory tour is worth checking out: <a href="http://www.celestialseasonings.com/visit-us/free-tours.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.celestialseasonings.com/visit-us/free-tours.html</a> The Peppermint Room will clear your sinuses for a week.<p>Anyone have other tea factory tours they'd recommend?
I would recommend The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzo. It's a great introduction to eastern culture for westerners taking tea as link and guide. Despite it was published in 1906 it's interestingly both actual and dated.<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Tea" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Tea</a>
If you want to watch a great documentary about tea growing and making check out All in This Tea.<p><a href="http://www.netflix.ca/WiMovie/All-in-This-Tea/70095114" rel="nofollow">http://www.netflix.ca/WiMovie/All-in-This-Tea/70095114</a><p><a href="http://www.lesblank.com/more/TeaFilm.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.lesblank.com/more/TeaFilm.html</a>
'The more oxidized the tea leaves are, the hotter the water temperature should be when steeping'.<p>The author assumes his readers do not know that white, green and other teas differ from each other thanks to their processing but assumes they do know the oxidation level of the tea they are about to brew.
Caffeine is very soluble. You can quickly decaffenate tea by "rinsing" it, or more accurately, throwing away the first, short, steeping.<p>In other words, if you want to remove the caffeine, leave your teabag in 1/2 a cup of water for 30-60 seconds, dump out the water and then you are good to go.
I mostly buy from Adagio, but have also found some great teas through Harney & Sons (<a href="http://www.harney.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.harney.com</a>) and Teas Etc. (<a href="http://www.teasetc.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.teasetc.com</a>).
If you're interested in white tea (and you should be from a health benefits perspective), check out the teas at www.shangtea.com - they ship it and it's a family run business with a family farm in the mts in China. All organic and delightful.
Here's a good short piece on tea drinking from the <i>Obsessives</i> series by Chow.com: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9zT5VZKHI0" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9zT5VZKHI0</a>
For those interested:<p><a href="https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Theanine" rel="nofollow">https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Theanine</a><p>and there are supplements available if you don't want to give up coffee.
If you're in Canada, you might want to check out <a href="http://www.teaopia.ca/" rel="nofollow">http://www.teaopia.ca/</a><p>I just stumbled on their store in Ottawa, and it seems pretty great!
Jing tea are great - <a href="http://jingtea.com/" rel="nofollow">http://jingtea.com/</a><p>Their 'tea explorer' set is a nice introduction to various types of tea from around the world.
See also: <a href="http://home.fazekas.hu/~nagydani/rth/Russian-tea-HOWTO-v2.html" rel="nofollow">http://home.fazekas.hu/~nagydani/rth/Russian-tea-HOWTO-v2.ht...</a>
I loved drinking tea, but I recently stopped when I found out that green and black tea have a large amount of Fluoride, highly toxic to the human body. I drink just hot water, or one tea bag split between a whole tea pot, or coffee.<p>Edited: Fluoride is NOT a heavy metal. and spelling