Post AoN5llI8aFOG4Ht1PM by QueenOfTheCroneAge@beige.party
(DIR) More posts by QueenOfTheCroneAge@beige.party
(DIR) Post #AoN1cEmXgVOoooJLWa by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T14:24:13Z
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I've always bought the tea for our home, and I've spoiled this man. He's only ever had the best teas and I taught him how to brew them correctly. Well he decided to just buy some tea from the grocery store "why can't we just drink this?" and I have no problem with that. Go, on, husband. See what happens. He just brewed the tea and came to me to say "this was not very good."Well then.He will take it to his office and leave it in the break room and pretend he knows not where it came from.
(DIR) Post #AoN2yth2MGrM1l6ZBg by TeflonTrout@beige.party
2024-11-24T14:39:30Z
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@futurebird you are a busy person with important things to do, but sometime would you mind sharing a few quick tips?I love tea, but my palet is indiscriminate- I like nearly everything. Mrs. Trout and our two fry deserve a nice tea party
(DIR) Post #AoN43IHsxVzRPy074C by Candyhog@masto.ai
2024-11-24T14:51:31Z
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@futurebird great disposal strategy!
(DIR) Post #AoN5llI8aFOG4Ht1PM by QueenOfTheCroneAge@beige.party
2024-11-24T15:10:45Z
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@futurebird Work people will eat and drink anything set up on the breakroom table, I swear.
(DIR) Post #AoN5s6a8L8IbpuKRWK by trinsec@trinsec.org
2024-11-24T14:40:22.371Z
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@futurebird@sauropods.win šBut eh, what kinda tea brands do you drink that you're all so posh over it? š(Also, how do you brew them correctly?)
(DIR) Post #AoN5s7YOj4VMqoWZSC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T15:11:48Z
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@trinsec I mostly like either aged sheng puerh or aged oolong. In a pinch a younger oolong can be fine.The big traditional Chinese tea factories have made many good teas, but there are also many wonderful teas that come from Taiwan. Brands don't come into it as much as where it was grown, how it was prepared and aged. Although seadyke is often a safe bet and can even be aged.
(DIR) Post #AoN6de1Jpm6J9ciGXY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T15:20:31Z
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@trinsec Basically there are whole "cultures" around various teas and how you might drink them and it's VAST. I have not even mentioned Japanese teas and that's a whole other world where *fresh* not aged leaves are valued. The bad thing about getting into tea is... once you do it is hard to go back. But a big compressed tea cake can last you many years and it only grows better with age.
(DIR) Post #AoN72PE9yFRUVxWhAO by MisuseCase@twit.social
2024-11-24T15:24:57Z
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@futurebird @TeflonTrout @trinsec I know a guy whoās part of a group that basically rents warehouse space in China to age big tea cakes in.
(DIR) Post #AoN792bQUHGKN8ZZzc by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T15:26:10Z
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@MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec There are a lot of arguments about if it's possible to properly age tea in various parts of the world due to the humidity and ... well mostly just people getting prissy about fancy subtile food that's easy to obsess over.
(DIR) Post #AoN7XxT0idXhgRWAsK by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T15:30:41Z
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@trinsec 16 years ago I was in Hong Kong and it suddenly started raining so I ducked into a little tea house and sat down at this large stone table where a very kind man brewed cup after cup of tea for me. He didn't even seem all that intent on selling the tea he just wanted to talk about it! He was so excited "do you see the difference? The hint of camphor? the contrast between the scent of the dry leaves and the brewed?"The windows of the shop were steamed up.I have never been the same.
(DIR) Post #AoN7lgnJVIQs1qYuAa by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T15:33:10Z
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@trinsec He also talked about the teapots, how they were made, the different kinds of clay, and their shapes. The teapots were so tiny, but this was so you could brew more types of tea using fewer leaves. The stone table was designed to let you pour the hot water over the pot and over all of the cups, and you could enjoy the patters the water made as it evaporated and the endless evocative flavors and textures of the tea. It was a whole new universe of experience!
(DIR) Post #AoN7oeRMiECnb3hyVM by michael_w_busch@mastodon.online
2024-11-24T15:33:19Z
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@MisuseCase @futurebird @TeflonTrout @trinsec The marketing and selling of pu'er has been weird the last several years - I have heard of people buying up lots as an investment, rather than intending to drink them themselves, running up the prices.But I do not care for those teas myself.(On the other hand; flooding in Jiangsu has messed up this year's harvest of bilouchun, so I have not been able to find any imported stateside.)
(DIR) Post #AoN7ttoIzifGiJwNsm by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T15:34:39Z
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@michael_w_busch @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec You don't need to get involved in that nonsense to have a good experience. Although this is why I drink more aged oolong as of late. Getting your hands on good sheng over 10 years old is not as easy as it once was. It is however not impossible!
(DIR) Post #AoN848K7tCpWcbhkVE by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T15:36:30Z
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@michael_w_busch @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec But I do work fairly hard to secure good tea for us, and so this whole "let's just drink this stuff from the grocery store that comes in a bag made with plastic of all things" was amusing. Yeah... I'm kind of a tea snob, but NOT without REASONS.
(DIR) Post #AoN8gLtprY0pjNdDYu by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T15:43:23Z
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@DavidM_yeg Well there are many men in this world.
(DIR) Post #AoN9F2a1gTFlwpuGoq by michael_w_busch@mastodon.online
2024-11-24T15:49:39Z
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@futurebird @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec I cannot stand plastic tea bags.For multiple reasons.
(DIR) Post #AoN9hCpJBIv7pqU82q by catselbow@fosstodon.org
2024-11-24T15:54:45Z
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@futurebird @trinsec That sounds so wonderful! I love tea, and I love learning about how it's produced and how it fits into the culture of different places.
(DIR) Post #AoN9sHu0eLsslMy5Fg by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T15:56:41Z
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@shiftingedges There are a few shops in Flushing, but I don't really know their names, then there are the tea guys who hang out at the antiques malls where they have turned one of the stalls into a little tea den and people sell all kinds of things there. There are places like this in most cities. Even in Cleveland!Online there's "essence of tea" expensive but everything they sell is the highest quality. taiwanteacrafts.com is OK and has better prices, but not everything is as "curated"
(DIR) Post #AoNAL8CFoYsP3jFtvU by markstos@urbanists.social
2024-11-24T16:01:57Z
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@futurebird @trinsec Wow. That would be a dream traveling experience for me. What a treasure.
(DIR) Post #AoNAVDNBQLz00cAxEW by tkinias@historians.social
2024-11-24T15:56:16Z
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@michael_w_busch why are plastic teabags even a thing? Iāve only ever encountered them in contexts that were being marketed as posh, IIRC, and it just confused the hell out of me...@futurebird @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec
(DIR) Post #AoNAVEdAkOMnuUfEnI by michael_w_busch@mastodon.online
2024-11-24T16:02:32Z
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@tkinias @futurebird @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec They're less likely to tear or break than paper tea bags are.But they also make the tea taste bad and shield microplastic grains.
(DIR) Post #AoNAVFecwT7n5ILuhU by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T16:03:47Z
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@michael_w_busch @tkinias @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec I'm still wondering why anyone needs a bag at all.I mean... just get a steel thermos with a little filter in the top?Or brew it in a pot???
(DIR) Post #AoNAcsLVUBsX6y2p4C by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T16:05:11Z
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@michael_w_busch @tkinias @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsecHow do you look at the tea before you drink it if it's in a bag? I always want to open the bag, and that's a mistake because the tea is often just tiny flakes, not whole leaves or big pieces of leaves. Which is why bags are less expensive I suppose...
(DIR) Post #AoNAoaCklCFkK3X5DU by j3b@mastodon.sdf.org
2024-11-24T16:07:14Z
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@futurebird @trinsec I am forever wounded by my experiences being served "old man" tea (as it was called even though it was being served to me by other twenty year olds) in Taiwan. The commonplace pleasure of serving and being served is deep and particular to each culture even as it is also nearly universal. I think a piece of my heart stays behind in every place somebody made me tea. And another piece goes into every pot I make for anyone else.
(DIR) Post #AoNB8p2BKmUo6hErTc by tkinias@historians.social
2024-11-24T16:10:56Z
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@futurebird For me itās just a practical thingāIām making tea at my desk as I run in between classes, so the convenience value of bagged tea dominates.But also, I came to tea from strong black dark coffee, so my palate isnāt subtleāmy preferences are distinctly middlebrow and not terribly sophisticated for now.@michael_w_busch @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec
(DIR) Post #AoNBBj7jlVtOe3Dq7s by jsoriano@mastodon.online
2024-11-24T16:11:28Z
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@futurebird my "tea moment" was about 12 years ago. I liked tea before, but I had tasted only the varieties you can find in supermarkets [in Spain], or some weird mixes in tea shops. Then I travelled to Japan, and one day in a small shop in Tsukiji a young man served us a cup of tea. To prepare it, he just poured the hot water through the filter, no infusion time, and the smell and flavour were awesome. I had tasted gyokuro, and since then I always try to have some at home.@trinsec
(DIR) Post #AoNBnZJufBaHFAxgoK by markstos@urbanists.social
2024-11-24T15:57:31Z
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@trinsec @futurebird Adagio teas and their brewing instructions are a good start.The rabbit hole deepens with gong fu brewing with up 10 steepings and getting into different tea pots for special teas like Yixing claypots.I thought the Adagio teas were great, but then a friend from Taiwan gifted me some vacuum-sealed high mountain green oolong tea. My favorite tea to date.
(DIR) Post #AoNBna7XgfHbj6BKAS by markstos@urbanists.social
2024-11-24T16:12:59Z
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@trinsec @futurebird If you DM me your email, I can send you an Adagio invite good for four free samples. While there are some good blends of teas with other herbs or spices, the more premium teas are usually not blended.Some of least expensive teas they sale are also good. I like their Gunpowder Green and Hojicha.Yunnan Golden Needle is a good premium black and Silver Needle is a good premium white. Both good for multiple steepings!
(DIR) Post #AoNBnaoR7Bats8Fa1g by markstos@urbanists.social
2024-11-24T16:18:03Z
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@trinsec @futurebird I prepare the Silver Needle more a gong fu style with a lot of tea leaves but then maybe up to 6 steepings, starting at 1:30 and adding about a minute for each steeping, and increasing the temperature for later steepings as I go.This is a great secret to unlock: sometimes the teas that cost 2x more can brewed more 2x times with good flavor!Also, once you find a tea you like, buy a pound of it and lock in more savings.
(DIR) Post #AoNBnb9LrQKAv02Hcu by markstos@urbanists.social
2024-11-24T16:00:37Z
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@trinsec @futurebird Yesterday I visited someone who served me a bagged green tea that had probably been in storage for who knows how long. I tasted it and thought, this is why people donāt like tea. There was hardly a distinct flavor compared to premium loose leaf teas.
(DIR) Post #AoNCPatBHLHd76adW4 by markstos@urbanists.social
2024-11-24T16:22:04Z
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@trinsec @futurebird But as counterpoint: part of what you are paying for in a premium tea can be freshness. So better to have fewer teas and smaller quantities open.I buy in bulk then keep a bit of each in airtight tins to minimize oxidation.
(DIR) Post #AoNCPc3qv9PikUafmy by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T16:25:11Z
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@markstos @trinsec Freshness only matters for green and Japanese kinds of tea. My favorite teas get *better* with age up to about 30 years when they peak.They are still good to drink for up to 50. And there is something about buying a green cake of sheng puerh, and drinking it each year and experiencing how it changes from something like silver needle ... to something less brash but more complex. I have three cakes I've been slowly working through for over a decade.
(DIR) Post #AoNCa84QlXHcv5sLD6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T16:27:06Z
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@markstos @trinsec Sometimes I will want matcha. And I do know how to make it. But I find the stress of needing to drink it all in like... 5 months to be a bit much. But if I have guests who like it it's a chance to buy it and make it for everyone.
(DIR) Post #AoNCmI6zG5LFXMs1sO by tkinias@historians.social
2024-11-24T16:29:16Z
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@futurebird something Iāve wondered about is whether itās possible to home-make bagged teaāthat is, to get empty teabags and fill them with good-quality tea, so as to get a better quality brew while maintaining the āhastily plop bag & boiling water in mugā at-work convenience...@michael_w_busch @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec
(DIR) Post #AoNCq1pdjDJeCkXS2y by markstos@urbanists.social
2024-11-24T16:29:57Z
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@futurebird @trinsec I was recently gifted a Bada Young Tree Ripe Puerh tea cake. Maybe I brewed it wrong, but it tasted like mineral water. Good mineral water, mind you.On the other hand, I was given one of these feral white tea cakes and absolutely loved it. Got 10 good steepings out one set of leaves. https://riversandlakestea.net/2021-feral-gong-mei-white-tea-2/
(DIR) Post #AoND42HIrlC7du9nfs by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T16:32:30Z
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@tkinias @michael_w_busch @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec It is. There are little bags you can get and fold over to brew. Although I think something like this is ideal for the office. Put the tea in the top in the AM, add hot water at work and invert to brew. Then you can brew a few rounds with the same leaves as high quality teas generally can be brewed a few times. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806784882767.html?
(DIR) Post #AoND7xlVaQk4nx9qzY by markstos@urbanists.social
2024-11-24T16:33:12Z
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@futurebird @trinsec Matcha is one tea I havenāt gotten into. I do have some Yerba MatĆ© and Moringa in stock for different herbal tea options.
(DIR) Post #AoNDGBMeuPtjIZSD44 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T16:34:42Z
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@markstos @trinsec Matcha packs a punch, the caffeine is no joke, but it hits in a different way than coffee or espresso. Not as jittery... but more of the "I can see through time" feeling. Which is why drinking it every day isn't going to happen for me.
(DIR) Post #AoNDMzRXd8Y4Luz4GO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T16:35:55Z
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@neckspike @tkinias @michael_w_busch @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec The paper totally sucks up the flavor and I swear I can taste it. I tried those little bags, but keep going back to brewing in a pot or with a steel filter.
(DIR) Post #AoNDU8kfQ64PFWL64u by markstos@urbanists.social
2024-11-24T16:37:12Z
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@futurebird @trinsec Sometimes a full reset I like Kuding tea, aka Bitter Nail. Extremely bitter. Forces me to drink it slow. Acquired taste.There are few bitter foods in my diet otherwise so sometimes a dose of that feels balancing.https://www.saveur.com/ridiculously-bitter-chinese-tea-that-stops-winter-in-its-tracks/
(DIR) Post #AoNDbVPBapQdXEntXk by markstos@urbanists.social
2024-11-24T16:38:23Z
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@futurebird @trinsec Thatās how I feel about Yerba MatĆ©. Sometimes I have a cup, OK a pot, in the morning when I want to focus.
(DIR) Post #AoNDnReLNjFTMXaRuK by tkinias@historians.social
2024-11-24T16:40:41Z
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@futurebird hmm...@michael_w_busch @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec
(DIR) Post #AoNDocFNSzeYWFT2cy by Beedazzled@mastodon.green
2024-11-24T16:40:48Z
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@futurebird @trinsec what a wonderful story. My experience of becoming more adventurous and trying different teas away from the standard supermarket version, although it does have to be the right one, have all been disappointing. Things other people rave about sadly leave me cold or worse. I know I am missing a whole world of experienceš¤·āāļø
(DIR) Post #AoNE2xoC68jPRfatou by lolonurse@ohai.social
2024-11-24T16:43:28Z
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@futurebird @trinsec Intriguing! I've never tried using compressed teas. I'm a tea drinker, but my "gourmet" (not) is stuff like Bengal Spice (CS), Constant Comment (Bigelow), and a curious "tonsil tea" (from China) from a Chinese market. I loved my Dad, & Jean-Luc Picard, but hate Earl Grey! š
(DIR) Post #AoNE9RzmmCrgo26phQ by markstos@urbanists.social
2024-11-24T16:44:41Z
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@futurebird My wife was a coffee drinker but didnāt like caffeine withdrawal feeling.Now she has switched to Adagioās chocolate chai puerh.Thatās one I could recommend to anyone else looking to downshift from the caffeine of coffee or likes the idea of chocolate and chai flavors in a smooth black #tea!
(DIR) Post #AoNEKMg0tOJJUl46N6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T16:46:39Z
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@markstos @trinsec If it's from 2021 it's very young and might be "astringent" for a few more years. 5 years is kind of the minimum for sheng to not be a little overly bitter. Though it's exciting to taste the young tea and try to predict what it will become with time. It will darken over time, become less green. Hence the fun of tasting a little every year.
(DIR) Post #AoNEW1ZdB7nbWKdiIi by markstos@urbanists.social
2024-11-24T16:48:46Z
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@futurebird @trinsec Interesting! Iām still very new to the world of tea cakes.
(DIR) Post #AoNEdfm66tPiEG7MXY by wilbr@glitch.social
2024-11-24T16:50:07Z
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@futurebird @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec it's only puerh when it's aged in the Menghai Tea Factory in Yunnan Province, otherwise it's just sparkling heicha :thounking:
(DIR) Post #AoNEiG3d9aBbusVNIW by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-11-24T16:50:58Z
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@wilbr @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec Menghai propaganda!
(DIR) Post #AoNEyMpfjTbpYsepjk by catselbow@fosstodon.org
2024-11-24T16:53:51Z
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@futurebird @tkinias @michael_w_busch @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec I have a couple of stainless steel tea infusers like this. They're open cups, so the tea leaves have plenty of room, and they're just the right size to fit into a mug.https://www.arborteas.com/stainless-steel-tea-filter.html
(DIR) Post #AoNFyP5xQ5rUX7r94y by cshlan@dawdling.net
2024-11-24T17:05:02Z
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@futurebirdThese remind me of the tea drinking using flasks in Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch books. @tkinias @michael_w_busch @MisuseCase @TeflonTrout @trinsec
(DIR) Post #AoNItUJGu6On7ZQo1w by DeborahLeagueFineArt@socel.net
2024-11-24T17:37:48Z
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@futurebird @trinsec love your memory!
(DIR) Post #AoNKIAcvK1FtGjxNlA by tofugolem@mastodon.social
2024-11-24T17:53:26Z
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@futurebird @trinsec That sounds like an amazing experience.
(DIR) Post #AoNMXgKZveG9qjts5Q by cerement@social.targaryen.house
2024-11-24T18:18:40Z
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@futurebird @trinsec and smoked teas and spiced teas and fruit teas and herbal teasthe list keeps goingand the cupboard keeps filling
(DIR) Post #AoNNDr4iNAMDKnacue by Meowthias@mastodon.world
2024-11-24T18:26:19Z
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@futurebird In the U.S. we can make iced tea with the cheap stuff to use it up.
(DIR) Post #AoPH21FrmHSxIeC6oi by forestfjord@wandering.shop
2024-11-25T16:22:30Z
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@futurebird @markstos @trinsec Thank you for reminding me that it's puerh season again (my favourite tea for wintering weather)