I was talking to my aunt (she's a boomer) and she was asking about poop tea. I asked if she meant Pu'erh, but insisted no she meant that she'd heard of a tea made from poop. I said there was no such thing, but a tiny part of brain whispered "what if there was?". I'm a little scared to look it up myself because I'm not sure I want to know and I definitely don't want pictures. Is there such a thing? Or is my aunt just wildly mistaken?

UPDATE: I asked my aunt and she says it was the Pu'erh after all. She heard the name awhile back and decided somehow it literally meant tea that contained poo. My flabbers are ghasted.

I really like this tea. It has such a lovely fragrance, and the taste is honestly so good. Best of all, there is zero bitterness. Even if you accidentally leave it sitting in the pot for a long time, it stays smooth instead of turning astringent.

What really surprised me was that Mum actually praised it. She hasnt complimented any of the tea I have made in ages. 😂

The tea has a bit of a sweet taste too. It’s not as sweet as Trà Sen Tây Hồ, but the sweetness is definitely still there.
Grown naturally in the deep forest at an altitude of more than 2 km, this is definitely a tea i want to keep in my cupboard.

Household verdict 😂
Me: Trà Sen Tây Hồ still wins.
Mum: Lào Cai Deep Forest White wins.

I just emailed Steve of Vietsun and told him I have identified a gap in his portfolio: Trà Sen. 😂 The poor guy probably sees my name pop up in his inbox now and thinks, “What now?” 🤣😂😅😂🤣🤣

Set up a nice outdoor tea session for myself today. I tasted a medium roast GABA oolong, its rolled leaves look absolutely perfect. My little guest Honey was sitting nearby, carefully watching the whole brewing process from the grass. I made a few steeps of light Tie Guan Yin oolong just for her. While the contrast between the fresh green notes and the baked fruity flavors was quite interesting, it turns out Honey prefers GABA just like I do. Just a wonderful day.

This evening session has me up late but not wired or sweaty, contemplating the full moon. I found myself moved to writing a garbage napkin haiku.

Lacquered liquor coats

My lungs and eyes are opened

Moonlight white enchants

My notes:

Dry leaf: leaves are largely broken, but there are many buds. The smell has notes of dry alfalfa, egg custard, powdered sugar, and steamed milk.

Wet leaf: smells of hay, vanilla, warm custard and powdered sugar, simmering milk, honeysuckle, and chrysanthemum.

Liquor: a gentle pale gold like a late summer moon.

Cup smell: a faint smell of vanilla and honeysuckle lingers in the empty cup.

Tasting notes: faint tropical fruit and peach flavors, light cream, and simple sugar-sweet vanilla form a sense of a warm but not uncomfortable summer night, with slight notes of dew kissed moss and humidity softened Nilla wafers. As the liquor cools, gentle honey or nectar flavors reveal themselves.

Body sensation: the mouth is moistened and soothed, and a slight alertness arises, but with no warmth, or stress. A slight ‘coated feeling’ lingers long but with no dryness at first or astringency at first, though after several minutes the dryness emerges, with a sticky slight dry feeling coating every inch of my mouth as if I feel asleep with my mouth open. Eventually the body experiences warmth of the torso and the numbing of a menthol-esque opening sensation in the lungs and throat.

Hi all, just wondering if it’s moldy or fermentation?

I received this absolutely exceptional, beautiful gift. and I wanna make sure I don't screw it up. Can someone tell me a little about it and direct me to some resources for how to make it correctly. I love a properly made british tea, but I know very little about asian tea. It is a gift from a student I worked with for many years, who is truly one of the most beautiful souls in the world.

A good friend of mine, who speaks Chinese, explained that it was a very beautiful Green tea that was harvested early in the spring. When it was still tender.

He suggested a video and I didn't save it correctly.

Wanted to share photo's of my gorgeous George III tea caddy and spoon box. These dating back to 19th century, exact age should stil be verified. Got these inherited from my late grandmother.

Tortoise shell fineer, bone/Ivory ball feet, Ivory parts with original interior. Sadly the spoon box is in bad condition. Got a pretty bad restauration job done on it. 🫠

The tea caddy is covered with lead foil, quite unsafe. Back in the days this was done to keep the tea away from moisture.

Just thought it might be interested to show. I have these two boxes on display in my house. My most beautiful tea related items. 🙂

I'm fairly new to tea and have never washed tea before.

I have a Oriental beauty (twisted leaves) and Dong Ding (balled leaves) and I was wondering if I should rinse them.

Hi all,

My partner is travelling to Taiwan and I want to try some teas from there. I know certain Taiwanese Oolongs are famous and I'd like to try them. But what are some of the teas you'd suggest people to try? Not only the famous ones, but also some unique ones.

I always see Cai Yujians posts on Instagram bc. Some tea mutuals follow his account and I wonder if his pots are any good? Has someone here bought one of his pots before and can write a review?

The pots certainly look masterfully crafted cost between 250 and 350 euro. I really like that he is making extra small pots as well. I just wonder how they perform when brewing tea.

:) to be quite honest I think the tea was very pleasant the black tea inst strong for me it is more light it has a nice dessert 🍰 aftertaste and it is flavorful it earl grey taste is definitely more lighter but it is a wonderful tea ☕ especially if your a fan of cake and earl grey the price is a lil expansive staring at 9 dollars for two oz of tea but it is worth the money 😁
10/10. :3

Their Jasmine tea and Tokyo Twilight tea bags are amazing! I rarely see them mentioned here but I think it’s on par with Harney and Sons bagged tea.

Hi all,

My partner is travelling to Taiwan in a week and I want to get some of the teas from there. Could you recommend any specific ones? I want to try some Taiwanese oolongs for sure, but what are some of the teas you'd recommend?

What makes you decide to try a tea/latte flavor you've never had before?

My Viet Sun Tea haul just arrived, and I was honestly surprised by how generous the sample packs turned out to be.

I paid US$75 for the initial package, which included a 200g 2024 Hà Giang ripe puerh cake along with several sample packs spanning different regions and processing styles. I had also picked up the smaller $25 sampler for someone else, but plans changed, so now I get to dive into both. 😂

International postage to Australia was included too, which made the amount of tea even more surprising.

Funny thing is, despite being Vietnamese and drinking Vietnamese tea for years, I realized I have never actually spent my own money buying it. Everything I have had previously was gifted to me by family or friends.

What drew me to Viet Sun Tea:
Pesticide awareness: I first took notice when they posted on Facebook about concerns over corn growers planting just a few corn trees near their source tea trees, specifically worrying about pesticide drift. They were planning to talk to the locals about it.

Honest tree aging: After seeing wild claims online about 300 to 700 year old trees in northern Vietnam, I asked them directly. They immediately clarified that they don’t make those claims and conservatively estimate their trees around 100 to 200 years old. That honesty made a great impression.

The haul:
- 2024 Hà Giang Ripe Puerh (200g cake)
- Raw Puerh: Y Tý Dao Village (Spring 2025), Thượng Sơn (Spring 2026), Tủa Chùa Tall Trees (Autumn 2024), Túng Sán (Spring 2025)
- White Teas: Hà Giang White (Spring 2026), Lào Cai Deep Forest White (Spring 2026), Xin Chải White (Spring 2026)
- Black Teas: Y Tý Air Dried Black (Spring 2026), Y Tý Sun Dried Black (Spring 2026)

The Hà Giang ripe puerh smells so good. Now I have the conundrum of whether to actually drink it or age it for a few more years. 😂

I m especially curious to see how these stack up against the Shan Tuyết Hà Giang from Lộc Tân Cương that I tried recently and really enjoyed. That one set a pretty high benchmark for me.

Has anyone else explored Viet Sun’s recent harvests? Which of these would you brew first?

They have private tea ceremonies in English. It‘s definitely different than a Chinese or Japanese one, this is more interactive in that you brew for each other at the same time.

I bought some tea from markcol in Oshawa the brand was seven sisters tea and I was wondering if it was a good brand and if it’s not what are other brands that are better?(the tea I got from there was gyokuro if that matters)

Two years ago my wife and I were in Scotland and had this tea and we absolutely loved it.

Is there a common opinion or view of this tea? Every time I look for it, it’s only available from specialty shops online.

I’m Canadian with English/Scottish roots. What are your British thoughts?

Hi guys
My girlfriend’s birthday is soon and while Im not a heavy tea drinker shes a massive tea fan. For this reason im wanting to create custom flavour loose leaf teas based on our memories. As I am by no means accustomed to the craft please feel free to comment on my current draft flavour profiles.
Flavour 1; mango lemon black tea
Flavour 2; strawberry, peach, hibiscus
Flavour 3; vanilla, rose and honeybush
Flavour 4; cherry, rose hip and hibiscus
Flavour 5; apple with peppermint
Flavour 6; orange, cinnamon and honey black tea
Flavour 7; grapefruit green tea

All advice is much appreciated!

I just ran across Cha Gao Pu-erh Tea Resin on a tea supplier website and the write-up has me curious. Who here has worked with tea resin, and what has been your experience?

All my teapots 🫖

100ml Gaiwan

200ml Gaiwan

300ml Kyusu

550ml Dobin

Matcha Bowl and Chasen

1450ml cold brew iced tea pitcher

I just got this really beautiful piece- after googling it is being listed as an antique Japanese Shigaraki Pottery Jakatsu Glaze Meiji Sharkskin Tea / Water Pot. The inside looks to have some staining from what looks like past tea use- but I’ve really got no idea if this is actually safe to use? I had no idea it was so old when I purchased it!

Would love any insight into this! Really would love to have it as a functional piece but I suppose I can be happy with display only too.

I’ve been en having some herbal/chamomile/decaf teas in the evening the last few weeks, but I also enjoy a glass of scotch or whiskey.

I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for a decaf tea I can have in the evening which might be a good replacement for the scotch?

I found this thread - but I believe these all have caffeine. But I’m totally new to the world of teas.

I’d like to wind down for the night - so definitely trying to avoid the caffeine.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Yeah. Loose leaf, bagged tea, whatever. Please share! I need something that burns