Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

That is to say, I can't say anything for certain, and I have no idea about most commercial ice cream manufacturers, but if a chef who is running a one-man soda syrup operation says the flecks in his cream soda are vanilla bean, I'd be inclined to believe him. The product would be worse, and on that scale faking it would be more effort.

I'm an addict. I add it to most things I cook at home when I even vaguely feel a touch of heat would be nice, or the dish could use that extra little something. I've contemplated stealing 3 large bottles I found while visiting a friend's house (only contemplated), my favorite application is directly to a baguette slice, and I am pretty sure I want that rooster tattooed somewhere on me... I would admit to having a problem, but I see nothing wrong with any of this :D

Agreed with the previous two commentators, the horizontal cuts make your dice more uniform each time. And its not only an appearance thing, having uniform diced onion means that it will all cook evenly, which is important in restaurant cooking. When I was in culinary school, we were told to always do things the correct way when doing a trail for a position in a kitchen. I've found that chefs won't only see somebody who doesn't cut an onion properly, but also someone who likely does things half way. You get the job first, and then you figure out what shortcuts your chef tolerates, if any.

I'm pretty loyal to Harney and Sons for my teas, and there is plenty to be found from them. http://www.harney.com/ I've tasted at least half of what they are selling right now and have not been disappointed, so I am pretty confident you can't go wrong there. For black teas, I would recommend From China: Keemun Hao Ya 'A' (The B version is also very nice), Hunan Black Buds, Panyang Gold, Golden Luo
From Assam: Assam Golden Tips, Mangalam FTGFOP 1, Mangalam Broken Leaf
From Darjeeling: Risheehat First Flush 2010.

That said, if you are interested in oolongs, I love Da Hong Pao, Fanciest Formosa Oolong, Fenghaung Shuixian, Ali San and Wenshan Baozhong.

If you might like green, China has excellent options, especially when you look at the early spring teas. Bi Lo Chun, Lung Ching, Anji Baicha and Huang Shan Mao Feng are all favorites. And since you bought that canister in Japan, why not take a look at their teas? Ichiban Sencha, Matsuda's Sencha, Gyokuro, Gen Mai Cha, and Sencha Scent of Mountains are all phenomenal.

Now, I realize you said you prefer subtly flavored blacks, and I only listed one tea (the gen mai cha) thats even blended, and it was a green, but the orthodox teas from this, and other good suppliers are certainly worth trying, especially if you are new to tea. But, if you find yourself wanting something flavored, there are plenty of delicious options for that as well.

seriousb, you really should pour out the coffee from a french press once its done so that you don't oversteep. Use a regular glass carafe press and I pour it into a large thermos if I want to hold it.

yeah, I'm not even sure if I've ever seen phylo in that building. But there was puff pastry everywhere

@maztec it wasn't explicit, but this was excluding herbals, though the inclusion of florals made that point a bit confusing. That said, they call black teas red in china, so that would be right, depending who you asked. Also, if you start steeping a tea at the right temp with the proper leaf to tea ratio, covered or not your leaves will unfurl 9 times out of ten, the one being some tightly balled oolongs or gunpowder, which may still be partially unfurled, but not much. More importantly, the heat retention will prevent under extraction.

On a side note, some delicate teas, such as good senchas and early spring chinese greens do better when allowed to cool slightly during brewing, so if you don't have a thin walled clay pot, you might want to use a pot that isn't warm so you don't stew it to hell. But still keep that lid... nobody wants tepid tea :p

its the only thing I want to snack on when watching anime or reading manga, especially the chocolate flavor. I found an asian market that carries it near me the other day so I bought a box. Unfortunately, I didn't account for the heat wave we've been having here in jersey, so the chocolate melted. It wasn't so bad after I stuck it in the freezer for a few minutes and turned all the sticks into two big ones. good times.

@tubulus
Actually, with beef and lamb, salmonella was never a concern. Its really just associated with poultry (and even then mostly with chicken). Also, unless the meat is ground, there is only bacteria present on the surface of the meat. Whole muscles have sterile interiors, so if you wanted to barely sear the outside of a steak, or circulate a lamb chop until it is just technically cooked, you can eat that meat in perfect safety.

Has anyone seen any yet? I've been hunting for it for the past week.

I always drink loose leaf teas if I can help it. My favorites are oolongs (especially the dark ones from the Wuyi mountains in China, though there are some floral tasting ones I love), Japanese Senchas and Chinese black teas. And I always drink my tea straight unless its a particularly brisk Indian black tea.

And I steep 4-6 minutes with just shy of boiling water for oolongs, 1-2 minutes for the Senchas with about 175 degree F water(up to 3 minutes for other types of green) and 4 or 5 minutes with boiling water for the black tea. All of that depends on the specific type of tea, of course. Oh, and yellow teas are always worth a try if you can find them (and always brew at 175 degrees for 3 minutes). Just be careful that you aren't really buying green tea, as some companies will try to pass it off as yellow. The real stuff should be all buds, like white tea, except it has been lightly and slowly oxidized, so it looks like a mix of medium to dark green and yellow buds.

I also have to add that I love rooibos. Just boil the heck out of the water and steep for at least 5 minutes (I sometimes go for 10, because I like it really strong and it doesn't get bitter). Two leaves and a bud has some really yummy herbal blends featuring this.

Come to think of it, there are none at my house.. We would usually be drowning in them by now.

Gastronomeg, I'm a big fan of Guayaki and Pixie mate. Both of them also have mate blended with tea, fruit and rooibos among (and a few other combinations) that are just as tasty as the traditional mate.

I prefer yerba mate made the traditional way, but if I'm at a cafe and am not quite in the mood for coffee, the mate latte can be quite nice.