Fine Tea

**Scotto** · 11-03-2005, 01:00 PM

I thought I would post on one of my other obsessions - fine loose leaf tea. I know there are other forum members out there who share this obsession. Chime in!

I have tried teas from all of the major online sources, at pretty much all prices. I also work with a diverse cultural crowd at work who are good at bringing me stuff from their homelands. I'll drink a pot of tea in the morning while reading the paper, usually a Chinese red ("black") tea or sometimes an English breakfast blend. In the mid-morning a good Oolong, and later lots of Green tea. I am particularly obsessed with Chinese green teas, especially Lung Ching ("Dragon Well").

I also keep track as best I can of what I taste. I'll attach a spreadsheet as an example for those who are interested. I got lazy for a while, but it has a fair amount of stuff in it for those who are interested in trying some teas. You can also filter it by tea type, vendor, etc. I haven't yet gotten nuts enough to keep track of shaving stuff this way, but perhaps our future B&B rating archive will fix all that.

All right, who are the other tea drinkers out there?

Edited: Apparently you can't attach an Excel file.... Nick?

**guenron** · 11-03-2005, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by Scotto

I thought I would post on one of my other obsessions - fine loose leaf tea. I know there are other forum members out there who share this obsession. Chime in!

I have tried teas from all of the major online sources, at pretty much all prices. I also work with a diverse cultural crowd at work who are good at bringing me stuff from their homelands. I'll drink a pot of tea in the morning while reading the paper, usually a Chinese red ("black") tea or sometimes an English breakfast blend. In the mid-morning a good Oolong, and later lots of Green tea. I am particularly obsessed with Chinese green teas, especially Lung Ching ("Dragon Well").

I also keep track as best I can of what I taste. I'll attach a spreadsheet as an example for those who are interested. I got lazy for a while, but it has a fair amount of stuff in it for those who are interested in trying some teas. You can also filter it by tea type, vendor, etc. I haven't yet gotten nuts enough to keep track of shaving stuff this way, but perhaps our future B&B rating archive will fix all that.

All right, who are the other tea drinkers out there?

Edited: Apparently you can't attach an Excel file.... Nick?

Hey Scotto!
If you can get any good Formosa Oolong I would forever be indebted!

**Scotto** · 11-03-2005, 01:24 PM

Ron,

I am actually not a fan of the lower-oxidized Formosa Oolongs, preferring the Chinese high-fired ones. I have had some of the Formosa's from SpecialTeas.com (an excellent vendor), and they are reasonably priced and very good quality. Check them out. If you want to spend more and get even better quality, you can't beat the guys at InPursuitofTea.com in goold old Brooklyn, NY.

**rtaylor61** · 11-03-2005, 01:33 PM

Ron said "goog".

Scotto said "goold".

The word is "good". I'm thinking it must be something in the tea.

Randy

PS. Guys, no fair editing your posts!

**guenron** · 11-03-2005, 01:38 PM

Originally Posted by rtaylor61

Ron said "goog".

Scotto said "goold".

The word is "good". I'm thinking it must be something in the tea.

Randy

PS. Guys, no fair editing your posts!

You can tell we have had some lapsang souchong! It smoked...

**designwise1** · 11-03-2005, 04:35 PM

Hey, Scotto.
If you can figure out how to get that Excel file uploaded here I would like to see that.
I'm a big tea fan and have made converts of a few friends as well.

-Gerald

**Ben** · 12-11-2006, 06:56 AM

I'm a big fan of Oolong and Pu-Erh. I also enjoy Chinese and Japanese green teas. My favorite vendor so far is Rishi Tea.

**ouch** · 12-11-2006, 07:12 AM

A lot of pu-erhs taste like dirt, but I hear some of the aged ones can be devine. They're hard to buy- I don't feel like getting stuck with a huge cake of something I can't stand.

Scotto- make with the pu-erh decants, already!

**moses** · 12-11-2006, 07:13 AM

What about the Japanese Iron teapots? My girlfriend's chinese roomate swore by them, in part to do with holding the heat very well, I think.

-Mo

**ouch** · 12-11-2006, 07:27 AM

The tetsubin teapots are nice, but they rust!

Had to give them up after I started stting off the metal detectors at airports.

**Scotto** · 12-11-2006, 07:29 AM

Most pu-erhs smell and taste like my wet basement. Nasty stuff.

**jnich67** · 12-11-2006, 07:35 AM

Hey there Scotto, I've been wanting to get into the whole tea thing lately. I understand that there are different "grades" of tea leaf - size? Can you comment on these? What would a novice look for.

Also, my sister-in-law is a tea fan and I'd like to get her a gift of good quality teas (she mainly drinks de-caf I think). Have you seen any gift sets that would be nice? Thanks.

Jordan

PS - Do you know of any good tea shops in the City? Thanks.

**KingGillette** · 12-12-2006, 02:30 PM

Have you tried Upton Tea Imports, available on the net as uptontea.com. Hundreds of teas from everywhere.

If it's green tea you want, try Ten Ren tea. They're on the Net, too, and have stores in Chinese neighborhoods of some major cities.

**orpheus** · 12-14-2006, 07:21 AM

http://www.marktwendell.com/Hukwa.htm

It uses words like "delicate". Perhaps this is an alternate definition of that word, because this stuff is STRONG! It is, by far, my favorite Lapsang Souchong tea. Very smoky aroma and flavor. Some have found it too much so, but I think it's perfect.

(I've never ordered it from the website, as it's available at Zabar's in Manhattan - close to home for me.)

I've found a weird thing recently, though: there are certain kinds of tea I can't drink anymore: Lapsang Souchong & Earl Grey being the main two. My throat starts to feel strange - like it's "closing up". I can still breathe easily, but my voice becomes higher and strained. Weird. And sad, since I really love these two varieties of tea.

But I still keep a tin of Hu-Kwa around, and open it up just to have the aroma permeate the room. Very pleasant indeed.

**Howard** · 12-14-2006, 08:29 AM

Concerning the merits of Pu-Erh, about which there seem to be differing opinions.

I believe the orgin of many of the brick teas from Yunnan was the trade through Tibet. They were pressed into bricks for convenience of transport on the caravan routes. Kunming, LiJiang, Zhongdian, etc. are on these old trade routes. Once you get into the northwest of Yunnan province on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau you start to get into the region where there are a lot of Tibetans. They drink their brick teas differently than the rest of the world does. After brewing the tea is generally mixed in a churn with yak butter and salt. You can drink it straight that way or mix it into a paste with parched barley (which tastes vaugely like popcorn). I like it, but it is quite different from the ways the rest of the world drinks tea.

Here's a picture of me and my family in 2004 enjoying some libations at 11,000 feet in Zhongdian. (Now renamed Shangri-La)

I've run into the same type of tea-drinking in the remote hills of Nepal. This picture is from the late 70's.

Brave souls among you may want to try brewing up some tea in the traditional Tibetan manner. Yak butter is a little hard to find here but regular butter will do.

Before I get kicked out of here I'll have to mention that I'm clean-shaven now.

**ouch** · 12-14-2006, 08:59 AM

Nice shave.

Apparently, yak butter isn't the only thing that's hard to find.

**moses** · 12-14-2006, 10:29 AM

Buttered, salted, Tibetan style tea is actually quite good. When I have had it, it has also been lightly milked. Surprisingly yummy.

-Mo

**Ben** · 12-14-2006, 11:39 AM

Yep. Mongolians also may add fried millet to the tea.

**netsurfr** · 01-13-2007, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by Scotto

I thought I would post on one of my other obsessions - fine loose leaf tea. I know there are other forum members out there who share this obsession. Chime in!

I have tried teas from all of the major online sources, at pretty much all prices. I also work with a diverse cultural crowd at work who are good at bringing me stuff from their homelands. I'll drink a pot of tea in the morning while reading the paper, usually a Chinese red ("black") tea or sometimes an English breakfast blend. In the mid-morning a good Oolong, and later lots of Green tea. I am particularly obsessed with Chinese green teas, especially Lung Ching ("Dragon Well").

I also keep track as best I can of what I taste. I'll attach a spreadsheet as an example for those who are interested. I got lazy for a while, but it has a fair amount of stuff in it for those who are interested in trying some teas. You can also filter it by tea type, vendor, etc. I haven't yet gotten nuts enough to keep track of shaving stuff this way, but perhaps our future B&B rating archive will fix all that.

All right, who are the other tea drinkers out there?

Edited: Apparently you can't attach an Excel file.... Nick?

I have recently become somewhat obsessed with fine teas also. At work I use a 16 oz Teavana steeper and get outstanding results. In the evening, my wife and I share a pot or two of tea using a Japanese cast iron tea kettle.
I am particularly fond of the green teas and the oolong teas. However, I will sometimes use some flavored teas with mint, chai or jasmine.
As an aside, my cholesterol has been in the 190-200 range using 10 mg or lipitor per day to regulate it. Since I started drinking green tea, my cholesterol dropped to 162. The only thing that has significantly changed in my life if my green tea consumption. I did not relate this to my green tea consumption until doing some research on the internet. This may not work for everyone but I will tell you that it certainly cannot hurt you.

Steve