Tea Party

[KAV]

Coffebeans are graded and aficiandos will roast and grind their own. A premium is paid for PEABODY, or double beans that are sorted seperate for even greater intensity of flavour.
That's the 'snob' side of coffee VS a styrofoam cup at DUNKIN DONUTS.
Anyone ever venture to LOOK at tea? I don't mean a microscope, but merely laid out and perhaps a magnifying glass utilised.
Sweepings and dust is a generous description for the widow's weeds compared to a full leaf of quality tea.

[razorburned]

I stopped by my local merchant yesterday (the one I linked before Nicholas ) to see what was not on their site tea wise... they do carry Taylors and Twinings (which still carries the royal warrant from Elizabeth II) along with many others. I skipped the Taylors for now as it is on my holiday wish list, but if I don't get it then, I will have it by New Years. I instead got Twinings Earl Grey and Prince of Wales, both in loose for about $5.75 per 100g. The Earl is ok, not the best I have had. I have not had a 'good' cup of the Prince of Wales yet though. Need to figure out the steeping I think....it was just bad.

So I have 2 questions....

The first is the 'Best Before' dates.... These are in tin cans, with foil seals, but they have Best Before dates that are less than a year away.... are these old (been on the shelf a while) or does tea have a short shelf life? How much does tea degrade over time? Or are these just required dates, but really just BS that I can ignore?

Second, Should the Prince of Wales (discribed on the tin as 'A velvety smooth & mild blend of teas from China) be brewed differently than black teas from say India (Assam) or Sri Lanka (Ceylon)? According to Wikipedia Prince of Wales is a blend made for Edward VIII consisting of high grade Keemun blended with other teas from around China such as Gunpowder, Oolong, and Lucky Dragon.

[KAV]

Treat your tea like you do that treasured discontinued bottle of aftershave. The same things affect it; sunlight,heat,moisture,exposure to
pollutants in the air etc.
A tin box is adequate, or you can buy ceramic or steel containers with tight fitting lids for bulk tea in paper packets.
Your black teas can last with optimal care up to 3 years, the more delicate 2.
In a perfect world without favoured teas and aftershaves becoming unavailable the best recourse is to buy smaller quantities and drink it well before any potential expiration.

[razorburned]

What about steeping of the PoW tea? As it is China tea, would you steep less or at a lower temp?

[bernards66]

razorburned, Just checked your site and that is the 'American Twinings'; stuff that is blended specifically for the American market and shipped over here, often in bulk. I wouldn't expect much from it as it's even more mediocre that what they generally sell to the folks back home. Only the Darjeeling is even worth buying, IMO. The Prince of Wales blend used to be as you say, primarily Keemun with other China teas thrown it. Years ago it was quite good but what they sell us now is pretty much tasteless in my experiance. I'd steep the stuff at least five minutes to get anything at all out of it.

Richard, As Dominic pointed out, 'dust' is a recognized type of commercial grade/size and it, along with fannings...the next largest size is what has been largely used in tea bags for ages. These grades brew quickly but lack much real character. The British packers also use a lot of that African CTC stuff in their blends because it is; a) strong, b) relatively inexpensive, c) very consistant, and d) can be machine packed into bags easily ( which higher grade orthodox manufacture whole and broken grade leaf can not ). If one insists on drinking mass market tea bag tea, at least the British stuff is a bit better because of their use of this stuff. But genuinely good tea is like top quality shave products; once you get used to it you can not go back to the mass market chain store tea bags....you just can't.
Regards,
Gordon

[razorburned]

Gordon, just to be clear, CTC is the most common method of tea processing in the 21st century, including in India (about 80% of Indian tea is CTC now), so it is not just African tea that gets this treatment.

Basic explanation of CTC:

Crush, Tear, and Curl, also known as Cut, Twist, Curl. Instead of the leaves being rolled (as they used to), they are passed through a series of cylindrical rollers with hundreds of small sharp "teeth" that Crush, Tear, and Curl. This produces 80% to 90% of a tea processed this way into small, broken, primary grades suitable for tea bag blends (this is dust and fannings) ; the balance 10% to 20% is composed of secondary grades which trade at a discount to the primary grades.

The Twinings I have is not just for the American market, but for export from England in general. The tin states "Blended and packaged from imported teas by R. Twinings & Company Limited, London England..... Product of the U.K." indicating that the tea was imported to the UK where is was blended and packaged prior to being shipped abroad. Maybe I am wrong, but I still consider that English Twinings. Additionally the tin has information in many languages and lists importers in these countries:

Australia
Argentina
Belgium
Bulgaria
China
Czech Republic
Croatia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hungary
Italy
Malaysia
Netherlands
Norway
New Zealand
Portugal
Philippines
Russian Federation
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland (GmbH imports for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland)
Taiwan
United States (for USA and Canada)

(please note that product for both Greece and Italy are actually imported by R. Twinings & Company Limited, London England)

[merkri]

What about steeping of the PoW tea? As it is China tea, would you steep less or at a lower temp?

The issue isn't so much the region it's from as the fact that it presumably has oolongs and maybe greens in it.

So much of this is about taste. I would try steeping it as you would your favorite blacks, and then try steeping it a tad below boiling (e.g., around 180 F). See what you like more, or if it makes a difference to you at all. I tend to steep blacker oolongs like I would any other black, and greens and pouchongs at less-than-boiling temps for slightly less time. Blends of greens, blacks, and oolongs are trickier.

You should just see what you like--there's no right or wrong way to do it.

[changabang]

specialteas.com They have a very good, if somewhat pricey selection, and very nicely organized, categorically.
I haven't ordered from them recently, but they've never disappointed me.

[bernards66]

razorburned, Or, 'crush, curl, cut'....take your pick. It's machine processed tea that comes out like little pellets. And yes, it's used now in many tea producing areas ( although not all ), but it was first used on a large scale for the Kenya tea crop starting in the 1930s. It's more efficent to do it this way, obviously, and lends itself to considerable consistancy, but it is an inferior way to process tea. I've had samples of the tiny amount of Kenya tea that is made by the orthodox method and believe me, it was leagues above what that tea usually is.

Yes, Twinings is spreading that stuff all over these days, but it started out as bulk shipping to their facility in North Carolina for sale in North America. And it is still different from the teas they sell in the UK. Not that they are any great shakes either, but they are somewhat better. It's a shame. As late as the early '90s we were getting exactly the same tea as they sold in their shop in London....it was packed and sent out from there as well as being sold on British shelves; 1/4 and 1/2 lb tins of most of the blends, plus their superb line of 'vintage' Assam and Darjeeling and specialty numbers like their Russian Caravan blend. The only way to get really good tea out of Twinings today is to walk into one of their two shops, or if you live in the UK and know their stock order it by post, or live in Japan....they seem to get everything....sigh.
Regards,
Gordon

[Araner]

I've been drinking Brodies breakfast tea lately. It's a mix of Assam and bright East Africa tea. Brodies is a company in Scotland that has supposedly been in this business since 1867. What I know is that the tea tastes good to me.

Araner

[bernards66]

Araner, See my post above regarding the original 'Breakfast' tea. It was first offered by Drysdales of Edinburgh in the latter 19th c. In 1992 Brodies absorbed Drysdales, so, their 'Scottish Breakfast Tea' is the linear descendant of the original. It's not the same though, nor as good, as the head of Brodies admitted to me via email a few years ago. It's not bad, but it's CTC tea today whereas originally it was mostly BOP Assams.
Regards,
Gordon

[DEF]

Well, all this interesting tea talk has got me researching on the internet. In addition to keeping some morning Assam around, I think I'll buy a couple of gaiwans and some oolong tea and start down that path. Once I get my stout morning cuppa in me, anything I'd want to drink for the rest of the day would be more on the delicate side.

Any "gongfu" masters here?

[bernards66]

Doug, Well, oolongs aren't really my thing but the few primo ones I've tried have been from Formosa....quite pricey too. Again, Uptons has a good selection. Be aware though that oolongs drunk in the traditional gongfu manner pack considerable punch. Happy hunting.
Regards,
Gordon

[notthesharpest]

So, how do I distinguish CTC-processed tea from other tea?

I have had tea that looked like little pellets before, and I thought that must be what everybody was referring to. But now I drink some very-cheap-indeed tea ("Bee Brand", apparently from Sri Lanka, at around $6 a pound) and it just looks like small bits of broken leaves.

[DEF]

Thanks, Gordon. Maybe gongfu isn't the right direction; I'm looking for delicate brews more than power-packed ones. I'm sure I could still brew a nice green or white in a gaiwan. I'm also thinking I'll get some double-walled glass Bodum cups.

[bernards66]

David, You've got it right; by appearance. As you've seen, CTC manufactured tea is small uniform granules. As was noted above, most of the Indian tea today, and virtually all of the African crops, are processed this way. But most Ceylon tea, as well as Darjeelings and China leaf, is still done via the orthodox manufacture method. Orthodox manufacture is kind of like tallow....that is, it does not guarentee a superior product, but depending upon the other factors involved, will produce a superior cup, other things being more or less equal. There is some awful orthodox manufacture tea being produced, BUT, all the best teas are made this way, never with the CTC method.
Regards,
Gordon

[function]

I had forgotten about this thread when I ran out of teh last of my grocery-store bought tea(English Breakfast of course, what do you expect from a Yank).

I decided to head to the local Expat & Anglophile emporium where I decided on an Irish Breakfast from Taylors of Harrogate. I am only a couple sittings in, but could not be happier with the choice. The blend is smoother than the English Breakfast teas I have purchased and it takes milk and Demerara sugar beautifully.

I noticed Ty-phoo there as well as many others mentioned in the thread, and I will have to explore a bit soon. In other news, I am trying to talk the owner into carrying Real Shaving Co creams as his budget line to work with the three T's and others he carries, hopefully next time I will remember to bring him a tube.

[naturalpuerh]

OK, YOU DID IT AGAIN. NOW YOU ARE BANNED.