Tea Snobbery

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 7:38 am

I'm a big fan of Oolong, Pu-Erh, green, and white teas.

msandoval858 · Post by **msandoval858** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:21 am

I'm a big Lapsang fan as well, though I don't drink it as often as I used to when I smoked pipes more regularly.

Nothing better than a nice bowl of Dunhill Night Cap with a cup of Lapsang!

MrSmooth · Post by **MrSmooth** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:03 am

When I'm not having coffee, I enjoy Pu-Erh (friends bring me this from Yunnan), Jasmine, Genmai-cha, Hoji-cha, Kukicha, Sencha, Lung Ching, white tea, and Earl Grey (but only Greys with a major hit of bergamot, like the one you used to be able to get from Adagio tea which even had bergamot petals in it).

A guy here at work let me try his Lapsang Souchong... it's pretty good. I don't smoke, but I enjoy smokiness (Islay, anyone?) as a flavor. He drinks it strong, with ginger and lime. I had it plain, but it was pretty nice.

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:23 am

MrSmooth wrote:When I'm not having coffee, I enjoy Pu-Erh (friends bring me this from Yunnan), Jasmine, Genmai-cha, Hoji-cha, Kukicha, Sencha, Lung Ching, white tea, and Earl Grey (but only Greys with a major hit of bergamot, like the one you used to be able to get from Adagio tea which even had bergamot petals in it).

I do enjoy many of those as well. I buy from www.rishi-tea.com and am quite happy with the service, packaging, and -- most importantly -- the quality. And this is especially good.

MrSmooth · Post by **MrSmooth** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:29 am

Ben wrote:
MrSmooth wrote:When I'm not having coffee, I enjoy Pu-Erh (friends bring me this from Yunnan), Jasmine, Genmai-cha, Hoji-cha, Kukicha, Sencha, Lung Ching, white tea, and Earl Grey (but only Greys with a major hit of bergamot, like the one you used to be able to get from Adagio tea which even had bergamot petals in it).
I do enjoy many of those as well. I buy from www.rishi-tea.com and am quite happy with the service, packaging, and -- most importantly -- the quality. And this is especially good.

Ben, looks like a great source. Once I get through another 2-3 teas, I'll place an order. Thanks for a new supplier recommend!

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:40 am

My pleasure. I really like the variety they have, and even their all-day, every day teas are of a very high quality.

Their Iron Goddess of Mercy (medium roast) Oolong and found it to be one of the finest I've tried. The tea flowers are superb. Very nice aroma and flavor. The Green Jade-Five Peaks (organic) is a wonderful all-day green tea of high quality and low price. And the Ancient Pu-erh Maiden (organic and Fair Trade certified) Pu-erh also is a great every day tea.

Now that I've had the chance to drink my way through all of those, I don't feel as reserved about trying some of the higher-priced offerings. I will likely buy some of their best Pu-erh sooner or later. And check out their teaware. Some very cool stuff.

Timpac · Post by **Timpac** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:49 am

Wish I'd noticed this thread sooner. I love Lapsang Souchong tea; it's my regular tea. And a great website for ordering leaf tea is dragonwater.com. They have good prices and teas ranging from quite inexpensive to bank-breakers. White, black and green teas, pu-erh, roibos, herbal blends, yerba mate, everything. Their stock most certainly varies depending on what's available on the world-market at any given time of year. They're NW located, too, so Laney should support them if he thinks about it. Good customer service; they always send a free sample of something and you can tell that each order is individually packed.

Oh, I agree that Iron Godess Oolong (Ti Kuan Yin) is simply amazing. I have to have time to go through several steepings, however, as it takes a few pots for the flavors to fully unfold. Each pot is different and the orchid finish is exquisite.

And I agree that Twinnings makes great tea, especially for tea bags. Their breakfast teas are great, though I think I might prefer the Irish one just a little bit.

Post by **ichabod** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:25 am

Timpac wrote:Wish I'd noticed this thread sooner. I love Lapsang Souchong tea; it's my regular tea. And a great website for ordering leaf tea is dragonwater.com. They have good prices and teas ranging from quite inexpensive to bank-breakers. White, black and green teas, pu-erh, roibos, herbal blends, yerba mate, everything. Their stock most certainly varies depending on what's available on the world-market at any given time of year. They're NW located, too, so Laney should support them if he thinks about it. Good customer service; they always send a free sample of something and you can tell that each order is individually packed.

Oh, I agree that Iron Godess Oolong (Ti Kuan Yin) is simply amazing. I have to have time to go through several steepings, however, as it takes a few pots for the flavors to fully unfold. Each pot is different and the orchid finish is exquisite.

And I agree that Twinnings makes great tea, especially for tea bags. Their breakfast teas are great, though I think I might prefer the Irish one just a little bit.

Evidently someone stole control of your keyboard momentarily.
I assume you're the guy enthusing about the Oolong, and its exquisite orchid finish.
If you can find the tastebud lacking fiend who typed the last two sentences when you weren't looking, you should tell him to post under his own name...

Timpac · Post by **Timpac** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:27 pm

lol. At home I only drink loose leaf tea, but you gotta find some decent tea bags for on the road, or at work and the like. If all I want is decent black tea at work, Twinnings is pretty good.

dennisthemenace · Post by **dennisthemenace** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:59 pm

ForestryProf wrote:
dennisthemenace wrote:What? No Lapsang Souchong fans out there? I'm not surprised really. I love it, but my wife who is a great tea fan doesn't at all; so I seldom get it. She says it's a tea that only a pipe smoker of English/Balkan mixtures could love. That be me. Though I like most other teas as well. Irish Breakfast is great stuff!
I too enjoy Lapsang Souchong, but not on its own. I typically buy 4oz each of Lapsang Souchong and Assam and mix them together in a tin. Wonderful cuppa tea! The resulting cup is similar to some Russian Caravan blends I've had, but a bit more flavorful...and it doesn't stink up my office (at least, none of my graduate students have complained so far).

Ed

That sounds really good! Thanks! I'll have to try that one.

dennisthemenace · Post by **dennisthemenace** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:02 pm

msandoval858 wrote:I'm a big Lapsang fan as well, though I don't drink it as often as I used to when I smoked pipes more regularly.

Nothing better than a nice bowl of Dunhill Night Cap with a cup of Lapsang!

Oh yes! Nightcap (or most any heavy Latakia mixture) and Lapsang Souchong are made for each other!

Post by **ichabod** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 6:30 am

Timpac wrote:lol. At home I only drink loose leaf tea, but you gotta find some decent tea bags for on the road, or at work and the like. If all I want is decent black tea at work, Twinnings is pretty good.

My wife and I travel with our tea pot, loose leaf tea, and kettle. No no, not lame, meticulous and passionate

We both love a smoky scotch, so I think I'll have to revisit these smoky teas being mentioned.

Gillette1904 · Post by **Gillette1904** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 7:31 pm

rustyblade wrote:I bought a pack of this tea today. I steeped it for 4 minutes as per the instructions, but I don't find it any stronger than a typical cup of Tetley's Orange Pekoe, for example. I certainly didn't find it stronger than Twinings Irish or English Breakfast. It does have a very nice flavour. How long do you let it steep?

Not long at all. Maybe two minutes.

Almost all Indian-branded tea made for the Indian market, like most supermarket tea in the UK and North America, is 'CTC' tea. The CTC stands for 'cut-twist-curl', and refers to the fact that the tea leaf is mechanically chopped so finely that it's almost shredded before being rolled into very tiny balls. The idea is that more surface area will be exposed, and thus the infusion time will be shorter. The downside is that more bitter tannins are also infused quickly, so if you aren't careful you will wind up with an overly pungent brew.

Old fashioned 'Orthodox Leaf' tea, with its long twisty strands, needs anywhere from three to five minutes to steep, depending on the type. But that type of tea is difficult to find these days, and can be pricey when you do find it. Most tea packets still tell the consumer to steep their tea for that amount of time, even though that sort of tea has not seen the inside of a supermarket package in years. If you're using CTC tea, you should taste it after one minute, but definitely stop the brewing after two. All the flavor you would get from the tea will have infused by then, and from that point on it will just become more bitter and "stewy".

javyn · Post by **javyn** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:42 pm

Great advice, Michael. It doesn't mean though to avoid CTC teas, they stand up well to milk. They are great for breakfast. Or if you want to go to the trouble of making masala chai (I don't). I soak some whole cardamom seeds sometimes in it though. So gooooood

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:46 pm

John, Those Indian packed teas, like that Brook Bond you pictured, or Liptons Yellow Label, ARE potent, but they're not that good, IMO. They all seem to be that CTC stuff, and you're just not going to get a good cup of Assam that way. It's a pity too, because I can get those Indian teas here in Tampa, but not any decent orthodox leaf brands. Assams are my special thing, and I still think that, without getting into the turkey shoot of single estate teas, the best are from Fortnum & Mason, generally, IMO. Jacksons, Taylor of Harrogate, and Betjeman & Barton also do some fine othodox leaf Assam blends. It seems to be getting harder and harder to get quality blends in the US, as the best UK packers are continueing to dissappear from our market. Recently, I had a lb. of Twinings best Assam from their shop in Paris ( thank ye, Chris ), and it was just superb. No hope of getting anything like that out of them, if one is in North America. Very frustrating. BTW, nice looking greens. Green tea is not my thing, but I know good looking leaf when I see it.
Regards,
Gordon

yourmando · Post by **yourmando** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:31 pm

I'm a huge tea fan myself and have a museum-like collection.

I start my day by whipping up a bowl of matcha tea. This the whole tea leaf ground into a very fine, bright green powder. These are typically made with the finest leaves, since they are consumed whole. It might be a bit of an acquired taste to drink a whipped-up bowl of creamy tea. It's kind of like drinking a latte versus drip coffee. For those into the health benefits of green tea--drinking matcha is a good way to get the most from the leaves. And I find the light "buzz" I get from it is quite unlike the frenetic feeling I get from coffee. It's actually a bit euphoric for me (green tea has long been used as in conjunction with meditation for this reason). It has a bit more caffeine than brewed tea, but still less than a cup of coffe. These days I get my matcha from http://www.matchaandmore.com, as they offer some of the nicest "thick" machas I have tried from koyama-en. I find it's a great way to wake up and start the day.

Throughout the day, I still enjoy a small pot or two of the usual brewed varieties. I've tried lots of teas from shops all over, and am actually quite pleased with the teas at Peet's Coffee and Tea on the West Coast. Their buyer is quite good at sourcing some great teas. They don't have the finest teas one can buy, but I have found their quality and value be be surprisingly high. They can be had online as well at: http://www.peets.com/shop/tea.asp

Armando

AACJ · Post by **AACJ** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:44 pm

designwise1 wrote:I like Lapsang Souchong occasionally. I also enjoy Latakia laced pipe tobacco in the cooler months. LapSou tastes like a housefire smells and Latakia is like a leaf fire in Autumn.

I agree with you, I couldn't nail down the smell when I first tried it except that it smelled very familiar. Then, I went to a house fire (I'm a volunteer firefighter) and as soon as we pulled up and I got out of the engine it hit me. I believe it's the pine that they use to dry the leaves that gives it the smokey flavor and most homes are built with pine 2 x 4's as the framing members, which burn readily when fire is applied.

rustyblade · Post by **rustyblade** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:19 am

What is your run-of-the-mill every day tea in America? I was making some assumptions earlier about Tetley's Orange Pekoe which is generally what people in Canada consider "a cup of tea." This is the same tea that is your every day cuppa in England. It is probably the most popular tea sold in Canada.

I was wondering because some of you were mentioning "strong tea" and Brook Bond Red Label. To me, this tea is very similar to Tetleys in taste (not quite the same though) and the Red Label is not as strong as equally time-brewed Tetley's Orange Pekoe.

Cigar Dan · Post by **Cigar Dan** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:00 pm

ichabod wrote:We both love a smoky scotch...

Let me guess...Lagavulin.

Good stuff. I love it, but I'd have to hold a gun to my wife's head to make her drink my scotch or my cognac.

I've got lot to learn about tea however. I enjoy a good cup of tea (or what I thought was a good cup of tea). I need to expand my horizons in this area.

Post by **ichabod** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:14 pm

Cigar Dan wrote:
ichabod wrote:We both love a smoky scotch...
Let me guess...Lagavulin.

Good stuff. I love it, but I'd have to hold a gun to my wife's head to make her drink my scotch or my cognac.

I've got lot to learn about tea however. I enjoy a good cup of tea (or what I thought was a good cup of tea). I need to expand my horizons in this area.

Talisker is a favourite also, any of the island malts. Funnily enough, me being the Brit living in Scotland when we met and my wife being from the Midwest, she was the one with the taste for it first, and I grew into it from her influence.
Tea was my influence, of course