TeaChat

Hi all,

Just a quick introduction, I've been drinking tea my whole life, but not with much attention until recently. Most of my experience has been with blacks, and I do enjoy the (very occasional) addition of milk and sugar. I've been looking into teas for about a year now, and have finally got around to ordering some of the "good" stuff online.

To echo my post in the stickied thread, I'm expecting orders from TeaSource (White Tip Earl Grey, Khongea Assam 2nd flush, Gingia Assam 2nd flush, Glendale Nilgiri Handmade) and Camellia-Sinensis (autumn Anxi Tie Guan Yin 2, winter Li Shan, roasted Dong Ding Mr. Chang, 1983 Pinglin Bao Zhong; hurray for free shipping).

Really excited about the oolong order, in particular, since I've not tried one before, but all the descriptions I've read about it suggest it'll be to my taste. Rest assured, I'll be posting about the resulting successes/failures

I do plan on giving a serious try to greens and whites, but one thing at a time

Anyway, happy to be here, and looking forward to much tea chat. Cheers!

Welcome to TeaChat!

As well as ordering online (and you have chosen 2 fine sources from which to order) there are a couple of good local tea stores in Toronto. I would be interested to learn which local Toronto places you have tried.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

Thanks, Sherubtse! And I'd love to know what those are. The online vendors I picked after much lurking here, but I haven't come across mention of good brick-and-mortar stores in Toronto. I've only been to David's Tea, and I think I'll go back there for some scented teas, but not much else.

dRummie wrote:Thanks, Sherubtse! And I'd love to know what those are. The online vendors I picked after much lurking here, but I haven't come across mention of good brick-and-mortar stores in Toronto. I've only been to David's Tea, and I think I'll go back there for some scented teas, but not much else.

Let me know which types of tea you are interested in, and I will suggest some TO shops to try.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

Hmm.. well, I'd love to have a local source for just about anything, but especially good black tea of the stronger types, like Assams.
Also, if you know of anyplace I could give Pu Erh a try without buying whole cakes. I'm all set with major tea purchases for now, but it would be nice to get my feet wet with some samples I don't have to have shipped. Thanks!

dRummie wrote:Hmm.. well, I'd love to have a local source for just about anything, but especially good black tea of the stronger types, like Assams.
Also, if you know of anyplace I could give Pu Erh a try without buying whole cakes. I'm all set with major tea purchases for now, but it would be nice to get my feet wet with some samples I don't have to have shipped. Thanks!

Well, for blacks I would suggest T-Buds. They have perhaps the best balance / trade-off of selection, quality and price in the city.

For pu-erhs, try Tea Dynasty. In addition, you can get some nice Chinese greens at Tea Dynasty.

Both shops are good places to start exploring what Toronto has to offer in terms of loose leaf tea. And both places sell tea in smaller, sample-size lots.

I would also suggest that you stay away from the chains. If, however, you must go to a chain, then The Tea Emporium would be the best bet for both blacks and pu-erhs. But they refuse to sell in less than 50 g., unless you buy a high end tea from them.

Hope this helps. Please keep me posted.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

Agreed, dissatisfaction with chains is exactly why I finally worked up to an online order. I haven't heard of either T-Buds or Tea Dynasty before, so I will be sure to check them out. Many thanks.

Welcome dRummie to TeaChat! We have lots of Canadians here sharing their TeaKnowledge with us.

Please feel free to share what teas you are drinking with us in TeaDay and I am looking forward to seeing you around the forum!

dRummie wrote:I haven't heard of either T-Buds or Tea Dynasty before, so I will be sure to check them out. Many thanks.

I'm not surprised that you haven't heard of them, as they are fairly low-key. Although their teas aren't stellar, they offer good teas at good prices.

Here are the relevant links:

http://www.t-buds.com/index.php

http://www.tea-dynasty.com/

Best wishes,
sherubtse

Thank you both - glad to be here

This might be a tad bit late, but saying hi is all that matters
Welcome to the world of tea-addicts (^-^)

If you would ever like to find out where to get Gong-fu teaware just give a shout. Or even cakes of Pu-erh or Dancong or Dahongpao
-I've gone through the whole city searching high and low haha.

tieguanyinfan wrote:If you would ever like to find out where to get Gong-fu teaware just give a shout. Or even cakes of Pu-erh or Dancong or Dahongpao -I've gone through the whole city searching high and low haha.

I'm interested in those places. Please let me know the ones you have in mind.

Thanks.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

In case anyone in Toronto is still interested, Tao Tea Leaf has gongfu teaware and cakes of puer and Da Hong Pao. You should check it out if you haven't already.

ShengCha wrote:In case anyone in Toronto is still interested, Tao Tea Leaf has gongfu teaware and cakes of puer and Da Hong Pao. You should check it out if you haven't already.

Yes, Tao Tea Leaf is an excellent shop for Chinese teas, the best in the city. It has the prices to match, too.

Best wishes,
sherubtse