Wednesday TeaDay 1/19/11 TeaBuyer of mystery?

[Chip]

Greetings TeaChatters. Please drop in and share what is in your cup throughout the day.

Monday and Tuesday we discussed preprepping for Shincha and New Harvest teas. You can still vote and discuss this topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. From which countries do you purchase your teas (not country of origin)? Bonus, and from which country the most? Please share.

As always i am looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with everyone, bottoms up.

[auhckw]

Lucky Malaysia is listed

[entropyembrace]

I´ve bought tea from...

Canada
Mexico
USA
Japan
China
India

Most frequent is probably the local shops in Canada...but I spend far more in my orders from Japan and China.

[Proinsias]

China is in the lead but recently UK purchases have been on the up.

90s sheng tuo this morning. A far more gentle and welcome wakey wakey than the black tea or coffee I've been having of late.

[bsteele]

Americuh



and Japan, Taiwan, China...

[Nenugal]

I buy mostly directly from China and Japan but sometimes from Norway (locally) or UK. I'm currently enjoying the 5th infusion of Hong Xin Te Chun Guan Yin Wang (spring 2010) from WanLingTeaHouse in UK.

[tortoise]

buying most of my tea from Japan these days, but I'd have to spend a lot of money there to catch up with the amount of tea I've purchased from US vendors. A distant third place would go to France or Italy.

No tea yet today.

[TwoPynts]

USA, then China, Japan and Taiwan.

No tea yet today for me either.

[brandon]

I seem to have bought tea from every country listed except Korea.

[laura99]

I purchase most of my teas from the USA still, with the exception of Japanese greens, which are now most all from Japan. Just started trying some Oolongs direct from China.

Yunnan green tea in my cup today, purchased from Norbu (USA)

[Chip]

USA
China
Japan
Taiwan

Hmmm, feeling like I need to expand this a bit.

Top spot goes to country of origin, Japan. Next would be USA.

[IPT]

Well, mine would be China first, of course, followed by Japan.

[debunix]

Most from US sources, but in the last two years, some orders from China, Japan, and the UK.

Today, Yamakai sencha from Norbu, Japanese tea from an American source. Yesterday, Dan Cong and Taiwanese teas from two different US sources.

[Stentor]

Ever since I've experienced the incredibly superior freshness of sencha from Japanese vendors, I have not bought locally.
Other than that, I bought some tea at Mariage Freres when I was in Paris last summer. It's overpriced, but it's hard to leave that place without taking something home.

[JRS22]

I've been shifting to US vendors for my chinese teas - mainly Seven Cups and to a lesser extent Tea Trekker. Seven Cups is a direct importer and provides all the detail I want about harvest time, location etc. Sourcing might change in the coming year as I learn more about puerh if I can't find what I want here. So far I've just purchased some young loose puerh - both sheng and shu. For some reason it tastes less bitter to me than the puerh from the first puerh OTTI. So of course I'm looking forward to the aged puerh OTTI to begin learning about aged sheng.

Thanks to Chip I took out my tea inventory sheet (inspired by an earlier teaday) and began using it as I drink tea to make up a shopping list for Spring 2011. First on the list - An Ji Bai Cha and Tai Ping Hou Kui.

In my cup this morning - Shi Feng Long Jing from jingteashop. As I learn to brew it I'm thinking that if 2011 is a better harvest year than 2010 I'll probably want to try it again.