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I'm very new to green tea, and I'd like to start out by tasting a wide range of greens from different countries/regions/etc. Can anyone recommend some samples/sample sets to get started?

I have already ordered and received the Den's $3 sampler. I'm having a hard time finding similar sets for Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, etc. greens.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Welcome to TeaChat.

OTTI!!!

OTTI indeed!

PS: Are you dropping a hint? Do I need to start stalking the OTTI forum RIGHT NOW?!

dzrogers wrote:OTTI indeed!

PS: Are you dropping a hint? Do I need to start stalking the OTTI forum RIGHT NOW?!

I would!

In that case, I'll be sleeping with one eye open and one finger on the refresh button.

dzrogers wrote:In that case, I'll be sleeping with one eye open and one finger on the refresh button.

... well, regardless I give a 3 day prior notification on an upcoming OTTI. So just do not hibernate!

Try www.teatrekker.com

They sell a wide variety of fine teas, most of which are available as 14 gram samples. The price of the sample varies with the price of the tea, so more than $3, but you do have enough tea for 4 to 5 sessions.

JRS22 wrote:Try http://www.teatrekker.com

They sell a wide variety of fine teas, most of which are available as 14 gram samples. The price of the sample varies with the price of the tea, so more than $3, but you do have enough tea for 4 to 5 sessions.

Thank you for the suggestion!

The problem I find with these sorts of webstores is that the selection is vast (both exciting and daunting), and I don't know enough about what's what to really choose a few introductory teas. Unfortunately, finances being as they are, I can't afford to grab a lot of samples when they are $5-$10 a pop.

Can you or anyone else recommend some specific types of tea to sort of start out with? I'm thinking something along the lines of 3-4 introductory teas for each country. Maybe I'm asking the impossible.

Hopefully, this mystery OTTI will help. At this point, I think curated samples are going to be the most edifying. I'm hoping that the members here can help point me in the right direction.

I don't know if this matters, but I've had a few gunpowder greens from unknown sources. I like those. I have a Dobra Tea Room nearby, and I have some of their Dian Lu Eshan which I understand is a Mao Feng. I like its delicate sweetness.

I've never had a Korean green tea unless you count restaurant stuff, and I haven't the slightest clue what they are serving.

So far I've only tried one of the Den's samples, Sencha Fuku-Midori. I liked the second infusion more than the first. It was a good tea, but I haven't developed an appreciation for bitterness/astringency yet. I prefer something sweeter, so I'm think maybe I should try Den's Sencha Extra Green with Matcha? I'm I barking up the right tree?

Can't vouch for overall quality since I've only tried two teas of theirs, but Obubu sells a sampler set of every (green, Japanese)tea the farm produces.

dzrogers wrote:So far I've only tried one of the Den's samples, Sencha Fuku-Midori. I liked the second infusion more than the first. It was a good tea, but I haven't developed an appreciation for bitterness/astringency yet. I prefer something sweeter, so I'm think maybe I should try Den's Sencha Extra Green with Matcha? I'm I barking up the right tree?

Alright... thinking back to when I had ordered the sampler...

-Try the Genmaicha Extra Green or Houjicha for sweetness. If you don't like the "toasty" notes, then yes, Sencha Extra Green would be your next choice.
-FWIW, I enjoyed the other samples more than the Fukamidori.
-Den's shincha (won't be available till next spring) easily eclipsed both the Fukamidori and Sencha Extra Green.
-I have a soft spot for the company, can't recommend them enough, and will order from them without hesitation. However, you should note that they are not --nor do I believe they try or claim to be-- the absolute pinnacle of Japanese greens. And that's fine by me

When I recommended Tea Trekker I was thinking of their Chinese teas. If I were you I'd consider beginning with one category, like Chinese greens or oolongs and study the descriptions. That way you can use the samples to do comparisons within a category and get a sense of the range of teas that are available.

Also, see if you can get Harney and Sons Guide to Tea from the library or secondhand. Each chapter is organized as a tea tasting of one category of tea and good for a beginner.

teahome on ebay has fair priced samples of oolong if your interested

no green tea though

Rishi has added some flights: http://www.rishi-tea.com/category/s?keyword=flight
It would be better if they had unflavored flights.
*For your information only. This is not to be misconstrued as my approval of the flights or the teas in them.

Seven Cups has several sample sets:

http://www.sevencups.com/tea_shop/Tea_Samplers/

Floating Leaves also has some samples: http://www.floatingleavestea.com/index. ... 04c886c08d