Teas available in ethnic stores?

These teas can resemble virtually any flavor imaginable.


User avatar
Jun 7th, '05, 16:26
Mod/Admin
Posts: 620
Joined: Apr 19th, '05, 00:48
Has thanked: 1 time
Contact: teachat

Teas available in ethnic stores?

by teachat » Jun 7th, '05, 16:26

Can anyone recommend a brand name for osmanthus tea in ethnic grocery stores? I am also interested in other teas available commonly in ethnic markets.

Who else out there enjoys shopping in ethnic markets?

Mary

May 26th, '09, 22:03
Posts: 31
Joined: Apr 10th, '09, 16:00

by marlena » May 26th, '09, 22:03

I don't like osmanthus tea, so I don't know of any. I love lychee black in oriental stores. Generally I just buy a bunch and try them - they're usually pretty decent. Sadly, the same cannot be said of Indian ethnic store tea. They are almost all poor grade CTC. The Middle Eastern stores I've bought tea from have had nice peppermints, but that's not really a tea.

May 27th, '09, 05:32
Posts: 19
Joined: May 4th, '09, 06:31

by teanoob » May 27th, '09, 05:32

I have no experience with oriental stores but I agree with marlena on Indian stores, they are almost always poor quality CTC/Dust Teas which is what most Indians drink and is specifically catered to them.

User avatar
Jul 2nd, '09, 01:59
Posts: 169
Joined: Aug 24th, '08, 00:28
Location: Southeast NYS

Re: Teas available in ethnic stores?

by sneakers » Jul 2nd, '09, 01:59

teachat wrote:Who else out there enjoys shopping in ethnic markets?

Mary
I do, and we have loads in the suburbs of NYC. But I don't always know how to prepare the products unless I do homework ahead of time, which takes planning.

Re: tea that Indians drink. My Indian-American customer, who is otherwise a great cook, drinks cheap bagged tea, although she uses her own blend of chai spices. I guess she's been Americanized.

We do have many oriental markets here, and one carries about 50 loose teas and about 50 bagged teas. . I don't know how fresh they are, but I'm read to to try a small amount of something.

If i went into an Indian market, should I expect only cheap teas there?

Nov 16th, '09, 16:02
Posts: 9
Joined: Aug 26th, '09, 15:14

Re: Teas available in ethnic stores?

by MFA » Nov 16th, '09, 16:02

Even though India exports some fine Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiri teas, the average Indian only drinks really cheap, low-grade teas. Your friend is not Americanized. It has only been in the last few years that some companies are making an effort to reach more Indians with better teas.

User avatar
Dec 4th, '09, 01:43
Posts: 32
Joined: Aug 23rd, '09, 18:17
Location: Charleston, South Carolina

Re: Teas available in ethnic stores?

by tropicanahana » Dec 4th, '09, 01:43

It's always exciting to look through an ethnic market's tea selection and find some things I never seen or tried before!!!

Oriental markets always have the biggest tea selections I think. I could get lost in their tea isles. (Wow so many 'slimming teas' and beauty teas. And I love yama moto yama teas also the loose leaf ones in the pretty tins) Latin american stores I've been to don't have any. I got a few neat teas from a polish grocery but didn't like them lol and middle eastern stores usually have Ahmad teas which I like a lot.

I think the reason Indians drink such poor quality dust like teas is they doctor the teas up so much. My friend from India makes an excellent tea steaming fresh ground ginger (lots!!), cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, and honey with water & milk and then adds this tea which I first noticed is oddly fine and 'dusty' lol perfect description for it! Yet the quality gets lost in all the aromatic spices anyway. These everyday indian teas are not meant to be enjoyed straight up, though India does have some of the finest teas in the world that are maybe best plain, they are more common outside india. I just got a good quality assam tea from online and first though "will be perfect for chai" yet it's not... I actually like the cheap pg tips tea my friend gave me better with milk and spices. Yet the assam is so lovely on it's own - I thought the milk ruined it!

User avatar
Sep 13th, '10, 14:25
Posts: 344
Joined: Apr 9th, '07, 15:31
Location: Texas
Contact: tomasini

Re: Teas available in ethnic stores?

by tomasini » Sep 13th, '10, 14:25

When I lived in Georgia, well North metro area of Atlanta to be specific, the the primarily Vietnamese community markets were the most prominent places to find teas and occasionally some cool wares.
After being in Texas, I found that in San Antonio I was mostly shit outta luck and stuck with whole food or central market - in arlington I had sweet halall mart that I could snag some fine indian teas from...and any closer to dallas you're drinking teavana i believe.
And site not-
Have to agree on milk ruining the tea...it alters the flavor in a funky way and actually makes it a somewhat "neutral to negative" beverage because of its interaction with proteins in the milk...or something like that. I don't know.

+ Post Reply