Dark Side Confession

[Rainy]

I went to my local tea shop- Seven Cups and bought....
green tea
I know! I know! I was strongly influence by
the two preteens who were with me and love
green tea.
The selection of black tea was very nice- several keemun, lapsang,
a dozen(atleast) pu erh and several I did not recognize. The girls who
were working were very nice and very knowledgeble.

I also purchased a glass tea pot, one larger glass chinese tea cup and two very small glass tea tasting cups.

Please don't make me walk toward the Light

[Victoria]

My goodness!! What's next ... Oolong?????

Got pics of your new stuff???

[Rainy]

Oh Victoria- it was Oolong land-over 2 dozen Oolongs
I was expecting an oolongian to jump out and grab me-
It was a near miss!

Photos soon- we had make tea first- the green is a
Genmai Cha. One kid liked- I loved it- one said 'bleck".

We also picked up a presentation tea- they loved the bloom.
Not so much the tea- I loved it too.

The shame...

[Salsero]

I went to my local tea shop- Seven Cups and bought....

I am so jealous that you have such a great local shop!

[RussianSoul]

Welcome to the green side, Rainy! Even if you are only visiting . It is so fresh here, would you say?

Genmaicha is great, very tasty. It was my first green tea too. But I have to warn you - I am hooked now

[Victoria]

Yes those blooming teas usually look better than they taste.

But they are fun.

Looking forward to your pictures.

[geeber1]

That's okay, Rainy.

I'm also a Dark Sider, but I just got done drinking about a BUCKET full of Oolong at one of our local Chinese restaurants.

It was really good, but very dark, I'll have to ask Victoria what variety it might have been. We tried to ask the waitress but we were having a communication issue. She did give me a huge styrofoam cup full of the tea to bring home, though.

I've had some fun trying different teas, but still come back to the Dark Side every time!

[jashnew]

Rainy- I drink black, green, and rooibos. Are you trying more green and liking it? Black is the best but green is good as well. I only drink Chinese green teas. The Japanese green is too grassy for me.

[Geekgirl]

It was really good, but very dark, I'll have to ask Victoria what variety it might have been. We tried to ask the waitress but we were having a communication issue.

Probably Bai Hao aka Oriental Beauty. Closest I've found to typical chinese restaurant tea is Adagio's Oolong #40. SensationalTeas has a Bai Hao that is also very close.

[Victoria]

Geeber, it was probably some type of wuyi - they never want to tell for whatever reason.

I guess to keep you coming back!

[Geekgirl]

Hehe, they never want to tell because the tea comes in great big 1 lb foil packs that say O O L O N G and a single chinese character printed on it. I'm not entirely sure they know what specific tea they are serving in most of those places.

When I was just out of high school, I worked for a chinese restaurant, and we made tea each day in the biggest imported tea brewer you ever saw in your life. The basket held a full pound bag. The foil bags came in a giant box wrapped in plastic, the bags weren't stamped with much, and the box had barely anything more. It's likely that the servers have very little idea of the tea specifics. I didn't. I knew it was oolong, but that's about it.

Mable, the owner, drank that tea sometimes, but usually she drank chinese style, some loose leaf green in the bottom of her cup that she topped off continually.

[Chip]

Green Tea Collective checking in. Resistance is futile...

Man...Seven Cups...local...TeaShop Envy...I have heard they are da bomb.

[henley]

Hehe, they never want to tell because the tea comes in great big 1 lb foil packs that say O O L O N G and a single chinese character printed on it. I'm not entirely sure they know what specific tea they are serving in most of those places.

Thank you! That explains sooo much. When we eat Japanese, I usually ask what kind of green tea they've served & the answer is always "it come in big bag".

Rainy & Geeber1 - It's fun trying new teas. Last year I was only drinking black tea. Now I'm part of the RAINBOW COALITION. Watch out!!!

[Beidao]

Genmaicha was one of my first greens. Now I've found even better ones You have only just begun your travel that will end in the great green garden.

[kymidwife]

I went to a Japanese sushi/hibachi place last night that has "Japanese Oolong" on the menu. I tried to order it the last time I was there, and they'd run out. So I ended up drinking a pot of green. Last night, however, they were not out, so I ordered the oolong.

They brought it out in the same small pot as the green. It was super light in color, lighter than any I've brewed at home. When I first tasted it, it had the most distinct and noticeable texture on my tongue... very silky, almost thick, not exactly oily but as if there was a silky texture left over on my tongue after. The taste was super mild on the first cup, but stronger on the next couple that got me closer to the bottom of the pot. It was enjoyable, but not nearly as good as the oolongs I've been having at home. I got curious to look at the inside of the pot because I loved the shape and size of it... and was wondering if it was glazed or not glazed, so I opened it up... and there was an infuser basket inside with... a TEA BAG. LOL. There was no identifying paper tag on the end of the string so I couldn't investigate the brand. I wouldn't have bought it anyway, it was just curiousity.

I still want the pot.

Anyway, just wanted to share my first oolong restaurant experience.

Sarah