Tuesday TeaDay 7/15/08 Tea vendor fanatic?

[Trey Winston]

BTW, for anyone who like archetectural style photos, check out this shot.

That looks like a piece of modern art. I had to look closely before I could see what it was. Cool.

[Michael_C]

This thread has me thinking... we should start a thread of (tea) travel photos - I love looking at the landscapes being posted here. I have loads of pictures of my shinto temple crawls, and Japanese tea farms... when I get home tonight...

[olivierco]

Todd and Holland--yes they are super expensive.

Perhaps too expensive.
Difficult anyway to judge from their website:
Quite no pictures of the tea and very little useful informations.
Darjeelings without harvest year and no DJ batch number for example.

An offering of Japanese teas is not complete without a Gyokuro. This famous pale green "jewel dew" tea from Asahina is a little more astringent than the Senchas. The bright liquor of this delicious tea is as refreshing as it is beautiful.

[Chip]

Well, I think I am extremely fanatical. Grocery stores no way, fancy gourmet stores--meh. Even on the internet where I thought I was getting good quality from reputable sources--it has just been decent. I have to say, the best place I bought tea to date is Todd and Holland--yes they are super expensive. So expensive that I try to shop around every time before I order from them and just see if maybe there are better deals and when I do order from some place else, I am always disappointed somewhat. Now I hope I have learned my lesson. I have five different 100g teas in my cabinet right now that are okay to nice, and I am kicking myself because I would rather have 2 teas that knock my socks off than five that don't. I hate it because now I feel like I need to drink what I bought and just wait a few months to buy some more "of the good stuff", but frankly, I don't want to--yet how can I justify oh, yes DH, I know I just spent a 100.00 on tea, but it was just okay so I am going to spend another 125.00. Yeah, um suck it up and drink it!!!--that's what I am going to keep telling myself until it's gone (stay strong...stay strong....stay strong). Mind you it's not bad at all, it's just not what I have been spoiled on from Todd and Holland.

T&H...yeah, pricey!!!! I have never tried their's because it was so pricey tbh. But I think most of us have been at the point where we were not wowed by what was in our tea stock...and remembered the sensational tea we had had...and want it NOW.

I am between pretty and extremely. I am very particular about who I consider a regular vendor who gets the lion's share of my business. I spent 4 years going through very mediocre Japanese teas...never again. With Japanese teas, I am extremely particular. I have my 3 rgulars, but I always have a few X factor vendors in the mix that I am trying. I always want to try new teas.

Oolong...I am completely reliant on a few members for hooking me up. I am growing extremely particular in this area.

Other teas...Adagio and a few others.

Adagio Keemun this morning and currently O-Cha Hatsumi.

Thanx for the pictures everyone!

[Chip]

Todd and Holland--yes they are super expensive.

An offering of Japanese teas is not complete without a Gyokuro. This famous pale green "jewel dew" tea from Asahina is a little more astringent than the Senchas. The bright liquor of this delicious tea is as refreshing as it is beautiful

More astringent? More rich, yes. More sweet, yes. Less grassy, sometimes. More astringent...maybe the writer does not brew gyokuro properly?

[Victoria]

In my cup today is Adagio's Wuyi Ensemble. I've really enjoyed this one & look to order more when my sample runs out. It's been interesting learning about Wuyi & where it originated.

Lovey Pic!!!
There are lots of wuyi in the box pass! At least last time I looked!


Brewing up some nice AliShan here at work this morning.
Ahhhhhhhhhhh that's better!

[Catsgurleygirl]

I agree that no pics is not an invitation to buy from T&H, it also seems that the descriptions used to be a little bit better in the past. I do wonder though if they now rely more on store business than internet esp in a new bigger store? I guess it doesn't phase me personally because I have never bought anything that I have not been delighted with or, even if wasn't my favorite, that I doubted the quality of, not to mention you can call them and ask questions, and you can also get smaller sizes than the 1/4lb sizes on the website if you call in your order. I am no great connoisseur of tea by any stretch of the imagination---just see my post about my favorite Pu-erh to verify that one (and BTW, I have never tried T&H Pu). But for me, the T&H tea that I have tried, esp. the high end stuff has always knocked my socks off, my selections from them have always been oolongs, blacks and Chinese greens. One of the big reasons why I joined this forum is to learn from you all. Maybe as I get more in depth into tea, I will feel more comfortable making wise selections from a variety of vendors. I do understand that a high price tag does not guarantee good tea, yet I think that not knowing a whole lot about tea, I feel more comfortable purchasing from a merchant that I have always delighted in their tea choices and felt them to be first rate, than sifting through vendors that have good and bad, but you have to know enough about it to sort through what is not so great--at least that is where I am at at this point in my tea journey. Whew, I really didn't mean for that to be so long!!

Oh, and this:

I think most of us have been at the point where we were not wowed by what was in our tea stock...and remembered the sensational tea we had had...and want it NOW.

made me feel much better. Thank you for that, (my husband would thank you too--if he only knew the secret temptations I wrestle with when browsing tea)! It actually made me feel much better knowing that you guys here also share in the suffering of not having the divine tea of your choice, NOW!!!

Amanda

[Zodduska]

Great photos everyone.

This extra hot summer afternoon I'm sipping on some Spring Li-Shan "Tsui Feng" from Hou De.. the same gaiwan full of leaf that I started with this morning, I feel a little bad tossing it at the end of the day, this tea refuses to give out..

[tenuki]

Golden Needle Red Tea

"Simmering golden buds create a crisp and robust red tea made from fermented white tea leaves."



Bring the tea to the flowers not the flowers to the tea.

[Space Samurai]

Drinking some of my standard Dian Hong this afternoon.



I'm rather choosy when it comes to tea vendors. There is no one deciding factor, but I take a lot of things into consideration before making a purchase. Without fail, whenever visiting a new tea site, the first thing I look at is their tea ware. While it isn't always true, and no emyrical data to support this, I think I get a feel for a place by what kind of tea paraphanalia they offer. Like a father checking under the hood of his daughter's date's ride.

[Victoria]

Wow, beautiful Space! That captured drop, wow!
Looks delicious too.


Tenuki, beautiful too!
Is that the 32 oz?
It looks smaller.

[rodstnmn]

Unbelieveable pictures today. In my cup is an earl grey white tip before supper.

[Victoria]

Do you see the two little Japanese boats sailing
west by northwest across the tray?

Click for a larger image.

Nice Pic Sal! But they look less like boats and more like little
surfer dudes to this CA girl! Hummm maybe even turquoise
jet skis!!

On my thrid steep of this lovely AliShan from Tao of Tea.

[Chip]

Lishan given to me by a Taiwan vendor at the Expo. This has some astringency that I do not detect in some other green Taiwan oolongs I have been sampling lately. I am not sure if this is an indication of its greeness or that it is a notch below in quality...or both.

More great photos. Tenuki is moving towards slightly abstract lately...and Space enters the realm of "action" photo, nicely captured!

More and more glass in photos here I am noticing.

[Pentox]

More and more glass in photos here I am noticing.

Double wall Bodum Pavinas look nice when photographed.