Tuesday TeaDay 4/28/09 Best tea so far in '09?

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Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Simple, in the first third of 2009 and on a positive note today, what was your BEST tea so far? Please share some details with us.

It was a black
7
18%
Oolong
11
28%
Green
19
48%
White
0
No votes
Yellow
0
No votes
Pu-erh
2
5%
Herbal including rooibus
0
No votes
Yerbe mate
0
No votes
Other
1
3%
 
Total votes: 40

Apr 28th, '09, 11:58
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by Pentox » Apr 28th, '09, 11:58

Hm nothing truly outstanding on my end so far, if I had to pick though I'd probably say Sencha Serene forest from Lupicia. Oddly I like this better than Zencha's sencha the ultimate.

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Apr 28th, '09, 13:02
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by olivierco » Apr 28th, '09, 13:02

Pentox wrote:Hm nothing truly outstanding on my end so far, if I had to pick though I'd probably say Sencha Serene forest from Lupicia. Oddly I like this better than Zencha's sencha the ultimate.
Did you try the new o-cha gyokuro?

Houjicha with my dinner.

Apr 28th, '09, 13:11
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by Pentox » Apr 28th, '09, 13:11

olivierco wrote: Did you try the new o-cha gyokuro?
Nope haven't tried it yet. I go through gyo very slowly, and lately even more so. Also orders to o-cha for me are few and far between.

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Apr 28th, '09, 13:48
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by Mrs. Chip » Apr 28th, '09, 13:48

Chip wrote:Began the TeaDay with Den's Zuiko.
Ditto that for me and will be sharing tea again, in a few. I believe it will be black.

My favorite so far this year had definately been the 'mystery blend' gyokuro from Sal. If my memory serves me well, I believe Chip found it to be a bit too sweet for his palate at first. YM from O-Cha runs a really, really close 2nd.

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Apr 28th, '09, 18:16
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by Cinnamon Kitty » Apr 28th, '09, 18:16

Green: gyokuro from yuuki-cha.

So happy that the weather has finally cooled down enough to be able to enjoy a cup of hot tea. As much as I like iced tea, nothing hits the spot more than something hot. Currently in my cup is Earl Grey Creme with an addition of lavender flowers. The lavender seems to round out the flavor a bit better. It no longer tastes like it was missing something.

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Apr 28th, '09, 18:31
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by tenuki » Apr 28th, '09, 18:31

Best tea so far this year is a tossup between an aged baozhong a friend brought back from taiwan or a traditional style mid roasted dong ding from the Lugu region another friend brought back from taiwan. So far a very good TeaYear™.


old grumpy's alishan in my cup.


ps. the dong ding I'm talking about is this one, sadly not for sale. Shiuwen and I thought of you ABx!

Apr 28th, '09, 18:41
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by silvermage2000 » Apr 28th, '09, 18:41

I have drank 3 cups of irish breakfast black today. My favorite tea so far would have to be teagschwendner pineapple mango black.
My name i's ashley I am a female and 21 years old.

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Apr 28th, '09, 19:47
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by teashionista » Apr 28th, '09, 19:47

Early this year (January 9th, to be exact) I tried my first Da Hong Pao at TeaShack (sp?), a nice teashop in Vancouver. And while I have no idea how good the quality of that tea was, at the time it struck me as the best tea I've ever tasted! The lady working there prepared it gong fu style (large leaf to water ratio, short infusions) in a Piao I pot, and served it in a glass vessel. Since then tried multiple DHPs from various sources, but none of them quite match the first sip of that tea (at least in my memory)... Thus the world of oolong opened itself to me :)

Drank 4 (!) cups of Den's Sakura Sencha today... will switch to some 1998 sheng pu when I get home.

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Apr 28th, '09, 20:40
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by Chip » Apr 28th, '09, 20:40

A quiet TC TD today. I guess nobody is drinking tea? 8)

Earlier, I had a very nice session of Golden Spring black from Adagio with my DW. This is a black that requires ample leaf ... lots. Makes a really nice cup that we both enjoyed!

Chiran Supreme from O-Cha was next. This has a lot of the richness of its big bro', Yutaka Midori, the classic.

I am thinking I need another tea ... :idea: :D

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Apr 28th, '09, 21:28
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by spot52 » Apr 28th, '09, 21:28

I had cups of comforting keemun imperial blended with hoa ya a, it's my staple. I also imbibed a subtle cup of creamy earl grey.
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Apr 28th, '09, 23:13
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by Dreamer » Apr 28th, '09, 23:13

This poll question is too hard...Almost every time I have tea (that I brewed) I think "this is the best tea". I must say that I am really enjoying my blacks "neat" now...that has never been the case until the last couple of weeks. I started noticing that my additions (splash of half-n-half and/or stevia) were taking away from the taste of the tea. That has been a bit of a surprise for me and I it means that I'm enjoying the tea (since before I wasn't even really tasting the tea!).

Not nearly enough tea in my day...I'm craving an afternoon of Japanese green tea and it didn't happen today. Good Ceylon at breakfast and iced at dinner....that's all good, but I need my greens :cry:

-Dreamer

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Apr 28th, '09, 23:52
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by Salsero » Apr 28th, '09, 23:52

I am finishing up the day with some Hong De Mei Zi Qing sheng but wondering if I should have made a cooked puerh instead.

Tomorrow: open can of Sugimoto Sencha.

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Apr 28th, '09, 23:58
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by Geekgirl » Apr 28th, '09, 23:58

Hard question. I've had some exceptional teas already this year. The other night, I had a fantastic gyokuro from Hibiki-an. A couple of weeks ago, I enjoyed the heck out of an oolong from Lupicia - one that surprised me. A few days ago I picked up a jasmine tea that is floral and crisp and so good... and of course the matchas.

I enjoy my tea generally, and have been lucky to find many "best" teas.

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May 1st, '09, 13:33
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by tea fish » May 1st, '09, 13:33

I realize that this post is long overdue, but I just wanted to chime in and say that I recently had a delightful Dong Ding oolong from teafromtaiwan.com. Didn't have any experience with dong ding and so didn't have any expectations, perhaps that helped. The tea was plummy and chocolatey (to varying degrees, depending on the infusion). Such a pleasure.

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May 1st, '09, 13:39
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by jazz88 » May 1st, '09, 13:39

Hmmm ... Perhaps Sencha Premier (Adagio) and Jasmine White Needle - Yin Zhen (Strand Tea Company)

Drinking Keemun Rhapsody.

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