Oct 3rd, '09, 17:13
Posts: 795
Joined: Feb 1st, '09, 20:31
Location: Columbus, Ohio
by brad4419 » Oct 3rd, '09, 17:13
Chinese Green (Long Jing)
Japanese green (Sencha Fuka-midori)
Chinese black (yunnan gold)
Taiwan Oolong (Taiwanese Wuyi)
Chinese white (bai mu dan)
This list would be my recommendation. I based this on variety in taste, cheap price, ease of brewing and of course, my favorites
bai zhong today
Oct 3rd, '09, 17:31
Posts: 965
Joined: Dec 17th, '08, 15:13
by Intuit » Oct 3rd, '09, 17:31
Establish a point of reference. Nine out of ten new-to-loose leaf teas who are Westerners will be familiar with the most common tea on the planet: Indian black tea blends. Recommend a quality estate Assam or Yunnan tea for breakfast, a reasonable quality entry level estate tea from Ceylon or Nilgiri for midafternoon break. If they can tolerate caffeine in the evening, introduce them to an quality loose leaf evening blend, or to aged or better loose leaf shu pu'erh. For those who should refrain from caffeine in the evening, kukicha.
If they are familiar with Chinese restaurant jasmine tea, introduce them to a Chinese green or sencha, matcha, a white tea, a baozhong and a better grade of keemun or Yunnan tea.
Introduce those with limited familiarity to both black and green teas to an easy to brew better Chinese, sinch, matcha and a full bodied white tea, Chinese or Indian.
If they are coffee-drinkers, introduce them specifically to two afternoon oolongs: a typical better grade of restaurant full-leaf and a fragrant rolled oolong. Add to that a full-strength Yunnan and Assam for breakfast and an intro aged pu'erh for after dinner.
That affords the newbie with a sampler range of teas to hook them.
Oct 3rd, '09, 20:06
Posts: 112
Joined: Apr 7th, '09, 20:48
Location: Grand Rapids MI
by DoctorD » Oct 3rd, '09, 20:06
Depending on where the friend was coming from in terms of favorite bevvies, I guess I would start with either a savory first flush Darjeeling or a moderately roasted oolong. Something with a distinctive character and enough subtleties to beckon onwards, like the high-grown Ceylon that once hooked me. From there I would go on to, maybe, a gyo, and from there to a nutty-vegetal Chinese green. By then the friend would be hopelessly addicted like the rest of us and itching to go off exploring on his/her own, and all our friendly vendors would rejoice and be glad. So little time, so few dollars, so much tea.
Just a cup of breakfast blend (Assam-Kenya) so far today. Something Chinese and green will undoubtedly be coming up soon, but I don't yet know just what it will be.
