Wednesday TeaDay 6/2/10 Fava beans or fave vendor?

[entropyembrace]

This afternoon I was drinking 2009 2nd Flush Margaret´s Hope Hand Roll Darjeeling and now after dinner I´m having Punta Del Cielo´s house black tea blend.

[brlarson]

My fave five are
Jing Tea Shop
Hou de
Zencha
O-Cha
Tea Gallery

I've been stuck in Florida without tea for FIVE DAYS! I'm dying down here. This is the first time I haven't had tea in more than 18 months.

B

[nickE]

My favorite vendor would probably be yunnan sourcing, as they have such a massive selection of pu'er at very reasonable prices. However, I order from many other vendors as well.

Had a great session with some shupu from YS earlier today!

Ending the day with some 2010 FF darjeeling. om nom nom

[Chip]

Second and unfortunately last tea of the day was a good one, Yutaka Midori Kaoru LE from the O-C shared with the Mrs.

[debunix]

That's shockingly light on the tea, and in full flush of Shincha season, no less!

Looking at the size of the box I just received, at the number of packages from different sources in my cupboard, and considering how much $$ I have spent with any one vendor, the clear favorite for me is Norbu: I've gotten a lot of wonderful tea from Greg. Caveat: I've only been brave enough to order tea online for about a year, and his was the first shop I ordered from in quantity.

It's possible that there is a better Tie Guan Yin out there than his 'Diamond Grade', because I haven't done comparisons with that many of the really high quality vendors' offerings yet (I have yet to have a proper taste-off between this and the still-sealed sample I got from Jing Tea Shop), but I did compare it to some nice teas from several other vendors of good teas, and it was a clear winner. And while I think I was just lucky to pick his 2007 private pressing of a white bud sheng puerh as part of my first order, I have now been able to compare it to a quite a few other pus, even from the fabled Menghai itself, and it still is my favorite.

I am almost out of sencha (still auditioning for the role of favorite sencha vendor, have only tried 2 so far) and trying to ration the last of it while waiting for the first shipment from Yuuki-Cha; so I started the day with Jin Xuan instead, a beautiful Taiwanese green tea from the latest Norbu shipment. There are wonderful Alishan-like notes coming through in this rolled green tea; then moved on to the 2009 spring TGY; and now am ending with a long, many-infusion finish of Ba Xiang Dan Cong from Tea Habitat--another wonderful vendor.

[iannon]

definately a top five..or..thereabouts.
in no particular order really:
Zencha
Yuuki-Cha
Maiko ( new fave )
Tea From Taiwan
IShopo

[Chip]

That's shockingly light on the tea, and in full flush of Shincha season, no less!

Agreed! Hope to reverse this tomorrow! Well, today actually.