Hello from London, ON

[armin]

Hello from London Ontario, my name is Armin and I've been drinking tea for little over 20 years. I started with probably Lipton... with lots of sugar and lemon
For the last 5 years I've been into organic green tea but I don't really have a great source for my tea and until now I didn't have the time to look up for honest, high quality reliable sources.
Right now I am looking to learn more about tea, how to buy, where and whom to trust also what kind of questions to ask myself before buying a tea and also the seller.
My last order was placed last week at TeaSpring.com and it was for Long Jing 50g (the regular one). I choose that website because I am a total beginner and had no idea about other sources. I thought a website that shows customers reviews must be a good one... We'll see.
Right now I am enjoying a high quality organic Sencha that I got as a gift.
If anyone can point me into the right direction where to buy high quality long jing organic tea, oolong and pu-erh I would be very grateful.
Also I saw David's (Hoffman) movie and I was fascinated by his passion and dedication, and a bit scared on how hard it is to obtain a good quality tea that is not loaded with chemicals and chemical fertilizers....
I would love to try one of those pu-erh they drink in Tibet, yes something that will wake me up in the morning.
I am pretty open to new tastes and willing to try a wide variety of tea.
Next on my list was to take a look intoThePhenixCollection.com and order from there but I'm not sure if that is really David's website and he is taking care of the business?
Also if anyone has a reliable source for Yixing zisha tea pot I would love to buy couple of those. Not the antique very expensive ones but you know, for everyday use.... In this respect I was thinking at Silk Road Tea website. They have a very nice collection of Yixing tea pots.
Any opinion and help is great appreciated.
Cheers,
Armin

[etorix]

Hi from London, England

to try pu-er you could get a samples pack from verdanttea [Google it, its in the US]

in fact loads of tea suppliers, tho not all, do sample packs

and just search on here for Long Jing, theres an 'approved sellers' section;

http://www.teachat.com/viewforum.php?f=60 .. teavendor guide

[armin]

Thank you Etorix, I already looked around and until now I didn't know Adagio has tea... so I ordered a few samples from what I think I would like.
The problem with beginners is you have no clue how a tea supposed to taste to call it "high quality" but I guess that comes in time trying lots of them...
Also finding a source that sells chemical free tea would be a great thing... can one tell by the taste of the tea? ...or smelling the leaves?
...and... I've heard people saying organic tea is different, lower or just not the same quality as regular one... how about that?

[etorix]

try lots of them.. .. thats exactly what im still doing, and i intend to continue

quite a few teas dont 'hit' immediately

re: organic: my todays' session is a "grown naturally, without any chemical fertilisers and pesticides" which i take to mean not formally certified organic, which can be expensive for a small grower, but i trust the supplier, and this tea is good, im wanting more

and no, i cant tell if its organic by a quick whiff, i dont have enough experience
but my leaning is also to 'organic'

theres even a tea thats only picked after some insect nibbled the leaf-edges

[armin]

That is true, for small farmers it's a burden to be organic certified... probably not worth it.
I would also trust an honest and reputable farmer.... without carrying for that certificate.
For Victoria Day we are going to Montreal and I'm only hoping to be able to visit as many high quality tea houses as I can... My London sucks in this respect.... we don't even have a tea shop... there is one in a farmer's market but that's pretty much it...
I imagine your London is fntastic tea-wise.... don't mind to give me tips when you try a new tea or when you find a great source...
Cheers
Armin

[etorix]

ha .. im from the country myself, and id never trust a farmer straight off

specially not a chinese businessman farmer

im still exploring the online tea market, i love the easy access to artisanal, the small-volume-produced

Google any tea first before u buy

any that gets u to here and/or Steepster http://steepster.com/ will give u some
idea about the suppliers as well as what the analytical tasters out there say

as well as get u links to yet more teablogs, theres some really good ones

now lets see if that linkie shows ^ im fairly new here too

[AdamMY]

Welcome Armin! Hope to see you around the forum. Teaspring is a well regarded vendor for Chinese Greens, both in terms of selection and quality of offerings.

[sherubtse]

For Victoria Day we are going to Montreal and I'm only hoping to be able to visit as many high quality tea houses as I can... Cheers
Armin

I would strongly encourage you to visit one of the several branches of Camellia Sinensis in Montreal. One of the owners is Darjeeling expert.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

[sherubtse]

Teaspring is a well regarded vendor for Chinese Greens, both in terms of selection and quality of offerings.

As are Teavivre and Verdant Tea, IMHO. Both also have great customer service.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

[armin]

Welcome Armin! Hope to see you around the forum. Teaspring is a well regarded vendor for Chinese Greens, both in terms of selection and quality of offerings.

Hello Adam, thanks for the warm welcome. I'm going to be here a lot since I'm just starting to indulge myself in this gorgeous world of tea...
I also appreciate your input on tea sources... and you know, I guess this is the biggest issue when you love tea and have a passion for it, isn't it? After seeing David's movie and how often he would refuse a tea because it's loaded with chemicals... and they looked like simple honest farmers... I was wondering how a big company can differentiate high quality tea and sell it on the market? I thought they are buying both fair and high quality leaves but eventually they mix them and put them up for sale.... And so far I wasn't able to find an organic Long Jing to have the same color as an AAA Long Jing... if you can point me into the right direction... but probably I'll have to wait for this spring harvest, right?
Cheers
Armin

[armin]

For Victoria Day we are going to Montreal and I'm only hoping to be able to visit as many high quality tea houses as I can... Cheers
Armin

I would strongly encourage you to visit one of the several branches of Camellia Sinensis in Montreal. One of the owners is Darjeeling expert.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

Thank you so much for the tip! I just pulled up their website and I was amazed! This will be definitely included in our itinerary....

[armin]

Teaspring is a well regarded vendor for Chinese Greens, both in terms of selection and quality of offerings.

As are Teavivre and Verdant Tea, IMHO. Both also have great customer service.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

Good point Sherubtse, thanks for your valuable information, although at Teavivre I couldn't find the harvest time posted on the website and Verdant Tea it's not appealing for green tea but they got my attention with TGY Spring Oolong... and also I was spending some time on their Pu'er collection...

[armin]

Adam,

I forgot to tell you, I love your blogs. Every day I am learning something new and tea is a whole new World

[Lerxst2112]

I've heard good things about Teaspring for greens. Personally I've ordered from Dao Tea in Canada, Yunnan Sourcing, Hou De in Texas, USA, Talisman Teas in the UK, and a vendor named Dragon Tea House on Ebay. So far, all five have been good. I know others have ordered from O-cha, Norbu, and Mandarin's Tea Room with decent success.

Cheers,
Jess K.

[armin]

I've heard good things about Teaspring for greens. Personally I've ordered from Dao Tea in Canada, Yunnan Sourcing, Hou De in Texas, USA, Talisman Teas in the UK, and a vendor named Dragon Tea House on Ebay. So far, all five have been good. I know others have ordered from O-cha, Norbu, and Mandarin's Tea Room with decent success.

Cheers,
Jess K.

Thanks, I will bookmark those websites and review them... I am glad Teaspring is a good source of tea... at least I have the feeling I didn't waste my money...
Now, how is Adagioteas?