Hello from the UK!

[bethany7]

Hi!

I'm Bat, and I'm just taking my first steps into the world of loose tea. I started drinking tea when I was 15 (I'm 22 now), but in the typical English way: tea bag and milk. Never sugar. For the past few months I've been considering trying some "proper" tea, and last week I decided to give it a go. I purchased an infuser mug and some teas from Whittard of Chelsea, and I was very, very impressed. Then my glass infuser mug cracked so it was back to tea bags, and it just wasn't the same. Today my ingenuiTEA arrived and I am happy again I just love the fact that I can see the leaves dancing
Anyway, I'm really, really excited about all the different teas to try, even though I already have several lovely ones. I'm still not sure I'm brewing everything correctly, but it all tastes nice, so I'm not overly worried. I have discovered a particular love of green tea and Rooibos, which I had never heard of before. Yay!
Sorry for the ramble. Just thought I'd give a proper introduction to me! If anyone has any tea/vendor recommendations that are available in the UK/Europe, I would be very interested.

Thanks!

[MIKE_B]

Welcome to Teachat, Bat.
If "they all taste nice" you're doing it right. Congrats!

[Chip]

Hi Bat and welcome to the forum!

Enjoy your TeaJourney with us, I am looking forward to seeing you around!

[David R.]

Welcome. Essence of tea and Postcard Teas are two well known and great tea vendors in UK. The first one has a website shipping worldwide, and the second has a shop near Oxford Street London, shipping worldwide as well.

Have fun !

[Lerxst2112]

Essence of tea

+1 on EOT, have seen favourable results from them. I had ordered some tea ware from Talisman Tea as well, but was a little disillusioned with their pricing. They shipped it fast, and it was packaged well, though! Welcome to the site, look forward to seeing you around. Which greens have you been leaning towards? Chinese? Korean? Japanese? There is a whole section on this forum dedicated to the greens, and right now, a lot of the vendors are taking pre-orders for this year's harvest!!

Peace, love, and tea
~Jess

[bethany7]

Thank you everyone Sorry it has taken me so long to reply, I have only just realised that there were messages, I didn't get alerted at all. Strange.

Thanks for the suggestion of Essence of Tea, I hadn't heard of them before. Will go look them up!

As to what type of greens I am leaning towards... I don't really know yet! I am still in the stage of trying everything I can get my hands on! I am awaiting a delivery with some various kinds of greens, as at the moment I only have a Whittard Green Tea with Lemon, which I am sure is not the best! I have had green tea tea bags before, which I also liked (although they're nowhere near as good as the Whittard's stuff, so can't wait to try "proper" green tea!), so am pretty sure I will like them. What are the main differences between Chinese/Korean/Japanese green teas? Do they have different brewing methods? I am such a beginner, haha! One day I hope to know as much as you guys

Thanks, everyone!

[Lerxst2112]

We all have to start somewhere! As to the differences between the three, I'm afraid I can't properly comment on them, as I don't know a lot about them either - and have almost no experience at all with the Chinese greens. To contrast the Korean greens and Japanese (namely sencha): Korean has more of a sweet, bright, subtle profile (I find), whereas Japanese greens (can be) in your face full-bodied vegital (think fresh yard clippings). Brewing temps are a little different - I keep the Korean ones at around 160, whereas sencha can be more in the 170's. Typically I've seen sencha brewed in a pot called a 'kyusu'. I brew the Korean gongfu style in a vessel known as a 'gaiwan', which is porcelain. I've seen Korean greens also brewed in a porcelain teapot as well.

If you're interested in the Korean greens, this fellow here, Matt, usually does a lot of reviews on them. http://mattchasblog.blogspot.com/

If you want to learn more about the Japanese end, especially a form of powdered green called 'matcha', then this fellow here, Adam, writes about it. http://www.thesiptip.com/

Or, like I said, each tea type has its own section here =)

[Leo_Blue]

I make Chinese greens in a gaiwan usually with water somewhere between 150-175 (Fahrenheit). It all depends on the tea of course. I am not particularly well versed in all types of Chinese greens, but I can offer what I know when you need it. What Chinese greens have you tried so far? I highly suggest Long Jing and Mao Feng if you haven't had them already. Oh and welcome to TeaChat!

[Roughage]

Hi Bat,

Welcome. I have had absolutely excellent service from Canton Tea Co. who are based in the UK. They have a website and pretty much always manage to get my orders to me the next day.