Has anyone used them before? What are the opinions here about them?
http://www.rareteacellar.com/
(I don't think I'm allowed to actually link, yet, but you should be able to copy/paste that.)
Jul 7th, '15, 22:10
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NateHevens
Re: Rare Tea Cellar?
Hopefully it's just the photography, but some of those photos make the teas look.... nasty. The dragonwell, in particular, looks dead....
Jul 8th, '15, 09:37
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NateHevens
Re: Rare Tea Cellar?
If you go to their reserve tea section, they have this: Emperor's Tencha.
Separately, I absolutely love how just about all of their pure teas are called "Emperor's"... whatever.
They want $200 for 4oz. I get the impression that this is way overpriced.Emperor’s Tencha is truly tea of the Samurai. This unique Japanese green tea is shade grown for the last 6 weeks of production, forcing the tea bush to naturally form chlorophyll within the leaves giving an amazing emerald hue to the leaf. This tea is rarely seen in whole leaf form, as it is the precursor to stone ground Matcha used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony.
Separately, I absolutely love how just about all of their pure teas are called "Emperor's"... whatever.
Re: Rare Tea Cellar?
They've definitely taken to renaming the teas to make them sound much more grand and exciting. Of course, the proof here is really in the tea itself.....
The tencha was a bit odd to me as well.... I thought the main (only?) use of tencha was to grind into matcha. The price would put it at around the $60/30g level. For comparison, o-cha offers a wide range of matcha, the highest of which is $45/30g... and it's already ground for you. So I would expect this tencha to yield a higher grade of matcha than what o-cha offers, based on price. Again, having not actually tried it, I have no idea. But that would be one of my comparison points...
The tencha was a bit odd to me as well.... I thought the main (only?) use of tencha was to grind into matcha. The price would put it at around the $60/30g level. For comparison, o-cha offers a wide range of matcha, the highest of which is $45/30g... and it's already ground for you. So I would expect this tencha to yield a higher grade of matcha than what o-cha offers, based on price. Again, having not actually tried it, I have no idea. But that would be one of my comparison points...
Re: Rare Tea Cellar?
I'm pretty sure they're reselling very ordinary, low grade tea tea from north american wholesalers at a big markup
eg: http://www.metrotea.com/content/MetroTe ... cewine.htm
eg: http://www.metrotea.com/content/MetroTe ... cewine.htm
Jul 8th, '15, 15:12
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NateHevens
Re: Rare Tea Cellar?
That, honestly, would not surprise me...entropyembrace wrote:I'm pretty sure they're reselling very ordinary, low grade tea tea from north american wholesalers at a big markup
eg: http://www.metrotea.com/content/MetroTe ... cewine.htm
Jul 9th, '15, 15:26
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Evan Draper
Re: Rare Tea Cellar?
YES, A MARKUP, BECAUSE THEY PUT IT IN BARRELS! ARTISAN BARRELS THE LIKES OF WHICH ONLY AN EMPEROR CAN PROCURE!entropyembrace wrote:reselling very ordinary, low grade tea tea from north american wholesalers at a big markup
Jul 10th, '15, 10:18
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Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Jul 10th, '15, 12:59
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NateHevens
Re: Rare Tea Cellar?
So then... where could I procure a tencha? I've always wanted to try it steeped. I've of course had matcha... and good matcha, too. But I'm curious about tencha...
ETA: I started a topic for tencha in the green tea forum, so it can be discussed there...
ETA: I started a topic for tencha in the green tea forum, so it can be discussed there...
Rare Tea Cellar?
I have about 100g of Tencha that I've yet to grind down into Matcha.
Im experimenting with what my Tea Farming Friends have given me and I have some excess leaves. Perhaps we can work something out!
Not sure if I caught your message on the other forum....mobile has its limits....
Im experimenting with what my Tea Farming Friends have given me and I have some excess leaves. Perhaps we can work something out!
Not sure if I caught your message on the other forum....mobile has its limits....
Jul 14th, '15, 18:52
Posts: 93
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NateHevens
Re: Rare Tea Cellar?
We could attempt to work something out, but PayPal doesn't like me and won't let me use them (no, I have no idea why; they've had me banned since 2006 and refuse to explain why or lift it), so if we do work something out, it'd have to be via a different route...worldteapodcast wrote:I have about 100g of Tencha that I've yet to grind down into Matcha.
Im experimenting with what my Tea Farming Friends have given me and I have some excess leaves. Perhaps we can work something out!
Not sure if I caught your message on the other forum....mobile has its limits....
I love your podcast, BTW! Just finished listening to the Tokoname City Ceramics episode, in fact.
Rare Tea Cellar?
Thanks for the listen! Im glad you enjoyed it!NateHevens wrote:We could attempt to work something out, but PayPal doesn't like me and won't let me use them (no, I have no idea why; they've had me banned since 2006 and refuse to explain why or lift it), so if we do work something out, it'd have to be via a different route...worldteapodcast wrote:I have about 100g of Tencha that I've yet to grind down into Matcha.
Im experimenting with what my Tea Farming Friends have given me and I have some excess leaves. Perhaps we can work something out!
Not sure if I caught your message on the other forum....mobile has its limits....
I love your podcast, BTW! Just finished listening to the Tokoname City Ceramics episode, in fact.
Sent you a PM regarding the Tencha.