Looking to "try things out" cheaply

[grifta67]

Hi everyone!

I'm finally gonna try this tea thing for myself. Everyone has told me it tastes like crud but I've got to find out for myself! I'm infatuated with Japanese culture so it only makes sense I give it a go!

My question is what is a cheap way to give this a try? I plan on getting the green sampler pack, but I don't know what to do about equipment. $20 is very reasonable to pay once I know I enjoy it, but I don't really want to drop ~$40 on tea and equipment only to discover I unfortunately don't like it.

Can anyone recommend a cheap way to prepare a few cups of tea just to give it a go? I do recognize that the method helps dictate the taste and that it will only get better with better equipment.

Thanks!
-Sean

[olivierco]

Adagio starter set 19$ +3.75$ shipping

http://www.adagio.com/misc/no_risk.html

[witches brew]

Can anyone recommend a cheap way to prepare a few cups of tea just to give it a go?
-Sean

Sean, for $3, you can order paper filters. They are essentially x-large teabags that you use with loose tea. The roominess gives the tealeaves space to expand.

I hope you enjoy your tea!

PS the paper filters are here--> http://www.adagio.com/teaware/paper_filters.html

[grifta67]

Thanks for the filters link! I knew they had to be there somewhere!

I must say, the starter kit is attractive. It's only a few bucks more than the Green Tea Sampler I was going to get. How do the teas compare? This means nothing coming from me, as I know nothing about this yet, but the teas in the sampler sound more "interesting".

Sampler link for easy viewing: http://www.adagio.com/green/green_sampler.html

[GeoffK]

The Den's Green Tea Sampler from Den's Tea is worth getting. It's all of $3, gives you a good intro onto some quality Japanese Green teas and comes with paper filters:

http://www.denstea.com/index.php?main_p ... th=174_173

Also Den's is an absolutely quality guy and you get the $3 back as a coupon of your next order!

[LavenderPekoe]

BTW, no one who posts here regularly thinks tea "tastes like crud". I can't answer about the different green teas, though. I'm not that into greens.

Also, anyone who is also an Adagio customer can send you a $5 off gift cert if you don't mind giving them your email address. It helps both parties since the person who sent it to you gets points for it.

[grifta67]

Oh I know this place has nothing but tea lovers. It's my local friends that seem to bad mouth it some!

Referral taken, thank you!

Thanks for the link to Den's, I'll definitely be trying that out!

[skywarrior]

Welcome! And I would definitely try out the Adagio starter pack. It's worth it.

[caradrake]

I would definitely recommend Adagio's starter pack, too. But if you aren't looking to spend $20, you might consider going to a restaurant that sells them. Our local upscale chinese restaurant (not buffet!) serves some excellent teas. And it's usually not that much more expensive than a glass of soda. If you decide to go this route, I'd suggest asking around for TeaReviews rather than getting turned off of completely because some place doesn't know how to brew it.

But the Adagio starter pack would be your best bet.

[Wesli]

Den's Green tea kit rules! If you're going for an Adagio starter set, then look around first and see if theres a tea you'd rather have instead of what the sample kit provides. I'm pretty sure there's no discount on buying all the samples together in the set.