Thursday TeaDay 9/24/09 Leaf appearance as a criteria?

[Intuit]

That would be the stress and strain of Mohr's circle calculations
Shear fun, hehehe.

In my cup: White Peony-like Assam white tea, with a Darjeeling-like aroma and taste, somewhat tame finish. Different taste, requires study to appreciate. Need to up the strength, too.

[Dreamer]

Hi All,

I had to say "other"...like many here, my tea purchases are virtually all from online vendors, so I don't get to see the leaf ahead of time. Someone also said something like the leaf should match the type of tea (sorry if I mangled that too badly). For example, if I didn't know better I'd think that Japanese sencha was poor quality due to the little bits of leaf...so if I insisted that I'd only buy nice whole pretty shaped leaf I'd just go thirsty!

This morning I had an Assam that is way too mild...it smelled nice, it was warm and it was a nice color...but still not enough flavor..maybe I'll have to fill my gaiwan and try this one gong fu style.

This afternoon nice fuka with a double chocolate milano cookie...mmmmmm, good!

Have fun,
Dreamer

[Maitre_Tea]

Even when purchasing tea in person, leaf appearance is not really a criteria, since most of the info about the tea (in my experience) comes from the wet leaves. Of course, it makes a difference if the vendor is deliberately selling me something that isn't what it is, i.e. high mountain tea that are too small, roasted TGY that smells too much like charcoal, roasted tea that's too green, etc.

[geeber1]

Like most everyone else I get my tea off the web and can't see it in person. But if it looks fresh and isn't broken into crumbs, I'm usually happy!

[CynTEAa]

So much goes into evaluating the leaf. All of the things listed as well as aroma, and how many stems if any), is it two leaves and a bud, amount of unopened buds, etc etc etc...

Hope that makes some sense. It has been a long day and I'm about to turn in. Hope everyone had a good TeaDay!

[brad4419]

I don't get to see the leaf before I order online so I don't really have standards for choosing but I would say whole leaves, leaf size and freshness would be my choices.

wuyi fo shou today

[thirtysixbelow]

leaf appearance is a complete bonus for me. I enjoy looking at the unfurled leaves after steeping but it's never something i really use as a criteria for purchasing, just something that gives tea a little something extra if it's visually pleasing.