Canisters especially for greens

[Tead Off]

Now, why would the unpolished ones be more expensive than the polished ones? They certainly look like real ones.

[olivierco]

I have a cherry bark canister that I bought in japan about 10 years ago and it's an excellent vessel for storage. Here's the thing: I KNOW I didn't pay 70 bucks for it. There is no way. I was, at the time, a bohemian vagabond with a 25 dollar a day per diem on a performance contract. I cannot believe those things are worth 70 dollars.

They are available from teavana, in the states no less for 25 bucks. Are these the same thing? The look the same to me.

I guess Britt was talking about this kind of cannister.

[tortoise]

Thanks for the pic, Olivier. That does, however, look exactly like the canister I have that I paid less than 40 for in Kyoto.

Unless someone with a lot of expertise informs me otherwise, I am going to conclude that they are the same and 70 dollars plus shipping from Japan is a good old fashioned fleecing.

That said, I have seen some from Japanese vendors that have some very nice painting and mother of pearl-like decoration. For those, maybe 70 is worth it.

[Ambrose]

The ones from teavana appear to be a cherry bark veneer over some other wood. The ones in the pic and at artistic nippon look like solid cherry bark. I bet this might have something to do with the price. So far Ive only seen the solid cherry bark at aristic nippon online.

[Tead Off]

The ones from teavana appear to be a cherry bark veneer over some other wood. The ones in the pic and at artistic nippon look like solid cherry bark. I bet this might have something to do with the price. So far Ive only seen the solid cherry bark at aristic nippon online.

Their description says all cherry wood. That does mean 100%. But, why is the unpolished more than the polished?

[Chip]

The Teavana versions are not like the all bark ones pictured by Olivier.

The cheaper one is bark laminated to cherry wood. The more expensive unpolished one is bark laminated to metal.

[Ambrose]

I wonder if there is an advantage to 100% bark to the bark over wood

[Chip]

I wonder if there is an advantage to 100% bark to the bark over wood

Looking at the wood one, it sure looks like it is finished either with laquer or whatever. So in that one's case, the so called advantage of breathability of the all bark is nonexistant.

I have unfinished wood natsume, I think Paulownia ... I might stick some sencha in there to see what happens.

[Ambrose]

I wonder if there is an advantage to 100% bark to the bark over wood

Looking at the wood one, it sure looks like it is finished either with laquer or whatever. So in that one's case, the so called advantage of breathability of the all bark is nonexistant.

I have unfinished wood natsume, I think Paulownia ... I might stick some sencha in there to see what happens.

I like your thinking, please do and let us know im definitely interested in your results

[tortoise]

The first link, the canister that is lacquered, could possibly contain other wood. On the second link it's really hard to tell because you can't see the inside. But that may be why it's more expensive, because it's all cherry. EDIT: Nope. That one has a metal interior. It helps to read the description. My argument is unravelling quickly!

Back to the expensive ones, not only are some of them painted or otherwise adorned, some are also paneled. That is probably more difficult to fashion than a cylinder and could have an effect on price. I don't want to come off like I'm knocking the pricey ones, but I'm still not convinced you can't get a really functional cherry bark canister for a better price if you can skip some of the frills. I would look around and send inquiries to vendors before purchasing.

[Oni]

At Horaido teashop there are diffrent sizes from these cherry bark canisters starting from 4800 Y that is around 50 $, so I guess tortoise bought one like these and since then there was a price increase in these items, and regarding teavana, something that looks to good to be true, well, it probably isn`t, so buyer beware.

[brlarson]

Keep in mind, too, that the US dollar is weaker than it used to be, so most imported items now cost more when paying with US dollars.

[tortoise]

All of that is true. From all the photos on this thread and a little googling, I'm beginning to see the difference. Mine is unpolished, like the rough looking one on the teavana site, but it is 100% cherry inside and out. The dollar is weaker and that was 10 years ago. Funny thing is that the more I look at Horaido website, the more I wonder if that wasn't the exact place I purchased the thing. There probably were other models, and I may have bought this one because it wasn't as expensive. I'm guessing it was between 30 and 40 dollars.

It is in great shape and smells great since I only keep sencha in it. I wouldn't recommend it as a travel partner because it could crush pretty easily; but sitting in a pantry it will be a great companion.

I have a dozen or so stainless canisters, some with plastic lids and some with steel lids (beneath the steel and paper top). Of these two varieties, the plastic lid seems to be more air-tight. I'm not sure I would buy the ones with the steel lids as they don't seem to keep leaf fresh for long.

[puerhking]

thx for your reply tead off,

i knew that green tea should be used up within 2 months.
the problem is, that i bought 650g of 7 different teas and i would like to compare them over the week. but i don't wanna get into hurry to consume them so fast.

any opinions to glass-containers kept in a dark place?
maybe an alternative for storing the tea for a normal length?

You are going to have a lot of oxidized tea on your hands if you do this. I would recommend that you try three at a time...drinking one more than the others....as you consume all of the one....bring one of the unopened bags into the mix. Consume one of the older ones more and repeat until you've tried all of them. You will still get a good perspective overall.

[bagua7]

I would store green tea (associated with the Wood element in Wuxing) in an energy that is either related to water or fire. Metal is not a very good idea since this element cuts wood (destructive cycle). Same can be said about earth (wood controls earth); hence ceramics should be avoided for storing green tea.

Some ideas:

1. Wood made from eucalyptus tree as this tree is associated with fire element.
2. Wood made of bamboo is very good as it associated with water element.
3. You could use any other wood sources and tie a red ribbon around it to bring fire in.