The ITD Monthly Tea Tasting Club

[Chip]

Padre is likely doing white in May, new harvest. Right, Padre?

Korean Green or Koicha sounds interesting, but I might be a little partial. Although, like many greens, we could be past prime time for the Korean greens.

[Sydney]

Padre is likely doing white in May, new harvest. Right, Padre?

I'm what?

Uh, sure!

[Pentox]

Anyone think the Surugawase (o-cha) is worthy enough of a tasting?

[Chip]

The verdict is still out on this new leaf.

Space and I are both trying it, I would not want to have it be the focus of a tasting, not yet ...

[chamekke]

How about guricha a.k.a. tamaryokucha?

I have never tried it - always wanted to. A sample size would be perfect.

[Pentox]

How about guricha a.k.a. tamaryokucha?

I have never tried it - always wanted to. A sample size would be perfect.

There's a thought, although personally I'd say you're better off w/o it. (well known bias of mine against the guri).

Along those lines we could do aracha as well. I was thinking a yame gyo would be a nice follower to Nov's tasting.

[bi lew chun]

Looks like February is still open. Does anyone have an interest in trying Kenyan oolong? I'm somewhat curious about it, but not necessarily optimistic. I probably wouldn't order it unless other people wanted to try it out with me. There don't seem to be many vendors offering it, and the ones that do wouldn't normally be my first choice for anything. One thing it does have going for it is its Fair Trade status at one of the shops below, which should at least indicate it won't poison anybody.

If anyone has already sampled it and found it bad, that would be a deal breaker, and I'd forget about trying it.

http://www.specialtea.com/product/ORO-KO-100

http://secure.gypsytea.com/Kenyan-Oolong-P165.aspx

http://shopstashtea.com/050018.html

[Victoria]

I'd love to try it! Yes, yes!!

[Chip]

If it was offered here, I would likely try whatever was offered.

I can only share my last experience with Kenyan tea, which was lack luster, mediocre. To be honest, it was 2-3 years ago, but I did try a few, even a green. Nothing wrong with them, per se, just never impressed me.

Seems they are used primarily for blending with a few self drinkers floating around. I sort of view them as another blender like Ceylon which I consider an OK tea, even good at times, but I don't go out of my way for them either.

I should have tried a few when I had the opp last May in Vegas, but I was looking at Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese mostly.

[Pentox]

Definitely sounds like something new and outside of our normal circles of interest. I say lets give it a try!

[Victoria]

... lack luster, mediocre.

The same can be said for most of the Korean tea I have tried so far, but it's more about the experience of trying the tea. Just like the Hawaii teas which proved less then exciting, still.

[bi lew chun]

I can only share my last experience with Kenyan tea, which was lack luster, mediocre. To be honest, it was 2-3 years ago, but I did try a few, even a green. Nothing wrong with them, per se, just never impressed me.

Coincidentally enough, I just opened a package of samples from DavidsTea that included a Kenyan Sencha. It was supposed to be (Japanese) Sencha Ashikubo, so this might be a labeling error. If I try it and barf, I'll probably know which it was, after which this oolong tasting might get the kibosh.

[Chip]

Kenyan Sencha, that is just wrong using both words in the same sentence.

But mislabeling is just wrong too. I wonder how often that happens. I ordered Silver Needles one time and received a tin so labeled but contained Bai Mutan. That was an easy mistake to spot, but a pretty bad one to make. Another time, I ordered Baozhong and received Lapsang, to say I was shocked when I opened that bag is an understatement.

I should clarify, I had 2 blacks Kenyan and one green, not an oolong. So, as I said above, I would try just about anything you all decide on, but ... no Kenyan sencha.

[bi lew chun]

Kenyan Sencha, that is just wrong using both words in the same sentence.

You said it. I opened it up, and it's definitely not Japanese. There's no way I'd contaminate my kyusu with this stuff.

Another time, I ordered Baozhong and received Lapsang, to say I was shocked when I opened that bag is an understatement.

Was the shock so intense that you realized your true feelings for Lapsang? Was the passion too much to handle?

Alright. I'll hold off on moving forward until after I've tasted this stuff. Victoria and Pentox, thanks for being willing to give it a shot.

[bi lew chun]

I finally got around to trying the Kenyan Sencha. It wasn't bad, but it looked, behaved and tasted like a white: nicely sweet, steeped fall leaves flavor, with a really cottony mouthfeel.

It wasn't remotely similar to any kind of Japanese tea I've ever had, and honestly I think it satisfies my curiosity for Kenyan tea, so I'm backing slowly away from the oolong idea.