Online stores

[olivierco]

Sorry didn't read the rules very carefully. Just wanted to make the life easier for other rookies like me. My major point in choosing the vendor, as for many others, would be the price, quality, and shipping, in the order of priorities. The price is major point because everyday tea drinking could be really expensive, compared to "tea bag" drinking.

So that's why I need advise form all of you on where to find sales. specials, discounts. Is there a blog that collects discounts form various tea stores? I just got my first order from specialteas.com, have not tried it yet though.

How is the quality of tea from ebay online stores? I listeed 2 of them in my list above, but ahev anyone ordered through them? Please comment on major ebay stores.

Adagio seems to be a good starting point. They have a broad offer, their prices are reasonable and you should try their samplers.

It is actually difficult to suggest stores not knowing what kind of tea you are looking for and what price you are willing to spend of tea. (It was a time when I thought that spending more than 15$ for 100gr of tea was unreasonable... )

Tea drinking isn't very expensive anyway. Even if you spend 50$ for 100gr of black tea, it will only cost 1$ per cup.

[edkrueger]

I'm only writing on the ones I've ordered from or had tea from.

http://www.adagio.com/
They are horrible. And I hate teachat too. Joking aside, Adagio is great for mid grade teas. They have a very good price/quality ratio, epically on Alishan.

http://www.rishi-tea.com/
I've ordered from them before. They are a tad pricey, but they have sent me a free 100g bad of tea. Asamushi from there is good.

http://www.jingteashop.com/
Shipping took forever! But, that is not really their fault. OK.

http://www.tentea.com/index.html
I've been to 3 of their physical locations and order some tins online. My local ten tea is responsible for getting me into Gong Fu. Dong Ding. 409 and 509 are two of three flavored teas I like.

http://www.redblossomtea.com/
Nice, have a tea set, a pot and a few bags of tea from there. If you are ever in San Fransisco china town, this is the place to go. Love the Aged Pouchong.

http://stashtea.com
Err. Its sub par. Tea Bag quality.

http://www.mightyleaf.com/
Tea Bag quality.

http://www.sevencups.com/
I've placed 4 order here. I think that the most order I've placed any where.

Japanese Only:
http://www.hibiki-an.com/
Great! I love the Aged Gyokuro. Avoid any thing Karigane.

[Chip]

Japanese Only:
http://www.hibiki-an.com/Avoid any thing Karigane.

With the exception of their Sencha Karigane, this stuff really rocks IMHO, nothing like gyokuro based karigane. Sweet, light, refreshing. like a tropical seabreeze.

[edkrueger]

Japanese Only:
http://www.hibiki-an.com/Avoid any thing Karigane.

With the exception of their Sencha Karigane, this stuff really rocks IMHO, nothing like gyokuro based karigane. Sweet, light, refreshing. like a tropical seabreeze.

Lol. My "avoid karigane" was specifically directed towards gyojuro karigane.

[Pentox]

And thus brings me to another point.

Everyone's tastes are subjective. As a result vendor choices become subjective. Some people love Fukamushi sencha to death, some people not so much so. And as a result of it, opinions of Den's tea vary. Fukamushi lovers and Guricha lovers tend to extol Den's. The non-lovers may find something of interest in their traditional style teas, but maybe not. So it varies.

Some vendors get a rather universal thumbs down, but most good vendors will get known for specific teas. The fans will extol, the non-fans will vilify. Teavana would be a good example. Rarely have I heard anyone speak well of Teavana.

[Oni]

Since this is posted at the greentea section, what is everybodys opinion about zencha.net , I`m interested in their yame teas and shizuoka fukamushi teas?

[Pentox]

Since this is posted at the greentea section, what is everybodys opinion about zencha.net , I`m interested in their yame teas and shizuoka fukamushi teas?

I've only had a little bit of tea from them, but I've been satisfied with everything that I've gotten from them. When I have a bit less tea on hand I plan on trying out their Yame Sencha.

[JT]

Since this is posted at the greentea section, what is everybodys opinion about zencha.net , I`m interested in their yame teas and shizuoka fukamushi teas?

I've had a few varieties from zencha. The Yame Sencha Takumi was very good and unique, a must try. Their Shizuoka offerings are good. I've had their Fukamushi Fuji The Ultimate and was quite pleased but not as good as the Shizu Super Premium Shincha that I had in the spring. Their Guri-cha was very good. It's difficult to compare to the other guricha/Tama Ryokucha I've had which includes den's, Ito-en, and mellow monk. All had different strong and weak points. My favorite is a toss up between Den's and Ito-en for guricha.

Another little detail that hasn't been mentioned with some of the overseas vendors is that some like teacuppa, teaspring, and tea from Taiwan is you actually have to sign for delivery. Others like o-cha are just left in your mail box or porch.

[Oni]

I was thinking about trieing zencha only for the yame section, there are not many vendors that sell yame tea, I know only 2 Zencha and Bassaro, the later is closed, but I have ordered some samples from their future merchandise and it was very good. And another vendor too mention is shizuokatea.com , they have low prices but they lack quality too.

[Chip]

O-Cha has one Yame gyokuro which is pretty good for the price point. I have been able to try the Yame Ultimate Gyokuro, very good, but almost twice the price of O-Cha's. The Takumi was indeed very different, but I have not had it this harvest.

There is another Yame vendor, but I think they are supporting their "crack habit" or something. I look at some of their hard good products and the price is crazy, as much as twice what other vendors charge. I run across this phenom from time to time. This particular vendor is Yame.com. I am not touching theirs, I get a weird feeling based on what I can compare to other vendors carrying the same hard goods.

[Oni]

I will try zencha next year, and ofcourse I will try o-cha`s offering as well, this year it is too late to order, I stashed up some tea so I`ll survive for the next year.

[Yaanon]

Has anyone had any experience with The Tea Table? I tried using the search box to find some opinions on the site to no avail. I've ordered from them before and in my uneducated novice opinion I don't they they are too shabby. Nice prices, overall good experience. I've ordered my share of crap from them but they have some nice herbal blends.

[eanglin]

Spotted a new-is vendor on Ebay.
http://stores.ebay.com/Gingko-Bay-Tea-T ... asstQQtZkm

Ordered a green tea sample pack and some of their traditional roast oolong and, I kid you not, the tea was shilled the same day I placed my order- got it the next day. (MA to MI)

Beautiful tea- gorgeous long whole leaves especially on the Monkey king and yellow mountain peak tea.

Haven't been able to sit down and try any yet, but if it tastes half as good as it looks, it should be dreamy.

Small criticism on the packaging- the heavy mylar envelopes have been folded over and stapled instead of heat sealed- I'll need to drink these samples up soon. (Shouldn't be a problem!)

Anyone else purchased from this vendor? They seem to be small, perhaps just getting started.

If anyone has any advice on getting the most out of these samples please share
I have; \
Yellow Mountain Peak Green Tea (Huang Shan Mao Feng)
Melon Seeds Green Tea (Loo Ann Gua Pian)
Tune Creek Green Tea (Tune Loo)
Shu Chung Small Orchid Green Tea
Monkey King Green Tea (Tai Ping Hou Kui)
Lao Zhu Da Fang

[procarel]

I have enjoyed several ripe puerh teas that I have purchased from pu-erhtea.com although shipping can take 3 to 4 weeks SAL from China. One of my favorite online vendors is Twohillstea. I have especially enjoyed their green and white teas although again the shipping time tends to be a little slow ( two weeks or so).

[nultz]

how can you tell if the store is legit or not I have seen alot of dodgie looking green tea sites out there... can anyone help me?