Assam woes

Fully oxidized tea leaves for a robust cup.
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Jan 24th, '08, 15:38
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by joelbct » Jan 24th, '08, 15:38

KG wrote:I have to ask, what are gold tips?
Image

Some types of high quality tea, particularly from China and India, have a preponderance of tips, which are, I believe, young whole bud/leaves (tips!) picked in the Spring... Thus, very high quality, all-tips White Tea is called YinZhen (Silver Needles/Silver Tips), tippy Yunnan is called Yunnan Golden Tips, etc.

I am not precisely sure what turns the Golden Tips in good black yunnan and assam tea that golden color, perhaps someone else knows? Maybe high-quality young buds oxidize somewhat differently?

Also a note, the Orange Pekoe Tea Leaf Grading System specifies the highest grades of tea as "Tippy Golden...":

# OP (Orange Pekoe)
# FOP (Flowery Orange Pekoe)
# GFOP (Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe)
# TGFOP (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe)
# FTGFOP (Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe)
# SFTGFOP (Special Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe)

Also, on the topic of Assam, here is an interesting link: The Assam Tea Exchange
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Jan 24th, '08, 17:38
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by CynTEAa » Jan 24th, '08, 17:38

Whoa - nice pic, Joel! Some gorgeous tips there!

The unopened buds, aka tips, will add sweetness, complexity and subtle notes. Yum!
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by Salsero » Jan 24th, '08, 18:20

NOTE TO THE CONFUSED: When tea freaks talk about buds, they do not mean flower buds. They are referring to the leaf buds, the tiny growth tips from which new leaves and stems emerge. The Camellia sinensis flowers are not used in the production of tea.




(OK, I do have a cake of puerh that Guang sent me as a freebie made from flowers, but that's a novelty, not a tea!)
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by CynTEAa » Jan 24th, '08, 18:53

Thanks, Sal. Always good to have a translator. :wink:
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by joelbct » Jan 24th, '08, 23:30

CynTEAa wrote:Whoa - nice pic, Joel! Some gorgeous tips there!

The unopened buds, aka tips, will add sweetness, complexity and subtle notes. Yum!
Yah, that was some really, really delicious Golden Yunnan from Ito En, interestingly enough.

I have some on the way from Yunnan Sourcing and SpecialTeas as well....

BTW CynTEAa, if you haven't read the earlier posts in this thread, numerous thanks again for reuniting me with my long-lost, long-sought-for-tea-supplier-through-a-now-defunct-3rd-party :)
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by Chip » Jan 25th, '08, 02:07

It seems TeaCircles are pretty small.

Anyway, although I am not a huge fan of malty Assams, I would love to try one of these very tippy examples, sounds divine. Based on the interest generated by this thread, it seems that a tea tasting would work. Any thoughts?
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by Wesli » Jan 25th, '08, 03:09

GOLD BUDS YUM YUM YUM
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by CynTEAa » Jan 25th, '08, 09:35

joelbct wrote:BTW CynTEAa, if you haven't read the earlier posts in this thread, numerous thanks again for reuniting me with my long-lost, long-sought-for-tea-supplier-through-a-now-defunct-3rd-party :)
Most welcome! Happy to help!
Chip wrote:It seems TeaCircles are pretty small.
Indeed...tiny even. :wink:
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by hop_goblin » Jan 25th, '08, 09:42

Oh man, Global Warming perhaps? Weather patterns are being affected so how or someway.
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Good Assam Source

by paeonia_9 » Jan 25th, '08, 22:11

Hello,

Just wanted to recommend a good source for Assams:

www.uptontea.com

They currently have about 57 Assams available. They have a wonderful sample program and very reasonable shipping.
I highly recommend the Khagorijan Estate STGFOP1 SPL(item# TA73).
The site itself could definitely use a bit of help as far as aesthetics and intuitiveness, but it's a great source. They carry over 400 teas at the moment.
Nearly everything I've ordered (which is close to 100 teas not counting samples!) has been great.
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by Chip » Jan 25th, '08, 22:39

Hi paeonia, welcome to TeaChat!!! I really love the black orchid avatar, right??? Any story behind it...

Upton is a unique vendor, they must have more teas than any domestic vendor, but I will go a step further and say their site sux. :roll: But they are a good vendor for Indian teas. I was a little unhappy with some inconsistancy with their other teas though. I actually just finished their Tung Ting that was mind blowing.
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by paeonia_9 » Jan 26th, '08, 00:25

I just love the picture. No story unfortunately. I'm hesitant to use it because it probably gives the impression that I'm some chick who wears excessive black eyeliner and sits at home either writing bad poetry or cutting themselves...

YES...there are bound to be some clunkers among all those teas (Their blends and Earl Grays get a huge pass from me as well, also wouldn't bother with the Japanese greens). But I've sure learned a lot about what I like from sampling. It reinforced my belief that the enjoyment of tea and wine are very similar. For instance, I just sampled Upton's Formosa Jade Oolong Imperial ($48.00 for 100 grams) and while I enjoyed it I found that I preferred their Spring Dragon Oolong (incredible fragrance, like Spring in a cup), which is about $14.00 for 100 grams. As a parallel, I've had Dom Perignon and enjoyed it, but I've also had a $14.00 prosecco from a small producer that was far more interesting....I could bore you with other similarities like the effect of terroir and such, but the important question is which Tung ting blew your mind..do tell!
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by Chip » Jan 26th, '08, 00:53

No, totally staying away from their Japanese greens!!!

It is great when less expensive is better. I had abunch of their oolong. The oolong I just finished was tung ting classic, slightly more oxidized than some of the more modern offerings. I had the spring dragon around 2+ years ago when they first offered it, and I agree it was very good as well.

There are a lot of parallels to tea enjoyment, and I have heard similar tales regarding wine as yours.

I hope you come here and have many cups of tea with us!!!
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by sykowch » Jan 26th, '08, 20:38

I'm a very new hot tea addict. I quickly discovered that I like Assam teas with their malty flavor. I took the advice of Joel and CynTEAa and ordered a few samples from SpecialTeas: Assam No. 266, 245 and the house house blend. I just received them today. So far, I've only tried the house blend. I found it very tasty and smooth with little to no astringency. Thanks for the tip!! :D
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Jan 26th, '08, 22:51
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by joelbct » Jan 26th, '08, 22:51

Thoughts on the specialteas shipment:

Keemun Hao Ya A: Precisely the Keemun I have been searching for ever since that shop closed. It has that hard-to-describe special something: a clarity, almost sweetness, and just a harmony of notes and subtleties that is clearly the result of an immense amount of labor and care.

House Assam: Tasty and a notch above the other 5-7 Assams I've bought since that tea shop closed- Not sure if it is quite as good as I remember several harvests ago, but experimentation will tell.

And I am very much looking forward to trying the Meleng and Mangalam FTGFOP1 samples, will get back to you on those.

Paeonia_9, thank you for the Upton link. They do have an impressive offering of Assams, but I have to wonder at their website. And I agree, it is wonderful to cultivate a taste for the tea. Quite as refined as wine, I would think, if not more so, because with tea, there is no alcohol to deaden the taste-buds. Plus, easier to function in society drinking cup after cup of tea all day than to do the same with wine :)
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