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

[Chip]

Good TeaDay one and all. Please stop in and share what is in your cup throughout the day.

Yesterday we discussed price as a criteria for buying tea. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Continuing with discussing tea purchase criteria, today we discuss leaf appearance. What is important to you when purchasing tea, or what do you look for when looking at tea leaves that you are considering purchasing? You can choose 3 poll options. Please share.

I am looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with everyone, paying attention to the tiny tea leaves that is what TeaChat is all about!

[Trey Winston]

Color, true to form, and fresh are my choices. I didn't think I paid that much attention to tea appearance, but now that the issue has been raised, it seems I tend to go for good-looking teas. In fact, I think white teas may be the best-looking teas both in and out of the cup.

Silver Needle is today's tea of choice. Oooh, pretty.

[Drax]

I went with 'other' -- I purchase most of my tea from the internet, so I have to go by vendor pictures. And to be honest, I don't really trust vendor pictures. It's not that they're dishonest, but pictures rarely do justice to what you get. Also, unless if something looks really odd, I'll probably give any tea a go once, barring other factors such as expense.

This morning I'm breaking into a 2003 Golden Sail cooked pu'erh bing. Previously I had only tried Golden Sail in loose form, so it was neat to see a whole thing of it. This is quite tasty stuff, and a good reminder of why I like pu'erh.

Have a great TeaDay everybody!

[brlarson]

Like Drax, I buy my teas via the Web, so I don't have the luxury of inspecting before I buy. But if I did I would look for apparent freshness, leaf condition, and consistency of leaf size. I have red-green color blindness so color would be less of a factor when making buying decisions.

Once again, today's breakfast tea is a blend of Ippodo Hosen and O-Cha Surugawase.

[ericnicolaas]

Truth is, I actually get a lot of tea sent to me for free to review on my blog, but I do judge teas based on their appearance. I'm easily won over by teas with fuller leaves and that have been rolled nicely.

Actually, on that point, I did buy a packet of yunnan gold from a local tea shop here in Melbourne a couple months ago. I think its appearance played a big part in why I bought it. Those lovely streaks of gold, and the nice full shape of the leaves, really won me over. As it turns out, the tea tasted pretty nice too!

[Salsero]

I picked the coward's way out and chose "Other." the appearance of the leaf doesn't affect me too much since I buy everything on the internet.

[Intuit]

Leaf appearance before and after brewing, it's important.

Like others here, most of my tea is purchased over the web. When purchased locally, smell and appearance are equally weighted. If a tea has very little smell, I will pass it by, no matter how nice looking the leaf.

Handcrafting (am still learning the visual differences for many teas), true to form, leaf color are useful in judging a tea and learning it.

Large-leaved Namsang Assam estate tea in my cup. A polite, well-graded, not so malty tea, no golden tips.

[depravitea]

I guess I look more for if the leaf is broken or not, as opposed to freshness. I'll soon be drinking some 20 year old pu (as soon as it arrives), not exactly fresh

[Chip]

Yes, appearance only! Until we have Sal's Smellovision.

I would use different criteria for appearance if I was fortunate to buy Japanese tea in person, but even in Japan, they rarely have the opp to see the leaf in person before buying.

So, I try to see if the leaf has great color, especially for Japanese tea, has to be very green. Of course, I am trusting their photo. Heh, I should have said I try to judge if the photo has been "enhanced" which I have certainly seen.

Leaf size, broken versus whole is not relevent for Japanese tea, so I also voted for "true to form," fuka should look like fuka, asa should look like asa, etc.

A distant third, hand crafting ...

[Chip]

Began the TD with Hatsumi from O-Cha in a new Biwa (loquat) Wan, Hagi Special Offer #4. This cup has such a nice feel to it, smooth, yet textured. SweeTea again wanted to try out the new bowl, while Wulong would prefer breaking it ... deja vu all over again!

[leiche2]

When I have the luxury of seeing the tea before I buy it, I focus on the wholeness of the leaf, how it's rolled (or not), and if it's "true to form." The vast majority of my tea is purchased online, though.

I started my day by burning my finger on my mug of Black Dragon Pearls at breakfast. Now I'm having some Oolong #8 to calm my nerves after a frantic search for my lost-now-found cellphone. It was hiding under my laptop cooler stand. I'm going to blame the cat.

[olivierco]

I like when the leaves are what they are expected to look like for each different kind of tea.

No tea today.

[JazzNGreenTea]

I chose leaf freshness and color. I usually purchase teas online so I cannot really judge much prior to purchase. Once I open the bag though I am most interested in if the appearance of the leaf suggests freshness, good coloration, etc. I don't really inspect the leaf too thoroughly beyond that, but after reading the other options I should probably learn to judge appearance a little more.

On the other hand as long as I really like the tea and it is fresh than I am happy. I wouldn't want a less than perfect appearance to ruin my judgment of taste/enjoyment. Now if I were really into the very high grade teas, I could see being a little pickier.

[Victoria]

I look for appearance, nice green and fresh looking, hand picked. I especially like it when you can also see a brewed example like how Hou De displays. Then I know for sure what I'm getting.

Started the day with Mariage Freres Darjeeling Master...TGFOP du matin.
A sweet but temperamental brew, that I've grown quite fond of.

Currently, Floating Leaves Tea LiShan.

[MASALACHAAAAIIIIII]

I chose color, "manufactured well", and I'd like to have mostly whole leaf BUT that can change depending on type . Some of the other options seem kinda iffy, I can't tell from a picture if something is fresh, although that is important *wink wink giggle giggle*.

Eating me some maggie noodles!!! The greatest version of ramen noodles ever dudeeeeeeessssss! They have them in Indian groceries...much tastier cha cha. Having a third infusion of Puttabong with milk and sugar too, then going to start studying about some circles.