Monday TeaDay 10/19/09 The game of RISK?

[Chip]

Greetings TeaFriends and welcome to TeaDay. Please come in and share what is in your cup throughout the day.

Yesterday we discussed TeaCooking. You can still vote and discuss this tasty topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. What percentage of your tea purchases are made in your "comfort zone" of TEAS (TEA ONLY)you already know you enjoy, versus taking risk with tea you do not know?

I am looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with everyone. Bottoms up.

[woozl]

I like to stick my beak in the leaf.
I am close to a good source or two.
But I will order Japanese on line.

[Geekgirl]

Very difficult to answer, I went for 70/30. I'm willing to take some risk with teas, but it's on individual teas/producers at this point because I know what types I like and don't like, so my "surprises" are much more nuanced these days.

Speaking of, I was pleasantly surprised this morning to dip into a tin of matcha that had been tucked into the back of the cupboard. I expected it to be stale and astringent, because it was very inexpensive to begin with, (Uwajimaya Matcha Kin,) but it was sweet and mild. Very good. A nice surprise.

[brlarson]

20% in/80% out.

A tea would have to be either exceptional quality or exceptional value for me to buy it more than once in a year, so most of my tea purchases are new to me. I'm a tasting junkie, I want new tasting experiences. I buy from good vendors and I am happy with what I get almost all of the time. The biggest risks that I take are in my quest for good, inexpensive teas. I've found some real pooches, but I have drunk them all because I don't like to waste.

My last tea of the day was Jing's semi-wild wudong dancong, served as InfiniTea: I've been rebrewing these same leaves for about a month now:-)

[brad4419]

About a year ago It would have been 100% out of my comfort zone because I didn't have any idea what I liked

Next springs plan would probably put me at about 70% in my comfort zone because I plan on rebuying a lot of my favorites and then add some new samples to try.

still drinking da hong pao another morning

[Zanaspus]

I went 100% in. It's not so much that I'm not willing to try new stuff, but I've had virtually everything I can think of. OK, I've never had any Korean tea nor any Hawaiian tea, but my "adventure" lies in trying new vendors and grades, not new teas per se.

I think this is why I'm so drawn to sheng pu erh. Unless its the same cake at the same age, it's always different.

[Drax]

20% in/80% out.

Same here for me. I'm usually trying to hunt down new (to me) teas and sources. I suppose at some point this ratio will swing the other way.

Oh huang shan, why do you linger in my cup so?

[Trey Winston]

I would say 80% in and 20% out of the comfort zone. I tend to stick to the ones I know and love, but I usually add a sample or two to my orders.

Having some SN today, just to confirm that it still is my favorite.

[gingkoseto]

I am not sure. Probably I should consider making an excel doc., like some other tea drinkers do

I guess 80:20. I mostly got tea from sellers that I know of so I feel safe even with teas new to me. Some tea I didn't enjoy, I eventually found someway to enjoy. There are a few Taiwanese oolong that I didn't like, but they turned out great when brewed with cold water. A few dark oolong got better and less smokey after staying in my cabinet for a year. A few dan cong may get bitter with longer infusion, but as long as I give them quick flushing infusion, they are sweet and fragrant.

Currently what I don't enjoy include, a dong ding beauty (I guess that's the "concubine" tea discussed on oolong board a while ago), an organic gyokuro, a muzha tgy, 2 inexpensive aged tea. But there are other people who like them. Maybe I will change, or the tea will change

[JBaymore]

70 in 30 out.

best,

...............john

[Chip]

At first I was going to say 30:70. Then I thought about 2 seconds and realized I am likely 90:10 as far as types of teas go.

Almost all green purchasing ... and vast majority of those are Japanese. Sencha, Gyokuro, Matcha, Kukicha in that order. I rarely go out of my comfort zone after 10 years of searching and experimenting.

[Mrs. Chip]

At first I was going to say 30:70. Then I thought about 2 seconds and realized I am likely 90:10 as far as types of teas go.

Almost all green purchasing ... and vast majority of those are Japanese. Sencha, Gyokuro, Matcha, Kukicha in that order.

What he said!

[virago_ns]

50/50 for me... I've got my favorites, but there are very few teas I dislike. Variety for me

White Peony in my cup this am

[Intuit]

It's one thing if you have vendors/purchasing agents who are reliable. But that is not the case. The larger retailers are not that concerned if their tea is (1) outdated, (2) highly variable quality, batch to batch or within batch, or (3) they run out.

Large retail vendors don't bother to replace stock with newer and fresher tea, if they still have last years batch or one from several years ago - even if they are down to the dregs, and have newer stock just in. They will happily sell you old tea at full retail price, in tiny bag.

Their old stock never goes on sale, period. Bad batches are never culled.

They treat their stock as 'nonperishable'. They are firmly in LALA LAND, believing in magical ultrathin foil bags that are not nitrogen flushed nor vacuum packed, that render tea impervious to the passage of time.

What this means is: you will forced to look elsewhere for your favorites. Frequently. So my answer was 50:50, not so much out of a need to constantly try new teas as to be driven to look for a new source for a favorite, or a replacement.

Ceylon estate tea (mediocre, unfortunately) in my cup.

[thirtysixbelow]

Not sure how broad or specific you mean by "comfort zone". So, if we are going by type of tea (green, oolong) then i'm 50/50. If we are talking about a specific tea (same vendor, same kind) Then I'm probably 5/95 as I have only purchased the exact same tea maybe 2 or 3 times. I'm still new to tea and trying all kinds. Japanese greens are my favorite so I guess that is my comfort zone in a broad sense, but within that category I still try all types of new things: matcha, gyo, shincha, sencha. I have purchased o-cha's chiran sencha maybe 3 times so that is my "comfort zone" in the most specific sense.