Teas Available in Asian Grocery

[Chatsworth]

The local Asian Grocer in town is pretty large and is the sole supplier to all the Asian restaraunts in town.

They have all sorts of teas. Many containers of loose Green Teas. The prices for a medium size canister is under $5.00 I know you generally get what you pay for, but has anyone had experience with what teas these stores typically sell?

I do want to explore loose teas, but not fill up my cabinet with canisters of teas I'll never enjoy.

[bsteele]

I'd say the quality is probably lacking...especially if it has a model in a bikini on the front or a ripped dude

Others with way more knowledge of greens (and tea in general) will no doubt chime in, but you are pretty accurate in "you get what you pay for." I'd also be concerned about how old some of that tea may be... unless they go through stock quickly. But still...

Bottom line, if you want quality tea, you are most likely better off finding a specialty retailer online or something cool like that.

At the same time... it's not like you can't enjoy the tea they sell.

[Chatsworth]

Thanks for your thoughts.

This shop moves merchandise. It is more of a warehouse with a store attached. There are generally few if any non-asian people shopping there and the help really don't speak English too well. Packages of course are primarily labled in Chinese.

I am anxious to know if anyone has actually tried these types of tea.

[tropicanahana]

I wish! But I too have had the same thoughts when looking at those loose leaf teas that sit on oriental grocery's shelves for only 5$! The only one I've tried is the Ti kuan yin oolong loose leaf tea ~ it was 5 for a tin of loose leaf and it is sooo good, one of my favorites actually yet I haven't had any other ti kuans to compare it to. So I've considered buying one of the other loose leaf oriental teas, i'm going shopping there sunday too I'll keep you updated if I do decide to buy another tea!

[Chip]

They are generally mediocre to low quality. Ten Ren brand is ok, but most of the brands are really poor quality

[Proinsias]

If you want to explore loose leaf teas you'd be as well getting a selection of samples from a well known specialist vendor, like the one that hosts this lovely forum for instance.

[Mrs. Chip]

They are generally mediocre to low quality. Ten Ren brand is ok, but most of the brands are really poor quality

+1!
Our shelves are adorned with some beautiful canisters, however most of the tea is unpalatable.

I agree with Proinsias, try some samples from Adagio!
.

[beachape]

Some asian groceries have decent tea, but not great. That is only if the grocery is very popular and people actually buy the tea to get a turn over. Most asian groceries have the tea sitting on the shelved for ages, even in big cities. Some of the jasmine tea, oolongs or black teas might be OK. If you try one for 5 bucks not too much of a loss, but dont' keep buying expecting the next tin to be any better Adagio samplers are cheap and easy.

[TeaSupplies]

I say give some of them a try! No harm in it and it's only $5 eh? As mentioned above, once you've tried them and they're not good you don't have to buy them again! Tatse is a very individual thing, so worth trying for yourself I say....I would! In fact I've tried many a random tea from an asian grocer near me in Brighton, UK.

[Chip]

I say give some of them a try! No harm in it and it's only $5 eh? As mentioned above, once you've tried them and they're not good you don't have to buy them again! Tatse is a very individual thing, so worth trying for yourself I say....I would! In fact I've tried many a random tea from an asian grocer near me in Brighton, UK.

For the sake of argument.

I tend to shy away from cheap tea since often cheap tea is tea that has been dumped on foreign markets for some reason ... possibly due to poor production practices and/or contamination of some kind.

[Chatsworth]

I did purchase two canisters and also found links to the exact product on the web so I can share that, too.

One was supposed to be a DragonWell green:

http://www.myethnicworld.com/p-3660-dra ... 53-oz.aspx

It has many stems mixed with the leaves. Tastes "grass" like to me.

The other is an oolong: http://www.myethnicworld.com/p-3658-dra ... 53-oz.aspx

This one tastes like seaweed.

The cost for each was just over $3.00. At least I have a couple of nice canisters to use to store other teas in.

[Chip]

The cost for each was just over $3.00. At least I have a couple of nice canisters to use to store other teas in.

Exactly ... fortunately I purchased the "tea" for the tins. But not the first time, the first time I hoped the tea would be good enough to enjoy, but just could not enjoy it, period.

You get what you pay for ...

[gingkoseto]

I did purchase two canisters and also found links to the exact product on the web so I can share that, too.

One was supposed to be a DragonWell green:

http://www.myethnicworld.com/p-3660-dra ... 53-oz.aspx

It has many stems mixed with the leaves. Tastes "grass" like to me.

The other is an oolong: http://www.myethnicworld.com/p-3658-dra ... 53-oz.aspx

This one tastes like seaweed.

The cost for each was just over $3.00. At least I have a couple of nice canisters to use to store other teas in.

Is the second one heavy roast oolong? Oolongs in these metal cans are mostly used by older Hong Kong people. I've had some Hong Kong supermarket brand dark oolong, not great but drinkable, and I wouldn't mind having them with dim sum.

I don' believe there is any good Long Jing or Bi Luo Chun in grocery. It seems impossible with the price and storage conditions. But I did get a Ri Zhao green tea, which is from Shan Dong, the North most tea production region in China. I got it for few $ (probably $2 for 100g), and it is pretty good. The particular taste doesn't awe me, but obviously it tastes very fresh (and was sealed with harvest date). But I got it in Toronto and never saw it else where.

Also in Toronto I once got a Da Hong Pao which is not great but quite passable. And the price is even lower than its price in China - not the first time I've seen such kind of thing in Toronto and I don't know how they did it!

[Chatsworth]

I have no idea about the oolong. I can't read or speak Chinese. All I can say is that it reminds me of seaweed not some Chinese Restaurant.

[iannon]

I got some marvelous Dragonwell from an asian market...once...it tasted like deer jerky......