Wednesday TeaDay 3/3/10 TeaVendor stock tip?

[Chip]

Yesterday, TeaChatters declared that price does matter when it comes to choosing their tea vendors ... to varying degrees. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Welcome one and all to TeaDay, fill your pot and come share what is in your cup today...all day! Be sure to check out what everyone else is sipping as well. And you can reflect back on your TeaDay if you need to.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic again visits vendors...today, what is important to you in a vendors selection. 1000's of teas of every imaginable kind? Or all the way down to a highly specialized vendor...or somewhere in between.

I look forward to seeing you on TeaDay today. Bottoms up...refill!!!

[Victoria]

I guess I like 50 or under. Sometimes even under 25, but most of my vendors have over 25 so I went with 50. Vendors with vast amounts of tea make me nervous. Not only is it too much to look though, but how fresh is it?

[bsteele]

Ideally, every tea possible available... and I mean every tea. And it would be perfectly fresh and oh so delicious.

[Ebtoulson]

I said around 50-100 but really as many as possible while keeping the tea fresh. Most vendors I shop at are pretty specialized except for adagio which is more on the a little bit of everything.

Just got finished with my 3rd cup of genmai for the evening....was hoping it would help my sore throat, it didn't.

[JBaymore]

More interested in depth than breadth.

best,

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

[leiche2]

Under 50, I guess. A little variety is okay.

Keemun Rhapsody this morning, I think. I forgot to label the sample tin I took with me!

[Victoria]

Started the day with Balasun Estate Darjeeling from Mariage Freres.
Next up - something very different.

[AdamMY]

While I shop at a variety of vendors, I rather like it the best when I vendor seems to have a focus in mind. For example The Essence of Tea (Nadacha) is focused on Puerh primarily aged, so I typically think of going to him first when I am looking for something of that type.

That is to say I do not mind the more grab bag like vendors when placing experimental orders or a broad based order in which I'm ordering several different types of tea from a wide variety of categories.

[msurads06]

Right now I prefer vendors who offer alot of different teas from different places. I am still trying teas to figure out what i like and this saves me money in shipping, from what i have seen, these larger vendors seem to offer samples more often than some of the smaller vendors. As i decide what i like, i will probably begin to order from smaller, more specialized vendors, but for exploration purposes, i prefer the larger vendors.

Started out the day with silver needle, now drinking spring pekoe (green tea).

[artmom]

My ideal tea vendor would have 50 to 100 teas, AND excellent descriptions and info on how long to brew, temperature of water, etc.

Red Peach this a.m.

[Skippyandjif]

I'd prefer to frequent a wide variety of more specialized tea vendors (50 or fewer teas) who are very well-acquainted with their merchandise. I just equate greater specialization with greater expertise and more care for the individual product.

Right now, I'm drinking a third infusion of that bit of pu-erh brick I broke off yesterday. Mmm!

[LauraW]

I'd say... probably 50-100. Places like Adagio are wonderful - they fill a niche and succeed - and I've found that the breadth from there has given me some pointers towards finding places with a little more depth (i.e. specialized 30-50 tea vendors). So I guess I went with an average

Started out this morning with some Baozhong, 3 infusions, I think. At about 4 I was nearly falling asleep at my desk and went for some more Caramel Delight. Possibly some sencha here shortly while I prepare dinner.

[Chip]

I used to use Upton quite a bit, was hypnotized by allll their teas. This is their constant direction/priority, to offer a lot of teas, more than anyone else it seems. Then I became rather suspect of many of the teas I was receiving, and went to the other extreme for the most part.

Today, my ideal vendor would have probably around 25 +/- teas in their area of experTEAs, thus assuring me of quality and freshness. I think this is likely more important to someone who is acutely focused on greens than other types of teas.

I actually feel lost anymore when visiting the all inclusive/types of tea vendors ... and I am just not interested in their greens.

I do agree with other posters, when newer to tea, the vendors with lots of teas is a good starting point, just beware of overbuying.

End of the day, I voted 25-50 since my fave vendor is in that range, so I guess that says something about my preference.

[Chip]

And began the TD with 2008 harvest Fukamushi from Ryu Mei, still shocked at how good this still is. Next up, Sushi Bar Genmaicha. And then a tasting of 3 Korean Greens from Hankook with Mrs. Chip. Korean green teas are certainly different than any other greens I have had. They are a bit of an enigma, a riddle that I would like to solve.

Doo Mool organic, mild gently sweet.
Gamnong, had a bitter edge this time around but then settled down.
And a no namer that had some rather interesting notes including graham, cocoa, floral.

Will likely have Hankook Hydrangea leaf tea in a bit. Or maybe their Persimmon leaf?

[geeber1]

I voted 25-50 and limited regions. I think that a vendor would be able to become more knowledgeable about the teas they carry and be able to provide better service to their customers.

Nilgiri Glendale in my cup tonight. Today was a crazy day at work and I didn't get to have any tea. Waaaaaa.