Wednesday TeaDay 6/2/10 Fava beans or fave vendor?

[Chip]

Greetings one and all and wecome to TeaDay. Please share what is in your cup with us throughout the day.

Yesterday we discussed how many vendors we used. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Yesterday + 1. Do you have a clear cut fave vendor? A fave 3, a fave 5, a fave n + 1? Please be sure to share with us.

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

[Victoria]

I have a Fave Five. In the FIVE depending on the season and the offerings, the order of the FIVE may be different. Generally speaking Floating Leaves Tea is usually number one so I put them at the top, even though I've not had any tea yet this year.

Floating Leaves Tea
Tea Masters
Hou De
Camellia Sinensis
Jing Tea Shop

*Adagio Teas Masters Collection Oolongs are poised to take out any
of the above who don't produce a comparable offering. Man, I'm tough.

[RachelC]

I think I have a fav 5 based on what I purchase. Each has strengths and offerings I love...

Adagio
LeafSpa Tea
Golden Moon Tea
Numi - specific tea
DoMatcha

I don't want to put them in order because they can't be compared basedon what I order.

Rachel

[msmeghann82]

I have 1 ultimate favorite right now. Their are others that I have enjoyed teas from, and will definitely order again, but this company never fails to impress with its intensely flavorful and original blends: 52teas.

Cuppa Liquid Jade by the Jade Teapot this morning. Finishing up a sample.

[dooble]

Not really.. I'm not that experienced with different vendors yet. There's a lot of great tea out there .

[RachelC]

I have 1 ultimate favorite right now. Their are others that I have enjoyed teas from, and will definitely order again, but this company never fails to impress with its intensely flavorful and original blends: 52teas.

Cuppa Liquid Jade by the Jade Teapot this morning. Finishing up a sample.

OMG! I forgot about 52Teas! If I have too, I will drop Numi for 52Teas.

[Skippyandjif]

I like such a wide variety of teas that it's kind of impossible for me to pick a favorite vendor. Also, there are so many places that I would love to try but haven't yet...

Pu-erh in my cup this morning.

[Victoria]

Starting the morning with a Spring '10 Oolong from
Hou De - Nan Tou Si-Ji - a non-roasted offering.
Very delicate floral.

Have a nice day everyone!

[artmom]

No real favorite. I'm still in the testing stage--tea and vendor-wise!

Adagio Masters Yunnan Gold this morning. "Absolutely perfect in every way."

[Chip]

In Favorites on my computer, I have a folder for fave 5, then the next tier of faves, and then the next tier, etc. This trickles down into the obscure vendors I simply want to try at some point ...

So, I voted for each of the top 4 options ... lots of options are great when it comes to vendors, but also having a finite list of faves is very helpful.

If pressed, I would list my personal (and ever changing although O-C has had the top spot for 4ish years) fave 5 as
O-Cha
Zencha
Den's
Maiko
??? 5th spot is always toughest for me, there are around 5 vendors that are really close including Rishi, Adagio.

Began the TD with a tasting of Maiko Kinari, asamushi shincha with Mrs. Chip. This is in the OTTI. A goal of OTTI is to have members share otherwise untried teas and vendors.

[Jack_teachat]

I'd say for good all round daily chineses drinkers, Yunnan Sourcing, for Japanese greens, O-Cha. Although there's so many vendors I haven't tried!

2010 Warashina Supreme shincha in my Kyusu right now, few more sessions with this and then on to the Fukamushi Sencha Supreme (also shincha).

Jack

[entropyembrace]

I have a clear cut favourite in Jing Tea Shop...they have a wide variety of tea from mainland China, it´s all high quality, their selections tend to match my tastes pretty well and the service is excellent.

[brad4419]

I don't feel like I haven't tried enough different vendors to have a very helpful list but heres my top five for now.

The top 3 are the vendors I buy from about every year. The other 3 I have had great teas from in the past and would buy from if my budget would allow.

Jingteashop
Teaspring
Dens
floating leaves tea
dragonteahouse or yunnansourcing

[chittychat]

My favorite is Teaspring. A waste selection of all kind of Chinese teas except pu-erh which is handled by their sister company Royal Puerh. Efficient service. Fast response to any tea question. Prices at times higher but is compensated by very low shipping rates.

[Skippyandjif]

After this morning's tea, I had some oolong-green tea-jasmine flower blend, and I'm currently boiling water for a chrysanthemum tisane. Both came from different tea shops in Chinatown in NYC. Of course, both tea shops have completely different selections, so I visit both whenever I'm in the area.