Been looking for new sources of tea for a while now and stumbled upon teachat so this is my first post. I have loved specialist teas since I was a teen, my favourite at the time being (rather vaguely described as) Oolong Formosa from a little outlet in Newcastle upon Tyne called "Tyne Teas", which sadly is long-gone. Whilst living in North America I discovered Genmaicha, which really got me started on teas again. I am increasingly tending towards Peurh now and in need of some fresh sources and recommendations - am hoping there are some Brits on here who can help expand my limited suppliers.
I confess to being a 'convenience tea drinker' rather than a purist. I drink tea all day every day while I work and rest but I, sadly, don't have the time for Gaiwan brewing so I use a couple of tea infusers that drain when sat on a cup and are ideal for multiple infusions. When travelling I tend to just pop a couple of jasmine pearls into a cup of hot water and I am happy, even if I do get some odd looks! So having made these confessions do I get immediately ex-communicated??
Re: Hello from Northern England
Hi Nefarious,
Welcome to the forum!
I am also from England and my favorite tea shop is http://tea-store.co.uk/
they have a nice raw and ripe Puerh and a big choice green teas,
hight quality and fast delivery (I received my last order in 2 days).
Welcome to the forum!
I am also from England and my favorite tea shop is http://tea-store.co.uk/
they have a nice raw and ripe Puerh and a big choice green teas,
hight quality and fast delivery (I received my last order in 2 days).
Re: Hello from Northern England
Hi John. Thanks for the recommendation. They don't seem to have much raw Puerh at the moment - I will look at their other stock though. I usually like to buy whole beeng cha and have 5 so far from Canton Teas - have you tried them? They seem to only get them in sporadically and the ones I have liked the best are both 2002s, but most of their stock is less we'll aged.John Li wrote:Hi Nefarious,
Welcome to the forum!
I am also from England and my favorite tea shop is http://tea-store.co.uk/
they have a nice raw and ripe Puerh and a big choice green teas,
hight quality and fast delivery (I received my last order in 2 days).
What I would love to find is somewhere with a decent range where I can go and taste - probably not going to find that in the UK though, I guess...
Re: Hello from Northern England
Yes, you are right, they do not have a lot of pu erh, but the quality which they have is really good. Some tea shops have a big choice of puerh, but a quality is poor, that is why I never look at quantity but look at quality 
Also, the age of Pu Erh is not a really important thing, more important is the quality of tea leaves, and I know that some shops overestimate the age of pu erh tea.
I prefer to buy loose leaves puerh tea because then I can see a quality of tea leaves what impossible in whole beeng cha. Also, if we take the same quality of tea, the loose leaves puerh will be cheaper than whole beeng tea.
I am a tea purist and quality of tea is really important for me, I found that Tea Store has high-quality teas and good service, that is why I prefer to buy tea there.
Also, the age of Pu Erh is not a really important thing, more important is the quality of tea leaves, and I know that some shops overestimate the age of pu erh tea.
I prefer to buy loose leaves puerh tea because then I can see a quality of tea leaves what impossible in whole beeng cha. Also, if we take the same quality of tea, the loose leaves puerh will be cheaper than whole beeng tea.
I am a tea purist and quality of tea is really important for me, I found that Tea Store has high-quality teas and good service, that is why I prefer to buy tea there.
Re: Hello from Northern England
Hi Nefarious,
I am not British but I would like to recommend a great tea shop to you,its name is called My Real Tea(www.myrealtea.com),I has bought tea from this shop for 3 years since I found it,and it's my only favorite so far
For Pu erh,I myself prefer raw Pu erh against ripe,especially those tea which are from ancient(100 years above) tea trees.Ancient raw Pu erh is full of strong "Cha Qi",I feel so starving and warm in the body every time once I drank ancient raw Pu erh!
Hi John,
I took a look at the shop you recommended,its style looks like ebay.From the pic to see,the tea looks nice but comparing to Myrealtea,I still feel the later is much better cause I just focus on and love those teas which have unique,hand made,high altitude and organic characters.Besides the tea I drink,I also want to know the info such as the growing environment and production way(mechanical or handmade) etc.,these are very important to the quality and health.
I am not British but I would like to recommend a great tea shop to you,its name is called My Real Tea(www.myrealtea.com),I has bought tea from this shop for 3 years since I found it,and it's my only favorite so far
For Pu erh,I myself prefer raw Pu erh against ripe,especially those tea which are from ancient(100 years above) tea trees.Ancient raw Pu erh is full of strong "Cha Qi",I feel so starving and warm in the body every time once I drank ancient raw Pu erh!
Hi John,
I took a look at the shop you recommended,its style looks like ebay.From the pic to see,the tea looks nice but comparing to Myrealtea,I still feel the later is much better cause I just focus on and love those teas which have unique,hand made,high altitude and organic characters.Besides the tea I drink,I also want to know the info such as the growing environment and production way(mechanical or handmade) etc.,these are very important to the quality and health.
Re: Hello from Northern England
too expensive tea,I am not British but I would like to recommend a great tea shop to you,its name is called My Real Tea(www.myrealtea.com),I has bought tea from this shop for 3 years since
I prefer Tea Store because I can buy really good quality and fresh tea for moderate price
Re: Hello from Northern England
Having bought a few samples from other places with mixed results, I shall be sticking with Canton Teas in future I think. I've never had a disappointing puerh from them and today I just took possession of the best tea I ever tasted - I think I've died and gone to puerh-heaven!!