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I'm interested. They all look so delicious

Today I tried to compare Uji Kabuse and Uji Gyokuro. The only thing I really noticed was that the Gyokuro was much creamier and the Kabuse was much stronger. I think I'm going to try this again since I didn't brew these the same. The Gyokuro was brewed at 135 and the Kabuse was brewed at 175. Oh well it gives me another excuse to drink some more tea.

I was reading a tea blog and I stumbled on someone who stumbled on this. It's a book from 1903 titled The Little Tea Book. It's a short read. A great deal of poetry. An interesting look at tea from an older perspective. Hope someone enjoys it!

I'm not entirely sure. All the tea is from ItoEn. It's high quality. The local store carries Tomo Sencha Megami Sencha Honyma Sencha Makinohara Sencha Umegashima Sencha Chiran Kanayamidori Uji Kabuse Uji Gyokuro Matcha Lavender Sencha Sakura Sencha Yuzu Sencha Shiso Sencha Genmaimatcha Kukicha Bancha Hojicha Kaiseki Hojicha Vanilla Hojicha All of the price points are pretty good. For example a lb of Uji Gyokuro is $188.99/lb or $11.81/oz. On the ITOEN Website it's $46.50 for 3oz and $232.50 for 15oz. If any one is interested in any of these specifically let me know. I have all the pricing.

I started out today with a China Breakfast from Rishi. It tastes quite similar to English Breakfast actually. Then I came to work and decided to try this "green tea" my manager brought back from his trip to China. No one knows what it is or how to brew it. It looked like gunpowder to me. Not that having the leaves rolled up really tight means anything. I did the first infusion at 165 for about 2 minutes I lightly covered 3/4 of the bottom of my pot. After sampling the first infusion I initially thought I had overbrewed the tea, but the taste was definitely odd. I then gave the now expanded leaves a good sniff. The odor is very algae like. It definitely has a salty sweet taste. The flavor didn't change with the 2nd or 3rd infusion. Perhaps this is seaweed with some tea thrown in? I don't see any buds. I do see a fair amount of stems. It definitely seems like there is more "seaweed" than "tea." Any of you have something similar before? Anyone know what this is? Thanks. P.S. Click the links for the full size image. Box: Tea: Tea Post Brew:

The store is called Wegman's and the location with the Tea Bar is in Pittsford, NY. They are a great grocery store.

My local grocery store( which has a tea bar ) resells some of the Ito-ens teas as their own. I can purchase a pound of Ito-En's Uji Gyokuro for $188. If you buy a pound I think it comes in the original packing. Anything smaller comes in their tea pouches. It's not something you brew in just a package to hold whatever amount of loose tea you decided to purchase. They are heat sealed as well. I go out there all the time. If anyone is interested I'll ship whatever amount you like for cost of goods and shipping. If anyone is interested I can make a list of all their ito-en and prices.

Starting off today with a Rishi Keemun Black Tea It's quite nice when you are a little less generous with the leaves. Never a need for milk or sugar when brewed correctly. Definitely a good everyday black.

I looked at the information Norbu had on Shu puerh. I have to say the puerh did have a very prominent musty/earthy flavor to it. Is that a good indication it was ripened? I'll need to figure this out so I can keep my Yixing pots separate. Thanks for the info.

Thank you for the welcome In retrospect I am not very pleased with imperial tea court for not being upfront with the information on the puerh. They mention aging the puerh. That wouldn't make much difference unless it was a raw puerh correct? Of course they could just be blowing smoke. Today I had a Genmaimatcha (Ito En), Nilgiri (Rishi), Shiso Sencha (Ito En), and Imperial Keemun Mao Feng. I also met a rep from Rishi today. Apparently the Taiwanese Oolongs are pretty fresh right now. I also ran in to a rep from Ito En as well. I sampled their bottle teas Oi Ocha—Ryokucha, Oi Ocha—Koi Aji, a Jasmine Green, and an Oolong Blend. The Oi Ocha—Ryokucha and the Oi Ocha—Koi Aji are basically the same except the Aji is brewed with more tea for a longer period of time. It has a stronger green tea taste but it is a bit bitter. After all that I had a Darjeeling (Rishi). Whew looking back I have drank a lot of tea today. Any way. I am currently drinking some Umegashima Sencha (Ito En). I will probably switch to some Uji Gyokuro (Ito En) later. Oh and one more note, I brew my green tea in this little number.

The Puerh brick might be from Xiaguan? I'm not 100% sure since I have no idea what it says, but the kangi(?) looks identical to writing on the Xiaguan puerh bricks. If there is an edit feature I apologize. I couldn't find it!

Hi This is my first post ever on eGullet I received my order from imperialtea.com today. So I started out with their Sword of the Emperor. It's listed on their website as a green, but it seems like a white to me. It's from the Da Ye tree which is the same tree that Rishi's moonlight white comes from. I compared the teas. They buds look identical. The sote (sword of the emperor) is all buds as the moonlight white is the bud and a leaf. I did three infusions of each and compared them side by side. In all the infusions the sote was much lighter than the moonlight. On the second infusion the sote seemed to turn a bit creamier and the moonlight began to mellow so the flavors grew more similar. On the 3rd the sote was still very nice and fruity. The moonlight started to take on more astringency I think. I always thought the moonlight white a very delicate tea but compared to the sword of the emperor it's like a bull in a China shop. The real fun begins with the other part of my order. I received a cute little(4.5oz) Yixing tea pot. I have christened it with Yunan Puerh Brick from imperialtea. This is the first puerh I have ever ordered and I am quite please. I am ignorant though so perhaps that is why. I took a picture of my setup with my cellphone. I've steeped this puerh 10 times. I think that's as far as I can take it. I also had a Jade Oolong from Rishi today. Let me know what you folks think and if you've tried these teas before or what you think of imperial tea. etc. Thanks