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  1. I'm pretty new to the world of drinking quality hot tea. Until very recently, all of my experience has been at home. In restaurants, the only tea I was ordering was iced tea. I recently returned from Las Vegas where I obviously had a large number of meals in restaurants. While there, I actually ordered tea once for myself and also observed what happened when others at the table ordered tea. What I experienced seems to indicate that tea as a beverage is done as an afterthought. Outside of the dim sum place we went to, it was always done with a pot of hot water and a teabag. Sure, it may have been a good tea bag, but it was still a tea bag. And you were on your own to actually brew it. Is there any hope out there? Any growing trend going on that hasn't made it to Las Vegas where tea service in restaurants is given a bit more thought. I suppose there are some places there doing it well, but I wasn't at them.
  2. In the Barley Tea topic, torakris mentioned Korean Roasted Corn Tea: I was shopping at the local Super H-Mart yesterday and picked up a bag of the roasted corn. I chose the Soong Yung Tea brand (I guess that's the brand) after asking a woman who waited on me in the fast food kiosk. She said it was the best one with the best flavor. So, now that I have a bag of it, how do I make it?
  3. eG Society member Greg Glancy at Norbutea.com is contributing 10 gram samples of a new Taiwan Alishan High Mountain Oolong from the recent spring harvest 2009. Greg has provided four samples of 10 grams each, and I will mail three of them to the eG Society members participating in this tasting and discussion. While the tasting is open to all members who have posted at least ten substantive posts in the Coffee and Tea forum, preference will be given until midnight (EDST) Friday, July 31st to those who have not participated in the last two tastings. Preference will also be given to those who will brew this tea gong fu (with skill) style in a gaiwan. ("Substantive posts" simply means "contributed something to the discussions".) As always, everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate in the discussion. So, please PM me now for details if you would like to receive one of the the free samples and participate in the tasting and discussion. Here's more information on this special Oolong tea from the Norbutea.com website. I have known Greg for several years. A presentation he gave on a trip through the tea markets and farms of China fed my growing interest in learning more about fine teas. Since then Greg has become a tea friend and we drink tea together and trade teas and tea stories from time to time.
  4. I enjoy floral teas for variety, but find a lot of the commercially available blends are too strong--for example, I usually cut rishi's peach blossom white tea about 1:2 with a nice white or yellow tea to get a pleasingly floral but not cloying brew--or start with poorer quality base teas, so have been adding flowers myself. For example, while reading up on the pouchong tea I recently rediscovered in the back of my cupboard, I encountered several times a note that it is often drunk with the addition of rose. So, when I bought some more of it, I asked about adding rose, and got a bag of little dried rose buds. I added about 8 of them to the amount of tea that I steeped 3 times to fill my quart thermos (about 1 tablespoon of large loose leaves), and was disappointed to find no real difference in the flavor. I've also tried to work with some dried osmanthus flowers, which are often called 'orchid flowers' when used to flavor teas, and not been very satisfied with the results when trying to reproduce a nice 'orchid oolong' tea I was given as a gift. Simply adding flowers or petals until the flavor seems right isn't working so well, and I'm wondering: are the flowers I have too old/worn out to add flavor? Do the rose buds need to be separated into rose petals? Do the flowers change the best brewing temperatures? Are resteepings drawing undesireable flavor from the petals? Are there ways to tell, without opening the bag/jar/box/can, whether the flowers are likely to have much flavor to give?
  5. Are there any decent quality loose (or a good quality bagged) tea with added caffeine? I'm a fan of (should I admit this here? I'm new to this section of eGullet...) Celestial Seasons Fast Lane and Morning Thunder black teas. I like tea better than coffee, and I like the more subtle energy boost. I like the Fast Lane, but I'd like something better quality, something I can get loose, or just other options in general. Are there any good ones? What would you recommend?
  6. In another topic, v. gautam posted an aside reagarding stevia. Anyone else have this experience?
  7. I was going through the checkout line at a Sprouts grocery store recently and noticed that the person in front of me had only two products in her basket. Two bags of potato chips and about 40 bottles of "organic black tea". At a dollar a 16 ounce bottle. Looked like a party in the making. Certainly convenient - it's "organic" and convenient - just toss it in the trash or recycle the glass or plastic. But how hard is it to make iced tea? $40 would buy the 160 - 180 grams of a good quality tea leaf needed and have money left over. And few if any of the bottled teas are made of anything but the lower grades of tea. So, my bias is not subtle. But what do you think of bottled teas?
  8. There are now many tea merchants on the internet. Some have B&M tea shops; some have their own sites; some are on eBay. Their websites differ considerably in the range of teas and tea-things they offer and how they are presented. Some English language sites are based in the tea producing countries and more are based in tea importing countries. So, I am curious about what everyone's experiences have been and what your preferences are. Do you prefer ordering from merchants in your country or from those overseas? Or after buying on-line have you decided you prefer a B&M shop? What kind of informational content about their tea and other products do you like to see on their sites? What do you expect in terms of shipping times and customer service? I have my own take on this, but I'll wait a few days to add my 2 cents.
  9. I had a recent impromptu trip to San Francisco for the weekend and found myself eating breakfast in a rather nice cafe. Great pastries, and a selection of the most frou frou fruity teas I have ever seen. The closest to a tea I would want for breakfast was the earl grey. They made it to my surprise from water from the steamer on the espresso machine.... what a brilliant idea! the water was hot enough! Much more than when it is made with water from the coffee machine which is just too cold. I found myself really enjoying it. IT was a great earl Grey, with the black tea strong enough to shine through the bergamot. I came home and got some earl grey leaves.... bleagh. perfumey and no taste of tea. Any one got some good recommendations for a robust earl grey? And i posted it here because that is what i am drinking this morning. weak earl grey. Help me please
  10. This Tea Tasting Discussion features an Indian black tea, a Nilgiri, Glendale Estate, Handmade. Bill Waddington at teasource.com is providing free 10 gram samples for me and three more eG Society members. Each sample is enough to make about four cups of first infusion tea. This is an impressive tea I first ordered last year from Tea Source. I have since ordered more, unusual for me since I typically prefer to explore many teas, an ounce at a time. Here is some background information from the Teasource site: The three free samples are available to members who 1) will do at least two brewing sessions from the sample, 2) will report on their experience and participate in the discussion, and 3) who have previously posted at least ten (10) substantive posts (questions, answers, comments that add to discussions) in the Coffee and Tea forum. Preference will be given until midnight (EDST) Thursday July 16, 2009 to those who have not participated in the last two tastings. As always, everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate in the discussion, whether or not you receive a sample. So, please PM me now if you would like to receive one of the the free samples and participate in the tasting and discussion.
  11. Tastes in teas - just like tastes in wine, cocktails, pastry and just about anything else culinary - vary widely. A recent post in the "What teas are you drinking today" topic had me thinking about this overnight: I did not care for a particular tea hot, but then tried it iced and liked it a lot. But over the long haul it has been Earl Gray - just too much bergamont in my face. (Add to that a lot of Scented and flavored teas.) However, I have found blends that are not a traditional Earl Gray with less bergamont in them that I enjoy. Any that are "just not your cup of tea"? Any that you did not like at first, but developed a taste for later?
  12. I'm working on iced tea recipes for my (hopefully) soon to be cafe/restaurant. I want to have brewed iced tea and offer flavoured syrups to be added by the customer. The main problem is that the syrup doesn't absorb well into the cold liquid. It's ok but the clumps left on the spoon are not enticing. I don't want to sweeten when the tea is hot because I want the customer to have control over flavour (let's say lemon, strawberry etc.) AND sweetness. Any thoughts?
  13. The next Tea Tasting Discussion features an Indian black tea, an Assam Sree Sibari Estate . Bill Waddington at teasource.com is providing free 10 gram samples for three eG Society members and me. Each sample is enough to make about four cups of first infusion tea. I thought of Tea Source for a Tea Tasting Discussion due to two stunning Indian teas I ordered last year. Here is some background information from the Teasource site: The tasting is open to all members who have posted at least ten (10) substantive posts in the Coffee and Tea forum, and preference will be given until midnight (EDST) Monday June 1, 2009 to those who have not yet participated in any of the three previous tastings. As always, everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion, whether or not you receive a sample. So, please PM me now if you would like to receive one of the the free samples and participate in the tasting and discussion.
  14. Last night we had dinner at a wonderful Thai restaurant in Toronto and enjoyed lemongrass tea with our meal. The owner of the restaurant assured us that they brew the tea themselves (ie it's not a reconstituted product). It was a bit sweet and wonderfully redolent of lemongrass. So how does one brew lemongrass tea? Is it the fresh herb, dried, frozen? And what do you suppose the sweetener would be?
  15. It's not that unusual for a tea to go stale if it is old. My understanding is that you probably need to re-roast many teas if you keep them more than a year. Teas that are purposefully aged are re-roasted annually. Interestingly this came up with an aged tgy that I got from Greg at Norbutea.com a few months ago. I contacted Greg and told him the vacuum sealed package I got was off when I opened it and asked if this was a general problem or if I just happened to get the bottom of the bulk dregs. He was really surprised because he had opened a couple of packages when he received the shipment and it was fine. But he opened a couple more and they were off, too. So he emptied all the vacuum packs, re-roasted all of it, gave me a replacement and offered to re-roast my first batch. Greg has a cool little tea roaster made of bamboo. You can get these from several tea merchants - Hou de and Yunnan Sourcing both carry them I believe. Less than $100. It looks similar to a stack of those bamboo steamers, and has a low-power heating element in the bottom. You can re-roast in the oven also if you are careful. So I may try the oven. Trickier than the bamboo roaster and makes me a little nervous. Has anyone else re-roasted in the oven? What temp and time did you use? Did you put it on a half-sheet covered with aluminum foil or something else? Leave it on the sheet to cool or dump it?
  16. Hoping that someone here can direct me. I was visiting a tea factory once and in their lab/tasting room they had these very specialized cups. The cups were porcelain with lids but had comb-like tines on the rim - allowing one to steep the tea then pour it out using the lid and the tines to strain the leaves from the liquid. I'd like to order a bunch for myself but don't know how or where to source them. Any leads? Thanks!
  17. eG Society member Kyle Stewart at The Cultured Cup is contributing three Japanese green teas for tastings here in the Coffee & Tea forum. The first is a Kukicha Fukamushi. In the interest of having tasting discussions about more teas this year while holding down my cost of shipping samples, I am now asking participating tea merchants to supply samples for three members plus me. So Kyle has provided three samples of 10 grams each that I will mail to the three eG Society members participating in this tasting. While the tasting is open to all members who have posted at least five substantive posts in the Coffee and Tea forum, preference will be given until midnight (EDST) Tuesday to those who have not yet participated in either of the three previous tastings. As always, everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion. So, please PM me if you would like to receive one of the the free samples and participate in the tasting and discussion. Here is some background information on Kukicha Fukamushi. As I have mentioned in other topics, I have known Kyle Stewart for some time now, having bought tea from his shop for many years, at least 10 years I believe it is. And for the past three years or so Kyle has been instrumental to my tea education through the T-Bar Club at The Cultured Cup. I have had many pleasant times with Kyle and his staff, trading teas and sharing new tea discoveries. More than just a tea merchant I happen to buy tea from, Kyle is a culinary friend as well as a tea friend - the wonderful tea pairings at Sharon Hage's York Street restaurant and a shared interest in Thai food with dinner at Thai-riffic. Kyle attended the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas recently and completed his three years of training with the Speciality Tea Institute to become the first certified tea specialist in Texas.
  18. In the search for my ideal Orange Pekoe I've picked up a box of tea from Lee Valley. It's a nice tea, kind of leathery and a bit smoky - not what I'm looking for for my daily cuppa - but I realize it would make a great base for chai. I'm pretty sure that I'll put green cardamon pods in there and probably some black peppercorns, maybe some saigon cinnamon - but I'm curious to know what folks like as their spice blend in chai. Do you grind, crush or just mix the whole spices together with the tea?
  19. Now that my favorite local tea retailer has closed (RIP Cultured Cup in Preston Center), I need a new source for getting good tea. I know there are many good on-line sources, but I am wondering what the king of on-line retailers has available. Why Amazon? Well, I have Prime membership. And I am traveling every week. I can place my orders in such a way that ensures that they arrive on a specific day of the week when I'll be home (i.e. Friday). I may not be able to get that flexibility with other retailers. So, is Amazon selling any Prime eligible teas worth buying? I am looking for loose tea. Black. I pretty much drink it just in the mornings for breakfast.
  20. I am visiting North Jersey from South Florida for the Holidays. I viewed this show for the first time today on veria living- first show was on green tea and second on white- also included in each episode emonstration, history and recipes
  21. At a Chinese restaurant last night I had the most interesting tea. I'm used to the standard "Chinese restaurant tea" that they set out on your table in kettles, but as soon as I poured this stuff I knew it was different. The color was a very dark brown - so dark that you almost couldn't see the bottom of the (small) cup. The taste was kind of malty, almost like beer, but tea. I asked the waiter if he knew what kind of tea it was, but he had no idea. Anyone know what this is? I'd love to try it again.
  22. I received my first order of spring oolong from www.houdeasianart.com. I received 2006 Spring Shan-Lin-Shi "Yan Wen" oolong and 2006 Spring Shan-Lin-Shi "Long Feng Shia" oolong both teas are hand harvested I can hardly wait to try them- the next spring teas I will purchase from www.shanshuiteas.com The Korean teas are always very special Joanne R. aka jpr54_
  23. After a brief flirtation with coffee in my youth, I have returned to the home of my grandmothers and am now, once again a tea drinker with a minor flirtation with decent coffee. Upon my return I realised that I much preferred China tea to Indian and Ceylon teas. Well, that wasn't a problem really, lazy human that I am, I could buy Twinings China Black in tea bags and be happy. In the summer I drank Lapsang with a little lemon or maybe a nice cup of Earl Grey, and all was well. For a little while. But the sudden influx of flavoured teas and ten varieties of green tea and whatnot invaded the supermarket shelves and suddenly China Black was no more. Oh well. For a little while I drank Russian Caravan, which wasn't quite it, but better than nothing. And then by accident I discovered Twinings Yunnan Tea and I was back in business. For a little while. I was even makiing special trips to the only supermarket I knew which carried the Yunnan. But then the Yunnan went the way of China Black and even Russian Caravan is losing ground to three hundred varieties of tea flavoured with white chocolate and toenails or used bandaids and rosewater, or whatever. So the question is now, what am I going to drink? I'm obviously going to have to break out my teapot and visit speciality stores, but I'm a little lost by the varieties of loose China tea available. I've visited Grey and Seddon online, and they look promising (I'm in Australia), but I don't know what to buy. I do drink White Tea and Chai tea, Yerba Mate sometimes and some herbal teas, but what I really want is a decent black tea as my every day tea, so that I can come home, put on the kettle and make myself a nice cup of tea. Any suggestions would be very welcome.
  24. Theres a Wonderful article in the guardian about the history of tea in China, Britain and around the world.
  25. My only flirtation with tea has been in the context of milky, spicy masala chai. Some time ago, I was introduced to green/flavored tea, which I found very light and refreshing by comparison. Now I want to delve further into this fascinating world. Thanks to the informative threads and links here, I now have some idea about the differences between the major types of tea. I also understand that they have to be prepared differently. I live in an area where I might have access to stores (ethnic grocery stores, Central Market etc.) that sell tea. Also, there seems to be a decent number of reputed online vendors to buy from. But as a complete newbie, my problem is, where do I start? Do I simply order small quantities of random varieties from a store or website (which one?) and try brewing them at home? Or can there be a more structured approach to it? Should I first concentrate on one major type, say green tea, or jump headlong into a variety? I don't possess a tea kettle or a pot; would that be a pre-requisite or can I work with makeshift equipment till I'm more seriously into this exploration? At this time, I probably don't even know enough to ask all the right questions, but I do want to begin, and am not sure how...
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