Tea Exploring for 2010 - what's up?

[Richard Kilgore]

We have been discussing our 2009 tea discoveries in another topic. So now I am curious - looking forward for 2010, what teas do you want to try for the first time and what teas do you want to explore in more depth? I'm curious just because I am curious...and as a way to inform the Tea Tasting & Discussions for this year.

Let me just throw out a few categories:

* Black/Red Teas from India (Darjeelings, Assams, Nilgiris, others), Ceylon, China Keemuns, Yunnans and more) and elsewhere?

* Oolong Teas?

* Chinese Green Teas?

* Japanese Green Teas?

* Pu-erh Teas?

* White Teas?

* Yellow Teas?

* Blending Teas?

* Tea and food pairing?

* Cooking and Baking with tea?

Please jump in if you are interested, even if you have not previously been active in the Coffee and Tea forum.

Edited January 7, 2010 by Richard Kilgore
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[LuckyGirl]

I've already decided that in addition to continuing my odyssey through the world of Oolongs I am also going to focus on Darjeelings, Assams, Nilgiris and Yunnans. I think that given my penchant for the roasted oolongs this is the next logical step.

I have somewhat burned myself out on pu ehrs. I am drinking one right now and have a drawer full but I need to take a break from them.

I'm looking forward to experimenting most of the categories you mentioned. The only tea I've really been turned off by thus far are red teas and it is entirely possible that I just haven't had ones that suit me. Then again it is entirely possible that they just aren't my cup of tea.

[mbhank]

I'm going to try to explore more of the teas at www.teahabitat.com Although expensive, the one Oolong I tried was quite special. I have no interest in this company other than as a satisfied customer.

Edited January 7, 2010 by mbhank (log)

[Richard Kilgore]

I'm looking forward to experimenting most of the categories you mentioned. The only tea I've really been turned off by thus far are red teas and it is entirely possible that I just haven't had ones that suit me. Then again it is entirely possible that they just aren't my cup of tea.

Red teas from China may turn out to be not-your-cup-of-tea, but which ones have you tried, LuckyGirl?

[LuckyGirl]

I'm looking forward to experimenting most of the categories you mentioned. The only tea I've really been turned off by thus far are red teas and it is entirely possible that I just haven't had ones that suit me. Then again it is entirely possible that they just aren't my cup of tea.

Red teas from China may turn out to be not-your-cup-of-tea, but which ones have you tried, LuckyGirl?

Ahhh, after reading your post I only just realized that Chinese red teas are not the same bird as African red teas. It is the African red tea rooibos that I've had and not liked, at all. Just tried one again the other night and re-enforced my dislike of this tea.

[Richard Kilgore]

Right, in China they call fully oxidized teas "red teas", and in the West we call them "black teas". Rooibos is actually not a tea, but rather a tisane.

[Richard Kilgore]

I'm going to try to explore more of the teas at www.teahabitat.com Although expensive, the one Oolong I tried was quite special. I have no interest in this company other than as a satisfied customer.

I have not tried any of her teas, but Imen has a good reputation for extraordinary (and extraordinarily expensive) single bush Dan Congs.

Please do tell us more, mbhank, in the Oolong topic about the Oolong from teahabitat that you tried.

[Wholemeal Crank]

This is an interesting question and I've been thinking about it off and on all evening. In this past year I've discovered some amazing teas from diverse sources, and while I did set out deliberately to explore a variety of pu-erh, and to try to understand green teas better, the rest of my favorite discoveries of last years started from reading a couple of books about tea, and suggestions from this forum.

I will surely make at least one pilgrimmage to Tea Habitat to try some different Dan Congs, since the first two have been so delightful. And I'd like to explore my local japantown and koreatown shopping areas for a nice teapot or two.

[nakji]

I haven't had any Yunnan teas...that sounds like a promising area to try. There's a coffee shop on my street that specializes in Yunnan coffees that are all the rage in Shanghai now, but I haven't seen anything about Yunnan teas. Of course, that's because I'm not reading anything in Chinese! I'd be interested in learning more about teas from this region.

[Richard Kilgore]

Erin, while there are other Yunnan teas, such as Dian Hong Imperial (a red/black tea), almost all pu-erh is produced in Yunnan as far as I know.

[Wholemeal Crank]

I've also enjoyed the Yunnan Mao Feng and wild white yunnan teas I got from norbutea: I don't know if its something distinctive about the yunnan tea plants, or the processing, but they seem a little less refined than some, in a way that I really like. I'd love to know what else they're doing in Yunnan. With all of the plants they put in when the puerh bubble was at the height, they might be doing all kinds of wonderful stuff with that terrific raw material.