I often drink a variety of Assams in the morning. I enjoy the malty character and find that the tannin level can be managed well by attention to steeping time. But they are powerful teas, no doubt about it.
I’ve been drinking quite a bit of Ceylon recently as well, and am appreciating its lighter body compared to Assam. I also think it’s more aromatic when steeped.
I like many first flush Darjeelings too, although I haven’t been drinking them much recently. The herbal aromas and bright acidity make them very refreshing, I think.
But the tea I can’t get enough of is Jade Oolong. To me it’s the Riesling of teas: sweet smelling orchard fruits and flowers, and a long, floral finish. Don’t care much for more oxidized Oolongs.
On tea grades: they are used as quality designators for black teas, mostly designating leaf size and maturity of leaf at harvest time. This wikipedia article is very helpful: Tea leaf grading - Wikipedia
But here are all the possible letters with what they designate:
SFTGFOP: Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe
Thanks for that, Jamie—I also thought I’d read somewhere that the letters actually mean different things in Ceylon and elsewhere than they do in India.
I picked up some Hoji-Cha (roasted Sencha) recently and like it as a change of pace. My last visit on the weekend (curse all of you!) picked up a refill of Monkey Oolong, a chocolate-and-spice Yerba Mate, some Chun Mee green (haven’t tried it before), a Koslanda from Ceylon and a refill of my beloved Glenburn (my current bag is from Vienna! This is the first time one of my local stores has been able to bring it in).
I drink hojicha all the time; a very very good tea (love the aluminum foil inside each packet).
But my favorite all-time is the Organic Earl Grey from Granville Tea Company. (http://www.granvilletea.com/shop/). Get a package of the stuff; open it, smell it - it’s so fragrant… man just took a whiff; I got to go make myself a cup right now…
A few years ago I read that there was tea grown in the high mountains of Taiwan/Formosa, which one year was not picked at the usual time because of an earthquake. When they finally got in an picked the leaves, there was a special flavor like honey that everyone loved. At the time, the theory was that the flavor came from insect poop, a secretion on the leaves from some kind of bug.
Searching today, evidently the science has progressed and now all the websites say it is not bug poop at all, but rather an abundance of phenolic compounds produced by the leaves in response to predation.
I remember this as pertaining to Cold Mounting Oolong (Tung Ting or Dong Ding), but there are several teas that make the same claim. You can google “oolong leafhopper” to see what I mean.
Been drinking Osmanthus Oolong from TenRen for the last couple years.
Mom brought some up from Calif.
I noticed there are several grades…some pretty expensive stuff at the top.
But honestly, the $10-15 yellow bag one is great. The Osmanthus gives the oolong a nice floral touch.
I liked the Osmanthus Oolong for a while, Dan, but haven’t been keen on getting a resupply just yet. You’re right, though, the osmanthus flowers provide an interesting counterpoint to the oolong.
I buy my tea from House of Tea in Phila. Been there for a long time.
I knew the owner - who died several years ago - his daughter, Jessica, now runs the business.
Nat Litt was a legend in Phila. Read his bio on the site - incredible guy. Studied with Frank Lloyd Wright - was an architect and ran away to be a clown with Ringling Bros. On the cover of Life Mag. And lots more before he opened his tea shop. Wonderful guy. My daughter’s campus job in college was managing the tea house at Sarah Lawrence. Nat’s wife graduated from there and they supplied the tea gratis.
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Jessica is very knowledgeable about Tea and brewing.
Try Jasime pearls – I enjoy a good pot of Jasmine tea. Try the Spring Hao Ya (green) if you like a little “smoke.”
I also like the Earl Grey teas - and she has a number of scents. Try the Earl Grey Imperial #2 - it has some violets.
She also has an “after dinner” tea which as bits of coco - yum.
We have an office in Taiwan and I also pick up tea when I am there. There are amazing Taiwan mountain teas.
About 20+ years ago, I was working in London for a month. I was then a coffee drinker. The first morning that I was there, I ordered coffee, orange juice and toast. The toast was ice cold, the orange juice was bitter (to my American palate) as grapefruit juice and the coffee tasted like dirty sock juice. Keep in mind that this was before the Starbuck’s/coffee boutique craze hit the world.
When I asked for a new pot of coffee to be brewed for me, the waiter said “of course, but you may want to try tea.” I did and I was hooked. Since then, I have been drinking strong brewed black tea every, Brit style, with milk and sugar. I never went back to coffee.
Quick update–I finally did manage to source some Da Hong Bao from Radiance in New York City…sooooo good
Both here in Toronto and at another of my primary stores west of the city, they’ve “discovered” Glenburn darjeeling at last. Including a silver needles white tea version—very yummy.
Another recent addition has been Tian Sau Yin Hao—incredibly aromatic though fairly light on taste. And picked up some Green Snow Buds (Luxue Ya) which I like.
My favorite morning teas are the expensive-but-worth-it Kensington blend (Assam and golden Yunnan) from American Tea Room and French Breakfast Tea from Mariage Freres. Both are full black tea blends. Neither should be confused with the crap that is often sold as ‘breakfast’ tea.
My favorite other time, any time tea is Milk Oolong from American Tea Room. I’ve tasted a host of Oolongs and am an Oolong lover, but this is by far the best I’ve tasted.
A little thread drift: Mariage Freres has a handful of tea rooms/shops in Paris. All are great for lunch or afternoon tea.
Lapsang Souchong is like a campfire in a cup. I have a friend in NYC who based her whole tea shop around the fact that tea is similar to wine in terms of its subtleties, tannic qualities and sheer variety.
Since I started this thread, my tea experimentation has blossomed into a full-on obsession.
I love Lapsang- to me it is almost like the single malt scotch of the tea world.
Whenever I go to San Francisco I stay a few blocks from Chinatown and have a couple of tea shops there I have been frequenting (Imperial Tea, too- thanks Mike!). It is like appreciation wine- there are so many subtleties, as you say Perry.
I drink a half-liter glass and Carollee drinks a 12oz glass of iced tea almost every day. We alternate amongst Republic of Tea Ginger-Peach, Passion Fruit-Papaya, and Mango Ceylon black teas and Jasmine Jazz Green Tea. They make a refreshing drink in the afternoon, even in Winter.
or if u get to a local chinatown, ask for monkey tea (tea leafs picked by trained monkeys), or virgin tea.
My prefererence is to stay way from flavored tea or bag tea.
I’ve been back on the tea recently as well. Put in a big order with Upton a couple of weeks ago. 500g of Iced tea mix for work, which I brew multiple pots of daily and it goes into a pitcher in the fridge or to work in my thermoses.
For a casual cup around the house I picked up the Assam sampler, and for dual iced tea/brewed pot use I have some BOP Darjeeling and Java blend. I haven’t really tried much of the more serious teas yet.
The http://www.brownteacup.com/ was mentioned in another thread on tea. Is the Brown Tea Cup still a good source? Also, earlier in this thread teavanna or something like that was mentioned. Is that still a good source?
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Glad you’ve been totally sucked in, Linda!