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Teavana leaf grade

I made my semiannual trip to the mall yesterday. I go for the stroll and enjoy the mounting holiday madness. One of my stops is Teavana. This year I noticed they have double walled glass in just about every conceivable configuration. The price is right for viewing the agony of the leaves. I usually stand in front of the counter trying to notice new stock while ignoring the clerks telling me about their favorite tea. This time it struck me I would choose teas by the looks of the grade since there is noway to taste. I even ignored the tin cover waifing performance. Ive come to the conclusion from experience a nice grade means a better all around tea. I picked up Assam Gold Rain. One of the prettiest colored grades Ive seen in a long time. As I said before buy any tea with the word Gold in it. It has one of the better lasting finishes in any Assam Ive tasted in some time. The decanted wet leaf in the pot has a salty smell. It hasnt lost its jungle origins. The taste is light for an Assam with good aroma. It also was one of the cheapest. My other choices Nine Dragon Golden Needle, Golden Jade and Yunnan Emerald Buds. Ill mention them in the next couple of days if anything else noteworthy besides the grade.

Jim

Reply to
Space Cowboy
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I was hoping this Needles was a Fujian PanYang but it is from Yunnan after checking the Teavana website. Just about any tea region in China has a version named so. It mostly is bud with some leaf. It is the most Indian tasting tea ie malty. The wet color is Darjeeling brown. I have a feeling this tea would deteriorate rapidly in the Teavana environment ie exposure to air and light from the tea waifing ceremony. This still had plenty of elements to like. The freshest I would imagine be heavenly. I go with the flow on where I find my teas on the shelves. At least somebody in Teavana has good taste.

Jim

PS Teavana has a PanYang grade called Golden Monkey. It is more Monkey than Golden. It has a rich caramel taste and aroma with a light finish. There is some bud with mainly cut tiny leaf. Again more Indian like in character but less than the GN.

Reply to
Space Cowboy

I was in Harney's new New York shop Saturday and picked up some of their Panyang Congou, which I think is a lot better than you would expect from its price. (Scott: are you listening?)

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

Harney & Sons use to be more available here. Ill keep an eye out. Is the dry leaf light or dark which seems to be the grade differentiation. The Golden Jade was disappointing. It is a blend of green bud and oolong tending towards black. The complexities interfere with each other. Origin unknown but I would say Fujian. The Emerald Buds was more sprouts than buds. The green taste is elemental but no harshness. The plant hasnt waken up from winter.

Jim

PS I was pleased with myself notic> Space Cowboy snipped-for-privacy@ix.netcom.com> writes:

Reply to
Space Cowboy

The dry leaves are dark on the whole, but there are some tawny-colored budss in there.

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

We have a local shop that carries the Harney's teas but they have never heard of it! They're going to look into it for me. Many thanks for the pointer.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

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