Hi all, Just curious, will a "Monkey-picked Ti Kuan Yin" be the same from various vendors (Upton's, Tea Time Le Societe' du Tea, etc). I know the price varies, of course, but the tea itself?
And I don't mean just the Ti Kuan Yin, but ANY given tea. If the tea itself is called the same, how likely is it to taste the same? Cathy Weeks
Cathy,
It's an excellent question. The answer is absolutely not. Teas vary in so many ways, and teas under the same name can be different even from the same vendor from month to month and year to year. "Monkey-picked," for our purpose, merely means that the maker considers this his best, or one of his best, teas. It comes out of a legend that some trees grew on cliffs inacessible to humans and only approachable by monkeys. There are other stories associated with monkey picked of tea.
Other examples of teas that vary radically from vendor to vendor in my experience are a particular oolong from the WuYi mountains in Fujian called Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe). The inconsistency for this tea is startling. Second, many vendors sell White Peony (Bai Mu Dan), and seldom will it be the same from one to the next.
Variation is the spice of life.
Michael
Cathy snipped-for-privacy@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com12/15/04
14: snipped-for-privacy@weeksfamily.net
DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.