Cheap Tea Suspicions

I had never heard of coffee bean direct before your post, but it seems like they have unbelievable pricing on their products. If the actual tea shipped looks like what is in the photo's then it should be pretty solid stuff.

I may have to buy some and check it out. 2lb. foil bags of tea for like $5/lb is crazy

I see that now. I was unaware that the tea they claim they are selling is so expensive EVERYWHERE else. I just purchased from the first vendor I thought had a decent price. Now I see nobody else sells for that rate. It seems very strange to me that nobody else sells this tea for that price. I would have expected to find at least one other online vendor with a similar price, but I have searched to no avail. That's why I'm worried I wasted my money. You usually get exactly what you pay for. =/

I will let you know how it goes as I expect to receive them tomorrow. I checked my tracking number and they got into town sometime today. Thus, they should be delivered to my work tomorrow where I plan to brew up a pot. I can take some pictures of the tea from home if you think you can identify them for me :)

P.S. How can you tell anything from their tiny pictures? They're like their enlarged versions are the size of my thumbnail!

-S.

If you like it and it is cheap, then what is the problem? Sounds like a good situation to me. Others might not think it is good "quality" but as long as you enjoy it, who cares?

Sometimes online vendors manipulate their prices to make them look lower than they actually are by raising the shipping costs. If their prices are low but the shipping costs are higher than everyone else's, then the total cost might not be such a bargain after all. Be sure to take the shipping into account when comparing prices. Just a thought.

Well, I think consensus here is that the vast, vast majority of tea and tea-related paraphenalia sold in the western hemisphere is vastly overpriced.

So either your vendor is just pricing the stuff at a reasonable rate or it's decidedly inferior.

For example, I see gaiwans sold online and in "occidental" stores (ie those stores that sell oriental merchandise to a western market) for $30-50. But I've found those same gaiwans on a site I mentioned a few weeks ago for around $5. This at first seemed to me an incredible price, but talking to people in the know has convinced me that this price is about average, and about what you'd pay at a store in the East or catering to Easterners.

So if the tea comes and seems ok to you, it could be that you've just found a store that isn't marking up its wares 5000%.

So I fall for the bait, and I go there, and in the list they have a tiny thumbnail, and I click on a tea and next to the tea is a tiny picture, but under the picture is a "click to enlarge" link, so I dumbly click and a window pops up and - GAAAAH!! The Assam that Ate Pittsburgh!!

Seriously. Were you being sarcastic? Those photos make each tea leaf look like a stick of cinnamon...

--Blair

P.S. Holy boiling point, Batman! They're selling White Peony for $12 a pound! Their $7/lb Darjeeling looks like a BOP, though...

I'd agree with this and say: the "you get what you pay for" relationship is not always exact. It seems to me that there are some sites that are way WAY expensive, and while their tea may be just that tad bit more ethereal, I'm not sure I want to pay double for the little bit of extra nuance that I might get. Then there are places that do charge an arm and a leg for tea that's not really that great. I think the only way you are going to be able to tell is to taste. And look at it this way, if it doesn't taste good then you're not out a ton of money. What really hurts is to pay an exhorbitent amount for a tea and then get it home and find it's subpar. So I'd say, let your palette be your guide...it will change too over time. Tea is (pardon the pun) a very fluid hobby.

Melinda

Heh, yeah the photo's are huge and I kind of doubt that they are stock photo's due to the size, so that was why I was guessing that they are representative of the real thing. The Sencha green tea looks to be pretty high quality if this proves true, and the White Peony deal is very solid. My curiosity is now piqued, but I think my fiance will kill me if I start buying 2lb. bags of tea now as I have two full cupboards dedicated already :) I can't wait to hear how the quality turns out!

BTW: Blair you from PGH? Or just use it in your analogy? I live and work near the 'burgh, where Steeler fever is in full, scary, force.

The prices fall in the range of penny/gram. Typical of commercial Indian,Chinese,Ceylon.

Jim

S. Chancellor wrote:

Oops.. I only had looked at several green teas as I cannot stomach black tea. I don't know what the oxidation process releases from the tea but it causes me to have bad headaches and intestinal distress. (Which is why I never drank much tea until i tried some green tea and had no problems.. I didn't know it was the same plant until later or I probably wouldn't have touched it.)

The pictures for the decaffeinated green tea I bought, and the jasmine green tea I was looking at don't enlarge when you click them. That's why I was confused :) The gunpowder, however, looking at it now, appears to be the size of my head.

-S.

LOL, my wife frequently says "why do you need more tea? Don't you have enough already?" Actually, she's more understanding than that, though she doesn't care for the stuff herself -- she prefers those milk/chocolate syrup concoctions with a shot of coffee in them.

stePH np: King Crimson, "VROOOM"

jeez jim, you never let things go, do you?

The mark ups can be crazy. I get temple of heaven gunpoweder for like 8 bucks for 500G at my local asian market. That's about 1/3 of what upton sells it for I think.

OTOH, it could be inferior tea. Proof of the pudding is in the tasting. Brew some up, see if you like it, and figure you didn't lose to much if it isn't good (and gained a ton if it is)

I received my tea today. The pinhead gunpowder is markedly smaller than the Extra Gunpowder that I already have, it also tastes much better. The CO2 decaffeinated tea I purchased has an odd smell to it, almost like fresh cut grass. However, it does not brew green, but rather almost the color of black tea. I care for it much less. I don't know of any way to tell if it's really CO2 decaffeinated or not.

-S.

Well then I'd say you done good! :) Now I'm going to have to place an order, my fiance will thank you, I'll share my experience once I receive it.

I'm no expert in decaffeinated teas, especially CO2. At first when you mentioned "fresh cut grass" I instantly thought it may be Sencha... but then the the black hue when brewed threw me totally off. I can't for the life of me figure out how a green tea with a fresh cut grass smell could brew a black tea color, not even if CO2 was involved in any way. I'll have to do some research on this one, you stumped me. But, how does it taste? That was the only thing you left out. :)

- Dominic Drinking: Shirakiku Brand Sen-Cha teabag

:) Just keep in mind I'm very much a novice. The tea I've preferred most so far was some Loose Leaf Green tea from Stash at the super market. It tasted very fresh and green to me. The bilochun is almost as 'green', and the pinhead comes in after that. The two other gunpowders I have were Extra Gunpowder from a brand called "FooJoy" and Special Gunpowder from Tecksoon.

I hope that gives you some idea of what to expect.

You're probably right. It seems that a lot of decaffeinated teas are implicitly Sencha. The tea also isn't 'black' i didn't mean to imply that. It doesn't taste like black tea either. It's very dark though, darker than the cheap gunpowder I bought. It is almost the color that my lipton tea bags make if they're not left in the water too long.

-S.

Yes, do please report back. I'm still on the fence about this myself

-- I've never bought two pounds of any tea at any price.

stePH

Not a problem, believe me I've spent way more on other teas that were trash... so I'm not holding you accountable. "Novice" or not - tea is tea, and just like wine I can respect a "novice" opinion much more than a so-called "expert." Over time you will really just further explore teas that interest you personally, you will gain technique, water temps., brewing times, and even respect for tea... taste will always remain subjective.

If they had shipped you 2lbs. of lawn clippings or tea dust, then I would be wary... but it seems like they are a reputable company and ship a decent product at a good price. Nothing novice about that :)

I did read up on the CO2 process and green teas, and from what I have found *nothing* accounts for the darker brew you are getting. It is true that most green teas don't produce a green color, but a weak brown... but sencha generally makes a green brew. The color may be OK, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. From what I found the CO2 process is actually very simple and does not affect the taste of the tea much or any other quality for that matter except binding the caffiene.

How did it taste? Earthy/grassy/fishy or more like Chinese Restaurant tea?

I'm in thesame boat Steve.. The problem I have with buying that much is unless you just guzzle it down how in the world are you going to use thatmuch tea before it gets stale and old and .... before you just get plain sick of it! The beauty of tea is that there are so many types. Seems like you'd end up throwing most of it away out of sheer boredom

-Barky

Yeah, 2lbs. is a ton of tea... but I was thinking of keeping about a

1/2-1lb. for myself and giving the rest away to friends/family. I know I've gone through 1lb. of Jasmine Green Pearls in less than 6 months and that is with drinking many other teas as well. I also use tea canisters that keep the tea for quite a long time. For ~$10 even 1lb. is a deal if it is fairly decent.

Dunno, I was on the fence too about it and still kind of am.

- Dominic Drinking: Ginger Peach Black Tea