Chinese greens

Greetings,

I will soon visit my favorit Chinese tee house in Budapest, and I am looking forward to taste and buy some of their exquisite green teas. I have just received their price list with a whole lot of items, where some of the names were familiar (Xi Hu Long Jing, Huan Shan Mao Feng, Bi Luo Chun, Liuan Guapian), but most of the teas I could not identify. Searches on Google and in the archives of this ng has not given any hits either, so I would ask the the very knowledgable contributors of this ng, whether they have heard of or have even tasted any of the following teas. Some of them are rather pricy, but if I receive enthusiastic reviews about them, I might ever try them.

The list is following (going from the cheapest to the most expensive ones):

Zhen Mei Wu Yi Ye Shen Cha Zao Chun Cha Mu Dan Xin Qiu Xue Hua Ding Xiang Nu Er Huan Zhu Ye Jin Men Din Gan Luo

Thanks for any help, Gyorgy

Aloha Gyorgy,

For the years that I have been been buying and drinking tea, it comes down to what you like in terms of your personal taste.

At the shop examine the tea leaves and taste the teas that have the most appeal to you. I look for color and condition of the leaves, leaf hairs and tiny tea leaf size with the leaves being more whole than broken. When the tea is brewed, please note that if the liquor comes out brown or golden red, the tea is too old and oxidized through improper storage.

Names mean so little to me these days. What is most important that the teas meet your expectation and come in with a solid ratio benefits for quality against price. For what little I know of the tea trade, the best goes toward Europe owing to the wholesle prices they pay.

From my own personal experience of buying a green tea in Moscow, I was previously familiar with: I had originally bought this tea from Hong Kong, I was not impressed, but the 100 g I got from Moscow was outstanding.

Happy hunting. Not knowing about tea is the excitment of the chase for new teas to try.

Best wishes,

len