Hype helps tea taste

Hmm, I normally end up with the opposite reaction. I generally hear all the hype and then become disappointed with the reality. (happens with wine a lot to me, but movies/music/tea/beer/books/etc. as well) Although sometimes I agree and find myself enjoy something simply because of the insistance of it being good. My recent foray back into Pu-Erh would never have happened had it not been for this newsgroup... and I'm not sure what my reaction would have been to it if I hadn't read a number of accounts of other people's experience and insight.

I was just thinking about this the other day myself. I was trying hard to remember back to that first try at Pu-Erh. Maybe it hadn't really been worse tasting than the new stuff I just ordered, maybe it was just that I was less informed at the time and I only noticed what my senses picked up on their own. Then the second time years later I knew what to expect and read about it much more, and was able to bypass that initial reaction and notice other things because I knew they were "supposed" to be there. I'm honestly not sure now.

How funny that you brought this up, it was like reading my own thoughts from yesterday and today. I plan on trying Yabukita now since I like greens and have never tried it... so we'll see :)

- Dominic

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I've had in a long time.

I have not noticed a change in that sort of teas. I guess you are now getting it in fresher conditions. Maybe because it's getting popular locally, your shop re-order some more often and selects better quality.

Kuri

I just read something about Yabukita on

They say that Yabukita is a special breed of the tea tree as much as

snip

I tried it again and damn if it

I also find that my taste can change over time sometimes. I retry things (excepts Durien and tripe) every once in a while to see if my taste has changed enough to let me like it. That happened with avocado...used to hate it and now I like it.

Melinda

Aha! another person who fell for the "Oh, Durian fruit is the king of fruits" B.S. I've never offended my senses in total so badly as my attempts to put down some Durian. For the life of me I can't see anybody enjoying this, if I lived to be 1,000 years old it could never dull my tastebuds and nose enough to like it. And even all the hype in the world didn't help in this case. :)

- Dominic

Dang, my taste too changes all the time but I guess I'll be always chasing the "King of fruit" whenever I'm in SE-Asia. I was thrown out of a hotel once in Singapur - because I didn't take those warnings serious but continued to smuggle Ds in my backpack into my room, where the "aroma" probably made that room uninhabitable for days (or weeks). Ever tried those wild grown jungle Durians in Malaysia (Tanah Rata / Cameron Highlands) or the X24 variety ? Stuff to kill for !

There's a corner store in Singapur's Chinatown Mall, where at times I've seen up to 5 different varieties. You don't see that many foreigners there, but sometimes busloads of chinese sitting on benches and happily slurping away.

Karsten / Darjeeling

Dominic snipped-for-privacy@p10g2000cwp.googlegroups.com3/10/06

Hi Dominic,

Think of it this way: You might like cheese that smells much like durian. It's the smell on a fruit that offends, not the smell per se. Many Chinese people find western cheese offensive. Nothing intrinsically disgusting about Durian. In fact....but I'd never admit it since I value your respect.

Michael

I'm Italian so yes Fontinella is a favorite of mine, and I'm sure it is impossible for some to get past as well... but my tastes vary greatly and I enjoy all types of foods and cooking styles... and Durian is nowhere on my list of enjoyable times :) In fact, it isn't even so much the smell as the taste and the consistency. It is just strange and off-putting to almost every sense of mine. That's why I tried the candy form and the popsicles, thinking if the texture was different I'd like it... no dice. Any fruit that has limitations put on it as to where it can be eaten should be a dead giveaway :)

Oh Mike, say it ain't so! You're a Durian lover aren't you? You and Karsten both...

- Dominic Drinking: Pu-erh loose leaf

Dominic snipped-for-privacy@p10g2000cwp.googlegroups.com3/14/06

I wouldn't put it quite that boldly. Michael