Industry Packed teas or loose teas?

A website vendor is getting his tea delivered by the same commercial packaging you see on the shelves. I'll rank my choice of desired packaging:

1. Nitrogen packs
2. Tins with aluminum seals
3. Paper with aluminum foil
4. Paper with cellophane
5. You won't see ziploc bags from a web vendor

A rupture is a rupture no matter the product. I think the big drawback to vendors on the web is unknown storage. You can tell us the commercial product that doesn't match your friend's estate and grade. Commercial products are generally blends for a consistent specific taste at a given price point. Estate teas are geographical and seasonal with variation in taste and price. If I order popular estate teas like Margaret's Hope from India, Lover's Leap from Ceylon, or Milima from Kenya there's no guarantee they'll taste the same from different vendors. You should be able to A/B the same estate tea from the same vendor just like any commercial brand. I touched a couple of bases here because I wasn't sure of your point. Don't doubt your existence because you find something of the same you like better than before.

Jim

STJ> I have my own opinion about the difference and would request other tea

It really isn't "snobbish" or whatnot to realize that there are major differences, and most of the time the storebought teabags and teas end up being much more expensive by weight when you figure it out. I was just explaining this morning to a co-worker that the $89.99/lb. Kukicha tea I was drinking was almost exactly the same price as the teabag she was drinking.

I almost exclusively drink loose, fresh, tea and it doesn't cost me a penny more than if I was not, in some cases it is cheaper. The quality is much higher, I know what I am ingesting, and I can appreciate that. Once you figure it out, it is like a revelation... it appears your lightbulb just went on for good :)

- Dominic Drinking: Sencha Green Tea

But what I thought was since the grade and the estate name was particular, the tea should have been marked "blended" eg. Darjeeling+Assam or First Flush+Autumnals, if it was blended - The pack had the same garden and grade name - what was dissatisfying to me was that it should have been a bit similar, but was completely different - and yes the flush was also the same :)

Fellow tea lovers, thanks for the updates, I am getting enlightened. Some more inputs could enlighten not only me BUT ALL. Thanks.

Space snipped-for-privacy@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com2/3/06

Jim,

This is as good a preference list as any, but one small correction: I have gotten teas in ziploc bags from web vendors includiing M&J. I think it's generally bad policy, but every vendor makes his own decision. Ziploc bags are rare, but not non-existent.

Michael

One shelving package I left out was apothecary style pyrex jars with triple plastic seals. I'd insert it as #2. One Arabic store has the nasty habit of taking tea from ruptured and past due tea boxes and putting them in ziplocs. I do get loose tea from Yunnan in plastic and cellophane which is probably not the best for 30 day SAL transit.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote: