Michael:
You are indeed right. Many Chinese refer to it as floor sweepings; also the sort of tea that is served in Chinese restaurants on the mainland.
Your grandfather was a tea merchant. That sounds facinating. Do tell!
Mydnight
-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.
This is getting very interesting. Matcha shouldn't be categorized alongside the stuff that Lipton and Tetley and those other leftovers of the evil empire sell. (humorous side note - apparently the Queen of England drinks Lipton because they are the longest-remaining of the emperial tea companies) Have you seen how small retailers make matcha with those grinding machines? It is a very personal thing, usually, and someone is actually checking the outcome. Sweepings are a different matter all together and the price usually signifies that. CTC is a wonderful process, which offers high flavor content with low volume, better than orthodox could ever hope for, but Americans are forced to drink the lowest quality due to sheer lack of product information. I don't even think we can put Japanese tea in the same league as other teas. Do you know that certain areas here in Japan still refuse to use machinery in picking leaves because they feel it destroys the integrity of the leaf? It's not like they haven't got the cash. What refined business models. People here buy it because they have the sense to know. What an amazing standard for the rest of the world to emulate. I sincerely hope that one day my countrymen will have the refined sense to appreciate this.
Rufus T. Firefly Tokyo
Actually I think I made a mistake. It should have been Twinings that her Queenship drinks. I read that in a Japanese book on tea. I guess I should stay off the dust when posting.
Rufus
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