mediocrity

In my never-ending Darjeeling Quest, I've found quite a bit of enjoyment in the cheapest Upton Darjeeling, the Orthodox BOP (TD06). Not complex or delicate, but it was tasty. I drown my stuff in milk and sugar, though, so every mug of tea is a joy.

Ian

I wonder if the availability of really fine and unique teas sometimes spoils us for what's there to be appreciated in the commoner ones. Not talking bagged tea here, but decent, lovely teas that are not at the top of the charts.

I remember reading in a wine book the author's wise statement, "Sometimes I think a crisp, fruity chenin blanc is all one can ask of a wine."

I keep around a couple of inexpensive (but really good) greens, and enjoy them, and appreciate the top-of-the-line when I can get them.

Joe

I agree completely. If I found that I could only enjoy luxurious teas, I'd really start to worry about myself. This isn't puritanism, I think; it's more like wanting to have your feet on the ground.

/Lew

yes, i agree. the point of my original post, though, was to question why some teas are simply 'better' than others. and again; i know there are issues of freshness, harvest, &c....but can these things cause all the difference between say, a longjing that knocks you over and one that doesn't do a thing for you? does processing affect the leaves to such an extent?

how different can one raw tea leaf be from another?

They can be radically different, as you can often see just by looking at different grades of the same type of tea, both in the dry leaves and once they've been brewed. Skill and care in processing matter a lot, too, as well as freshness.

I hope you aren't asking for a simple formula or recipe, though. Good luck if you're determined to find one!

/Lew

I'm quite content with my Dragon's Well #4.

Well with the occasional Silver Needle.

pilo snipped-for-privacy@news1.west.earthlink.net11/15/04

The answers: Yes; I don't know; yes.

More interesting would be your list of teas that bring an instant smile to your face and paroxysms of joy to your spirit. Let's just bypass mediocrity and cut to the chase. Life's to short to drink bad tea.

Michael

Lewis snipped-for-privacy@panix1.panix.com11/15/04 15: snipped-for-privacy@panix.com

The Long Jing example is an excellent one for the purpose of this discussion. First, there are different vartietals and areas to choose from. While some are far more prestigious than others, preferred taste is an individual matter that does *not* necessarily correlate to price and prestige. Second, the look of each leaf is more important to some people than to others. You will pay handsomely for perfect, hand picked and formed leaves. On one thing we can all agree: Freshness is key.

A tea does not have to be outlandishly expensive to be excellent. In some cases -- Phoenix Bird Dan Cong Oolongs and Long Jings being but two examples

-- the lesser breeds offer some out front in your face qualities that might be preferable at times to those subtle great tea beings of good family. So, to my mind, the secret is to taste lots and lots of tea, and then to choose both the lessers and the greaters with great care and attention.

I've been asking, but so far nobody has been forthcoming.

Michael

well....what springs to mind at the moment is a longjing i just rec'd from overseas. absolutely splendid in all dimensions. one of those teas that keeps you constantly searching for an encore.

Are you willing to share the source Pilo? I'm still wondering about how to find what would be an example of a premium long jing. My green tea experience is still pretty narrow within each catagory (in other words, I'm getting more breadth by trying gunpowder, sencha, mao feng, etc. but not much depth within catagories.)

Melinda

pilo snipped-for-privacy@news1.west.earthlink.net11/16/04

Aha. Searching for an encore. How many times have I tasted a tea, fainted with exstacy (sp? -- but who cares), and never replicated the experience? Many times.

Tell us more about your longjing.

Michael

Melinda,

While we're waiting for Pilo to offer his source...

If price is no object, you could go to Imperial Tea Court's top-of-the-line and try that. The price is ridiculous. Your pocketbook would be far lighter!

Michael P and I have both tasted the ITC Imperial LJ in the past, and it has been about the best available. Not smoky or toasty in the least, but sublimely and smoothly vegetal (just going on memory, no tasting notes).

However, it's not the best time of year for it. What you really want to do is get it in the spring.

Joe Kubera

Joseph snipped-for-privacy@mb-m22.aol.com11/17/04

Curiously, ITC sold out of it before it hit their web site. What do you think of that?

Michael

I'm new to here (about 5 minutes).

The best long jing comes from Zhejiang province in China in the city Hangzhou. There is actually a village there called Longjing..it's sorta tourist driven, but if you know the locals, you can get a good deal on some great longjing.

Gunpowder is either a type of Wulong called Tie Guan Yin or Wulong itself. Mao feng is green. heh.

I'm so happy to find tea enthusiasts i can talk with at last.

Mydnight

-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

Yeah I knew about the place of origin of Longjing, lol...I was asking about his supplier source or where he bought his Longjing. I have never heard of gunpowder being a type of oolong...does anyone else have this info? Thanks very much.

Melinda

Sorry, gunpowder is a green tea (more often than not, a pretty harsh one) rolled into tight pellets. Tieguanyin is also usually rolled fairly tightly, but the leaves are much bigger, and of course they're partially oxidized.

/Lew

What do you mean by "harsh"? I'm asking because I have some, and it seems bitter or something.

Bitter and astringent as well, probably.

/Lew

you are referring to the sort of tea that comes rolled into little balls that resemble black powder and unroll as you steep them, right? on the western market, I have seen tie guan yin and other different tyes of wulong advertised as 'Chinese Green Gunpowder' tea and gunpowder tea and not using the true name of the tea. The two or three vendors that I contacted about it, there are a profusion of them on the net, all claim it to be green tea but know nothing more about it since they basically just get it in bulk and sell it for jacked-up prices.

From what I've seen, it all looks, and tastes like, a kind of wulong. I haven't heard of any kind of Chinese tea being called gunpowder before I looked in the western markets.

Mydnight

-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.