Newbie Looking for reccomendations

Buy as much different commercial brands of Assam as you can. The taste will be different enough to notice so you can get a better appreciation of the malty taste profile. I think TOH is a Pinhead gunpowder. Try the other type Imperial gunpowder. If you want to branch out in the greens to a similar astringent taste I would recommend Young Hyson or Chunmee. The only way to learn the taste of White tea is buy cheap SowMee(leaf) and brew it as a slush ie lots and lots of leaf and I dare say more than one infusion. It will be strong but still taste delicate. It will give you a benchmark for the delicate taste of BaiMuDan(leaf,bud) and even more ephemeral Yinzhen(bud). I like white teas when I am in a really good mood.

Jim

Just> I've been drinking tea off and on for years, but only in the last few

Thanks for the advice. Will look into as many of these as I can. TOH is indeed a very tight gunpowder.

White Peony, as far as I know, is as bold as it gets, although I've tasted some Sow Mee (shou mei?) tea that could compete with it for strength. The latter tends to be cheaper, too. I like brewing the peony at higher temperatures to make it stronger and more malty.

There also innumerable types of Assam and Green teas that you might like. Temple of Heaven is a gunpowder, I think, and there are some other strong greens out there. I couldn't recommend any, as I prefer my green teas a little more subtle. Perhaps Bi Lo Chun (pi lo chun), which has a strong distinct flavor, might be good to try.

In general, I suggest getting a number of small samples offered on vendor sites. If you're in Los Angeles, I always recommend Wing Hop Fung, because you can buy loose leaf tea quantities by dollar amounts ($2 of that tea, please!).

Anyway, best of luck, and post a follow up when you find something good!

Oops, looks like you already got a Sow Mee recommendation. so...yeah...

Thanks. I just brewed a cup and used way more than I normally would, and let it steep for about 8 minutes, and it was much more enjoyable. This is a much bigger leaf tea than the others I drink, so I guess I need to get a better approximation of the right weight rather than using an equal volume

Yes, yes, yes! When you're getting to know a tea, it's much easier to find brewing parameters you'll like if you start with a familiar proportion of leaf *weight* to amount of water. Then, start varying the proportions if you aren't happy.

/Lew

"Justin Holmes" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

I like the Ceylon White Pekoe from Imperial Tea. It has a light apricot smell and flavor. All downy white tips. I like to sip it as an afternoon treat.I get 2-3 good infusions.I've tasted others but always go back to this one. Hope that gives you another choice Cheers JP

Thanks, I might give that a try too.