Please help identify ring shaped green tea

Dear Tea Experts,

My Mother brought some fantastic Jasmine flavored green pearl tea and also a bag of a green rolled tea that she said it was an Oolong. It was very good and I like to know what it is and where I can find something similar here in the states. I uploaded some images of the bag at my web site:

formatting link
formatting link

I can't find any Oolong tea shaped like this on any of the sites I looked at but I am no expert in tea even if I been drinking tea the last 30 years growing up in Sweden. I have come to the realization after tasting these two that there is someting worth learing about. I ordered a bunch of samples from

formatting link
that I hope will help me get some basic understanding. I use to buy english style teas and also various flower and fruit flavored black teas in Sweden from local tea shops and grocery stores. Until now I been buying over there whenever I got a chance. I also have had people bring tea when visiting since there is nothing I can find in the supermarkets here in the Hartford, CT area and I don't know of any local tea shop. I am really looking forward to the shippment. I might need to get a Gaiwan to acompony my old Bodum glass teapot and my clip/ball infusers.

Thanks for your help,

Ulf

Reply to
Ulf Jonsson
Loading thread data ...
4 characters read Tian Fu Ming Cha. Last two characters mean "Tea tea" - i.e. tea made from C. sinensis leaves". The first one, Tian means "heavens" both in direct (sky) and indirect (forces of nature, forces of gods) senses. The second one means "luck". In Wen Yan (literary Chinese) and, if I remember right, Japanese these two characters mean "Heavenly blessing" and read (if I remember right) "tempuku". I do not know if they have a two character meaning in spoken Chinese, but the meaning is pretty clear (Heaven
  • Luck) and altogether something like "Heavenly Blessing Tea" or "The Tea of Heavenly Luck".

Sasha.

Reply to
Alex Chaihorsky

Hi, I had to make a new subject heading because Google is so slow to show up recent messages on its service and that's what I use to post..grr...

Anyway Ulf, the webpage for Ten Fu tea which is what I think I read on the bag is at

formatting link
I looked and could not find the tea of which you showed a picture but I didn't look completely. Are you positive it's an oolong? It looks like a specialty white or green to me, just from looking at the color. If I didn't know anything I'd even think it was a presentation jasmine but of course you'd know if it were a jasmine. Anyway, good luck with that and if I learn anymore I'll post.

Melinda

Reply to
Melinda

Ulf, I found these on the Stash website, they look similar

formatting link

Melinda

Reply to
Melinda

I am pretty sure this is NOT an oolong. Usually ring-shaped teas are green, I have seen several varieties including (once) a Bi Luo Chun. The ring-wrapping is not that rare for high-end green teas.

Sasha.

Reply to
Alex Chaihorsky

Hi Ulf,

The brand as Sasha has pointed out is Tian Fu (Ming Cha just means tea, or what the shop specialises in). Tian Fu is a China subsidiary of Ten Ren, so you may want to try TenRen's online store

formatting link
Or you may know of one in your area.

Or, just click on

formatting link
!

:") Have fun shopping!

BTW, it's a green tea, not oolong. Sorry, but mothers aren't always right... :"P

Samar

Reply to
samarkand

Thanks for the advices and info

Compared to the pearl tea it has no Jasmine nose to it but a fresh cut gras smell (whatever that translate to in Tea Lingo). It makes perfect sense that it is a green tea rather than an Oolong. However my Mother think that Oolong means a higher quality so I will let it stay with that not to make her disapointed. It would however be nice to find a similar tea. I think the

formatting link
might be it.

Ulf .

Reply to
Ulf Jonsson

That's a good point Ripon...when I was looking for other websites last night that may have had what Ulf was looking for, I did find a site that was selling ring tea as a tonic, along with assorted other Chinese herbal ingredients. Very interesting...I myself am so happy that something I enjoy so much can have good health benefits too. And even if it didn't...well, it's easier on my stomach than coffee.

Melinda

Reply to
Melinda

Ring tea as a tonic, where can I find this source? Sounds dubious to me, where I come from it is just known as a green tea that's been folded and rolled nicely. The tonic part is rather news to me...

Reply to
samarkand

Check out:

formatting link

formatting link

formatting link

but no mention of it as tonic...

Reply to
samarkand

Any tea is a tonic since it contains caffeine.

Sasha.

Reply to
Alex Chaihorsky

The site (and I can't believe I found it again) was at

formatting link

under "Longevity 'Golden Ring'Tea". The site does not provide a picture so I don't know if it's the same thing as what we are (generally) talking about. Also it does not SAY it's a tonic, it is just for sale on a Chinese medicine website so I made a leap of...inference. ;)

Melinda

Reply to
Melinda

I think it is quite clear now that it is a good quality green tea. It shares a lot with the pearl Jasmine but without the Jasmine smell and taste. It also have more body to it but my limited reference frame limits my ability to describe it. Anyway, I got my shipment from Specialteas.com today so I got my first cup of Oolong. It really opened my mind on that there is a lot of work to do to figure this out. In my college years I collected beers and it tooks some years to get a good knowledge. (favorite #1 is Westveleteren, a trapist from the French-Belgian border), I never been able to get a solid knowledge about wines, mainly due to the cost involved. The beauty of teas is the affordability. The box full of samples I got in the mail today was less than a good bottle of wine!!!

I was thinking of buying a basic Gong Fu set. I don't want to spend to much money. I was looking at some low cost sets

formatting link
ore something like
formatting link
e=STRK:MEWA:IT Are they to cheap to be useful?

Am I better off saving my money and use a Gaiwan until I can buy a good set? Should I go to Chinatown in Boston or NYC or is it resonable to just pick one on the net?

I ordered a Gaiwan from Ebay

formatting link
&tc=photo that looked nice and also one from
formatting link

Thanks!!

Ulf

Reply to
Ulf Jonsson

In my Chinatown I've notice gongfu sets with bamboo sink tray for $49. Unfortunatly none of them have the oddsize smelling cup. Small gaiwans with lid inside rim are $5. I think self service gaiwans are more fun than waiting on someone else.

Jim

Reply to
Space Cowboy

DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.