Hello group,
I've lurked around a bit in order to find a good tea vendor online, and, after reading this group for some time I settled on Upton. So thank you group for everyone who has responded and posted, there are those around who read and don't talk. Enough butt kissing onto my question, but, first a bit of tea drinking history....
Hello rec.food.drink.tea, my name is Justin and i'm a tea addict.
I began back in high school brewing cheap tea bagged green tea with milk and honey. I remeber distinctly the bubble gum flavor that sometimes came across with even this cheap green tea. Of course I used so much milk and honey that I called it knockout tea. Once a friend of mine came over and asked me to brew him a bottle. I remeber warning him "okay man, but this stuff will knock you out if your not used to it." 5 minutes later he was flat on his back on my bed and I, shrugging and chuckling to myself, went back to programming.
After I caught fire to the electric tea kettle I gave up on teas for a bit.
Recently though because of a problem with my stomach I had to stop drinking coffee and switched over to tea. I started like most people do buying the cheapest crap a person can find in the local stores packaged in a bag. Eventually after a few cups of tea that tasted like the sweet off the balls of Earl Grey's horse I stumbled across Twinings stuff.
Of course I started into Twinings like any other novice drinking it from tea bags. I did eventually discover that by keeping it in a ziplock bag it tended to keep longer and didn't lose it's flavor. Over time I decided to try infusing with a tea ball and bought some of the loose leaf Earl Grey blend. That was the beginning of the end for me. My wife and sister in law put up with my tea habbits while we lived on the boat because so many of the people who where fellow liveaboard in the harbor where English and enjoyed a decent cup of tea. However, when we moved back into the interior of Alaska and i began to drink more and more loose leaf tea they lost all patience for me. "You and your stupid tea" one would say as I dragged them from store to store looking for decent tea. Over time I discovered that the local Safeway stocked Twinnings loose in 100g tins. However there was a problem, they never had any! I remeber going to the manager in a red eye crazed state of mind demanding to know when they would recieve more Twinnings. She looked at me fearfully and expressed some solidarity and sympathy by saying "I know, the company that stocks it never refills it like they should." I gave up and started looking around online.
That is how I stumbled across your group and all the faq's associated with it. Kuro5hin had a good article on it and I began to look deeper into the world of finer teas. I settled on Upton and ordered up a sampler and a 500g tin of their regular Earl Grey. I haven't had a single problem with any of their teas. In fact I would agree with the posters in the Upton reviews thread. It takes more than a sample sometimes to figure out if you really like a tea or not. A bit like my Pu-erh experience...
I ordered Pu-erh from upton because I thought it sounded like a good tea for a student with a thermos on the run half of the time. Finally a tea that wasn't so sensitive to steeping time. Ripping open the box from upton when I first got it I brewed up a cup of Pu-Erh. PHEW! Tasted like the bottom of a rabbit cage on a moist morning! But, being a good consumer I drank the cup and resolved never to try again. The next morning I grabbed the Pu-Erh by mistake and was halfway through my cup before my brain woke up and I said "Dammit! the Cat took a dump in my cup!" Over time though an extroadarny thing happend, I began to enjoy it. The guy that did the Kuro5hin article was right, it really is a very organic nice tea and I have become hooked. Now Pu-Erh enjoyes second fiddle to my beloved Earl Grey in the cabinet.
anyway, if your still with me here are my question....
-Has anyone found a good caffeinated keep you awake for hours tea? With the Pu-Erh i've discovered the caffeine content can be be pretty good but I usually have to drink quite a bit before I really gets me going. I'm looking for a tea that I can brew a mug of and work like crazy through the rest of the night. This might be a bit much to ask of a single mug buut I know there are teas out there that will keep you going better than cowboy coffee...
-What about a good green tea? My wife remebers going to Japan and drinking green tea all the time. She says she just can't drink green tea here in the Us because it tastes like crud. Any suggestions on a good powered green tea that will produce a slightly sweet frothy thick cup?
Iv'e been very happy with Upton both in their shipping and responsiveness so if you have any suggestions that upton would stock I would be greatful. Although i've been interested in trying Adigo teas as well.
Thanks again, Justin KL1RL Fairbanks, AK