Tea Snob Status

Haha, it happens in China too. Just bring your own tea. In China, the hosts normally have all the equipment for tea brewing. So it's no problem to bring along a few pouches quality tea. The office tea is espcially the worst. Most people normally don't spend much money on that stuff. So if you want to save yourself, then bring your own tea. And may bring your own utensils too. And then prepare tea for your hosts and educate them about tea. That way, both sides get some benefit.

Tit for tat. They dont stock decent tea, you dont stock decent coffee. I agree with Niisonge bring your own. I usually bring more than I need and leave some for the hosts to 'try'. It is there when I go back. You know you are a tea snob when you are told I dont stock tea because it wouldnt be up to your standards.

Jim

I never thought about bringing extra and leaving it, great idea! See, I knew there had to be a more tactful way to handle it.

and niisonge, it is funny when people expect because someone happens to be Chinese/Japanese that they *must* have good tea as if everyone of them instantly becomes a tea expert by birth rite. I'm more likely to get a Yamamotoyama or FooJoy teabag instead of Lipton but that's about it and even then not a guarantee. (I actually enjoy both of those teabags though so I'm fine with it)

- Dominic

How hard is it in the urban areas to find tea shoppes that would sell a wide selection of Chinese teas. If I live near a tea market like Fangcun and Maliando then no problem. Lets say Im living in Kunming and Im tired of puer. How hard would it be for me to get some Fujian Yinzhen. Or say I have money to spend on tea. Where would I spend it assuming I wanted variety.

xiexie, Jim

In Kunming it's no problem, or at least it wasn't two years ago when I was there. But Kunming's a *big* city.

/Lew

Yeah, if you live in a large urban area, then you can go to the local tea market and find different kinds of teas. And at large supermarkets and some deparment stores, they have a selection of teas. But in most areas, the local shops stock only a limited variety of teas - driven by consumer preference. I've been to a lot of stores where the only tea in stock was Tieguanyin and nothing else.

1. I bring my own tea most places. Worst case I have some of the Ten Ren Black tea in bags. It's drinkable and reasonably priced.
2. If I have to drink tea made from Lipton's, I make sure the water is boiling and I make the tea very weak. You can make a drinkable cup... nothing to write home about, but the key is to get the water hot enough.

--scott

Such self imposed restrictions are for snobs like us who think out tastebuds are one above commoners and their drinking preferences. Most times it is a state of mind and not the torture we think we are subjecting ourselves to. One can bring your own tea leaves, but will carrying it in a canister compromise the tea in the summer heat? Wine being transported through various changes in temperature, not matter how short the transpoting time, alters the end flavour, so does tea. So you might wish to leave the leaves out a bit to help it 'settle' - but for how long? Then there is the question of water. Whose water are you going to use? The water supplied by your host, which might not agree with your tea, or are you going to carry your own? And the water kettle? Should you be carrying a tetsubin for green, yellow and white tea, or if you are brewing an aged pu'er, and a clay kettle if you are going to brew young pu'er, oolong and black teas? Or will you settle for the stainless steel? If I were to escalate myself to mega-snobbery, I would not be drinking 95% of the teas brewed outside my tea table then... There are always polite alternatives. A great tea person I know would either take a sip of the tea and leave the rest untouched, or politely accepting the tea but not touch it at all. When asked, he smiled and replied he was hoping for water instead. When tea is offered in an Asian setting - for that matter I think in all cultures, it is a show of the host's hospitality, and perhaps sometimes, lipton or a supermarket brand tea is all he can afford or know. To refuse that downright is shaming the host and spurning his goodwill, to fish out your teaware and start brewing your own tea, worst, to educate them along the way, is an insult. If refusing the tea is rude, brewing your own tea there is smearing s*it on their face. But at a restaurant, well, that's a different story... Duh~

See I don't think that is the case, I respect your opinion but there has to be a line. I don't enjoy the taste of Lipton teabags, not weak not strong. I don't enjoy Lemon Zinger or Berry/Hibiscus godawful tisane. I don't want them. Water is an issue, I have been a friend's houses where the water is terrible and my own tea or not it would have been bad... but that I can deal with. I don't need special brewing vessels or thermometers to just enjoy a cup of tea.

I don't see it as any different than when I may have someone over and they ask for a beer and I hand them some amazing Belgium or handcrafted microbrew, they take a sip and leave it not liking it because they prefer Coors or Bud Light. I don't get bent out of shape, or insulted, or look down on them for having basic tastes... instead I make sure to stock Coors/Bud or some higher quality facsimile thereof so that next time they are happy.

I've prepared amazing hand-raised lamb chops and had a friend turn their nose up after the first bite because it was sweet. Next time I do it with an herb crust. No big deal.

I do often bring a teabag or two made by me from some of my favorite loose teas I just never thought to bring a few more and give them as a gift as has been suggested here. I understand it is a touchy subject and can possibly offend some, but in my opinion if one is that easily offended and angered then I am probably better off not being their friend. I do always respect and honor a new or foreign host's offerings though. Even if it may be salty rancid yak butter tea, and I try to smile throughout because that is cultural and not a time to be prissy about things.

Again I understand your comments, I just think they may be a bit extreme for the average situation.

- Dominic