Top 10 favorite tea

snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com11/13/03

03: snipped-for-privacy@dhaka.net

Ripon,

Mine are 1) Green Tea, 2) Oolong Tea, 3) Pu-erh Tea, 4) Yellow Tea, 5) White Tea, and 6) Red Tea. Actually, to be serious, my favorite tea is usually the one I'm drinking at the moment. (That goes for music too, in that case "listening to," not "drinking,")

I'll give it some more thought and get back to you.

Best, Michael

1) Da Hong Pao Oolong (Red Robe) 2) An Xi Tie Guan Yin 3) Feng Huang Dan Cong 4) Dian Hong (Yunnan Black) 5) Tie Luo Han (Iron Monk) 6) Ying De Hong (GuangDong Black) 7) Shou Mei (Longevity White) 8) Shi Feng Long Jing 9) Gyokuro 10) Chang Hua Tie Guan Yin

Hmm, where do you get your Guangdong Black? Had any recently? As I've mentioned before, I'm not generally a fan of much of the tea from the SE of China, but I have had some surprisingly refreshing Guangdong blacks in the past (not for a while, and only in Guangzhou).

The Immoral Mr snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com11/13/03

14: snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com

I've been dabbling around Guangxi greens, and find them for the most part lack-luster, with the notable exception so far of of Lin Yun White Down, presumably from Ling Yun County, Guangxi Province, and available through several vendors including Special Tea. This tea has character. I like it. (None of this is to say that the Guangxi greens I've been at are bad; just nothing to rave about.

Please enlighten me regarding the Guangxi tea story, whatever that means. (We can count Guangxi as SE China, can we not?)

Michael

In no particular order, various grades of Lung Ching, various grades of Sencha, Gyokuro, Konacha, lightly oxidized Oolongs, various Keemuns, cheap Assam, & SpecialTeas loose-leaf Pu-erh (particularly with heavy or greasy food).

J

Forgot to add, Shincha (probably Number 1 if I'd made a list but it is a sencha from what I understand).

J

Johnyn7tb.352$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net11/14/03

11: snipped-for-privacy@johnsplace.org

What exactly is this "Shincha"? I was browsing through Gray and Seddon's site and saw mention of it. Very curious.

Michael

In my understanding, it is 'first flush' Sencha picked in early May. I've seen reference that it is always picked on the eighty-eighth day after the spring planting but I'm not sure if this is true or not. Anyway, the flavor is light and very clean, a definite sensory delight.

J

JohnTt9tb.528$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net11/14/03

13: snipped-for-privacy@johnsplace.org

Thanks, John. I'm going to go for it at the first opportunity -- which I suspect will be next spring.

Michael

Wow, only 10 favorites?

1. Qi Jing Bian Zhen 2. One of the melony Baozhongs 3. Luguanyin 4. Phoenix oolong (Fenghuang, etc.) 5. Fruity, not-too-astringent second flush Darjeeling 6. Tippy Yunnan black redolent of maple 7. Silver Needles Puerh bingcha 8. Dai bamboo Puerh 9. Uji Gyokuro
2. Yong Xi Huo Qing

/Lew

Hope you like it, I know I did. On my first sip of it, I thought it was the best green tea I'd ever tasted and I still do. It is a taste delight I hoard all summer/early fall (usually my stash runs out early to mid-October).

J

Yes, this is right. "Shin" means "fresh, new", and we all know what "cha" is. First harvest rice is labeled similarly, with bags proudly proclaiming they are "Shinmai", "mai" being "rice".

Can't vouch for this, but regardless, Shincha should be the first Sencha offering of the new season. Naturally, bags of tea marked "Shincha" are truly fresh and bright only if bought in the Spring.

--crymad

The next ten cups I drink.

Jim

Well, it's been a while and nobody's tried to answer this, so ...

Guangxi is certainly southern, but it's west of Guangdong, which is on the South China Sea. Guangxi actually *means* something like Wide West.

/Lew

GuangXi is famous for it's Gui Flower type tea and Look Bow/ Liu Bao. Look Bow's taste is similar to Shu Puerh. Most people cannot tell whether it is Look Bow or Sook Pau Leh / Shu Puerh.

snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com11/17/03

22: snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com

Aha. I'm going to do a little search for these. Meanwhile, could you kindly describe their tastes a little bit.

Thanks.

Michael

Sorry, Michael, I take it this was aimed at me? There's been a couple of times in the past that the subject of "horrible yunnan greens" has come up and I've chimed in and said I've in the past found some (exquisite) green and white teas in Yunnan and no place else ... on the other hand, cheap bulk standard Yunnan green can be rough and only eclipsed in horridness by the "across the county line" guangxi greens. It amazes me how much of this stuff is drank in China when all around manage to produce really great green tea.

Ha ha, Lew ... which means that Guangdong means something like Wide East?

Cigarettes, soil, straw, ...

Yes. I've seen the Chinese characters and looked them up.

/Lew

The Immoral Mr snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com11/18/03

11: snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com

I have a quarter pound of Special Tea's Guangxi Lin Yun White Down, which I drank yesterday (not the whole quarter, I assure you). It's very tasty, fruity, sometimes almost "custardy," and fresh. In fact, it's fruity I suspect adulteration, although it's not advertized as such. Two of the needle style Guangxi teas I got from Silk Road were uneventful; neither awful nor awsome.

Cigarettes, soil, straw?? Sounds like a green pu-erh I once knew. Anyway, I think I'll be closing the door on my Guangxi tea adventure soon.

Any good references in English regarding tea plant varietals known to this group?

I'm listening to Steve Reich's Six Marimbas and drinking...nothing at the moment. So, I'm off to boil up some water to ruin a delicate gyokoru. Whadaya say there, Jimbo?

Michael