Where can I order good green tea?

Hi to all

Can someone recommand some good tea houses for grenn tea? I'm searching for a good quality where I can be sure that the tea tastes well. Up to now I have bougth so often tea that seemed to be old or it was a bad quality (even though in the shop they told me that it is high quality tea, of course). Now I don't want to become dissappointed anymore. Therefore my question.

I'm living in Austria/Europe. Of course it would be the cheapest to order somewhere in Austria. But maybe there are some better shops somewhere else. Are there? It would be also very interesting to find a shop in japan, india or china. I could imagine to get a very high quality. But it might be to expensive or the transport takes to long. Has someone experiences with such remote shops?

In addition the the tea should be organically.

Some recommandations?

Cheers, Robert Schneider

Reply to
Robert Schneider
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Although Im not so experienced in tea testing, I heard that the best tea were kept for export. So is it for Cognac In France, too. I could still recommend you the best and most reknowned tea house in Paris, France : The Mariage Freres Tea house, by which you can order tea online at

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. They do also have many shops in japan.

It maybe a good choice to get their tea list

++

-- vincent

Reply to
vincent

Snip

Hi Vincent, The site only seems to work in French & Japanese.

-- Dave Croft Warrington England

Reply to
Dave Croft

Try

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they may even have a shop near you (Wien).

J Boehm

Reply to
J Boehm

Yes, sounds interesting. Unfortunately it is not in English.

Is it really like you said that the best tea is for export? That means also that your Cognac in France is worse than the one we can get here in Austria from you? This is not what I thought. I guess the products for export is bulk good, and I suppose that there is better quality to find - just to know where is the problem. But maybe you're right.

Robert

Reply to
Robert Schneider

Il y a quoi comme thes verts chez Mariage Freres ? A part le truc qui me sert de pot-pourri (si ca sent bon !)...le Marco Polo, je crois. Enfin bon, je ne vais pas discuter des gouts et des couleurs. Mais c'est des marchands de the "noir", et la personne en cherche du "vert".

(Mariage Freres is specialised in black teas, in flavored blends, they have little to nothing to propose in green tea)

Carrefour aussi.

Kuri

Reply to
cc

Reply to
Joanne Rosen

Reply to
Joanne Rosen

of that i don't really personally know. I read it in some book about tea ( yes, written by a french guy) who said it, but I on't really know. As far as I can imagine , maybe the poorest of the tea producing countries try to export it and thus get more money for it as in their own countries. Maybe so is it with us for the Cognac ;-), but i' m not that sure

-- Vincent

Reply to
vincent

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small typo, not a matter of interest, as I wrote before

Reply to
vincent

vincentc0h4sr$i9g$ snipped-for-privacy@smilodon.ecp.fr2/12/04 19: snipped-for-privacy@cti.ecp.fr

Guys, I hasten to add that with tea it might be quite different. China folk correct me freely. The best teas -- those that could sell for thousands of dollars per kilo at auction -- are consumed traditionally in China and never reach Europe of the Americas. That it takes a good lot of time for the angels to sip their alotted share of an excellent cognac, whereas the teas in question need to be consumed fresh might have something to do with this.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Plant

Hi Michael,

Especially with green tea. Some of the black teas for the European market are produced in plantations that where created by foreigners for foreign market, so I wouldn't be surprised to hear certain teas are easier to find in London than in shops of the country of origine.

That's not only for exceptional teas. Japanese teas of the quality they sell in a supermarket in Osaka is hard to find in Paris. A few years ago, I have visited dozens of tea shops, department stores, Asian groceries...I was ready to pay nearly any price. And the best I've got were packs of tea of 2 years before and the cheapest brand of macha available here. All that 5 times the price of the same product fresh of the year in Japan. Not better in London. Not much better in Hawaii (where there are so many Japanese residents and tourists). The only place where I have seen a fair choice of Japanese teas was Taipei. I suspect there are damned good shops in Seoul, but they are hidden in dark back streets, as nobody wants to be seen buying Japanese products.

I don't think the "freshness" is the actual problem, even living oysters and fragile fruits are exported from one continent to another. "New tea" can be mailed to anywhere on the planet in 24 to 48 hours. And if there was a demand somewhere, fresh tea leaves could be exported with vegetables. It seems that even if there is a large expat/ethnic community, that's not enough to make higher end products profitable. Lack of local demand...

Tastes of people in different countries are still very different. I have heard so many tourists getting out of the best tea shops in Kyoto saying : "Yuuuck, I'd never thought a green tea could be that bad. No sugar, no milk ! The bags of decaf grapefruit green tea we have at home are so much better.". Someday, I have to try grapefruit tea...

Kuri

Reply to
cc

You don't say where in Austria you are. If in Vienna, you should have a look at Artee in Siebensterngasse (Spittelberg area). They also do mail order. (Best to call them on the phone and ask for recommendations, their website

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is neither up to date nor complete.)

Otherwise you might as well order from Gray&Seddon

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(Expect to pay 20% customs and tax on every other shipment on average.)

Sophie Frisch

Reply to
Sophie Frisch

Looks interesting. Thanks.

I think I will try to order at artee. Is the other shop an special recommendation (ein Geheimtip)?

Robert

Am 14 Feb 2004 20:04:03 +0100 hat Sophie Frisch geschrieben:

Reply to
Robert Schneider

They have some very good chinese tea (also japanese, but they specialise in chinese tea I think). For the better grades of tea it pays to ask how much you have to take to get a factory sealed pack, sometimes it's only 150g, often 300g, and you get a really fresh tasting product. (You didn't say if you wanted chinese green tea or japanese, if japanese, there are other avenues you could pursue).

Not a secret, but nevertheless a recommendation. They have excellent tea at reasonable prices. Very good matcha too. If I had to choose just one vendor to get all kinds of tea from, I would choose them (not the least because of their practice of packaging even small amounts of tea, 50g or 100g, in vacuum-sealed foil pouches).

Sophie Frisch

Reply to
Sophie Frisch

Since you specifically ask for the name of an outlet I suggest you try Nothing But Tea

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They are building a good collection of China greens and whites most of which are imported by airfreight direct from China (including seventeen exotic display teas), and lots from other places (greens from Assam, Darjeeling, and Japan). These are tip top fresh teas. I also know that the folk at Nothing But Tea will replace any consignment that is not up to scratch - so no more disappointments. And prices are reasonable. Postage within UK is free. Postage to Austria is at actual cost. No VAT on tea and no import duty within EU.

Yes, I must declare a fatherly interest. We run a family business (Teacraft Ltd is headed up by my wife Helga and myself) and my daughter Chrissie learned her tea with Teacraft and now runs Nothing But Tea Ltd.

But Robert, a tip for finding a good tea outlet. Speak with them about tea, question them about tea. Write, email, telephone and fax them about tea. If you get the feeling that you know more than they do

- then try another outlet. A good supplier knows he has something to teach and plenty to learn, and always is trying to do both.

Nigel at Teacraft

Reply to
Nigel at Teacraft

For the best quality Green or Oolong tea try King's tea range from Ten ren. Know as Cha wong, true tea connoisseurs in the far east swear by it. Once you try this, anything else is going to be second best. Its very hard to get hold and quite expensive but if you appriciate quality then its well worth it. I get mine from

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and they deliver to europe.

Reply to
sarahsarah

Thanks for the warning that this company pushes crap by spamming.

I'm finding that judicious shopping at the local Chinese stores get me things about as good and somewhat cheaper than the on-line stores. Saw a tea cake in a wooden box on Sunday for $16 and have been debating going back for it. Latest tea tasting was a head to head Specialteas Dragonwell West lake against the medium priced Goldfish brand Dragonwell (didn't buy the $30 for 125 grams version). I can't really tell the difference other than the Specialteas Dragonwell has a much stronger dry leaf fragrance.

I'm beginning to think there's a reason some of the famous teas are as famous as they are -- and plan to work my way up the grades of a couple of them.

The other interesting thing was a conversation last week with a Chinese exchange student who told me that guywans are old-fashioned in China, but used in some restaurants.

Reply to
Rebecca Ore

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