Tea

[dar512]

Thanks, Rich and UT!

[richlevy]

Ok, I was doing my daily clicks on the Hunger Site, and decided to click through to their shopping section. I did a search for tea, and now I am considering going back to loose teas at work. I figure if I buy from the hunger site, they will buy 20-50 cups of food for someone, I get my tea, and everyone wins.

I stopped drinking loose tea at work a few months ago. I still had some loose teas that were over 2 years old on my desk, so I cannot buy too much tea. I was only thinking about spending $20, which would be one tube or bulk pack. I would need to buy the wooden tea spoon to go over $20 and get the free shipping.

The problem is that I don't know whether to get tea I know (Kuan Yin, Rooibos, Lichee) or go for something new. If you read the descriptions, they all sound good. Exotic locations, dried in woks over smoky fires, etc. I'm still waiting for someone to throw in a 'hand picked by virgins' line.

For example:

Lapsang Souchong -- features the dominant scent and flavor of campfires, overlying the flavor of the black tea itself. Fitting, as this classic tea is prepared over pine or cedar fires before being fully dried.

It all sounds good and I'm in information overload. If I buy the kilo packs, I'll be drinking it for a while, unless someone in the Philly area buys some and we do a tea exchange. Does anyone have any opinions?


80 gram (2.8 oz) tubes with bamboo scoop
Ti Kwan Yin Oolong Tea
Silver Needle White Tea
Green Petal Jasmine Hand-Tied Tea
Lichee Black Tea

Bulk 250-500 gram packs (8.8 - 17.6 oz)
# Assam Estate
# Keemun Panda
# Lapsang Souchong
# Nile Delta Camomile
# Peppermint
# Rooibos
# Spearmint
# Tibetan Wild Lavender
# Darjeeling Estate
# Earl Grey
# English Breakfast
# Genmaicha Japanese Green
# Irish Breakfast
# Jasmine with Flowers Green
# Pai Mu Tan Chinese White
# Pi Lin Gunpowder Green
# Sencha Japanese Green
# Kenya Estate
# Malawi Estate
# Nandi Safari Kenyan White
# Nuwara Eliya Estate
# Rwanda Estate

[Undertoad]

If you get the Lapsang Souchong you may throw it out after the first cup, requiring another purchase and thus more funding for hunger. On the other hand, if you lick your fireplace and find it has "intriguing ashy notes", you might like it.

If you don't know what to get, get English Breakfast, which is a fine hearty "regular" tea.

The Darjeeling is one of the best teas from India. Assam is a particular tea of India, Keemun is a particular tea of China. Each has its own distinctive flavor, and some you will surely like more than others.

I don't know anything about the African teas and don't know that I'd trust a tea from where Madonna goes to adopt children.

Camomile and Peppermint and such are not real teas. Earl Grey is an English Breakfast-style blend of black tea infused with oils from the bergamot fruit, which gives it a mild citrusy kind of flavor.

[Sundae]

Rich it's all down to personal taste.
To me, "proper" tea (a stronger version of English Breakfast Tea) flows through my English veins. Even if I have to drink de-caff now on my GP's advice - it's not as grim as de-caff coffee, but I miss some of the flavour.

Different teas for different times of day and different reasons. My Mum is a heavy tea drinker, but she has Camomile and Lemon. She can't bear Nettle at any price but I love it. We both like Earl Grey but she drinks it with lemon (sacrilege! like putting Diet Coke in a fine malt!)

From that list:
# Assam Estate - I like Assam
# Keemun Panda - nope, no idea
# Lapsang Souchong - to delicate for me, an aquired taste
# Nile Delta Camomile - not for me
# Peppermint - love it, great diet tea, fills you up and gives the feeling you've just cleaned your teeth. Refreshing too.
# Rooibos - again - great on diets, a good afternoon tea
# Spearmint - never tried. Sounds grim
# Tibetan Wild Lavender - perhaps worth a punt, will be aromatic so depends how you feel
# Darjeeling Estate - yup. Good standard tea
# Earl Grey - yes, yes. Black for me but can be served with a dash of milk. Never lemon.
# English Breakfast - yes, yes, yes. Make it strong enough to trot a mouse across. Pref with milk
# Genmaicha Japanese Green - not sure - have had green tea - don't know if this is the same though. Traditional Japanese tea isn't suitable for Western palates
# Irish Breakfast - that's Guinness isn't it?
# Jasmine with Flowers Green - lovely & aromatic
# Pai Mu Tan Chinese White - no clue
# Pi Lin Gunpowder Green - I like gunpowder tea. Nan used to take us to Chinese restaurants to drink it. An acquired taste, but a real palate cleanser.
# Sencha Japanese Green - see above re Japanese tea
# Kenya Estate - no idea
# Malawi Estate - no idea
# Nandi Safari Kenyan White - no idea
# Nuwara Eliya Estate - no idea
# Rwanda Estate - no idea (prob all specific blends, but with colonial influence may have a similarity to English tea)

[richlevy]

Thanks for the response UT and SG. I do know that any 'herbal tea', or tisane, is not 'real tea', but I still do like a nice rooibos.

Some teas, like gunpowder, I had 10 years ago but forgot what they were like and so listed them as 'unknown'.

I love Kuan Yin tea, but I might be ready for an adventure if someone can give me at least a clue as to what I can expect.

I think I remember trying sencha a while back, but it was a very delicate tea. English and Irish breakfast are good teas, but I can get them in tea bags anytime.

Some of the African teas sound exotic. I love malt and nuts in general. I'd better because 1.1 pounds of tea is a 6 month commitment.

BTW, I assume 'Peoke' is 'Pekoe

Rwanda Estate -- presenting their Rukeri broken Peoke tea. Features a bright and lively flavor, with hints of a malt and macadamia-nut finish.
Each variety comes packed as 1.1 lbs. of loose tea (0.5 kg).

This site has more extensive info

Hot Tea Brewing Method:
As with all top quality teas, scoop 2-4 teaspoons of tea into the teapot, pour in boiling water that has been freshly drawn (previously boiled water has lost most of its oxygen and therefore tends to be flat tasting, steep for 2-4 minutes (to taste), stir (virtually all the leaves will sink), pour into your cup, add milk (do not use cream) and sugar to taste - sit back and enjoy a fleeting moment in Kenya - maybe you’ll catch a glimpse of a cheetah! (An interesting note - This tea can be enjoyed with or without milk - milk tends to mask a few of the delicate floral nuances but adding milk highlights the malty flavor.)

So if I want to do it English style and add milk, I would gain something instead of just masking the flavor.

BTW, this is a high caffeine tea. I would also be doing some good, since I just heard on NPR a few nights ago that Rwanda is still recovering. So maybe this would help.

Rwanda report from Oct 10, 2007

KAI RYSSDAL: The Rwandan genocide 13 years ago left almost a million people dead. When it was over, 70 percent of the people left in the country were women. Most Tutsi men had been killed, most of the Hutu men had fled.

Rwanda report from 2003

From my notes and an old post from another board...

Tea Lapsang Souchong:
Chinese
http://www.englishteastore.com/noname.html
http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/cat...&categoryID=12
http://www.marktwendell.com/Hukwa.htm
http://www.aspipes.org/tea/tea03.html

Lapsang: Hailed by All,
Drunk by None?
Lapsang Souchong, that magnificent tea savored by connoisseurs, both real and literary, and according to industry sales receipts, apparently drunk by three people (grin).

To digress, what is Lapsang Souchong? At its most basic, it is a black tea that has been cured by smoke. According to a tourist brochure that I once saw "Lapsang gets its distinctive taste from the mineral rich soil in which it is grown". (ahem) Unless you have actually seen this tea produced in Fukien, sans smoke, you have "'Da Bear's" permission to consider this TWADDLE! Lapsang is made, initially, pretty much like all quality black (or as the Chinese refer to them "red") teas. Plucked, withered, rolled, and allowed plenty of time for oxidation, it is then placed in bamboo baskets and hung over *just* smoldering pine wood.

Lapsang is a fantastic outdoor tea. It is my sole gardening tea, and in the Summer, I love it iced with a sprig of fresh mint. Another digression: Norwood Pratt has a great story about Lapsang and the Great Out of Doors. He used to be fond of sailing with a friend of his, Lyle Bongee. Lyle, precisely at 4 pm, would always appear from down below, with a piping hot cup of Lapsang. Combined with the bracing sea air, it was always an outstanding experience. One day, out of nowhere, a terrible storm moved upon the little sloop while it was far away from shore. The ship pitched, rolled, and nearly capsized a couple of times, Pratt was sure that they were goners. At 4 pm, Bongee appeared from down below, with the Lapsang. Pratt savored the cup as he had never enjoyed it before. For, if Bongee made tea, he (the captain) *knew* they were going to make it. Later Bongee confided that he had no such confidence. It was just that 4 o'clock was Tea Time, and some traditions you just don't screw with.......

Lapsang Souchong may well be considered the "Scotch" of teas. Like Scotch, it isn't for everyone, and is rarely appreciated on the first taste (hence, its light sales). Like Scotch, over repeated exposure, a taste can be developed. Brewed properly, it has a delightful orange-reddish liquor that is reminiscent of Scotch, and has that smoky goodness associated with the likes of Oban, and Laphoraig. You already know that ya like smoke, so give it a shot, what? Brew with water on the full boil 5-6 minutes of steeping.

Yours in "Tea Life, Tea Mind",
Bear

[dar512]

I haven't made it to Chinatown yet. But in the mean time, I've found Twinings China Oolong to be very nice.

[monster]

The hot brewing instructions forget to mention the strainer, but I'm sure you knew that. The Rwandan sounds interesting. "English breakfast tea" (which is closest to the stuff Brits drink) is very strongly flavoured and the milk dulls thebitter edge. I'm not too fond of milk, so I have the tinyest dash and it works. I wouldn't say it accemted anything, though, so I would think that the Rwandan tea may well be very bitter and very strongly flavoured when drunk black.