Tea ... who likes it?

[pjgh]

I've kept trying, but green really is not for me ... I've tried probably 10 different ones now, mostly from the list of famous Chinese teas from good retailers. Grass on the nose, privet hedge on the tongue. Yak! Nope ... not for me.

White tea, however ...

Three interesting examples arrived today, which I have been enjoying through the afternoon with second and third steepings this evening/now:

Premiun Organic Shou Mei - Regarded as a low quality tea, it's big BIG leaves much akin to autumn sweepings from the garden. It brews well, comes out clean and golden with an almost Oolong nose and character. It's clean and refreshing. If you know White Peony, you're not far off here - it's dirtier though. One to repeat buy ... I like this!

Premium Yunnan Organic Moonlight White Buds - Another Puerh, of sorts ... and a tea you can tell is Yunnan. It's cocoa dry with a mild pepperiness, not that dissimilar to light Yunnan Golden Monkey. The buds are picked and withered under moonlight. With repeated steeps a floweriness comes through, again not dissimilar to an Oolong. Another one I'll repeat buy.

Wild Puerh Yabao - Full unopened autumnal buds picked and sun withered. The taste is crisp and sweet afterwards, perhaps even a little spicy with woody notes of pine and cedar rather than the usual earthy tones of a Puerh. Interesting, but not necessarily one I'll buy again. The buds remind me of little locusts, steeping away.

 

[Gairdner]

Hmm, I've gone all old fashioned and have been rather enjoying English-style black tea blends all courtesy of the Kent & Sussex Tea & Coffee Company. Their Queen Mary blend and their house English Breakfast are rather lovely orthodox leaf flowery orange pekoe. The latter almost toffee-ish in its maltiness and both are robust, refreshing yet comfortingly familiar. I also purchased their Rose Congou Emperor special thingumy felly - best rose flavoured tea yet. Unfortunately all of them are just begging for the accompaniment of biscuits, cake and chocolate....naughty, naughty!

 

[pjgh]

Alongside these, I'm getting in single estate Assam, Ceylon & Darjeeling. Working my way through the big names ...

It's English-style for the morning, sometimes making up a traditional blend of my own and often with a drop of Keemun or Lapsang Souchong. Pure Darjeeling in the afternoon, white or golden through the evening.

 

[DamianJ]

I'm not a massive tea drinker and tend to drink Yorkshire tea. I was in a very nice place at the weekend; they had a large range of tea and offered take out pouches.

I fancied trying some but have to confess that I don't even have a tea pot! Having checked if you needed one they said they were little bags that were filled with loose leaf tea and could be used like tea bags.

I got an Earl Grey, Assam and Darjeeling. Quite liked the Assam as it was quite similar to what I'm used to. First try ever of Earl Grey today, I'd have it again.

Any recommendations of others to try?

 

[pjgh]

I got an Earl Grey, Assam and Darjeeling. Quite liked the Assam as it was quite similar to what I'm used to. First try ever of Earl Grey today, I'd have it again.

Any recommendations of others to try?

From the classics, Keemun and a Yunnan Imperial. Ceylon, also.

Assam is a heavy tea. It's malty and often lacks something ... hence the blending with Ceylon and Keemun for the classic Breakfast Tea. Ceylon comes in all manner of guises, as do all teas, but in the main there's lowland, medium elevation and high elevation ... the higher you go, the less "body" and more on the nose. Nilgiri is really interesting - very nosey.

Depends what you're liking ...

You said you like the Earl Grey ... perhaps a Rose Congou? That's another fragranced tea - Earl Grey can be all sorts of tea, but flavoured with bergamot; Rose Congou, likewise, flavoured with rose petals. Blue Sapphire? With cornflowers.

Check out Teacakes of Yorkshire or The Tea Makers of London and follow your fancy.

 

[pjgh]

... couple more orders come through, just revisiting examples that I really liked and confirmed that I really liked them and don't need to look any further.

Yunnan Imperial
Keemun Panda #1
Bukhial Assam
Nilgiri Mountain Frost
Shou Mei

... have all become staples.

 

[Chris]

I gave up on tea a year or so ago on the grounds that it tasted insipid compared to coffee, but on my way home I picked up a box of Twinings Smoky Lapsang to try and it's really nice! I love the smoky notes which remind me of whisky.

 

[pjgh]

I had the pleasure of a wonderful Lapsang Souchong direct from China.

Lapsang Souchong has become somewhat a caricature of itself and folks expect smokiness. Much of the stuff that comes our way is overly smokey having been sprayed with pine tar - it comes through in the flavour. Really good Lapsang Souchong smells smokey, but it not smokey on the tongue.

Either way, it's a super tea.

Similar. there's Puerh and Liu Bao ... but only in that they are marmite teas.

 

[Chris]

Call me a philistine, but I like the tarry notes in the flavour.

 

[pjgh]

... and why not? Why not, at all. My preference with coffee by way of comparison is for Crema de Gusto, which is 70% robusta. Like swilling an ashtray down! Yeah!

The great thing about tea is there's so much of it! If you like the tarrier version, look to Taiwan - Formosa Lapsang (Lapsang Souchong, strictly comes from Fujian on the mainland) is indeed tarrier. The Laphroaig of Lapsang?

 

[Chris]

Ooh, Formosa Lapsang sounds good! Laphroaig is one of my favourite whiskys. Where's a good place to get some?

 

[pjgh]

Ooh, Formosa Lapsang sounds good! Laphroaig is one of my favourite whiskys. Where's a good place to get some?

... one that I've tried: https://www.tea-and-coffee.com/lapsang-souchong-tea-crocodile

... and this is the "fine" Lapsang Souchong that I mentioned above: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191646622960

 

[Chris]

... one that I've tried: https://www.tea-and-coffee.com/lapsang-souchong-tea-crocodile

... and this is the "fine" Lapsang Souchong that I mentioned above: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191646622960

Thanks, I'll order some of the Formosa and will have a look at Amazon for infusers / strainers.

 

[Nestor]

Big tea drinker here - in fact, I'm working my way through a pot as I type this. Mostly Assams and Ceylon teas for me as I prefer the bold flavours. I also like Oolong tea but don't have any at the moment - any recommendations?

My habits change during the year - I'll drink black teas exclusively during the winter, but a Japanese Sencha and a good Earl Grey will get an outing in the warmer weather. I lived in Morocco for a while so still have a soft spot for sweet fresh mint tea with a pinch of green gunpowder.

There seem to be a lot of overly fancy, adulterated teas around now, but I give them a wide berth. Far too hipster for an old fogey like me.

 

[pjgh]

Most mornings, I like to kick off with a strong cup of tea - usually two parts Assam and one part Ceylon, sometimes over last evening's Lapsang Souchong. Today, I tried something a little different: one part Yunnan Imperial and one part Keemun Panda Special Grade.

The Yunnan brings the strong maltiness while the Keemun brings the deep colour, top notes and aroma. Lovely! I know Keemun is used often in Breakfast Tea blends. It's a lovely tea on its own, but bolstered with a strong, malty Yunnan ... Champion!