"Serendip" wrote in message
...
This is my first tea "real" tea review, so I beg your patience as I
fumble all over it, and suggest you get some tea... this is long. Sorry!
No problem.
After receiving great advice regarding "where to start" from this group,
and wanting to hurry, hurry, with getting some teas, (and the
disappointment that Douglas had with the Adagio sampler) I headed to the
Upton site. Mistake. Big. HUGE. There are, simply put, too many teas
there, with too many options, and too many choices to make. I was
overwhelmed, and thought that even with a personal guide it would be
overwhelming. Keemun, Assam, Ceylon... with sets and subsets and, well,
you all know the offerings. Sigh...
Sorry, I didn't think of that. For myself, I usually start with the more
affordable teas (under $7 per 100/125 g packet) that have
descriptions/reviews that matches my tastes. For example, because I know
that I enjoy delicate teas a whole lot more than robust, I look for words
like "delicate, mild, smooth, sweet, drink/enjoy straight/plain/without
milk" and avoid teas described with words such as "pungency, tartness,
lemony."
So, I resorted to tried and true. I *know* I like Earl Grey and English
Breakfast, so why not try some of those, narrow it down, and then expand
from there.
Sure. Whatever works for you.
(Besides, ...I *needed* to
get tea - you know the feeling.)
Oh, yeah.
Of the eight EG tea samples I received, the first (and so far only) one
I tried is their Earl Grey Original (TE10)....
Bond Street English Breakfast (TE10) was next.
err...TB10. The TE10 is the Original EG.
I was surprised on
opening it that it looks like, well, like pebbles, rather than long,
thin, leaves since the EBs I've had all looked like the first link
(below). (I was expecting something like this:
http://tinyurl.com/4wjp3 and it is this http://tinyurl.com/4wjp3
The links are the same. I don't know what the first link was supposed to
show, but a picture of TB10 is he
http://www.uptontea.com/index.asp?ho...pe=new&begin=0
or,
http://tinyurl.com/6sb24.
This is SO much fun!! 
Thank you all again for all your patience, guidance, and advice. With so
many teas, and so many options, it would be far easier (but very
depressing!) to resort to a Lipton teabag.
I'm reading a book copyrighted in 1981 that says there are over 3,000
varieties of tea. So, while you may be overwhelmed by the options, you
certainly should never have to resort to a Lipton teabag ever again.
Thanks for the reviews. Glad you're having fun
.
--
~~Bluesea~~
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