On 3/2/2005 3:31 PM, Bluesea wrote:
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."

That makes perfect sense, and once I figure out what I like, I will do.
Since almost all of the Upton samples are $1, I didn't pay attention to
the "real" price, wanting to see what I like without looking at price.
(That is, except for a site I found in/around Chicago, I think, where
the teas are in the $25++ range per 125 grams. Even if the teas could
possibly be THAT much better - I'll never know.)

I tended to look at teas that were described as "clean" - I don't know
what "malty" tea is (yet) and I *think* I like hearty teas, but - I
don't care for milk in my tea, so I would tend to avoid anything that
"required" it.

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.

Thanks. I think I may have confuzzled that in my notes as well - I will
check.

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.

Oops. That was supposed to be TB30 - the first link, that is.

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.

So many teas, so little time!

Thanks for the reviews. Glad you're having fun .

I am!! A bit obesssed, but having great fun.