So, generally speaking, Hou De, Teaspring, Jing Tea Shop, IPOT, Seven
Cups are considered good (did I miss any?), upton and specialteas are
ok, adagio is more or less ok. I know there are also special shops for
pu-erh. Of the shops I listed, which are best for greens? Whites?
Darjeelings? Blacks? Etc.. If you can be more specific, i.e. japanese
greens, dark oolongs, dan congs, great.

I realized at last that I'm much more of a fan of whites and greens -
the reason being not their taste, but smoothness, body, mouthfeel. If
I make a very good oolong or pu-erh, their taste can be more
interesting and complex but at the same time their body is much more
"watery". All good Pai Mutans and Silver Needles have the qualities I
like most in teas. With greens there's much variety and I think that
Dragonwell, BLC, buddha tea (IPOT has it, not sure if it's exclusive),
Zhong Qing Lu Cha, Hao Xian Bi Lu (taiwan Tai-Tung) seem to have these
qualities, while An Si Bai Cha, Liu An Gua Pian, Gunpowder do not - or
I was just unlucky with the first two. If I'm looking at a new - to me
- green tea, how can I tell which category it will fall into?

Some Oolongs are also fairly green. Are Dancongs considered to be dark
type or in the middle between dark and green? Are 'woody' oolongs
separate from dark or just another way to describe dark oolongs? Is
there a reference site somewhere that lists all types of green, dark,
woody, etc oolongs and shows to what extent each of them is either
green or dark?

How about pu-erhs, are there any that I will find close to green teas
I prefer?

On Sep 6, 2:33*pm, Rainy wrote:
So, generally speaking, Hou De, Teaspring, Jing Tea Shop, IPOT, Seven
Cups are considered good (did I miss any?), upton and specialteas are
ok, adagio is more or less ok. I know there are also special shops for
pu-erh. Of the shops I listed, which are best for greens? Whites?
Darjeelings? Blacks? Etc.. If you can be more specific, i.e. japanese
greens, dark oolongs, dan congs, great.

I realized at last that I'm much more of a fan of whites and greens -
the reason being not their taste, but smoothness, body, mouthfeel. If
I make a very good oolong or pu-erh, their taste can be more
interesting and complex but at the same time their body is much more
"watery". All good Pai Mutans and Silver Needles have the qualities I
like most in teas. With greens there's much variety and I think that
Dragonwell, BLC, buddha tea (IPOT has it, not sure if it's exclusive),
Zhong Qing Lu Cha, Hao Xian Bi Lu (taiwan Tai-Tung) seem to have these
qualities, while An Si Bai Cha, Liu An Gua Pian, Gunpowder do not - or
I was just unlucky with the first two. If I'm looking at a new - to me
- green tea, how can I tell which category it will fall into?

Some Oolongs are also fairly green. Are Dancongs considered to be dark
type or in the middle between dark and green? Are 'woody' oolongs
separate from dark or just another way to describe dark oolongs? Is
there a reference site somewhere that lists all types of green, dark,
woody, etc oolongs and shows to what extent each of them is either
green or dark?

How about pu-erhs, are there any that I will find close to green teas
I prefer?

Sorry I don't have the time right now to expound but I figured I'd
toss out a few Japanese (greens) vendors that would rank highly:
hibiki an, o cha, and itoen. I'll pop back in later and try to offer a
few more.

- Dominic

To Dominic's list of vendors for Japanese tea, I would add Ippodo, the
non-EBay version of Maiko, and the non-EBay version of Ryu Mei. These
added to Dominic's list comprise the best I've encountered. They are
all good and receive my business, but I think for me Ippodo might be
the best. Ippodo consistently meets or exceeds my expectations.
~grasshopper

Rainy wrote:
So, generally speaking, Hou De, Teaspring, Jing Tea Shop, IPOT, Seven
Cups are considered good (did I miss any?), upton and specialteas are
ok, adagio is more or less ok. I know there are also special shops for
pu-erh. Of the shops I listed, which are best for greens? Whites?
Darjeelings? Blacks? Etc.. If you can be more specific, i.e. japanese
greens, dark oolongs, dan congs, great.
...

White Tea: 'Spring Cottage Tea House'
Japanese Green Tea: zencha.net hibiki-an.com maiko.ne.jp/english/
Chinese Green Tea: teahub.com jingteashop.com

The last one opened up a new branch in a nearby university area I
mentioned in recent posts. Expensive but they have the best selection
I've ever seen in Chinese teas especially the 2008 crop. I wished I
could go everyday to see if they ever unload the old stale tasteless
worthless 2007 stuff ;-). The best thing about the store, display
glass jars (not storage I assume) where you can see the leaf. I wasnt
in there more than two minutes before someone said you can tell alot
from dry leaf.

Jim

PS I let someone else mention them first.

Rainy wrote:
So, generally speaking, Hou De, Teaspring, Jing Tea Shop, IPOT, Seven
Cups are considered good (did I miss any?),

White Tea: 'Spring Cottage Tea House'
Japanese Green Tea: zencha.net *hibiki-an.com *maiko.ne.jp/english/
Chinese Green Tea: teahub.com *jingteashop.com

I'd second the recommendation for whites from Spring Cottage. The
owner's wife grew up on her mother's tea farm and the silver needle
white is from there. Incomparable at $100/lb and it sells out fairly
fast.

Spring Cottage also specializes in upper-tier mainland green oolongs.
Their highest grades have spectacularly good mouth-feel, much better
than I've had with any Taiwanese high mountain oolongs, with a flavor
that comes up in one's breath for hours afterward despite a very light
initial flavor on the tongue. It's an interesting effect.

Their bilochuns are very, very good too, and they're experimenting
with selling 6-inch twigs of green pu-erh from older arboreal tea
trees from various mountains in Yunnan.

Iggy wrote:

White Tea: 'Spring Cottage Tea House'
Japanese Green Tea: zencha.net �hibiki-an.com �maiko.ne..jp/english/
Chinese Green Tea: teahub.com �jingteashop.com

I'd second the recommendation for whites from Spring Cottage. The
owner's wife grew up on her mother's tea farm and the silver needle
white is from there. Incomparable at $100/lb and it sells out fairly
fast.

Spring Cottage also specializes in upper-tier mainland green oolongs.
Their highest grades have spectacularly good mouth-feel, much better
than I've had with any Taiwanese high mountain oolongs, with a flavor
that comes up in one's breath for hours afterward despite a very light
initial flavor on the tongue. It's an interesting effect.

Their bilochuns are very, very good too, and they're experimenting
with selling 6-inch twigs of green pu-erh from older arboreal tea
trees from various mountains in Yunnan.

Buuuut.. they don't have a website? How would I buy,
by sending cc# by insecure email?

beside www.houdeasianart.com
i enjoy tea from www.shanshuiteas.com- korean green, and oolongs

On Sep 12, 1:19*pm, wrote:
besidewww.houdeasianart.com
i enjoy tea from www.shanshuiteas.com
korean green, oolongs, and japanese