Does anyone have recommendations for the best value when ordering tea.
For example, I have heard that Upton is comprehensive in its
selection, but a little overpriced. I am just looking for good black
teas to try and wondered if anyone had a source that was fairly
priced. Specialteas? Mark T. Wendell?
I get everything loose from my local Middle Eastern and Asian
supermarkets and am looking for a good source to try some really fine
teas, without paying more than I should. I am starting with Assam and
Earl Greys if that makess any difference in who you would recommend.
Or should I just go with Upton? They certainly offer more varieties
than I could ever hope to try.
Any help appreciated.
Thank you,
Allen

But I am open to any black teas. Indian, Chinese, etc. are all ones I
want to try. And I would think that Chinese would get you the most
bang for the buck.


On Mon, 03 Apr 2006 14:14:15 -0700, bloehard > wrote:

>Does anyone have recommendations for the best value when ordering tea.
>For example, I have heard that Upton is comprehensive in its
>selection, but a little overpriced. I am just looking for good black
>teas to try and wondered if anyone had a source that was fairly
>priced. Specialteas? Mark T. Wendell?
>I get everything loose from my local Middle Eastern and Asian
>supermarkets and am looking for a good source to try some really fine
>teas, without paying more than I should. I am starting with Assam and
>Earl Greys if that makess any difference in who you would recommend.
>Or should I just go with Upton? They certainly offer more varieties
>than I could ever hope to try.
>Any help appreciated.
>Thank you,
> Allen

I just ordered a bunch of samples from Upton, mostly organic Indian
blacks. I'll be reporting on them later. Toci
bloehard wrote:
> But I am open to any black teas. Indian, Chinese, etc. are all ones I
> want to try. And I would think that Chinese would get you the most
> bang for the buck.
>
>
> On Mon, 03 Apr 2006 14:14:15 -0700, bloehard > wrote:
>
> >Does anyone have recommendations for the best value when ordering tea.
> >For example, I have heard that Upton is comprehensive in its
> >selection, but a little overpriced. I am just looking for good black
> >teas to try and wondered if anyone had a source that was fairly
> >priced. Specialteas? Mark T. Wendell?
> >I get everything loose from my local Middle Eastern and Asian
> >supermarkets and am looking for a good source to try some really fine
> >teas, without paying more than I should. I am starting with Assam and
> >Earl Greys if that makess any difference in who you would recommend.
> >Or should I just go with Upton? They certainly offer more varieties
> >than I could ever hope to try.
> >Any help appreciated.
> >Thank you,
> > Allen

bloehard > wrote:
>Does anyone have recommendations for the best value when ordering tea.
>For example, I have heard that Upton is comprehensive in its
>selection, but a little overpriced. I am just looking for good black
>teas to try and wondered if anyone had a source that was fairly
>priced. Specialteas? Mark T. Wendell?

You can do better than Upton's prices, but for most teas the difference
between $2 for 125g and $4 for 125g isn't a dealbreaker. The thing about
Upton's is that they have sample packs. The sample packs are expensive
for the amount of tea you get, but if you want to try a whole lot of
teas for a small amount of money, the Upton samples are the way to go.

>I get everything loose from my local Middle Eastern and Asian
>supermarkets and am looking for a good source to try some really fine
>teas, without paying more than I should. I am starting with Assam and
>Earl Greys if that makess any difference in who you would recommend.

I'd skip the Earl Greys for the time being and try the Upton's Assam
sampler. You can do better on price, but if you don't know what you
are looking for, you can't be sure.

>Or should I just go with Upton? They certainly offer more varieties
>than I could ever hope to try.

There are plenty of fine vendors out there, many of them cheaper than
Upton's and many with better quality tea too. But it's hard to beat
Upton's for selection and variety in one place, and right now that is
what you should be worried about. Try as many teas as possible, then
find a cheap source for them.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 4 Apr 2006 09:56:02 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

>There are plenty of fine vendors out there, many of them cheaper than
>Upton's and many with better quality tea too.

Which would you recommend when I am finished testing.
And why skip the Earl's? Gets in the way of the taste of the tea?
Thanks for the input!
Allen

bloehard wrote:
> On 4 Apr 2006 09:56:02 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
>
> >There are plenty of fine vendors out there, many of them cheaper than
> >Upton's and many with better quality tea too.
>
> Which would you recommend when I am finished testing.
> And why skip the Earl's? Gets in the way of the taste of the tea?
> Thanks for the input!
> Allen

Earl grey is not really a tea that has many differences or real
"grades." Very cheap Earl Grey will use artificial or lousy tasting
additives to give it the Bergamot flavor, and better quality stuff that
uses the real deal. Upton's has a few Earls that are worth trying, and
I'm pretty sure they even have an extra strong Bergamot flavored
version if that is your thing. I've even seen Green, White, and Oolong
Earl Greys, and they are all pretty mediocre. Earl Grey isn't really a
"serious" tea, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it and have fun
trying some different ones.

Some basic suggestions of mine:

Green Tea: Jasmine, Jasmine Pearl, Sencha, Kukicha, Dragon Well, maybe
even matcha
Oolong: Oriental Beauty, Formosa, and from there just experiment with a
couple different ones.
Darjeeling and Assam: I prefer Darjeelings, Assams have a sort of malty
taste
Black: Keemun, Yunnan, and I like Dimbula
White: Totally up to you, I'm not a big fan except in rare times.

Uptontea.com is most likely your friend to start off, they offer cheap
sample pouches and low cost shipping. You can try probably 10-15
different teas for like $20 shipped.

Also, go with your own tastes. I enjoy cheap jasmine green tea from my
local asian market that costs $1.79/120g right along with $150/lb.
jasmine pearls... sure they are different but they both have things I
like and want at different times. If you like Earl Grey's start there.
Go to Upton's and buy a sample of each Earl Grey they have and see what
you like, that's half the fun. You'll branch out when you are ready,
don't rush it. In fact, drink cheap crappy tea first, you will
understand and appreciate good tea much more.

- Dominic
Drinking: PG Tips

bloehard wrote:

> Does anyone have recommendations for the best value when ordering tea.
> For example, I have heard that Upton is comprehensive in its
> selection, but a little overpriced.

Besides the samples which other posters have commented on,
other things you need to consider if price is a concern are
quantity discounts and especially shipping. Some vendors offer
lower per unit weight prices on teas as the quantity increases -
up to 1/3 less on big quantities as on small. Also, some of them
offer small flat-rate shipping costs no matter how big the order.
If you buy tea A from vendor X, tea B from vendor Y, etc. the
shipping costs can add very significantly to the price of the tea.
(Upton, BTW, does both of the above).


Randy

If I wanted to maximize cost cutting by mail, I'd go with three month's
worth of Java tea from Upton's in place of Assam. They have a bunch of
Earl Greys too, but I don't drink Earl Grey. Prople who do have rated
it on the site. Toci
bloehard wrote:
> On 4 Apr 2006 09:56:02 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
>
> >There are plenty of fine vendors out there, many of them cheaper than
> >Upton's and many with better quality tea too.
>
> Which would you recommend when I am finished testing.
> And why skip the Earl's? Gets in the way of the taste of the tea?
> Thanks for the input!
> Allen

On 5 Apr 2006 15:24:05 -0700, "toci" > wrote:

>Java tea from Upton's in place of Assam.

Because Java is cheaper for any given quality...that is a good idea.
I'll try a small Assam and a large Java maybe.

toci > wrote:
>If I wanted to maximize cost cutting by mail, I'd go with three month's
>worth of Java tea from Upton's in place of Assam. They have a bunch of
>Earl Greys too, but I don't drink Earl Grey. Prople who do have rated
>it on the site. Toci

I just got the two Java teas that Upton's stocks... the single estate one
and the BOP. They aren't bad.... a little bit more spicy smelling than
the typical cheap Assam. I tend to get more of a peach smell from the
cheap Kalami assams than a brown spice smell.

Definitely not bad teas, and extremely inexpensive. On the other hand,
I did not like them as much as the Boh teas from Indonesia... the Boh teas
all seemed to have deeper and more complex scents to them.

I sent some samples to another regular poster here whom I expect to chime
in at some point.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott Dorsey schrieb:
> ...On the other hand, I did not like them as much as the Boh teas from Indonesia... the Boh teas all seemed to have deeper and more complex scents to them.

Interesting. Don´t know any BOH teas from Indonesia, only from the
Cameron Highlands/ Malaysia. One of my favorite hangouts but I like the
jungle and wild durians way more than those teas. There´s a
teastall/-shop next to the factory and the teas my lady and I tried
there were as dull as dishwater.

Karsten [luke warm bio-organic Turkish Earl Grey in cup, not much
better ...]

"Scott Dorsey" > wrote in message
...
> toci > wrote:
>>If I wanted to maximize cost cutting by mail, I'd go with three month's
>>worth of Java tea from Upton's in place of Assam. They have a bunch of
>>Earl Greys too, but I don't drink Earl Grey. Prople who do have rated
>>it on the site. Toci
>
> I just got the two Java teas that Upton's stocks... the single estate one
> and the BOP. They aren't bad.... a little bit more spicy smelling than
> the typical cheap Assam. I tend to get more of a peach smell from the
> cheap Kalami assams than a brown spice smell.
>
> Definitely not bad teas, and extremely inexpensive. On the other hand,
> I did not like them as much as the Boh teas from Indonesia... the Boh teas
> all seemed to have deeper and more complex scents to them.
>
> I sent some samples to another regular poster here whom I expect to chime
> in at some point.
> --scott


After a montha nd a few weeks of moving, I'm finally jsut starting to settle
down again...got the samples Scott and I do agree, the Java BOP so far is
nice. It smells stronger in teh dry leaf, darker than the single eestate one
which I've not had the opportunity to sample yet. And of course I like Boh
too...I think the BOP types like Boh, Kenyan, Tetleys, nCeylon (the types
that are put into the usual teabags, if I can even make such a broad
generalization) are each different in their own ways. Some people like a
"drier" cup which to me means brighter, so Ceylon, maybe some Kenyan. The
Boh if I remember correctly is an Assam transplant so that would explain
it's darkness thought it doesn't taste like an assam tea per se.

I'll still be spotty posting here for a while...this has been a stressful
move and also I have a video game (Oblivion, put out by Bethesda) that's
occupying way too much of my time, but it's fun and recreational...anyhow I
am still around.

Melinda