I saw that some ´quality´´ green teas online cost more than 10x the
price of green tea that´s sold in the supermarket. I usually buy the
Lipton Chae green tea, both the pure and the flavored ones. I usually
pay around $2 for a 150gram bag of green tea.

Does the more expensive green tea taste different? How can they differ
so much in price? They are from the same plant and grown in same part
of the world.

writes:

I saw that some ´quality´´ green teas online cost more than 10x the
price of green tea that´s sold in the supermarket. I usually buy the
Lipton Chae green tea, both the pure and the flavored ones. I usually
pay around $2 for a 150gram bag of green tea.

Does the more expensive green tea taste different?

Not necessarily, but often it does, radically.

How can they differ so much in price? They are from the same plant
and grown in same part of the world.

They aren't necessarily the same cultivar. They aren't necessarily
grown in the same places, and, as you know, land doesn't cost the same
everywhere. Along with the land, of course, come soil and climate,
which matter a lot. Also important is the amount and skill level of
the labor. Sorry if this seems formulaic, but really, there's no
mystery here. It isn't just a matter of middlemen (though they count,
too.)

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

:

I saw that some ´quality´´ green teas online cost more than 10x the
price of green tea that´s sold in the supermarket. I usually buy the
Lipton Chae green tea, both the pure and the flavored ones. I usually
pay around $2 for a 150gram bag of green tea.

make that more like ~80X if what you want is Xi Hu Long Jing (China);
Gyokuro (Japan) or Ujeon (Korea)

Does the more expensive green tea taste different? How can they differ
so much in price?

yes they do. Just try it, you couldn't have asked at a better time;
most Chinese greens are already released and Japanese greens will come
very soon.

They are from the same plant and grown in same part
of the world.
by "part of the world" you mean Asia I guess?....well, that's one *big*
place; on tea bags boxes all they say most of the time is "chinese
tea"...not really helping.

also, why is Chateau Petrus so much more expensive than other Bordeaux
wines? same grapes, same place...

Kevin

wrote:
I saw that some =B4quality=B4=B4 green teas online cost more than 10x the
price of green tea that=B4s sold in the supermarket. I usually buy the
Lipton Chae green tea, both the pure and the flavored ones. I usually
pay around $2 for a 150gram bag of green tea.

Does the more expensive green tea taste different? How can they differ
so much in price? They are from the same plant and grown in same part
of the world.

Yes, but most of the cheaper green teas taste different too. Go to your
local oriental market and pick up an assortment of different brands. You
should be able to find a dozen kinds under five bucks at a well-stocked
big city market. They will all taste different, and they'll all beat out
the Lipton's.
--scott

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

Scott Dorsey wrote:


Yes, but most of the cheaper green teas taste different too. Go to your
local oriental market and pick up an assortment of different brands. You
should be able to find a dozen kinds under five bucks at a well-stocked
big city market. They will all taste different, and they'll all beat out
the Lipton's.
--scott



This is an excellent suggestion. It will enable you to find something
that you will probably enjoy better than Lipton, without spending a
fortune. That being said, if you enjoy Lipton, there is no reason not
to drink it.

I don't drink green tea, but I have found with black teas that the most
expensive ones are not necessarily the ones that I like best. If you
experiment a bit, you should be able to find some teas that are
agreeable to both your palate and your pocket book.

sure... the more expensive green teas are used to tasted different, for
exemple , you can tell the different between the jasmin teas from a
restaurant and a good jasmin tea that you purchase at a tea store.
I use to purchase tea at www.jardinduthe.ca on line, this store offers a
very good quality of green, oolong, japanese green tea. and the pricing are
very reasonable .



wrote in message
oups.com...
I saw that some ´quality´´ green teas online cost more than 10x the
price of green tea that´s sold in the supermarket. I usually buy the
Lipton Chae green tea, both the pure and the flavored ones. I usually
pay around $2 for a 150gram bag of green tea.

Does the more expensive green tea taste different? How can they differ
so much in price? They are from the same plant and grown in same part
of the world.

On 25 Apr 2006 07:35:19 -0700, "Dominic T."
wrote:

Start off at the asian market quality green teas that are fairly
inexpensive, and then move into more expensive versions of the ones you
liked from specialty stores or online vendors.

Reading your post makes me wish I could take a course, say an evening
or weekend class, in "How to enjoy fine quality teas". Maybe repeat
once a year at ever higher levels.

I have never seen any such course, and I am quite sure there are none
in my country. Maybe elsewhere?

When I first moved from "Black Currant tea", a black tea flavoured
with fruit concentrate, to Ti Kuan Yin and Pai Mu Tan, my tea merchant
told me that the ultimate goal would be green teas, but that there
could be a long learning curve before I was able to appreciate it
fully.

Twenty years have passed since then. I am still moving in the
direction he predicted, and I buy the most expensive teas I can find,
but I have not arrived to the real green ones yet. I think a course
would be nice.

Not online, mind you. There are things you can learn online, but not
this one. (Just to say don't bother setting one up because it'll
flunk.)


Lars
Stockholm

Lars wrote:
On 25 Apr 2006 07:35:19 -0700, "Dominic T."
wrote:

Start off at the asian market quality green teas that are fairly
inexpensive, and then move into more expensive versions of the ones you
liked from specialty stores or online vendors.

Reading your post makes me wish I could take a course, say an evening
or weekend class, in "How to enjoy fine quality teas". Maybe repeat
once a year at ever higher levels.

I have never seen any such course, and I am quite sure there are none
in my country. Maybe elsewhere?

When I first moved from "Black Currant tea", a black tea flavoured
with fruit concentrate, to Ti Kuan Yin and Pai Mu Tan, my tea merchant
told me that the ultimate goal would be green teas, but that there
could be a long learning curve before I was able to appreciate it
fully.

Twenty years have passed since then. I am still moving in the
direction he predicted, and I buy the most expensive teas I can find,
but I have not arrived to the real green ones yet. I think a course
would be nice.

Not online, mind you. There are things you can learn online, but not
this one. (Just to say don't bother setting one up because it'll
flunk.)


Lars
Stockholm

Hiya Lars,

I'm not so sure a class would accomplish much, tea is a personal thing
and I really do not believe in "right" or "wrong" with it. I have only
really been into tea for about 10 years and only high quality and
special teas for about 3. I do however turn a lot of people around me
onto better teas, and over the years have come up wih a pretty good
plan. I also say it a lot but I firmly believe in walking before
running, start off with Asian/Indian market teas. Oolongs, Blacks,
Greens, Whites, Darjeeling, Assam. Nothing expensive, even teabags are
fine. Get a feel for the overall types you like. Then start into them,
progressing into better grades/more expensive options. Then do a little
research and figure out from there where to go next. It helps you taste
and understand what makes one tea "better" than another.

You may surprise yourself too, by trying some of each tea you may find
something you never thought you would like. I found Kukicha that way,
and really enjoyed it. I also highly recommend reading Okakura's "The
Book of Tea" it is available for like $4 at bookstores or free online
at Project Gutenberg.

I have learned tons from this newsgroup in just a few months, much
better than any class. Let your own tastes, feelings, and curiosity
guide you... that is the ultimate teacher.

- Dominic

legroups
..com4/24/06

I saw that some ´quality´´ green teas online cost more than 10x the
price of green tea that´s sold in the supermarket. I usually buy the
Lipton Chae green tea, both the pure and the flavored ones. I usually
pay around $2 for a 150gram bag of green tea.

Does the more expensive green tea taste different? How can they differ
so much in price? They are from the same plant and grown in same part
of the world.


Let me put it this way: YES. You will taste huge differences among good
whole leaf green teas, while the Lipton product is generic and almost by
definition stale since there is such a long time between the picking and
your drinking of it. You do *not* have to buy the best greens to appreciate
this difference. You will however be paying more than $2.00 for a 150 grams.
Could you spring for say 12 dollars for 100 grams? Or you could get sample
packets from one of the on-line vendors for around $3.00 each. While
SpecialTeas is not my favorite company, they do have good sample packets:
URL: http://www.specialteas.com/

I recommend trying a tea from Guangxi such as Lin Yun, a Japanese sencha,
and virtually any other. Go for teas within your price range, though. I
think you will be very pleasantly surprised, and you will find their
offerings far better than what is available in markets. This is spring, and
spring is the time. Go for it.

Brew these greens well below boiling. Boiling water will ruin them. Let's
say 170-175F to generalize, although some will be happier lower.

Michael

On 25 Apr 2006 15:07:28 -0700, "Dominic T."
wrote:

Reading your post makes me wish I could take a course,

I'm not so sure a class would accomplish much, tea is a personal thing
and I really do not believe in "right" or "wrong" with it.

Have you never been to a "wine testing"? (My translation.)

A table is set up with 5 or 6 glasses for each person. Then the guy
who is conducting it shows a bottle of wine, tells where it is from
and in what way it is special, about the soil where it was grown, for
what circumstances it may be good, how its fragrance and taste has
been described etc etc. And then you sniff and taste it.

Then a new glass and next wine etc.

If the guy is good and your mind is open you can actually feel the
taste of mineral in the wine or understand those funky descriptions
that it has a taste of "saddle" etc etc.

It is not teaching. It is showing and guiding, helping you to explore.
That kind of thing is done with whisky and cognac and chocolates too.
I would love to do it with tea.


Lars
Stockholm

Lars wrote:
Have you never been to a "wine testing"? (My translation.)

A table is set up with 5 or 6 glasses for each person. Then the guy
who is conducting it shows a bottle of wine, tells where it is from
and in what way it is special, about the soil where it was grown, for
what circumstances it may be good, how its fragrance and taste has
been described etc etc. And then you sniff and taste it.

Then a new glass and next wine etc.

Fully understood, but I am still aprehensive of how effective it would
be. I am similarly not for those types of tastings... I'm not sure if
you have ever watched a television show called "Penn & Teller's
Bullshit!" Each week they take on some new topic and show how some
things are pure B.S.

They did an episode on bottled water that was amazing, they filled some
fancy bottles with water from a rusty garden hose and applied fancy
labels and made up whole stories and such for each. They presented them
like fine wines to customers at a fine restaurant and had secretly
taped their reactions. To a person, each one swore they could taste the
mountainous ice flavors from water that was supposed to be from the top
of the himalayas, or even one with a dead tarantula in it that was
supposed to be from the Amazon river... all garden hose water, packaged
fancy, and with a high price.

They did the same thing at a top restaurant with TV dinners. They
served the customers TV dinners plated to look like real food, and
people were raving about them as if they were unique creations and rare
delicacies.

I could no doubt tell you anything and with enough imagery have you
believe a bottom quality tea was the finest you had ever tasted. Taste
is subjective. I enjoy a number of "cheap" teas over the most expensive
options from their variety. I also firmly believe that you need to
taste some truly low quality teas and drink and enjoy them for some
time before you can even begin to understand what makes a fine tea so
fine. I drank regular jasmine green tea for 4+ years and thought it was
great, and then I tasted a hand rolled jasmine pearl that almost made
me cry it was so good. But had I started there I would have had no
appreciation at all for what I was tasting, and even if you had told me
it was the best I would have had no reference and just believed it.

This is just my opinion, but one that I and many others believe in
fully, and it applies to anyhing wine, cognac, chocolate, etc. you
should try to form your own opinion and go by your own tastes. If a
bottle of $4 table wine is what you enjoy, then that is the best there
is. I really enjoy Arbor Mists Strawberry Zinfendale (costs about $5),
and would take it over almost any other zin no matter how expensive it
was. It is a very subjective thing. Rather than a class, find a few
friends who have some interest, try a couple teas together and without
any pre-conceived notions see what you come up with... I bet you would
be surprised at the results.

Again, just my 2 pence and wholly my own opinion,

- Dominic

4/26/06

On 25 Apr 2006 15:07:28 -0700, "Dominic T."
wrote:

Reading your post makes me wish I could take a course,

I'm not so sure a class would accomplish much, tea is a personal thing
and I really do not believe in "right" or "wrong" with it.

Have you never been to a "wine testing"? (My translation.)

A table is set up with 5 or 6 glasses for each person. Then the guy
who is conducting it shows a bottle of wine, tells where it is from
and in what way it is special, about the soil where it was grown, for
what circumstances it may be good, how its fragrance and taste has
been described etc etc. And then you sniff and taste it.

Then a new glass and next wine etc.

If the guy is good and your mind is open you can actually feel the
taste of mineral in the wine or understand those funky descriptions
that it has a taste of "saddle" etc etc.

It is not teaching. It is showing and guiding, helping you to explore.
That kind of thing is done with whisky and cognac and chocolates too.
I would love to do it with tea.


I agree with Lars, but I don't think that every "tea class" or
"tea tasting" available follows the spirit he describes.
Michael

If such a tea tasting system could stand the test of time it would be
in place by now. The closest we come is professional tea tasters for
plantations and packers but then it is based on some reference standard
developed inhouse. The people who flourish at such tastings are the
ones who can verbalize taste and not necessarily the ones with the best
sense of taste. My local tea shoppe has tastings. I imagine it is
like when I go to the Symphony where everybody is a patron of the arts.
I've been told by another here to get off my high horse and smile when
someone who has been drinking tea for a couple of years makes a
pronouncement. I don't intellectualize tea. I'm past that stage.
Over the long haul I learn things about myself from drinking tea. So I
see tea tastings as a social occasion and not a learning experience.
I don't see tea tasting going beyond the trivial I do wish
occasionally to socialize with knowledgeable people over a cup of
something I really like but I wouldn't tell you which one it was. With
wine you are dealing with a finished product from the vineyard. People
can actually go buy that bottle. With tea no two different estate
Darjeelings are going to taste the same. I think the biggest fault
with a system for tasting tea is the final step of preparation.

Jim

Lars wrote:
On 25 Apr 2006 15:07:28 -0700, "Dominic T."
wrote:

Reading your post makes me wish I could take a course,

I'm not so sure a class would accomplish much, tea is a personal thing
and I really do not believe in "right" or "wrong" with it.

Have you never been to a "wine testing"? (My translation.)

A table is set up with 5 or 6 glasses for each person. Then the guy
who is conducting it shows a bottle of wine, tells where it is from
and in what way it is special, about the soil where it was grown, for
what circumstances it may be good, how its fragrance and taste has
been described etc etc. And then you sniff and taste it.

Then a new glass and next wine etc.

If the guy is good and your mind is open you can actually feel the
taste of mineral in the wine or understand those funky descriptions
that it has a taste of "saddle" etc etc.

It is not teaching. It is showing and guiding, helping you to explore.
That kind of thing is done with whisky and cognac and chocolates too.
I would love to do it with tea.


Lars
Stockholm

hola,

i do agree with you lars, i'd also like to find a person who can give
any guiding class about chinese tea, like a chinese tea ceremony with
notes

here you can find tasting classes for wine, cheese, olive oil, and
heard also for water and yogurt... i've been in a couple of these
guided tastings with wine, and both times i though i was being pulled
my leg... and afterwards i knew a woman that use to go to weekly
appreciation [tasting, whatever...] classes of wine, and she guided us
a bit in the times we take wine at restaurants, and the difference is
high... and the language used can be, at least for me, something that
prevent to pay attention. a natural, clear use of words is as important
as the attention payed at your senses.

and if any teacher don't say i have to experiment at home with any
other wine, [or any other whatever, tea, cheese, water, beer,
whiskey...] i won't rely much on him. i understand classes are only a
guide, or a training for senses, but the work must be done alone...
although you also find the time to enjoy with friends, of course, they
are two different things

i can also learn to paint [or any other discipline, build a brick wall,
for example] by my own, experimenting from zero, but i also like to
rely on others experience, and be guided, as i think it could be faster
to learn, at least as a way to start. that's one the reason i'm here,
and find internet so useful...

regards from madrid,
bonifacio barrio hijosa
http://worldoftea.webcindario.com/
.... site in progress

Lars wrote:
On 25 Apr 2006 15:07:28 -0700, "Dominic T."
wrote:

Reading your post makes me wish I could take a course,

I'm not so sure a class would accomplish much, tea is a personal thing
and I really do not believe in "right" or "wrong" with it.

Have you never been to a "wine testing"? (My translation.)

A table is set up with 5 or 6 glasses for each person. Then the guy
who is conducting it shows a bottle of wine, tells where it is from
and in what way it is special, about the soil where it was grown, for
what circumstances it may be good, how its fragrance and taste has
been described etc etc. And then you sniff and taste it.

Then a new glass and next wine etc.

If the guy is good and your mind is open you can actually feel the
taste of mineral in the wine or understand those funky descriptions
that it has a taste of "saddle" etc etc.

It is not teaching. It is showing and guiding, helping you to explore.
That kind of thing is done with whisky and cognac and chocolates too.
I would love to do it with tea.


Lars
Stockholm