A successful blend has the unique taste and the right price. I could
see a connection between a Bayou swamp and puer. Years ago there was
a discussion about the change in Red Rose taste for the worse. This
was about the time when you got ceramic theme figurines in their
boxes. I got a couple of Noahs Ark. The prices on Ebay were out of
site to fill out a collection. These days I find tea bags
inconvenient. Sometimes when I drink tea I feel the words of Van
Morrison 'take me back, take me way way back' to childhood memories of
trips through the tea aisle where I picture Luzianne beside Liptons.

Jim

PS Hey Dominic are the recent spam posts coming through Google Groups
or a nntp newsgroup service.

On Apr 14, 1:16 pm, "Dominic T." > wrote:
> I never really thought much about the cheap black teabags but I tend
> to buy Luzianne a lot. Not for any real reason (so I thought) so last
> time I thought I'd switch it up and get Red Rose... mistake. I quickly
> realized that it is nowhere near as good a Luzianne. But I didn't know
> why, I hadn't ever paid a ton of attention to any particular flavors
> or aromas. I tend to only drink this kind of tea with either a fair
> amount of honey or rock sugar and usually when I'm sick or just want
> something hot and sweet.
>
> I bought a new box of Luzianne and was determined to pay attention to
> what made it stand out and I was actually kind of shocked with the
> result. Luzianne has notes of Puerh. It has a more earthy punch to it
> and almost a spicy note as well. The Red Rose (which I had always
> thought to be OK before I had been drinking Luzianne as my "teabag of
> choice" for a couple of years) doesn't have any real strong note at
> all and is sort of malty and bland. I just can't do American Lipton at
> all it has an "artificial" taste I can't put my finger on but that I
> do not like.
>
> I did have some luck with Giant Eagle's "Market District" Assam Black
> Tea. Giant Eagle is a regional supermarket chain and Market District
> is their answer to places like Whole Foods. A little better quality,
> sometimes organic, and a bit more expensive. It isn't made up of
> fannings or dust but of actual Assam tea.
>
> I thought I'd share and I'd be interested if any Puerh fans here have
> ever noticed this or it may be an option for when you are slumming it
> and don't have the money for a vintage bing... it'll hardly compare
> but some of the notes are there. FWIW.
>
> - Dominic