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Lewis Perin

(Scott Dorsey) writes:

> I have often bought the Oriental Beauty tea from the Ten Ren store in
> Rockville, MD. Although their catalogue lists several grades available
> as loose tea, the store only stocks one, and I like it. It's got a very
> spicy sort of salicylate odor to it, and that comes out in the cup. Big
> black, irregularly-shaped leaves.
>
> BUT, this time rather than go to the Ten Ren store, I picked up some
> pre-packaged Oriental Beauty tea at the nearby Maxim Market. It's in
> a white can holding 30g, with a painting of some flowers on a rock and
> the Ten Ren Logo on the front.
>
> On the back it says "Oriental Beauty Tea is selected from off spring leaves
> of tea plant and is made with two leaves one sprout to create the precarious
> honey taste. The name 'Oriental Beauty' is concluded from the radiant shape
> of tea leaves, the vibrant orange tea color, the mellow sweet taste, and
> fruitiful fragrant." No mention of insects at all.

Not to mention that the Chinese for Oriental Beauty (Dongfang Meiren)
specifically refers to a beautiful *woman*.

> Anyway... this tea is marked "exp: 2020218" on the bottom so it seems to be
> fresh, I would think.

Huh? You mean, because they say it has nearly 10 years of shelf life
remaining it must have been manufactured very recently? That's kind of optimistic.

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