Here is a picture of my OB:
http://i47.tinypic.com/nxjot0.jpg
I couldnt get a good picture of the color. The top dry leaf is white
bud and dark leaf. The bottom wet leaf shows two leaf and a bud with
faded greenish brown color.
I wouldnt disagree with the packaged TenRen description. I have a
previous post comparing it to Darjeeling. It was sold in the US as a
Darjeeling prior to WWII. The story goes the same aphid eats both
leaving it saliva behind for similar taste. Also from a previous post
since the Taiwan draught of the mid nineties any bug eaten tea is sold
as OB. One tea shoppe in town sells some Taiwan green rolled nuggets
as OB.
I prefer Taiwan TenRen retail over their exports. Every time I am in
SF Chinatown I walk in and out of their store without buying
anything. I cant get anybody to give me the time of day.
Jim
On Jun 30, 9:10 am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
> 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.
>
> Anyway... this tea is marked "exp: 2020218" on the bottom so it seems to be
> fresh, I would think. But it is totally, totally different than the regular
> Ten Ren OB from the store. It's less tannic and it is totally without the
> spicy odor. It's like drinking a mid-grade tikyanyin. It's not offensive,
> and the leaves are the right shape, but this is not the OB that I have known
> and loved. What is up?
> --scott
>
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."