Cathy,

It's an excellent question. The answer is absolutely not. Teas vary in so
many ways, and teas under the same name can be different even from the same
vendor from month to month and year to year. "Monkey-picked," for our
purpose, merely means that the maker considers this his best, or one of his
best, teas. It comes out of a legend that some trees grew on cliffs
inacessible to humans and only approachable by monkeys. There are other
stories associated with monkey picked of tea.

Other examples of teas that vary radically from vendor to vendor in my
experience are a particular oolong from the WuYi mountains in Fujian called
Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe). The inconsistency for this tea is startling.
Second, many vendors sell White Peony (Bai Mu Dan), and seldom will it be
the same from one to the next.

Variation is the spice of life.

Michael




Cathy 12/15/04


> Hi all,
> Just curious, will a "Monkey-picked Ti Kuan Yin" be the same from
> various vendors (Upton's, Tea Time Le Societe' du Tea, etc). I know
> the price varies, of course, but the tea itself?
>
> And I don't mean just the Ti Kuan Yin, but ANY given tea. If the tea
> itself is called the same, how likely is it to taste the same?
> Cathy Weeks
>