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(Scott Dorsey) writes:

> Someone asked a week or so ago about Vietnamese tea. I don't know
> very much about it, but what I do know is that most of the tea drunk
> in Vietnam proper is flavoured tea. Most popular are a jasmine tea
> "Saigon tea" that is reminiscent of the Chinese yellow-box tea, and
> a distant second is lotus tea "Hue tea" or "tra sen" which my wife
> describes as tasting like rotting flowers.
>
> I rather like both of these, and both of them are made from cheap
> commodity tea with flowers added to it. I don't know about
> pesticide use (although given the economic necessities I would doubt
> there was very much), and I know really nothing about higher grade
> teas from Vietnam.

There's a Vietnamese green that's decidedly above commodity level
called Thai Nguyen. I believe you spend some of your time in DC; you
might check Teaism, which has carried it in the past.

> I will say that I recently tried the "Vietnam Orange Pekoe" from
> Uptons and was very impressed. It had a strong flavour almost
> reminiscent of clove, but clearly not eugenol/clove itself. Very
> aromatic. I know a lot of folks turn their nose up at anything with
> an OP marking on the box, but I urge you to try this. It's only a
> couple bucks and I think it is a fine drinking tea at an excellent
> price.

I was once given a sample of a Vietnamese black called Marble
Mountain. It was rich and complex, with some fruit and a hint of
tobacco. I was about to say I don't know where you can get it, but
look:

http://www.nbtea.co.uk/acatalog/Other_Black_Teas.html

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