new crop
 

Has anyone's '09 tea's come in? how do they look compared to last
year. II usually wait until june to order from the bigger houses, as
I think that the old tea stock will be gone. Is this necessary? I'm
not sure how tea is rotated in the wharehouses

new crop
 

My local franchise Chinese tea shoppe says the 09 teas are in. It
will be a couple of weeks before they get them from the parent store.
Ill clean up on the 08.

Jim

On May 13, 5:59 am, taopants > wrote:
> Has anyone's '09 tea's come in? how do they look compared to last
> year. II usually wait until june to order from the bigger houses, as
> I think that the old tea stock will be gone. Is this necessary? I'm
> not sure how tea is rotated in the wharehouses

new crop
 

On May 13, 12:59*pm, taopants > wrote:
> Has anyone's '09 tea's come in? how do they look compared to last
> year. *II usually wait until june to order from the bigger houses, as
> I think that the old tea stock will be gone. Is this necessary? I'm
> not sure how tea is rotated in the wharehouses

Well made and well stored teas keep for many years - I have drunk 12
year old teas that I manufactured in Pakistan and stored in the UK -
and they still had the freshness and fragrance of newly made tea.
Green teas and China greens in particular used not to be well dried
and lost their quality quickly. I suspect this reputation remains
even if not supported by current fact. Freshness is certainly hyped
up to convince gullible purchasers to shell out extra cash for new
season teas. And faddy consumers play the game by falling for it.
Back to the days when buyers waited for the tea clippers to race new
stock from Shanghai to London - first ship in got the sky high
prices.
As Jim say's in this thread - he will trust his palate and clean up on
the discounted 08 stock. Personally I am happy that my current stock
of Georgian handmade tea was grown in 2006 and 2007 - and all the
better for being kept awhile.

Nigel at Teacraft

new crop
 

On May 15, 4:44*am, Nigel > wrote:
> On May 13, 12:59*pm, taopants > wrote:
>
> > Has anyone's '09 tea's come in? how do they look compared to last
> > year. *II usually wait until june to order from the bigger houses, as
> > I think that the old tea stock will be gone. Is this necessary? I'm
> > not sure how tea is rotated in the wharehouses
>
> Well made and well stored teas keep for many years - I have drunk 12
> year old teas that I manufactured in Pakistan and stored in the UK -
> and they still had the freshness and fragrance of newly made tea.
> Green teas and China greens in particular used not to be well dried
> and lost their quality quickly. *I suspect this reputation remains
> even if not supported by current fact. *Freshness is certainly hyped
> up to convince gullible purchasers to shell out extra cash for new
> season teas. *And faddy consumers play the game by falling for it.
> Back to the days when buyers waited for the tea clippers to race new
> stock from Shanghai to London - first ship in got the sky high
> prices.
> As Jim say's in this thread - he will trust his palate and clean up on
> the discounted 08 stock. *Personally I am happy that my current stock
> of Georgian handmade tea was grown in 2006 and 2007 - and all the
> better for being kept awhile.
>
> Nigel at Teacraft

I actually just broke out some Dragonwell from 2004 that had been kept
in airtight glass and it was fine, but I could tell it wasn't quite
perfect. Gyokuro doesn't stand up to aging well even kept sealed,
after a year you can tell. But I do have some bancha from like 3 years
ago or more that is 100% perfectly fine.

Outside of some greens, I have had teas with additions like jasmine
petals or sassafras that have gone bad even well sealed. It is very
few and far between though. I can taste and do have an affinity for
absolutely fresh yellow tea, I find it deteriorates the quickest of
any tea I drink. Some BLCs would be a close second.

- Dominic

new crop
 

I have teas from the mid seventies I still enjoy mostly Indian and
Ceylon. One of my favorites mid eighties Darjeeling still in original
clay jars. I have Chinese teas from the mid nineties still good to
drink. I describe my environment as a tea sarcophagus good to
preserve the oxidized teas and dry out the puer shu. Not so good for
the sheng. I prefer the discount I get at the English tea shoppe when
the Chinese teas dont sell.

Jim

PS My current tea blossom called Rare Twins looks like a 50s scifi
When Sea Anenome Attack..

On May 15, 2:44 am, Nigel > wrote:
> On May 13, 12:59 pm, taopants > wrote:
>
> > Has anyone's '09 tea's come in? how do they look compared to last
> > year. II usually wait until june to order from the bigger houses, as
> > I think that the old tea stock will be gone. Is this necessary? I'm
> > not sure how tea is rotated in the wharehouses
>
> Well made and well stored teas keep for many years - I have drunk 12
> year old teas that I manufactured in Pakistan and stored in the UK -
> and they still had the freshness and fragrance of newly made tea.
> Green teas and China greens in particular used not to be well dried
> and lost their quality quickly. I suspect this reputation remains
> even if not supported by current fact. Freshness is certainly hyped
> up to convince gullible purchasers to shell out extra cash for new
> season teas. And faddy consumers play the game by falling for it.
> Back to the days when buyers waited for the tea clippers to race new
> stock from Shanghai to London - first ship in got the sky high
> prices.
> As Jim say's in this thread - he will trust his palate and clean up on
> the discounted 08 stock. Personally I am happy that my current stock
> of Georgian handmade tea was grown in 2006 and 2007 - and all the
> better for being kept awhile.
>
> Nigel at Teacraft