I bought a new red yixin teapot and King 913 Oolong tea to brew in it. When I
bought the tea I did not know it had ginseng and would not have purchased if I
did. This frustated me because the english ingredients were hidden in a sea of
chinese which I discovered and read while taking the bus home. The frustration
was short lived when I opened it, smelled it, and brewed it at home.

The tea leaves had a pleasant sweet aroma and made a very good brew, good
enough to overlook the fact that it had ginseng which I am not very fond of
when unblended. I added water (180 deg f) and brewed for 4 minutes, the tea
leaves expanded quite a bit. It's flavour is hard for me to describe maybe
bright, grassy, a tad earthy (I don't know) with a sweet after taste that
lingers for a few minutes. A new taste experience, but a very pleasant one.

One of the problems I seem to face when I buy chinese tea is the language
barrier, most of the tea boxes have very little or no english instructions on
them. Is there any way I can get english literature that explains what each tea
is like and how their packaging looks. The Ten-Ren store and website has some
info but I don't belive it covers all or even most of the many varieties of tea
they stock.

I also bought a package of Pu-Erh Mini Tou Cha compressed tea from them for
three dollars and some change. That was brewed in my Pu-Erh yixin pot. I
thought it had a more rich earthy flavour than my aged Pu-Erh tea
(non-compressed) and I probably will be buying more soon. So far that is only
about 3 different chinese teas I have tried all exotic and quite good but my I
would like to take more trial and error out of this by finding out what is what
in the world of chinese teas and perhaps other teas.

Is there any place I can go in New York City where they offer samplers of a
large variety of brewed teas? To prevent me from buying teas that I may not
like. I have avoided this so far by only by chance.

Also does this tea have a typicical oolong flavour, or am I going to have to
devote this pot to this kind of oolong only?

(Opother) wrote in
:

>
> I bought a new red yixin teapot and King 913 Oolong tea to brew in
> it. When I
> bought the tea I did not know it had ginseng and would not have
> purchased if I did. This frustated me because the english ingredients
> were hidden in a sea of chinese which I discovered and read while
> taking the bus home. The frustration was short lived when I opened it,
> smelled it, and brewed it at home.
>
> The tea leaves had a pleasant sweet aroma and made a very good brew,
> good
> enough to overlook the fact that it had ginseng which I am not very
> fond of when unblended. I added water (180 deg f) and brewed for 4
> minutes, the tea leaves expanded quite a bit. It's flavour is hard for
> me to describe maybe bright, grassy, a tad earthy (I don't know) with
> a sweet after taste that lingers for a few minutes. A new taste
> experience, but a very pleasant one.
>
> One of the problems I seem to face when I buy chinese tea is the
> language
> barrier, most of the tea boxes have very little or no english
> instructions on them. Is there any way I can get english literature
> that explains what each tea is like and how their packaging looks. The
> Ten-Ren store and website has some info but I don't belive it covers
> all or even most of the many varieties of tea they stock.
>
> I also bought a package of Pu-Erh Mini Tou Cha compressed tea from
> them for
> three dollars and some change. That was brewed in my Pu-Erh yixin pot.
> I thought it had a more rich earthy flavour than my aged Pu-Erh tea
> (non-compressed) and I probably will be buying more soon. So far that
> is only about 3 different chinese teas I have tried all exotic and
> quite good but my I would like to take more trial and error out of
> this by finding out what is what in the world of chinese teas and
> perhaps other teas.
>
> Is there any place I can go in New York City where they offer
> samplers of a
> large variety of brewed teas? To prevent me from buying teas that I
> may not like. I have avoided this so far by only by chance.
>
> Also does this tea have a typicical oolong flavour, or am I going to
> have to
> devote this pot to this kind of oolong only?
>

For me, part of the fun of tea is exploring to see what I like. Of
course, there will be some misses along with the hits, and you want to
minimize the number. However, your taste is your own and not the same as
anyone else's. Even if you follow the recommendations of the most
experience people with tastes similar to your own, you will miss out on
some teas that you like and try a number that are not to your liking.

I started my tea explorations with blacks and only later moved on to
greens. I am still overwhelmed by the variety of greens, but one day
SpecialTeas tossed in a free sampler of Ting Tung Jade Ooolong into an
order. My experience was similar to yours. The sweet aftertaste was
very striking. Every cup from that sample was like that. Unfortunately,
subsequent orders of that very same tea (number 618 in their catalog)
have never quite matched that first sample. Since then I have bene
exploring oolongs. There is a huge variation. Some are very green
(unoxidized). Others are quite noticably oxidized. It seems strange
that teas that are so different could be classed in the same category,
but they are! I find that I tend to like the less oxidized oolongs from
Taiwan, and that many (but not all) of the more oxidized oolongs are too
toasty for my taste. Then again, many people like toasty oolongs. I
don't own any yixing teapots (no room!), so I have no experience with
them on which to base advice. OTOH, if the flavors are very different,
perhaps you'd want to use different pots.

I don't get into NYC very much these days, so can't suggest a store or
tea room for you to do sampling. OTOH, you can order small samples very
inexpensively from SpecialTeas.com. They have a very nice selection of
oolongs. The samples are enough for several cups of tea. The cost may
be only a dollar for an inexpensive tea or two or three dollars for
something pricier. (The Ting Tung Jade Ooolong sample costs $3.) You'd
probably pay a dollar or two for a cup of tea if you bought it in a shop
or tea room, so this is a reasonable alternative.

Apropos pu-ehr, I have always had a liking for it and just last week
ordered a pu-ehr sampler ($22, eight different varieties) from Holy
Mountain. It came the day before yesterday. Now that the chill winds of
October are blowing, I expect to open some of those samples over the next
few days. What fun. FWIW, in the same order I got some sencha (same
variety that I liked so much in an order I placed with HM a year ago) and
some first grade genmai cha. I'm enjoying a cup of the genmai cha right
now. It's low in caffeine, and just the perfect cup to sip while sitting
at one's PC.

Debbie

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(Opother) writes:

> [...exploring Chinese teas...]
>
> Is there any place I can go in New York City where they offer samplers of a
> large variety of brewed teas? To prevent me from buying teas that I may not
> like. I have avoided this so far by only by chance.

Wild Lily in western Chelsea and Wild Lily Tea Market in the East
Village are both good places to drink teas you've never tasted
before. I prefer the latter because I find it more relaxing.

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