Strange Taste?
 

I'm finding a rather strange taste in two different teas.

It's almost a metallic flavor. I thought maybe at first that it might
be blood.

The tea teas are Tazo Awake, and Twinnings Orange Pekoe.

It first appeared in the Tazo awake, but only for a moment or two, and
then it was gone. Yet, it was so remarkable, that I noted it
immediately.

I have a very small package of Twinnings Orange Pekoe tea, and I opened
it up and tried it today. The taste is persistent in the tea.

It almost reminds me of flowery Assam.

I've also considered that it might be the water.

No, I brush and floss regularly.

My teeth need a good brushing right now, though.

I've thought about the ulcer thing too.

I wondered if it might be something "tippy" in them.

> it's your conscious trying to tell you to give up
> those bloody tea companies

Well, to be honest, this tea is to hold me over until I can get to some
better tea.

Save your money. Shop the ethnic stores with chump change. With
hundreds of commercial teas you'll find something you like. The best
news from last year the Taiwan oolongs made it to the shelves. You
can't go wrong with a 5lb/$5 bag of Chinese restaurant oolong. You can
find plenty of pu in Chinatown for penny/gram. Try to find some of
that black Caykur from Turkey in the 500g bags for $3. It's one of the
best. The best Ceylon I've ever tasted is an OP from Royal World found
in Arabic stores. If the Arabic Assam brands got any more malty they'd
need ice cream.

Jim

teadrinker wrote:
> > it's your conscious trying to tell you to give up
> > those bloody tea companies
>
> Well, to be honest, this tea is to hold me over until I can get to
some
> better tea.

teadrinker > wrote:
>I'm finding a rather strange taste in two different teas.
>
>It's almost a metallic flavor. I thought maybe at first that it might
>be blood.
>
>It almost reminds me of flowery Assam.
>
>I've also considered that it might be the water.

My first thought would be iron contamination in the water.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

> can't go wrong with a 5lb/$5 bag of Chinese restaurant oolong. You
can
> find plenty of pu in Chinatown for penny/gram. Try to find some of
> that black Caykur from Turkey in the 500g bags for $3. It's one of
the
> best. The best Ceylon I've ever tasted is an OP from Royal World
found
> in Arabic stores.

Sounds like a good idea. I'll definitely try that.

This leads me into another topic. What do you think about the tea from
Vietnam? Do they use chemicals? I've heard some real horror stories
about their products.

Also, a tea lady that I know from Sri Lanka says that she doesn't buy
tea from China because of the pesticides.

Sounds like to me you are describing a flavor called "Se" in Chinese.
There isn't a very good translation for the word, but it's metallic and
bitter tasting. It usually occurs when either the tea has been
overbrewed or the actual leaves are of such poor quality that they
weren't meant for consumption anyway. Since those teas are bagged, I'm
going to go with the 2nd and say it could be due to the poor quality
leaves that are usually put into bags.

But, I agree with the others. Try to find loose leaf shops if you
can...not because it can save you money because I think the converse,
it can cost you much more than bagged, but because it simply tastes
better.

> can't go wrong with a 5lb/$5 bag of Chinese restaurant oolong. You
can
> find plenty of pu in Chinatown for penny/gram.

Well, I haven't found any 5 lb bags of tea yet.

What I did find was mostly tinned tea from China: oolong, pu-ehr,
jasmine, gunpowder green ($1.50 for a small package), litchi black tea.
About $4.00 (a good price).

Most of the tea came in 100 or 150 gram tins. The largest tin I saw
was about 500 grams, for about $7. All from China.

They had a fair number of tea bags as well.

Some of my other favorite products were also cheaper than the super
market.

In article . com>,
teadrinker > wrote:
>> can't go wrong with a 5lb/$5 bag of Chinese restaurant oolong. You
>can
>> find plenty of pu in Chinatown for penny/gram.
>
>Well, I haven't found any 5 lb bags of tea yet.

In Washington DC, try the Da Hua Market on 7th st. They charge seven
bucks for the 5 lb. bag of Foojoy, though.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

In article . com>,
teadrinker > wrote:
>> can't go wrong with a 5lb/$5 bag of Chinese restaurant oolong. You
>can
>> find plenty of pu in Chinatown for penny/gram.
>
>Well, I haven't found any 5 lb bags of tea yet.

In Washington DC, try the Da Hua Market on 7th st. They charge seven
bucks for the 5 lb. bag of Foojoy, though.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

"teadrinker" > writes:

> > can't go wrong with a 5lb/$5 bag of Chinese restaurant oolong. You
> can
> > find plenty of pu in Chinatown for penny/gram. Try to find some of
> > that black Caykur from Turkey in the 500g bags for $3. It's one of
> the
> > best. The best Ceylon I've ever tasted is an OP from Royal World
> found
> > in Arabic stores.
>
> Sounds like a good idea. I'll definitely try that.

Five pounds of tea is a *commitment*. I doubt I'd do that without
tasting some first.

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

"teadrinker" > writes:

> > can't go wrong with a 5lb/$5 bag of Chinese restaurant oolong. You
> can
> > find plenty of pu in Chinatown for penny/gram. Try to find some of
> > that black Caykur from Turkey in the 500g bags for $3. It's one of
> the
> > best. The best Ceylon I've ever tasted is an OP from Royal World
> found
> > in Arabic stores.
>
> Sounds like a good idea. I'll definitely try that.

Five pounds of tea is a *commitment*. I doubt I'd do that without
tasting some first.

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

(Scott Dorsey) writes:

> teadrinker > wrote:
> >I'm finding a rather strange taste in two different teas.
> >
> >It's almost a metallic flavor. I thought maybe at first that it might
> >be blood.
> >
> >It almost reminds me of flowery Assam.
> >
> >I've also considered that it might be the water.
>
> My first thought would be iron contamination in the water.

Mine too. Some readers may remember my posting an experience like
that from Calcutta that was due to iron in the water.

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

(Scott Dorsey) writes:

> teadrinker > wrote:
> >I'm finding a rather strange taste in two different teas.
> >
> >It's almost a metallic flavor. I thought maybe at first that it might
> >be blood.
> >
> >It almost reminds me of flowery Assam.
> >
> >I've also considered that it might be the water.
>
> My first thought would be iron contamination in the water.

Mine too. Some readers may remember my posting an experience like
that from Calcutta that was due to iron in the water.

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