On Fri, 30 Sep 2005 10:31:19 GMT, Michael Plant wrote:

> 9/29/05
>
>> On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 11:12:22 GMT, Michael Plant wrote:

[snip]

>>> Is this relevant? Don't answer that.
>>>
>>> Michael
>>
>> This is USENET. Relevance is irrelevant.
>
>
> Thank you, Derek. Thanks to you my day will be just a little bit nicer.

You're welcome. Anything I can do to help.

Well, except answer the question.

--
Derek

"He had heard people speak contemptuously of money: he wondered if
they had ever tried to do without it." -- W. Somerset Maugham ("Of
Human Bondage", 1915)

Melinda > wrote:
>Actually my Indian market is very very small, so this is the only Assam they
>have there. And sure it's not the best, but I'll tell ya what, compared to
>any of the general tea bags that are the only things available at my local
>grocery store...the assam is wonderful. It's all relative. Plus, since
>there are not many loose teas available locally for reasonable prices (I'm
>not sure I call Rishii or Rep of Tea reasonable in some cases), it's great
>if I ever run out of other tea (yeah like that's gonna happen).

Ask the guys at your local market for kalami tea. It's a low grade assam
blend sold to the middle eastern market. It's very inexpensive, and when
it is good it really quite fine. I like the "Sharzad" brand but I have
seen a number of others that are comparable.

>I don't know if I'll ever try their Darjeeling...like I said, I've bought
>some bad stuff lately (it was a store brand, cheap and I got what I paid
>for) and so I'm waiting for my Kyela teas order to arrive. Maybe it will
>sooth the trauma ::grin::

I don't know what the Darjeeling intended for the Indian market is like,
but I have just spent a week in a hotel in Denver and ran out of tea.
The hotel had a "Lipton's Darjeeling" in bags that was really quite insipid.
It was even more green than typical of Darjeeling today, but with no real
fruit or flower aroma at all. I would not recommend.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott Dorsey wrote:
> I don't know what the Darjeeling intended for the Indian market is like,
> but I have just spent a week in a hotel in Denver and ran out of tea.
> The hotel had a "Lipton's Darjeeling" in bags that was really quite insipid.
> It was even more green than typical of Darjeeling today, but with no real
> fruit or flower aroma at all. I would not recommend.

Just think of "Lipton" as synonymous with "shit" and you'll be fine.


stePH
enjoying a 2nd infusion of Sencha Midori from The Tao of Tea
--
GoogleGroups licks balls.

(Scott Dorsey) writes:

> [...]
>
> I don't know what the Darjeeling intended for the Indian market is like,

When I was in Calcutta half a year ago, the so-called Darjeeling
available in a grocery store in a very prosperous neighborhood was
pretty tasteless, and there was no information regarding year and
flush. There was, though, at least one shop in the city with lots of
different Darjeelings attributed to any number of gardens and times of
year. That place, though, didn't store its tea well.

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

stePH > wrote:
>Scott Dorsey wrote:
>> I don't know what the Darjeeling intended for the Indian market is like,
>> but I have just spent a week in a hotel in Denver and ran out of tea.
>> The hotel had a "Lipton's Darjeeling" in bags that was really quite insipid.
>> It was even more green than typical of Darjeeling today, but with no real
>> fruit or flower aroma at all. I would not recommend.
>
>Just think of "Lipton" as synonymous with "shit" and you'll be fine.

Well, the Red Label is drinkable. I wouldn't go out of my way for it, but
it's sold to the Indian market that isn't willing to put up with the stuff
Americans will buy. And as I pointed out, they do own Brooke-Bond now.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Lipton makes good products for other countries. The parent company is
Unilever which is one of the largest food congolmerates in the world
which also owns Brooke Bond. The two most common are Green label
(Darjeeling) and Yellow label (Indian blend). You can find them in
most ethnic stores. I like the Canadian version of Yellow label.
Lipton US, aka Red label, formulates a ice tea blend especially popular
in the South. You won't see that in the ethnic stores which prefer hot
tea. In most countries it is still easier to boil than refrigerate.
That's what I grew up on. That's probably what you drink at the
restaurant anywhere or from a fountain. It beats pop anyday of the
week. My minimum requirement for any restaurant, tea with large
glasses, plenty of ice and refills. Lemon or lime is a nice touch. I
just spent some time in the South recently and the new angle sweetened
or unsweetened. When I grew up it was always sweetened. The sugar was
added to the hot tea so it would dissolve completely.

Jim

PS:
The Brown Palace in Denver has been serving afternoon tea everday for
over a hundred years. Tea on the road doesn't taste like tea at home.
Even boiling water seems to be beyond most restaurants.

Scott Dorsey wrote:
> stePH > wrote:
> >Scott Dorsey wrote:
> >> I don't know what the Darjeeling intended for the Indian market is like,
> >> but I have just spent a week in a hotel in Denver and ran out of tea.
> >> The hotel had a "Lipton's Darjeeling" in bags that was really quite insipid.
> >> It was even more green than typical of Darjeeling today, but with no real
> >> fruit or flower aroma at all. I would not recommend.
> >
> >Just think of "Lipton" as synonymous with "shit" and you'll be fine.
>
> Well, the Red Label is drinkable. I wouldn't go out of my way for it, but
> it's sold to the Indian market that isn't willing to put up with the stuff
> Americans will buy. And as I pointed out, they do own Brooke-Bond now.
> --scott
>
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Mike Petro wrote:
> Does it look like this?
> http://www.pu-erh.net/graphics/Stash/DSCN0576.JPG
> If so it is a cooked tuocha from the Xia Guan factory packaged for sale
> inside of China. You can read more about it at the Factories website
> here http://www.xgtea.com/pub/a.htm
>
> If it looks like this http://www.xgtea.com/pub/g.htm then it is the
> product packaged for export.

Okay, so it's been identified as the Xia Guan exported tuocha.

I lack adequate puerh experience -- I've had the loose stuff at Teavana
(that they call "15-year aged") and both the green and cooked
mini-tuochas at Tao of Tea; also sampled some of the "2004 green brick"
from Tao of Tea. All of the cooked puerh has tasted the same to me (at
first I didn't like it and took to pouring the first couple infusions
down the drain, but it grew on me), while the raw stuff puts me in mind
of the "gunpowder" green tea I've had from a couple of different
sources.

In your professional opinion, what is the quality of this Xia Guan
cooked tuocha? Excellent, mediocre, or shit?

stePH

On 21 Oct 2005 21:11:40 -0700, "stePH" > wrote:

>
>Mike Petro wrote:
>> Does it look like this?
>> http://www.pu-erh.net/graphics/Stash/DSCN0576.JPG
>> If so it is a cooked tuocha from the Xia Guan factory packaged for sale
>> inside of China. You can read more about it at the Factories website
>> here http://www.xgtea.com/pub/a.htm
>>
>> If it looks like this http://www.xgtea.com/pub/g.htm then it is the
>> product packaged for export.
>
>Okay, so it's been identified as the Xia Guan exported tuocha.
>
>I lack adequate puerh experience -- I've had the loose stuff at Teavana
>(that they call "15-year aged") and both the green and cooked
>mini-tuochas at Tao of Tea; also sampled some of the "2004 green brick"
>from Tao of Tea. All of the cooked puerh has tasted the same to me (at
>first I didn't like it and took to pouring the first couple infusions
>down the drain, but it grew on me), while the raw stuff puts me in mind
>of the "gunpowder" green tea I've had from a couple of different
>sources.
>
>In your professional opinion, what is the quality of this Xia Guan
>cooked tuocha? Excellent, mediocre, or shit?
>
>stePH

Hi stePH,

Hmmm a tea "professional" I am not. In all honesty I like the Six
Famous Tea Mountain brand cooked teas the best. That being said the
Xiaguan cooked is mediocre IMHO. Try the Baoyan brand of cooked tea
from XG, it is the better brand of cooked tea that Xiaguan offers in
my opinion.

Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net

Mike Petro wrote:
> On 21 Oct 2005 21:11:40 -0700, "stePH" > wrote:
>
> >
> >Mike Petro wrote:
> >> Does it look like this?
> >> http://www.pu-erh.net/graphics/Stash/DSCN0576.JPG
> >> If so it is a cooked tuocha from the Xia Guan factory packaged for sale
> >> inside of China. You can read more about it at the Factories website
> >> here http://www.xgtea.com/pub/a.htm
> >>
> >> If it looks like this http://www.xgtea.com/pub/g.htm then it is the
> >> product packaged for export.
> >
> >Okay, so it's been identified as the Xia Guan exported tuocha.
> >
> >I lack adequate puerh experience -- I've had the loose stuff at Teavana
> >(that they call "15-year aged") and both the green and cooked
> >mini-tuochas at Tao of Tea; also sampled some of the "2004 green brick"
> >from Tao of Tea. All of the cooked puerh has tasted the same to me (at
> >first I didn't like it and took to pouring the first couple infusions
> >down the drain, but it grew on me), while the raw stuff puts me in mind
> >of the "gunpowder" green tea I've had from a couple of different
> >sources.
> >
> >In your professional opinion, what is the quality of this Xia Guan
> >cooked tuocha? Excellent, mediocre, or shit?
> >
> >stePH
>
> Hi stePH,
>
> Hmmm a tea "professional" I am not.
Well, you know your stuff anyway.

> In all honesty I like the Six
> Famous Tea Mountain brand cooked teas the best. That being said the
> Xiaguan cooked is mediocre IMHO. Try the Baoyan brand of cooked tea
> from XG, it is the better brand of cooked tea that Xiaguan offers in
> my opinion.

I'll look for it, but if it's more expensive, truly I don't know if
it's worth it for me. As an example, I've tried and liked the Sencha
Midori from Tao of Tea here in Portland, and I've tried the more
expensive and supposedly better Gyokuro and Sencha Shinrikyu but don't
notice any difference from the Sencha Midori. So it's probably better
for me to stick with the good *cheap* tea if I can't appreciate the
pricier stuff. Right?


stePH
--
GoogleGroups licks balls.

Baoyan is one of my favorite XG products. On Ebay you can buy the
beeng form for around $8/600g or the sexy mushroom form $18/750g both
less s/h/i from China which would be a minimum of $15. The first thing
I noticed about Baoyan is the black and green spent leaf. It is sold
as cooked but I can definitely taste the green along with the black.
Given the possible combination I've been experimenting combining the
greens and blacks I don't like perse. The rancid blacks seem to get
canceled by the bitter greens making for a good overtone not present in
either. It's not Baoyan but could be a kissing cousin. I think a
little sweetner would add to the sum of the parts. So find the XG
green box in Chinatown and for $2/200g for both you got a taste worth
drinking. It is also interesting the physical leaf characteristics
color, size and shape match almost exactly between the Baoyan and the
combination of XG export green and black tuocha boxes.

Jim

stePH wrote:
> Mike Petro wrote:
....
> > In all honesty I like the Six
> > Famous Tea Mountain brand cooked teas the best. That being said the
> > Xiaguan cooked is mediocre IMHO. Try the Baoyan brand of cooked tea
> > from XG, it is the better brand of cooked tea that Xiaguan offers in
> > my opinion.
>
> I'll look for it, but if it's more expensive, truly I don't know if
> it's worth it for me. As an example, I've tried and liked the Sencha
> Midori from Tao of Tea here in Portland, and I've tried the more
> expensive and supposedly better Gyokuro and Sencha Shinrikyu but don't
> notice any difference from the Sencha Midori. So it's probably better
> for me to stick with the good *cheap* tea if I can't appreciate the
> pricier stuff. Right?
>
>
> stePH
> --
> GoogleGroups licks balls.

stePH wrote:
> I'll look for it, but if it's more expensive, truly I don't
> know if it's worth it for me. As an example, I've tried and
> liked the Sencha Midori from Tao of Tea here in Portland, and
> I've tried the more expensive and supposedly better Gyokuro and
> Sencha Shinrikyu but don't notice any difference from the
> Sencha Midori. So it's probably better for me to stick with
> the good *cheap* tea if I can't appreciate the pricier stuff.
> Right?

Using Tao of Tea's Japanese offerings as a benchmark for
qualitative differences would be rash, in my opinion. I've only
been in once, but they store their teas in big metal canisters,
not in pre-packed bags. Japanese tea is very perishable, and so
it's quite possible that none of their Sencha and Gyokuro are at
peak freshness. Maybe you should take the trip to Uwajimaya and
try some of the pricier bagged stuff before questioning your
powers of discrimination.

--crymad