Tea Appreciation

[BenjaminZeev]

Any recommendations for a good tea room in London that is not too formal or expensive? About 30 GBP a person or less.

 

[MSchapiro]

Any recommendations for a good tea room in London that is not too formal or expensive? About 30 GBP a person or less.

Are you looking for afternoon tea (the one with all the cakes and stuff) or just tea?

Still recommend Postcard for just tea.

 

[BenjaminZeev]

Are you looking for afternoon tea (the one with all the cakes and stuff) or just tea?

Still recommend Postcard for just tea..

Tea at a place that I can sit down at drink it, afternoon tea is fine, but it does not need to be afternoon tea. Definitely will be going to Poastcard, so maybe another place to try as well?

Edit: I will also likely be going to Kent Wang, and they have tea, as well as many other nice items.

 

[MSchapiro]

Tea at a place that I can sit down at drink it, afternoon tea is fine, but it does not need to be afternoon tea. Definitely will be going to Poastcard, so maybe another place to try as well?

Edit: I will also likely be going to Kent Wang, and they have tea, as well as many other nice items.

That is cool, I didn't know that.

Chinese Tea Shop by Portobello Road is great, but very small.

There used to be a nice shop in Spitafield that closed unfortunately.

Sharps, by Tottenham Court, is a great tea and coffee shop that is also a barber shop.

 

[BenjaminZeev]

Thanks. The Postcard Tea site had a ton of places listed in London, and I had no idea how I could figure out which ones were worth checking out (maybe most), but it is great to have recommendations from a fellow tea lover. The "Chinese Tea Shop" looks very interesting, and I saw Sharps on the list on Postcard's site.

 

[javyn]

Can someone rec an online store that sells full leaf Ti Kwan Yin at a reasonable price?

 

[BenjaminZeev]

Jing tea shop is where I would get it. It is under wulong and an xi. The address is jingteashop.com

 

[javyn]

Thanks have you tried it from this vendor?

 

[indesertum]



I must have tried a dozen of the best shi feng long jing tea providers known to teachat (so online merchants; mostly in May of 2011). Postcard tea and Hojo tea were the best but are quite expensive (about $1.5/gram and $3/gram), and it takes about 5 grams for a 100ml pot/gaiwan (my best pot is 140ml so I need about 7 to 8 grams). Jing tea shop has some cheaper options but for their best it is also about $1.5/gram, also if the pot I got from them is any indication of quality, they know how to spot high quality clay. I have bought from lifeinteacup for a few years in a row, and they are slightly cheaper and have the traditional cultivar (as opposed to #43; well at least in past years).

Could you explain a little bit about long jing cultivars? Also what makes a high quality clay/how would you spot it?

 

[BenjaminZeev]

Thanks have you tried it from this vendor?

I don't remember if I have had their Tie Guan Yin, but I have had a number of thier Wu Yi oolongs, as well as Dan Cong, Shi Feng Long Jing, and a number of others over the years. For the past few years I have mostly ordered green teas from LifeInTeaCup, but my friends that are more into oolong and red tea have gotten good stuff from Jing.

Could you explain a little bit about long jing cultivars? Also what makes a high quality clay/how would you spot it?

There are a number of Long Jing cultivars, but most are either fall into the category of traditional cultivars (of which I have only had Jiu Keng Group) or the #43 cultivar. In Long Jing tea the earlier the harvest date the more valuable the tea. #43 tends to have early harvest dates, pretty leaves, and in taste many people think it is just as good as Jiu Keng Group.
Here is a picture of Meijiawu village Long Jing tea from one farm. The top is group, the bottom is #43. The group leaves are larger but (I don’t think you can see it in the picture) some have small amounts of white fuzz. The #43 is small but I didn’t see any fuzz. Small size is generally considered better, as is the presence of fuzz (which can form small balls).

Given that this is the first time I had two tea made in the very same farm, same season, both from about the same date, differing only in the cultivar, I’ll be comparing them based on the wash and the 1st cup.

#43 has a warmer sweeter taste, its characteristic chestnut flavor is obvious.

Group has a subtler, dryer, and more complex taste. It has the chestnut but also undertones of almond.

I like both very much. And tend to order from Da Fo, Meijiawu, and Long Jing, both traditional and #43 cultivars.

As for the quality of clay? I think the only way to really tell is to smell it. Some clays have characteristic smells, and it should be obvious if it smells that way. Also if it smells bad, that is bad. I have two Duan Ni pots. The first is very well made but didn’t have much of a smell. The second is a complex design but not as well fitted, it is made of clay that smelled like hot rocks/sand which is what I read it should smell like. It was a very pleasant smell, I was very surprised how notable it was when I stuck my nose in it. I don’t think you can tell the quality of clay without smelling it in person.



Anyway I'm am an amateur at this so look around on other forums, like tea chat, and tea related blog, to find out more. LifeInTeaCup has a really good blog with much written about Long Jing tea.

 

[MSchapiro]

Interesting comparison.

I have always liked both.

Postcard sold a Long Jing by Master Luo for something like 250GBP for 10 grams worth. I was fortunate enough to try it once. Was absolutely incredible, but then Tim (the owner) had us try another one of the premium Long Jings by him (sold for something like 25GBP for 20g) and it was actually the favorite taste wise among the group. So a lot of it really comes down to preference.

I still remember what a great tasting that was.

Here's an interview with Master Luo if you are curious:
http://www.postcardteas.com/site/our-masters/interviews-with-master-luo-part-1/

 

[indesertum]

I like this new guy. I vote that we keep him

Thanks for the explanation and the recs

 

[BenjaminZeev]

Just got back from Postcard Teas in London, the owner was away in Japan, but the staff that was there was very nice and helpful. It is only 3 GBP each to taste most of the teas, and the price is waved if you buy the tea, seems like a great deal to try some very nice teas. Some of it is a bit more expensive but most is quite reasonable. It is not too far from Justin Fitzpatrick's footwear showroom, maybe a half mile, so might as well check out both if you have time (you will need to make an appointment to see Justin).

Anyway the teas, I had only about an hour to spare and that was time for two teas, over 5 infusions. I am guessing an infusion is about 240 mL or a full cup, and they are not stingy with the leaves. I tried the Fuji Semcha which was more complex and well rounded than other Fuji Sencha I have tried. Still had quite a full umami taste as is typical of the region. I also tried their Supernatural Green (a fired Japanese green tea) which was savory to the point of resembling dry fried chicken (or maybe 3 cups chicken) but lacking in the vegetal or grassy flavors to balance it out. If I could I would have tried maybe 5 other teas. It is a little shop, plain but nice. I would recommend to any tea lover who wants to spend a while trying things.

Also they have nice ceramics.

 

[MSchapiro]

Just got back from Postcard Teas in London, the owner was away in Japan, but the staff that was there was very nice and helpful. It is only 3 GBP each to taste most of the teas, and the price is waved if you buy the tea, seems like a great deal to try some very nice teas. Some of it is a bit more expensive but most is quite reasonable. It is not too far from Justin Fitzpatrick's footwear showroom, maybe a half mile, so might as well check out both if you have time (you will need to make an appointment to see Justin).

Anyway the teas, I had only about an hour to spare and that was time for two teas, over 5 infusions. I am guessing an infusion is about 240 mL or a full cup, and they are not stingy with the leaves. I tried the Fuji Semcha which was more complex and well rounded than other Fuji Sencha I have tried. Still had quite a full umami taste as is typical of the region. I also tried their Supernatural Green (a fired Japanese green tea) which was savory to the point of resembling dry fried chicken (or maybe 3 cups chicken) but lacking in the vegetal or grassy flavors to balance it out. If I could I would have tried maybe 5 other teas. It is a little shop, plain but nice. I would recommend to any tea lover who wants to spend a while trying things.

Also they have nice ceramics.

Glad you liked the shop.

Funny I think I tried the Fuji Sencha as my first tea there too.

You'd probably like the Nokcha, which is like a more umami version of the Supernatural green for the first infusion, but becomes more green tea like with each infusion.

I'd say Postcard's must trys are:
Lapsang
Nath Assam
Subarana Summer Darjeeling
Hojicha
Long Jing
Oriental Beauty
Any Dancong or traditional Oolong

All of those are excellent examples of their respective styles.

Some of the more interesting ones are:
Beijing Breakfast (pure maltiness, no bitterness at all)
Sparrows Tounge (like the friend chicken mentioned, but an even stronger umami flavor)
Roasted Yimu Oolong

Also they ship to America .

 

[BenjaminZeev]

I’m hoping to get a chance to go back Monday. Thanks for the list of things to try, I’ll have to pick and choose as it takes a while, and I don’t think I can taste 6+ teas in a single sitting.

I had their Master Lou Long Jing in 2011 when I did a huge tasting of many different Long Jing. My friend like that best, I rated it 2nd best out of maybe a dozen. My favorite was by Hojo’s Shi Feng Long Jing. I heard that was a bad year, so who know how valid any conclusion is. Postcard Teas is notably less expensive as well (not that it is cheap).