alex

I'm new to loose tea. There are so many choices, it's just crazy.

Obviously I can't try every flavour till I find one I like, so how do I
narrow down the search for my favorite loose leaf tea. Reality is my tastes
are pretty simple, up until now I've just drank Tetley or some similar boxed
tea.

One thing for sure is I don't enjoy Earl Grey tea.

max.grady

Many tea stores and websites offer a "Sampler"
manytimes a Black Sampler.. Green Sampler.. Herbal Sampler... and so
on. You may look inot some of those

I would reccommend Irish Breakfast for a black tea that is strong. Its
different enough for Earl Grey that you may enjoy it. I also enjoy
Darjeeling and Ceylon Teas for black teas.

For Green teas I enjoy a Japaneese Wild or Sour cherry tea
I really enjoy Hibiscus tea (this is an herbal infusion, not really a
Tea) It is wonderful to mix with other teas like black teas

Really All I can say is just go buy some more tea, experiemnt, buy
small ammounts (2oz or so) of alot of teas and see what you like and
don't like, mix them and match them, try new things. Tea is not that
expensive untill you become more of a connoisseur and go looking for a
specific first flush darjeeling from your favorite estate which may
happen to be 30-40 dollars for 4 oz rather than maybe 5-10 you spend
for various teas you are sampling.

I used to like to shop at Teavana

now I am expanding my horizon as thier variety isn't suiting me any
more, I ahve become what I listed above, as more of a connoisseur of
teas

max.grady

Another thing that vasty broadened my mind and had fed my being a
connoiseur of tea is a book given to me as a gift called (perfectly
fititng) :

The Tea Companion a Connoiseurs Guide by JANE PETTIGREW

It is a good history of tea, and guide to different types and styles
including geographic locations and spefic estate information and
recommendations

michael plant

Alex,

Let me compliment you on your good taste in rejecting
Earl Grey tea. In my book, you're half way there. Now,
since you drink Tetley (shudder), try an Assam and/or
a Ceylon tea. These go into the making of Tetley, but
you will find them of far better quality. African teas also
go into the making of Tetley.

Here's a recommendation. Go to the Nothing But Tea site
which is based in England, but will ship anywhere.:

<http://www.nbtea.co.uk/acatalog/Teas.html>

Look at the teas from Sri Lanka (Ceylon), India, China, and
so on. Pick out a bunch of samples, and perhaps a couple
larger amounts. Give them a shot. I recommend this site for
several reasons: They are at the forefront of tea manufacture
throughout the tea world, they sell teas from Africa and
from countries not well represented elsewhere, they sell
small samples at very reasonable prices, and their service
is excellent. You can follow the brewing directions they
provide with confidence.

Let us know what you decide.

Incidentally, each tea has a different flavor, but don't confuse
this with flavor additives, which are also very common. A
Chinese black tea and an Indian black tea will taste very different
intrinsically; and to these might also be added different flower and
fruit bits and oils, but please avoid the additives until you have
accustomed yourself to the taste of the teas themselves.

Hope this provides a bit of guidance. Sorry for length and verbosity.

Michael

dominic t.

It can be daunting for sure, the biggest thing to remember is not to
rush it. Many of us have been drinking and enjoying tea seriously for
decades. There is no fast track, and in fact trying to speed it up
artificially will probably result in you overlooking or missing some
key teas.

The first thing is to start cheap and buy a lot of different tea. Go to
a Chinese/Asian Market and buy as many $1/box teas as possible. Realize
that these are low-end tea and are not really indicators of the real
deal but they do give you the basic flavors of each category: White,
green, oolong, black, herbal, puerh, jasmine, etc. After this you will
see that you naturally gravitate towards certain ones. Pay attention to
those teas and finish the boxes of them. Now, go online or your next
trip to a market and buy a better grade of those few teas. Drink those
and note the differences, and what makes them "better." Now you should
have a pretty good idea of the class of tea you like initially. Start
exploring, asking questions, and learning.

But... keep those other boxes of cheap tea and revisit them in a few
months. You may find that some you didn't care for initially are now
enjoyable. Then start branching out and exploring them too. This gives
you a solid base to build on. Slowly move up to the higher grades of
tea too, going from a cheap teabag to the best you can buy will not
accomplish or prove anything, to appreciate the better stuff you have
to know and taste what makes it better otherwise its a waste. Also,
don't be surprised if you return to those cheap teabag brands after
having better stuff, sometimes they are nice and good for what they
are. You skills at brewing will get better, your palate will get
better, your knowledge will grow, and you'll enjoy it a ton more.

Best of luck!
Dominic

karl sprenger

Adagio has great sample sets, they got me hooked, then I realized that
Pu erh is the best and pretty much stick to that.

alex

How do you know what is a better grade tea? Is price the only factor or is
there a grading system used with loose tea that distinguishes one grade from
another?