Tea merchants

I'm really not a fan of green tea (generally, Chinese) but Sencha is one variety that I can be bothered with. From T&C, their bog-standard (as opposed to the higher-brow Gyokuro) is a brew I really like: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sencha-O...panese-Green-Tea-Leaves-25g-500g/141897983825 ... I have tried a few from other vendors (that's with a v) and find this one really suits me.

Tasting notes upon first arrival: " Fit! Phenomenal umami by the third steep, although taste lagging behind. Second steep is best."

Compared to their Gyokuro: "Astringent and very refreshing, but not as "fine" as I thought it might be. Actually, upon reflection too bitter and not all that interesting." ... final though was by the end of a 50g bag.

Mr Tea does a really nice Hojicha (roasted) which seems to be out of stock at the moment, so I can't provide a link: "Lovely! Like toasted white tea. Second brew is better. Can take HOT water and a long(er) steep time. Be generous!" but their regular Sencha was not quite up to T&C "Super! Clean and refreshing, although not as "Wow!" as T&C."

FWIW, I gather the area around Fukushima (where the nuclear accident happened) is a big tea growing region and so for a while, the Chinese found an area with a similar terroir (wine parlance) and began producing Sencha. It was nothing like ... in fact, tasted like steeped privet hedge!
 
Can anyone recommend me some teas? I'm somewhat new to this wonderful world, I only started drinking tea last year at the age of 36, I feel like I have been missing out on a lot.

I have a selection of a few nice afternoon teas, generally my choice is the Ceylon Tea the Turkish supermarkets have for sale, and I have some very nice Darjeeling I bought in India (the next time I go, I will bring back a suitcase of that stuff to give out)

I like the stronger, maltier teas for breakfast, and after trying quite a few things I've largely settled on the loose leaf Breakfast Tea from Asda (the leaves seem to be larger than another supermarket loose leaf Breakfast tea I tried, and it tastes better too).

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good loose leaf breakfast tea? Additional recommendations would be appreciated as well.
 
I like the stronger, maltier teas for breakfast, and after trying quite a few things I've largely settled on the loose leaf Breakfast Tea from Asda (the leaves seem to be larger than another supermarket loose leaf Breakfast tea I tried, and it tastes better too).

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good loose leaf breakfast tea? Additional recommendations would be appreciated as well.

Generally, Breakfast Tea was a good representation of the fomer British Colonies with inclusions from Ceylon, India and Kenya. Ceylon tea brings a light middle flavour, the Assam the deep maltiness and the Kenyan the meaty punch! Today, while Sri Lankan and Indian Assam tea will be in the mix, there are more interesting and better produced teas from Africa, often Rwandan or Malawian included in the blend.

To be frank, the point of a Breakfast Tea is to slap you around the face with a strong, malty brew ...

So, Yorkshire Tea available also as loose leaf (still pretty low-brow) is literally the perfect Breakfast Tea. Flipping that around to a rather highbrow blend that you can make yourself is a simple half and half Assam and Keemun blend. It will be deep, malty, well astringent and slightly smokey. My favourite Assam is Bukhial estate and Keemun Panda No.1 is the Keemun to look out for. Bukhial is quite hard to come by at the moment for some reason.

As an introduction to tea, you could look for someone selling a batch of various teas like a walkaround the world kind of thing ...

There's black, white, green, yellow and Oolong; there's old world, like India, China, Japan, Sri Lanka; New World, Malawi, Rwanda, Vietnam, Laos, even Scotland!; huge producers; tiny processors; esoteric rock teas; the list goes on. Use a seller with a huge variety and follow throught their classifications (black, white, green, India, China, etc) and take a note of the description, whittling down a list of what you fancy.

Since you mention a starting point, I'd say to try out ...

Assam - a really good one SFTGFOP (surely far too good for ordinary people :D ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_leaf_grading)
Yunnan Bamboo Temple < South West China, the original Assamica blend that was "stolen" and planted in India
Keemum Panda No.1 < Anhui province smokey tea
Hojicha < Japanese roasted stems ... like Ryvita!


These are tea that I would say I like most if pressed. Curiously, I also like a number of white teas, which on paper are the polar opposite: posh Snow Buds through to plebial autumn sweepings like Shou Mei (Sue Me); light Oolongs, too, especially Milk Oolong. Then really fine rock tea Oolongs, which can cost more than vintage wine.

There are lots of guides that you can google and will explain things much better than me.
 
Generally, Breakfast Tea was a good representation of the fomer British Colonies with inclusions from Ceylon, India and Kenya. Ceylon tea brings a light middle flavour, the Assam the deep maltiness and the Kenyan the meaty punch! Today, while Sri Lankan and Indian Assam tea will be in the mix, there are more interesting and better produced teas from Africa, often Rwandan or Malawian included in the blend.

To be frank, the point of a Breakfast Tea is to slap you around the face with a strong, malty brew ...

So, Yorkshire Tea available also as loose leaf (still pretty low-brow) is literally the perfect Breakfast Tea. Flipping that around to a rather highbrow blend that you can make yourself is a simple half and half Assam and Keemun blend. It will be deep, malty, well astringent and slightly smokey. My favourite Assam is Bukhial estate and Keemun Panda No.1 is the Keemun to look out for. Bukhial is quite hard to come by at the moment for some reason.

As an introduction to tea, you could look for someone selling a batch of various teas like a walkaround the world kind of thing ...

There's black, white, green, yellow and Oolong; there's old world, like India, China, Japan, Sri Lanka; New World, Malawi, Rwanda, Vietnam, Laos, even Scotland!; huge producers; tiny processors; esoteric rock teas; the list goes on. Use a seller with a huge variety and follow throught their classifications (black, white, green, India, China, etc) and take a note of the description, whittling down a list of what you fancy.

Since you mention a starting point, I'd say to try out ...

Assam - a really good one SFTGFOP (surely far too good for ordinary people :D ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_leaf_grading)
Yunnan Bamboo Temple < South West China, the original Assamica blend that was "stolen" and planted in India
Keemum Panda No.1 < Anhui province smokey tea
Hojicha < Japanese roasted stems ... like Ryvita!


These are tea that I would say I like most if pressed. Curiously, I also like a number of white teas, which on paper are the polar opposite: posh Snow Buds through to plebial autumn sweepings like Shou Mei (Sue Me); light Oolongs, too, especially Milk Oolong. Then really fine rock tea Oolongs, which can cost more than vintage wine.

There are lots of guides that you can google and will explain things much better than me.

Thanks for the reply @pjgh, there's a lot of really interesting info in there. I think I might use your recommendations to work through a box/bag of leaves one at a time! Firstly I will buy some loose Kenyan tea from the local Asian minimarkets on my high street.

I might then pick out a 50g pack for a few different countries and types from there.
 
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