El Cheapo tea challenge

[Gerard]

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Edited May 11, 2011 by Gerard

[Ninpo-me-this-ninjutsu-me-that]

I just bumped a thread by Noon which was quite good about the subject. It taught me something when I first read it.

[mjjbecker]

I just bought today a ripened pu-erh bingcha (cake) of $500g for $15. However last Saturday I had the green type or raw also packed as bingcha and the difference was noticeable, but I must say that "raw pu-erhs" produce a stronger and more lingering aftertaste. The price for this last Yunnan pu-erh was $96 for a 200g cake.

 

Now, I would like to hear your opinions about this difficult subject because first of all (and unfortunately) I must say I am a Westerner living in a Western country and not in Kunming; and secondly I am not the Chinese emperor, lol!

 

IMO the cheap tea is relatively good, but how about the health properties? Are they still present in a dirty cheap tea, or I need to break my pocket every so often in order to get them?

 

 

 

Edited: typo.

 

I might be meeting up with a tea master sometime next month. Depends on circumstances. I've met him a few times before and he is the most knowledgeable person I've met on the subject, having spent fourteen years studying with his teacher. If I do see him I'll ask him and let you know.

[joeblast]

I dunno, when I buy cheap tea, I always wind up cursing my decision as I sooner or later figure out that I am drinking swill

 

This last bag of cheap crap that I bought was so terrible...I was at a friend's having tea and I refused to even take the stuff out after further consideration ( I brought a couple teas) - I said "I'd leave this tea behind if it were better" and my girl goes "wait, isnt that backwards?" No, its not. I wouldnt subject my friends to that crap!

[Gerard]

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Edited May 11, 2011 by Gerard

[thelerner]

Mal turned me on to the Amazing Green Tea shop (&newsletter). I used to work close to Chicago's China town and I'd experiment every now and then with expensive teas. I find as a coffee drinker I tend to lack appreciation for finer teas subtleties. Still I find them more filling and recognize them the more expensive ones as being a more potent healthy 'green' beverage.

 

As far as expense goes, since you can use quality teas several times, a little goes a long way. I've learned to use very little and soak them my glass w/ a tea strainer. So even expensive teas are a fraction of the price of a small coffee.

 

Here is a tea newsletter that discusses the issue:

 

AMAZING-GREEN-TEA NEWSLETTER:

Solving Problems Every Tea Drinker Faces

 

3 June 2010 Issue #34:

 

IN THIS ISSUE:

 

>> Tea Prices - Why Are Some Tea More Expensive?

>> Two Pre-Launch Offers

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Why are some teas more expensive than the others?

 

This question came up recently from several readers, so I thought it might be a good idea for me to share and discuss.

 

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An important thing to understand is that tea is unlike beverages such as coffee or wine. The healthiest and cleanest stuff - green tea buds - are only available 3-6 weeks a year. These pristine tea buds contain the least environmental pollutants and the most antioxidants.

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If green tea buds are so healthy, why are we constantly being sold flavored tea bags, sweetened bottled tea, packaged tea supplements and so called "matcha" tea powders?

 

Yes, you guess it right - because most of these products are made from the mature leaves, not tea buds. Large tea leaves cost much less than buds, allowing merchants to make profits more easily.

 

I am not against conventional tea products, there is something for everybody. But if you, like me, are interested in beverages that look good, taste good and more importantly FEEL GOOD, then I would recommend tea buds highly.

 

A standard green tea bud is called "one bud and two leaves", which means it has a pointed, unopened bud with two adjacent slightly unfurled leaves. In hot water, the tea buds turn green, infuse a yellowish-green liquor and release a lovely, albeit subtle, floral aroma.

 

The liquor is highly potent - lasting 3 to 5 infusions, containing an extremely high concentration of antioxidant called EGCG, and a moderate amount of calming relaxant known as theanine.

 

From the beginning of spring, harvesting starts and lasts for only THREE weeks. After that, harvesting continues for another THREE weeks, when the tea buds become more unwieldy "one bud with two and three leaves".

 

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This is the reason why Amazing Green Tea only sells Chinese green tea. China is the only country where low yield tea gardens can be found easily AND still offer great value for money.

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In low yield tea garden, tea bushes are harvested for only 6 weeks. They are rested for the remainder of the year.

 

This is the only way to ensure that the green tea buds are naturally organic and contains high concentration of the rejuvenating antioxidants and soothing theanine.

 

Now, here is the reason why prices can vary so much, even for the same tea.

 

The earlier the harvest, the higher the grade. Even within these six weeks, there is a great variation of quality. Also, a low yield tea garden will cost much more than another tea garden that harvests 3-4 times a year.

 

The law of supply (just a small amount of pristine tea buds) and demand (green tea is the most popular beverage in the world) means even for the same tea, wholesale prices can vary by as much as a factor of 100.

 

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What this means is that a Dragon Well green tea sold in Amazon won't be the same as the Dragon Well tea we sell here.

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The one in Amazon could be coming from a high yield tea farm besides a busy road, diluted with something else. While our Dragon Well is from a secluded mountain top, with the same purity as the tea supplied to the Chinese White House.

 

If the name of the tea convey little information about its quality, how can we - as consumers - choose what to buy?

 

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The good thing is that taste seldom lies, as I will explain next newsletter. This is the reason why between myself and HQ, we methodically taste and compare every single tea that we sell.

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Every tea that we sell - from $5 to $50 - have to meet our stringent criteria of looking good, tasting good and feeling good. It is all about getting the samples and try it out. Tasting, observing and learning.

 

I hope this helps? Any thoughts on this matter? Reply to this email!

 

Until next time.

 

 

 

 

I bought several of there teas, and I've admired them (I'm going through Gong Long Jing, Grade B, right now), but I like my cheap green tea (Hime brand Genmai Cha $4 for 10 ounces) from a local Japanese grocery just as well.

 

 

Michael

[Gerard]

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Edited May 11, 2011 by Gerard

[inflammablefish]

Probably one of the best teas I have ever had was an African Red-Bush called "African Nectar" from the Spice and Tea Exchange shop. The perfume was amazing while brewing and the tea needed no additions like milk or sugar. Plus it was relatively inexpensive at $5.00 per oz not to mention all the purported health benefits of being a red tea - no caffeine, high antioxidants, yadda yadda. Here's the link to the site where I purchased it. They have other good teas as well, but this was the best in my opinion.

 

Edit: I should point out that I am no "expert" in the way of tea and this is actually the most expensive tea I've ever drank so it could be that this is just merely mediocre in the realm of tea but to my lacking experience it was superior.

 

http://www.spiceandtea.com/african-nectar-p-243.html

Edited June 16, 2010 by inflammablefish

[Gerard]

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Edited May 11, 2011 by Gerard

[joeblast]

Mal also turned me on to the amazing green tea shop, I've been very pleased at every single tea I've received from them - I just ordered up more silver needle and some guanyin oolong - I will be grateful to get them as the tea I've found around here is SWILL!!!

[thelerner]

 

Now I am concerned about pollutants and pesticides contained in the tea leaves, but wouldn't they be removed by washing and soaking the leaves and then throwing away the first brew before having the first cup of tea?

 

I found the following info quite valuable:

 

Worried about pesticides in tea?

 

I would like to hear your opinions.

 

That's an interesting thought, giving them a quick rinse before making tea, actually it may well result in a better first cup.

 

Still tea is supposed to calm me. Worry too much about pollutants and pesticides and the cup is ruined before the sip.

 

Life is full of unquantifiables, poisons and politics, sometimes you gotta say what the hell and just drink the tea.

 

Michael

[mjjbecker]

Yes thanks, keep us posted because Chinese tea drinking is an art.

 

 

 

 

 

Same here, I think like anything else in life: you get what you pay for.

 

Btw, not having pu-erh tea anymore at night time. It totally messed up my sleep, lol; it gave me way too much energy.

 

Will do.

 

I have some pu-erh tea but I don't drink it every day.

 

As far as washing goes, I was told that pu-erh should be washed three times (small tea pot, fill and empty three times) by one merchant here in China. I didn't ask why. Oolong's one time. I was also told the tea poured away into the tea tray was an offering to the 'Gods'. I read somewhere that washing the tea removes some of the caffine, but that could be spurious.

 

As far as the importance of cost, cheap oolongs, in my experience, taste much inferior to the better ones. There the right choice is really important. I don't think you have to pay the earth. Tasting some Teah Guan Yin recently, the only noticeable difference betwee the 600RMB per 100g and 1000RMB per 100g tea, for me, was the colour-the more expensive being slightly clearer.

 

Taiwan does some very nice oolong varieties, well worth trying.

[Gerard]

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Edited May 11, 2011 by Gerard

[That Guy]

first of all (and unfortunately) I must say I am a Westerner

Teas aside, I think you need to learn to love yourself a bit more

[Gerard]

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Edited May 11, 2011 by Gerard

[That Guy]

Duh?! Stick to the topic thanks.

Yeah ok I'll leave you to your tea, but maybe there was something more important than the topic worth mentioning.

[Walker]

I ran this question by a friend of mine who is selling a variety of pu'er in Beijing. He says he doesn't have a deep knowledge of tea, and Chinese humility aside, I don't think he's lying, so I'll have to run the question by the genuine tea master I know next I see her. But he did offer a few interesting points.

 

-Poorly fermented pu'er may contain a cancer-causing agent as a result of problems with the fermentation processes. One can tell if it is has been poorly fermented if the tea carries a moldy odor. This type of tea is much more likely to be cheap.

 

-Higher quality teas are often cultivated from very old trees. The variety he sells comes from 800-year-old trees.

 

-Higher quality, higher price, and high altitude seem correlated.

 

-Expensive teas will be grown organically. Educated Chinese are very conscious of the effects of agricultural chemicals on their health--for example, Beijing just announced that cancer is now the top killer of registered residents of the city, and experts peg chemical-laden food as a major cause, perhaps second only to smoking if I recall.

 

-Good teas can be brewed repeatedly and will still yield color and flavor, although we are not talking about letting the tea steep for ten minutes, rather drinking Chinese-style.

 

-Finally, he pointed out that good quality need not be coupled with an astronomical price. His tea is cheaper than the top brand of pu'er in the supermarket near me by 100 yuan/half kilo, but is significantly better.

 

As for myself, I bought some cheap pu'er last fall and it carried a really strong metalic aftertaste. I've never gotten a good answer why this might be (traffic fumes? high iron content in the soil? heavy metals in pesticides?), but if you buy pu'er that tastes very metalic, I think you've probably got a bad batch. I also had the kind that tasted moldy, bought incredibly cheap in a Chinese supermarket in Auckland. It was undrinkable!

 

As to that type of mountain your bagua teacher mentioned, I believe there are many such places in China.

[Gerard]

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Edited May 11, 2011 by Gerard

[Sunya]

I work for an online tea company (Adagio Teas) so I drink tea everyday.. there's a considerable difference between expensive and cheap teas, but there's also overdoing it.. Btw if anyone's interested in a friendly tea community: http://www.teachat.com

 

-Expensive teas will be grown organically.

 

Not necessarily. The company I work for purchases many high quality teas from China, Japan, India, Sri Lanka etc. and most aren't organic. We get samples of organic teas and they dont taste as good. Maybe the technology isn't there yet to grow good organic tea. Anyway, high quality tea farmers use water soluble pesticides that don't actually go into your cup.

Edited June 18, 2010 by mikaelz

[thelerner]

My latest Podcast find is EnerSanctum Podcast. The producer is a unique combination of guided meditation and NLP. There's usually a 15 minute or so explanation then a guided meditation w/ strong use of NLP.

 

The reason I bring it up here is he has an interview w/ a Tea Master. Episode 9, The Health, Science and Culture of Tea.

 

 

Michael

[joeblast]

So would "flushing" the tea plants in the days or weeks before harvest get more of the less desirable stuff out?

[Sunya]

My latest Podcast find is EnerSanctum Podcast. The producer is a unique combination of guided meditation and NLP. There's usually a 15 minute or so explanation then a guided meditation w/ strong use of NLP.

 

The reason I bring it up here is he has an interview w/ a Tea Master. Episode 9, The Health, Science and Culture of Tea.

 

 

Michael

 

You rock! thanks

 

So would "flushing" the tea plants in the days or weeks before harvest get more of the less desirable stuff out?

 

If the tea farmer uses water soluble pesticides then they never get into your cup (they stay on the tea leaves). As long as you don't eat the tea leaves you're fine.

Edited June 19, 2010 by mikaelz

[Gerard]

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Edited May 11, 2011 by Gerard

[Kameel]

Durkhrod,

How long is that 350 gm cake expected to last? How many servings?

[Gerard]

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Edited May 11, 2011 by Gerard