Green Tea Forum

amanojakumo · White Belt Joined: 05 Oct 2007 Posts: 24

I haven't seen any sites that have near the variety of japanese greens that o-cha has, but I also like to cycle through a variety of other teas (black, white, chinese green) as well. What does everyone consider to be a good all around vendor with fair quality tea for decent prices? I'm in college, so I can't afford expensive stuff. I've been looking at specialteas.com and theteatable.com, though I'm leaning towards specialteas. Has anyone had experience with these vendors or have any suggestions?

Ryan · Sensei Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 475

I'm very careful where I buy green tea from considering its sensitivity to freshness. For example, many vendors will not show you the harvest date, you would have to ask.

I've been looking at Upton's black tea selection, and I'm very impressed with it. But here too, harvest date isn't always shown. You can click on "new arrivals" to see what they just got in..

Teaspring is good for Chinese green tea's. Unfortunately, I've grown somewhat wary of tea harvested in China.

Teafromtaiwan has good Taiwanese oolongs.

There are other fine Japanese tea vendors which I buy Japanese tea from, but in my opinion o-cha is the Rolls Royce of Japanese green tea in terms of quality and price.

Chip · Posted: Oct 08, 2007 11:52 am Post subject:

...perhaps Lexus would be a better analogy since it is a great performing Japanese auto... Wink

I have to echo what Ryan has said...I insist on a vendor displaying harvest info directly on their site.

I recently assumed a site was offering 2007 harvest tea and was stunned that they were still offering 2006 Japanese tea...and they are more expensive than O-Cha.

Their site did not show harvest info. The fact that they offered older harvest tea along with the fact that they did not display this information speaks volumes to me. If a vendor is not displaying harvest info, I would bet it is older tea and not the freshest harvest.

After all, if a vendor has the freshest harvest, I would expect that they would be shouting this info all over their site, not withholding it.

That said, O-Cha gets the vast majority of my Japanese tea business. Teaspring.com gets the vast majority of my Chinese tea business. I used to rely on domestic American vendors, but was routinely disappointed by very inconsistant quality. Harney and Sons, Specialteas, and Upton can have some decent non Japanese teas, but generally do not post harvest info on their sites.

Photiou · Posted: Oct 08, 2007 5:21 pm Post subject:

Some online vendors for Chinese teas I use:
http://www.imperialtea.com/ - teas are good quality but combined with shipping costs (to Finland) it is somewhat expensive
http://www.houdeasianart.com/ - I have ordered some oolongs from them. Low worldwide shipping costs (which is nice).

Usually I buy black teas from local tea shops and I only buy green teas and 'rare' teas online - those that I can not find from local tea stores.

For japanese teas I have tried few Japanese vendors + O-Cha this year. I have noticed that there are quite large price differences on some products (tea ware especially) - so buyer beware.

Chip · Posted: Oct 08, 2007 10:27 pm Post subject:

Ryan · Sensei Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 475

I have found that imperialtea has awesome tea.... Some of the best stuff you can find.... But yes, rather pricey.

amanojakumo · White Belt Joined: 05 Oct 2007 Posts: 24

Thanks for all the info. Paying shipping fees for multiple sites would decrease the amount of tea I could buy, so it looks like I'll probably be going with specialteas just to get started. Nobody has said stay away from them, so hopefully I'll be getting at least Ok quality tea.

I'm really looking forward to the holidays when I can spend my family's money and get some higher quality japanese green tea from o-cha and maybe get some higher quality chinese green tea from teaspring or imperialtea.

I'm getting the impression that freshness is of absolute concern when it comes to green teas. What effect does the loss of freshness have on greens? Is it increased bitterness or just a 'dulling' of the flavor?

Chip · Posted: Oct 09, 2007 9:42 am Post subject:

Dulling the whole flavor profile would be a good way of putting it. This includes the dry leaf aroma, the brew's taste and aroma. It will start to lack excitment. It can ever start to taste and smell bad if it has been exposed to moisture and/or other aromas.

spacesamurai · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 204

Photiou · Posted: Oct 09, 2007 2:27 pm Post subject:

Selaphiel · Posted: Feb 01, 2008 10:46 pm Post subject:

Palais des thes: www.palaisdesthes.com/en

It`s an excellent store. I`ve never dealt with them over the internet though, only in their store here in Oslo. They are very professional and polite with a wide selection of all kinds of tea: from white to black and pu er, from low price to high price and from all tea producing regions.