Good Tea Sources?

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GlassEye

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Does anyone have any good sources for high-quality tea?
 
Prince of Peace
They sell/distribute other products from Asia. Their tea in "gift boxes" is excellent. I stock up when I get to a Pacific Ocean Marketplace on the front range. Especially the Pearl Jasmine - really, super duper nice. Spendy though - don't just look at the price, also look at the amount per box because it varies with each tea.

http://www.popus.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4_26&language=en



Tao of Tea
Visited Portland OR a few years ago and went to the Chinese Gardens, and had tea in the Lansu Tea House. They sell Tao of Tea, a local Portland company. Very nice teas. Especially look out for the Silver Needles white tea - that stuff gives me a wicked buzz for some reason.

http://www.taooftea.com/
 
Some of the prices, especially in the first few posts, where a bit crazy. Yeah I know you can get more than one brew out of tea, but I'm not paying $60-$100 for a lb of tea.

Good teas are far more expensive than coffee, and IMO tea is under-rated and under-estimated in our culture which has become dominated by good coffee. I love coffee too!

You really only need to buy 4-6 oz of good tea at a time, and you can get 3-5 good cups from teaspoonful. I steep my tea in a 20 mug (about a tablespoon) and usually get 3 mugfuls out of it. Depending on how long I steep each round, the last cup can be quite mild.
 
Anyone have a recommendation for a good tea kettle? I go through several kettles from Oxo, Le Creuset, other randoms, and now on an All-Clad. They are all ok, but all kinda lame in their own ways.

I've been thinking of getting a traditional Japanese iron kettle like this, but don't know anything about them. Plus, the GF wants a whistle...
 
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Anyone have a recommendation for a good tea kettle? I go through several kettles from Oxo, Le Creuset, other randoms, and now on an All-Clad. They are all ok, but all kinda lame in their own ways.

I've been thinking of getting a traditional Japanese iron kettle like this, but don't know anything about them. Plus, the GF wants a whistle...

I have been using zojirushi hot pot. It always keep water at 195 and I can brew as I need to. In my experience, most electrics die within 2-3 years. My stepfather went through at least 4-5 different brands in the last 10 years.
 
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Ive been spending $30-$40lb for teas which I like. I use a 2" mesh ball on a chain to steep my teas in a tall quart mason jar. I will resteep 2-3 times depending on my mood. 2lbs per year on a slow year sounds about right for me... Using an OXO kettle right now but definetly want something cooler...a Russian Samovar or a cool JKettle would be nice eventually.
 
I dunno I've got quite a few from http://www.davidstea.com which are pretty good but I think I'm going to try a few from the ones listed and see how they compare.
 
Good teas are far more expensive than coffee, and IMO tea is under-rated and under-estimated in our culture which has become dominated by good coffee. I love coffee too!

You really only need to buy 4-6 oz of good tea at a time, and you can get 3-5 good cups from teaspoonful. I steep my tea in a 20 mug (about a tablespoon) and usually get 3 mugfuls out of it. Depending on how long I steep each round, the last cup can be quite mild.
Agreed on good tea being underrated. I am currently drinking a tea that will give around 12 infusions, it is the highest quality tea I have seen, not a single imperfect leaf or stem piece in the 8oz. or so I have been through already, all perfect, uniform small green leaves coated in a white fuzz. So, a good tea will last a bit longer than a low quality tea that will only give one or two infusions.

I have been steeping in a Pyrex 2-cup measuring cup, no strainer or anything like that, I have found that the leaves need to freely float for the best infusion. I just carefully pour the liquor off while tea leaves settle in the bottom of the cup.
 
I'm prolly s'posed to keep this on the DL, just for those in "the know," but ya'll, share so much with me...
http://www.smithtea.com/shop/
Portlandia newest darling. A personal pet project brought to you by the guy who founded Stash (sold it) and then went on to make Tazo a household name (and then sold it to $bucks).
Allegedly, he's aleady made his fortune and now has begun this self-named, self-ran, company out of passion.

I generally drink Teavana Jasmine Oolong and occasionally Davidsons Myer Lemon (not a flavor guy, but this is an excellent beverage). Smiths has come highly recommended by a couple of my most trusted friends (one a professional distiller, so you know he has a palate). I have yet to receive my first care package, so I have not experienced it yet.
 
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I'm prolly s'posed to keep this on the DL, just for those in "the know," but ya'll, share so much with me...
http://www.smithtea.com/shop/
Portlandia newest darling. A personal pet project brought to you by the guy who founded Stash (sold it) and then went on to make Tazo a household name (and then sold it to $bucks).
Allegedly, he's aleady made his fortune and now has begun this self-named, self-ran, company out of passion.

I generally drink Teavana Jasmine Oolong and occasionally Davidsons Myer Lemon (not a flavor guy, but this is an excellent beverage). Smiths has come highly recommended by a couple of my most trusted friends (one a professional distiller, so you know he has a palate). I have yet to receive my first care package, so I have not experienced it yet.

I have tried some of the Smith Tea, it wasn't good enough that I wanted to buy any more.
 
Glasseye: so which tea is this that you are enjoying so much?

Wenus2: youre nice.

All I really know is that it is a JingXuan that was given to me by someone who got it from an ambassador that brought it as a gift. It is the tea that opened my eyes to the potential of good tea.
 
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