How to choose a tea? Help?!

Hey AllanK! Thanks a lot for your advice- I will check on the teas on your suggested sites. Sometimes problems with the samples is that you still have to decide what samples to get :D I wish I could have them all and have a new tea every day :D Also interesting that you mentioned that Whispering Pines offers better quality tea. How do you differentiate good quality versus bad one? Of course almost all brands claims that they are fair trade, bio etc and in that case- what makes one tea better quality than the other one?

I second this suggestion! There are so many wonderful people on Steepster with lots of experience and expertise who are so generous in sharing samples with others! Doing some swaps early on really helped me to discover new things and define my own tastes and preferences.

Oh thats a fun idea! But interesting would also be to know from where are most of Steepsters located? US? Europe? Would be wonderful to have a tea meetup where everyone brings their favorite tea for others to try. Maybe something like this already exists! Do you ever participate in any tea meet ups?

And how exactly does the sharing samples works? DO we swap addresses and I send something I find nice and someone sends me something his? Or do you have to suggest what exactly you would like to swap?

The majority of Steepsterites I follow are in the USA, although there are quite a few from Canada and at least a few from Europe as well! A face-to-face meet-up would definitely be fun, but probably difficult to coordinate since people live all over the place. I’ve never personally participated in something like that, but I’d be open to it!

Regarding swaps: if you’re located in the USA, I would suggest adding a post to this thread, letting people know you’re interested in swapping: http://steepster.com/discuss/5155-us-tea-swaps-for-us-to-us-only

Once you’ve found someone who wants to swap with you, you would both need to follow each other and then send a private message with your address. Most of the swaps I’ve done have been 6-10 samples (enough to try 1-2 cups of each tea). You can do a mystery package where each of you just picks random teas the other person might like or specifically request things from each another’s cupboards.

I’d be happy to do a swap with you to help get you started, but unfortunately I’ll be out of town the next couple of weeks. Maybe later in the summer we can set something up.

Good luck on your tea adventures! The world of tea is so much FUN to explore!

Dear Inkling! Thanks so much for the long explanation! Sounds super fun! I will make sure I start collecting a bigger stock of tea and then would be super fun to do some swaps. I just ordered loads of samples so Im sure I will have some leftovers after my adventures of tasting teas :) Unfortunately I am located in Germany but I guess it should be possible to find people to swap teas in EU. I guess shipping tea back and forth to US is quite a thing. Have heard few stories that the packs are open at customs considered to be drugs. Have you ever ordered tea from Eu?

I have heard stories of customs thinking teas to be drugs and not only opening packages but destroying tea cakes looking for hidden drugs inside the teacakes. I’m not sure which countries’ customs had done this but I remember someone telling the story, a Yunnan Sourcing shipment if I remember correctly. I think Scott replaced the products.

yeah my friends had it with https://www.teabox.com. Was ment to be a present but customs decided to “taste a bit” and the nice packaging was ruined. This system needs a good update: I think its not such a big deal if you order coffee from US or Europe

I’m in the US and have had a few international swaps. I haven’t noticed anything weird, but it may just be random.

Hi guys, you seem really experienced when it comes to tea drinking :) As Im still in the explorer phase- I made a little (and really pretty) survey with few tea related questions: I would really appreciate if you could spare 5min of your time checking it out! http://bit.ly/2fZoeIa

Hey Apefuzz! Super good comment- thanks! I started to analyze myself while reading your comment and I can honestly say that I am a crazy coffee drinker but for health reasons I have decided to quit this habit and replace it with tea. I prefer the pure teas (the ones that actually comes from the tea tree) instead of crazy infusions. Those I like as cold brews as I have a feeling they taste like lemonade :) Im big fan of white tea and normally its easy to choose between those as they are quite rare (at least in Germany) but the problem are with green or black. My god- there are just way too many options and my senses are not that delicate to judge between all those smells.

Well, I hope you are enjoying your tea journey. My personal favorite green tea is Bi Luo Chun – roasty and nutty and just the right sweetness. For black teas, maybe stick with a more common type, e.g. Jin Jun Mei, Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong (Lapsang Souchong), or a Dian Hong. I think black teas give away quite a bit on their nose, so just sniff around and find one that smells good to you – you will probably be pleased with the taste!

Also, I would suggest checking out a ripe pu’erh. As a coffee fan myself, this is a great alternative – rich, earthy, and sweet. I would especially recommend the Menghai V93 – there are distinct coffee bean aromas and flavors, and it is fairly mild. See here at Yunnan Sourcing: http://yunnansourcing.com/en/menghaiteafactory/3322-2015-menghai-v93-ripe-pu-erh-tea-tuo-cha.html

Happy hunting!

Thanks for the tip!Emilie was suggesting the same! But what when it comes to the moment when I am in store (or online store) and have to make my choice? Do I trust the smell, the look or anything else?

I’m not really sure what happened here, but as far as purchasing tea, I’ve mostly done it online and it can be a bit of a gamble honestly. As far as in store, I’ve usually based on if it smells nice to me, and a bit how it looks. For instance, the more chopped up a black tea is, the more likely it is to be bitter.

I’m not an expert, but as many have said, just go with stuff that seems interesting or catches your attention. If you end up with something you don’t like, that’s what swapping is for!

Nicely described a perfect tea day :) What about white tea? When would you drink that? I think my biggest problem is to choose a black tea. So often they seem too strong or bitter for me and just ruins the moment. But then again sometimes its wonderful :D Its like a mystery – more tea I drink, more I am just getting confused :D

I usually lump oolong and white tea in with the green since I really like black tea. You could do the opposite if you aren’t such a big fan of blacks. I drink about half of my black teas with milk. It definitely reduces the bitterness, but I also don’t mind a little bit of bitterness in my black teas. I haven’t started on Puerh yet. There’s so much variety out there that even if you generally don’t like a category of tea, there will probably be a few types that you do like. That’s why it’s so much fun to try a bit of everything.

Thanks Rui for your suggestion! Which is your favorite tea shop in Frankfurt? I will visit it soon and could check it out. And what are those two main tea chains you mentioned? So far I have tried only the P&T tea. Found it absolutely charming but maybe because their visual identity is so well done :)

The one I liked was in Muenich and bought some very nice pu’er tea is called Teeschale. They are in Westenriederstr. very close to the Muenich market. He was very helpful.

Around Frankfurt, and they are both on the internet, are Die Kunst des Tees and Cha Dao. They are both very friendly and have very good teas. When I go to Frankfurt in July finally I will be meeting Gerhardt from Cha Dao.

The two tea chains I know of in Germany are Schubeck and Ronnefeldt. They have a very wide variety of teas and they always a couple of teas ready to be tasted.

Thanks for the tips! Have noted it down in my “must visit” list :) Whats in general your feeling about the tea market in Germany? Im not originally German so its a bit hard for me to judge but it surely looks like new places and brands keep on popping up so I would assume that the amount of new tea drinkers are raising!

Hey Ashley, Thanks for the tip! Quite a neat test (the one for teabox). Are you also using their subscription model? Would you recommend their tea or you just like the test? Also interesting you mentioned the misconceptions about tea :) What do you think is the most popular misconception?

I haven’t done a subscription because choosing new teas to try is part of the fun for me, but if you find it overwhelming that might be something you would enjoy – all the fun of trying new teas without having to pick them out yourself!

Yes sounds like a charming idea :) My only worry is about the content in these “suprise boxes” that some tea brands offer for subscription – cant help myself to think that they put in tea that they didnt manage to sell, so its a way for them to get rid of leftovers :D Whats your opinion on this?

Ive found the tea clubs (from experience and seeing what others get) from quite a few of the vendors well known on here to be of high quality. Theres even a high-end one that has just started that looks lush but out of my price bracket.

There might be a tea club thread, or just ask – someone will have tried it and can give feedback. Thats what I did and im happy with the one Im using

Hey @nora sorry for the late reply. Yes I am currently on their subscription model and currently subscribed to their “Tea Avid Plan”.

I would definitely recommend their Oolongs and Darjeelings..steer clear of the Earl Greys. Tea is very subjective, what I may like might not necessarily be your choice.

I would definitely suggest reviewing tasting notes and give it a try. That is the only way you are going to experience tea.

About misconceptions, I definitely think that the health benefits that companies use to promote tea is a hogwash and even unethical.

hahaha nice one :D A name that I can totally relate to :) Thanks for sharing- will add to my growing “need to taste” list! Are you shipping to EU?