NWR: Online Tea Merchant Recommendations

[Arnt Egil Nordlien]

Books: Try find one of the books from Francois-Xavier Delmas. Most are in french, but there are a couple in english.

Or read his blog: http://www.discoveringtea.com/

Buying tea: http://www.palaisdesthes.com/en/

 

[Jay Miller]

There was an article in The Economist recently claiming that the pu-erh bubble had been pricked and prices were off their rather amazing highs. Though still very expensive.

 

[Tom Glasgow]

I found nothing in the Economist, but there was a Times article: January 2009.

 

[Lyle Fass]

originally posted by Marc Hanes:
Lyle RecommendationLyle recommended this place to me for tea but I have not had the chance yet to explore...

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www.rishi-tea.com

The stuff in the tin cans in sold at whole foods which is bland and commerical...the real stuff such as the

speciality Oolongs and

speciality Greens

are really great.

The Kukicha, Nishi First Flush Sencha & Sencha Superior are fantastic for Greens and for Oolong I like Iron Goddess of Mercy and the Qingxin Winter Orchid Oolong.

 

[Jeff Connell]

originally posted by MarkS:

...Pu-er, since prices are crazy now.

Why is pu-erh expensive? For a tea buried in the earth like kimchee it shouldn't cost as much as ones that are more delicately processed like Tung-Ting Oolong.

Speculation. The price was crazy three years ago - I mean like first growth Bordeaux in Shanghai crazy. Then it crashed to like Bordeaux Supérieur at the Carrefours. Maybe it is getting back up again (haven't been following). But even during the frenzy it was possible to avoid the craziness in certain cities.

 

[Yixin]

And like claret, plenty of fakes.

 

[Yule Kim]

Thank you everyone for all of the recommendations and advice!

Does Upton carry decent pu-erh by any chance? I'm probably going to order a sampler pack of darjeelings and I probably will order a small sample of pu-erh just to try it out.