Tea connoisseur? I'm far from one, but I do on occasion like to sip a variety of greens, oolongs, and blacks. My acquaintance with the niceties of nicer teas began in grad school, when comrade student physicist Carl Caves introduced me to the incomparable Earl Grey ("Everybody likes Earl Grey!") and the smoky Lapsang Souchong ("It tastes like charred jock-strap!"). The more meditative, or maybe obsessive, ceremonial aspects of tea-making and -consuming have always fascinated me in theory; in practice I haven't devoted much time to them.
Nowadays fancy teas are ubiquitous, even in bagged form, but a few decades ago one had to search ethnic markets for imported varieties, which came as loose leaves in little canisters. Chai, an Indian spiced tea, is a newly acquired taste. And as for herbal "teas"? Mostly uninteresting ...
Chinese green jasmine tea is good with lighter food.
A number of Japanese green teas also deserve testing.
The commercialized aroma-blend market does however go to extremes. – BL
TopicPersonalHistory - TopicHumor - 2005-12-10
(correlates: WithoutLimits, IdeaThievery, RichFlammang, ...)