Whilst looking for a site that could send a good selection of teas over to the US (just in time for the 4th July), I happened across this site
Having created my order for the US, I started to read up on the wealth of information that Robert has on his site. Just because I am English, doesn’t mean I know anything about tea. Tea to me came in small boxes with Typhoo or PG Tips wrote on it. I could not stand Earl Grey Tea (its the Bergamot Oil that I probably dislike rather than the Tea itself).
Whilst working at Motorola in Swindon, I was working with a guy called Andy Chan who was born in Hong Kong, but came to England after his college days. It was him that first introduced me to various types of Chinese tea (most if not all didn’t actually come from China). It was while working with him I became a great believer in various Green Teas.
To be honest, after leaving Swindon and moving the US, getting hold of Green Tea wasn’t that easy. There were probably some good ethnic shops around the DFW Metroplex somewhere, but I never found them. Either that or I was drinking far too much Bud/JD to think about Green Tea.
As well as my order for the US, I also ordered for a couple of teas for myself. Having placed the order at the weekend, I received an email from Robert on Monday saying he had received the order and would action it right away. The last thing I expected when coming back from dropping the kids off at school/physiotherapy the following day (Tuesday), was to see a package at my front door. Talk about a fast turnaround.
It also meant that having just had physiotherapy for the previous hour, I could sit down and enjoy a decent cup of tea.
I won’t say what I ordered for the US, because they don’t know what is coming yet, and I’m not sure they even know that anything is coming. (And they are far too busy to read this blog right now and if Roberts delivery speeds are anything to go by, it will arrive before they get round to visiting this site again).
For myself, I ordered the Green Kandyan Blooms and the Silver Tip White Tea.
So far I’ve only opened the Green Kandyan and it is superb. Because of Andy, I don’t bother with the tea pot. I place a small teaspoons worth of the tea into a cup, bring the water to just before boiling point and then pour from a height onto the tea. Leave to infuse for about 2-3 minutes depending on taste. No milk, no sugar, the tea is all you need.
Robert has some great tips on his site, (no pun intended).
I’d give the site a read even if you couldn’t tell tea from coffee. It is quite a good site on its own, never mind the tea itself.
