"S. Chancellor" > wrote in message
news:2006012319284575249-dnewsgr@mephitkicksassorg...
> On 2006-01-22 15:06:55 -0800, "
> > said:
>
>> The quality of Bi Luo Chun (originally grown in Dong Ting,
>> Jiangsu?) is a lot higher than Gunpowder (originally grown in Anhui?)
>> in general.
>
> I think you're correct about this. The tea from gunpowder is brownish
> gray, all three types I've bought and tried. This BI Luo Chun. (Which
> looks mostly like gunpowder to me.) is very tasty in comparison. However
> it was 15 dollars a pound, on many of the websites I have looked at for
> it, it is much over 30 dollars a pound. Do you know anywhere that sells
> the rolled pellets like I have now for a decent price? It seems most
> online shops are more expensive than the local asian market. =/
> (Unfortunately I can't read chinese, so I didn't know I was buying Bi Luo
> Chun, purely accidental... Maybe that's the best way to try new teas, pick
> randomly?
>
> -S.
>

Part of the problem with Pilochun is that it is one of the famous teas of
China, (like Lung Jing etc.) and thus is in high demand, thus the price gets
driven up. There has been some rumor of people passing off a tea that is
not pilochun as pilochun at various times, and there was a discussion on
here ( I think?) about that a while back. $15 a pound is not expensive,
really it's not, not for that tea . Heck, not for any tea... Er...Danny can
you comment on grades of Pilochun and their relative prices that one might
expect? S., do a search in this group for pilochun (or Bi lo Chun) and see
what comes up. It seems there is more discussion of the greens in the spring
since that's when they are coming available fresh.
When you're unsure about whether you want to spend x amount of money on a
tea, try to get a sample first (most tea sites will sell samples) and that
will give you a better idea before you buy a lot. But do realize that every
new tea you get (and even new batches of a type of tea you've had before)
will more than likely be subtly different from each other. Whole leaf tea
isn't as standardized in taste as a black blended tea (like Tetley's for
instance) and can vary quite a bit. It's a great deal of the lure of tea for
me...to try a new type and discover it's taste. Wonderful.

Melinda