A discussion about this statement came up in a post today, and it was proven very clearly by Dominic through a funny but true comment that it is a foolish statement. But then I thought about it a bit more and it made me wonder if there is actually some kind of official organization somewhere that defines standards of quality, how fine, how expensive, how *good*, etc, different teas in the market are. Is there some award that might give a clue of how good a garden's production is at a national or international level? Is it just the *invisible hand* of the market and the demand of the consumers what defines this things? Many many questions, but I find many many answers in this place so I bet you guys can help me out with this one.

-Sencha

--
Send from http://www.nonsolonews.net

As a self-described ignorant tea-lover, I don't know whether there is
an official organization that rates teas the way you describe.
However, I believe that trying to rate the "best" of tea (or just
about anything else, for that matter) is subjective. Best for what?
Flavor? Aroma? Anti-oxidants? The first two are definitely subjective,
and the third is too variable to be of use.

Look at it another way: what is the best wine? The one that wins the
most awards? Again, simply too subjective to mean anything.

Like you, I'm interested in hearing whether there is any formal rating
system/organization.

Alan

On Feb 13, 7:14 pm, > wrote:
> A discussion about this statement came up in a post today, and it was proven very clearly by Dominic through a funny but true comment that it is a foolish statement. But then I thought about it a bit more and it made me wonder if there is actually some kind of official organization somewhere that defines standards of quality, how fine, how expensive, how *good*, etc, different teas in the market are. Is there some award that might give a clue of how good a garden's production is at a national or international level? Is it just the *invisible hand* of the market and the demand of the consumers what defines this things? Many many questions, but I find many many answers in this place so I bet you guys can help me out with this one.
>
> -Sencha
>
> --
> Send fromhttp://www.nonsolonews.net

It's highly subjective when it comes to any "best" statements, but the
best places to start are the tea auctions held each year for any
respective variety. $3,000 a kilo for Darjeeling, $1,500+ for
Tieguanyin, and I have seen Gyokuro's going for those ranges as well (~
$2,000 per kilo). When a particular tea sparks a bidding war that
lasts and lasts, there is normally a reason.

Sometimes the most expensive aren't always the "best" either. That's
why I put little faith in the most expensive = best idea. Just as with
anything There is a clear difference between the lowest/cheap stuff
and the better/expensive tea, but after a certain point it becomes
subjective and other factors end up determining the value.

Just as with wine, there is no "best" but there are many super
expensive ones, many amazing wines, and Arbor Mist.

Taiwan is big on tea competitions, and the winners and runner ups are
normally as close to "the best" as you will find. Just like the many
awards given to wines they are normally a good indicator of quality
but still subjective.

Each individual type of tea branches out in an endless sea of sub-
types and even then each particular region could be a life's work of
devotion. I have no problem admitting I haven't even scratched the
surface of the dust on top of the surface of tea. I love learning and
growing with it every day though, and have come quite far in my own
journey with no end in sight.

- Dominic

Dominic's answer is right to the point. Tea auctions and competitions
(mainly for Taiwanese oolongs and much less for pu-erhs) can give a
good indication what the informed market regards as the best tea (of a
given type) for that year (or season). Unfortunately, this tea is often
not readily available to the average customer.
That temporary aspect is very important. Tea being a natural product
(and tea masters being humans), each batch will turn out differently.
Just as a tea garden in Darjeeling might produce one batch that takes
the crown for the year, it might not perform very well the following
year. It might also produce rather average tea throughout the "common
grades" (i.e. the stuff regular people can buy through vendors).
And after all, if you're drinking the tea, the judgement lies in your
hands. For example, I had a customer ask me for MY personal favorite
tea and I told him (IMO a very good Darjeeling First Flush). He tried
it and it turned out that he prefers his teas fuller and opted for a
different tea. (I like an ethereal character in a Darjeeling, but it's
not everyone's cup of tea, so to speak)
If you're getting into pu-erh, though, it gets really fuzzy. Suddenly,
it's not only the quality of the original cake, but also storage
conditions, etc. that have to be taken into account. The same tea (i.e.
the same recipe and vintage), just stored differently, can be much
better (or worse) than other cakes of that production.

I think it's safe to say that there are good teas and bad teas, but to
pick "the best" out of the good teas is impossible.

Alan

Much has been said about the best tea in the world. In truth, I have a small quantity of it in safe keeping. It *is*, as you'd imagine, very fine tea, beyond imaginings. The best tea in the world is *not* impossible to acquire, but finding it does require a bit of leg work and perhaps a bit of luck. The best tea in the world in my possesson is not for sale. Should you come by the best tea in the world, do not horde it, do not drink it by yourself. Share it liberally. All my friends do that when they acquire the best tea in the world. The question is not whether you can get your hands on the best tea in the world because you certainly can; the question rather is whether you'd recognize it as the best tea in the world when it crosses your path. Enough said? Yup!
Michael

On Feb 15, 6:21*pm, Michael Plant > wrote:
> Much has been said about the best tea in the world. In truth, I have a small quantity of it in safe keeping. It *is*, as you'd imagine, very fine tea, beyond imaginings. The best tea in the world is *not* impossible to acquire, but finding it does require a bit of leg work and perhaps a bit of luck. The best tea in the world in my possesson is not for sale. Should you come by the best tea in the world, do not horde it, do not drink it by yourself. Share it liberally. All my friends do that when they acquire the best tea in the world. The question is not whether you can get your hands on the best tea in the world because you certainly can; the question rather is whether you'd recognize it as the best tea in the world when it crosses your path. Enough said? *Yup!
> Michael

I've had the best tea in the world several times. The first was a
sencha, but alas, it can't be replicated with any other sencha, and
can't be found again. My Assam and my Ceylon are both at the bottom
of their 4 ounce supplies, and neither are nearly as good as they
started out; perfection loses its perfection. And both are no longer
sold, so I can't even see if it's the tea or my taste buds have
changed. Toci

On Feb 18, 12:45 pm, toci > wrote:
> best tea in the world several times. The first was a sencha, but alas,
> it can't be replicated with any other sencha, and can't be found again.

Don't despair, Toci. I've had dozens of disappointing senchas. No
fresh aroma. Pale yellow brews. I don't know why this is, but I've
never managed to find a good Japanese green tea outside of Japan. I
think they just don't keep well. I try to finish mine in under a
month, and if there's anything left after two, I usually dump it.

But here's the good news: Whenever I order sencha from Japan, the
quality ranges from great to fantastic. Dark, glossy, aromatic
leaves, bright-green infusions, and a flavor that more then
compensates for the shipping costs.

My most memorable "best tea in the world" was my first cup of shincha
in a depaato in Tokyo. I had no idea tea could taste like that.


-m

Dominic T. > wrote:
>
>It's highly subjective when it comes to any "best" statements, but the
>best places to start are the tea auctions held each year for any
>respective variety. $3,000 a kilo for Darjeeling, $1,500+ for
>Tieguanyin, and I have seen Gyokuro's going for those ranges as well (~
>$2,000 per kilo). When a particular tea sparks a bidding war that
>lasts and lasts, there is normally a reason.

Right. Now, see, I don't like gyokuro. So, if I ran the tea grading
service, you'd see very low prices on the gyokuro. I really like the
Fujian black teas, most of which are very inexpensive, so you would
see much higher prices on those.

Aren't you glad I don't run the world's tea grading service?

>Just as with wine, there is no "best" but there are many super
>expensive ones, many amazing wines, and Arbor Mist.

But, there are outfits like Wine Spectator that make their money by
grading and evaluating wine. There's nothing like that for tea, which
is a good thing. It's a good thing, because I thing reviewing services
like Wine Spectator are too prone to jumping on the latest popular thing
and ignoring quality products that are currently unfashionable.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

(Scott Dorsey) writes:

> Dominic T. > wrote:
> >[...]
> >Just as with wine, there is no "best" but there are many super
> >expensive ones, many amazing wines, and Arbor Mist.
>
> But, there are outfits like Wine Spectator that make their money by
> grading and evaluating wine. There's nothing like that for tea, which
> is a good thing. It's a good thing, because I thing reviewing services
> like Wine Spectator are too prone to jumping on the latest popular thing
> and ignoring quality products that are currently unfashionable.

I take your point, but I can also see another way of looking at this.
Let's assume that you and I are as discerning, and as immune to herd
thinking, as we think we are. Then isn't it to our advantage if all
the stupid money gets spent in the same place(s)? That way there's so
much delicious tea left over at reasonable prices.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On Feb 21, 3:23 pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
> Right. Now, see, I don't like gyokuro. So, if I ran the tea grading
> service, you'd see very low prices on the gyokuro. I really like the
> Fujian black teas, most of which are very inexpensive, so you would
> see much higher prices on those.
>
> Aren't you glad I don't run the world's tea grading service?
>
> >Just as with wine, there is no "best" but there are many super
> >expensive ones, many amazing wines, and Arbor Mist.
>
> But, there are outfits like Wine Spectator that make their money by
> grading and evaluating wine. There's nothing like that for tea, which
> is a good thing. It's a good thing, because I thing reviewing services
> like Wine Spectator are too prone to jumping on the latest popular thing
> and ignoring quality products that are currently unfashionable.
> --scott
>
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Actually, if you could get into the tea grading service ASAP I'd be
eternally grateful to get some great Gyokuro without spending in
excess of $150 any day! Maybe make sure you don't have a taste for BLC
and ShuiXian too while you're at it

I actually have a cool idea for a tea site that's been kicking around
my hard drive lately but development time has been lacking lately. Way
different than something like Wine Spectator, and much more user
driven which would make it very useful I think.

- Dominic

On Feb 14, 7:14*am, > wrote:
> A discussion about this statement came up in a post today, and it was proven very clearly by Dominic through a funny but true comment that it is a foolish statement. *But then I thought about it a bit more and it made me wonder if there is actually some kind of official organization somewhere that defines standards of quality, how fine, how expensive, how *good*, etc, different teas in the market are. *Is there some award that might give a clue of how good a garden's production is at a national or international level? *Is it just the *invisible hand* of the market and the demand of the consumers what defines this things? Many many questions, but I find many many answers in this place so I bet you guys can help me out with this one. *
>
> -Sencha *
>
> --
> Send fromhttp://www.nonsolonews.net

I think green tea is the best tea in the world, because it didn't
dried too much to lose catechins, deoxidants, egcg and its price is
not expensive as white tea. White tea is suppose to be healthier than
green tea, but the price is richer.
http://tea-and-tea.blogspot.com