I stopped by a neighbor who has a saw mill yesterday to inquire about
large (>14" wide") oak or heart-pine boards for a little furniture
project. That has nothing to do with anything, really, but I read
somewhere that lots of specific detail improves the written word.

Naturally, I steered the conversation toward tea. He said that he'd
recently bought a lot of green tea, and showed me a big bin of
foil-wrapped "Kirkland signature" nylon-mesh bags from Costco, made by
Ito En. (Disclaimer: I buy a lot of pickled herring and English
cucumbers at Costco.) He didn't recall the price exactly, but it was in
the nickel-a-bag range. Wonder if it's the same stuff Ito En sells for
$12/dozen on line?

I was slightly interested, as I always carry a few bags of sencha for
road emergencies, and nylon bags are better for room-temp brewing. I
tried one of his Costco bags; it was nowhere near as good as my usual
Yamamotoyama "premium" or "special occasion" backup greens (about 20 and
35 cents each), but better than their ten-cent basic grade. I wouldn't
drink either by choice, but it was interesting to see this mainstreaming.

My sawyer friend was intrigued by how much better green tea can taste
when brewed cool. (Bag says 80C; I suggested even cooler.) He asked how
I measure, being a scientist and all. I told him that I rarely use a
thermometer; water too hot for a fingertip is too hot for green tea. He
found this amusing, and rewarded me with a broken Husqvarna 45.

-DM

heh, i saw those, but as my only experience with a tub of teabags @
costco was not pleasant in 2005 i didnt really want to try again,
thanks for the info

Why not, when you know you're going to want green tea on the run, fill
a couple of T-Sac or other brand of make-your-own-teabag? That way
you're brewing your favorite tea.

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

On Mar 24, 2:53 pm, DogMa > wrote:
> I stopped by a neighbor who has a saw mill yesterday to inquire about
> large (>14" wide") oak or heart-pine boards for a little furniture
> project. That has nothing to do with anything, really, but I read
> somewhere that lots of specific detail improves the written word.
>
> Naturally, I steered the conversation toward tea. He said that he'd
> recently bought a lot of green tea, and showed me a big bin of
> foil-wrapped "Kirkland signature" nylon-mesh bags from Costco, made by
> Ito En. (Disclaimer: I buy a lot of pickled herring and English
> cucumbers at Costco.) He didn't recall the price exactly, but it was in
> the nickel-a-bag range. Wonder if it's the same stuff Ito En sells for
> $12/dozen on line?
>
> I was slightly interested, as I always carry a few bags of sencha for
> road emergencies, and nylon bags are better for room-temp brewing. I
> tried one of his Costco bags; it was nowhere near as good as my usual
> Yamamotoyama "premium" or "special occasion" backup greens (about 20 and
> 35 cents each), but better than their ten-cent basic grade. I wouldn't
> drink either by choice, but it was interesting to see this mainstreaming.
>
> My sawyer friend was intrigued by how much better green tea can taste
> when brewed cool. (Bag says 80C; I suggested even cooler.) He asked how
> I measure, being a scientist and all. I told him that I rarely use a
> thermometer; water too hot for a fingertip is too hot for green tea. He
> found this amusing, and rewarded me with a broken Husqvarna 45.
>
> -DM

Heh, I can't remember a post I've found as amusing for quite some
time... thanks. I say this as I sit in my living room with my laptop,
feet up, munching on Haribo Gold-Bear gummi bears (my personal
favorite). I had initially set out from work to enjoy an awesome bowl
of Pho from Tram's Kitchen, but alas forgot they are closed on Monday
so I ended up with two double cheeseburgers and medium fry from Dairy
Queen which was a very poor substitution for Pho.

I'm really not an Ito-En fan, it is decent enough tea but I just can't
help always going for something equal or better from elsewhere. I have
no idea why I'm so anti-Ito. Now Yamamotoyama is a great emergency tea
to have on hand, still one of the only teabags I'm happy to see when
out and about.

Congrats on the Husky too, they make great chainsaws. I recently
bought my father a 345 and he loves it.

- Dominic

I tried your method, and while I'm not sure it improved my prose it
sure was fun.

in supermarkets have you noticed that they don't put the Yamamotoyama
boxes with the tea? they usually put it in the asian food section next
to soysauce and noodles...

Lewis Perin wrote:
> Why not, when you know you're going to want green tea on the run, fill
> a couple of T-Sac or other brand of make-your-own-teabag? That way
> you're brewing your favorite tea.

I'm right with you on principle, but travel randomly and often on short
notice (ahead of the revenooers). Better grades of YMY are good enough,
and their packaging is excellent. I have bags banging around in my
briefcase half a dozen years old that are still *much* better than
anything generally available at restaurants and hotels.

If I have time to plan, I use a cute little zip-cased
gaiwan/fair-pot/cup set (available at Yunnan Sourcing, though this one a
generous gift from a venerable crow) and pack five or six assorted teas
to share with clients and friends. Makes quite an impression in business
meetings.

Truthfully, I usually drink the bags by cold-brewing overnight in the
hotel room to have a suitably bittersweet libation to greet the dawn.
Loose tea works too, but messier.

-DM

SN wrote:
> in supermarkets have you noticed that they don't put the Yamamotoyama
> boxes with the tea? they usually put it in the asian food section next
> to soysauce and noodles...

Well, the catchphrase on their website (http://www.yamamotoyama.co.jp/)
is "Yamamotoyama's tea and nori", so maybe what you see there is seaweed?

(Just kidding, unless they put nori in teabags nowadays ;-))

Stefan

On Mar 26, 12:07 pm, Stefan Goetzinger > wrote:
> SN wrote:
> > in supermarkets have you noticed that they don't put the Yamamotoyama
> > boxes with the tea? they usually put it in the asian food section next
> > to soysauce and noodles...
>
> Well, the catchphrase on their website (http://www.yamamotoyama.co.jp/)
> is "Yamamotoyama's tea and nori", so maybe what you see there is seaweed?
>
> (Just kidding, unless they put nori in teabags nowadays ;-))
>
> Stefan

Actually I love Yamamotoyama tea because it has that fishy (kelpy
flavor I crave sometimes. I do also like their nori when I can't get
better stuff or don't have the time to go to a real market for the
good stuff. I've never thought to try to brew some nori, but I may
now... not the salty stuff but some of the finer sushi grade nori.
Kinda like a wakame miso soup without the miso.

- Dominic

have not seen YMY nori before ! but now i'll look !
their website also shows they make bottled tea, wonder if those make
their way over here

haven't had seaweed in a while.... mmm, crisp, "lightly" salted...

i'd be surprised if seaweed "tea" hasn't been produced