I like to shop in Asian groceries where I live in New York, though I
don't rely on them for most of the tea I drink. Occasionally
something catches my eye, though, and I take a chance on it.
Yesterday at an Indian grocery I bought Three Rivers Kashmiri Tea at
$2.99 for 150g. I confess I hadn't known Kashmir produced tea. It
was packaged in the kind of clear plastic jar that in the US seems to
be used mainly for instant coffee but sported a pale pink top that
would look out of place on a US supermarket shelf. The clear plastic
showed that the tea was whole-leaf; that, I suppose, nerved me for the
purchase.

It's a medium body tea with a manageable amount of astringency and
bitterness. What's really unusual about it is an intense aroma of
apple, probably with a tinge of fermentation as in hard cider. This
aroma carries over into the cup as by far the most prominent element
of the taste. This tea probably isn't for everyone but I'm delighted
I bought it.

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

"Lewis Perin" > wrote in message
news
> I like to shop in Asian groceries where I live in New York, though I
> don't rely on them for most of the tea I drink. Occasionally
> something catches my eye, though, and I take a chance on it.
> Yesterday at an Indian grocery I bought Three Rivers Kashmiri Tea at
> $2.99 for 150g. I confess I hadn't known Kashmir produced tea. It
> was packaged in the kind of clear plastic jar that in the US seems to
> be used mainly for instant coffee but sported a pale pink top that
> would look out of place on a US supermarket shelf. The clear plastic
> showed that the tea was whole-leaf; that, I suppose, nerved me for the
> purchase.
>
> It's a medium body tea with a manageable amount of astringency and
> bitterness. What's really unusual about it is an intense aroma of
> apple, probably with a tinge of fermentation as in hard cider. This
> aroma carries over into the cup as by far the most prominent element
> of the taste. This tea probably isn't for everyone but I'm delighted
> I bought it.

Wow, do you remember which store, I'd like to pick some up!

-ben

Lewis 11/3/03

> I like to shop in Asian groceries where I live in New York, though I
> don't rely on them for most of the tea I drink. Occasionally
> something catches my eye, though, and I take a chance on it.
> Yesterday at an Indian grocery I bought Three Rivers Kashmiri Tea at
> $2.99 for 150g. I confess I hadn't known Kashmir produced tea. It
> was packaged in the kind of clear plastic jar that in the US seems to
> be used mainly for instant coffee but sported a pale pink top that
> would look out of place on a US supermarket shelf. The clear plastic
> showed that the tea was whole-leaf; that, I suppose, nerved me for the
> purchase.
>
> It's a medium body tea with a manageable amount of astringency and
> bitterness. What's really unusual about it is an intense aroma of
> apple, probably with a tinge of fermentation as in hard cider. This
> aroma carries over into the cup as by far the most prominent element
> of the taste. This tea probably isn't for everyone but I'm delighted
> I bought it.
>
> /Lew


Lew,

It occurs to me that this *might* not be from Kashmir at all. Didn't we once
see discussion in which someone mentioned that some teas from odd places
package at the location but import the tea from more conventional locales? I
wonder.

Michael

"devlyn76" > writes:

> "Lewis Perin" > wrote in message
> news
> > [...Kashmiri tea at an Indian grocery in New York...]
>
> Wow, do you remember which store, I'd like to pick some up!

It's in Flushing on the east side of Main St not far south of Franklin
Ave (where East Lake offers dim sum/gong fu bliss.) I didn't make a
note of the name of the shop but the sticky label on the jar says
SUBZIMANDI.

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

Once upon a time, Lewis Perin > wrote:

>"devlyn76" > writes:
>
>> "Lewis Perin" > wrote in message
>> news
>> > [...Kashmiri tea at an Indian grocery in New York...]
>>
>> Wow, do you remember which store, I'd like to pick some up!
>
>It's in Flushing on the east side of Main St not far south of Franklin
>Ave (where East Lake offers dim sum/gong fu bliss.) I didn't make a
>note of the name of the shop but the sticky label on the jar says
>SUBZIMANDI.

I found this through Google search of white pages:

Subzimandi:
Subzi Mandi Cash & Carry Inc
42 -53 Main
Flushing, NY 11355
718-463-0175

Also learned subzimandi (lower case S) refers to vegetable
market. I love the Internet! My head is full to overflowing
with wonderful, interesting and probably useless trivia because
of it. Also found listings for store named Subzimandi in
Toronto.

Lew, what's the name of the tea? Sounds interesting enough to
try to mail-order some. (I live in PA.)
Martha

"Lewis Perin" > wrote > It's in Flushing on the east side of
Main St not far south of Franklin
> Ave (where East Lake offers dim sum/gong fu bliss.) I didn't make a
> note of the name of the shop but the sticky label on the jar says
> SUBZIMANDI.

I'll be in Manhattan Chinatown Wednesday morning. I'll check a couple of
places and let folks know if I find it there.

Warren

Michael Plant > wrote in message >...
> Lewis 11/3/03
>
> > I like to shop in Asian groceries where I live in New York, though I
> > don't rely on them for most of the tea I drink. Occasionally
> > something catches my eye, though, and I take a chance on it.
> > Yesterday at an Indian grocery I bought Three Rivers Kashmiri Tea at
> > $2.99 for 150g. I confess I hadn't known Kashmir produced tea. It
> > was packaged in the kind of clear plastic jar that in the US seems to
> > be used mainly for instant coffee but sported a pale pink top that
> > would look out of place on a US supermarket shelf. The clear plastic
> > showed that the tea was whole-leaf; that, I suppose, nerved me for the
> > purchase.
> >
> > It's a medium body tea with a manageable amount of astringency and
> > bitterness. What's really unusual about it is an intense aroma of
> > apple, probably with a tinge of fermentation as in hard cider. This
> > aroma carries over into the cup as by far the most prominent element
> > of the taste. This tea probably isn't for everyone but I'm delighted
> > I bought it.
> >
> > /Lew
>
>
> Lew,
>
> It occurs to me that this *might* not be from Kashmir at all. Didn't we once
> see discussion in which someone mentioned that some teas from odd places
> package at the location but import the tea from more conventional locales? I
> wonder.
>
> Michael

I agree with Michael. In south Asia you will find many product name in
one region but come from another. Example-

ROOSOGOLLA (Famous sweet made from milk,sugar,ghee(One kind of
aromatic cooking oil from milk) Some provinces are very famous for
ROSSOGOLLA such as Barisal or Tangail. So we see Barisal's rossogolla
in Dhaka frequently. Dhaka is the capital city and the rossogolla
practically made in Dhaka. they just use the reputated name of Barisal
province.

As far as I know Kasmir region doesn't produce tea(They might but I
don't know so far). Kasmir is always a exotic name for wool, tourism.
"Three Rivers kasmiri Tea" sounds very exotic name too. I think it
might be just another marketing name. But sounds very exotic-$2.99(150
gm) ummm. It is worth it to give a try.

Ripon
(From Bangladesh)

McLemore > writes:

> [...tracking down Subzimandi...]
>
> Lew, what's the name of the tea?

Three Rivers Kashmiri Tea.

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

"Warren C. Liebold" > writes:

> "Lewis Perin" > wrote > It's in Flushing on the east side of
> Main St not far south of Franklin
> > Ave (where East Lake offers dim sum/gong fu bliss.) I didn't make a
> > note of the name of the shop but the sticky label on the jar says
> > SUBZIMANDI.
>
> I'll be in Manhattan Chinatown Wednesday morning. I'll check a couple of
> places and let folks know if I find it there.

If you're looking for South Asian stuff in Manhattan, Chinatown isn't
where you want to be. Try the area around 28th and Lexington that
some call Curry Hill.

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

"Lewis Perin" > wrote in message
news
> "Warren C. Liebold" > writes:
> If you're looking for South Asian stuff in Manhattan, Chinatown isn't
> where you want to be. Try the area around 28th and Lexington that
> some call Curry Hill.

I agree. My first thought was Kalustyan (sp?) and if I'm in that
neighborhood I'll try them, but I am specifically going to a SE Asian (Thia,
Vietnamese, Laotian, Sri Lankan) market in the morning since I have a
meeting near city hall. They may not have it but it's worth a shot.

Warren