I got a box from Upton's with some disappointment and some delight both.

First of all, I am constantly looking for the same panyong congou experience
that I had years ago with a cheap one from Kam Man in NYC. Nothing I have
tried since (and certainly none of the other junk I got from Kam Man) has been
right. I tried Upton's ZP20 "Panyang Congou Select" and it wasn't right.
Others might find it fine but I have this idea stuck in my head about what I
want.

In the past I have also liked the low grade Vietnam black tea from Upton's,
and so I decided to upgrade slightly this time and try the TV35 "Shan Tuyet"
which is supposed to be a higher grade tea from the same area. It's just too
thin for me; there's no body to it. It's not bad, it's just farther away from
what I want.

But then....ZK99 "Keemun Mao Feng." Wow. This is really, really good... it's
got some body to it, some light flowery notes, some dark woody notes... this
is really an amazing tea. I wish I had bought more of this.

The folks at Upton's also say they should be getting some darker and more
fermented Darjeeling's some time in September.
--scott

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

Ive never seen PanYang in my stores. Even the Chinese characters �洋
were hard to trace down. Ive seen the other grades Golden Needle,
Golden Monkey, Golden Crab online. Anytime you see the word Golden in
a tea it is going to be good stuff. Tea memories always tells me of
how much we have changed. These days I am drinking blacks again after
ignoring for years.

Jim


On Jul 25, 8:38 am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
> I got a box from Upton's with some disappointment and some delight both.
>
> First of all, I am constantly looking for the same panyong congou experience
> that I had years ago with a cheap one from Kam Man in NYC. Nothing I have
> tried since (and certainly none of the other junk I got from Kam Man) has been
> right. I tried Upton's ZP20 "Panyang Congou Select" and it wasn't right.
> Others might find it fine but I have this idea stuck in my head about what I
> want.
>
> In the past I have also liked the low grade Vietnam black tea from Upton's,
> and so I decided to upgrade slightly this time and try the TV35 "Shan Tuyet"
> which is supposed to be a higher grade tea from the same area. It's just too
> thin for me; there's no body to it. It's not bad, it's just farther away from
> what I want.
>
> But then....ZK99 "Keemun Mao Feng." Wow. This is really, really good... it's
> got some body to it, some light flowery notes, some dark woody notes... this
> is really an amazing tea. I wish I had bought more of this.
>
> The folks at Upton's also say they should be getting some darker and more
> fermented Darjeeling's some time in September.
> --scott
>
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Last winter, a friend sent a gift parcel of Keemun Mao Feng from In
Pursuit of Tea. It was great. ~grasshopper

On Jul 25, 8:38 am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
> I got a box from Upton's with some disappointment and some delight both.
>
> First of all, I am constantly looking for the same panyong congou experience
> that I had years ago with a cheap one from Kam Man in NYC. Nothing I have
> tried since (and certainly none of the other junk I got from Kam Man) hasbeen
> right. I tried Upton's ZP20 "Panyang Congou Select" and it wasn't right.
> Others might find it fine but I have this idea stuck in my head about what I
> want.

UPDATE: This stuff isn't bad, it's just kind of tricky... I find that I can
get a very good cup of tea if I use about four times the volume I would
normally expect and a very short steep time. I can get two steeps out of it
but not three. I am glad I found out how to make a good cup with it.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Space Cowboy > wrote:
>Ive never seen PanYang in my stores. Even the Chinese characters =E5=9D=A6=
>=E6=B4=8B
>were hard to trace down. Ive seen the other grades Golden Needle,
>Golden Monkey, Golden Crab online. Anytime you see the word Golden in
>a tea it is going to be good stuff. Tea memories always tells me of
>how much we have changed. These days I am drinking blacks again after
>ignoring for years.

Part of the problem is that "Panyang Congou" is a trading name and not
necessarily the name of the tea itself. All kinds of fujian blacks get
that same name stuck on them.
--scott

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

I never saw the term PanYang till you mentioned it before a while back
besides this thread. The general term for Fujian teas I see is Congou
aka KungFu 'skillfully made' one leaf one bud. Im reading the Tea
Shop Mystery Murder series by Laura Childs. In her first book Death
By Darjeeling she first mentions Drayton her Master Tea Taster who is
only one of ten in the US "It was in south China that Drayton
developed his taste for tea and his passion for it, spending weeks at
a time on the PanYang Tea Plantation in the high steppes of the
Hangzhou region". Hangzhou is in ZheJiang province which is north of
Fujian. Research shows that PanYang aka TanYang village is located in
Fujian. She doesnt get too many things wrong when she mentions tea
but I do notice it. Her dogs name is Earl Grey who she named after
the bergamot scented tea imported from China. I think that was an
English creation added after the fact. Proving when it comes to tea
fact is stranger than fiction.

Jim

PS Dont get me wrong. I love the Tea Shop Mystery series by Laura
Childs. I visited Charleston SC recently where the series takes
place. Tea snobbery is a natural fit.

On Aug 9, 9:09 am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
> Space Cowboy > wrote:
>
> >Ive never seen PanYang in my stores. Even the Chinese characters =E5=9D=A6=
> >=E6=B4=8B
> >were hard to trace down. Ive seen the other grades Golden Needle,
> >Golden Monkey, Golden Crab online. Anytime you see the word Golden in
> >a tea it is going to be good stuff. Tea memories always tells me of
> >how much we have changed. These days I am drinking blacks again after
> >ignoring for years.
>
> Part of the problem is that "Panyang Congou" is a trading name and not
> necessarily the name of the tea itself. All kinds of fujian blacks get
> that same name stuck on them.
> --scott
>
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Thanks for sharing.

cool thank you share this have a good time