Adjectives.
 

Ok, now this is something I'm fairly serious about, so bear with me.

What is the deal with the funky adjectives that tea dealers use to hook
people into buying? Around these parts, South-east China, we never see
"special grade" Longjing, "emperor's" TGY, or whatever else descriptors
that can be thrown onto the beginning of the name of the tea. I've
probably been to around a hundred or so shops around southeast China
and I've seen TGY, no matter what the grade or price, as simply TGY or
Anxi TGY; been to Hangzhou twice now and I've only seen Shifeng or XiHu
Longjing (sometimes Meihua Longjing...supposedly the other place around
there that produces LJ).

Am I missing something or is it just marketing?

Historically tradenames used among traders and not sellers. The
terminology has creeped into retail. I buy Imperial Gold Oolong from
my local tea shoppe but really is a lightly oxidized TGY. I recently
conjectured that Dong Ding and Green Jade Pouchong is the same tea.
The only consistency there is no consistency in names. I don't mind
the names but to paraphrase Sasha, It's the taste stupid. My green
bings arrived from China with the wrappers in shreads. The cakes were
intact but some flaking so I got a nice green potpourri blend courtesy
of the Post. The seller included a commercial sample of sweet tibetan
yak butter instant tea. He said the salty version was only good for 10
thousand foot plus plateaus.

Jim

Mydnight wrote:
> Ok, now this is something I'm fairly serious about, so bear with me.
>
> What is the deal with the funky adjectives that tea dealers use to
hook
> people into buying? Around these parts, South-east China, we never
see
> "special grade" Longjing, "emperor's" TGY, or whatever else
descriptors
> that can be thrown onto the beginning of the name of the tea. I've
> probably been to around a hundred or so shops around southeast China
> and I've seen TGY, no matter what the grade or price, as simply TGY
or
> Anxi TGY; been to Hangzhou twice now and I've only seen Shifeng or
XiHu
> Longjing (sometimes Meihua Longjing...supposedly the other place
around
> there that produces LJ).
>
> Am I missing something or is it just marketing?

Historically tradenames used among traders and not sellers. The
terminology has creeped into retail. I buy Imperial Gold Oolong from
my local tea shoppe but really is a lightly oxidized TGY. I recently
conjectured that Dong Ding and Green Jade Pouchong is the same tea.
The only consistency there is no consistency in names. I don't mind
the names but to paraphrase Sasha, It's the taste stupid. My green
bings arrived from China with the wrappers in shreads. The cakes were
intact but some flaking so I got a nice green potpourri blend courtesy
of the Post. The seller included a commercial sample of sweet tibetan
yak butter instant tea. He said the salty version was only good for 10
thousand foot plus plateaus.

Jim

Mydnight wrote:
> Ok, now this is something I'm fairly serious about, so bear with me.
>
> What is the deal with the funky adjectives that tea dealers use to
hook
> people into buying? Around these parts, South-east China, we never
see
> "special grade" Longjing, "emperor's" TGY, or whatever else
descriptors
> that can be thrown onto the beginning of the name of the tea. I've
> probably been to around a hundred or so shops around southeast China
> and I've seen TGY, no matter what the grade or price, as simply TGY
or
> Anxi TGY; been to Hangzhou twice now and I've only seen Shifeng or
XiHu
> Longjing (sometimes Meihua Longjing...supposedly the other place
around
> there that produces LJ).
>
> Am I missing something or is it just marketing?

Sure, it's in the taste, but it's also in what you're willing to shell
out even if you are being stupidly cheated. They can lie about too
many different variables to try and increase the value of the tea for
me to say it's "only in the taste." I am out to always try to find the
best tea for the best value, and by now, I usually know when I'm being
terribly cheated at shop. If I am going to have to pay out a bunch of
cash for some tea, I want to be damn sure it's worth it. My next major
purchase will probably be some good TGY depending on if what they are
saying about the spring pick turns out to be true. Some of the high
grade autumn tea is quite excellent still, and it can be stored for
longer than spring tea.

hiya, mydnight.

hey, i was wondering if many of the chinese
greens you see commonly from north american
tea vendors are readily available at a typical
chinese tea shop? teas like spring blossom
pekoe, three-cup fragrance, green mist,
melon seed....the list is nearly endless, and
it seems as if every year i see tea names that
are new to me. is the variety just over-
whelming there? .................................p*

It really beats me; truly, and it's why I posted this originally.

Chinese tea marketing goes as far to say what kind of tea is it on the
container and sometimes the price. If it's of special origin, like Xi
Hu Longjing or Huangshan Mao Feng, it will say that in extra big
characters on the container. There are no fancy names or neon lights
in the common teashop, just a business guy trying to make a buck and a
consumer trying not to get cheated. heh.

Green mist might be Yun Wu Lv Cha; it translates to Cloud/Fog (maybe
mist) Green tea. Melon seed might be the type of tea they have in
Fujian where they take out the center of a Yuzi (pomello) and dry the
tea in it, letting it absorb the flavor. I'm no sure about the
others...have any Chinese names?

It really beats me; truly, and it's why I posted this originally.

Chinese tea marketing goes as far to say what kind of tea is it on the
container and sometimes the price. If it's of special origin, like Xi
Hu Longjing or Huangshan Mao Feng, it will say that in extra big
characters on the container. There are no fancy names or neon lights
in the common teashop, just a business guy trying to make a buck and a
consumer trying not to get cheated. heh.

Green mist might be Yun Wu Lv Cha; it translates to Cloud/Fog (maybe
mist) Green tea. Melon seed might be the type of tea they have in
Fujian where they take out the center of a Yuzi (pomello) and dry the
tea in it, letting it absorb the flavor. I'm no sure about the
others...have any Chinese names?

I've been trying to buy Lu'an Gua Pian (melon seed) for years. The
last vendor 'unstocked' as soon as I placed a order. I got a sample
from another vendor so I'm curious what the leaf should look like.
This sample looks like thin twisted green leaf you find anywhere. So
is there anything that belies the adjective?

Jim

PS: If you saw this before, blame it on a Google false start.

pilo_ wrote:
> hiya, mydnight.
>
> hey, i was wondering if many of the chinese
> greens you see commonly from north american
> tea vendors are readily available at a typical
> chinese tea shop? teas like spring blossom
> pekoe, three-cup fragrance, green mist,
> melon seed....the list is nearly endless, and
> it seems as if every year i see tea names that
> are new to me. is the variety just over-
> whelming there? .................................p*

I thought others had purchased Lu-an. From previous venerable post
'slice' is more correct than 'seed'. In my case I would say 'slivers'.
My common variety twisted leaf was an incorrect use of adjectives. It
would be hard to descibed a recent Karatina green tea from Kenya. The
dry and infused leaf looks like sprouts.

Jim

Space Cowboy wrote:
> I've been trying to buy Lu'an Gua Pian (melon seed) for years. The
> last vendor 'unstocked' as soon as I placed a order. I got a sample
> from another vendor so I'm curious what the leaf should look like.
> This sample looks like thin twisted green leaf you find anywhere. So
> is there anything that belies the adjective?
>
> Jim

I thought others had purchased Lu-an. From previous venerable post
'slice' is more correct than 'seed'. In my case I would say 'slivers'.
My common variety twisted leaf was an incorrect use of adjectives. It
would be hard to descibed a recent Karatina green tea from Kenya. The
dry and infused leaf looks like sprouts.

Jim

Space Cowboy wrote:
> I've been trying to buy Lu'an Gua Pian (melon seed) for years. The
> last vendor 'unstocked' as soon as I placed a order. I got a sample
> from another vendor so I'm curious what the leaf should look like.
> This sample looks like thin twisted green leaf you find anywhere. So
> is there anything that belies the adjective?
>
> Jim

I was under the impression that "melon seed" refers to the shape into which
the leaves are formed, sort of melon seed like. No?

Michael


Space 5/3/05


> I thought others had purchased Lu-an. From previous venerable post
> 'slice' is more correct than 'seed'. In my case I would say 'slivers'.
> My common variety twisted leaf was an incorrect use of adjectives. It
> would be hard to descibed a recent Karatina green tea from Kenya. The
> dry and infused leaf looks like sprouts.
>
> Jim
>
> Space Cowboy wrote:
>> I've been trying to buy Lu'an Gua Pian (melon seed) for years. The
>> last vendor 'unstocked' as soon as I placed a order. I got a sample
>> from another vendor so I'm curious what the leaf should look like.
>> This sample looks like thin twisted green leaf you find anywhere. So
>> is there anything that belies the adjective?
>>
>> Jim
>

There was a discussion about the meaning of Pian previously in the
group. The leaf looks like it went through the cutters on the
enlongated axis. The serated edges then curled a tiny bit. How many
Chinese did it take to line up the leaf on the drying racks? The
seller mentioned the Chinese use of ideograms/pictograms to describe
nature is beyond the Western imagination. The Chinese kept such
meticulous records of nature for medicinal purposes how come they
didn't discover Evolution? The bug on top of the leaf for yang was the
same as the bug on the bottom of the leaf for yin except for
adaptation. More pu adjectives on the way: a bag of green Tibetan yak
pies, a bag of blemished red eye Hsiaguan tuo wrappers.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:
> I was under the impression that "melon seed" refers to the shape into
which
> the leaves are formed, sort of melon seed like. No?
>
> Michael
>
>
> Space
5/3/05
>
>
> > I thought others had purchased Lu-an. From previous venerable post
> > 'slice' is more correct than 'seed'. In my case I would say
'slivers'.
> > My common variety twisted leaf was an incorrect use of adjectives.
It
> > would be hard to descibed a recent Karatina green tea from Kenya.
The
> > dry and infused leaf looks like sprouts.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > Space Cowboy wrote:
> >> I've been trying to buy Lu'an Gua Pian (melon seed) for years.
The
> >> last vendor 'unstocked' as soon as I placed a order. I got a
sample
> >> from another vendor so I'm curious what the leaf should look like.
> >> This sample looks like thin twisted green leaf you find anywhere.
So
> >> is there anything that belies the adjective?
> >>
> >> Jim
> >