What are everyone’s favorite tea vendors and sources? I’m a fan of Harney & Sons. I first found the tins on my local grocer’s shelves, and bought some on sales and fell in love with some of their varieties. A couple times a year I have to buy a lb of their organic Assam to feed my weekend morning fix.
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This is a good recommendation. I might order a variety of things from that site to sample and then place a larger order when I know what I like. I’ll probably also try some sticky rice pu-erh.
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Very happy to see a shoutout to Adagio here, as I found them…in 2012, according to my history, and they are the only place I have bought tea from since (barring a few very small non-chain shops). I’m curious to know what your next step in your journey was from there, since I’ve mostly been at this step since 
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The next step from Adagio is definitely tealyra.com (formerly tealux.ca).
Their descriptions are still very good, and they provide details about origin and brewing instructions. Their prices are very good too.
Tealyra is less curated than Adagio, and there are a lot more choices. You’re going to find more than one type or grade of a lot of teas.
Adagio has much smaller selections, for example, of Japanese greens, Darjeelings, and puerhs in comparison. If you know what your favorite teas from Adagio are, it might be fun to get a few different ones from Tealyra within those categories and see how much variety they differ from one another, and which you like more. You may find something you like a lot more than Adagio’s base offering (or you may not! Aside from their puerhs and Japanese greens, Adagio has made some pretty good selections!)
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Here is a look at my collection of pressed teas. Usually, teas intended for aging are pressed into shapes. Most commonly, it’s a large, flat disk with a dimple, called “bing” or “beeng”, but a bowl-shape, called a “tuo” or bird’s nest, a rectangular brick, or a cylinder are somewhat common too.
Many of these have been opened and had pieces broken off for brewing (by me) which is why they’re not perfect circles and the wrappers are loose.
Clockwise from top left:
2007 Bo Nan Mountain “Yun Wu Yuan Cha” sheng (“raw”) puerh, 2016 Spring Yi Shan White Tea and Cemellia Flower, 2019 Yunnan Sourcing “Ebulliant” Ripe-Raw Blend (I got this one just because I liked the drawing of a pig)
Left to right:
2014 Jinggu sheng (“raw”) puerh experimentally stored in a Middle West Spirits rye barrel by LiquidProust, 2007 CNNP 8891 Red Label sheng (“raw”) puerh
Top left: 2009 Menghai 7562 Classic Brick shou (“ripe”) puerh
Bottom row left to right: 2014 Anhua “Shi Liang Xuao Zhi Tiao” Hunan hei cha, 2012 Xiaguan Te Ji Tuo sheng (“raw”) puerh, 2011 Xiaguan “Ancient Wild Tree” sheng (“raw”) puerh. (The box lids for the last two are above).
Left to right:
2013 Three Cranes 0307 Liu Bao Hei Cha mini cake, Bu Lang Mountain “Lao Cha Tou” shou (“ripe”) puerh (there are loose chunks of pressed tea in the clay jar (see additional photo).
Left to right:
2002 hai Lang Hao Ai Lao Shan sheng (“raw”) puerh, 2019 Yunnan Sourcing “Golden Pig” sheng (“raw”) puerh (I also got this one for the pig! I guess I just like pigs.), Menghai Ultra-Mini sheng (“raw”) puerh (this little “tong” contains 7 coins of pressed tea)
Lastly, a few smaller ones. I have bags of each of these, but only took out some of each for photos.
Left to right:
Gong Ting Shou (“ripe”) Puerh in Tangerine “Golden Horse 8685” (this one is tea pressed inside the hollowed-out rind of a tangerine), 15 Years Aged Golden Melon Tuo shou (“ripe”) puerh
I love these little individually-wrapped single-serving ones:
Left to right:
2019 Tie Guo Li “Super Mini” Coins shou (“ripe”) puerh, 2011 Mengku Grade 3 Mini Tuo shou (“ripe”) puerh, Nannuo Mountain “Leaf” Assamica White Tea
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The 2011 Mengku Grade 3 Mini Tuo shou was a recommendation you made. Those are individual servings? How much water are they meant to be paired with? I admit I tend to brew directly in-cup with a Finum fine mesh filter basket (usually 16 oz), but if those need to be put in a tea pot to steep I do have one.
They’re absolutely tiny, about the diameter of a quarter. I use 1 per cup, or 2-3 for a pot.
You can steep each one multiple times, so 1 mini-tuo can be several cups if you want.
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You’ve inspired me to dig a bit further back in my tea cupboard rather than reaching straight for the Yorkshire Gold in the morning!
Currently drinking a Taiwanese charcoal roasted oolong.
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Thank you for sharing. I’m learning a lot.
The place I go for tea (big farmer’s market) has small tubs of Anji black tea, and that’s about the fanciest I get. I use a ball on a stick to steep it, and it’s satisfying: smooth with notes of honey.
Otherwise, for loose leaf, I like green tea with jasmine. Trying loose leaf earl grey was a revelation for me, as compared to the teabag variety, it has a lot more flavor. (Hard to describe, but there is more than bergamot, if that makes sense. It was also the first tea I could notice fine differences in time spent steeping.) Earl grey remains a favorite, especially in that form; if I’m using a bag (for a quick morning cup), it’s most likely Yorkshire Gold.
I usually don’t add anything to a cup of tea. Occasionally I’ll add honey, but I try to only do that (a) with teas I know well and (b) when my throat is sore.
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I got some of that “wild crab legs feet” I linked earlier. I haven’t had an opportunity to try It yet though.
Report forthcoming, eventually.
We need licensed tea products. We already have soft drinks and wine and spirits that are tied to personalities or properties, why not tea? Shoryuken sencha! Ryo Sakazaki’s Kyokugenryu genmaicha! Halo Master Chief Scottish Breakfast!
This makes me sad.
Though some pearls of Golden Monkey with AiAi on the wrapper…Hmm…
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Well, of course some of it will just be cheap crap, but you never know. Sometimes properties get associated with something that turns out to be good quality and those two end up just working out together. You know, some company has an exec (or artisan) who just loves some thing and wants to make a wonderful variant of their thing in honor of this other thing they love. I guess that’s more the ideal than Gamer Mtn Dew ft. Halo. But there’s room for all kinds.
I’m rather curious about this
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Those look neat, but the prices are rough!
I ordered some cheap lapsang suchong from Amazon from Teelux. OMG it smells like a bonfire and it tastes like trying to drink one, too. Do not like. Our student employee likes it with creamer, though, and that does make it nominally drinkable. But I have never drunk anything that tasted so much like it wanted to smoke me out of my own body.
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I was reading through this thread and I was about to post about my love of Lapsang Suchong when your post just came up, so I had to reply.
I wonder if the quality you got wasn’t great? I get mine from a local place that boasts it being organic and costs $60/lb (I don’t get it often). While yes, it smells like a bonfire, the taste isn’t like that for me. I drink it straight.
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For what it is worth, I’m not a fan either. And like some smoky things! I quite enjoy whiskies from Isla, typically rather peaty and smoky.
It is not a profile I enjoy in tea, however.
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Souchong is such a divisive tea!
Personally, I love it. But like @rejj, I also love Islay Scotch (I am currently working on a bottle of Laphroaig 10 year Cask Strength which does not mess around).
@marurun, what you describe is pretty much how Souchong should be. The smoke is the show. A good one will have a smooth, melony flavor underneath, but if you don’t like the smoke, Souchong probably isn’t for you.
For anyone interested in Souchong on Amazon, I would recommend this loose-leaf package over the teabags mentioned above. (I would recommend buying it direct from Tealyra though, and avoiding Amazon if possible)