Rarified tastes
I very recently tried tea that I can say without equivocation is the very best tea I have ever had in my entire life, and it got me to thinking. Having a refined palate isn't all it's cracked up to be.
You see, I know that the tea is amazing, wonderful, superlative, and also not the best that's out there. I know because I consider myself quite the connoisseur of teas of mediocre quality. This tea was far better than any of those teas. But, more to the point, it was better, cleaner, more flavourful, than the best tea I had tried up to this point. I know that among those of refined palates this tea is considered to be of reasonable, but not amazing quality, and as such high quality tea is something I don't think I want to develop a taste for, at least in the short term.
The second best tea I have ever had was called Monkey Picked Oolong, which costs about $200 a pound. Now, a pound of tea will likely last you the better part of a couple of months (at least at the rate that I drink tea). I have been unable to find a place on the internet that sells the highest quality tea that I've tried. It actually costs the same or a bit less, though that's the cost in Taiwan. Comparatively inflated pricing due to import would have it costing something like two to four hundred dollars per pound in the US. Which is pretty expensive.
At present I have a taste for teas of medium quality, I enjoy them, and think to myself that I am, comparatively, quite knowledgeable when it comes to the brewing of tea, and the consumption of the same. I am rather snooty about most of the common brands of tea, am unwilling to drink tetley or lipton generic teas, and have a taste for the "gourmet" teas, if I am to purchase any tea at all in a supermarket. Most of my tea is actually purchased in asian grocery stores, it is also fairly generic, but of slightly higher quality than what I can find in superfresh or giant, it is also about $5 per pound which seems quite reasonable to me. However, it pales in comparison to the really high quality teas one can find in Taiwan.
The reason I don't want to get in the habit of drinking a tea like that, is twofold. First, I do not want to have to spend hundreds of dollars on tea every year just to keep myself happy with the warm beverage I drink. Second, I don't want to get myself to a point where I cannot stand to consume tea of mediocre quality. I am not a huge fan of must restaurant teas at this point, unless I am brewing it myself, but I would not want to get to a point where I cannot drink it at all.
It's strange. I had always thought that a refined palate is something to be sought after, and perhaps some day I will have the means, and the interest to develop such a taste. But at the moment I am completely uninterested in drinking high quality almost ever. I'm fundamentally not even quite sure why.
You see, I know that the tea is amazing, wonderful, superlative, and also not the best that's out there. I know because I consider myself quite the connoisseur of teas of mediocre quality. This tea was far better than any of those teas. But, more to the point, it was better, cleaner, more flavourful, than the best tea I had tried up to this point. I know that among those of refined palates this tea is considered to be of reasonable, but not amazing quality, and as such high quality tea is something I don't think I want to develop a taste for, at least in the short term.
The second best tea I have ever had was called Monkey Picked Oolong, which costs about $200 a pound. Now, a pound of tea will likely last you the better part of a couple of months (at least at the rate that I drink tea). I have been unable to find a place on the internet that sells the highest quality tea that I've tried. It actually costs the same or a bit less, though that's the cost in Taiwan. Comparatively inflated pricing due to import would have it costing something like two to four hundred dollars per pound in the US. Which is pretty expensive.
At present I have a taste for teas of medium quality, I enjoy them, and think to myself that I am, comparatively, quite knowledgeable when it comes to the brewing of tea, and the consumption of the same. I am rather snooty about most of the common brands of tea, am unwilling to drink tetley or lipton generic teas, and have a taste for the "gourmet" teas, if I am to purchase any tea at all in a supermarket. Most of my tea is actually purchased in asian grocery stores, it is also fairly generic, but of slightly higher quality than what I can find in superfresh or giant, it is also about $5 per pound which seems quite reasonable to me. However, it pales in comparison to the really high quality teas one can find in Taiwan.
The reason I don't want to get in the habit of drinking a tea like that, is twofold. First, I do not want to have to spend hundreds of dollars on tea every year just to keep myself happy with the warm beverage I drink. Second, I don't want to get myself to a point where I cannot stand to consume tea of mediocre quality. I am not a huge fan of must restaurant teas at this point, unless I am brewing it myself, but I would not want to get to a point where I cannot drink it at all.
It's strange. I had always thought that a refined palate is something to be sought after, and perhaps some day I will have the means, and the interest to develop such a taste. But at the moment I am completely uninterested in drinking high quality almost ever. I'm fundamentally not even quite sure why.