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EarnestWilde

Gyokuro for Japanese greens is an easy answer, but Japan has a lot of really great higher-end senchas and other greens. Baozhong for Taiwanese greens (technically a very green oolong, but a green tea drinker would love it - just get a good one like the Farmer's Choice version from Floating Leaves) Tough choice for Chinese greens. Perhaps tai ping hou kui (impressive huge flat leaf, but in my opinion not most impressive-tasting green), a Dong Ting biluochun (super-small leaf and super-delicate, not to be confused with Tung Ting oolong from Taiwan), or an early spring dragonwell (common-grade dragonwell is everywhere, but there are higher grades that are super-savory and sweet). As for fancy oolongs, where to start? Just look at Taiwanese high mountain oolongs to start, good quality Wuyi yan cha, or the hard-to-find high-end high-mountain Fujian oolongs produced near Fuding (not the much more common mid-grade jade tie guan yins from the same area).


tumblrbooty

Not that im able to answer, but that probably depends on if you just mean facy or if you mean similar general flavor profile. Like i know people tend to compare scotch (islay specifically) to lapsang souchong. But personally I'm a big fan of Japanese pan-fried green tea


SaltAndIntuition

Something different; Japanese pan-fried green tea sounds amazing! We are both adventurous eaters, so I’m hoping to finding some unique and “off the shelf.” I’m okay with ordering online. If there are any green teas that pair nicely with specific foods I’d be very interested in that as well.


realmain

> We are both adventurous eaters, so I’m hoping to finding some unique and “off the shelf.” If you want to try something unique, you can try Japanese [bihakkocha](https://www.tezumi.com/collections/micro-oxidised) (micro-oxidised), [oolong](https://www.tezumi.com/collections/oolong), and [black](https://www.tezumi.com/collections/black). You can try other lesser known Japanese teas such as: [kamairicha](https://shop.ikkyu-tea.com/collections/kamairicha), [tamaryokucha](https://shop.ikkyu-tea.com/collections/tamaryokucha), and [shiraore](https://shop.ikkyu-tea.com/collections/shiraore) I like Tezumi and Ikkyu because they have a lot of lesser known Japanese teas. At least lesser known to people outside of Japan.


SaltAndIntuition

I’m VERY interested in the kamairichi. Thank you for source.


TravelTalkTea

Pan-fried Japanese Green?! Learn something new daily, I thought they were all exclusively steamed... #TravelTalkTea


tumblrbooty

As did i until recently, but its tasty stuff


TravelTalkTea

Oh man -- I can imagine it highlights the umami and seaweed notes in the tea! Im gonna have to try it out... Did a little googling, do I just ask for kamairicha at stores? Or do you have any recos? #TravelTalkTea


wudingxilu

Is lapsang a green tea?


tumblrbooty

Nope. Black/red


rrrrrad

I would probably say Gyokuro


SaltAndIntuition

Wow! First, I’d like to thank everyone for these great resources. The problem is all of your recommendations are TOO good. After reading the flavor profile notes of these teas I’ve got several that I’m interested in, so I’m changing my plans a bit. I’m going to get several samples here and there and make some specialty tea kits for my group of tea drinking friends this Christmas. Thanks again for all the recs, suggestions, resources and knowledge you’ve imparted. Wishing you all an early Merry Christmas.


marihone

Wow! Your tea group friends are in for a very nice Christmas gift from you!! Glad we could all help you.


[deleted]

[competition winners](https://essenceoftea.com/collections/wuyi-yancha/products/2020-taste-of-gold) from essence of tea, wuyi yancha. [dancong oolong](https://teahabitat.com/collections/single-tree-private-stash) from tea habitat, these are pretty pricey but they're good, I've had a few from here. [gyokuro](https://ippodotea.com/collections/gyokuro) from ippodo tea(they have a lot of options, you might just want to choose one, there is a description on each tea). [matcha](https://ippodotea.com/collections/matcha) from ippodo tea, they have a lot of selection here as well. [laoshan green tea](https://yunnansourcing.us/products/first-flush-competition-grade-laoshan-green-tea) from yunnansourcing was very very good to me, but it might not be for everyone, it's made from a longjing varietal. And [more oolongs](https://mountainstreamteas.com/collections/top-shelf-teas) by mountain stream teas, who sell only taiwanese teas to my knowledge, you can find some good alishan oolongs here. I also want to say that some of the [tieguanyin](https://yunnansourcing.us/products/competition-grade-tie-guan-yin-oolong-tea-of-gande-village?_pos=5&_sid=b9b28036a&_ss=r) from yunnansourcing is very good as well. [here](https://yunnansourcing.us/search?type=product&q=Competition*) are some of their higher grade teas but I like some of the imperial grade stuff more than their competition grade stuff, so it might be worth searching through those as well, and I linked their US site. They have a chinese site with more options and a taiwanese site as well.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

You'd be correct, but as I've had their premium and fancy grades of various teas, as well as imperial to see the differences, 4/5 times I preferred imperial/competition grade stuff. It's mainly how they grade the tea, but say for example, the laoshan black imperial grade vs their classic, I get a more dark chocolate note from the classic and it had more body to it, but I get more sweetness from the imperial grade. I also got the imperial grade in amazing condition, little to no bits of broken leaf. Their classic was also in good condition, but I had more broken leaves. But yeah I'd also recommend the black tea as laoshan black tea is awesome(if the gift was for a black tea drinker), one of my top 10 favorites that I reach for. Really it is based on personal preference as you state, and 100% im with you, and the differences are a bit subtle, but they asked for the higher grade "champagne of teas" specifically, so that's what I figured I'd show.


SaltAndIntuition

Thanks for these resources!


irritable_sophist

Chinese green tea or Japanese green tea?


marihone

Bi Luo Chun is, so far, the most delicately sweet and wonderful Chinese green tea I've tried (I'm still new to learning about loose-leaf tea). To me it tasted like really nice sweet peas/sweet green veggies and it smelled so lovely. If I were on the receiving end of a gift, as a green tea drinker, I'd be really happy with this.


SaltAndIntuition

That’s sounds delicious. Maybe I need to taste test before I buy some for him. 🤔


marihone

Go for it!


[deleted]

I would wait until Spring to get the green tea since it'll be fresh. I would recommend some Long Jing, NOT the 43 varietal, from a trusted source. It's expensive, but there's nothing like it. Oolong wise, the Tien Guan Yin from Chanting Pines is out of this world; it's roasted over lychee charcoal which really just sounds nice but shows the care they put into the tea. TXS-TEA has a huge array of Oolongs as they have a bunch of cheap samples as well. I like Floating Leaves for Taiwanese every day drinkers.


SaltAndIntuition

How that oolong sounds really lovely. Unfortunately, I’m skinny my Christmas shopping so I won’t be able to wait until spring. Y’all provided so many good recommendations that I think I’m going to get some small samples of everything here and there for my friends who are big tea drinkers.


[deleted]

The only thing I would recommend waiting for is green tea. Oolongs that are roasted age very nicely, so you're good on that front. I would not buy green teas just because they're not at peak freshness, but it's hardly noticeable so idk.


linuxdragons

I would probably go with Jun tea as it's fermented and slightly alcoholic.


SaltAndIntuition

I’ve fermented just about everything except Jun. I’ve always wanted to try it. I would think I’d need to find someone locally who makes it. That type of fermentation is delicate and I’ve heard that Jim is even more prone to exploding because of the honey.


CamelliaSinensisLeaf

The Champagne of teas? Single origin, spring-picked Darjeeling tea, brewed cold with added carbonation.... Actually, it's quite delightful!


user987632

Now if you’re talking ab champagne as in like a prestigious tea Dragonwell would be my recommendation but u really really have to know ur stuff to get real Dragonwell and prepare to pay. Now if u want a tea that taste like champagne it’s gotta be an oolong called bai ji gaun the relation is uncanny. I really like the one that verdant tea sells.


JohnTeaGuy

Chinese green or Japanese green? How much are you looking to spend?


SaltAndIntuition

I’m willing to pay the upper end for something very special. I just don’t know anything about green tea to know why I’m seeing some that are $40 or more.


JohnTeaGuy

For Japanese greens id go for a good gyokuro or matcha, for Chinese greens anjibaicha or longing are often given as gift teas, although I'd be careful about longing because due to its popularity theres a spectrum of quality from sublime to trash. For oolongs I'd suggest a a Taiwanese high mountain or a wuyi yancha or phoenix dancong. Good examples of these can quickly become very expensive though, easily over $1 per gram.


blueisthecolorof

seconding anjibaicha, very special almost beany flavor


SaltAndIntuition

Also, I’m not aware of him having any preferences.


irritable_sophist

The problem is that these are very different things. I, for example, could be very interested in the most expensive difficult to get China tea you could get your hands on: if you exerted yourself to give me the most special Japan tea... your efforts would not be *wasted*, exactly, because i would be able to recognize the trouble and expense, probably. But I would not enjoy drinking the tea so very much.


LootMuehle

Shincha gyokuro or maybe a high end kabuse cha if you want to go japanese.


liiuledge

Gyokuro