WHY are we spending SO MUCH MONEY on LIGHT TASTING TEA?!

Expensive Green teas tend to be very light and delicate so why are we paying so much money for teas which do not have a load of upfront flavour? The answer is that these teas are rich precisely because they have space and are minimal.

TEAWARE

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[azraphon]

Silence is a fundamental element of music. Orchestral scores often interweave silence to give emphasis to the played notes, or have louder sections like brass play softly to disrupt audience expectations and make some truly beautiful sounds.

[FishareFriendsNotFood]

I just adore how you paint worlds of fragrance with your words. You truly have a talent for description, it's inspiring to me 🙂

[azayn]

I love how evocative Don's tasting notes are. You really feel like you're sitting next to him and tasting what he's sipping.

[Zenstation]

I am fairly new to quality tea and had this exact experience last week - funnily enough with two teas I picked up at the Mei Leaf shop in Camden, so it's funny to me that this video came out now. What I came to understand is that 1) I prefer a slightly higher ratio of tea to water than the instructions on the package, and 2) that the teas are both full of flavour, but I need to drink them with the intent to taste them properly, rather than absentmindedly taking sips while typing away at my keyboard at work. And this video explains why. It's like you have to actively find the flavour, instead of passively waiting for the flavour to come to you, like with most other beverages. And I guess the more high quality tea you drink, the more used you become to tasting it properly as well. I also realised I enjoy it more when I use my nose as well as my taste buds. So much to learn still, but these videos are super helpful, and so are your staff at the shop.

[AmazinFireMan]

I wonder if many visualize and take the time to experience tea the way you do. Tea as art is really “slowing” down. I try, but to bring others into the same “space” is difficult, but also very satisfying.

[codrin]

I really appreciate you for what you are doing in regards to bringing awareness about the complex nuances of tea, and you are doing this very eloquently and to the point.

[TheCynthiaRice]

Been doing business in China and Taiwan for over 30 years. Long ago i settled on Oolong as my favorite tea. You can go from unroasted to heavier roast all in one Tea. And don't overlook Taiwan. They make great tea

[AjniraBloom]

When do you rinse greens? I thought it wasn't done ? I just love your prose, you could have been a raveling troubadour in a past life. You should do a past life regression and check out the lives that brought you to where you are now with your use of language.Just wonderful.

[xavierlarrazabal]

I was thinking this exact question recently

[thcenturyboy]

The most beauty lies in tasting the sublime.

[mossy.forest.fae.]

the timing of this is interesting because just the other day I tried a yellow tea from mei leaf where I had this exact experience. I am relatively new to tea, and this yellow tea had almost nothing in the way of flavor for me. I will definitely give it another try with the goal of being more present for the session, although I think I prefer white tea for the most part.

[NicholasVarallo]

I love you show man, your definitely a special human. I can tell something is wrong and I wish I could be there help. What ever helps you get through the day make sure to always take one step at a time.

[DaiShimaVT]

I've always thought it would be better to give a high end black tea to someone new into tea but most of the tea community mostly talks about green, oolong and puerh. But perhaps it is better that black tea isn't as popular as it keeps even the high ends cheaper for me

[mst]

I hate searching for the flavor. That's why I prefer Japanese greens over most Chinese, but I love a good longling.

[MovingTargetOne]

“Minimalism is not a lack of something. It’s simply the perfect amount of something.” -Nicholas Burroughs

[imb]

I've noticed the camera quality has increased a lot Don, cool

[oscars]

I found this video most relaxing. A few seconds on I must have dropped off 😅

[andreas]

Try Jungle Starlet now Please! Transforms to a berry Bomb ! 😋

[Snakehad]

The same comes to whisky aswell. The older (and "better") they are, the lighter and smoother they get. Young whiskies are always wild and untaimed, while older whiskies even with an abv of 60% and above, they can be smoother as water, even if this is your first sip of an alcoholic beverage for days or weeks. BUT: For the ones, who really look for strong, "thick" whisky, heavy aromas to make it easy, they are wrong looking here. The best whiskies usually tend to have an age of 8-20 years for my opinion and in my experience. What fascinated me aswell for example, was the fact, that no lowland whisky was quite liked by me. They are really light and don't have much taste at all, no matter what you do. At least not the Single Malts of the most known destilleries there. And then comes Douglas Laing (famous whisky blender) and creates the Epicurean. A blend of lowland whiskies. Which is the only one of his regional blends series, which is good in my opinion. Funnily it was the only region, where I tend to not buy any other whisky from. Because that whisky was intense in aroma and really well made, eventhough it had no age statement. Young whiskies tend to have a metallic taste and burning from the alcohol. But Scotch is such a good quality for itself, that many destilleries don't even add an age statement until the youngest part of that whisky is at least 10 or 12 years old. So usually those no age statements are bad (Johnnie Walker for example) shit, that only burn your taste buds away. But in that case (since the price of The Epicurean is really not high at all, even with such a name on it) it is aggressive but well rounded. So it's good quality of really special whiskies, which show power and aroma. Total untypically for that region, which makes it so great again. In case of whiskies, I also prefer to "be able to taste, what I spent my money for". Which means, I want power. Same goes for tea. Usually I don't want to put much work in, I want the tea to put work in me. I don't do that ceremony stuff or the eastern brewing, I often only do some cups or a whole pot to have something for my work on my studies. That's why I prefer mostly black tea (or in asian culture red tea, since black tea over there means PuErh). I usually don't like this "first flush sfgtfop1 flowery mild lush darjeeling", I prefer Breakfast, Ostfriesen, other mixtures, or something special like a second flush darjeeling muskatel for example. If I have that muskatel, which usually is a bit more of quality and pricy, since it's rare, then I tend to buy "better" ones aswell and taste them in just one or two small cups per session and really lay back and enjoy that tea. But that is rare. Usually, my tea is a tool for a purpose and shouldn't get the focus. Therefor in case of whiskies, I am similar. Mostly, I prefer (what the alcoholics of that scene call) "daily drinkers", such as for example Laphroaig 10, Lagavulin 8 and 16, Ballechin 10, The Epicurean, Edradour 10, Mortlach 16, Benriach 10 peated and unpeated, Tormore 14 and 16, Glengoyne 10, and, and, and. But for really special occasions, I sometimes do have something like a Big Peat Platinum Edition 26yo. I really take my time for that one for example, since it is very expensive aswell. But enjoying the simple ones can be fun sometimes aswell, since we are talking about Scotch here (whisky not whiskey, the e is a huge difference in quality). Sorry, I lost my focus multiple times, since I got interrupted by family, but I so don't want to check that again or even delete all now. Get the message, you want from that or skip reading my comment! :D

[Apollo]

Are lay people overpaying? Sure. But you as a pro are unlikely to. And people who watch your videos are at an advantage as well. I thought that really good teas (and coffee as well in my case) do not need explaining the taste, you just feel it's there. Therefore I thought that good tea means hard hitting on the t-buds, until this video came along... Thank you for teaching!