Thank you everyone! My shopping list just got huge :D
If I had a twin who had never tasted good tea before, my list for him would probably include these staples:
Black Tea:
Meleng Estate Assam
Golden Yunnan
Keemun Hao Ya A
Vithanakande Estate Ceylon
Green:
Sencha, one from Shizuoka region, one from Kagoshima
Matcha
Gyokuro
China Green
Long Jing (Dragon Well)
An Jai Bai Pan
China “White”
Yin Zhen (Silver Needles)
Oolong
Ti Kwan Yin (Tie Guan Yin, etc: translates as Iron Goddess of Mercy)
Of course, the issue with finding truly representative batches of this tea is what vendor you are using. I would start with
http://www.teaspring.com/
http://www.sevencups.com/
http://www.theteastop.com/
for Japanese
https://www.itoen.com/loose-leaf-tea.html
http://shop.ippodo-tea.co.jp/kyoto/shopf/index.html
http://www.o-cha.com/
and for more vendors, or to ask some seasoned tea experts questions on vendors, try
http://www.teachat.com/viewforum.php?f=60
Must drink tea- that’s a pretty long list but to limit it to no more than 3 per type
Black teas-
Lapsang Souchong
Keemun Gongfu
Assam tea
Green teas-
Longjing
Taiping Houkui
LiuAn Gua Pian
Oolong-
Tie Guan Yin
Wuyi RouGui
Da Hong Pao
Others
Pu-erh
Silver White Needles
But to distill to only three
i) Tie Guan Yin
ii) Longjing
iii) Pu-erh
These 3 are on most Top Ten Famous China Teas list so it should be readily available
Must drink teas?
something refreshing: Gunpowder with a generous ratio of mint and tea
something obscure: Turkish tea, Georgian tea, and Pu-Erh, Thai Oolongs
something royale(depends on the personal definition of royale): I say Gyokuro and Golden Monkey paw. To me Darjeeling is kinda overrated but otherwise a damn good tea.
Something light: silver needle white, sencha,
something compromising: This is where Darjeeling best shines in I believe. Light but still energetic and the humble Yerba Mate. Its a cross between coffee and tea! Yum!!
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