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@ Sara, There are previous discussions on this topic. You can type in the word gaiwan in the search box to see relevant posts. We are not able to find any good quality on the internet offering at reasonable prices. Sorry. Maybe I should offer this later in my own shop? Will post here when I do.
Interestingly, there is another such discussion in another internet tea group. I think Amadeus is right that adding things to tea muddles the original fine taste. However, if your tea is not so good to start with, there is nothing wrong in putting things to it to make it taste better.
On the effects of milk and sugar on tea, the real concern is not about the lowering of anti-oxidative effect, but rather the adverse health effect of the habit of sugar and milk throughout the day.They are good comparison providing that the quality level are similar. Good luck with your adventure!
With some rare exceptions, most hand thrown gaiwans are made for aesthetic purposes rather than for serious infusion quality. However, good ones do make a difference, especially in longer infusion approaches, such as that for green tea.
Better mould cast ones are so good nowadays that really for 99.9% of users, their full potential has yet to be utilized. In another word, these relatively more affordable factory products serve the purpose well.On the other hand, there are better ones and not so ideal ones even within the so-called category of mould cast gaiwans. Not all manufacturers understand how a gaiwan functions, esp those so-called international brands. As a tea retailer, I think the best strategy is to focus in those that render better tea taste than more famous brands. There are quite a number of smaller factories and studios in southern Fujian and Chaozhou which productions are very commendable and the infusion effects compare well with good hand thrown gaiwans. They come in very competitive pricing. I think you should source from there.Back to the pretty hand thrown ones, they do have their social and economic roles, which, unless you already have a clientele which aesthetic requirements and ego needs match the related price range, there should be no rush to offer such luxurious products.One very important way to manage your tea cost is a long term relationship with your suppliers, but that is with the condition that you finalize on those that you feel confident about their supply in terms of quality, honesty and pricing.
All suppliers would at one point of time or the other offer at a slightly higher price than the others. A price is the result of so many factors that I believe every person in the trade would have a ton of ideas to tell. When you switch because of a minute percentage of cost difference, the loyalty of this supplier may not improve and it is less likely that they offer you better prices at harsher times like this.Relationship and mutual trust building is the foundation to any business. The old fashioned way is the better way to sustain.Not all polyphenols are the same. For example, thearubigins, the kind that is most abundant in black teas, has not been recognised as a health contributing matter by the science community. On the other hand, tea catechins, including such well known members as EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) have been found to be effective protective ingredients.
There are a lot more tea catechins in green and white tea than blacks. There are a lot more EGCG in finer green tea than lower quality ones. See article in: https://www.teaguardian.com/health/tea_catechins_quantity_differences.htmlWhite tea is different from green tea not by how much catechins it contains but rather with an additional component that exists because of the slight fermentation processing — theobromine — which acts in synergy with the other salutary matters to deliver the special health effects of white teas.That is not to say that other teas are not health contributing, however. For example theaflavins in black and oolong teas are also effective against circulatory problems, except that they don’t exist in these tea in as large amount as EGCG in fine green teas. There are, however, other health effects that tea varieties outside of green and white that are being researched. Pu’er and oolong teas are hot topics in the East, where finer quality ones are a lot more accessible and so the effect is more real in larger scale population studies. Individual reports are there, except some conclusive ones such as those for green teas have yet to be made.To choose a tea for a healthy habit, the first priority is that you have to enjoy drinking the tea. I advise you read some more articles in the Tea Guardian about health, such as this one: http://teaguardian.com/health/health_orientation.htmlLet me know your thoughts afterwards.The taste quality of Silver Needles, like that of any other tea, is NOT determined by how early it is harvested, nor how large the leaf shoot is. This may be contrary to the wide spreading perception, but those who have spent enough time in the fields understand that better quality teas most of the times come out a bit later than those planted lower in the altitude, and sometime a bit smaller in size because of generally colder temperature and higher wind. This is not consistent throughout all regions nor within the same area of the region. Micro-climate, different horticulture practice also play key roles.
Therefore, in terms of taste, always judge by tasting rather than just the appearance or the time of harvest. Pricing is extremely irregular nowadays anyway.I just recovered from a flu that wouldn’t leave me for a month, so I can really share this:
I have more faith in tea than Western medicine for things like colds and flus.Contents in tea boost your immune system against invading matters, while most Western medicine for the ailments just suppress the symptoms or reduce inflammations. I won’t go into details, and since you live in the West (I suppose) so you do not have a lot of options, please continue your doctor’s prescription, and also your habit of tea. Just don’t drink tea within 45 minutes of medicine, just in case whatever medicine would interact with contents in tea to form something else.I agree. Usually one cup of tea should not affect a person as such, unless you are already extremely weak in certain way and the tea too strong. Say when you have already have a serious gastric problem or have been starving, and that your health foundation is already very feeble, then a cup of very strong green tea maybe able to fool your body to conserve more blood sugar than you can afford to make you dizzy. Otherwise, normal strength green tea at this amount is fine with even the sick, normally. Most of the time it just does a ill person good, provided that you don’t wait until the tea turns cold.
Women during menstruation, postpartum, or certain kinds of flu should never drink any cold beverages, including tea that has turned cold. Some stronger people are lucky, some others just weakening their health, and some would experience problems quite immediately.If you are really quite feeble, and worry that it was the green tea that made you dizzy that time, switch to a deep baked oolong, or a fresh whole leaf black tea, or a shu cha puer, or a matured white peony.Do read the link above.
