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objectively too many tv/anime/manga screencaps
photography, especially infrared
I order from Upton in MA and they're great but it takes forever to get to CA and routinely shipping a pantry item across the country probably isn't environmentally the best. I believe Republic of Tea is local to me but they have a limited selection and are pricey.
Staple teas for me recently include CO2 decaffeinated Assam or Ceylon, roasted oolong, genmaicha. (And I generally like most oolong teas and lapsang souchong and its derivatives (russian caravan, scottish breakfast).)
I get a number of my tea staples from Seattle-local Friday Afternoon Tea. A lot of her business is in (tasty) tea blends but she also brings in delightful single origin/small farm/"classic" teas. She has high ethical standards for her suppliers so she can have a hard time keeping some teas in stock with pandemic import and shipping weirdness, but well worth a look.
My one caveat is that her Earl Grey tastes different from most Greys I've had, so I would recommend asking for a sample before buying any kind of quantity. (I know a lot of people like it, I personally don't care for it. Just an YMMV based on distance from others in the genre.)
The major gap in Friday's stock is a diversity of oolongs. The Seattle branch of Floating Leaves has quite a few, with even more available to be shipped from Taiwan (though I'm sure you're familiar with buying tea direct from China/Taiwan retailers).
Ooh, interesting! I am definitely not enough of a tea supernerd to import it directly. I'm a little fancy about my tea, but like, basic fancy.
Haha! I mostly am too. I consumer-import tea probably 2x/year as a group buy with one of my partners when there's a good sale, and we get a bunch of samples to try (and a whole cake the next time if it's really really good).
if you are here from the tag of the day I highly recommend 52 Teas, which is also West Coast based -- they mostly do flavored blends, but with higher quality tea bases and less artificial/overpowering flavors than a lot of places: https://www.52teas.com
