I live
in New Jersey and on a recent trip to Seattle I had an opportunity to
try Vietnamese tea. The tea was quite pleasant. I've tried to identify
the tea through the Internet. The most likely tea is something called
Ha giang green tea or possibly Shan tea. Do you know where I might be
able to purchase Vietnamese tea?
Thanks
in advance for your help.
You're
very lucky to have had Viet tea in America. Most
of the Vietnamese tea I've drank here have been hand-carried over from
Vietnam. Vietnam has been trying to upgrade the quality of its tea by
importing strains from other Asian countries. For example, my father
recently gave me a bit of prized dragon well tea made in Vietnam; his
remark was, "This Vietnamese tea mimics the Chinese version well,
doesn't it?" The point here is that Vietnam is doing its best to
compete in the world's tea market.
However,
the country has had a tough go at exporting their tea worldwide. According
to a June
2003 article in the fairly reputable English-language paper Viet
Nam News (published in Hanoi), most of Vietnam's tea goes to -- Iraq!
Perhaps with the American occupation there, we'll get our hands on it
in addition to the oil. Russia also buys a lot of Vietnam's tea.
Connecting
with Iraqis and Russians for the sake of some Viet tea is a rather tall
task. Here are some more viable strategies:
Ask
a New Jersey Vietnamese restaurant. My sense is that they may have
the lead you're looking for. The community knows where to get things
and you just have to ask. People tend to extremely helpful when they
know you're interested in their culture and traditions. Egullet.com
had a posting
listing Viet restaurants in NJ.
Go to
a Viet or Chinese dry goods store. Chinese and Vietnamese communities
in the U.S. normally have dry goods stores that sell tea, beef jerky,
dry mushrooms and fish, and traditional medicines. This may sound weird
but that's the normal offering. You may explore these types of shops
in the Asian enclaves near you.
Sorry I
don't have a specific place for you to ask. Try the above strategies.
If I learn of anything, I'll let you know!
Good luck,
Andrea
P.S. If
you're interested, the Vietnamese embassy in Sweden has an informative
piece on Vietnam's
tea history and traditions.
