Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

Fully oxidized tea leaves for a robust cup.


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Jan 25th, '10, 19:37
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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by TokyoB » Jan 25th, '10, 19:37

cindyt wrote:Since #18 from Wang De Chuan is mentioned, I would like to share some of my personal experience. I recently tried their #18 in Taiwan from a sample tasting at one of their shops. Also from my trip to Taiwan, I brought back some #18 tea from Assam tea farm which is near Sun-Moon Lake (wwwdotassamfarmdotcom.tw/). Personally I think Assam team farm's #18 is a lot better, a lot more smooth and tastes more "organic". I didn't try these 2 teas under the same brewing setting, so this might not be a fair comparison..
cindyt - Do you know where tea from the Assam tea farm can be purchased other than going to the farm itself- either via internet or in Taiwan? I emailed them in English and limited Mandarin to see if I can purchase directly from them but no response so far. Thanks.

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Jan 25th, '10, 22:22
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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by cindyt » Jan 25th, '10, 22:22

TokyoB wrote: cindyt - Do you know where tea from the Assam tea farm can be purchased other than going to the farm itself- either via internet or in Taiwan? I emailed them in English and limited Mandarin to see if I can purchase directly from them but no response so far. Thanks.
There is an order form on the website, and you can fill it out and fax it over. It is in Chinese only though..Also the payment is tricky, they only accept money transfers from Taiwanese banks. They do have a physical shop on the farm, and that is the only place you can buy their tea from I think (other than sending over the order form).

Sorry I don't think this helps much. Hopefully you'll get an e.mail back. Let me know if you don't and I'll see what I can do to help.

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Jan 28th, '10, 15:14
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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by teaisme » Jan 28th, '10, 15:14

hum just happened upon this thread. Wow mark up mark up mark up.

A few comments. I think this tea is better suited for kungfu style. Short infusions, not too much leaf. Second infusion should not be shorter then the first for this one. Maybe something like 150 ml 3-4 grams 30-40 secs. It seems pretty spent after the forth infusion.

Many mention they can not detect the mint or wintergreen or whatever. I can not directly when its going down, but it is noticeable when I inhale through the mouth after drinking.

Interestingly when buying tea at sun moon lake some sellers will have two types. One with the minty flavour (artificial or not I do not know), one without. I opted for the ones without, but can still detect it from a mouth inhale. I question the supposed extreme rarity of this tea that some international retailers purport.

I am not experienced with whole leaf black teas , only keemun and a yunnan gold tips once in a while, so can't compare it to much, but still this is a very smooth tasting lighter black tea, complex flavour and aroma, unique, probably my favourite black tried so far.

packages say high mountain on them, I wonder if most #18 is grown at high mountain elevations. I also hear from locals there that most of the #18 is organic and hand picked. Maybe someone here with more experience with blacks can post some pics of a handpicked black tea vs machine picked black tea so I can compare it to the ones I have.

Jan 28th, '10, 17:27
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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by shah82 » Jan 28th, '10, 17:27

The big issue is that it's very popular in Taiwan, and it's hard to get the good stuff without paying through the nose for it.

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Mar 2nd, '10, 18:24
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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by ChungC » Mar 2nd, '10, 18:24

Available now in Google Product, search for "sun moon lake Ruby". limited quantity.

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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by Tead Off » Mar 3rd, '10, 00:03

shah82 wrote:The big issue is that it's very popular in Taiwan, and it's hard to get the good stuff without paying through the nose for it.
I bought a very reasonably priced and good SML from Nada, now Essence of Tea. I've only tried 2 of these, one being from TeaTrekker that TokyoB sent me a generous sample of. The former, I believe is quite a bit less expensive than the latter. The TT SML may have had the edge on flavor but can't really remember.

Mar 3rd, '10, 03:57
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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by shah82 » Mar 3rd, '10, 03:57

Teatrekker's SML is a traditional taiwanese laocong black tea, from when the japanese were there, and not the ones made with the new varietal. The same with nadacha

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Mar 3rd, '10, 09:10
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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by Tead Off » Mar 3rd, '10, 09:10

shah82 wrote:Teatrekker's SML is a traditional taiwanese laocong black tea, from when the japanese were there, and not the ones made with the new varietal. The same with nadacha
Can you tell us what the differences are?

Mar 3rd, '10, 12:32
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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by shah82 » Mar 3rd, '10, 12:32

I've never had the traditional black tea variety. It's supposed to be much like an assam. I've had a sample of Hou De's sorta traditional black tea, but it's from tea bushes that were native or brought over much earlier than the assam we're talking about now. San Xia is pretty nice, gotta sandalwood-like attack on the nose, a bit not full enough in the cup to quite justify the price.

Ruby tea typically is a dancing heavy tea. A little bit like an assam, but less malt, more fruit and has a characteristic mentholated nuance (usually like wintergreen) that kinda shifts flavor on your buds. I like it very much, and if I were to pay big bucks ($10 an oz or greater) for red tea, I'd rather pay for ruby tea rather than...jin jun mei, for instance.

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Mar 3rd, '10, 21:28
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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by Tead Off » Mar 3rd, '10, 21:28

shah82 wrote:I've never had the traditional black tea variety. It's supposed to be much like an assam. I've had a sample of Hou De's sorta traditional black tea, but it's from tea bushes that were native or brought over much earlier than the assam we're talking about now. San Xia is pretty nice, gotta sandalwood-like attack on the nose, a bit not full enough in the cup to quite justify the price.

Ruby tea typically is a dancing heavy tea. A little bit like an assam, but less malt, more fruit and has a characteristic mentholated nuance (usually like wintergreen) that kinda shifts flavor on your buds. I like it very much, and if I were to pay big bucks ($10 an oz or greater) for red tea, I'd rather pay for ruby tea rather than...jin jun mei, for instance.
The SML from Nada is definitely malty. That is my exact description for the flavor profile. I've never had the other one. Minty sounds interesting.

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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by TokyoB » Mar 3rd, '10, 22:08

Tead Off wrote: The SML from Nada is definitely malty. That is my exact description for the flavor profile. I've never had the other one. Minty sounds interesting.
Tead off - yes the flavor is very unique I think. As aaronlawson posted in his reivew in the 2nd or 3rd page, the flavor is like wintergreen. I've never tasted this in any other tea. I have tried the #18 from Upton and from Camellia Sinensis and they are very similar.

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Mar 3rd, '10, 23:23
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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by Tead Off » Mar 3rd, '10, 23:23

TokyoB wrote:
Tead Off wrote: The SML from Nada is definitely malty. That is my exact description for the flavor profile. I've never had the other one. Minty sounds interesting.
Tead off - yes the flavor is very unique I think. As aaronlawson posted in his reivew in the 2nd or 3rd page, the flavor is like wintergreen. I've never tasted this in any other tea. I have tried the #18 from Upton and from Camellia Sinensis and they are very similar.
Now that you mention it, you did send me a sample of this tea. I think I preferred the TT, but, can't be sure. Hard for me to judge by samples. Usually I like to have a number of brewings before I say yay or nay. :)

Mar 22nd, '10, 18:58
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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by Alucard » Mar 22nd, '10, 18:58

Ishopo sells Taiwan sun moon lake tea #18 and #20. i'll have to get a sample during my next purchase.

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Mar 23rd, '10, 13:57
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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by Tead Off » Mar 23rd, '10, 13:57

Tead Off wrote:
TokyoB wrote:
Tead Off wrote: The SML from Nada is definitely malty. That is my exact description for the flavor profile. I've never had the other one. Minty sounds interesting.
Tead off - yes the flavor is very unique I think. As aaronlawson posted in his reivew in the 2nd or 3rd page, the flavor is like wintergreen. I've never tasted this in any other tea. I have tried the #18 from Upton and from Camellia Sinensis and they are very similar.
Now that you mention it, you did send me a sample of this tea. I think I preferred the TT, but, can't be sure. Hard for me to judge by samples. Usually I like to have a number of brewings before I say yay or nay. :)
For lack of a better word, this evening I was inspired to use a bizen woodfired teapot with Nada's Sun Moon Lake. 3.5g into about 160ml, boiling water for 1.5 minutes. Wow. Delicious, sweet mouth flavor, long finish, and, an aroma left in the cup of honeysuckle. I've made this tea many times but have never experienced the flavor and aroma that came this evening. Magic?

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Apr 2nd, '10, 13:36
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Re: Taiwanese Sun-Moon Lake Black

by teashionista » Apr 2nd, '10, 13:36

Got my order from Nada/Essence of Tea yesterday and brewed the Sun-Moon Lake black this morning. Used a 150ml porcelain teapot, 3g of tea, boiling water. Dry leaves do have a faint wintergreen smell. But I had to search for it - if I didn't know about it I may not have picked it up.
The first infusion was 1 min (which, in retrospect, is too short) - not much aroma/flavor. The second infusion was 3 min, and I liked this one a lot better! Great mellow flavor, very rounded. The wintergreen is much more pronounced, and there is a slight sweetness to it - reminded me of Oriental Beauty oolong. Next time will use Tead Off's parameters - longer first infusion, and may use more leaf.

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