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Does anyone have a short list of their favorite type / year of Xiaguan Toucha.

Jeremy wrote:Does anyone have a short list of their favorite type / year of Xiaguan Toucha.

This is the only onw I've had, It was very good, strong, but balanced, good flavor.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2008-Xiaguan-FT-Hap ... dZViewItem

Basically anything with FT on it is a can't miss. I also think in general their tuochas are all can't miss, especially for the price. If you can, track down early 2000's Canger tuo's. Those are delicious. They were only made from 01-06, I believe (might be mistaken on that though).

My favorite one I've ever had, though is a 1980's nondescript Xiaguan tuocha from Nadacha; http://www.nadacha.co.uk/index.php?page ... t&Itemid=1

Those ones from xia guan tea factory are all pretty good and inexpensive. All of them have pine and crane as brand mark.

I heard there is a kind for export to France. It has probably the best quality/price ratio. But I don't know where to get it. It's a 250 gram tuo in a green box which has French on it. I saw some green box xia guan tuo on ebay, but none of them is the kind for export to France.

Looks like this:

XiaGuan Sheng Tuos are very consistant. Thanks makes some good recommendations however.

gingko wrote:I heard there is a kind for export to France. It has probably the best quality/price ratio. But I don't know where to get it. It's a 250 gram tuo in a green box which has French on it. I saw some green box xia guan tuo on ebay, but none of them is the kind for export to France.

Looks like this:

They're cooked. Puerh Shop has them.

gingko wrote:Those ones from xia guan tea factory are all pretty good and inexpensive. All of them have pine and crane as brand mark.

I heard there is a kind for export to France. It has probably the best quality/price ratio. But I don't know where to get it. It's a 250 gram tuo in a green box which has French on it. I saw some green box xia guan tuo on ebay, but none of them is the kind for export to France.

Looks like this:

I wrote about an 06 Xiao Fa tuocha in my blog. I love it for the price. Tony is right it is a cooked recipe made for export to France. I've never really seen a 250g version though, I think these are more uncommon. Of course I could be mistaken. They're usually dirt cheap and abundant. YSSLC also has some besides Pu-erh shop. If you live in the US Pu-erh shop is a better option.

thanks wrote: I wrote about an 06 Xiao Fa tuocha in my blog. I love it for the price. Tony is right it is a cooked recipe made for export to France. I've never really seen a 250g version though, I think these are more uncommon. Of course I could be mistaken. They're usually dirt cheap and abundant. YSSLC also has some besides Pu-erh shop. If you live in the US Pu-erh shop is a better option.

That's a nice review. In your review you mentioned that at the first it was hard to break then after a year or so, you broke it easily. That's interesting. Why is that? I thought it would be forever hard to break and even thought of putting it in a sac and using a baseball bat to strike it But mine is not the French version, just regular xiaguan tuo.

Oh you are right. Both puerh shop and YS have it. And the price is not bad!

gingko wrote:Those ones from xia guan tea factory are all pretty good and inexpensive. All of them have pine and crane as brand mark.

I heard there is a kind for export to France. It has probably the best quality/price ratio. But I don't know where to get it. It's a 250 gram tuo in a green box which has French on it. I saw some green box xia guan tuo on ebay, but none of them is the kind for export to France.

Looks like this:

If you have a local asian grocery store they may have these. My local one has them for $3.99.

puerhking wrote:

gingko wrote:Those ones from xia guan tea factory are all pretty good and inexpensive. All of them have pine and crane as brand mark.

I heard there is a kind for export to France. It has probably the best quality/price ratio. But I don't know where to get it. It's a 250 gram tuo in a green box which has French on it. I saw some green box xia guan tuo on ebay, but none of them is the kind for export to France.

Looks like this:

If you have a local asian grocery store they may have these. My local one has them for $3.99.

I saw some in Boston, the regular version, but not French version. $3.99 is a nice price! Ok I will search more of the asian stores in large cities!

You know Gingko, I was as puzzled as you are about that. Only thing I can think of is that it came from a much more humid storage condition before it was stored by me for a year. Maybe the move from "wet" to "dry" had something to do with it.

This wiki article is pretty cool. It clearly shows the different brands and levels of their product. I was happy to finally understand what the difference between FT, Cang er and Jia Ji was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaguan_Tea_Factory

J

Thanks for the link!!!

TomVerlain wrote: I see on the wiki it is "Jin Si - "Gold Ribbon", highest grade túochá produced by Xiaguan. However, it was only produced in 2004."

I saw that and wondered so I went back to YSLLC

Scott wrote:The "Gold Ribbon" blend was first introduced in 2004, when it was a special order production for a large Guangzhou Xiaguan wholesaler. Using superior material from Wu Liang, Yun Xian, and Yun Long mountains, and carefully blended to be full of aroma and cha qi. This has now become a classic premium blend from Xiaguan, a good choice for aging!

I'm going with the thought that Scott's note rather than the Wikipedia note is correct since I have four 2007 tuochas sitting in my pumidor.

TomVerlain wrote: It will go into the "please age quickly" pile to await further testing.

I need to get one of these!