TeaChat

Tead Off wrote:

bagua7 wrote:A friend who lives in Taoyuan has contacted Lin's farm for me. They are the growers of 105k. 125g/3000 Taiwan dollars. This should lay to rest any claims that a vendor is selling real 105k for much less.

I like that as well (so discard LohasTea thanks ). Basically just a bunch of vendors are selling quality TW high mountain tea online.

But I can see that T-Oolong Tea is offering 105K for $138.99/150g:

http://www.t-oolongtea.com/product.aspx ... 3ae3b08e0c

Has anyone tried it? Any good?

I have purchased many teas from T-Oolongtea.com and have been incredibly impressed with both the quality of the teas and the great customer service. Even shipped directly from Taiwan, I get them (in California) within a week or so.

The staff will give you guidance once you indicate your preferences, you can purchase low-cost samples of most of the teas, and their teas are of the highest-quality I have found (and over the last three years I have tasted hundreds of teas).

I have written three pages of reviews of the best tea sources on my website at:

[Mod edit: link removed per forum rules. Please see forum rules under Introductions]

Thanks for the info and links. One thing everyone should keep in mind is that tea does vary from season to season due to climactic conditions, etc. One great harvest may not yield up another the next year.

I do agree that the shipping is fast. I recently placed an order to stock up on some gaoshan oolong for work. I chose the airmail service (express service was way too high), and I received my tea in within 6 business days. I've ordered from them few times over the last 3 years. Their prices are hard to beat. I've really liked some teas, and some were kind of mediocre - I agree it depends on the harvest. I recently just received some Wu Ling Li Shan and Shan Lin Xi. The Wu Ling kind of disappointed me because it lacked that Li Shan scent that I love - but it may have been just because I brewed it at work - I had their Wu Ling in 2010 I think and enjoyed it. I need to try it at home before I have a final opinion on it. I posted in another thread that right now I'm trying their Jin Xuan Li Shan oolong (new tea for them) and I am digging it. It has that great Li Shan scent, but because it is Jin Xuan, it is less expensive than their other Li Shans.

Hondoe Joe wrote:I have purchased many teas from T-Oolongtea.com and have been incredibly impressed with both the quality of the teas...

I had the exact opposite opinion from my last order a year or two ago.
Someone in this forum should be getting some of the competition teas in soon, hopefully they will chime in on how they are. They look promising though.

Oct 8th 10 5:04 pm

Alishan Shi Zhao
Alishan Tai He
Shanlinxi Long Feng Xia

Not too thrilled with these 3 13g samples.
Best was the longfengxia but I didn't really enjoy it much
Worst for me was the shizhao

I was invited to give a few of their teas another chance. So one year and a few months later how has my view of this vendor changed...

For one thing I'm glad to see they offer paypal now, I really did not like Google checkout

1. Alishan shi zhao 2011 spring
Seems much different this time around, really reminded me of the shi zhao from Teasfromtaiwan. Used roughly 8grams in 200ml porc. Moving on to the fourth brew right now. More of an opinion coming later.

teaisme wrote:

Hondoe Joe wrote:I have purchased many teas from T-Oolongtea.com and have been incredibly impressed with both the quality of the teas...

I had the exact opposite opinion from my last order a year or two ago.
Someone in this forum should be getting some of the competition teas in soon, hopefully they will chime in on how they are. They look promising though.

Hopefully, the teas changed along with their former name. I am also looking forward to hearing how you like their current offerings.

I have had 2 Da Yu Lings from the winter 2011 harvest. 1 from Wang de Chuan, and, the other from TeafromTaiwan. Neither have impressed me so far. I'm beginning to wonder if 2011 winter harvest is not such a good one.

Winter harvest is never as strong as spring or fall when it comes to Li Shan. Had a great tea session with 09 spring Teahome Li Shan (keep it in vaccum storage) good stuff!

outline wrote:Winter harvest is never as strong as spring or fall when it comes to Li Shan. Had a great tea session with 09 spring Teahome Li Shan (keep it in vaccum storage) good stuff!

Is this true with just Li Shan teas as opposed to Shan Lin Xi or Alishan? I have often found winter teas quite deep. I believe there are only spring and winter harvests of DYL.

After leaving the DYL I have in clay tea caddys for a couple of weeks, they have finally let me in to their charms. Both the Wang de Chuan and Teafromtaiwan DYL's have proved to be much deeper than I had originally thought. Both are delicious, balancing that floral and grain-like flavor of the tea very well.

Tead Off wrote: A friend who lives in Taoyuan has contacted Lin's farm for me. They are the growers of 105k. 125g/3000 Taiwan dollars. This should lay to rest any claims that a vendor is selling real 105k for much less.

This might be true for certain specific teas, but is not reliable as a general methodology for price/quality judgment. The Zealong I got from Chicago Tea Garden (which got it from its original producer in New Zealand) is significantly less expensive than the price provided by Zealong farm themselves. In my conversation with a New Zealand tea house owner on teatra.de, we both found out that even as a local retailer, she was not offered as good deal. I think this means the American vendor has excellent sourcing power and the producer is willing to give American market a big price break.

gingkoseto wrote:

Tead Off wrote: A friend who lives in Taoyuan has contacted Lin's farm for me. They are the growers of 105k. 125g/3000 Taiwan dollars. This should lay to rest any claims that a vendor is selling real 105k for much less.

This might be true for certain specific teas, but is not reliable as a general methodology for price/quality judgment. The Zealong I got from Chicago Tea Garden (which got it from its original producer in New Zealand) is significantly less expensive than the price provided by Zealong farm themselves. In my conversation with a New Zealand tea house owner on teatra.de, we both found out that even as a local retailer, she was not offered as good deal. I think this means the American vendor has excellent sourcing power and the producer is willing to give American market a big price break.

Yes. I was only referring to DYL and the Lin garden.

Another interesting piece of information was told to me the other day by someone in Taiwan involved in the tea business. The gov't is trying to reclaim land where the highest farms of DYL are grown. There is an environmental issue regarding the cultivation of tea and vegetables in high mountain areas. Something about the short root systems causIng problems. I am told we may be seeing our last 105k's. But, not to worry, DYL at 2200m is still very good.

rhondabee wrote:The Wu Ling kind of disappointed me because it lacked that Li Shan scent that I love...

Is the one you are referring to perfume-like? Thanks.

Tead Off wrote:
The gov't is trying to reclaim land where the highest farms of DYL are grown. There is an environmental issue regarding the cultivation of tea and vegetables in high mountain areas. Something about the short root systems causIng problems. I am told we may be seeing our last 105k's. But, not to worry, DYL at 2200m is still very good.

I wonder if this is really ever going to happen. They have been saying that for years even before the 2009 floods.

bagua7 wrote:

rhondabee wrote:The Wu Ling kind of disappointed me because it lacked that Li Shan scent that I love...

Is the one you are referring to perfume-like? Thanks.

The Wu Ling Li shan I bought is fragrant (a mix of the floral, fruity, savory scent), but not as strong as I would have liked. However, if you look at their description of the tea, it states: "The brewed Lishan Wu Ling Oolong has a floral aroma and taste, a long-lasting sweet flavor and a pleasant sweet aftertaste." The Jin Xuan (milk oolong) from Li Shan that I really love is described as a very strong aroma and taste. So I didn't pay attention to the description of the tea when I bought it.

teaisme wrote:

Tead Off wrote:
The gov't is trying to reclaim land where the highest farms of DYL are grown. There is an environmental issue regarding the cultivation of tea and vegetables in high mountain areas. Something about the short root systems causIng problems. I am told we may be seeing our last 105k's. But, not to worry, DYL at 2200m is still very good.

I wonder if this is really ever going to happen. They have been saying that for years even before the 2009 floods.

Yeah that's a big dilemma. The discussion of the policy has been around for more than 10 years, but there is strong resistance from tea farmers and fruit farmers. If it ever happens, it will probably start from government affiliated ones such as Fu Shou Shan farm, and farms of highest elevation. The 2009 flood and slope slide (and there was an earlier, bigger one, in 1999 or 2000, I don't remember) is to some degree a bitter consequence of deforestation and agriculture occupation of high elevation. In the long run, I believe some farms will be closed up, because no matter how good the tea is, the consequences might be eventually unbearable. But I don't know how long this may take, maybe a very, very long time.