The Real TGY

[Bubba_tea]

Not sure if you're being sarcastic here

Oops - need more smiley faces....

[1] Whether the three bushes you go look at when you visit the scenic area are the actual original DHP bushes is a subject of some debate.

I would bet more than 100 pounds of Da Hong Pao they're not. Most *treasures* in the museums in China are also replicas. Things of this nature that are this valuable are going to have people with AK's in front of them 24/7. Could you imagine how many millions the real bushes would be worth a piece, and that they would leave them out in the open for the tourists to see?

For example, Qin Shi Huang's open tomb has army solders all around and a large gap between the tourists and the remains of the terracotta army - but one of the greatest treasures pulled from the tomb, the miniature bronze horse cart, is in the musuem there with just a little plexi window around it... I think it's the same one as is for sale in the gift shop upstairs

But then again, I even wonder about Mao's body there in Tian An Men...

As a side note, my teacher told me back in the day when the men go out to harvest the true wild ginseng, 5 men would leave, armed, and 3 men come back. Of course, it was very very hard to come by and the sale of one root would support an entire village for a long time. He said one root was the equivalent of a full truck load of cultivated.

[gingkoseto]

I heard in China some dishonest vendors would label less expensive oolong as TGY and sell them for the price of TGY. But in US I don't think it's a big issue, because there are so few vendors, and most are serious vendors. Besides, loose leaf tea in US is generally expensive, so it doesn't add on much margin profit by replacing authentic TGY with other oolong.

Just for curiosity, you can compare leaf shapes of TGY and other oolong and see the difference. TGY has a distinctive tilted one side. My photo was not well taken and was not of the best leaves, but you can somewhat recognize the tilted tip from the leaf on the top. Besides, TGY leaves are often not the perfect spindle shape as most tea leaves. The short axis is closer to the leaf tip instead of right in the middle. (I guess this is not a clear statement and my photo didn't show it well either )


And here is a ben shan spent leaves photo. In market of China, ben shan is sometimes used to make fake TGY. Ben shan's leave stem base and veins also look different from those of TGY. However it's not always possible to tell the difference between varieties by spent leaves. Flavor still shows the most difference (that is assuming both varieties are well processed).


I like TGY but overall I don't see it as superior above other varieties. Ultimately the quality of the tea counts. Good se zhong could be much better than regular TGY. I even suspect TGY farmers and merchants worked hard on marketing and that's why TGY is so much more highly regarded than some other varieties.

[Oni]

Thanks for the great replys, sorry for running my mouth about things I had no idea about, sometimes I have a little devil sitting on my shouder, with no angel to contradict him.

[jazzi]

I know it is a highly falsified tea, there are many fakes, many not made from the tgy type of bush, but I would like to know about the real deal, the real Anxi TGY that is among the top 10 chinese teas, and it`s also a tribute tea.

Real TGY, you can buy it from China, but that may take too much freight.

I lived with TGY, may I can help you differenate real and fake TGY.

[yukondoit]

I think maybe you should visit a site like Houde or Seven Cups and actually purchase a small amount of it, simply because their tea is 100% legit (I am not saying anyone else's isn't). TGY isn't even a very expensive tea -- the straight up TGY is fairly affordable because there's so much of it everywhere.

[TIM]

I think maybe you should visit a site like Houde or Seven Cups and actually purchase a small amount of it, simply because their tea is 100% legit (I am not saying anyone else's isn't). TGY isn't even a very expensive tea -- the straight up TGY is fairly affordable because there's so much of it everywhere.

I can see Seven Cups do carries Anxi TGY, but can't find it from Houde?

[yukondoit]

I've only ordered once from Houde, so I can't say, but a lot of people on here may be able to answer that. Seven Cups, on the other hand, carries quite a selection of anxis. The old style is the one I would recommend, but they are all probably incredible. I order more alishan, dan cong and wuyi than anxi from Seven Cups -- everything they carry is incredible.

[cupioneer]

I've only ordered once from Houde, so I can't say, but a lot of people on here may be able to answer that. Seven Cups, on the other hand, carries quite a selection of anxis. The old style is the one I would recommend, but they are all probably incredible. I order more alishan, dan cong and wuyi than anxi from Seven Cups -- everything they carry is incredible.

Hou de's TGY is from Mu Zha, Taiwan and is more roasted than Seven Cups' "Old Style". I have both, as well as some of Seven Cups' other TGY varieties. If you like your teas a little more oxidized and roasted, I would highly recommend Hou de's TGY. If you like greener oolongs, this is a great deal: http://www.sevencups.com/tea_shop/produ ... 273&page=1

I don't think ebay vendors can beat that price!

[TIM]

I've only ordered once from Houde, so I can't say, but a lot of people on here may be able to answer that. Seven Cups, on the other hand, carries quite a selection of anxis. The old style is the one I would recommend, but they are all probably incredible. I order more alishan, dan cong and wuyi than anxi from Seven Cups -- everything they carry is incredible.

Hou de's TGY is from Mu Zha, Taiwan and is more roasted than Seven Cups' "Old Style". I have both, as well as some of Seven Cups' other TGY varieties. If you like your teas a little more oxidized and roasted, I would highly recommend Hou de's TGY. If you like greener oolongs, this is a great deal: http://www.sevencups.com/tea_shop/produ ... 273&page=1

I don't think ebay vendors can beat that price!

So we are talking about Taiwanese style TGY instead of Traditional Anxi TGY?
There are big differences between these 2 style, Taiwanese style have 2 leaves and a bud and True Anxi TGY only have one leaf, no stem. I like both style, but if we are talking about price pt. the Xiping one could triple the price and is very limited.

[ABx]

I think maybe you should visit a site like Houde or Seven Cups and actually purchase a small amount of it, simply because their tea is 100% legit (I am not saying anyone else's isn't). TGY isn't even a very expensive tea -- the straight up TGY is fairly affordable because there's so much of it everywhere.

I can see Seven Cups do carries Anxi TGY, but can't find it from Houde?

It's under the 2007 oolongs

[wyardley]

I think maybe you should visit a site like Houde or Seven Cups and actually purchase a small amount of it, simply because their tea is 100% legit (I am not saying anyone else's isn't). TGY isn't even a very expensive tea -- the straight up TGY is fairly affordable because there's so much of it everywhere.

I can see Seven Cups do carries Anxi TGY, but can't find it from Houde?

It's under the 2007 oolongs

That's Taiwan grown, not Anxi TGY, though.

I like the '94 aged one a lot.

So we are talking about Taiwanese style TGY instead of Traditional Anxi TGY?
There are big differences between these 2 style, Taiwanese style have 2 leaves and a bud and True Anxi TGY only have one leaf, no stem. I like both style, but if we are talking about price pt. the Xiping one could triple the price and is very limited.

I agree that the two styles taste different, usually at least. I usually prefer Anxi TGY, but it's getting harder and harder to find traditionally roasted Anxi TGY, with the possible

I could be wrong, and I'll try and check this weekend, but I'm pretty sure most Mu Zha TGY, at least the stuff produced in the traditional style, is produced the traditional way (one leaf, rather than two leaves / bud / stem).

[cupioneer]

I think maybe you should visit a site like Houde or Seven Cups and actually purchase a small amount of it, simply because their tea is 100% legit (I am not saying anyone else's isn't). TGY isn't even a very expensive tea -- the straight up TGY is fairly affordable because there's so much of it everywhere.

I can see Seven Cups do carries Anxi TGY, but can't find it from Houde?

It's under the 2007 oolongs

That's Taiwan grown, not Anxi TGY, though.

I like the '94 aged one a lot.

So we are talking about Taiwanese style TGY instead of Traditional Anxi TGY?
There are big differences between these 2 style, Taiwanese style have 2 leaves and a bud and True Anxi TGY only have one leaf, no stem. I like both style, but if we are talking about price pt. the Xiping one could triple the price and is very limited.

I agree that the two styles taste different, usually at least. I usually prefer Anxi TGY, but it's getting harder and harder to find traditionally roasted Anxi TGY, with the possible

I could be wrong, and I'll try and check this weekend, but I'm pretty sure most Mu Zha TGY, at least the stuff produced in the traditional style, is produced the traditional way (one leaf, rather than two leaves / bud / stem).

Hou de's Mu Zha TGY has two leaves/bud/stem. (I just drank some last night.) I noticed Shan Shui Teas also has Mu Zha TGY, which I haven't tried yet. I'm curious though, besides the leaf-picking parameters, what's the difference between "traditional" Taiwan TGY and "traditional" Anxi TGY?

Jing Teashop may be a good place to get genuine Anxi TGY... I've had really good luck with their other Anxi tea offerings.

[wyardley]

Hou de's Mu Zha TGY has two leaves/bud/stem. (I just drank some last night.) I noticed Shan Shui Teas also has Mu Zha TGY, which I haven't tried yet. I'm curious though, besides the leaf-picking parameters, what's the difference between "traditional" Taiwan TGY and "traditional" Anxi TGY?

Sorry - I was just using the term to refer to teas processed the traditional way, i.e., higher oxidation and roasting, rather than the style that's popular now. They are both based on the same "traditional" style (from Anxi). I think Taiwan and HK are the main places keeping traditional roasted TGY alive, and even then, I think it's harder to find good roasted TGY now than it was even a few year ago. It's harder, and takes longer to produce, and the greener stuff (especially genuine, high grade) can fetch very high prices because there's more demand for it.

Jing Teashop may be a good place to get genuine Anxi TGY... I've had really good luck with their other Anxi tea offerings.

I like Jing's teas in general, however I had a few TGYs from them that I didn't particularly care for, even for that style (this is a year or two ago). I've not tried the new ones they're selling, though. I don't think they sell any with higher roasting / oxidation (other than maybe the aged one they have in their sampler)... all the ones they sell seem to be relatively green-ish.

Pretty much all the places I can think of that sell (intentionally) roasted Anxi TGY are HK shops or shops run by overseas HK. Off the top of my head, Best Tea House, Lam Kie Yuen (& Aroma Teahouse, which is a branch), Lau Yu Fat, Tea Gallery, China Flair Tea, Just4Tea. My understanding is that many of these places purchase the mao cha and then do their own roasting.

In China, I got some very high fire TGY, sold as "10 year aged", that I'm pretty sure is just stale oolong that's been roasted to hell.

[wyardley]

I like the '94 aged one a lot.

So we are talking about Taiwanese style TGY instead of Traditional Anxi TGY?
There are big differences between these 2 style, Taiwanese style have 2 leaves and a bud and True Anxi TGY only have one leaf, no stem. I like both style, but if we are talking about price pt. the Xiping one could triple the price and is very limited.

I agree that the two styles taste different, usually at least. I usually prefer Anxi TGY, but it's getting harder and harder to find traditionally roasted Anxi TGY, with the possible

I could be wrong, and I'll try and check this weekend, but I'm pretty sure most Mu Zha TGY, at least the stuff produced in the traditional style, is produced the traditional way (one leaf, rather than two leaves / bud / stem).

Hou de's Mu Zha TGY has two leaves/bud/stem.

Not the '94 one I was talking about, at least not mostly.

I did check the two Mu Zha region TGYs I happen to have around today, and the more recent one (2007 competition winner from J-Tea in Eugene, pictured on the left side in the image) has mostly two-leaves and a stem, though I found some stems with a single leaf or single leaves alone too. The '94 from Hou De has mostly single leaves, though I did find one combo (see top right corner in the first image).

[cupioneer]

Yeah, I was talking about the 2007 TGY at Hou de, not the aged you have. Sorry about that.

Jing recently posted an autumn 08 "xi ping TGY" which they claim is "traditionally baked in October and allowed to rest for 30 days to reduce the 'fire taste'". Unfortunately it wasn't up when I last ordered from them.

Have you tried Seven Cups' "old-style TGY"? [/quote]