TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

Comprehensive member driven guide to vendors of all teas


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TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

by Chip » Jan 20th, '10, 15:54

TeafromTaiwan was nominated and confirmed for our TeaVendor Guide under the Oolong Tea category. If you would like to nominate them to other categories, you may do this, otherwise limit discussion to their Oolong Tea offerings. Thank you! :D

NEW! Official Oolong Tea Vendor Guide for TeafromTaiwan.com
Consider this a perennial topic for Oolong teas from TeafromTaiwan to discuss and review.

http://www.teafromtaiwan.com/

Official Oolong Tea Vendor Guide. Let's see what happens with this wild and crazy idea. You can view the main Oolong TeaVendor Guide here: http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 02#p141802 and the main TeaVendor Guide here: http://www.teachat.com/viewforum.php?f=60

Jan 20th, '10, 17:41
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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official Oolong Tea Topic

by mr. Less » Jan 20th, '10, 17:41

hi there,

good idea this vendor site thing :D

well i ordered two sample packs from teafromtaiwan
today i tried the wu ling but i think i used to much tea
the sample packs are about 7 grams and i only have a gaiwan of 100 ml

is it true that with high mountain oolongs, such as da yu ling, li shan, ali shan ,one doesnt have to use much tea?
with a dongding it doesnt seem to bother me, but maybe the higher the elevation the more concentrated the leaves are, hence using lesser leaf

i would love to hear some thoughts about this, because i have a lot of high mountain oolong samples left , and want to make them the best way i can

thanxs guys

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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official Oolong Tea Topic

by rhondabee » Jan 20th, '10, 20:32

I have a 120 ml gaiwan, and I found that just covering the bottom is enough to fill the gaiwan with leaves when they are fully expanded. I'm trying Tea from Taiwan tea also this week for the first time. I've had the Tseui Lian and Zhong Shu Hu so far and I like both.

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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

by iannon » Feb 12th, '10, 00:56

Just tried the Da Yu Ling this evening. wonderful looking leaf and flavor imho. couple grams was all i needed for my cup

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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

by rhondabee » Jul 3rd, '10, 17:53

I really recommend the Alishan Zhong Shu Hu oolong, Winter 2009. It has developed a fruity scent/taste along with the floral fragrance as it aged a little and I really enjoy it. I liked it so much that I ordered some from the Spring 2010 harvest, but I haven't had a chance to try that yet.

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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

by rhondabee » Sep 4th, '10, 17:03

I'm really enjoying the 2010 Spring Wu Ling Lishan oolong. My favorite of the teas I ordered from them this Spring. Also ordered the Alishan Zhong Shu Hu and Shan Lin Xi Long Feng Xia. All delicious.

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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

by bagua7 » Jan 8th, '11, 21:15

I just had a session of Taiwanese milk oolong (Tai Xing Jin Xuan) purchased from this vendor and I am highly disappointed. Flat with a minimal guan which doesn't even come close to the buttery with milky tones this tea is renowned for.

Sorry but Tea from Taiwan is no longer on my vendor list.

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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

by Chip » Jan 9th, '11, 00:36

mayayo wrote:I just had a session of Taiwanese milk oolong (Tai Xing Jin Xuan) purchased from this vendor and I am highly disappointed. Flat with a minimal guan which doesn't even come close to the buttery with milky tones this tea is renowned for.

Sorry but Tea from Taiwan is no longer on my vendor list.
This is based upon one tasting?

How many teas have you tried from TfT? Which ones?

Have you contacted the vendor about the problem you had with this tea?

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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

by tortoise » Mar 14th, '11, 12:37

I wonder, does anyone have experience with their tea pots. They are obviously inexpensive, but can you tell what type of clay they are made with?
http://www.teafromtaiwan.com/utensils/a ... 20a&page=1

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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

by teaisme » Apr 1st, '11, 13:34

Drinking some of their winter 2010 tea's from them right now
Note these are samples so 7g is what I have to work with

Four seasons:good value for what it is, just not for me though
GABA:hum a nice tasting gaba, I would prefer a slightly higher roast though
Shi Zuo:good stuff, clean is my first impression, smooth, does not get bitter easy, goes down nice, good quality leaf
Zhong Shu Hu:nah
Tsuei Luan: pretty similar to the shi zuo except less durability and more subtle
Shan Ling Xi: good stronger tea broth, good durability

Liked the shi zuo and slx
shi zuo is on sale comes out to about 5.71/oz, not a bad deal :wink:

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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

by bagua7 » Apr 5th, '11, 02:10

Chip wrote:
mayayo wrote: How many teas have you tried from TfT? Which ones?

Have you contacted the vendor about the problem you had with this tea?
I have only tried the milk oolong tea. I am aware that every year is different and that not every tea pleases everyone at the same time. I was a bit harsh about my last comment.

I will try other oolongs and will report back.

Note: Sorry for the late reply; I forgot I posted in here.

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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

by teaisme » Apr 11th, '11, 17:14

Winter Long Feng Xia today at work

Some may find this tea a little too subtle but I really did enjoy it
Pretty much just falls down my throat and absorbs into me, an effortless drink

Wet leaf has an abundance of bug bits all over. Extremely smooth, bitterness is pretty much non existent. Leaves are nicely thick, heavy, and large. This one seems very organic.

I wrote to ask which teas were organic for the 2010 season and this is the reply I received.
Our current selection of organic teas are:
>> Long Feng Xia
> Da Yu Ling
> Ming Xiang
> Wu Ling
> Shan Ling Xi
> Sincerely,
> Ross MacIver
Dong Ding Ming Xiang : oriental beauty taste with more body and tea taste, how can you go wrong there

Wu ling: a little more residue then I would like, had the kind that would not sink too, but very very smooth, no bitterness, another effortless drink but kind of felt it was missing something...maybe wish it was either a little more green or lightly roasted. Maybe I butchered this one at work with too many distractions.
Last edited by teaisme on Apr 25th, '11, 16:14, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

by rhondabee » Apr 16th, '11, 17:53

tortoise wrote:I wonder, does anyone have experience with their tea pots. They are obviously inexpensive, but can you tell what type of clay they are made with?
http://www.teafromtaiwan.com/utensils/a ... 20a&page=1
I ordered one of these pots (TP12), and I believe they are made in Taiwan from their local red clay. I have been using a gaiwan, but did want to try a clay pot and these are inexpensive and I figured they must be good for Taiwanese high mountain oolong. I am actually drinking some Lishan oolong out of the pot now, and I think it makes pretty good tea - hoping it will improve the more I use it. There is no bad smell to the clay, just a very slight earthy clay scent and the tea doesn't have any chalkiness to it. I previously bought a black Yixing pot and it smelled strongly metallic and left a real chalkiness in my mouth, so didn't like that at all. I think this is a good basic pot for me. I still think making tea with the gaiwan is better purely for experiencing the scent of the tea leaves, but this pot doesn't mask the scent very much, so I'm happy with it. I will have to compare the tea made in a gaiwan with this pot to see if there is any taste difference or improvement with the pot.

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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

by teaisme » Apr 26th, '11, 13:50

Hum... aged tea this morning
4.5g was all that was in my 7g sample. This was the the only sample that was off out of the 10 (one of them was .5g off but that was trivial).

Add that onto the fact that this tea is VERY heavily roasted and you have an unimpressed tea drinker :( It had unique aroma (though slightly out of place to me, some medicinal) first few brews with a very good interesting acidity, but the taste was almost roast all over, maybe a very tiny bit of some kind of fruit

Seems good durability though I stopped at 6 because I felt like drinking no more (once the acidity died at #3-4 it got really boring for me). Of course it's super smooth, and it did make me feel pretty good, my body did not reject it and tell me not good not good, like other very heavy roasted teas I had tried

Glad I tried it

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Re: TeafromTaiwan "Official" Oolong Tea Topic

by rhondabee » May 4th, '11, 11:31

churng wrote:Drinking some of their winter 2010 tea's from them right now
Note these are samples so 7g is what I have to work with

Four seasons:good value for what it is, just not for me though
GABA:hum a nice tasting gaba, I would prefer a slightly higher roast though
Shi Zuo:good stuff, clean is my first impression, smooth, does not get bitter easy, goes down nice, good quality leaf
Zhong Shu Hu:nah
Tsuei Luan: pretty similar to the shi zuo except less durability and more subtle
Shan Ling Xi: good stronger tea broth, good durability

Liked the shi zuo and slx
shi zuo is on sale comes out to about 5.71/oz, not a bad deal :wink:
I ordered the Shan Lin Xi and the Shi Zuo (with the teapot) and have been drinking both everyday at work (alternating between them). I find I like the Shan Lin Xi much better than the Shi Zuo as the Shan Lin Xi is more fragrant with a fuller body - it just feels heavier or more flavorful in the mouth. The Shi Zuo is okay but maybe a little too light for my taste. I wonder why. In the pictures the Shan Lin Xi dried leaves look much darker. I wonder if they are slightly roasted and the Shi Zuo is unroasted? Maybe that makes a difference in the depth of flavor? I'll be ordering more of the Shan Lin Xi and maybe go back to the Zhong Shu Hu Alishan as I have always liked that oolong.

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