Hi,
I've read through this thread and didn't see any reviews of tea from TC Formosa Tea Company. I have ordered some tea from them, and I like it, but I'm no tea connoisseur. I wanted to find a good source of Taiwanese oolong tea and I found their website. I was actually curious to try osmanthus scenteded oolong, as I love the scent of osmanthus flowers and that is one of the type of oolong teas they sell. So I ordered some of that and an organic jade oolong and a sample of their Alishan oolong. The osmanthus oolong is made with tea from one of their tea gardens in Nantou County at 1000 meters and is hand plucked. The organic jade oolong is machine harvested. I like that they give a lot of detail about each tea (degree of fermentation, degree of baking if any and the elevation grown) - however, they do not actually state when the tea was picked, so I don't know if I'm getting 2008 or 2009 or even earlier. From reading their wholesale website, they are a company that has their own tea gardens in Lu Ku Township in Nantou County and on Mount Ali. I believe the rest of the tea they sell is contracted from other farms. On their retail site (TC tea shop) they sell their tea in 60 gm tin packs (vacuum sealed package in the tin) and then sets of 60 gm refill packages. I have tried the osmanthus oolong and the scent of the dried leaves is very fruity, peachy, but when you actually steep the tea, I don't find the scent or taste to be that fruity - it is very subtle and smooth. The Alishan oolong made me hum a little when I drank it - I liked it! I don't have a very refined palate for tea, so I can't describe any flavors. It was just a very smooth, mild tea. The organic jade oolong was also good. They do have sampler packs, 20gms each of 8 different varieties for only $15.00, which I may get, but the shipping is probably equal to that cost. Has anyone else bought tea from this company? I'm curious to know your thoughts.
Re: TC Formosa Tea Company - anyone tried?
I haven't tried them, yet. You see, one also needs to eat & buy food, lol (meaning I've spent far too much dough on tea this year).
However, I shall try them soon. In particular, I liked the layout of their website and their prices seem reasonable, with that free EMS shipping on orders over 80 bucks.
Thanks for sharing this vendor info with us, Have to try their OB sooner or later!
One vendor I recommend to avoid is B & J Tea on eBay. I just received 100g of OB from them. The quality was inferior! One of the worst teas I've ever had!
OBs from Gordon (Dragon Tea House) have been a pleasure.
In addition, I shall soon receive samples of Stephane's Oolongs from fellow Finnish TeaChat member 'Ritva'. I do have high hopes for those & will place an order for Xmas.
However, I shall try them soon. In particular, I liked the layout of their website and their prices seem reasonable, with that free EMS shipping on orders over 80 bucks.
Thanks for sharing this vendor info with us, Have to try their OB sooner or later!
One vendor I recommend to avoid is B & J Tea on eBay. I just received 100g of OB from them. The quality was inferior! One of the worst teas I've ever had!
OBs from Gordon (Dragon Tea House) have been a pleasure.
In addition, I shall soon receive samples of Stephane's Oolongs from fellow Finnish TeaChat member 'Ritva'. I do have high hopes for those & will place an order for Xmas.