Supreme grade TGY

[bagua7]

I was wondering if anyone has experience with the tea sold over at China Cha Dao (eBay seller). They sent me a sample of their premium grade and I was impressed; however it is my first experience with this variety of oolong.

Thanks!

[bagua7]

I will post a pic of the tea bag as I can see my thread isn't very popular at the moment.

[ABx]

Just keep in mind that "grades" of Chinese tea are generally relative to a producer or vendor; as in: "this is the best TGY we make/sell." As such, the "premium" grade sold by one vendor may not be as good as the "lowest" grade sold by another (particularly in the case of machine vs hand harvesting).

I only bring it up to keep in mind with future purchases; if you go to an Asian grocer and see a "supreme grade TGY" then you probably shouldn't expect the same Unfortunately that also means that unless someone has had the exact tea that you had, it will be difficult to opine. There is plenty of good green wulong around, though. You might also try some of the Taiwanese wulong, as much of it is similar. Floating Leaves, Tea from Taiwan, and Hou De sell good hand-harvested stuff, zen8tea on eBay sells good machine harvested stuff (although most of it is light- to mid-roast, which is a slightly different ballgame).

[shaneho]

It depends on what your definete of Superme grade TGY. In China, the ChaWang(means best tea this year) competition, there are hundred of samples of TGY from difference producer and lots of experts choose one tea as ChaWang, they often controversy each other.
And the superme grade TGY also not for commercial product, it ofen for auction. In 2004, 50g ChaWang(often this year top top top TGY) sold at 110000yuan(16247USD).

Teas

0911070601b26625e700fc4884.jpg (51.16 KiB) Viewed 3197 times

The commercial superme grade TGY is also very expensive in China. Take BaMa(in English may call: Eight Horses Tea. The biggest company prodcut TGY in China) for example, this company provide spuerme TGY at price 5800yuan(852USD) per 125g. See this link:
http://bamatea.en.alibaba.com/product/3 ... 23200.html

[bagua7]

Thanks for the info, guys.

shaneho,

That's crazy expensive I wouldn't be able to afford that, for sure.


Here's a couple of pics of the sample I got from that eBay vendor:





One question, how does green oolong compare with roasted oolong in terms of flavour and aroma?

Thanks.

[TIM]

It depends on what your definete of Superme grade TGY. In China, the ChaWang(means best tea this year) competition, there are hundred of samples of TGY from difference producer and lots of experts choose one tea as ChaWang, they often controversy each other.
And the superme grade TGY also not for commercial product, it ofen for auction. In 2004, 50g ChaWang(often this year top top top TGY) sold at 110000yuan(16247USD).

0911070601b26625e700fc4884.jpg

The commercial superme grade TGY is also very expensive in China. Take BaMa(in English may call: Eight Horses Tea. The biggest company prodcut TGY in China) for example, this company provide spuerme TGY at price 5800yuan(852USD) per 125g. See this link:
http://bamatea.en.alibaba.com/product/3 ... 23200.html

Sheneho- Thanks for share the TGY market updates
So, its that a standard tasting parameter: 8g to 120 ml?

Great info. ~ Cheers

[shaneho]

It depends on what your definete of Superme grade TGY. In China, the ChaWang(means best tea this year) competition, there are hundred of samples of TGY from difference producer and lots of experts choose one tea as ChaWang, they often controversy each other.
And the superme grade TGY also not for commercial product, it ofen for auction. In 2004, 50g ChaWang(often this year top top top TGY) sold at 110000yuan(16247USD).

0911070601b26625e700fc4884.jpg

The commercial superme grade TGY is also very expensive in China. Take BaMa(in English may call: Eight Horses Tea. The biggest company prodcut TGY in China) for example, this company provide spuerme TGY at price 5800yuan(852USD) per 125g. See this link:
http://bamatea.en.alibaba.com/product/3 ... 23200.html

Sheneho- Thanks for share the TGY market updates
So, its that a standard tasting parameter: 8g to 120 ml?

Great info. ~ Cheers

There are not standard for you tasting TGY just as your like. But in competition, it has strict standard.

[Tead Off]

Just so posters know the difference, many TGY's are labeled Cha Wang but this is not the same as the winner of the competition. It is a grading name and doesn't relate necessarily to being 'best'. That real Cha Wang winner must be incredible.

[TIM]

Just so posters know the difference, many TGY's are labeled Cha Wang but this is not the same as the winner of the competition. It is a grading name and doesn't relate necessarily to being 'best'. That real Cha Wang winner must be incredible.

They are incredible Teadoff. With a warm qi like a competition grade Wuyi Yan Cha oolong. And a lasting power of a good raw yiwu.

[auhckw]

So far I was taught that premium grade TGY should be
-non roasted (those roasted are because the grade is not good enough)
-the leaves should not be perfect. the sides of the leaves are manually torn away
-The ones I've tried is about 100g@usd80. Maybe not as super grade as mentioned in the above post, but it has strong aroma, strong flavor and long lasting sweet aftertaste.

[shaneho]

So far I was taught that premium grade TGY should be
-non roasted (those roasted are because the grade is not good enough)
-the leaves should not be perfect. the sides of the leaves are manually torn away
-The ones I've tried is about 100g@usd80. Maybe not as super grade as mentioned in the above post, but it has strong aroma, strong flavor and long lasting sweet aftertaste.

I just want point out the first one. Now, there has three difference type of producting TGY. The tradional methond(ZhenChao, roasted, also make by some older farmer) is hard to producte super TGY, but in China Super TGY will take this method to process.

[gingkoseto]

So far I was taught that premium grade TGY should be
-non roasted (those roasted are because the grade is not good enough)
-the leaves should not be perfect. the sides of the leaves are manually torn away
-The ones I've tried is about 100g@usd80. Maybe not as super grade as mentioned in the above post, but it has strong aroma, strong flavor and long lasting sweet aftertaste.

auhckw, what you said is 80% true in China. But in my opinion, that reflects some ill trends in current Chinese tea market.

Roasted TGY can be very, very good and "supreme" but it's now rarely seen in mainland China. Why? I think, it's partially because of the influence of Taiwan high mountain oolong, partially because of the "green tea taste" of people in majority of China, and also partially because many people follow the market instead of their own tastes. TGY has been popular throughout history, but it gained its greatest popularity in China in 1990s. Back then, TGY was new to many people out of Fujian and Guangdong provinces. Many new drinkers would judge TGY based on their traditional green tea taste and the market standards (often through advertising and stories from vendors). And many farmers would make the kind of tea that could make them the most money. Even for green styles, modern green style is quite different from traditional green style. But when people were crazy about modern green style, which is much easier to make than traditional style, few farmers would bother to make the traditional style. Modern green style is good too, but I would like to see diversity in the market instead of the most profitable tea dominates it all.

But probably we should trust the market. I somewhat feel traditional styles will come back to Chinese market. Besides, I feel western tea drinkers receive traditional styles of TGY very well.

[gingkoseto]

Back to op's question, I have no experience with this vendor, but Walker Tea Review (walkerteareview.com) has a few reviews of their green teas and they sound good.

[ABx]

it's partially because of the influence of Taiwan high mountain oolong

I recently asked Melody (of zen8tea on eBay -- in addition to selling on eBay she supplies tea stores in Taiwan) about light- and mid-roast wulong in Taiwan, and she says that it's actually fairly common over there; it's the standard for Dong Ding (more than once she has said something along the lines of a tea having the "Dong Ding flavor," referring to the style of roast).

My best guess is that they still like semi-roasted tea themselves, but count on the rest of the world liking the greener stuff.

[betta]

I can't remember exactly how many types of TGY I tried both directly in China or buying online. Despite whatever grade the vendors say about their teas, the fact is in the cup.
I've tried several grades of his TGY and I still have it with me now. To me, his TGY is obviously great in terms of price vs. performance. Of course it is subjective for each person. For me, I am looking for slow release but long lasting orchid aroma with subtle but not nutty-eggy taste in TGY. Of course the tea should last multiple infusions.