Hi from Irvine California

[yshuto]

I had been drinking inexpensive tea (Lipton) for a long time but when I had my first cup of Princeton, from Mariage Freres, it opened up a whole new world. I loved that tea but over the years, my tastes have changed and began to realize tea can get really expensive, yet I'm willing to spend the extra USD, JPY, or NT. I am also into oolong tea and have been buying oolong tea from the same shop in Taipei for over 15 years.

This past year, I was drinking Spring flushes of Castleton, Margaret's Hope, and Bloomfield. All are wonderful teas. Now that all of the above have run out, I purchased Abootia, Puttabong, Happey Valley, and my favorite Namring Upper. I've had Namring Upper, Happy Valley, and Ambootia last year and they were also wonderful teas. It will be my first time for Puttabong. Other teas I like are Queen Victoria, Darjeeling Imperial, Gisselle, Mont Cameroon (has become unavailable), Nile Rouge, and some teas from Thailand. All are imported by Mariage Freres. Now that Mariage has opened up their English website, you can purchase all the teas directly from Mariage Freres in France.

As for oolong, I always purchase the Kinmokusei-Arisan cha blend and also some first flushes of the Arisan-cha. Good thing about oolong tea is you can use the same tea leaves for up to ten refills.

Thanks for creating this site!

[Chip]

Welcome to TeaChat yshuto. I am looking forward to seeing you around the forum.

[Mrs. Chip]

Welcome to the forum, yshuto. Hope to see you around!

[nonc_ron]

I had been drinking inexpensive tea (Lipton) for a long time

Hi, Lipton is tea.
and I 'll defend your right to drink it.
Besides I like long post and your obviously good at it, I'm looking forward to reading many more.

[Victoria]

Hey neighbor, I'm right next door here in OC! Looks like we have several tea loves in common. High mountain oolong is my thing, but I love many teas from Mariage Freres and FF Darjeeling.

Welcome!

[yshuto]

Thanks for all the kind replies. Yes, sometimes I get a little long winded in my posts.

I buy all of my oolong teas when I visit Taiwan. The reason being, the shop I always go to lets me taste all of their teas, even their most expensive ones, before I make a purchase. I usually spend over an hour there drinking tea and talking to the shop owner since she speaks Japanese. Are there any places in OC where you can actually taste the teas before you decide to buy?

The quality and the sheer variety that Mariage offers is second to none. They offer more than 40 different Darjeeling teas. This year I purchased Darjeeling Spring Flush SFTGFOP1 of Castleton, Bloomfield, and Margaret's Hope. Each year, Castleton ranks higher than in the auctions than Maragaret's Hope, but I still prefer the unique taste of Maragaret's Hope. But there were all excellent. Light in color and a little delicate in taste (since they were Spring Flushes). Are there other shops that can match the quality and variety that Mariage offers especially in Darjeeling? I prefer drinking Summer Flushes during the winter.

I also like the High Mountain blue/green teas of Arisan. Have not been able to find any other shop that offers the Arisan cha mixed with a hint of Kinmokusei. The aroma of this type of tea is absolutely amazing. Since I stopped by both Japan and Taiwan during my trip to Asia, when I return to the states, my shelves will be once again be full with all types of teas.

[wyardley]

Are there any places in OC where you can actually taste the teas before you decide to buy?

Haven't been there myself, but there's Ten Li in Fountain Valley. Your source in Taiwan is probably better, but worth stopping by since it's fairly local.