Can't decide between tea vendors for oolong

[idler]

hi everyone, i've been trying to decide where to buy tea and it's all overwhelming.

i've been looking at http://www.norbutea.com, http://www.jingteashop.com/ (probably next place), http://www.dragonteahouse.biz/, and http://yunnansourcing.com/

i'm mainly looking for oolongs (dancong/anxi) and whites, and blacks would be nice too but they aren't a priority. which would you guys rec?

[bonescwa]

Whose dancong have you tried so far?

[Misou]

Ive been very pleased with the quality of tea from Yunnan Sources.
Though, honestly, Ive not made many purchases from many vendors for comparison.

[CWarren]

EDITED

[debunix]

Norbu has a variety of teas from different regions, though not as many from any single location as other sellers who specialize more. I've also ordered from Jingteashop and Yunnan sourcing--particularly enjoying their Imperial TGY after Norbu stopped carrying his 'Diamond Grade' TGY. The range of price and quality are greater--the goods more variable--from YS, in my experience, than the others.

I've ordered most recently from Norbu, and among his current teas I can recommend his 2013 Song Zhong; any of his Alishan oolongs--from the traditional roast to the most delicate green teas; the charcoal roast Lao Cong from Taiwan; the traditional TGY from 2009, now slightly aged; and the 2013 Jin Guan Yin may be losing a bit of the peak freshness, but since they're vacuum packed, I've enjoyed his spring teas well into the next summer and fall on occasion.

I can't remember which Wuyi I ordered from Jingteashop, but I know I got at least one or two and they were excellent.

[idler]

Whose dancong have you tried so far?

it's the one verdant has in stock now, bought an ounce of it to try dancong

http://www.origintea.net

Everyone praises their oolong here. I absolutely love the red jade. Plenty of time to get some good tea in before the doors close end of June. Tony, the owner is an awesome person to do business with as well. Some nice yixing pots for sale too.

CWarren

will definitely consider, thanks.

Ive been very pleased with the quality of tea from Yunnan Sources.
Though, honestly, Ive not made many purchases from many vendors for comparison.

yeah they seem quality, i think im going to hold off on them until i get into pu-erh though.

Norbu has a variety of teas from different regions, though not as many from any single location as other sellers who specialize more. I've also ordered from Jingteashop and Yunnan sourcing--particularly enjoying their Imperial TGY after Norbu stopped carrying his 'Diamond Grade' TGY. The range of price and quality are greater--the goods more variable--from YS, in my experience, than the others.

I've ordered most recently from Norbu, and among his current teas I can recommend his 2013 Song Zhong; any of his Alishan oolongs--from the traditional roast to the most delicate green teas; the charcoal roast Lao Cong from Taiwan; the traditional TGY from 2009, now slightly aged; and the 2013 Jin Guan Yin may be losing a bit of the peak freshness, but since they're vacuum packed, I've enjoyed his spring teas well into the next summer and fall on occasion.

I can't remember which Wuyi I ordered from Jingteashop, but I know I got at least one or two and they were excellent.

thanks!


now my choices are down to jing tea shop, norbu tea, and origin tea. most likely jing or origin.

[the_economist]

I don't know if Origin has Dancong but if you're into green oolongs, their gaoshan is top notch.

[debunix]

I forgot to mention--I just made a large order form Origin tea, trying to get some more of the lovely offerings before they're no more.

[MIKE_B]

I have been pretty happy with most of the dancong I've tried from Jing's. At that price point they are very decent. Teaurchin carries just a couple of DCs, but they are also worth trying.
Origintea specializes in gaoshan and puerh. But I've had a Wuyi from him that were very good and Tony (Silentchaos) is a good guy and an active member here.
Wasn't thrilled with any oolongs I've had from YS, but they're pretty cheap.
I have yet to try Norbu or DTH.

[idler]

i think i'm going to do orders from both origin and jing, as they both specialize in different types of oolong. what do you guys recommend from origin?

[Tead Off]

hi everyone, i've been trying to decide where to buy tea and it's all overwhelming.

i've been looking at http://www.norbutea.com, http://www.jingteashop.com/ (probably next place), http://www.dragonteahouse.biz/, and http://yunnansourcing.com/

i'm mainly looking for oolongs (dancong/anxi) and whites, and blacks would be nice too but they aren't a priority. which would you guys rec?

2 vendors here in Asia that specialize in Dancong and other Wulong teas are teahong.com in Hong Kong and jkteashop.com in Guangzhou.

[Risdt]

If you order from origin I can recommend the Lishan Cui Feng (Havent tasted the winter one but Tony says it's even better than the spring). If you like your tea a bit greener, the DYL's are a must try.

His charcoal high fire anxi(great for stuffing your pot) and traditional highfire lishan are also subleme, the latter one being my all time favourite.

[puerhking]

I'll second JKteashop.com. Their dancongs are very nice and you can buy samples or even a dancong sampler with 10 for 35.00. I've also had good luck with Dragon tea house and Jing. Yunnan sourcings are pretty good but not a lot of offerings.

[miig]

Yeah, its certainly a good thing to try a number of sellers - most of them have their own preferences, some of them wich will suit you better, some won't! Also, the shops are made up quite differently - that will tell you a lot about their policies if you know what to look for. If you don't, and really want to know - sample, sample, sample.

And some more thoughts:

- the samplers from JK are really nice - since they contain 10 sorts or more it gives you a lot of info how different Dan Cong or Wuyi Oolongs can be! Also I like their information policy, even though the sale staff is quite anonymous.

I'd also mention teahong.com - they got a very nice selection of Oolongs and a quite unique way of classifying them.

And one more thought on the subject: I've tried my way through in the last months and am missing one thing quite a lot: Clear and abundant information about the production background on the teas I buy. That is for me the thing that might really tie me to a vendor: To get trustworthy information about:
- who produced the tea
- that they were paid appropriately
- how old the trees are
- that the production methods were ecologially sustainable (as far as I can see, its virtually impossible to find good quality Dan Cong which was produced without chemicals, since these teas easily sell on the chinese market anyways)
- and so on.. you get the idea

That kind of info is really hard to come by... and where it is present, the question arises how reliable it is. Just to give some examples:

Tea Urchin - Visit in Mang Zhi (sorry, that one's about Pu'erh. Its just that kind of information that excites me... and I just believed it to be reliable because the Urchin has a good reputation here - of course I'm totally dependent on other people to judge on that)

Or, to get back to oolong:

EoT - Handmade Organic TGY
they also do have pages where they present their teamakers, and they also do have a good reputation, so I believe them. Of course, both these stores do sell premium quality.. stocking up on that tea will hurt your purse.

I also adore Leo Kwans oolongs: Tea Hong - Oolongs
Not so much info about the teas here, but I just believe that he's authentic and wants to sell really good tea, for example judging on the basis of the effort he puts in his free info page teaguardian.com.

So, as far as I can see, it is possible to find tea that is somewhat organic and fair trade and as a bonus, tastes nice.
It just isn't possible to drink that every day. So thats what I'll be looking out for - a vendor who can provide a tea for everyday which I can actually afford.

I hope that the more knowledgable tea drinkers around here add some info to put my very incomplete impressions into perspective.

[kyarazen]

I don't know if Origin has Dancong but if you're into green oolongs, their gaoshan is top notch.

we should do some tea sample swap