Romancing the Dream

Owes its flavors to oxidation levels between green & black tea.


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Jan 5th, '09, 21:15
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Romancing the Dream

by Herb_Master » Jan 5th, '09, 21:15

As the proliferation of online tea sites shows, and the rapidly growing number of increasingly educated members on Tea forums - the demand for quality oolong is increasing.

I don't know what the market statistics are showing but surely the cost of quality Oolong is likely to increase. Perhaps instead of promotiing our great discoveries we should be selfishly keeping them to ourselves.

A recent tea day topic concerned dreams, well I don't dream about tea - not at night whilst sleeping.

But sometimes whilst quietly mulling over my third infusion of an Anxi Ben Shan or a Yellow Leaf Dancong I do wonder IF ............

Taiwan seems far too developed in a 21st century sort of way, communication and marketing wise. Wuyi seems to be imitated to an excess and whether or not what is called Da Hong Pao is anything like the genuine article (whatever that is). But Fenghuang and Anxi County may just have possibilities.

.......... IF Only there is a master craftsman making tea just like his father and grandfather before him, but in a quiet backwater of a less fashionable village. Now this guy's tea is an elixir, but his neighbours make similar though not so good tea, and when the whole village's tea is purchased en masse, to bulk out a commercial blend, the elixir is diluted and lost to the world.

But then an opportunity occurs for the master artisan's tea to be made available in it's sublime unadulterated whole. The opportunity presents itself to me ......

and then the kettle tells me that it is time for my next infusion :arrow:

Jan 5th, '09, 21:27
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Re: Romancing the Dream

by edkrueger » Jan 5th, '09, 21:27

Herb_Master wrote: Taiwan seems far too developed in a 21st century sort of way, communication and marketing wise.
That is what is great about Taiwan!

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Jan 5th, '09, 21:59
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by Victoria » Jan 5th, '09, 21:59

That's a lovely dream. But how do I get it? A trade for some teaware?

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Jan 17th, '09, 20:32
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Dreaming the Romance

by Herb_Master » Jan 17th, '09, 20:32

I could have sworn when I placed the order, that this was an Anxi farmer whose niece was selling his products online from Hong Kong via ebay. Could this have been my dream supplier.

The web site now reveals that she and her husband run a tea shop (wholesale), and the tea that they sell online is from her husbands family.
We are big local wholeseller,now open business on ebay.check our real store pictures.
All the tea I am selling is from my partner’s family tea hill, and we drink the tea ourselves.
Check the certificate from local official.I am sorry it is in Chinese words.
Anyway two things that attracted me in the first instance still holds true.

The Tie Guan Yin comes in several grades
C
B
B+
Supreme
Supreme +

and the Supreme and Supreme+ come in attractive packaging :-
Tims with individual vacuum sealed bags inside.

here is the web site
http://stores.ebay.com/Rich-Barbarian

and here are my tins (supreme [red ]and supreme + [green])
Image
and here are the packets
Image

2 more days on DanCong - on Tuesday I enter my Tie Guan Yin phase!

In addition to RichBarbarian I have 5 other TGY, Mao Jie, Ben Shan and some 7cups Anxi Oolongs to get stuck into!

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Jan 17th, '09, 21:38
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by Victoria » Jan 17th, '09, 21:38

Wow, that's a lot to buy untasted.
I hope that you love all of them.

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by Chip » Jan 18th, '09, 01:03

... ooooooooo ... I thought I smelled Asian tins in the Oolong forum, sweet. (FYI, Herb_Master, my adoration of Asian tea tins is well documented on TeaChat).

If you tire of them, we could work out a deal.

I hope you enjoy the tea :!:
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!

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Jan 18th, '09, 06:01
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by Herb_Master » Jan 18th, '09, 06:01

Chip wrote:... ooooooooo ... I thought I smelled Asian tins in the Oolong forum, sweet. (FYI, Herb_Master, my adoration of Asian tea tins is well documented on TeaChat).

If you tire of them, we could work out a deal.

I hope you enjoy the tea :!:
They are not too expensive - full of tea - $9.99 & $14.99
Best wishes from Cheshire

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Jan 18th, '09, 06:06
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by Herb_Master » Jan 18th, '09, 06:06

Victoria wrote:Wow, that's a lot to buy untasted.
I hope that you love all of them.
Some of them have been sitting on my shelves for several months. While I have been having fun with Wuyi and Fenghuang. The Mao Jie, Ben Shan and 7 Cups Anxi I had several months ago and am pleased to return to. I have not got round to TGY yet, so on my pre christmas online teaware shopping spree whenever I found a vendor who was selling tea and ware - If I wanted some ware I would throw in a TGY to make up the order!
Best wishes from Cheshire

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Jan 18th, '09, 11:47
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by Victoria » Jan 18th, '09, 11:47

Heh, yeah I used to do that.
I learned to stop.
But till you get to that point, enjoy!

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Jan 18th, '09, 11:59
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by gingkoseto » Jan 18th, '09, 11:59

Herb_master, based on your recent intake dose of dan cong, I guess it will be interesting to see what you find out about TGY. I've heard quite some people saying that after dan cong, all other teas are tasteless :wink: If that happens to you, you can always go back to green or black tea for a few days and take a break :D

The rich barbarian's prices are pretty good. Definitely let us know what you think about them!

Oh, just noticed that they use Hong Kong EMS. If that's EMS speed, the shipping cost is not high at all. How long does it take for you to receive their tea?

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Jan 18th, '09, 13:15
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by Herb_Master » Jan 18th, '09, 13:15

gingko wrote:Herb_master, based on your recent intake dose of dan cong, I guess it will be interesting to see what you find out about TGY. I've heard quite some people saying that after dan cong, all other teas are tasteless :wink: If that happens to you, you can always go back to green or black tea for a few days and take a break :D

The rich barbarian's prices are pretty good. Definitely let us know what you think about them!

Oh, just noticed that they use Hong Kong EMS. If that's EMS speed, the shipping cost is not high at all. How long does it take for you to receive their tea?
About 4 days - over the new year holiday - I heard the Postman's Knock and thought it must be something that I ordered from the US before Christmas - Not at all - something like ordered late at night on 29th or 30th December and arrived early in the morning on 2nd Jan.
Best wishes from Cheshire

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Jan 18th, '09, 13:49
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by Herb_Master » Jan 18th, '09, 13:49

Chip wrote:... ooooooooo ... I thought I smelled Asian tins in the Oolong forum, sweet. (FYI, Herb_Master, my adoration of Asian tea tins is well documented on TeaChat).

If you tire of them, we could work out a deal.

I hope you enjoy the tea :!:
Chip, you will be demise, I am already collecting enough
....
....
....
I already have a large collection of Yixing teapots
a substantial haul of tiny cups, and faircups
an ever growing collection of Gaiwans
and 20 caddies and still growing [I just had to add the 2 Cranes that you alerted me to!]
I only have one Kyusu but if you keep posting pictures such as the Bizen Yohen
I would need several more :P


If I won the lottery
I would need to buy this one which I have fallen in love with
http://www.artisticnippon.com/product/t ... kyusu.html

and a selection of Royal Selangor pewter including Four Seasons and Four Gentlemen Tea Caddies
http://www.royalselangor.com/rs2/produc ... ctionID=87

....
....
....
And now you are tempting me to start collecting Tins

and what about the Tea Canisters that the tea comes in like my Malaysian bought TKY

Image

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by PolyhymnianMuse » Jan 18th, '09, 15:13

Herb_Master I am very interested in hearing how those TGY are. If they are even pretty decent I think I will have to order a couple tins :) I love how the tea comes in individual packages. How much tea is in each one of those little pouches?

Also, are they like most other tea vendors on ebay? Will they do business direct?

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Jan 18th, '09, 16:02
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by Herb_Master » Jan 18th, '09, 16:02

PolyhymnianMuse wrote:Herb_Master I am very interested in hearing how those TGY are. If they are even pretty decent I think I will have to order a couple tins :) I love how the tea comes in individual packages. How much tea is in each one of those little pouches?

Also, are they like most other tea vendors on ebay? Will they do business direct?
I did not enquire about direct custom, I am happy to let Ebay / Paypal act on my behalf.

They are however a Hong Based Tea Wholesaler, so may be open to direct business but I don't know what quantities they would deal in. On Ebay they sell in as small a sample as 5-7gm for $1.50. Off Ebay you may find they have a larger range of products.
Shippment

Shippment will be made within 24 hours after the payment(sometimes delayed,post office close for holiday) and takes about 7-15 days long with Hongkong EMS. Only ships to paypal verified address. Shippment could not be tracked on Hongkong post website,for i charges very low postage.(Actually if u want the shippment could be tracked with a track NO. ,contact me i will fix the postage fee for u.)

Payment and contact information

I accept verified paypal mostly,if u want to use moneybookers,contact me.

MSN or Yahoo rich-barbarian@hotmail.com or ebay message.


The lower grades are described as 'Summer Tea'
better drink before March.2010
and come in 250gm Vacuum Sealed bags.
Grade C $5.99
Grade B $5.99
Grade B+ $9.99

Supreme and Supreme+ come in Tins - 80gm each, 8 10gm vacuum sealed bags.
Supreme $9.99
Supreme+ $14.99

If you click on any Item in the Ebay listing to bring up the page for that item, you can scroll down to see differing info on the different items (though much is also duplicated)
Photos of the leaf, and shop, certificates of authenticity etc.

The heading for Supreme and Supreme+ ??says Summer Tea?? but the detail on the comparison leaf ??says
Tea of 2007 and 2008(the left one is before 2007 ,right is 2008 new spring tea,what i am selling now.)
and
Tea of lower quality and higher quality(the left one is lower quality, right is higher one,what i am selling)
She also includes brewing notes
Tea should be made with boiling water of 95°C+,
for Tie Guan Yin is half-Fermentation tea, not like green tea.

Drop the first water within 5 seconds,
then steeped in a cup or glass with cover for about 15 second.
Get the tea out for Enjoy.

Steep 8 times for A+ quality one, 5 for C+ quality.

Storage the tea in refrigerator to keep fresh.
It may be worthwhile asking her about that, possibly the ancilliary info on Ebay has not been updated since she was selling the Spring Tea.

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Jan 18th, '09, 16:04
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by Herb_Master » Jan 18th, '09, 16:04

Does anyone else store tea in the regrigerator ?

Is this only when a vacuum sealed bag has been opened ?
Best wishes from Cheshire

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