Recommend a tea Vendor

[Herb_Master]

Thank you Herb_master for your tips. I'll be placing a big order from dragon tea house to buy all the necessary tea wares ( since I've just moved and I couldn't transport my previous ones).
Is there any tea worth ordering from them? In that case I could include it in the shipping. I got relatively acquainted with oolongs in the last year but I only stuck with a few of them like TGY and Da Hong Pao. I would also like to start tasting pu erh but I honestly don't know where to start.
Speaking of shipping... Has anyone tried combined shipping? How much can one approximately save compared to normal (single items) shipping?

once again, thank you for your precious help

How many questions - combined shipping is calculated by Gordon after you have ordered everything - don't press the ebay pay button until gordon has raised a combined shipping order - if he does not do it within 15 hours send him an ebay message requesting a combined shipping quote

Pu Erh - is not my forte - try asking in the Pu Erh threads if anyone can recommend a DTH Pu Erh order for beginners

Oolongs are different most of Gordon's are very good value medium to high quality. They may not be as good as some really top notch suppliers but are invariably a LOT cheaper. That being said one of our TeaChatters (Oni) absolutely raves about DTH TGY Nonpareil and says it is the best TGY he has had [and he appears to have a very discerning tongue for anything greenish].

I would personally recommend you try one of Gordons Dan Congs they are not as good as Imen's at TeaHabitat but can be a third of the price. Dan Cong is supposed to be difficult to brew but I have had few problems with DC from either Imen or DTH and Dan Cong is definitely something all oolong lovers have to try - it is a completely different beast to Wuyi, Anxi or Taiwan. Rather than make any specific suggestion I suggest you just pick one at random (Wuyi, and Dan Cong) there are rarely any bad ones with DTH to see what you can discover - then let us all know.

[Herb_Master]

Thank you Herb_master for your tips. I'll be placing a big order from dragon tea house to buy all the necessary tea wares ........
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..... Has anyone tried combined shipping? How much can one approximately save compared to normal (single items) shipping?

once again, thank you for your precious help

Big orders are not always beautiful

I don't know what the french customs tariffs are like but in the UK chinese tea on it's own carries no tariff and small gifts carry no tariff but if the package I order from china carries only tea I am OK or if the supplier mentions teaware to the value of £40 I am OK, or if the vendor marks it as tea even if it contains valuable teaware I still get charged nothing

But if the Vendor accurately describes high value teaware on the export slip I get charged more import duties than post and carriage would ever cost for 2 or 3 smaller deliveries.

Gordon tends to label his export slips in favour of the customer but you may wish to exchange a few ebay messages with him about the order if it is a really big one.

Once in a blue moon Customs will actually open the package to verify the contents, this is more likely in the UK in case of a large package.

with about 30 orders from China under my belt I have only ever had one opened and no damage was done, but I have heard horror stories from US Teachatters -

[Oni]

In my country I always need to open my package in front of a customs officer, this is a good advice that you open your package in the post office, and take a camera with you, in the worst case when something gets broken take a photo of it and do not take the package, write an e-mail about the misshap and send the picture, all the reputable shops refund you or if you use EMS the package is ensured, once I got a Tachi Masaki teapot completely broken, and they sent me a brand new one, although I had to wait a month.
The Nonprail stuff from DTH is great, I cannot say the same thing about the other stuff, but I am comparing it to the best like Shen Yun TGY from Teaspring (super expenceive TGY), or Wanling`s top offerings.
DTH is a good place to start your adventure.