Taiwanese Oolongs, Spring 2013 Harvest

[Kabouterke]

Hey. Does anyone have any idea when the Spring 2013 harvest will be commercially available? I've found only found a small numbers of lesser-known Taiwanese oolongs available online, but it's my understanding that the teas are picked aroudn this time, right?

Specifically I am looking for the new season's Dong Ding... any tips where to find it?

Thanks for the help!

[Devoted135]

Origin Tea (http://www.origintea.net/oolong) has some already available that you could try, though I don't see a 2013 Dong Ding yet.

The vendor, SilentChaos is a member here and has mentioned that the weather has led later/smaller harvests than is usually expected so that could be why you are having trouble finding them. But I don't want to put too many words in his mouth, so maybe he can chime in.

[amaranto]

Tea from Taiwan also has several 2013 harvest teas available. I don't see any new Dong Ding yet, though last year's is on sale. It seems like a lot of Dong Ding is harvested in the winter. Could this be why?

Here is the link: http://www.teafromtaiwan.com/shop/loose-tea

[Joel Byron]

Dong Ding is also called Tung Ting by some vendors.

[茶藝-TeaArt08]

I know you mentioned Dong Ding Wulong but Tea Masters has a nice selection of other 2013 wulong teas available here: http://teamasters.blogspot.com/2005/07/ ... #comments/

Red Blossom has 2013 A Li Shan, Shan Lin Xi, and Wen Shan Baozhong tea here: http://www.redblossomtea.com/tea/oolong.html?p=1

Here they have Dong Ding 2013 soon to be available but the quantities (grams) are rather large, depending on how much you want: http://www.t-oolongtea.com/catalog.aspx ... b09ecfa98a

Here's this one, but no Dong Ding:2013 Spring Zhu Shan Jin Xuan Oolong, Hand-harvested.
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... 4d7c2df0a5

Here they offer 2013 Dong Ding wulong as well as many other 2013 teas:
http://www.theformosa.com/dongding-oolong-tea.php

[SilentChaos]

Origin Tea (http://www.origintea.net/oolong) has some already available that you could try, though I don't see a 2013 Dong Ding yet.

The vendor, SilentChaos is a member here and has mentioned that the weather has led later/smaller harvests than is usually expected so that could be why you are having trouble finding them. But I don't want to put too many words in his mouth, so maybe he can chime in.

Most Dong Ding has been harvested, processed and roasted already. A 2013 DD will go up later today.....though from what I have seen this season's DD is rather...not ideal.

[sherubtse]

Most Dong Ding has been harvested, processed and roasted already. A 2013 DD will go up later today.....though from what I have seen this season's DD is rather...not ideal.

So which are the ones to look out for this season, SilentChaos?

Thanks.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

[SilentChaos]

Most Dong Ding has been harvested, processed and roasted already. A 2013 DD will go up later today.....though from what I have seen this season's DD is rather...not ideal.

So which are the ones to look out for this season, SilentChaos?

Thanks.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

(I heavily qualify what follows as being based from my personal experience and perspective.) The problem with targeting specific tea regions in a season with terrible weather and harvesting conditions is that the average quality of tea from the region is lower, so the experience and skill of the processor becomes an even more critical factor. I would look out for specific batches and reliable processors who can adjust on the fly to maintain quality. That being said there are still general info to go on like the fact that a lot of SLX (not all) were harvested prematurely from mid to end of April, and that Spring rain started easing up a bit before the harvesting times of gao shans from roughly 2000m and upwards. I'm personally hoping that the sun will be shining throughout the beginning of June, the estimated harvest time of DYL!!

As for the OP, regardless of how any given new harvest is, if I must have roasted Dong Ding, I would bet on ones from last year, or even 2010, 2009.

[茶藝-TeaArt08]

Silent Chaos,

Good to know. Thank you for the informed opinion in response to sherubtse's post.

[KimChristian]

[ I'm personally hoping that the sun will be shining .

Huh...how come some (in the past reliable) vendors are offering this
year's DYL already ?

[SilentChaos]

Care to let us know which ones?

Over here in TW, the word DYL is used in two senses, one to refer to the DYL region, one to the actual mountain peak DYL. (What pu folks would call 'ZhenShan') The former sense is very broad. Some will include certain areas of Lishan as part of DYL and call that DYL. Although I don't like this practice, if the quality is up there then I generally turn a blind eye. I myself prefer to use the word DYL to refer to the actual DYL peak (which is of course not a single dot/point, just a smaller and higher region). And to be quite honest, not much of the tea from here has actually made it to the west in the past. I've seen countless offerings of DYL at prices which are below the wholesale price of the raw maocha/unroasted tea straight out the farms on the main peak. What you make of what I've just said, I'll leave up to you. Perhaps, I'm simply very ill informed.

PS Two days ago some very early dyl from 98K, which is almost at the edge of what is commonly accepted as the DYL Peak tea region, was harvested, but none of the main harvests are here yet.

[Bad Jedi]

[ I'm personally hoping that the sun will be shining .

Huh...how come some (in the past reliable) vendors are offering this
year's DYL already ?

I think you answered your own question .... (in past reliable)
In good case DYL will be available in week from now , I mean highest zhen shan, first 98k showed up two days back from now .

[sherubtse]

Very interesting insights, Tony. Many thanks!

Best wishes,
sherubtse

[Tead Off]

[ I'm personally hoping that the sun will be shining .

Huh...how come some (in the past reliable) vendors are offering this
year's DYL already ?

I think you answered your own question .... (in past reliable)
In good case DYL will be available in week from now , I mean highest zhen shan, first 98k showed up two days back from now .

Teafromtaiwan.com shows their DYL in stock for Spring 2013. Unless something has happened to them I wouldn't classify them as unreliable. I didn't talk to them personally, so I can't vouch if the tea is actually in their possession yet.

98K doesn't compare to good DYL. And, 105k is not the only good DYL. I think Tony's offering from winter was a great value, certainly way less than 105k and delicious.

[sherubtse]

98K doesn't compare to good DYL. And, 105k is not the only good DYL. I think Tony's offering from winter was a great value, certainly way less than 105k and delicious.

I have no clue what 98K and 105K mean, Tead Off. So perhaps you, or another knowledgeable TeaChatter, could explain.

Thanks.

Best wishes,
sherubtse