The meaning of 'Dan Cong' - vendor disagreement

[Tead Off]

I am not comfortable paying this amount of money for tea which is not brewed before me, not that I dont trust the vendor but it is the case I am lousy at brewing tea and very often the same tea which I have tasted at the shop doesnt taste the same at home. I can never bring out the aroma which I have smelt and tasted in the shop. Please recommend some places where I can taste the great dancong you did in HK. Me, I am from the lion city. Do you know any HK vendors that sell online? I shall be in Xiamen next month and am trying to find out the dates of the tea fair they are having in October. There is another fair in Shenzhen in December which should be a better time to have tea but it would probably be too much for me.

In HK, you can go to Lokcha Tea located on the steps going up to Man Mo Temple from Queen's Road to Hollywood Road. This is in the Sheung Wan district of Central. It is run by a Japanese woman whose name I forget.

[Hot Tea]

Hey, Oolong Wang, I guessed right - we are in the same city. Any suggestions for good place to buy DC here?

[wh&yel-apprentice]

You are talking about Chinese people 100 years ago. There has been some changes to their economic and social development since that time. Nowadays after the reforms its 向钱看 which means something like looking at the direction of the money.


I am not comfortable paying this amount of money for tea which is not brewed before me, not that I dont trust the vendor but it is the case I am lousy at brewing tea and very often the same tea which I have tasted at the shop doesnt taste the same at home. I can never bring out the aroma which I have smelt and tasted in the shop. Please recommend some places where I can taste the great dancong you did in HK. Me, I am from the lion city.[/quote]

According to 39steeps Steven, he thinks the DC are more forgiving of errors, inexperience in brewing than other teas. At any rate, to duplicate *exactly* what a tea shop or any other place a tea is brewed, you must replicate all parameters, as a tea is definitely going to be different just going from gaiwan to ChaoZhou tea pot. So question is, if tea brewed in shop is different, try to figure out why? At any rate, Imen's teas are expensive but being sold as 1oz size for the most expensive DC's they are already almost 'sample' sized. You try it, and if you like it you buy more, 1oz is not going to last someone very long if they really like it, no matter how many teas you have in your 'collection'

Now recalling better from my other post here on TC about the 'Stump the Chump' (blind tasting in 3 different vessels) tea tasting experiment Imen did on us a few Sundays ago, it was the new Wu teapots she has that she seems to prefer most, those are thicker walled, bring out more depth/body in the tea, as well as complexity. I was not completely sold on this, as both I and the woman seated next to me were fooled by the 2nd infusion where Imen switched the order on us, and we both liked the 2nd infusion done in the gaiwan best. Different, not necessarily "better". All depends on preferences. The pastry chef sitting to my right, was certainly of the same opinion that the Wu teapot was his favorite too. And yet, the Wu teapot infusions brought out (much) more tannins from the teas, both commercial and higher quality old bush, think it was the Eight Immortals (Ba Xian). Heh, well Ba Xian was one of the many teas I had earlier on, somewhere in the middle of the day I had Imen's special private stash tea she was serving to everyone...and I knew it was the wrong time to taste it, got lost in all the others, I could not appreciate it...I'm not worthy

*edit* now I see Imen's latest post addresses the above tea 'challenge', though I think Imen left out some important details, those locally should ask for the same type of comparison, if she is willing

http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2009/ ... s-and.html


This is newer thought, from beyond the July 39steeps interview.

Many questions, some of Herb_Master can be answered by listening to the 39steeps interview with Imen. Particularly changed meaning of Dan Cong historically, starting @18min into the interview. High elevation old bush DC is harvested once per year, only one season, whereas lower elevation is harvested most of the year.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/39-Steeps
^I recommend clicking on link in right side window (to the right of the 'blogtalkradio' icon, for the iTunes 'podcast'... 24MB size file to download, 1 1/2 hr interview.

Imen mentions "auction" price for a single lot of ginger flower flavored DC going for $7,000USD per 1/2 Kilo = $400/ounce! At that price, here in Los Angeles, where there are more MJ dispensaries than Starbucks, we could just as well buy weed, lol! More bang for the buck... so to speak (better value ).

Other questions could be found by carefully reading through her blog. More

[OolongWang]

Post deleted out of respect and at the request of Imen.

[Salsero]

At that price, here in Los Angeles, where there are more MJ dispensaries than Starbucks

[OolongWang]

Hey, Oolong Wang, I guessed right - we are in the same city. Any suggestions for good place to buy DC here?

Where you can get it, it is of very low quality.

A relative in Penang brings me some higher quality stuff which he gets from a wholesaler now and then. You are welcome to drink it together. Where is your usual spot?

[Imen]

I am happy to share what I know about Dan Cong as tea itself and tea culture related information, excluding business related information.

Thank you all for your support and interest in knowing Dan Cong!

Imen

[OolongWang]

. .

[Imen]

Oolongwang,

Apology is not necessary! Your enthusiasm for supporting DC's authenticity is admirable. And thank you for understanding!

[Chip]

Imen, welcome to the forum.

Oolongwang, please provide an English language translation whenever posting in a language other than English so everyone can read and appreciate your comments. Thank you.

Chip
TeaDrinker who happens to Moderate.

[Intuit]

He apologized and asked for her forgiveness in Chinese. He said so in English also in his post, but you, Mod, can check it with Google Translate in about 10 seconds.

[Chip]

He apologized and asked for her forgiveness in Chinese. He said so in English also in his post, but you, Mod, can check it with Google Translate in about 10 seconds.

Thank you, yes, I am aware of translators, but every forum reader should not be expected to translate. It is best for the poster to provide both. It is in fact in the forum rules, but more importantly, it is simply a courtesy and a show of respect to everyone.

The translation should clearly be positioned or (*) so all readers are able to follow along.

But enough on this ...

[Imen]

Imen, welcome to the forum.

Hi Chip, thanks for the warm welcome!