San Lin Hsi (Cedar Grove Tea) organic oolong?

[bongoman]

I came across San Lin Hsi (Cedar Grove Tea) organic oolong here and seemingly reasonably priced at $40 for 300g.

Anyone familiar with this tea? I've purchased some out of curiosity as am wanting to gravitate to organic teas as much as possible.

At that price I'm hoping it could make for a nice daily oolong.

Any clues appreciated.

[Margules]

I've never had that tea or done business with that company before, but several things make me feel uneasy about them. First of all, they are an obvious commercial business with a .org domain, which is usually not a good sign. They also, despite selling very expensive tea, never actually show any pictures of the leaves.

After looking around a bit, I noticed that they sell several items almost identical to those at other shops, but at drastically inflated prices.

For example compare:
http://www.oolong-tea.org/shop/shopexd.asp?id=61
with
http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... roduct=340

My guess would be that the tea is fine, but you overpaid.

[Victoria]

I agree. The first place I look is at the teaware and prices.
They seem way overpriced, which makes me wonder about the tea also being overpriced, or it could be a lost leader.

If you just bought tea, and it turns out to be good tea, then
you got lucky.

[Tead Off]

I happen to personally know these people and can vouch for the quality and integrity that they bring to their teas. I can't vouch for the pricing of their teawares, though. They seem excessively marked up. They have a strong following amongst health practitioners as the founders are very well known in the field of Chinese medicine. I have drunk some of the teas and will order their Bao Zhong as it is organic. All of their teas are organic, I believe.

The Cedar Lake tea is very good. Also very limited as the typhoon wiped out large chunks of the tea farms. Seems like a good price to me but I agree they are generally overpriced. Pick and choose carefully and don't buy any of the teawares as you can do much better elsewhere.

[wyardley]

Keep in mind that this is just a non-standard transliteration of 杉林溪 (Shan Lin Xi). I wouldn't say you overpaid, but I would say that at $40 US for 300g, this is most likely not actually what it's said to be, especially considering what they're charging for some other items on that store.

[bongoman]

Thanks for the replies.

I just realised there's more on this tea in the recent newsletter from the seller:

The plantations of Pine Grove Stream range from altitudes of 1,200 meters up to 1,800 meters, and the higher they lie, the denser the mist, and the higher the price for the tea that grows there. The San Lin Hsi tea on our menu is harvested from bush that grows at 1,500 meters and up, and thanks to a personal introduction to one of the most reputable plantations there, we managed to get a supply at favorable cost, as reflected in the price of this fine tea on our menu. At $40 for 300 g (half catty), this is probably the best buy on our menu now. I just bought five catties, and I’m drinking it as I write.

The main varietal grown on these precipitous plantations is Classic Oolong, along with some Golden Lilly. San Lin Hsi tea is known for its “smooth thick” foretaste and “cold mineral” aftertaste. The tea introduces itself on the palate with an intensely sweet flourish that carries a rich fruity bouquet, then dissolves and leaves a dry alkaline aftertaste lingering in the mouth. Its fresh floral flavor makes it a very good choice first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, when it can transform even a grey winter dawn into the first day of spring. If I had to pick one tea to introduce the quintessential taste of tip-top Taiwan High Mountain Tea to someone who’d never tasted it before, I’d pick a tea from San Lin Hsi…

I'm still curious and will await the arrival of the order in a positive manner.

[Margules]

Honestly, that newsletter isn't making me feel much better.

He spends five paragraphs talking about the cheap little gaiwan set I posted a link to, which he has marked up to almost eight times the price yunnansourcing sells it for.

The way he explains how most of the $84.50/150g tea was destroyed in the typhoon and then mentions the tea you bought is pretty much classic "door in the face" marketing.

Anyway, good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

[gingkoseto]

Could it be because the website aims at Australian market (learned from "about us" of the website), which is pretty much a sellers' market for tea and tea ware?

[Tead Off]

Gingko, I should try to clarify something about this tea seller for all. The founder, who writes the newsletter, lives in Dali, Yunnan and is no longer involved in the actual running of the business, so he says. It belongs to his sister in law who is from Taiwan. They used to live in Australia so that is where the connection lies but the business should be centered in Taiwan.

My 'advice' for those that are interested, is to simply try their teas and then you can judge if the teas are expensive or not. Most of the posters here don't really know anything about tea and tea production in Asia. They think if a tea has the same name it must be the same grade, etc., and that price is the deciding factor for them. There are teas that never see the light of America and never will because it is all bought up by the local population. These teas are expensive. Organic teas will be even more expensive, especially if they are particularly high grade and expertly processed.

We also hear how expensive Hojo's teas are. But, many claim they are very high grade and superior to most. It's very simple, if you can't afford it, don't buy it. No one is twisting anyone's arm.

BTW, can I send you some chop marks to translate for me? Please?

[teaskeptic]

If those travel sets really are the same, then that is ridiculous.

[gingkoseto]

BTW, can I send you some chop marks to translate for me? Please?

Sure, no problem! You can either post it or pm me. I don't guarantee knowing every word though

I didn't mean to blame the seller. What I meant to say is, if the price is high and the business runs, there must be a reason. The shan lin xi price is not high at all if the tea is good. But some of the tea sets are very expensive even if they are good.