OriginTea interview

[Chip]

Here is an insightful interview with Tony (TC's vendor/member SilentChaos) of http://www.origintea.net/ by James (TC's jschergen) of http://teadb.org.

Enjoy with a cuppa Gaoshan!

http://teadb.org/origin-tea/

[ethan]

Thanks, Chip. I hope others read it. What a pleasure to see how Tony is serious, competent, & not greedy. As he suggests in the interview, I tried many samples of his teas to help me comprehend & enjoy the different characteristics of the same type of tea grown at various heights by different farmers. Also, the interview was conducted by someone equally informed & serious.

[Devoted135]

Yes, thanks for posting this! Very informational, I really enjoyed reading it.

[茶藝-TeaArt08]

Chip,


Thank you for the link. I really appreciate Tony's perspective on tea and tea in Taiwan!

[amaranto]

Thanks for sharing. That was a great and informative interview.

[jayinhk]

Having met Tony, I know he is definitely very serious about his tea. Glad he's in the business because he cares deeply about tea, knows quality and is in the right place to get the best of the island's offerings!

There's a lot of crappy tea sold in TW, and it's a minefield for someone who doesn't know their way around the tea game. It's a blessing to be able to buy from someone who is willing to sample widely to find the good stuff. The interview was an enjoyable read for sure.

[Peacock]

Yes, very enjoyable to read as well as Tony's perspective. Thanks Chip.

[bagua7]

http://teadb.org/origin-tea/

Thanks Chip!

From that interview:

1. "In my discussions with Tony, he outlined two different types of tea people. The first type see tea primarily as an agricultural product and focus on tea farming, the craft of tea-making, and tasting. The second type see tea primarily as a medium for art and spirituality."

Very interesting. I never heard of the second type. Would that make a real difference in the end product (tea)?

2. "Some western buyers are quite worried about not receiving genuine Taiwanese teas from vendor. The same worries are here locally."

Hmm. How often does this happen? Should we be concerned about it?

[Tead Off]

http://teadb.org/origin-tea/

Thanks Chip!

From that interview:

1. "In my discussions with Tony, he outlined two different types of tea people. The first type see tea primarily as an agricultural product and focus on tea farming, the craft of tea-making, and tasting. The second type see tea primarily as a medium for art and spirituality."

Very interesting. I never heard of the second type. Would that make a real difference in the end product (tea)?
I
2. "Some western buyers are quite worried about not receiving genuine Taiwanese teas from vendor. The same worries are here locally."

Hmm. How often does this happen? Should we be concerned about it?

For point one, it would depend on your point of view. If you are impartial and not influenced by these kinds of statements, then the tea will tell you what is good.

2nd point is that most of the online vendors that we deal with are buying directly from the farms or local distributors. Teas that are coming from Thailand and SE Asia are usually not found with these vendors and are primarily used by big distributors that are on a commercial level. There may be exceptions but I trust guys like Tony, TFT, etc.

[SilentChaos]

http://teadb.org/origin-tea/

Thanks Chip!

From that interview:

1. "In my discussions with Tony, he outlined two different types of tea people. The first type see tea primarily as an agricultural product and focus on tea farming, the craft of tea-making, and tasting. The second type see tea primarily as a medium for art and spirituality."

Very interesting. I never heard of the second type. Would that make a real difference in the end product (tea)?

I was referring to drinkers and people in 'tea culture' in the broadest sense possible.