What is your favorite Wuyi

[Teaism]

I have been fortunate to been invited to drink an aged da hong pao cake (late 70s, early 80s, the owner doesn't remember, big thank you from here Tony ) which send me straight to the heaven realms. How pure was it? Who cares really, it was very nice and was loaded with good mature Qi. Aside from that, of all the wuyi teas I have tried I enjoyed the commercial DHP purchased from Postcard Teas and Bai Ji Guan from TeaSpring...if I have to pick one would be DHP.

The problem I find is accessing these teas online and catered to the Western market...how good are they compared to the ones found in shops in Chinese speaking communities in Asia (mainland China, Taiwan, HK, KL, etc.) is something I would like to know.

Has anyone done this comparison?

Hi Bagua7,
Great to hear that you have tried the old DHP. A good tea is a good that good for you. The name is just what the tea vendor told us.

I am on the other extreme. I have never buy tea online before. Just lucky that I am based in South East Asia and I travell a lot to HK, Taiwan, Malaysia, Spore and China. All the tea I have bought over the last 2-3 decades are from teahouse which I tasted before buying. Most people I know here buy from teahouse after thorough sampling and evaluation of the tea.

That has its advantages and disadvantages as well. Many teahouse have their way of presenting their tea from the very honest to the very unscroupulous ones. But I learned that, in tea purchasing and also in antiques, we should buy with our eyes and taste not with our ears. Most often than not, the stories of the tea they sell is far too convincing.

I usually buy a small quantity and evaluate the tea like a mad scientist before committing more.

Will try some online purchase in future for curiousity.

G'day to you mate.

[etorix]

ive got 10gm 2012 Zhenyan Bai Ji Guan from Buddha Country Cliff (佛国岩) up now, last of my 1st set of samples from fivestar

to be honest i dont have enough experience of Yancha to have a favorite yet, but this is good, ill have some more pls

and they have rou gui

ive also just ordered some special-offer rou gui from chineseteacompany

[bagua7]

G'day to you mate.

So, another Aussie hiding in here, huh?

What's your location? Let me guess...Singapore?

Lucky you, having direct access to the goodies of the Far East without having to rely on the lottery game that online sources really are. It is a nasty game, but so far so good even though I have bought tea that has ended up in the rubbish bin, unfortunately.

I don't buy Wuyi teas online anymore, these are the ones I have had the worst experience with. Postcard Teas was OK but not remotely close to that amazing old DHP. Today I still think of that tea.

Cheers,

Gerard.

[Teaism]

G'day to you mate.

So, another Aussie hiding in here, huh?

What's your location? Let me guess...Singapore?
.

Haha! Been to Aussie often enough to pick up your nice lingo.

Yes teahouses are abundant here and there are good tea merchants and bad tea pirate....

Those here are spoilt for choices but some still look into the prices and hear stories and end up with lousy tea.

For me always buy small qualtity and pair with the best I have e.g. my best Rou Gui vs the shop's. The winner will be promoted for next pairing. I will only buy if the tea taste better than my best, for that price range. This way we can accumulate better and better tea. Only through pairing then you can assess the tea correctly. Some tea taste good on its own but if you pair with better one, they taste awful.

Of course look at the tea leaves all the time, whether there are different type of tea leaves added, same colour, the bruising to assess the "kill green" process, the roasting/baking etc.. Also important to assess the additives. Sadly,there are shady ways of manipulating tea with coloring and frangrance, so we have to be careful. I will consider in future share some info of "method" on oolong and puer enhancement technique and how to detect them...but this is a very sensitive issue with tea producer....

G'day mate!

[bagua7]

Also important to assess the additives. Sadly,there are shady ways of manipulating tea with coloring and frangrance, so we have to be careful. I will consider in future share some info of "method" on oolong and puer enhancement technique and how to detect them...

It is unfortunate having to read this stuff. I suppose it isn't any different than any other unethical business practices that are prevalent in various sectors (fast-food, retail, etc.). Please feel free to share that information with us any time.

Cheers.

[Teaism]

It is unfortunate having to read this stuff. I suppose it isn't any different than any other unethical business practices that are prevalent in various sectors (fast-food, retail, etc.).

Cheers.[/quote]

Knowing this unethical practise exist is the first step in learning tea. I wouldn't say more but if you are aware, then your instinct is better tuned now.

I recalled in the early 90s the tea are really so good. A few ball of Lishan in Tenmuko bowl will fill the whole room with tea fragrance.

But fast forward to the present commercial borderless world, anything goes in any direction.

Anyway, back to the topic, I just have a nice Shui Xian. Usually I brew it only 3 times some times up to four. I will extract all the best and always look for a perfert cup, which usually happen in brew 2 or 3. I brew most Wuyi in traditional Chazhou style, using 70 or 80's Yixing teapot and the little chazhou teacup. It is quite a nice and peacful ceremony, with slight tension of creating that perfect cup.

For Wuyi, usually after 3 or 4 brew, you can put the tea leaves in cold water and put in the fridge and drink it the next day. You will get original Pokka tea.

Got to go back to brewing station for a nice 2002 Gedeng...

Have a nice day mate. Cheers!

[bagua7]

Cool, enjoy those tea brewing sessions.

So Wuyi is your "daily bread" kind of thing, is it? I am into Taiwanese high mountain oolongs in the warm months of the year and then switch to roasted oolongs in winter (mainly TGY).

Cheers.

[Teaism]

Cool, enjoy those tea brewing sessions.

So Wuyi is your "daily bread" kind of thing, is it? I am into Taiwanese high mountain oolongs in the warm months of the year and then switch to roasted oolongs in winter (mainly TGY).

Cheers.

Hi Bagua,

Taiwan high mountain tea is great I love the Dayuling but it is hardly available. I went to Taiwan last November and only managed to get 1 kg of it after testing many teahouses in Taipei . I also managed to fine a nice medium roasted TKY there.
I heard there is a lot of tea from China is being processed as Taiwan tea as the Taiwan high mountain tea is price higher. Not sure if is true but good to be more thorough in testing tea.

Yes Wuyi is one of my daily bread I have most of it except for the real Bai Chi Guan. I usually have at least 3-4 tea sessions a day and mostly consist of Puer,Wuyi,oolong and sometimes the exotic like Lapsang, or Be Louchun etc
But really good tea is really so hard to find nowadays. Many good tea drinker I know has crates of rejected tea after years of tea hunting but that is part and parcel of tea discovery and knowledge building. We need to go through the bad to know what is good.

Have a G'day mate. Cheers!