Source for Da Yu Ling?

[wyardley]

The main thing I've noticed about dayuling is that virtually every vendor claims their DYL is the real deal, and has some reason why [other vendor's] cannot possibly be.

The most honest vendors may admit that it's "from the same neighborhood".

[Bok]

A good indicator is the price. Most of what I’ve seen on webshops is way too cheap to be the real deal… (if I put the prices in relation to teas from the other regions and elevations).

[茶藝-TeaArt08]

The most honest vendors may admit that it's "from the same neighborhood".

This is what I like about Philip of TTC. Knowing him personally and having sat in his house with his wife and family in Taiwan drinking tea, I can say that he is an immaculately honest person in my experience and purposely lists that TTC's Da Yu Ling is from a farm in the "neighborhood." In fact that's why you'll see "Meishan" and "Sancenping" teas listed on TTC. Part of his personal project is to make these terroirs and teas more known and he has a sincere passion for Taiwan and tea; plus, marrying into a 4th generation tea family certainly doesn't hurt one's tea experience.

After seeing this thread, I opened the Winter 2014 95K Da Yu Ling tea from TTC the other day and poured it. These last months I have been primarily drinking autumn and 2015 First Flush Darjeeling and Nepalese teas, as well as sheng puerh. It was nice to return to some Gao Shan. The tea, for my preference and taste is very nice. It was a bit shocking to be hit by such a great huigan after so much time away. For me, it's a good tea and I emailed Philip to let him know.

I don't personally think of Alishan tea as any lesser tea than the other terroirs. In fact, I was in the tea house in Taiwan this winter the day when all the fresh teas were delivered. By far one of the best, if not the best, Gao Shan tea I drank that day was the Alishan Ruili wulong tea (In fact I bought the tea that day and brought it home): sincerely, it was superb! But indeed, one can generally very clearly notice the difference between a Lishan tea and an Alishan tea. We play this game all the time in the tea house. We are given 5 dishes of unnamed tea leaves. We are asked to identify processing method, the oxidation level, whether there is any baking or roast, which floral, which sweet, and which terroir, etc. The Alishan teas do indeed tend to identify themselves right away!

Once again, I'm gonna plug the Yunnan Sourcing US Winter competition Ali Shan as an excellent Gao Shan that will challenge the myth that Ali Shan is third-tier Gao Shan.

I saw the Yunan Sourcing Alishan tea and a tea friend that started working for Yunan Sourcing's U.S. operation reviewed the tea. It has intrigued me ever since; but I have yet to purchase it and give it a go.

Blessings!

[BioHorn]

The most honest vendors may admit that it's "from the same neighborhood".

This is what I like about Philip of TTC. Knowing him personally and having sat in his house with his wife and family in Taiwan drinking tea, I can say that he is an immaculately honest person in my experience and purposely lists that TTC's Da Yu Ling is from a farm in the "neighborhood." In fact that's why you'll see "Meishan" and "Sancenping" teas listed on TTC. Part of his personal project is to make these terroirs and teas more known and he has a sincere passion for Taiwan and tea; plus, marrying into a 4th generation tea family certainly doesn't hurt one's tea experience.

After seeing this thread, I opened the Winter 2014 95K Da Yu Ling tea from TTC the other day and poured it. These last months I have been primarily drinking autumn and 2015 First Flush Darjeeling and Nepalese teas, as well as sheng puerh. It was nice to return to some Gao Shan. The tea, for my preference and taste is very nice. It was a bit shocking to be hit by such a great huigan after so much time away. For me, it's a good tea and I emailed Philip to let him know.

I don't personally think of Alishan tea as any lesser tea than the other terroirs. In fact, I was in the tea house in Taiwan this winter the day when all the fresh teas were delivered. By far one of the best, if not the best, Gao Shan tea I drank that day was the Alishan Ruili wulong tea (In fact I bought the tea that day and brought it home): sincerely, it was superb! But indeed, one can generally very clearly notice the difference between a Lishan tea and an Alishan tea. We play this game all the time in the tea house. We are given 5 dishes of unnamed tea leaves. We are asked to identify processing method, the oxidation level, whether there is any baking or roast, which floral, which sweet, and which terroir, etc. The Alishan teas do indeed tend to identify themselves right away!

Once again, I'm gonna plug the Yunnan Sourcing US Winter competition Ali Shan as an excellent Gao Shan that will challenge the myth that Ali Shan is third-tier Gao Shan.

I saw the Yunan Sourcing Alishan tea and a tea friend that started working for Yunan Sourcing's U.S. operation reviewed the tea. It has intrigued me ever since; but I have yet to purchase it and give it a go.

Blessings!

I would like to second Tawain Tea Crafts. Last year I sampled quite a number of their teas. No seller sells only stellar teas. They had a much higher than average proportion that were winners.

Maybe a bit off topic, but their roasted teas were high quality and a great buy.

[Bok]

What I noticed in Taiwan is that people do not seem to care too much about the specifics of where a tea comes from. Not many people talk about cultivars, Farms, or specific range of ABC mountain.

You simply go to the teashop of your trust and they know you and let you sample a few teas and you decide which one you want to buy.
The question they most likely ask you is “Which price range of Alishan/Lishan etc. do you want? I always get weird looks if I want to know more details… As far as I understood the names serve more as an indice to elevation, quality and processing, rather than accurate descriptions. I think this perfectionalism and accuracy on terms is something more European/Western, Taiwanese do not seem to be bothered by it too much.

Where I buy most of my tea, they almost only sell Lishan as they have their farm there, but in that single farm they have a variety of different qualities and flavour profiles. Usually the price increments by roughly 300 NTD from one grade to the next. I found it sometimes astonishing how different teas from the same place and maker (and price) can taste.

Maybe that all adds to the confusion in our western eyes, when we deal with Tea from Taiwan…