Recommendation for great everyday (budget) Formosa oolong

[skywalker]

I have had teas from "Mei Shan" which I suspect is the same as what you spelled "May Shan" -- I thought this was more or less equivalent to "A Li Shan" -- do I have that right? As you can see, I'm basically an enthusiastic neophyte.

Cheers.[/quote]

You are right, the location of Mei/May Shan is very close to A Li Shan.

[skywalker]

've always wondered about these "champion"/"competition"/"winner" teas that many of the ebay stores will carry, atleast a few of... They just don't seem like they are priced all that high as most of them are around 300g tins. What kind of standards do those teas have? How are the judged? and further what should I expect from them?[/quote]
Well, iti is hard to explain.
In fact, there are many competitions by gruop, by area, or by different organizations.
You have to vertify where the champion tea is from.
According to the local competion rules, every farmer need to submit 20 catties of tea. (about 12 kilograms), I don't think it is a large amount, on the contrary, it is pretty few. If the volume is huge, champion tea will be cheap. Competition tea need to pay more labor and time to make it.
I beleive some vendors will buy the competetion tea to mix with other second tea. (Hardly use champion tea).
Could the farmers do it upside down to take a competion? The answer is very clear.

[GeeFreeman]

I wonder if tea is like wine, in that you can find a good inexpensive bottle of wine...

If so, I posted elsewhere about a formosa oolong that I really liked from Strand Tea Company that is their "Choicest formosa Oolong". I know little of the esoterica of tea, only what suits my particular palate... And the things I don't like are smokey teas. This tea is amber colored, with no smokey flavor. I would say for my taste buds it is "clean" tasting, refreshing I would call it... My humble .02¢ YMMV

[towerofdabble]

If so, I posted elsewhere about a formosa oolong that I really liked from Strand Tea Company that is their "Choicest formosa Oolong".

At $22.95 a pound it's cheap but the description is vague and there's no picture so I have a very hard time imagining what it's like or that it's what I'm looking for -- which is light-to-medium roasted jade oolong, not "oriental beauty" -- I should have stated that at the beginning.

Strand describes their "choicest Formosa oolong" as being "a Teahouse tea from South China" -- not sure what that means. Do they consider Taiwan to be South China? Or is it Taiwanese tea that's drunk in South China tea houses? Or South Chinese tea in the Bai Hao style?

[skywalker]

I just have seen the statement, in my opinion, it is a " Formosa style" tea from south China.
Many Taiwanese farmers have invested tea industy in China and Vietnam. It is not suppried that they still use the name of formosa tea, but this is indeedly very confused.
A good deal does exist, but need to try. Oolong tea is not as popular as wine or coffee, I think it is hard to find many sources except the producing countries.
An elder told me, decades ago, it was very easy to find high quality tea, but the climate and environment had changed. Global warming, over-development, chemical fertilization...
Thanks God, when we find a good tea.

[gingkoseto]

I highly recommend this travel gongfu teapot!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Easy-TEA-MAKER-Glas ... 240%3A1318

Mine is not from zen8tea, but it looks the same. It's very convenient for making oolong. The one in zen8tea is 500ml. I prefer 300ml. It will generate a small space of around 130-150ml on the top to go for gongfu style, and allow tea water to be accumulated at the bottom. zen8tea price is very good, especially if it's "kimjove" brand (they didn't label the brand name so I don't know).

[towerofdabble]

Just bought a big can of "Royal Oolong" "Kao Shan" from Taiwan at a Chinese grocery store here in Philly. It's ho-hum, dark roasted, lots of broken bits and twigs and is quite drinkable but not great.

Oh well, what did I expect at less than a dollar an ounce?

[ABx]

...what I'm looking for -- which is light-to-medium roasted jade oolong...

Did you give zen8tea a try? That's exactly what she sells most of - light to medium roast wulong, and at very inexpensive prices. I've had four of her light/mid roasted wulong now, and they're all fantastic. My experience with light/mid roasted wulong of this sort is limited (not zero, but I haven't had a real wide variety) but it's easily heads above ones I've paid two to four times as much for. The Lugu Dong Ding and the Shanlinxi are both outstanding.

As a quick update to my previous/initial post on the Shanlinxi and Dong Ding, the bitterness I got in the first time I tried them has never returned. That day was a terrible tea day - all my teas were coming out terrible. Since then I have yet to get any bitterness from them at all. Even on bad days they still come out satisfying and interesting. I do think that maybe there's a little bit of bitterness after first opening - possibly due to being vacuum packed shortly after roasting - but this dissipates quickly and gives way to a wonderful full and complex roasting that doesn't seem to kill off the nicer aspects of a fresh jade (but rather enhances them). I can't wait to try some made from a tea with much better aroma than anything in 2008. I'm even starting to think that I much prefer the light roasting to a completely jade wulong.

[towerofdabble]

...what I'm looking for -- which is light-to-medium roasted jade oolong...

Did you give zen8tea a try?

Yes, I ordered 5 150g bags of tea from them...750g for around $60 shipped: pretty darn good!

They arrived on Wednesday and I have only opened one: the Li Shan which is very nice! Yet to try: "Four Seasons," "Fragrant Wulong," Dayuling, and Alishan.

Thanks for the tips guys. I think this place was a good find!

[Salsero]

I will surely try them out next time I need some Taiwan tea. Thanks, guys, for sharing the info.

[ABx]

...what I'm looking for -- which is light-to-medium roasted jade oolong...

Did you give zen8tea a try?

Yes, I ordered 5 150g bags of tea from them...750g for around $60 shipped: pretty darn good!

They arrived on Wednesday and I have only opened one: the Li Shan which is very nice! Yet to try: "Four Seasons," "Fragrant Wulong," Dayuling, and Alishan.

Thanks for the tips guys. I think this place was a good find!

Ah, heh, I just went back and saw that you did indeed post that Well I'm glad you're enjoying them

If you haven't opened them you might considering doing so (assuming you're planning to try them in the near future) - just open it, leave it open for a min or two (like you would if you were brewing it), and then clip it closed or put it in a tin or whatever you do. I think that might improve it a bit for when you are ready to brew it.

[PolyhymnianMuse]

...what I'm looking for -- which is light-to-medium roasted jade oolong...

Did you give zen8tea a try?

Yes, I ordered 5 150g bags of tea from them...750g for around $60 shipped: pretty darn good!

They arrived on Wednesday and I have only opened one: the Li Shan which is very nice! Yet to try: "Four Seasons," "Fragrant Wulong," Dayuling, and Alishan.

Thanks for the tips guys. I think this place was a good find!

If you haven't opened them you might considering doing so (assuming you're planning to try them in the near future) - just open it, leave it open for a min or two (like you would if you were brewing it), and then clip it closed or put it in a tin or whatever you do. I think that might improve it a bit for when you are ready to brew it.

Thats pretty interesting ABx I'll have to start doing this to all the oolongs that I buy from now on. I plan on ordering from zen8tea aswell. The owner seemed very nice when I emailed them and suggested what I might enjoy based on what types of things I'm looking for.

I am hoping to hearing what anyone else has to say about this vendor and the tea they sell.

[Libertatis]

Am I reading this correctly? 150g of DaYuLing for $17? Can anyone confirm the quality of this tea? The price seems INSANELY low for such a tea. If the Quality is good i would definitely like to know!

(I am guessing this must be the lowest grade DaYuLing produced to reach such a firesale price)

[Tead Off]

Am I reading this correctly? 150g of DaYuLing for $17? Can anyone confirm the quality of this tea? The price seems INSANELY low for such a tea. If the Quality is good i would definitely like to know!

(I am guessing this must be the lowest grade DaYuLing produced to reach such a firesale price)

You bring up a very good point. I usually pay in the neighborhood of $70 per 150g. But how will the poster know if it is good if he has never had a top grade DYL to compare with?

To the OP: Get your Taiwan oolongs out of the bags and into clay tea caddy's or at least tins. Wait a day or 2 and you will smell and taste a noticeable difference. In fact, try to do that with all oolongs.

[gingkoseto]

I don't have idea about above-mentioned DYL. But so far personally I don't believe there is DYL at such low price. The Taiwan homepage of teahome sells DYL for about $40 per 150g. Teahome has a reputation of low mark-up in Taiwan, so I guess that price is quite close to the lowest one can get in market. That is Taiwan price, and the shipping to US is steep.

There is a mainland China vendor with very good reputation who sells DYL at just about $17 per 150g (price in Chinese market). I guess the tea is of high quality and is worth more than its price (because it looks nice from the photo and other customers didn't complain), but I don't believe it's DYL, simply because there shouldn't be so much real DYL in market to allow this price.

Other than that, I saw some DYL, which I believe is reliable, sold in mainland China for $70 per 150g and that is already a lot less expensive than others. This tea was made by a Taiwan tea farmer with a family reputation, so it's understandable why it's much more expensive than teahome's.

Compared with these a few figures, my guess is, the $17 tea is not a bad one if the vendor is reliable, but it may not be a DYL at all.