Translation for mystery oolong canisters?

[tingjunkie]

Any chance the engravings on these canisters mentions what tea is in them? These are some type of Golden Sail brand wuyi, but I'm curious what varietal. (If they are just lines from a sutra or something, don't bother with the translation, it's ok! ) Thanks!

[the_economist]

haha nice canisters...

The second one is just a poetic thingy: "during winter nights with guests, tea is as wine".

For the first one I have no clue what the first four words say, but the second line reads "qing xiang" as in light/clear fragrance so maybe a light roast oolong (this term is the one commonly used to describe teas with lighter roasts and oxidation). On the other hand, it might just be a generic phrase within the context of a poetic thing, like the second one. Pretty sure what's in the canister isn't light roast.

[wyardley]

Is there an outer box too?

[tingjunkie]

Thanks economist. You are right, no light roast here.

Sadly, no outer box with any writing wyardley. They came in a clear cellophane bag. On top was a round sticker which simply had the Golden Sail name and logo, and on the side was a rectangular sticker which read "Oolong Tea. 125g." in english. Super informative, right? I'm actually quite surprised there was so little info printed on these. At the very least, I would expect the varietal listed in Chinese. I bought a third canister which had "Special Choice Tie Guan Yin" or some such nonsense on the sticker, but the other two are definitely some type of Wuyi. Most likely Shui Xian and one of the other main types. Ultimately, it is what it is, but I like getting to the bottom of these things. Maybe there will be a nei fei waiting for me there, but I doubt it!

[wyardley]

Maybe you can post some pictures of the tea?

I might have posted this a while back, but I got a few canisters of Golden Sail brand Tieguanyin a while back from a store here in LA. The canisters (especially the big one) are very heavy duty; I'm guessing they're maybe late 90s / early 00s, but don't know for sure. Even compared to the pewter canister Sea Dyke Tieguanyin, this (surprisingly, to me), is a fairly light fired tea, with medium oxidation.

Not bad, for what it is, and the price was worth it for the canisters alone.

Second photo kind of shows the somewhat unusual design of the double-lid of the big canister.

[wyardley]

ps - I don't know if the different CNNP branches had a "standard" for the shape of the tin to the style, but for Sea Dyke, I think the shapes are somewhat tied in with the style of tea. For example, the bottom photo with the "flower" kind of shape, is usually Shui Xian.

http://whycollect.blogspot.com/2010/12/ ... brand.html

has a hexagonal tin that contains 过山龙 (guoshanlong - a type of yancha), however, I'm not sure if there are other Sea Dyke teas that come in hexagonal tins (Tieguanyin is in an octagonal tin).

[dim_aa]

Thanks economist. You are right, no light roast here.

Sadly, no outer box with any writing wyardley. They came in a clear cellophane bag. On top was a round sticker which simply had the Golden Sail name and logo, and on the side was a rectangular sticker which read "Oolong Tea. 125g." in english. Super informative, right? I'm actually quite surprised there was so little info printed on these. At the very least, I would expect the varietal listed in Chinese. I bought a third canister which had "Special Choice Tie Guan Yin" or some such nonsense on the sticker, but the other two are definitely some type of Wuyi. Most likely Shui Xian and one of the other main types. Ultimately, it is what it is, but I like getting to the bottom of these things. Maybe there will be a nei fei waiting for me there, but I doubt it!

I have seen these Golden Sail canisters in clear cellophane bags on Canal Street in Chinatown, NYC. I got one too. Is it the place where you got yours from?

[edkrueger]

Will, that link seems to not work.