Unknown Tea - Deciphering Chinese or Tea Type problems pt 1

[Herb_Master]

Before I can start opening newly arrived teas to compare online with fellow members

I have Oolongs arriving through the door twice a week right now, and I am itching to try them, but I still have samples and free gifts unopened because I don’t know what they are. I feel I must get round to finishing off some of my older possessions before launching into ever more new ones. Can anyone help me identify these.

I bought some Yixing at a small tea shop in Pangkor Island. I felt guilty about not buying any tea off him especially as he had just treated us to a 30 year old Puer from his private collection - but because of the purchases we did make he gave us a few free samples.

Can anyone tell me what they are ?

A small Green Packet and a Small Red Packet (girlfriend has the others)

Small Green Packet



Small Red Packet



They both look like the ideal size for just 2 brews each in a small Gaiwan - any suggestions!


Also - not a gift - but something which it was suggested in a Kuala Lumpur tea shop I might like following my reaction to the free tastings I had participated.
And it is probably noy even Oolong so excuse me for posting it here but - but anyway

It is called Teo Chew tea and the favourite tea of Chao Zhou and Fenghuang so it it is not removed from Oolong regions.

Can anyone enlighten me on Teo Chew tea?




Thank you in advance for any help with these Chinese Characters

[greenisgood]

i'm a very new chinese student and might be wrong but...

the green package says qiu wang which directly translates to autumn king.
the red package says chun cha wang which directly translates to spring tea king.

im not sure about the "king" business (maybe ti guan yin's?) but it makes sense about the seasons.

[greenisgood]

i'm pretty sure the last one is a bai ye phoenix oolong. i figured out one of the characters and googled it. this one matches the name.

http://www.imperialtea.com/Bai-Ye-Phoen ... -P810.aspx

[gingkoseto]

i'm a very new chinese student and might be wrong but...

the green package says qiu wang which directly translates to autumn king.
the red package says chun cha wang which directly translates to spring tea king.

im not sure about the "king" business (maybe ti guan yin's?) but it makes sense about the seasons.

Yeah, it looks like the "king" thing discussed in some other post probably last week. They name some teas "kings". The green or red package doesn't say anything about its oolong variety. But probably the retailer mainly carries just one variety, and this is the "king" of that variety, one spring tea, one autumn tea.

The second one just says Feng Huang Dan Cong. It doesn't say Bai Ye which is one variety of Feng Huang Dan Cong. I guess in southeastern Asia out of China, many people have dan cong in more traditional way, and they don't always put dan cong in specific categories such as Bai Ye, Mi Lan, Ba Xian...

I like the picture on the tea can

[Herb_Master]

Very helpful anyway - I know that it may be worth treating them like a Dan Cong.

I wonder if anyone has ideas on how to brew ChaoZhou Teo Chew

[thanks]

I think Teo Chew is just an English way of saying Chaozhou, often referring to the dialect. I could be wrong.

[lydia]

I am from China. Greenisgood is right. Normally we call good level tie kuan yin as king tie kuan yin and we have spring king and autumn king. Spring king is tender and lighter while autumn one is stronger and thicker, but both are nice. The tin is feng huang dan cong tea from Chao Zhou, Guangdong China. It belongs to oolong teas. Feng huang means Phoenix, which means the tea is from Phoenix mountain in Chao Zhou. Teo chew means dan cong. Dan means single, cong means bush. So this single bush is a very special oolong tea planted in Guangdong province rather than Fujian China.

[Salsero]

Teo chew means dan cong.

Mystery solved!

Is that Chao Zhou dialect?

[lydia]

Very helpful anyway - I know that it may be worth treating them like a Dan Cong.

I wonder if anyone has ideas on how to brew ChaoZhou Teo Chew

To brew dan cong oolong, Chao Zhou people use very traditional Chinese way. To simplified the step, I just give you a rough idea. First they put hot boiled water into the gai wan, both ceramic and procelain tea set are workable. Wash the gai wan and cups with the hot water. Second, put dan cong tea leaves into the gai wan, normal the Chao Zhou people will put lots of leaves, almost full of the gai wan. Then put the hot boiled water into the gai wan and cover with lid. After 1-2 minutes they take the gaiwan with lid and pour the teas into severl small tea cups come and up. So as to make every cups the same taste. After drinking, they will repeat the above steps such as washing and brewing.

[lydia]

Teo chew means dan cong.

Mystery solved!

Is that Chao Zhou dialect?

I think this is the foreign way of saying Chinese words, like tie kuan yin and pai mu tan etc. Actually in China we call it tie Guan Yin and bai mu dan. There is a little difference from outside and inside China.

[Herb_Master]

Very helpful anyway - I know that it may be worth treating them like a Dan Cong.

I wonder if anyone has ideas on how to brew ChaoZhou Teo Chew

To brew dan cong oolong, Chao Zhou people use very traditional Chinese way. To simplified the step, I just give you a rough idea. First they put hot boiled water into the gai wan, both ceramic and procelain tea set are workable. Wash the gai wan and cups with the hot water. Second, put dan cong tea leaves into the gai wan, normal the Chao Zhou people will put lots of leaves, almost full of the gai wan. Then put the hot boiled water into the gai wan and cover with lid. After 1-2 minutes they take the gaiwan with lid and pour the teas into severl small tea cups come and up. So as to make every cups the same taste. After drinking, they will repeat the above steps such as washing and brewing.

Fantastic to have someone from Guangdong on the forum. Welcome indeed.
Thanks for your help, and great info.

Does Guangzhou have almost identical tea culture and tea practices as Shantou, Chaozhou and Meizhou - or are there minor or more signicant differences?

I read somewhere that Shantou and Chaozhou had their own micro-culture distinct from the rest of Guangdong! It may have been when I was reading about ethnic minorities, are the people from Chaouzhou 'She' people or are the 'She' people still largely to be found in the mountain areas, like Fenghuang.

[Salsero]

Fantastic to have someone from Guangdong on the forum. Welcome indeed.
Thanks for your help, and great info.

+1

[gingkoseto]

Fantastic to have someone from Guangdong on the forum. Welcome indeed.
Thanks for your help, and great info.

+1

+2

[lydia]

Does Guangzhou have almost identical tea culture and tea practices as Shantou, Chaozhou and Meizhou - or are there minor or more signicant differences?

I read somewhere that Shantou and Chaozhou had their own micro-culture distinct from the rest of Guangdong! It may have been when I was reading about ethnic minorities, are the people from Chaouzhou 'She' people or are the 'She' people still largely to be found in the mountain areas, like Fenghuang.

Guangzhou, Chao Zhou and Shantou are all belong to Guangdong province. So the culture is similar. But Chao Zhou and Shantou are more traditional. The people there only use gai wan and small cups to brew gong fu teas always. Guangzhou is a more modern city than Chao Zhou and Shantou. There are many people move to Guangzhou. So the way of brewing teas depends on different kind of people. For example, the north people will only use glasses to brew green teas and jasmine teas. The south people will use creamic teapot for tie kuan yin. The cantonese, of course, use the same gai wan and mini cups for teas as the Chao Zhou and Shantou people. At the moment many Chao Zhou and Shantou people will go outside. So the "She" people is not only in the Fenghou mountain area, but also everywhere in Guangdong and Fujian provinces.

[Chip]

Fantastic to have someone from Guangdong on the forum. Welcome indeed.
Thanks for your help, and great info.

+1

+2

Speaking of TeaMeets (elsewhere), I had the pleasure of meeting Lydia at the Expo. She introduced me to some of her Chinese contacts, I introduced her to Den and Japanese tea.

Very interesting post, Lydia.