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There was a huge discussion about a similar topic a couple days ago, have you checked it out? Oh wow, I hadn't noticed that recent thread. Ì've read it now, including your article about zisha. Very interesting, thanks! Usually there are two ways to go about Yixings: Would you recommend going the Fa...

I'm curious about, fascinated, and confused by clay teapots, and want to buy a "known good" pot so I can experience first hand what all the fuss is about. Whether or not I pursue the rabbit hole hobby of clay teapots will depend on my experience with this one teapot, so it's important that it's of a...

Do you remember the name of those Kyûshû Bancha? I don't think they had particular names, as it's something I would've remembered and looked into. I seem to recall generic packaging with no mention of source or even vendor, possibly with the name of the prefecture or similar unhelpful information. ...

Are there any reputable online vendors in Nepal or nearby (e.g. India) that sell high quality Nepali tea?

Does anyone know about vendors that sell sencha with different degrees of steaming, where the leaves from the same plantation and harvest have been used? I'd like to compare the difference in taste between asamushi and fukamushi (possibly chumushi), but without differences in cultivar, terroir, seas...

While most of the thread is about aging, I thought I'd add something about roasting as well. Ippodo's Iribancha with its smoky character was mentioned as an example of kyobancha. One Japanese tea vendor in Kyoto told me that the smokiness is a relatively recent phenomenon, and that kyobancha traditi...

Does anyone have experience with Taiwan Sourcing? How does it compare to other Taiwanese offerings?

I've had some lighter oxidised ball-rolled bug bitten tea which was also quite different from Oriental Beauty. Clearly bugs are not the only criterium for OB.

Both the non-bug bitten teas in my first post contain white tips, and at least one of them is a spring picking (the other is unspecified), which confirms your suspicion. There seems to be at least some precedence for calling such teas Bai Hao, like this Bai Hao Spring Special from Thailand. I haven'...

Is Bai Hao the generic name for this type of tea, with the bug bitten summer picking having the additional "nickname" of Oriental Beauty?

That's simple enough for sure. Do you know what the Chinese term is as well?

That's true, I should compare them some day!

But anyway, heavily oxidised oolong doesn't have a particular name in the tea community/industry then?

I would call that black tea. I'm a bit confused. They have about the same level of oxidation as Oriental Beauty, and similar character (except for the peculiar sweetness caused by bugs). Does that mean you consider Oriental Beauty a black tea as well? I guess it's a matter of definition, but since ...

I've seen Western oriented vendors recommend anything between 2-7 minutes for oolong (including baozhong), but I'm not sure about the leaf ratio. There's no correct way, just experiment until you're happy with the result!

Is heavily oxidised oolong which is not bitten by bugs a "thing" in Taiwan? I guess less honourable vendors would try to pass it off as Oriental Beauty, but there are others who sell tea that looks a lot like Oriental Beauty (white tips and all), but there's no mention of bugs, like the imaginativel...