Yancha lovers?

Semi-oxidized tea
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aet
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Sat Jul 25, 2020 9:48 pm

.m. wrote:
Sat Jul 25, 2020 10:27 am
*Obviously I'm speculating a bit here.
I think your speculation is heading right direction. You either open specialized shop and surround your self with particular clientele or run supermarket and get a bit from all. Being ultimate vendor is not the way I would like to go. I don't feel like to fight over customers who are fans of Ebay, TB, Amazon, Aliexpress or what ever other price driven platforms.
Thanks for the feedback!
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aet
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Sat Jul 25, 2020 9:57 pm

pedant wrote:
Sat Jul 25, 2020 3:26 pm
lately, i am not even drinking tea daily. when i do drink, i am usually going for memorable, attention-grabbing tea experiences.
  • 0.4usd/g: i have a lot of tea like this that i enjoy drinking
  • 1usd/g: i am usually reaching for stuff around here, but i don't have hundreds of grams of it stocked up
  • 3-4usd/g: i have some tea priced around here that i drink infrequently. special occasion tea.
  • 10usd/g: i've bought some sessions' worth of yancha like this. it's good stuff, but hard to say that i get more enjoyment out of it than stuff priced around 3-4usd/g. even 2usd/g can get me into "as good as it gets" territory. beyond that, i don't know that tea is objectively better, just different. something scarce in supply, made by someone famous, or showcasing something peculiar.
whether i'm getting my money's worth is a totally different question. prices in the west are somewhat inflated :lol:
aet wrote:
Sat Jul 25, 2020 1:10 am
1) what is the cheapest Yancha you have bought and was satisfied with price=quality? ( price, name, seller..if you want to name )
i don't expect to find worthwhile yancha at less than 0.3-0.5usd/g
aet wrote:
Sat Jul 25, 2020 1:10 am
2) what is the most expensive Yancha you have bought and was satisfied with price=quality? ( price, name, seller..if you want to name )
i'll pay up to $50 for an arresting tea session (~10usd/g). similar to what i'm ok with paying for a bottle of wine, though i've paid more.
usually, 1-4usd/g gets me there however.
aet wrote:
Sat Jul 25, 2020 1:10 am
3) what is the price and name of your YCH daily drinker?
i don't drink yancha daily, but i usually go for stuff around the 1usd/g mark.
Thank you! Very constructive answer. I also try to compare to wine when talking to clients about the price of the good tea.
Some people think that it's ok to spend 100$ for bottle of wine but not the same money on 357g tea cake of puerh.
So I react on that one : " the tea cake lasts more sessions and you can still drive your car home from tea party ;-) ".

Thanks again for your feedback!
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OCTO
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Sat Jul 25, 2020 10:50 pm

Oh boy.....
aet wrote:
Sat Jul 25, 2020 1:10 am
1) what is the cheapest Yancha you have bought and was satisfied with price=quality? ( price, name, seller..if you want to name )
None so far. Agree with the rest..... good quality yancha is never cheap, cheap yancha is never of good quality. The one that satisfies the tastebuds the most at a reasonable price point for me personally is my range of DaHongPao 大红袍, Rougui 肉桂 and GaoCong ShuiXian 高丛水仙 from SuiLianDong 水帘洞 area. This was purchased direct from the farmer.
aet wrote:
Sat Jul 25, 2020 1:10 am
2) what is the most expensive Yancha you have bought and was satisfied with price=quality? ( price, name, seller..if you want to name )
USD65/gram of LaoCong ShuiXian 高丛水仙
aet wrote:
Sat Jul 25, 2020 1:10 am
3) what is the price and name of your YCH daily drinker?
The three from SuiLianDong 水帘洞 at USD2/gram. I rotate my YanCha within the ZengYan area, price ranging between USD2 - USD10 / gram.

Cheers!!
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aet
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Sat Jul 25, 2020 11:57 pm

OCTO wrote:
Sat Jul 25, 2020 10:50 pm
Oh boy.....
aet wrote:
Sat Jul 25, 2020 1:10 am
1) what is the cheapest Yancha you have bought and was satisfied with price=quality? ( price, name, seller..if you want to name )
None so far.
thanks for your respond, I think that 1st. question was misunderstood. The cheapest here doesn't mean the one you have ever purchased , but the one you have purchased and was happy with it ( in that price range ) .

For example : 1) 0.5$/g - not satisfied , 2) 1$/g - satisfied , 3) 3$/g - satisfied

So here the answer would be 2 ) 1$/g ...although the cheapest one you have purchased was 1) 0.5$/g , but I'm looking for the answer of point 2.

cheers
Noonie
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Sun Jul 26, 2020 11:35 am

I haven't been drinking much Yancha of late, but I had a question and without wanting to hijack your thread...am posting here as it's somewhat related.

I read posts about how 'good/great' Yancha is very expensive and not a daily drinker for most of us. I understand. Though I was wondering what types of tea are both affordable and amazing. Of course it's all personal, but I'm sure of you have had a wide range of quality and price of different types of tea (Yancha, Dancong, High Mountain Oolong, Sencha, Gyokuro, Sheng, Shou, etc.). My guess is that a couple of these can be had at 8 out of 10 in terms of quality for far less $/g than other teas. For example, I don't think I've ever had amazing Dancong, but I've had aged Sheng and Sencha that were a bit expensive for my budget but really blew me away.
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Bok
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Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:01 pm

Noonie wrote:
Sun Jul 26, 2020 11:35 am
I haven't been drinking much Yancha of late, but I had a question and without wanting to hijack your thread...am posting here as it's somewhat related.

I read posts about how 'good/great' Yancha is very expensive and not a daily drinker for most of us. I understand. Though I was wondering what types of tea are both affordable and amazing. Of course it's all personal, but I'm sure of you have had a wide range of quality and price of different types of tea (Yancha, Dancong, High Mountain Oolong, Sencha, Gyokuro, Sheng, Shou, etc.). My guess is that a couple of these can be had at 8 out of 10 in terms of quality for far less $/g than other teas. For example, I don't think I've ever had amazing Dancong, but I've had aged Sheng and Sencha that were a bit expensive for my budget but really blew me away.
For me I’ve found still ok to pay for, but very good teas in Taiwanese Oolongs in general(but that is due to my location) and Dancong.

Mind blowing is never affordable. Kind of wouldn’t make sense that something like that should be affordable.
Ethan Kurland
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Sun Jul 26, 2020 8:22 pm

Noonie wrote:
Sun Jul 26, 2020 11:35 am
... I was wondering what types of tea are both affordable and amazing. Of course it's all personal,.....
Noonie, surely it is a "personal" matter & subject to change as each person is effected by by various events moment to moment. A tea could "blow me away" (as you would say) much more easily several years ago than it could today now that I have been drinking one to three liters of excellent teas daily for so long.

The first cup, especially the first two tastes of it, of each session will amaze me often but the wonder & surprise is often not there as well. So for me & others, it is difficult to make recommendations. Yet, it is hard for me not to try to steer people away from too much expensive exploration. I agree with Bok, that Taiwan provides a lot of flavor that is affordable. I feel like saying, "Start where you are likely to end up anyway."

From Taiwan's high mountains, lightly oxidized oolong & black tea please most people; &, if the most expensive are avoided, these teas are very good value for $. A few members here, including myself, have threads in the vendor section about such teas. (Start on the last pages for what is going on lately.)

Cha-qi like those obtained from a great pu-erh session, sometimes surprise one during sessions of other teas. It is not only the tea one drinks. How tea is drunk also matters. I quickly prepared several infusions of my cheapest gaoshan last week, pouring all of the infusions into a large teapot to use as a server before starting my quick sloppy enjoyment of 3/4 of a liter which gave me a tea high.

I am glad to read your concern about the cost of our hobby. Some of us have very limited income; some of us have people depending us. It is good to think about how much we spend to flavor water. (I keep basil leaves in a bowl in my fridge so I can easily grab some clean ones for cooking. I enjoy drinking that water as a sort "free" beverage).
Last edited by Ethan Kurland on Sat Aug 29, 2020 10:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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aet
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Sun Jul 26, 2020 8:52 pm

Noonie wrote:
Sun Jul 26, 2020 11:35 am
I haven't been drinking much Yancha of late, but I had a question and without wanting to hijack your thread...am posting here as it's somewhat related.

I read posts about how 'good/great' Yancha is very expensive and not a daily drinker for most of us. I understand. Though I was wondering what types of tea are both affordable and amazing. Of course it's all personal, but I'm sure of you have had a wide range of quality and price of different types of tea (Yancha, Dancong, High Mountain Oolong, Sencha, Gyokuro, Sheng, Shou, etc.). My guess is that a couple of these can be had at 8 out of 10 in terms of quality for far less $/g than other teas. For example, I don't think I've ever had amazing Dancong, but I've had aged Sheng and Sencha that were a bit expensive for my budget but really blew me away.
nope, you are not hijacking anything. In fact , I think your question fits right here though. Yes, it is personal thing, what is your daily drinker and what is your blow away stuff. That all depends not only on your budged but also what tea you have come across.
I've had some very good pieces ( puerh, DC, Ycha ) which I can not afford , neither would dare to put on shop and wait years for some customer buy it. Yet, it doesn't undervalue tea I drink, I like , I offer for sale . In fact , many times it assures me that I made a good decision / choice of selection in matter of price-quality.
In Yancha particularly the processing matters which is very much reflected in taste , that means , it is very easy make your own scale / measuring system on price-quality. Easier than puerh where other factors are involved.

One way how to systematically proceed for search on right tea for you is , pick the type / name of the tea and max. price you are willing to pay for it. Then sample vendors who offer that tea and compare taste/quality - price ( don't forget the shipping of course , because there is no free shipping , just marketing ). If vendor offers free shipping, check how much shipping fee would be for different product of similar weigh and character, then do your math.

It is a bit investment from beginning , but will help you to "learn how to swim" instead of asking for recommendations in certain groups and randomly failing.

Getting an idea about the market ( for you is the internet ) , you need to explore it . Google , key words, names of teas , time & patience .
Noonie
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Mon Jul 27, 2020 1:26 pm

Thanks @Bok @Ethan Kurland and @aet for the comments.

I already have my preferences and budget, and I continue to explore here and there with other teas. It was really just more about curiosity around price points for (subjectively) really good tea. I like Sencha and drink it almost daily, and I've had what I would call "daily drinkers' for $10/100g to $25/100g, and I've had $40-80/100g tea and while expensive, it was pretty amazing...but I've only had a few times in my serious tea drinking years. I've had samples of aged sheng that were very expensive, but I've found a price point for sheng/shou that fits my expectations and have only been disappointed a few times. As for other teas, I drink them less frequently and have been fairly budget minded as the tea I've had was good, not great, and because I didn't take to them as much I've not explored better quality / more expensive teas. One day, maybe :-)
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Tillerman
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Mon Aug 24, 2020 9:52 am

For what is is worth, I have found that I'm always farther ahead to buy better tea even if the quantity needs to be reduced to fit my budget. Certainly there are teas I cannot afford no matter the quantity but in general I prefer less tea of a higher quality than more tea of a more common quality. Yes, that means can't drink as often as I would like but it also means I rarely am disappointed when I do (except when I screw up the brewing). With yancha, it is definitely worthwhile to buy for quality, not quantity,
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OCTO
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Mon Aug 24, 2020 10:57 am

Tillerman wrote:
Mon Aug 24, 2020 9:52 am
For what is is worth, I have found that I'm always farther ahead to buy better tea even if the quantity needs to be reduced to fit my budget. Certainly there are teas I cannot afford no matter the quantity but in general I prefer less tea of a higher quality than more tea of a more common quality. Yes, that means can't drink as often as I would like but it also means I rarely am disappointed when I do (except when I screw up the brewing). With yancha, it is definitely worthwhile to buy for quality, not quantity,
Agree 100% .... not forgetting enjoying the brew with good tea brothers and sisters , completes the whole experience. It’s not just what is brewed, but also who you sip your cup with. Cherish the moments we have.

Cheers!!
faj
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Mon Aug 24, 2020 11:47 am

I agree that there is a quality/quantity tradeoff for all but the most affluent drinkers, and I would not want to sacrifice everything for quantity, for sure. There is something to be said for quantity, though, because tea is a pleasant companion to every day life. I would rather reduce the amount of tea per session, I think, rather than space out sessions in a significant way.
Tillerman wrote:
Mon Aug 24, 2020 9:52 am
Certainly there are teas I cannot afford no matter the quantity but in general I prefer less tea of a higher quality than more tea of a more common quality.
Out of curiosity, by "less tea", do you generally mean "sessions with a smaller amount of leaves", "fewer sessions", or a bit of both?
Tillerman wrote:
Mon Aug 24, 2020 9:52 am
Yes, that means can't drink as often as I would like but it also means I rarely am disappointed when I do (except when I screw up the brewing).
In a similar line of questioning, do you mean you limit your overall tea drinking, or that you reduce your number of sessions for some categories of tea that tend to be more expensive for a given quality level, and the rest of the time drink satisfying but less expensive tea?
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Tillerman
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Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:08 pm

Generally, I mean fewer, but more memorable, sessions. If a tea is satisfying, that is all that is needed. But, to play on a riff from the wine business: Life is too short to drink bad tea. Not all great tea is expensive and not all expensive tea is great. The price quality ratio is very important but there should always be a level below which you won't go just to get more sessions.
TeaZero
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Wed Aug 26, 2020 5:20 am

Tillerman wrote:
Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:08 pm
Not all great tea is expensive and not all expensive tea is great.
What's important to note is that expensive tea isn't always more expensive. If expensive tea also last more sessions, then it may end up being cheaper. The best example is to compare it on a per cup basis. If you do this, even fairly expensive tea is cheaper than a tea bag!
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Youzi
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Sat Aug 29, 2020 9:31 am

I tried quite a few of TXS's yancha in the past weeks.

So far, and especially with regards to RG, their higher end teas are better "value" for the money, than their cheaper teas. I think in the lower end Lazy Cat is leading with quite a big margin, in the price to performance game. Especially with their Rougui.
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