Is this the same tea? Variable label SeaDyke Ti Kuan Yin

Semi-oxidized tea
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debunix
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Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:16 pm

I ordered this tea:

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which per the photo looks like my daily drinker since forever in the red tin version.

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But what arrived is packaged so differently, in a cardboard box with a plastic bag inside, still loose-leaf and not bags, and with a very different logo:

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that it's got me questioning: is this an updated packaging but still the same reliably drinkable tea, or is this the cheaper version that I've read about elsewhere?

It's scorchingly hot today and I am not going to be up for a formal head-to-head tasting and would like to return the boxed tea unopened if the answer is clearly that this is the lesser version.
Sea Dyke produces a range of TGY for sale. They are available either packed in paper boxes, tea bags or in a larger tin (with the tea prepacked in smaller packets inside). This Ti Kuan Yin I have.....I call it the red tin version for easy reference....is considered the slightly better grade of TGY. Going for about US$12 per tin, you get 125 grams of TGY encased in an double lidded tin. If you work out the math, this would indicate about US$96 per kg pricing for this tea. The paper box version are cheaper and goes for about half the price of this red tin version.
Chadrinkincat
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Sun Aug 16, 2020 8:02 am

These shouldn’t be the same tea.
.m.
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Tue Aug 18, 2020 5:04 pm

debunix wrote:
Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:16 pm
The paper box version are cheaper and goes for about half the price of this red tin version.
The price of the golden paper box is on par with the yellow paper box, somewhere around $2.50, substantially cheaper then the red tin.
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debunix
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Wed Aug 19, 2020 1:51 am

Thank you for the clarifications. I have done a little head to head at work (a/c on higher in the office) and it seemed a bit thinner and lacking in depth.
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debunix
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Sat Sep 19, 2020 12:52 pm

I did a couple of head to head tests with the two teas, and the gold label tea is just....thinner. Less body, less earthy depth, with the same quantity of tea in porcelain gaiwans. And I found an old carton (the tins don't have the bar codes) to verify different SKUs on the barcodes--no surprise.
200919 Ti Kuan Yin  - 2.jpg
200919 Ti Kuan Yin - 2.jpg (560.69 KiB) Viewed 2664 times
200919 Ti Kuan Yin  - 1.jpg
200919 Ti Kuan Yin - 1.jpg (795.32 KiB) Viewed 2664 times
Now that I've had a chance to compare them, and got a reply from the seller claiming they were selling tea with the top barcode--6901049101045--when they were shipping tea with the bottom barcode--6901049102004--which was just compounding the error, I'll name the shop, Posharp store.
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