Taiwan tea vendors

[.m.]

Wistaria Tea House in Taipei, has a shop now in Paris Wistaria Paris. You can order oolong with international shipping from the parent shop in Taipei.

Thank you!! Just checked them out, they have some great options!

I can highly recommend to visit them in Paris when you have a chance. Maybe you can also shoot them an email to see what teas they sell (I have their cart but i'm lazy to take photos of it...)

[Ethan Kurland]

There are lots of Taiwanese tea vendors out there. I've had good experiences with Bok and Ethan Kurland here on TeaForum, both of whom sell high-quality oolongs with minimal astringency. ...

I only take orders for tea from people in the USA & Canada. Officials in Europe I emptied packets of tea after ripping packages open or cutting them carelessly. Europeans have received mail w/ almost no leaves left in the packets; so, I stopped sending precious tea for customs officers to dump on the floor or take to their homes. (It took hard work, luck, & the kindness of a man who hardly knew me, for me to find my sources for most excellent tea. Such tea should not be wasted.)

(Europe is not the only offender. When I take flights out of the USA, candy, pain-relief creams, etc. are stolen from my luggage when it is inspected at Logan airport, Boston.)

[Teafortea]

Wistaria Tea House in Taipei, has a shop now in Paris Wistaria Paris. You can order oolong with international shipping from the parent shop in Taipei.

Thank you!! Just checked them out, they have some great options!

I can highly recommend to visit them in Paris when you have a chance. Maybe you can also shoot them an email to see what teas they sell (I have their cart but i'm lazy to take photos of it...)

I just did and they sent me their list!! You guys are awesome! Will do an order tonight. Thank you so much!

[Teafortea]

There are lots of Taiwanese tea vendors out there. I've had good experiences with Bok and Ethan Kurland here on TeaForum, both of whom sell high-quality oolongs with minimal astringency. ...

I only take orders for tea from people in the USA & Canada. Officials in Europe I emptied packets of tea after ripping packages open or cutting them carelessly. Europeans have received mail w/ almost no leaves left in the packets; so, I stopped sending precious tea for customs officers to dump on the floor or take to their homes. (It took hard work, luck, & the kindness of a man who hardly knew me, for me to find my sources for most excellent tea. Such tea should not be wasted.)

(Europe is not the only offender. When I take flights out of the USA, candy, pain-relief creams, etc. are stolen from my luggage when it is inspected at Logan airport, Boston.)

That is crazy and sad:( . I’ll be back in the USA soon, I’ll keep in mind to do an order when I settle. There is a lot of « fun » French postal stories I can share, not to mention the high customs fees I have to pay for every order I receive

[GaoShan]

There are lots of Taiwanese tea vendors out there. I've had good experiences with Bok and Ethan Kurland here on TeaForum, both of whom sell high-quality oolongs with minimal astringency. ...

I only take orders for tea from people in the USA & Canada. Officials in Europe I emptied packets of tea after ripping packages open or cutting them carelessly. Europeans have received mail w/ almost no leaves left in the packets; so, I stopped sending precious tea for customs officers to dump on the floor or take to their homes. (It took hard work, luck, & the kindness of a man who hardly knew me, for me to find my sources for most excellent tea. Such tea should not be wasted.)

(Europe is not the only offender. When I take flights out of the USA, candy, pain-relief creams, etc. are stolen from my luggage when it is inspected at Logan airport, Boston.)

That's awful. I complain about how expensive it is to buy tea in Canada, but it's worse in the EU. I agree, your tea should not be wasted.

[Teafortea]

Wistaria order arrived and their Lishan was the top! Wow. Thanks for the recommendation. I have a question: some other lishan I have ordered from one different company, develop a slight bitter taste by 6th infusion. With wistaria I’m on 7th roast and not even a hint of bitterness, only butter floral creamy. My 5 year kid is having tea with me and keeps asking more more . What causes the bitterness on some other tea in the last infusions?

[TeaTotaling]

Wistaria order arrived and their Lishan was the top! Wow. Thanks for the recommendation. I have a question: some other lishan I have ordered from one different company, develop a slight bitter taste by 6th infusion. With wistaria I’m on 7th roast and not even a hint of bitterness, only butter floral creamy. My 5 year kid is having tea with me and keeps asking more more . What causes the bitterness on some other tea in the last infusions?

Hi, @Teafortea

Could be a higher tannin count in the material or possibly processing differences.

I was actually putting together a small order to try some offerings from Taiwan Sourcing as I am an Oolong lover, as well. How does your drinking experience with them compare to others that you have sampled.

[Ethan Kurland]

What causes the bitterness on some other tea in the last infusions?

Could be a higher tannin count in the material or possibly processing differences.

Reminders: 1. understanding why is probably less important than knowing which teas to buy from whom; 2. if one does not empty his teapot thoroughly when pouring out infusions, some water may stay in the pot for all of the infusions leading to bitterness.

Years back when I was trying to get myself to pay a lot more for top quality gaoshan (much more $ than what I was paying for tea that was not so much lower in quality but much lower in price), I was lucky enough to witness a tea vendor testing & assessing dayuling from quite a few sources. As well as coming from various farmer/producers, dayuling was separated by what time of day it had been harvested etc.

I was disconcerted by my observation. The tea was pushed very hard: leaves were steeped many times for long-lasting infusions; &, the main concerns seemed to be durability & aroma. I saw eyes & noses working, not mouths (no drinking). Obviously, I did not understand nor appreciate the work of teamasters & all of the steps.....

Leaving out most of the story, ultimately the biggest surprise to me, is that for many buyers, bitterness that I feel ruins tea drinking (totally overwhelming other flavors, pleasant mouthfeel, etc.) is not a problem. Also surprising, is that the dayuling chosen by my source to sell to such buyers, was most expensive & not for sale except in small quantities, though it was very bitter. (Of course, some of us would find perfect teaware, water, & parameters to reduce bitterness, not me.)

Long story, short: One does well to find a vendor who is on the same wavelength, so to speak. One man's "sweet" may be another man's "bitter"; "unami" can mean so many things. Exchanging emails & speaking on a phone, makes more sense to me than buying several dayulings or lishans from multiple vendors. (For efficiency, I mean, I wouldn't knock someone who is enjoying the shopping, sampling, etc.)

One seeking his ideal lishan, might find what he wants easily, except it might be called by another name. If one asks me for the very best lishan good for many, many infusions; he should end up w/ my foushoushan. If LS is needed that has a tag on it saying "Lishan", perhaps 6 infusions should be enough (though mine does not get bitter, the leaves do get weak). If one does not need the LS tag & cares about price, he should buy my shanlinxi.

I'm serious but moving towards silly, It's so hot today in Boston & my building's central ac conked out. Cheers.

[debunix]

One does well to find a vendor who is on the same wavelength, so to speak.

I had one but then Greg/Norbu went wholesale. I pay a lot of attention to recommendations here on TeaForum....lately I've scored some very interesting and delicious teas by checking out things mentioned here.

[Ethan Kurland]

... I pay a lot of attention to recommendations here on TeaForum.....

I am going to act on one of your recommendations. My sister is giving me a soda stream which I will use to carbonate some tea. I've read your posts mentioning sparkling tea many times which made me want to do it.

[debunix]

soda stream which I will use to carbonate some tea.

My favorites for this are sencha & fruity red oolongs, but almost anything besides yancha and puerh can be terrific if I hit the sweet spot for that tea. I've even done sparkling gyokuro (with a fine gyokuro, a wow! experience).

[Ethan Kurland]

My favorites for this are sencha & fruity red oolongs, but almost anything besides yancha and puerh....

Thank you for the advice. I have 2 red oolongs that are somewhat fruity (well, moreso when prepared to emphasize ...).
Nest time I see my sister, I'll bring the machine home & let you know how it goes.

[Teafortea]

Sorry just saw all the answers. I’m in vacation so not much connection here. Very interesting all the discussions. So I gave my friend Lishan from two different vendors and told her to write me what she thinks. She wrote back saying about the one that I did not like: awful, flavorless and bitter. So to the trash it went… i can’t bring it to words but most of the time there is that gut feeling that goes with teas…say for example, I try a tea but during the tea experience there is this feeling that the tea has been doped… the second time around it’s a fact in my head: this tea is not good, I’m done. Or say for example, I’m having sencha tea from vendor I’ve known for years, trusted person. I enjoy the tea before I even prepare it, let alone when I drink it.

I’ve checked with other people to give me second opinions about teas I have in my discard list and most of the time their input is the same as mine.

[Iroh]

I ordered some oolongs from Pure Taiwan tea a year ago, and they were pleasing.