Oolong Vendor Topic

[Victoria]

Is their another vendor with better quality for the price? Or perhaps similar value but different in a good way (unique flavours, but still greener style)?

Thanks.

For buttery sweet rich LiShan I’d get that from Floating Leaves, Te Company or HY Chen (Special grade).

Also, Living Tea, he is now based in Colorado. Although, I see this season very few greener oolongs are offered.

[ShuShu]

I really like the greener variety of high mountain Oolong. So far I’ve only ordered from http://www.teafromtaiwan.com.

I find their value is good, especially when you buy one of the weekly specials or get a coupon. And their sample packs are good value.

Is their another vendor with better quality for the price? Or perhaps similar value but different in a good way (unique flavours, but still greener style)?

Thanks.

Tillerman teas has very good and reasonably priced high mountain Oolongs while shipping is always free. You can just order a few samples and also directly contact him. He is very helpful.

[Teachronicles]

Is their another vendor with better quality for the price? Or perhaps similar value but different in a good way (unique flavours, but still greener style)?

Thanks.

For buttery sweet rich LiShan I’d get that from Floating Leaves, Te Company or HY Chen (Special grade).

Also, Living Tea, he is now based in Colorado. Although, I see this season very few greener oolongs are offered.

Victoria, are there any stand outs from te company that you'd recommend? Either green or roasted.

[Victoria]

Is their another vendor with better quality for the price? Or perhaps similar value but different in a good way (unique flavours, but still greener style)?

Thanks.

For buttery sweet rich LiShan I’d get that from Floating Leaves, Te Company or HY Chen (Special grade).

Also, Living Tea, he is now based in Colorado. Although, I see this season very few greener oolongs are offered.

Victoria, are there any stand outs from te company that you'd recommend? Either green or roasted.

From Te Company, both Pear Mountain at South Ridge (LiShan) and Oriental Beauty Grand are delicious. I don’t really look for roaster here though. Her line up changes, but descriptions are very accurate, so you can find your preferences that way. If you are in NYC you can sample their line up at the shop and pair the teas with some amazing food. I’ve also enjoyed these mostly oxidized or green;
Honeyed Evergreen
Graceful Hill
Crimson Grace
Jade Rouge
Valley of Dragon & Phoenix

For greener oolongs you might call and ask when their Spring selection arrives.

[ShuShu]

From Te Company, both Pear Mountain at South Ridge (LiShan) and Oriental Beauty Grand are delicious. I don’t really look for roaster here though. Her line up changes, but descriptions are very accurate, so you can find your preferences that way. If you are in NYC you can sample their line up at the shop and pair the teas with some amazing food. I’ve also enjoyed these mostly oxidized or green;
Honeyed Evergreen
Graceful Hill
Crimson Grace
Jade Rouge
Valley of Dragon & Phoenix

For greener oolongs you might call and ask when their Spring selection arrives.

The Te Company no longer carry LiShan ... but their SLX (the valley of dragon and Phoenix) is pretty good...

[Victoria]

From Te Company, both Pear Mountain at South Ridge (LiShan) and Oriental Beauty Grand are delicious. I don’t really look for roaster here though. Her line up changes, but descriptions are very accurate, so you can find your preferences that way. If you are in NYC you can sample their line up at the shop and pair the teas with some amazing food. I’ve also enjoyed these mostly oxidized or green;
Honeyed Evergreen
Graceful Hill
Crimson Grace
Jade Rouge
Valley of Dragon & Phoenix

For greener oolongs you might call and ask when their Spring selection arrives.

The Te Company no longer carry LiShan ... but their SLX (the valley of dragon and Phoenix) is pretty good...

For LiShan ‘Pear Mountain’ you just need to wait for Spring harvest. As with most greener oolongs.

[Bok]

Is it me? Or is it that running a tea company is the new trend? Seems like recently new outfits are popping up everywhere! Especially in Taiwan, a lot of foreigners living here are launching mini-shops.

[chofmann]

Is it me? Or is it that running a tea company is the new trend? Seems like recently new outfits are popping up everywhere! Especially in Taiwan, a lot of foreigners living here are launching mini-shops.

As one of the most recent new outfits... It sure does seem that way! Not really sure why that is... I just assumed it was because I've been paying more attention to it since we launched.

My wife has wanted to start a tea-related company for 5+ years, but we just finally got around to it more recently.

It isn't exactly a "get rich quick" sort of industry (in our experience, anyway), so I'm not sure why there are so many companies doing it.

Perhaps the sale of Teavana to Starbucks makes everybody want to be the "next teavana" and become multi-millionaires.

[Bok]

It isn't exactly a "get rich quick" sort of industry (in our experience, anyway), so I'm not sure why there are so many companies doing it.

I think the small scale tea sourcing that most of these new outfits do, are definitely not in for the big money. Competition is tough and the select clientel is picky and has lots of alternative choices. The ones who make money are the ones who do it for ages and have longstanding connections to the farmers, they get the best retail price (and often the best tea). Lots of teashops here in Taiwan make a lot of money! The newer ones I am not so sure of. Keep popping up as well in Shopping centers in Taiwan, fancy packaging and soso expensive tea…

Perhaps the sale of Teavana to Starbucks makes everybody want to be the "next teavana" and become multi-millionaires.

Or they can't take the bad quality of Teavana teas and want to do it better!

[chofmann]

I suppose it depends on what sort of shops you're talking about. I've seen a lot of "low quality" loose leaf shops popping up, which often sell either CTC or the lowest grade full-leaf. Honestly... as far as I can tell (which is mostly not very much, so take this with a grain of salt), I don't even think that most of them realize they are selling pretty low quality tea. They just know that it is 'loose leaf' and not teadust so they think it is good.

But I'm also in the US, so obviously a very different tea culture and tea knowledge than in Taiwan.

[Bok]

I suppose it depends on what sort of shops you're talking about. I've seen a lot of "low quality" loose leaf shops popping up, which often sell either CTC or the lowest grade full-leaf.

Of course, I do not know if any of those new outfits have good tea. What I do know is that the fancier they look, the more likely you get less for your money’s worth. They have to take the money they spend on design and packaging out of somewhere…

I don't even think that most of them realize they are selling pretty low quality tea. They just know that it is 'loose leaf' and not teadust so they think it is good.

That is always the crucial part – how much does the sourcer actually know about tea and how refined is her/his taste?
The other hurdle is to overcome the latent, let’s call it ”Nationalism” with a non-asian face it takes a lot of luck, convincing, introduction and time to actually get a decent price for a decent tea… after so many years I still have to send the missus to buy for me in some places

[chofmann]

I suppose it depends on what sort of shops you're talking about. I've seen a lot of "low quality" loose leaf shops popping up, which often sell either CTC or the lowest grade full-leaf.

Of course, I do not know if any of those new outfits have good tea. What I do know is that the fancier they look, the more likely you get less for your money’s worth. They have to take the money they spend on design and packaging out of somewhere…

I don't even think that most of them realize they are selling pretty low quality tea. They just know that it is 'loose leaf' and not teadust so they think it is good.

That is always the crucial part – how much does the sourcer actually know about tea and how refined is her/his taste?
The other hurdle is to overcome the latent, let’s call it ”Nationalism” with a non-asian face it takes a lot of luck, convincing, introduction and time to actually get a decent price for a decent tea… after so many years I still have to send the missus to buy for me in some places

That last part is very true. The only reason we have had any "luck" is because my wife is Chinese and grew up there. We've had many farms send us their "best" samples, but when my wife yells at them in Chinese they miraculously have a bunch of much better samples (which are actually quite good) because they didn't realize we were serious.

The farms must be loving all of this.... lots of buyers for their lower quality stuff

[Mountain Stream Teas]

I suppose it depends on what sort of shops you're talking about. I've seen a lot of "low quality" loose leaf shops popping up, which often sell either CTC or the lowest grade full-leaf.

Of course, I do not know if any of those new outfits have good tea. What I do know is that the fancier they look, the more likely you get less for your money’s worth. They have to take the money they spend on design and packaging out of somewhere…

I don't even think that most of them realize they are selling pretty low quality tea. They just know that it is 'loose leaf' and not teadust so they think it is good.

That is always the crucial part – how much does the sourcer actually know about tea and how refined is her/his taste?
The other hurdle is to overcome the latent, let’s call it ”Nationalism” with a non-asian face it takes a lot of luck, convincing, introduction and time to actually get a decent price for a decent tea… after so many years I still have to send the missus to buy for me in some places

That last part is very true. The only reason we have had any "luck" is because my wife is Chinese and grew up there. We've had many farms send us their "best" samples, but when my wife yells at them in Chinese they miraculously have a bunch of much better samples (which are actually quite good) because they didn't realize we were serious.

The farms must be loving all of this.... lots of buyers for their lower quality stuff

For me, as also one of the new guys, I just wanted to get this good organic tea to people and help out my friends, who happen to be tea farmers. Getting the best price for the tea on my end is actually pretty easy when you go in there and learn how to make the tea yourself and help with the processing. I buy good tea from good people and love it. But I am a mandarin speaking white guy who knows his shit and has lived here for many years. It is so much fun getting the old guys to try new teas!

For me though, the cut throat nature of the tea industry on the back end is the scary part! I am insulated from most of the brutal 'source stealing' because I get tea from my friends most of the time but man, the stories I have been hearing from the inside are terrible. I even have some guy in Taipei calling up my buddy once a month asking when he is going to make a tea that doesn't exist! We only made 200g of it as an experiment once and I put the details on Instagram. This guy found out about it and tracked the farm down and wants it. When he comes to visit I am going to visit the same day. I would like to meet the competition

[Brent D]

When does spring Anxi TGY hit the market?
Ive been waiting (specifically for jings) and the only vendor I can find it at is YS

[Bok]

When does spring Anxi TGY hit the market?
Ive been waiting (specifically for jings) and the only vendor I can find it at is YS

The nuclear green version? That should be long ready, spring harvest is about done. Only if they are further processed/roasted it could still be a while.