As announced here comes my review of Tealife HK. I think many of us know Jay, the owner and already appreciate his contributions to the forum/s. I have met him in person once and we had a nice tea session at Wisteria Teahouse, together with another of our forum friends, Ethan. Me having met Jay in person, will not influence my review and I hope to do so in an untainted and fair way.
First of all, what I really do find fantastic is the business model in itself: Offering unique traditional teas from Hongkong! So many among us will associate HK tea mostly with cheap and often horrible teas while having dim sum. I think one can count the places which serve decent tea on one hand (I had semi-decent Shuixian once in a more high end dim sum place, but that was the exception). Do not even get me started on the chlorine smelling tea water in South China…
So this offer is really soemthing new, and to my knowledge an unexplored niche.
I do normally never buy tea online, but having met Jay, I thought it was worth the risk and expense to do so.
Tealife HK offers mostly oolongs, Puerh and heicha.
Me not being interested in Puerh, I ordered a selection of oolongs.
So I went with four teas:
Two Tieguanyin and two Shuixian, all processed in traditional HK way, as it was my goal to see what the original HK style is all about!
Ordering and paying is completely painless and afterwards well documented with emails. I also appreciate the possibility to browse in your own currency, spares me the pain to jump to the currency calculator.
Vendor review: Tealife HK
Teas arrived, very safely packed in the estimated arrival time. Teas even come with resealing clips, which is a nice touch.
Let the teas rest for a couple of days. And put the test candidates in porcelain jars a few hours before brewing to furthermore put them in a comfortable postition so to speak.
A word on how I test my teas. I always use the same setup, same pot, cup etc. I also do test the same tea on several days to make up for personal or other circumstances that might affect the tasting. It is a purely personal method that works for my purposes. So take anything I say with a grain of salt…
To be contiued with the two Tieguanyin…
Let the teas rest for a couple of days. And put the test candidates in porcelain jars a few hours before brewing to furthermore put them in a comfortable postition so to speak.
A word on how I test my teas. I always use the same setup, same pot, cup etc. I also do test the same tea on several days to make up for personal or other circumstances that might affect the tasting. It is a purely personal method that works for my purposes. So take anything I say with a grain of salt…
To be contiued with the two Tieguanyin…
Another word before I start, all my opinions come from the point of view of Taiwanes teas. Those I drink most and know most about, so they are my point of reference and comparison.
Also, Tealife HK descriptions of the tea are mostly spot on and a very good first indication of how the tea turns out!
Now:
Hong Kong-Roasted High Fire Tieguanyin Oolong
Very pretty dark chocolate brown leaves. They kind of look delicious, like freshly roasted coffee beans.
The taste is very clean and crisp/dry, smooth. It is not unpleasantly sour as Taiwanese TGY often are. Somehow this tea is similar to the HK Shuixian I will describe later.
Compared to Taiwanese TGY not as fruity, but more pleasant.
What surprised me that both TGY from HK are really similar in terms of fragrance and overall flavour to heavy charcoal roasted Taiwanese oolongs, à la Dongding. More similar to those than to Taiwanese TGY.
What concerns the aftertaste they are more flat in comparison to a heavy roast Dongding.
Overall a pleasant tea which to my tastebuds does not have any processing flaws. A clean tea.
Also, Tealife HK descriptions of the tea are mostly spot on and a very good first indication of how the tea turns out!
Now:
Hong Kong-Roasted High Fire Tieguanyin Oolong
Very pretty dark chocolate brown leaves. They kind of look delicious, like freshly roasted coffee beans.
The taste is very clean and crisp/dry, smooth. It is not unpleasantly sour as Taiwanese TGY often are. Somehow this tea is similar to the HK Shuixian I will describe later.
Compared to Taiwanese TGY not as fruity, but more pleasant.
What surprised me that both TGY from HK are really similar in terms of fragrance and overall flavour to heavy charcoal roasted Taiwanese oolongs, à la Dongding. More similar to those than to Taiwanese TGY.
What concerns the aftertaste they are more flat in comparison to a heavy roast Dongding.
Overall a pleasant tea which to my tastebuds does not have any processing flaws. A clean tea.
The second TGY:
Hong Kong Charcoal Roasted Top Grade Tieguanyin
This was the more expensive one and it shows. You wouldn’t guess from the leaves as they are not as pretty, duller in colour and a bit unfurled leaves (makes me think it is aged?)
The smell of the rinsed leaves is very nice though compared to the first tea! Overall characteristics similar to number one, but more pronounced, more fruity and some of the apple smell I associate with TGY. Even more similar to heavy roast Taiwan oolong, though a bit less complex I would say. Jay has advised me that the leaves are smaller and expand less than Taiwanese oolongs, so I might have to do with that. More leaves would probably yield better results… but the sample is almost finished and my pots are not small enough to experiment further.
When pushed in the end, sour notes come through, not unpleasant though! Which is what I disliked so far with the TGY I had in Taiwan, sourness becomes too much for my taste.
So from the two TGY I would buy the second one again, as it has very similar properties to the first, but much better.
Hong Kong Charcoal Roasted Top Grade Tieguanyin
This was the more expensive one and it shows. You wouldn’t guess from the leaves as they are not as pretty, duller in colour and a bit unfurled leaves (makes me think it is aged?)
The smell of the rinsed leaves is very nice though compared to the first tea! Overall characteristics similar to number one, but more pronounced, more fruity and some of the apple smell I associate with TGY. Even more similar to heavy roast Taiwan oolong, though a bit less complex I would say. Jay has advised me that the leaves are smaller and expand less than Taiwanese oolongs, so I might have to do with that. More leaves would probably yield better results… but the sample is almost finished and my pots are not small enough to experiment further.
When pushed in the end, sour notes come through, not unpleasant though! Which is what I disliked so far with the TGY I had in Taiwan, sourness becomes too much for my taste.
So from the two TGY I would buy the second one again, as it has very similar properties to the first, but much better.
Classic Hong Kong High Roast Shuixian
The cheaper of two and actually the cheapest of the lot that I bought.
Let me start by saying first that I preferred the Shuixian offerings to the TGY. Simply as it is a new and interesting flavour to me, while the TGY are similar to what I can get in Taiwan. But that is only me.
This one has some rock flavour to it, clean mouthfeel, not bitter or astringent in any way. Slight notes of what I associate with aged tea from Taiwan. My wife though it was aged tea… Interesting to find similar notes as in the TGY’s – maybe it comes from the similar charcoal roasting process?
All in all a decent tea, and of all the teas I tried a budget option.
The cheaper of two and actually the cheapest of the lot that I bought.
Let me start by saying first that I preferred the Shuixian offerings to the TGY. Simply as it is a new and interesting flavour to me, while the TGY are similar to what I can get in Taiwan. But that is only me.
This one has some rock flavour to it, clean mouthfeel, not bitter or astringent in any way. Slight notes of what I associate with aged tea from Taiwan. My wife though it was aged tea… Interesting to find similar notes as in the TGY’s – maybe it comes from the similar charcoal roasting process?
All in all a decent tea, and of all the teas I tried a budget option.
Hong Kong-Roasted High Fire Three Stamp Shuixian
Saved the best for last. Many of us might have tried it already and what can I say, I can only join the fan club!
By far my favorite of the lot, so I ordered some more. Funnily I had a hunch and it was the only one I ordered more than the sample size
Still not enough…
Similar to the other, but more refined and powerful. Musky odours in the preheated flushed pot. Something sweet in the background. Good stuff.
And – be careful, I do not know if it is me or the tea, but very vivid dreams after the session! Something going on there in terms of chaqi.
Definitely a quality tea.
That is the lot, thanks for reading!
Saved the best for last. Many of us might have tried it already and what can I say, I can only join the fan club!
By far my favorite of the lot, so I ordered some more. Funnily I had a hunch and it was the only one I ordered more than the sample size
Still not enough…Similar to the other, but more refined and powerful. Musky odours in the preheated flushed pot. Something sweet in the background. Good stuff.
And – be careful, I do not know if it is me or the tea, but very vivid dreams after the session! Something going on there in terms of chaqi.
Definitely a quality tea.
That is the lot, thanks for reading!
Great reviews Bok, thanks! With the HK TGY, the smaller leaves mean we use 50% leaf in the pots to get to 100% fill, vs 20-30% with Taiwanese oolongs. Next time I see you I'll brew you some up my way! 
16g/100ml!
I thought the bit about the dreams after the Three Stamp was very interesting. I can't say it does that for me but it is quite a calming, yet energizing tea!
16g/100ml!I thought the bit about the dreams after the Three Stamp was very interesting. I can't say it does that for me but it is quite a calming, yet energizing tea!
Also as for the similarities between Dongding and the high fire TGY--both were produced by Fujianese immigrants who migrated out of Fujian because of the CR, so there are definitely commonalities. I feel like tea culture in Taiwan evolved in a different direction because of RoC and because there was more land for tea cultivation, while HK had less restrictions on trade with the Mainland and didn't have as much arable land for tea (there are plantations and even wild tea plants here, but only used for greens) which allowed things to proceed pretty much unchanged!