Oolong Tea Stores

[runefactory]

Hello,

Was wondering if anyone can recommend me some nice oolongs in Taipei -- I have a layover for a few hours and unfortunately don't have time to go to the tea farms. Would love to know what people think about these places on my list

1. Lin Mao Sen and Lin Hua Tai (They seem related so can't imagine the quality/price to be that much different)
2. Wang Tea <-- Another good place that I've seen recommended

Any thoughts and opinions are welcome and appreciated!

[Ethan Kurland]

1. I think they are no longer connected business-wise but they are close (locations) & in price & quality on some teas at least. Usually at this time of year good roasted TGY is gone but perhaps you will be lucky. I suggest sampling that. Also, hong cha/oriental beauty. I enjoyed visiting those shops a couple of times & bought some teas for personal use. They did not mind packing 100 gram packs for me. (I did buy totals of 300 grams, I believe.)

3. Wang is also fun. Try the most expensive & next to most expensive teas of the category you take interest in. Wang tea is an expensive shop but for personal use I have bought packets of 150 grams that had some unique characteristics. Enjoyable place.

Members who live in Taipei may have more to say & better advice. Good luck.

[Bok]

Yongkang street has lots of tea shops and tea houses, but on the more boutique/pricey end. And some not really walk-in-foreigner-friendly.
Wang Tea as in the Baozhong specialist? It's ok, but I'd only go for their higher priced stuff.

Wang Dechuan is a big brand with a few shops, their own-brand Anshun Dongding is pretty decent.

P.S. As a passerby, going to shops instead of farms is usually the better way to end up with decent tea. Buying at farms requires decades of good connections, otherwise you'll just get leftovers or imported tea from elsewhere...

Gaoshan harvest is delayed, so buying spring tea will be limited to some greener stuff from lower elevations. Or they might try to sell you the remains of Winter. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, just be aware of it.

[Bok]

Edit: just read that you are new to tea, as such, just try any of the aforementioned places and let yourself guide by what you like. Don't be shy to ask for other qualities in a tea if you don't like what you are being served, it is normal here. Wang Dechuan is not a bad place to start if you are a beginner, they have the whole range of Taiwan teas in an examplary manner, so not bad to find your way around. All teas can be sampled.

[runefactory]

Thank you!

Any recommendations on teas that are similar to Oriental Beauty (Would now still be a good time to buy? As in is it in good season?) My brother likes dark oolongs and likes stuff like Mi Lan Xiang. Or really any teas that I should look out for in early June? Definitely don't want to miss out on the good stuff.

Oh and shoot about the gaoshan tea, I was looking forward to getting some Alishan or Lishan tea -- do you have any other oolongs or teas that I should check out that are in season? Definitely doesn't need to be super fancy, but I would like it to be 'nice' which I know is also super subjective. Maybe I can ask what season it's picked, but I feel like that's a bit naive since they can easily lie to me hahaha.

I am arriving in Taipei in early June and it's only for a few hours before I have to head back to my next flight.

[Bok]

Early June is late enough for Gaoshan I think. Oriental beauty you can buy anytime as is true for all roasted teas or Hongcha. Don’t buy what you can’t try

[runefactory]

1. I think they are no longer connected business-wise but they are close (locations) & in price & quality on some teas at least. Usually at this time of year good roasted TGY is gone but perhaps you will be lucky. I suggest sampling that. Also, hong cha/oriental beauty. I enjoyed visiting those shops a couple of times & bought some teas for personal use. They did not mind packing 100 gram packs for me. (I did buy totals of 300 grams, I believe.)

3. Wang is also fun. Try the most expensive & next to most expensive teas of the category you take interest in. Wang tea is an expensive shop but for personal use I have bought packets of 150 grams that had some unique characteristics. Enjoyable place.

Members who live in Taipei may have more to say & better advice. Good luck.

Oh and is there one tea that I should buy from lin mao sen vs lin hua tai? It seems like there are different levels of quality for like dong ding tea etc compared to lin mao sen

[runefactory]

Early June is late enough for Gaoshan I think. Oriental beauty you can buy anytime as is true for all roasted teas or Hongcha. Don’t buy what you can’t try

Wonderful, thank you! To go a bit off topic do you have any recommendations for stores or places where to get tea pets or vacuum seal tea canisters?

[Ethan Kurland]

and is there one tea that I should buy from lin mao sen vs lin hua tai? It seems like there are different levels of quality for like dong ding tea etc compared to lin mao sen

Those stores are next to each other; so, it is easy to return to the first you visit after visiting the second, if you wish to do so. I think lin mao sen has more choices but could easily be wrong. The showroom just might be bigger.

How vendors think or categorize can fool us; so, pay attention. E.g., Hong Cha may be also Oriental Beauty for some vendors. If you are clearly understood in what you are looking for; then, you don't need to worry about nomenclature, just how you like what you are brought to sample.

I'll repeat. You don't have a lot of time. So when there are 4 or 5 choices for quality, I think you only want to taste the top 2 teas of that type.

Wang tea is about a 5-minute walk away from those 2 shops. It is next to a small park w/ some outdoor exercise equipment. Wang has a few teas that don't get offered every year. If one of those is available, try it.

Lin Mao Sen has a lot of tins & teaware for sale.

[runefactory]

and is there one tea that I should buy from lin mao sen vs lin hua tai? It seems like there are different levels of quality for like dong ding tea etc compared to lin mao sen

Those stores are next to each other; so, it is easy to return to the first you visit after visiting the second, if you wish to do so. I think lin mao sen has more choices but could easily be wrong. The showroom just might be bigger.

How vendors think or categorize can fool us; so, pay attention. E.g., Hong Cha may be also Oriental Beauty for some vendors. If you are clearly understood in what you are looking for; then, you don't need to worry about nomenclature, just how you like what you are brought to sample.

I'll repeat. You don't have a lot of time. So when there are 4 or 5 choices for quality, I think you only want to taste the top 2 teas of that type.

Wang tea is about a 5-minute walk away from those 2 shops. It is next to a small park w/ some outdoor exercise equipment. Wang has a few teas that don't get offered every year. If one of those is available, try it.

Lin Mao Sen has a lot of tins & teaware for sale.

Oh no! Do you know if that's a common thing? I know what Oriental Beauty is in Chinese and it's an oolong, would someone lie and try to tell me it's Hong Cha? Would knowing its name in Chinese be enough or should I ask more questions? Don't want to get scammed!

[Ethan Kurland]

Oh no! Do you know if that's a common thing? I know what Oriental Beauty is in Chinese and it's an oolong, would someone lie and try to tell me it's Hong Cha? Would knowing its name in Chinese be enough or should I ask more questions? Don't want to get scammed!

Relax. These vendors are not liars, not scammers. If you understand Chinese, buying will be easier for you than it is for me.
So you understand me: Many "black teas" around the world are not 100% oxidized, not truly a black tea technically. I drink & sell a Championship Black which is oxidized about 90%. It presents some notes of spice etc.; so, one can feel it is Oriental Beauty. I would not say so, but do say if one owns the CB & likes OB once in a while, he need not buy OB. Preparing the CB to highlight what OB gives, allows me not to keep OB in my cupboard.
When you shop, if you say you want to sample OB, you may get a tea like my CB in the mix. Someone requesting samples of Hong Cha may get that same tea in what he samples. Enjoy being treated to samples. (It is not gold-plated tin being sold as solid gold.) Express yourself well & you will sample appropriately.
Friendly advice here on the forum is not always argued about. I have read that OB is roasted. I think sometimes it is not so. Maybe I am wrong, but my CB is not roasted. I just say if you are lucky enough to sample some excellent tea(s) fairly priced, enjoy. Relax, you are smart, I assume, since you have picked 3 excellent sources in Taipei, not far from the rapid transit which you can take from the airport, & close to each other.
Buying about 150 grams each of selected teas is not too big of a risk. The biggest risk is that after long flights, one's tasting skills are diminished.
By the way, for OB, I often found the next to most expensive choice to be best for me. For roasted TGY, I usually did not find one I liked but the 2 times that I did find roasted TGY which I liked (of times that I was in Taiwan), I liked both medium roasted & dark roasted.
I think lightly oxidized oolong for sale in Taipei, is trouble on your time schedule & overpriced greatly. Dong ding is not a type I have mastered. Good luck.

[runefactory]

Oh no! Do you know if that's a common thing? I know what Oriental Beauty is in Chinese and it's an oolong, would someone lie and try to tell me it's Hong Cha? Would knowing its name in Chinese be enough or should I ask more questions? Don't want to get scammed!

Relax. These vendors are not liars, not scammers. If you understand Chinese, buying will be easier for you than it is for me.
So you understand me: Many "black teas" around the world are not 100% oxidized, not truly a black tea technically. I drink & sell a Championship Black which is oxidized about 90%. It presents some notes of spice etc.; so, one can feel it is Oriental Beauty. I would not say so, but do say if one owns the CB & likes OB once in a while, he need not buy OB. Preparing the CB to highlight what OB gives, allows me not to keep OB in my cupboard.
When you shop, if you say you want to sample OB, you may get a tea like my CB in the mix. Someone requesting samples of Hong Cha may get that same tea in what he samples. Enjoy being treated to samples. (It is not gold-plated tin being sold as solid gold.) Express yourself well & you will sample appropriately.


Friendly advice here on the forum is not always argued about. I have read that OB is roasted. I think sometimes it is not so. Maybe I am wrong, but my CB is not roasted. I just say if you are lucky enough to sample some excellent tea(s) fairly priced, enjoy. Relax, you are smart, I assume, since you have picked 3 excellent sources in Taipei, not far from the rapid transit which you can take from the airport, & close to each other.
Buying about 150 grams each of selected teas is not too big of a risk. The biggest risk is that after long flights, one's tasting skills are diminished.
By the way, for OB, I often found the next to most expensive choice to be best for me. For roasted TGY, I usually did not find one I liked but the 2 times that I did find roasted TGY which I liked (of times that I was in Taiwan), I liked both medium roasted & dark roasted.
I think lightly oxidized oolong for sale in Taipei, is trouble on your time schedule & overpriced greatly. Dong ding is not a type I have mastered. Good luck.

THANK YOU so so much! I really really appreciate the informative write up! Sorry for all the questions, just super nervous about it all.