Mountain Streams Teas Launch Date and Spring Tea Adventure

Vendor news and self-promotion
Mountain Stream Teas
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Sun Mar 11, 2018 10:48 pm

Hi All!


I think this is the right place. My name is Matt and I am launching Mountain Stream Teas from here in Taiwan on the 20th of March. If it isn't against the rules of the board I would like to post some details of the Spring Harvest Tea Adventure and some details about the launch of the website. Is this the right place? And of course, is it OK? Please let me know if it is OK to proceed and I look forward to contributing to the discussions!

www.mountainstreamteas.com

-Matt
Last edited by pedant on Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: mod edit: added url
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pedant
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Fri Mar 30, 2018 3:00 am

Hi Matt,

yes, this is the right place. welcome to teaforum :D
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Manttea
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Fri Mar 30, 2018 9:44 am

Link?
Mountain Stream Teas
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Fri Mar 30, 2018 10:04 pm

Hello All,

Website is launched and right now there is a sale of 20% off all teas with the code 'welcome'. As embarrassingly pointed out already, the link is:

www.mountainstreamteas.com

My goal with this company is to introduce some transparency into the tea industry. I have lived and worked in Taiwan for the past 13 years and am more Taiwanese than anything else at this point. There are so many lies and 'omissions' in the tea business from vendors and I am trying to fill that space with some authenticity.

I mean, tea steamed in milk is being called 'milk oolong'. What the hell is that? How does that even sold side by side with a nice Jinxuan? And ginseng oolong? None of that will make you better off for having sold, created or consumed it.

Mountain Stream Teas is my attempt to get chemical free real tea out to as many people as I can. My teas cover all the hipster check boxes(chemical free/organic, hand picked, farm to cup, etc etc) but they also taste, really, really good. Or at least I think they do! I view myself as a kind of tea translator, a person who can make the best of the tea world accessible to the best of the world.

If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask and now that the site is launched, I have a little more time to spend getting the word out in very interesting places like here. I look forward to participating.

-Matt
chofmann
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Fri Mar 30, 2018 11:25 pm

It sounds like we (and others around here) have some similar goals on the transparency and "real tea" side of things. Best of luck!
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Bok
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Sat Mar 31, 2018 2:59 am

Looking at your teas and – not to play the devil’s advocate here, but I was under the impression that 500y+ old Puerh tea trees are extremly rare… Seen how difficult it seems to date those trees in the first place and how much misinformation and fakes reign the Puerh industry, how confident are you making that claim?

Not that it matters most – what does is the correlation of price/taste.

The Hualien teas sound interesting, must be hard for the farmers, with the east coast most affected each year with typhoons!
Mountain Stream Teas
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Sat Mar 31, 2018 7:49 am

Hi Bok,

I love the challenges of starting up so your questions are right on! I am also not an expert on Puer so I have thought through a lot about how I have labeled those teas. Here is the story:

All my Chinese teas are from the same vendor, a Taiwanese man who went to Chinese for tea after he retired. I met him, trusted him and have seen the pictures of the trees he says he harvests from. The yarn is that he leased a few very old trees that had been neglected about 10 years ago. He has been bringing them back to production levels since and now has his own brand. It is very new and very few people know of it, but he is wealthy and not too worried about it. The business is growing now quickly. The trees are in the Ailao region of Yunnan, so not that famous, but the teas that I have on the site have been getting rave reviews from people that know more about Puer than I ever will. I personally love the chi of the wild one.

That being said, I totally understand the concern! And it is valid. I have hedged my bets by putting all my eggs in one basket and do plan on visiting him next spring to sample the fresh teas. As these things go, I think I am in a good spot.

For the record if you are interested in seeing the Facebook page of the tea producer send me a PM. There are plenty of pictures of the trees and process on there but each get a single like or two. I would put the name on here but I have been amazed at the cutthroat and petty business practices on the back end of the tea business. As I am personal friends with my suppliers it is not a problem for me at all but it is brutal! I already have people bothering my suppliers for teas that don't exist because they saw it on my Instagram feed.

If there is genuine curiosity please let me know. And you could always order a couple samples. I offer refunds if the tea is not satisfactory:)

Thanks for the questions and I appreciate it! I stand by my teas and the choices I make and love to defend them. I try to do Instagram lives on a regular basis as well. If you have any other questions you can always ask me there if you want an immediate answer as well.

-Matt

PS We get so many typhoons on the east coast that it really doesn't bother the tea too much. They can withstand the winds from practice. Sucks for the pomelos though!
Mountain Stream Teas
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Sat Mar 31, 2018 7:54 am

chofmann wrote:
Fri Mar 30, 2018 11:25 pm
It sounds like we (and others around here) have some similar goals on the transparency and "real tea" side of things. Best of luck!
Yes it does look that way! That is why I joined this site. Seems like a little higher standard of people here than other spots. I am partial to Instagram though. That tea community is awesome. Good luck to you as well!
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Bok
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Sat Mar 31, 2018 9:14 am

Mountain Stream Teas wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 7:49 am
I love the challenges of starting up so your questions are right on! I am also not an expert on Puer so I have thought through a lot about how I have labeled those teas. Here is the story:

For the record if you are interested in seeing the Facebook page of the tea producer send me a PM. There are plenty of pictures of the trees and process on there but each get a single like or two. I would put the name on here but I have been amazed at the cutthroat and petty business practices on the back end of the tea business. As I am personal friends with my suppliers it is not a problem for me at all but it is brutal! I already have people bothering my suppliers for teas that don't exist because they saw it on my Instagram feed.

If there is genuine curiosity please let me know. And you could always order a couple samples. I offer refunds if the tea is not satisfactory:)
Thanks for clearing that up and giving some background info! Good communication is always key :D
I have been living a while in Taiwan myself so the bad side of the tea business is not surprising to me... sadly.
It is an amazing place to be for tea, but when business comes into play, all places become very similar.

P.S. should give you a shout some day when I get into your neck of the woods! So far the farthest east I come on a regular basis is Yilan, but Hualien is much more beautiful, picked a nice spot! Wish it work for me to make a living there, but I need the big city :|
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d.manuk
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Sat Mar 31, 2018 9:55 am

I was under the impression that milk oolong is essentially never steamed in milk because it's expensive and not as accessible in Asia and the fragrance won't carry through much. The fragrance is from chemicals.

It's interesting that your Bao Zhong is more expensive than your puer but I bought them... :oops:
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Bok
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Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:30 am

Shine Magical wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 9:55 am
I was under the impression that milk oolong is essentially never steamed in milk because it's expensive and not as accessible in Asia and the fragrance won't carry through much. The fragrance is from chemicals.
Taiwan actually has a lot of milk! Small dairy farms are popping up everywhere recently... and also big food scandals involving milk producers. Weirdly one rarely ever sees the actual cows. But you’re right a lot of it are artificial additives. In that case real milk would still be preferable, moooo
Ethan Kurland
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Sat Mar 31, 2018 1:10 pm

Bok wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:30 am
Shine Magical wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 9:55 am
Taiwan actually has a lot of milk! Small dairy farms are popping up everywhere recently... and also big food scandals involving milk producers. Weirdly one rarely ever sees the actual cows. But you’re right a lot of it are artificial additives. In that case real milk would still be preferable, moooo
In the Philippines in the 90s, Fresh Milk was almost always reconstituted powdered milk which had come from New Zealand. I never saw anyone who was ashamed of the big print "Fresh Milk" and the tiny print "made from powder....." If one saw cows, he would not imagine that they could produce much milk because they were always emaciated. Dairy products in Taiwan seemed expensive to me. Cheers
Mountain Stream Teas
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Sun Apr 01, 2018 6:51 am

Shine Magical wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 9:55 am
I was under the impression that milk oolong is essentially never steamed in milk because it's expensive and not as accessible in Asia and the fragrance won't carry through much. The fragrance is from chemicals.

It's interesting that your Bao Zhong is more expensive than your puer but I bought them... :oops:
I am totally lost on the whole using of real milk thing. I have never tried it myself and the whole thought of it seems so unnecessary. I have never, ever, seen it on the market in Taiwan. In other places I am sure it is horrible tea and horrible chemicals. I will look for it next time I head to North America just to see what it tastes like...

And Mr Magical, thank you very much for the order! I am curious about the Boazhong you usually get though. I think the puers are almost the cheapest per g of anything on the site and I have usually found that to be the case compared to the high quality oolongs, black and whites that Taiwan has on offer. In other online shops as well. Do you usually get it much cheaper? I am surprised at your surprise. :D

And I would be happy to throw in a couple samples of some of the other teas if you would like. Name a couple or I can pick two randomly. And this is open to anyone else on here as well of course!
Mountain Stream Teas
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Sun Apr 01, 2018 6:52 am

Bok wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 9:14 am
Mountain Stream Teas wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 7:49 am
I love the challenges of starting up so your questions are right on! I am also not an expert on Puer so I have thought through a lot about how I have labeled those teas. Here is the story:

For the record if you are interested in seeing the Facebook page of the tea producer send me a PM. There are plenty of pictures of the trees and process on there but each get a single like or two. I would put the name on here but I have been amazed at the cutthroat and petty business practices on the back end of the tea business. As I am personal friends with my suppliers it is not a problem for me at all but it is brutal! I already have people bothering my suppliers for teas that don't exist because they saw it on my Instagram feed.

If there is genuine curiosity please let me know. And you could always order a couple samples. I offer refunds if the tea is not satisfactory:)
Thanks for clearing that up and giving some background info! Good communication is always key :D
I have been living a while in Taiwan myself so the bad side of the tea business is not surprising to me... sadly.
It is an amazing place to be for tea, but when business comes into play, all places become very similar.

P.S. should give you a shout some day when I get into your neck of the woods! So far the farthest east I come on a regular basis is Yilan, but Hualien is much more beautiful, picked a nice spot! Wish it work for me to make a living there, but I need the big city :|
Let me know when you make it to the 'back' of the island and I love to have a cup of tea with you!
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d.manuk
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Sun Apr 01, 2018 10:56 pm

Mountain Stream Teas wrote:
Sun Apr 01, 2018 6:51 am
Shine Magical wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 9:55 am
I was under the impression that milk oolong is essentially never steamed in milk because it's expensive and not as accessible in Asia and the fragrance won't carry through much. The fragrance is from chemicals.

It's interesting that your Bao Zhong is more expensive than your puer but I bought them... :oops:
I am totally lost on the whole using of real milk thing. I have never tried it myself and the whole thought of it seems so unnecessary. I have never, ever, seen it on the market in Taiwan. In other places I am sure it is horrible tea and horrible chemicals. I will look for it next time I head to North America just to see what it tastes like...

And Mr Magical, thank you very much for the order! I am curious about the Boazhong you usually get though. I think the puers are almost the cheapest per g of anything on the site and I have usually found that to be the case compared to the high quality oolongs, black and whites that Taiwan has on offer. In other online shops as well. Do you usually get it much cheaper? I am surprised at your surprise. :D

And I would be happy to throw in a couple samples of some of the other teas if you would like. Name a couple or I can pick two randomly. And this is open to anyone else on here as well of course!
I'd try the #20 cultivar oolong and the other type of sheng.
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