Exchange our "secret" teas

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Bok
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Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:50 pm

Actually, @Victoria you've had this Norbu Hongcha, right? How does it compare to Ethan's Championship Hongcha? That one is from Lishan.
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Victoria
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Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:56 pm

Bok wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:50 pm
Actually, Victoria you've had this Norbu Hongcha, right? How does it compare to Ethan's Championship Hongcha? That one is from Lishan.
I’ll need to revisit both. If I still have some of Norbu’s then maybe I can do a side by side to compare.
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Bok
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Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:59 pm

Victoria wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:56 pm
Bok wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:50 pm
Actually, Victoria you've had this Norbu Hongcha, right? How does it compare to Ethan's Championship Hongcha? That one is from Lishan.
I’ll need to revisit both. If I still have some of Norbu’s then maybe I can do a side by side to compare.
Great!
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debunix
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Tue Jan 12, 2021 10:07 pm

harrison1986 wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 4:48 pm
debunix, I tried the Red Alishan oolong from Norbu, and it is great. Hard to believe a tea can have this strong of a fruity fragrance and taste naturally.

So much so in fact, that I wanted to see if you could shed any light on this. In your opinion, is there any artificial chemical flavoring in this tea?

It's really good either way, thanks again for sharing. Really enjoying this one.
No way. This one is so genuine and consistent and wonderful no matter how I infuse it; nothing artificial would stand up to the ways I have abused these leaves. And as Bok said, it is not the only great Taiwanese oolong. I just posted in the Oolong topic about a marvelous Charcoal Dong Ding from Floating Leaves that is giving me a similar wonderful sensation.
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harrison1986
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Wed Jan 13, 2021 7:36 am

Bok wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 6:51 pm
Have you had Taiwanese Hongcha before? This kind of flavour profile is quite typical for them. I’m always amazed (in a bad way) how flat and bland most other Hongcha from other regions taste in comparison. Exaggerating of course, but mostly so :)
After finding Japanese green teas and some Shu from Yunnan sourcing, I sort of got stuck on those for a while. So yeah, I never tried Taiwanese Hongcha.

Thanks for the info Bok. I look forward to continuing my journey into the Taiwanese tea world. Much more flavor than the subtle green tea I always drink.

I'll probably add the tea you mentioned from Floating Leaves to my next tea order, along with some tea from Bok for the good info.
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Victoria
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Mon Jan 18, 2021 7:42 pm

Bok wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:59 pm
Victoria wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:56 pm
Bok wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:50 pm
Actually, Victoria you've had this Norbu Hongcha, right? How does it compare to Ethan's Championship Hongcha? That one is from Lishan.
I’ll need to revisit both. If I still have some of Norbu’s then maybe I can do a side by side to compare.
Great!
Found Norbu’s Alishan Red but it’s in a vacu-packed 150ml foil pouch and I have way too many other teas open at the moment, so a side by side will have to wait. I did write about Ethan’s Championship Black here and here and Norbu’s Alishan Red here.

Currently sipping on Norbu’s summer 2018 Dong Fang Mei Ren (BaiHao, Oriental Beauty). Steeped in very thin dense walled wood fired Konishi Yohei kyusu is perfect, my water though is too high in TDS which is bringing out tannic notes. Next time to lower TDS I’ll either add distilled water to my filtered tap, or use Iceland Spring.
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harrison1986
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Tue Feb 02, 2021 9:33 am

Anyone have any more information on this Norbu Alishan red tea? My only worry is that it is not organic.
Why are most of the great teas I see recommended here not organic? Is organic not as tasty due to restrictions on
fertilizer? Does anyone else worry about non organic stuff, or is it just me?
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Bok
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Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:07 am

harrison1986 wrote:
Tue Feb 02, 2021 9:33 am
Anyone have any more information on this Norbu Alishan red tea? My only worry is that it is not organic.
Why are most of the great teas I see recommended here not organic? Is organic not as tasty due to restrictions on
fertilizer? Does anyone else worry about non organic stuff, or is it just me?
It’s just you. :)

It’s been discussed elsewhere, but getting certified is a huge financial investment for farmers and with potentially little returns...

In Taiwan many teas are in fact organic but without any certification, cost on average a lot more and also stay locally as yield is often a lot less and demand has been going up in Taiwan.

Organic tea from Taiwan can be really expensive, to the point that it doesn’t make sense financially to export it, as for many foreigners price tolerance would be too low to buy such teas.

Lastly it does really often taste less “in your face” to the uninitiated who might not understand why they need to pay so much more for “less”.

Personally, I don’t worry too much about certificates, you can taste a degree of clean-ness as people here call it, with a bit of experience. Of course, as we also discussed, some pesticides and such are tasteless, so... well gotta pick your poison so to speak. Can’t live forever.
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Baisao
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Tue Feb 02, 2021 1:59 pm

harrison1986 wrote:
Tue Feb 02, 2021 9:33 am
Anyone have any more information on this Norbu Alishan red tea? My only worry is that it is not organic.
Why are most of the great teas I see recommended here not organic? Is organic not as tasty due to restrictions on
fertilizer? Does anyone else worry about non organic stuff, or is it just me?
I agree with @Bok on all of the points he raised, though there is one pesticide I can smell, beta-Cyfluthrin, or possibly it is the carrier agent.

Additionally, pesticides are not stable and breakdown rapidly in the presence of heat and humidity, into what I do not know, but they are no longer effective on their targeted pests. For example, a pesticide that targets the nervous system no longer disrupts the nervous system once it breaks down.

I would share my secret organic sencha that I drink all day at work but the seller is switching to a different supplier for their organic sencha offering and I haven't tried it yet. I liked their organic sencha not because it is organic but because it is forgiving when I get distracted by work tasks. It's never been bitter or astringent. The body feeling is nice: alert yet relaxed. It never makes me jittery.
Ethan Kurland
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Tue Feb 02, 2021 5:52 pm

Organic certification: What is it worth to the consumer?

Perhaps the likelihood of the tea being clean is greater. How much greater is an unanswerable ?.

Many of us have seen tea leaves in huge piles on the floors of tea producers. If the floor was washed with chemical cleaners, would organic tea remain organic?

I used to call my Championship Black tea organic. I stopped because I want to emphasize that it is free of pesticides. To me that is more important because leaves bitten by bugs give drinkers delicious flavors. It often seems very close to Oriental Beauty (an oolong) to me.

Labels, that is, written facts, need subjective input. For example, I have an Alishan black that is different than what people love from Norbu. My dark oolong from Thailand (from a different country & I think a lower elevation) is close to Norbu though it is oxidized less.

That Thai tea is organic but not bought often. "Thailand" probably turns people off.

I would suggest that if someone has thought a lot about that Norbu, he should buy it. If he doesn't like it, I'll trade some of my "similar" Thai tea for it. I know that it is organic. :)
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harrison1986
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Thu Feb 04, 2021 1:56 pm

Ethan Kurland wrote:
Tue Feb 02, 2021 5:52 pm
I used to call my Championship Black tea organic. I stopped because I want to emphasize that it is free of pesticides. To me that is more important because leaves bitten by bugs give drinkers delicious flavors. It often seems very close to Oriental Beauty (an oolong) to me.
Thanks all for the insights. I think these smaller, uncertified but pesticide free, bug bitten teas are really what I want to go after in my next tea order. I sent a PM for pricing and how to order.
Ethan Kurland
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Thu Feb 04, 2021 2:47 pm

I sent you a PM, Harrison, Cheers
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Sun Mar 14, 2021 12:35 am

I have two that I know of so far.

1 is fragment of big red robe by Postcard teas. Made by hand by the current guardian and caretaker of the original Da hong pao mother trees. The fragment of big red robe is from the second cuttings of the mother trees, and said to be as close as the general public can get to trying the real thing. for $80 for a mere six grams I thought this better be the closest thing to the original mother trees!

I shared this with the Los Angeles Tea Society when I had a mere six grams of it, it was wonderful, smooth and full of great energy.

my other is a 2003 Raw/Ripe blend green mark that I got from Yang Chu of Pu-erh junky. It pairs very well with foods especially spicy and meat dishes and is just wonderful overall, I do not drink it often because he is sold out of them.
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