wave_code wrote: ↑Wed Oct 28, 2020 4:02 am
interesting perspective Maerskian, especially how you relate it to the animation scene.
Glad it felt that way. Must note however that while i only expanded on animators i was referring to the whole creative scene, from filmmakers ( Svankmajer also made live-action films, but then there's Jaromil Jires, Vera Chytilová, Jiri Menzel, Juraj Herz,etc... ) to sculptors, painters, illustrators ... even remarkable Czech writers ( Karel Capek comes to mind with what should be considered a concept prequel to Orwell's 1984, i'm referring to "R.U.R. / Rossum's Universal Robots" which introduced the word "robot" to the world ) not to mention musicians/composers . The list of names is way too long so i decided to stick to one case only and mention animators that could be considered "mainstream" or way too popular within animation circuits for there's a legion, even more if we considere the entanglement within the H4 block & the obvious soviet influence.
The more you dive into Czechia's cultural side the easier it is to see the connections and understand the outcome & decisions taken in the creative process.
In my experience there always has been a lingering genuine attraction for artisans of all kinds and "old things" which - once again - i can notice through my multiple hobbies. Another one would be the fact that i'm an audio enthusiast with the usual small collection of audio gear, worked on this sector, been part of a myth busters group and therefore involved on international communities years ago... and once again, when you check forums with second-hand subforums that usually are the few reliable places to find vintage jewels... the most active & passionate buyers tend to be eastern europeans, more specifically from the H4 block... most of the from Czechia. Not a coincidence you can find so many fine & praised luthiers around there as well.
In the end it's too many clues & circumstances pointing to the very same direction.
I ordered from goodtea once so far but will be again soon. I just needed a replacement for a cheap broken glass pot and didn't want to wait for slow boat shipping, but was pleased to see someone selling some HK stored teas in Europe. I liked what I tried and they told which of the rest of their teas also are coming from Ying Kee, so I plan on picking up some more. The price seems pretty fair to me for them considering shipping/import, so on.
I have ordered quite a bit from Lao over the last couple of years. Some of their offerings are a little on the pricier side, but also some of it isn't really everyday tea either, at least not by European standards for sure. While some of what they carry it seems they buy or get samples of and then decide to stock like other vendors do, it also looks like they do also take sourcing trips quite regularly, which can add to costs. Given that they stock a lot of hei cha and nobody else in Europe really specializes in that, that they actually seem to source quite a bit of it themselves, and that what I have gotten from them has always been good quality, I'm happy to pay a bit of mark-up to support that. I can't get decent liu bao, much less older Malaysian stored ones from other vendors without waiting for a month of slow boat shipping, so while I don't get everything from them I'm ok with paying a premium to see a vendor stick around and keep doing what I think are good things. I believe they also just opened a tea house? I hope it goes well for them- even just running an established business through corona times is difficult.
I've been communicating with GoodTea's owner Rado ( something i usually like to do in order to get a general notion of the place i'm ordering from... although i can perfectly understand there's obvious limitations, one of them being time ) which helped me draw some general positive conclusions from this particular store that otherwise wouldn't encourage me to test further and will share here in case it can help :
- Already mentioned it but for me it's important that the owner is also a tea enthusiast, somebody that is continuously tasting different teas, making events, going to fairs, looking to add more to the catalogue and doing everything he can to expand the tea culture... because he truly believe on it. This is something common with the usual vendors we "regular western tea drinkers" know and have bought from over the years ( YS, CLT, W2T, Liquid Proust, Chawang, etc... ) but not so usual on teashops within European territory ( there's plenty of 'em... hundreds... however there's only a handful that could be considered good & reliable at owner's level ) .
- You mentioned the shipping/import/customs factor... which unfortunately is very relevant for us EU based tea-drinkers and will be even more starting 2021. From my conversation with GoodTea's owner it seems the EU is becoming more & more restrictive with goods imported from China, in fact... my June's order from GoodTea experienced an abnormal delay precisely because of this very reason... shipping from HK/China these days is already slow, now you have to add up all the extra tons of paperwork & inspections.
Additionally, from what i've been told... from now on plenty teas are effectively banned from entering EU territory. Teas with golden flowers are no longer allowed ( although it seems they still can be slipped through since those doesn't stand out that much, so still room for fu cha bricks ), same for those including chinese orchids or similar ( i'm guessing Chrysanthemum is no longer allowed then? ), same for those with essential oils mixed up ( some taiwanese teas like Shan Cha ) even if they are natural.
This circumstance impacted GoodTea Luk On / Liu An's catalogue that has been reduced to merely two types right now... i know this because i am the one that bought their last , now-banned , Liu An teas and the moment i requested some more received the full explanation. Must confess that when i learned that Shan Cha was also affected by current EU import laws bought several bags of Shan Cha from this store... out of spite.
Also bought some of their fu cha bricks but then again, have been told he plans to import more fu cha soon, this time it'll be organic... so i assume that despite fu cha bricks being well known for their golden flowers they can be slipped through customs somehow.
- GoodTea's owner also told me he plans to expand his hei-cha catalogue as soon as he can ( fingers crossed ) although he is also facing the challenge to filter any that can be potentially banned from being imported and it's taking a while.
All in all bought quite a lot of different teas from GoodTea i need to taste & evaluate over the coming months. So far i'm liking that Bulang log ( even though it's clearly a humble version, still pretty enjoyable ) and going through their loose leaf shou ( generically labeled as "special" , "superior" ) ... which seem to be plain but drinkable shou... probably the kind served on HK dim sum restaurants ( never been on one, but from all the comments i've gathered over the years from asian tea-drinkers... this seems to be that kind ) which is enough for me & the way i drink it, plus it was to be expected too ( it's priced accordingly after all ) .
Also received some samples for the late 90s sheng & laos gushu that aren't on the online catalogue plus a nice chunk/sample of the 2011 Lock cha cake as well. I'm still waiting for plenty teas to clear the "quarantine" phase ( couple months on my storage ), once done they'll add up to my tasting marathon for the end of this year as i have too many samples & teas to evaluate.
A lot of other hei cha I've bought from other EU vendors clearly either just came from Chawang or maybe Yunnan Sourcing wholesale then marked up and sold in smaller quantity, and to my palette is usually not selected all that well - just fairly typical inexpensive big basket liu bao being sold by sample size, but often not even being a very good one in terms of its profile.
The last time i bought Liu Bao it was from Chawang. This whole year i've been essentially readjusting to the new EU customs situation that for me already started on late 2019 ( the moment Trump sent those $30million to the postal union; not such thing as coincidences... not sure what did they do with that money considering no postal service within US, Canada or the whole EU improved in the slightest... but all of them got worse ) searching & testing european tea stores, fortunately there's been nice surprises i probably wouldn't dare to explore otherwise.
It's remarkable - and must thank you for sharing your opinion - that i'm collecting nothing but praise to LaoTeashop and their Liu Bao, so certainly feeling fortunate they provide us - EU tea drinkers - with a reliable source for Liu Bao which right now is truly unique from our new perspective.
While mapping our new EU-perspective reality and considering the options will shrink, what i feared the most is being denied easy access to particular types of tea. Liu Bao would be one of those if it weren't for LaoTeaShop.
Can't find any consistent reliable source for shou either ( tried ordering from Teasenz european front puerhtea.eu a few times including some shou... but long story short: not planning to buy from there ever again unless i'm desperate - which i highly doubt - and it's really cheap for a reliable brand... which isn't happening either ) but after reaching to MoyChay have been told they plan to open a store on Amsterdam soon ( they sent me a link to their instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/moychay.nl/ ...for those that have socials ) which would be excellent news and more than enough for the foreseeable future on my personal case.