Vietnam Oolongs

[ChaLover]

Has anyone had any experience with good quality Oolongs from Vietnam? They actually have quite a few tea farms, many old trees. Some of the farms were started using Taiwanese HMO tree stock.

I found the greener, fresh Viet oolongs that I could find in Saigon and Hoi An decent, but a tad more bitter and less complex/refined than medium grade Taiwanese HMOs. The Viets don't display the buttery mouth feel nor last through as many steepings as do good HMO, but the Viets are far less costly.

That said, I have heard some farms produce such high grade Viet oolong teas that they are exported to Taiwan and sold there as Taiwan grown HMO - suggesting they are of equal quality and flavor profiles (but far less costly or with super high markups). But I found no such super high quality Viet oolongs myself in either Saigon of Hoi an.

Can anyone offer any feedback and/or links to vendors who sell the really high grade Viet Oolongs (and hopefully ship to USA). Not seeking the "commercial grade" packaged tourist Viet teas, but the top grade artisanal quality teas.

Thanks

[Bok]

As you mentioned, a lot of it goes to Taiwan and is blended with local tea or sold as is as Taiwanese tea. A lot of the farms in Vietnam seem to be run by Taiwanese.

My guess is that whatever is high quality is sold elsewhere as Taiwanese tea to get the highest price…

A long time ago I bough some tea in Saigon, which was surprisingly nice and as you said very similar to Taiwan oolongs!
One concern in Vietnam is the widespread pollution of the countryside caused by the bombardments of Uncle Sam… Agent Orange Oolong

[tealifehk]

I don't think anything would grow where dioxin levels were high though. Agent Orange was a defoliant: it was sprayed to remove cover so the Viet Cong would be easier to spot. Defoliants make plants lose their leaves!

[Bok]

Seems to be a problem nonetheless:
https://thediplomat.com/2016/12/in-viet ... oms-large/
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/tox ... 67.article
http://www.popstoolkit.com/about/articl ... etnam.aspx

Some hope though

"Although approximately 12% of southern Viet Nam was sprayed during Operation Ranch Hand, only very limited areas are considered highly toxic due to dioxin contamination”

Now the question is, where are Vietnmese oolongs grown?

[tealifehk]

I've actually seen Agent Orange victims in Vietnam...pretty sad stuff.

It appears even low levels can contaminate crops and cause issues...pretty scary stuff!

I believe most if not all of the oolongs are grown in Moc Chau in the north. I have had good Vietnamese oolong in Saigon, but again, not quite as good as the Taiwanese stuff. Less complex, but very good longevity in the cup and a lovely osmanthus flavor, which is typical for lower elevation chin shin oolong in my experience!

[Tillerman]

For reliable information on Vietnamese tea try to contact Geoff Hopkins. I do not know his email address but he can be reached on FB.

p.s. large quantities of Vietnamese tea are sold as Taiwanese. Counterfeiting in Taiwanese tea is rampant!

[Bok]

p.s. large quantities of Vietnamese tea are sold as Taiwanese. Counterfeiting in Taiwanese tea is rampant!

I guess we have all aready had our fair share of Vietnames teas

Just buy Taiwanese tea that seems to be to cheap and you can almost be sure it is from Vietnam (or Thailand). Although I have found Vietnamese Oolongs a lot better than the Thai variety. Or try going to buy directly in the farming areas of Alishan or SLX

[tealifehk]

p.s. large quantities of Vietnamese tea are sold as Taiwanese. Counterfeiting in Taiwanese tea is rampant!

I guess we have all aready had our fair share of Vietnames teas

Just buy Taiwanese tea that seems to be to cheap and you can almost be sure it is from Vietnam (or Thailand). Although I have found Vietnamese Oolongs a lot better than the Thai variety. Or try going to buy directly in the farming areas of Alishan or SLX

I've had Thai oolongs that were better than the best of the Vietnamese I've (knowingly) had, but I've been lucky! I can definitely see how the best Thai oolong could be passed off as Taiwanese!

[ujimatcha]

There are some old brand in VietNam they have Oolongs Tea. So when you in Viet Nam , Let ask some high quality Oolong products of "Bảo Lộc" area like "Tâm Châu" brand or "Tân Cương" of " Thái Nguyên" both are most famous tea in highland place of North and South in VietNam.

[Bok]

Related article to the topic (in Chinese):
https://tw.appledaily.com/forum/daily/20180705/38061639

To summarize, the article is asking the question where all the imported Vietnamese tea is going in Taiwan. No shop sells any, so where is it ending up?
> mostly sold as Taiwanese tea and/or used in bubble tea and other drink shops. So, if the tea is too cheap, it is probably not Taiwanese tea.

[tealifehk]

Wow, interesting bit about how 99% Vietnamese tea with 1% Taiwanese tea added at the end can be legally called "Taiwanese."

[Bok]

Wow, interesting bit about how 99% Vietnamese tea with 1% Taiwanese tea added at the end can be legally called "Taiwanese."

Guess it’s a bit like the definition of free range chicken: chicken shed has to have a window which leads to the outside...

Greedy food industry.

[ylin]

I can't offer links to Taiwanese shops selling teas of Vietnam origin, however based on conversation with several tea masters in Taiwan, they say it is not uncommon for that to happen. There is actually no problem with the quality of tea made in such fashion as long as farming and post processing are done properly. That is why it's important to buy from a reputable maker.

[Bok]

I can't offer links to Taiwanese shops selling teas of Vietnam origin, however based on conversation with several tea masters in Taiwan, they say it is not uncommon for that to happen. There is actually no problem with the quality of tea made in such fashion as long as farming and post processing are done properly. That is why it's important to buy from a reputable makers.

It is probably more than common, with 70% of tea in Taiwan being imported. Especially the larger tea chains.

But you’re right, in the end the proof is in the cup and if it tastes nice, doesn’t poison me and has the right price tag, I do not mind.

[Tillerman]

I can't offer links to Taiwanese shops selling teas of Vietnam origin, however based on conversation with several tea masters in Taiwan, they say it is not uncommon for that to happen. There is actually no problem with the quality of tea made in such fashion as long as farming and post processing are done properly. That is why it's important to buy from a reputable makers.

It is probably more than common, with 70% of tea in Taiwan being imported. Especially the larger tea chains.

But you’re right, in the end the proof is in the cup and if it tastes nice, doesn’t poison me and has the right price tag, I do not mind.

It isn't just the tea shops that sell Vietnamese tea as Taiwanese; the practice is prevalent among many growers as well. I've never seen Vietnamese tea labelled as such sold in any shop in Taiwan but I suppose one might exist somewhere. That said, somewhere in the range of 50% of tea imported into Taiwan is used to manufacture RTD products.