Denny and I just guest starred in the Tea For Me Please Podcast ran by Nicole (see her post here). Was a ton of fun to sit back and just chat about tea! More lax and less structured than your average TeaDB episode, and we talk about how we got into tea, the future of tea in America, how to start learning about tea, etc.
Author: James
-
Lishan Cui Luan Origin Tea Taiwanese High-Mountain Oolong [Episode 37]
James & Denny finish their 4-episode series on Origin Tea. In episode 37 they drink a slightly more oxidized and roasted oolong than the popular nuclear-green style with Origin Tea’s Lishan Cui Luan. This and the DYL 102K really help to showcase some of the more interesting Origin Tea offerings.
-
Da Yu Ling 102K Origin Tea Taiwanese High-Mountain Oolong [Episode 36]
James & Denny continue their 4-episode series on Origin Tea. In episode 36, they move slightly down the mountain from the 104K highway marker to 102K. This is a different tea than Origin Tea’s very green 104K or Fu Shou Shan and a good example of the diversity that Origin Tea has to offer.
-
Eco-Cha, Featured Vendor
The vendor profile for Eco-Cha is a part of our Taiwanese Tea Vendor Series, covering a number of Taiwanese-tea specialized vendors that sell to the west.
Along with Origin Tea and Taiwan Tea Crafts, Eco-Cha is a newcomer to the growing population of western-facing Taiwanese tea vendors. The faces behind it are neither fresh nor newcomers to selling tea. Formed by a pair of foreign expatriates with strong-ties to Taiwan and three Taiwanese natives, this is an experienced group with deep ties to tea, especially in central Taiwan. With the name Eco-Cha, their most obvious difference between other Taiwanese based vendors is their ecological/green focus. Interestingly this name carries a totally different but fitting second meaning in Chinese, A Sip of Tea. Eco-cha.com itself is littered with an impressive amount of information on the flavor, garden, harvest, elevation, and detailed notes on the origins of their teas. This forthcoming approach is a key aspect for a new venture with core values of sustainability and transparency. (more…)
-
Da Yu Ling 104K Origin Tea Taiwanese High-Mountain Oolong [Episode 35]
James & Denny continue their 4-episode series on Origin Tea. In episode 35, they review a Da Yu Ling 104K, from one of the highest-elevation farms in all of Taiwan. This is an extremely premium offering and like the Fu Shou Shan, this tea is minimally processed in a nuclear-green style. In this episode they also use a very unique (and powerful) method of brewing gaoshan (covered in more depth here).
-
Fu Shou Shan Origin Tea Taiwanese High-Mountain Oolong [Episode 34]
James & Denny begin a 4-episode series on Origin Tea. In episode 34, they review a Fu Shou Shan oolong, a special government tea plantation perched at one of the peaks on Lishan mountain. This tea is minimally processed in a nuclear-green style.
-
All About (Taiwanese) Baozhong
Like Dong-Ding (and unlike high-mountain tea) Baozhong has a long, history in Taiwan. Baozhong (or Pouchong) literally means “wrapped kind” and refers to the way the tea was traditionally packaged in paper. Grown at a measly 400-800 meters elevation in Northern Taiwan, Baozhong is a low-elevation tea (typically from Wenshan or Pinglin). It is also not rolled, an important distinction from the majority of Taiwanese oolongs. Even though it is marketed and consumed to the western market as a Taiwanese tea, Baozhong is originally a mainland tea and is still produced in Fujian, China. The history of Baozhong is very similar to Tieguanyin and Fo Shou; All three are originally from China and were brought over to Taiwan in the late 19th century. Each of these teas has evolved and changed separately in Taiwan and are now very different from their Chinese cousins. (more…)
-
1997 Fuhai Shu Pu’erh [Episode 33]
In episode 33, James & Denny review an older 1997 Ripe Pu’erh from Chinese tea factory Fuhai (Lucky Star). Fuhai split off from Dayi in the late 1990s.
-
Shan Li Xi Hung Shui 2011 Teamasters Taiwanese High-Mountain Oolong [Episode 32]
In episode 32, James & Denny review a unique 2011 Hung Shui oolong cultivated from the Shan Li Xi growing region. Acquired via Teamasters, this tea is a new experience for both Denny and James.
-
GREEN!!! The Downward Trend of the Dark Taiwanese Oolong
The western world tends to view Asian tea culture as classical and rigidly traditional. While this can be true for certain geographical regions or rituals i.e. Japanese tea ceremony; much of this idea should be discarded for the ever-changing Chinese and Taiwanese tea. Since the first tea bushes were planted on Taiwan, Taiwanese tea has been extremely dynamic with dramatic changes in style. Some of this has included clever experimentation (Gui Fei Mei Ren) but most if not all can be viewed through the lense of economics and history. (more…)