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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…
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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…
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Teamasters, Featured Vendor
The vendor profile for Teamasters is a part of our Taiwanese Tea Vendor Series, covering a number of Taiwanese-tea specialized vendors that sell to the west. Based in Taiwan, a French ex-patriate Stephane Erler founded and runs Teamasters. Now one of the oldest online vendors and tea bloggers Teamasters was originally conceived as a tea…
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Tea from Taiwan, Featured Vendor
The vendor profile for Tea from Taiwan is a part of our Taiwanese Tea Vendor Series, covering a number of Taiwanese-tea specialized vendors that sell to the west. Tea from Taiwan was one of the first vendors based in Taiwan that sold to the west. Founded by Ross MacIver in the early 2000s, Tea from Taiwan launched…
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Origin Tea, Featured Vendor
The vendor profile for Origin Tea is a part of our Taiwanese Tea Vendor Series, covering a number of Taiwanese-tea specialized vendors that sell to the west. Much to my dismay, Origin Tea has since closed. Origin Tea’s ‘About Section’ states their purpose clearly: At Origin Tea we have one goal: To make high quality…
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The King of the 80s: Dong Ding
The year is 1980. Ronald Reagan was elected president, The Empire Strikes Back had just been released, and Dong Ding was at the top of the Taiwanese tea world. Before Da Yu Ling, before Lishan, before Shan Li Xi (all relatively new entities in tea), and even before Alishan, there was Dong Ding. Perched at an…
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The Royal Court, Uber-Premium Taiwanese Teas Feat. Zhu Lu, Long Feng Xia, Fu Shou Shan, Da Yu Ling 105k
You are now a seasoned veteran of Taiwanese teas. It has been hard work and you’ve spent alot of time and money, but it’s been worth it. You’ve tasted and mastered the whole lineup… Dong Ding, Baozhong, Oriental Beauty, uber-fresh straight from Taiwan high-mountain teas…Alishan, Lishan, Shan Li Xi, Da Yu Ling. What’s next!? Like…
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The Price of Low-Elevation Taiwanese Tea
What is the average price of Jin Xuan? What about Oriental Beauty? Should I be buying in bulk?? Taiwan offers an eclectic and flavorful lineup of oolongs that goes far beyond their wonderful but pricy high-mountain collection. Though the western world remains a distant minority in Taiwanese oolong consumption, in recent years the amount of western-facing vendors has…
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Taiwanese Oolong (& Black) Cultivars & TRES
The words cultivar and varietal are often used interchangeably (and incorrectly) around in the tea community. On this particular topic there is a ton of directly conflicting information and incorrect statements even amongst reputable sources. Knowing cultivars may seem ultra-technical and seem like impractical knowledge but it can be very useful (most importantly helping out…
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Taiwanese Tea Vendor Guide
There are a number of vendors in the western world that offer Taiwanese Oolongs. Prices vary dramatically vendor to vendor and tea to tea (cheap, expensive) and there are even Taiwanese tea forgeries (i.e. grown in China/Thailand, harvested in a Taiwanese style and marketed as Formosa/Gaoshan Oolong). Navigating the online vendor landscape can be a…