This episode, Denny and James drink a fresh 2016 Alishan from Teamasters generously supplied by Ryan Ahn of the Penn State Institute.
Category: High-Mountain Oolong
-
Shopping for Tea in Taiwan FAQ
Since my first trip to Taiwan, I’ve been frequently asked about what to do and where to go for tea in Taiwan. This is an attempt to answer some of these questions.. I should also preface this with a warning. I’m by no means an experienced sourcer and have had my share of purchasing errors and regrets, so please take this all with the proper context with appropriate reservations.. These are more or less the answers I’d typically give venturing off to the island of tea. (more…)
-
Shopping for Tea in Taiwan
Forever alone.. Being a pu’erh addict in the west is a lonely endeavor and how we intake information and buy tea is in all likelihood very different than the average Asian pu-head. We’re often resigned to the tea table/closet all by our self. If we’re lucky we can get a good friend/significant other to come over once a month to humor us but we’re mainly drinking alone and talking to each other on instagram.. It’s no wonder why teapets are so popular..
In the western tea scene… 65ml teapots are in high-demand.
In the western tea scene… we get teeny, tiny boxes of tea shipped monthly.
In the western tea scene… a cake is most definitely not a sample.
In the western tea scene… we occasionally indulge with **gasp** multiple 200g cakes that we we still have trouble getting through! (more…) -
Taiwan Sourcing’s Lishan Tieguanyin [Episode 116]
A more normal TeaDB episode but featuring Scott Wilson (Yunnan Sourcing) and another important part of Yunnan Sourcing his wife (XY). This is Denny and James first taste of the Taiwanese teas of Taiwan Sourcing, with their Lishan Tieguanyin.
-
Phoenix Tea’s Taiwanese Oolongs w/Guest Star Brett [Episode 114]
A special episode with guest star Brett Boynton of Phoenix Tea. Brett helped a young Denny get into tea years ago.
-
Tea Urchin’s Lao Jizi Baozhong [Episode 105]
A blind tasting of a sample kindly provided by Richard. An interesting contrast vs. the Floating Leaves Tea reviewed in episode 103.
-
Floating Leaves Tea’s 2014 Winter Shan Li Xi [Episode 104]
Another good one from Floating Leaves. This is Shiuwen’s favorite high mountain tea of the harvest!
-
Origin Tea’s Mr. Du’s High-Fired Alishan [Episode 86]
Denny and James review a really well-done high-fired tea from Origin Tea. The tea is unique in that the roast has been done at a lower temperature for a long period of time. In this episode we erroneously refer to the tea as Hong Shui, when it is actually just high-fired!
-
Announcing Tea of the Month 2015
This is an announcement about the tea of the month series for 2015 as well as an outline of January’s upcoming tea of the month. Similar to the other tea of the months this will be more of a personal blogging style post. The mature pu’erh report will come out independently in two weeks.
I launched the first tea of the month in March 2014 and have since done eight different reports. Overall, it’s a fairly free-form format which I’ve personally enjoyed a good deal. It gives a far less filtered look at certain teas and more comparative impressions. As many have stated, the TeaDB video reviews end up being a biased selection of teas that are usually hand-picked for review. While we (especially Denny) will do blind tastings of teas on occasion, they’re often picked out for some reason or another. Big thanks to our readers and for suggestions, this is a great time to post them in the comments! (more…)
-
Shan Li Xi Gui Fei Mei Ren Eco-Cha Taiwanese Oolong [Episode 43]
Episode 42 begins a two-part series on some the Taiwanese Oolongs from Eco-Cha. This episodes focuses on a relatively rare offering, a high-mountain (Shan Li Xi) Gui Fei Mei Ren (Concubine Oolong). This tea is a very interesting intersection between high-mountain tea and Oriental Beauty. Read more about Shan Li Xi Gui Fei Mei Ren and Eco-Cha.