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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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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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Lincang Lancang 2008 Sheng Pu’erh [Episode 27]
In episode 27, James & Denny are again joined by Glen and Lamu from Crimson Lotus Tea. This is a more open-ended podcast and we talk about both the tea as well as just pu’erh tea in general, how to get started with pu’erh, storage in North America, and some of the offerings that Crimson…
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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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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…
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The Price of High-Mountain Tea
Buying tea and shopping for deals can be confusing. The landscape of vendors is intimidating and oftentimes a simple purchase at the cheapest price can be a mistake. Complicating matters, there are no consistent quantity standards and varying shipping policies only add to the already-considerable confusion. This article will attempt to illuminate many of these…
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Oriental Beauty Oolong [Episode 12]
In episode 12, James & Denny engage in a longer-form podcast while drinking Floating Leaves‘ Oriental Beauty covering topics like how they drink tea, learning about tea, brewing parameters, etc.
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Taiwanese Oolong Compendium
Taiwan has been described by Marshaln as “The Tea Shop Island” and is truly a tea lover’s heaven. Like Japan and unlike China, the standards for authentic Taiwanese tea are quite high. This doesn’t necessarily mean that all tea marketed on the internet as Taiwanese tea is extremely high quality (or even grown in Taiwan!),…