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).
Tag: Origin Tea
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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.
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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 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…)
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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 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…)
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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 teas available worldwide at reasonable prices..
An easy statement to make, but a far more difficult one to backup (especially given Origin’s premium high-mountain specialty). Based in Taiwan, Origin Tea is owned and run by Tony. Origin Tea opened up shop in late 2012, using Taiwan’s 2012 Winter Harvest as their initial selection. (more…)
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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 a hero fighting through swarms of villains in an awesomely bad 70s kung-fu film you are ready for the royal court, a family of the biggest, baddest, and most premium Taiwanese gaoshan. (more…)
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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 quietly and quickly multiplied. This can likely be attributed to increasing demand, the ever-increasing size of the internet and Taiwan’s close political and economic connections with the west. With a suddenly large pool of online vendors sourcing or shipping from Taiwan, western consumers have an opportunity to make decisions and choices not previously available. Now…let’s go shopping!
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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 difficult and often costly endeavor. This section will simply try to help you get what you pay! This article was originally intended to be part of the Taiwanese Oolong Compendium but it quickly became obvious it should be its own separate article. For those interested in a more data-driven approach to the price and finding the best deal for Taiwanese Gaoshan, check out the price of high-mountain oolong. (more…)
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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 issues, while specifically analyzing Gaoshan (Taiwanese) high-mountain tea by examining how tea prices vary mountain to mountain and vendor to vendor. High-mountain oolong in particular tends to command the most-demanding price/oz and oftentimes what may seem like a deal is not really a deal at all. Check out our vendor guide for a vendor by vendor breakdown of Taiwanese gaoshan specialists. Please note that high-mountain tea (>1000 meters) excludes many popular Taiwanese teas like Dong Ding, Tieguanyin, Oriental Beauty, and Baozhong (all grown at lower elevations). (more…)
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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!), but that most tea acquired through reliable sources will be of reasonable quality. While green tea and black tea are also grown in Taiwan, Taiwanese Oolong is the most famous tea type coming from Taiwan. Taiwanese Oolong is also commonly referred to as Gaoshan (high-mountain tea) or Formosa (Taiwan), and you will see these names used interchangeably amongst the tea drinking community. (more…)