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Shan Lin Xi 2020
Cool Energy, Home, Lighter Aromas, Milder Tastes, Oolongs, Taiwan, TeaUSD 21.40From the Stream of Cypress Woods
To most people, teas from Taiwan are synonymous with high mountain oolongs. Officially, these are the four top subregions for the tea: Alishan, Shan Lin Xi, Li Shan, and Yu Shan. We already carry quite a few Alishan’s, to find one from the others, we have been relentlessly searching. It has to be one comparable to those from Alishan but individualistic enough. Shan Lin Xi — literally Stream of Cypress Woods — is an area deep in a national reserve in the mountainous central area of the island country. Two hour driving from the station in the small city of Chia Yi, you will have climbed 1000m on the curvy roads deep in the sparse village areas with dense tall trees and quite many degrees lower than down there. Tea patches are hidden here and there amongst forests, occasional clusters of bamboos and a great diversity of wild plants. The same Chin Hsin Gan Chi cultivar grown here yields leaves that seem to have acquired a different character, a somehow lighter yet more complex, more stimulating tinkle. Previously when I was still operating a teahouse, some customers came to do Zen with tea as the medium. I guess this Shan Lin Xi Oolong can be one for it too.
Net weight: 70 g (2.5 oz) in Kraft-alu pillow pack
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Bang Xie Maocha 2007
Home, Lighter Aromas, Milder Tastes, Neutral-Cool Energy, Pu'er teas, Puer Maocha, Tea, White teas, YunnanUSD 22.40Whipping Rattan Tea
In historical herbal literature, tea is referred to as bitter, “extremely chilly” to the body constituents, but effectively detoxicating. That basically is what is the raw tea leaf. While green tea is cooked, and most white tea is from plants that are severely tamed through breeding, Pu’er maocha maybe the closest thing one can get commercially nowadays for what the ancients had referred to. Yet in order to offer a tea that is taste worthy, we have to find plants that are strong and and soil that is rich to provide that potential. And dry those leaves from the first flush and age them well to round off all the edges and deepen the tastes. A Whipping Rattan Tea bush is such pruned that buds just flush in the tips of its few branches. All the plant’s nutrients are thus focused in these few young leaves. We think that would be good raw material for us to process and age. Presenting the very special Whipping Rattan Bang Xie Maocha, aged since 2007. A unique Pu’er tea in every way.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack
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Huangshan Spring Equinox 2021
Cool Energy, Green teas, Home, Huangshan - Anhui, Lighter Aromas, Milder Tastes, TeaUSD 19.10Pre-Qingming Maofeng:
Huangshan (translate: Yellow Mountain) is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and a China national conservation. Besides beautiful sceneries, it is also the origin for many a fine teas, such as Huangshan Maofeng. The tender young leaf shoot to make Huangshan Spring Equinox is always plucked with one or two tiny immediate leaves. A much sought after green tea amongst connoisseurs worldwide.
Net weight: 40 g (1.8 oz) in Kraft-alu pack -
Old Comrade “7548” 2007
Compressed tea, Floral Aromas, Neutral-Cool Energy, Pu'er teas, Stronger Tastes, YunnanUSD 60.50 – USD 402.9045 years of refined tea mastery
When I first entered Zao Bing Liang’s tasting room, the air is filled with the freshness of the aroma of maocha. Bags of samples from newly collected loose leaves lined up in rows, each marked with a numeric code. The teas were trucked in from the various mountains in the region. Some maybe less than 30 minutes away, others can be a full day. Yunnan is over 10% larger even than the whole of Germany and tea trees exist in almost all of its mountains. Some of these maochas are from highly sought after famous villages or mountains, which will be individually made into products carrying their origin names to demand very high market prices. A new discus from Ban Zhang, for example, can easily be fetching thousands of dollars. Aged ones are even much pricier. Yet there are more others from not as highly demanded origins, but also taste worthy. That’s where Zao’s “formulae” come in. Since the 1970’s, the old master has developed a number of recipes for ganging up harvests from origins of lesser known names for more affordable delicious teas. 7548 is the code name for his most prized and classic shengcha formula. These bags of samples in lines were there for the old master to finalise which batches and what proportion for the mix. He does that every harvest, for every product. Presenting the 7548 cha bing from Lao Tong Zhi ( ie Old Comrade ), Master Zao’s very own tea brand. Batch 701 is the first batch of year 2007. That means the best of the year and matured till now. It is a prime product of old Master Zao’s passion for bringing quality to more people without the price tag of premium origin labels.
There are two product variants to choose from: A single discus of 357g net weight in the original paper wrap, or a traditional vending form of 7 cha bings bundled in a bamboo sleeve, net weight totalling 2.5 kg. Please click below to see either options.
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Hong Yu Deep White 2020
Home, Tea, White teas, Taiwan, Floral Aromas, Fuller Bodies, Neutral-Cool EnergyUSD 22.50White tea with a twist
The very same cultivar which leaves that make the black tea, Fragrance of Taiwan — Red Jade — is employed to make this unique white tea. Where the black tea has an upfront distinctive character which tea novices may need time to grow into, the white tea version is a lot friendlier for understanding this wonderful camellia formosenisis species with. Hong Yu Deep White has the light and easy first impression like other white teas, but that will grow in your palate to the roundness of an aged black tea and the floral character of an oolong. An unmistakable gastronomical signature uniquely its own seamlessly holds all elements together as a continuum of olfactory-palatial sensation experience.
Net weight: 40 g (1.3 oz) in Kraft-alu pack -
Snowy Egret
Cool Energy, Green teas, Home, Lighter Aromas, Milder Tastes, Taiwan, TeaUSD 17.90Bai Lu Green Tea
Most green tea varieties made in Taiwan are processed with an approach so minimalist that the quality of the harvest and the characteristics of the cultivar almost entirely dictate the resultant taste profile. Processing skills are needed there to optimise it but when the weather or harvesting condition are not good, there is not a lot one can do during processing to salvage the quality. In order to deliver the very best representation of what a premium Taiwan green tea can be, we have chosen a flavourful cultivar that many have used to produce black teas and Oriental Beauty with for our green tea: TTES#17*. Tea Hong’s Snowy Egret is made in a specially designated farm from only the first flush of Bai Lu and masterfully handmade by the farm’s owner. Still, a fine harvest like this one in offer cannot be taken for granted every year.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack
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Honey Orchid 2018
Fenghuang ( Phoenix ), Floral Aromas, Fuller Bodies, Neutral Energy, Oolongs, TeaUSD 28.80Milan Xiang Dancong:
The fine mastery that produces Tea Hong’s Honey Orchid has to be coupled with select first flush harvests from high grown tea bushes in order to deliver the kind of quality only a restricted circle of tea aficionados have known and kept to their secret. The overall production volume for such quality in the whole Phoenix region is only a few thousand kilos after all. Most will go to local elites, and the rest to the few hardcore Phoenix oolong fans that are also tea merchants, like us.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack -
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Mo Gan Yellow Snails 2020
Denser Aromas, Fuller Bodies, Green teas, Neutral-Cool Energy, ZhejiangUSD 26.30Revitalising an old yellow tea
Tea Hong’s Mo Gan Yellow Snails is a break away from the old Mo Gan Yellow Tip. We have greatly modified traditional yellowing to give the tea a distinctive yellow look and a taste that is different from both green tea and old style yellow tea. A neo-yellow. Unlike other tea categories, old style yellow tea has not prospered in all these decades since tea’s revival after the destructive Mao era. Its taste needs a lot more to create followers. Similarly from the mountain of Mo Gan in the region of Zhejiang, Tea Hong’s Mo Gan Yellow Snails has departed from the dull colours of the old to maintain a brisk freshness in the look and taste, while achieving a characteristic “cooked” warmth and sweetness that is the real spirit of yellow tea. Now that is a good individualistic character to have a place in any tea repertoire.
Net weight: 50 g (1.8 oz) in Kraft-alu pack
Tea Log
Insights, information and in focus
Taiwan as a tea region
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In the subtropical small island country of Taiwan, where most of the terrain is dominated by a central mountain range…
Introducing Tieguanyin Stout
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Tea Hong’s Tieguanyin Traditional has been popular for its sweet floral aroma and soft, silky body. However, there is another…