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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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Bulang Maocha 2016
Home, Lighter Aromas, Neutral-Cool Energy, Pu'er teas, Puer Maocha, Stronger Tastes, Tea, White teas, YunnanUSD 14.50Forest Tree Tea:
Deep in the mountains in Xishuangbanna in southern Yunnan tea trees grow wild amongst other woods and plants in Bulang Shan. Ethnic mountain people, particularly women, bring with them wood ladders and a plank for platform for plucking in tea season, perhaps as it has always been since antiquity. As a continuation of this tradition, Bulang Silver Spring is hand-processed and slow dried over wood charcoal the same way. This shengcha puer is bright and refreshing when consumed as a new tea, or can be put away for maturity.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack
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Huangshan Spring Equinox 2020
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 -
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 (1.8 oz) in Kraft-alu pack -
Yiwu Maocha 2017
Cold Energy, Floral Aromas, Home, Pu'er teas, Puer Maocha, Stronger Tastes, Tea, White teas, YunnanUSD 12.10Famous Origin
It is said that the indigenous people in Yiwu Mountain began using tea for its medicinal purposes in the third century. The cure would soon became a beverage habit and later a trading commodity. Regardless of history, Yiwu is indeed one of the most renowned region in Yunnan for the tea’s fragrance. We have discovered a great value batch to share with you for a taste of this character without the usual unreal price tag. By design, there are two younger teas in this Puer Maocha series and this is one of them. Some people like their maocha fresher, while others prefer it aged. Enjoy!
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack -
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 -
Hong Yu Deep White 2020
Floral Aromas, Fuller Bodies, Home, Neutral-Cool Energy, Taiwan, Tea, White teasUSD 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 -
Dragon Tip 2020
Cold Energy, Floral Aromas, Green teas, Stronger Tastes, ZhejiangUSD 31.00Kaihua Longding — a rare shoot leaf green tea
Some people like their green tea soft and sweet, others may prefer a good umami. Yet this leaf shoot tea is neither. Its bitterness is accented by its sharpness on a bold, full body. After Longjing, of all the other green teas from the Zhejiang region, my personal strongest preference goes to Kaihua Longding. To me it is an alternative to a shot of single malt in a heavy evening, or an afternoon kick of espresso. Its pleasant aftertaste is paralleled by neither. Since encountering the true quality of this tea, I have always wanted to put it in my collection, only to be refrained from extraordinary high asking prices. Genuine ones are rare after all. It has been extremely fortunate, after 13 years, to have located our current farmer willing to sell at this affordable price so we can offer it here to you. Tea Hong’s Dragon Tip is Kaihua Longding at its very best.
Net weight: 70 g (2.5 oz) in Kraft-alu pack
Tea Log
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Lunar New Year Sweet Tea
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Airmail deadline for Christmas 2020
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Deadline for Christmas airmail shipping to USA is set for Nov 19 ( HK time, ie EST – 13 hr…