I heard much about Yunnan Souring, but I have not tried it yet. Glad to hear you like white tea.
Yea Yunnan Sourcing seems to get rave reviews. The original site has more choices and lower pricing, but the us site has cheaper shipping for North American customers. I don’t have much experience with white tea, but it’s been great to drink Grandpa style. I’ll probably pick up a few more cakes of the 2021 when I can. I’m also looking in to puerh, fu, and various smokey teas.
Red Blossom from San Francisco is very good and also In Pursuit of Tea. FWW i am a Taiwanese Oolong fan.
I walked past there many times, and used to have a lot of clients there (before COVID-19). However, I have not bought or sat down there before. It does seem to have a wide range of tea.
mostly loose tea for me — but when i’m in a hurry (or just lazy), the stash double bergamot is my go to. it’s actually spoiled me for other earl greys.
I bought that thinking I would love it, no for me. I gave it to a friend. I’m back to twinning loose leaves, Earl Grey … the quality improved a bit lately.
Just to be clear, you’ve found loose tea as good or better than Stash DB?
If so, where?
i have a few loose teas in my regular rotation — a yunnan, a royal fruit that i blend myself, and chai cascarilla from mem teas in somerville, ma.
when i came across the stash double bergamot at work, i found i liked it better than the loose earl grey i had been drinking.
I like Tea Pigs’ Earl Grey. https://teapigs.com/
its a good option i am also buying tea from there.
Adding my experiences with a few tea purveyors of loose-leaf Asian teas (primarily Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese):
Teasenz (Note: they have US and EU specific sites too). Decent variety, but whether they have the tea you want will depend. I’ve heard some enthusiasts rave about some of their teas, but also declare others to be good but not special. Prices (from my perspective) are fairly reasonable, but you will need to factor in shipping from China. They send you a tracking number and orders took usually 3-4 weeks to arrive for me. I’ve bought tea - which also ranged from excellent, or good tea that has become a daily tea - and teaware. They have some nice yixing tea pots and teaware.
King Tea Mall - also ships from China, and mainly offers Chinese and a few Taiwanese teas. This is the great place for mid-market loose leafs at a reasonable price. Ships fast, and prices are generally good. Variety is huge. If you’re not looking for that rare tea, this is a solid place for getting bulk loose leaf at a reasonable price.
Tea Habitat - also has a storefront in LA. Sources specific high quality Chinese teas, so it won’t have something for everyone. If you are looking for a special tea, this is apparently one of the places, and they have matching prices to boot. For anyone in that area, would love to know if the in-person experience is different and if the teas are same price. But they shipped quickly and received the fastest of course, if ordering in the US. I got my order and haven’t tried to new teas yet, but they gifted some white tea (I do not like white tea). I tried some just for the heck of it (maybe it was the quality of those teas) and I still didn’t like it.
For sure, the fragrance was lovely, but it just doesn’t taste like much to me. To be fair, maybe I didn’t brew it with the right water temps, but not changing my mind about white tea yet. Gave it to my sister.
Tea Hong - based in Japan, but owned by a Hong Kong expat. Also more of a specialty shop of high end Japanese and Chinese tea leaves. Sells a small amount of absolutely beautiful teaware, and I couldn’t resist. Just got my first order today, so no tasting yet. Tea prices are ok to moderately pricey (not Tea Habitat pricey), but factor in shipping from Japan and you might not be too far off. Many of the tea sites above identify their tea with the Chinese characters, so if you can read it, it’s helpful to identify the teas. Tea Hong uses English translations, so for me, I didn’t recognize a variety of tea I was looking for. Once you click in, you will see kanji and Chinese characters too, so click into the tea type to verify the variety you want. Took 3 weeks to arrive, so not bad at all.
My experiences with Teasenz and King Tea Mall was pre-tariff insanity. While I know they have resumed shipping, this recent atmosphere of an/off tariffs may impact delivery times, prices.
I have not ordered from Yunnan Sourcing yet, but have checked out their website a lot. The consensus of those I know who’ve used them and from tea enthusiast forums online, is that they are legit and good teas can be found, but they are like the bodega of tea shops – soo much product and SKUS! You can find a few gems but will have to sift through a lot of mediocre teas and stuff in general. Their teaware ranges from possible artisanal designs to downright mass produced yixing wares that are overpriced. If you have a good experience with one variety, you are fine to order more of that online, but that the same variety different batch could be terrible. Their prices though are relatively good value, and seems to be a better option for bulk daily tea. They do have a US warehouse so you can order from their US site, that is much more limited, but will avoid any tariff nonsense.
I love Eco-Cha for their selection of high quality Taiwanese Oolong teas.
Jesse’s Teahouse. Excellent quality teas and equipment.
Try www.jingteashop.com for serious, top-quality direct-from-producers teas (they even sell teas of their own growing in Anxi) and excellent tea expertise. Everything is shipped from China, website operated from France.
Valley Brook Tea. There is a location in Washington, DC that does a free tea tasting every Sunday morning. The proprietor does not steep the tea. He makes a series of small pours from each packet. I bought an oolong sampler pack, and it is wonderful.
Anyone familiar with Murchie’s? I prefer loose teas. I inherited a lamp made from a Murchie’s tea caddy, and it got me to wondering how their tea is these many years later.
I get my loose leaf tea from Murchies. Unfortunately they have stopped exporting to the US as of last week. Tariffs. I hightailed it to my cheese monger and picked up the last of their Cremificato Gorgonzola and possibly the last Roquefort I may see in a while. Not to mention about 6 months worth of Parmesan.
I saw their notification. I hope it all gets sorted out soon.
I ultimately went with Upton’s. I got an Oolong (TT55 Formosa Amber), a Darjeeling(TD50 No. 1 Tippy Orthodox GFOP), and an Assam (TA40 Assam Tippy Orthodox). They all smell wonderful, especially the Darjeeling, but the proof is in the cup. Come on, tea time! They also threw in, gratis, 15g of TC103 Pothutuwa Estate Ceylon Silver Tip. It smells like a real keeper. The Oolong’s scent takes me back to San Francisco. My great grandmother’s standing order from Goldberg Bowen was 2/3 Oolong and 1/3 Gunpowder, always brewed fairly light and without milk, sugar, lemon, honey, or anything else, often with a buttered slice of toasted Larrabaru sourdough.
First sampling was the Oolong. I tried it first because I have read of misgivings over Upton’s Oolongs. This one was very fresh, very grassy, and pleasant. I liked it.
The infuser will require one minor adjustment. In my pot I need to add more water than I usually use to cover fully the leaves in the basket. Understandably, the infuser does not go all the way to the bottom of the pot. Free floating tea does not present that issue. However, the tea was terrific and cleanup was very easy.