Anyone know where can I find this in Taiwan?
It’s from China (Hangzhou) apparently, see here for an example:
xuantea.com/tea-store/green- … nwell.aspx
No problem to find this in the UK but why impossible to find here??
In case you might still be wondering, or if others might be looking, that is not West Lake Longjing tea, only a cheap imitation and at best from somewhere near West Lake. Real West Lake Longjing is extremely limited in supply especially the Qingming stuff, and its real price is upwards of 1usd per gram!! AFAIK, Taiwanese tea drinkers seem to be rather…uninterested…in Chinese teas. (Except for puerh)
For good reason. The local tea is world renowned. Not to suggest the OP changes his habits, but when you live in a place that offers something top rate, why not give it a try? You can always go back to Longjing when in the UK and all Asian teas are imported.
When I lived in China, I always brought with me Taiwan teas. At the very least you can be sure that it’s really tea!
Actually the OP has been drinking a broad range of Taiwan’s top rated teas for years. I feel it doesn’t hurt to expand one’s horizons though - and West Lake Dragonwell is an extremely good green tea when you have a hankering for something light and refreshing - even if it isn’t grown/made in Taiwan.
I’m sure that the url I posted isn’t ‘fake’ longjing either. There are many grades of longjing - just like with champagne - and I’m sure you can pay 1 usd per gram if you want, or even 10. Also Adagio tea’s web site has a very popular west lake dragonwell green tea too, but mailorder tea from the states,or europe,is very unlikely to get through customs in my experience (unless its a very small package/letter sent by usps first class, which might have a chance of being overlooked, but then whats the point?)
I guess I’ll have to make do with the local bi luo chun for those light green moments then.
I said that it is fake West Lake i.e. xihu longjing, not that it is fake longjing.
Its not fake West Lake either, its from Longwu Town in the West Lake District of Hangzhou and it is one of the few regions allowed (by the Chinese government) to call its tea: “West Lake Longjing”.
If you believe every word a website says, then yes. Since the website also said it was picked in March 2012 then it must be extremely high quality too since even A grade xihu longjings were picked at the beginning of April 2012. Above A grade at 20usd per 100g, that vendor must be making one hell of a loss.
I’m sure it’s all true. Just like all those shoes weren’t made into caplets.
My tea experience in China was mixed, no matter whether expensive, cheap or in between. It’s not to say there is no good tea in China, but it takes some looking. There is so much chaff to sort through to get to the wheat. :s
You got the wrong idea about the prices. You must be talking about some connoisseur, top end, tea or something. The site in question doesn’t claim to be better than grade A at all. It just says it is of a high grade. If you shop around for this level of West Lake Dragonwell tea you will see their prices are quite representative of the others available (not the rare, top grade examples). I can buy a bottle of fine vintage champagne for 10,000 usd if I want, then again I can also buy a bottle of champagne for 100 USD - and it would still be the genuine article, different of course but champagne nonetheless.
I see no reason, or evidence, to believe that the website is lying or selling fake goods and as I have ordered several of their teas over the years I am quite sure they sell genuine products.
I’m with Elegua on this.
Good luck, Patsun. I lived and worked in Hangzhou for six months in 1992, and became a Longjing junkie. Arriving in Taiwan many years ago, I naively asked at a tea shop if they happened to have any Longjing, of course they just snuffed and said try some of this Taiwan “Mountain tea.” Then they showed me the price, and I snuffed.
For tea in a coffee jar type mainland style, Longjing is refreshing, and full of caffeine - something I didn’t work out until 5 months of insomnia later. I went back to Hangzhou for the first time since back then a few years ago and was astonished at how much Lomgjing was being touted (and at every airport in China). A quick guestimate had me thinking: there’s no way those plantations can support this much tea. I’ve never drunk it since.
I know it’s all down to personal taste, but Taiwan and Fujian teas only, for me, please. It’s an easy transition from Longjing. My preference now is for Taiwan, because at least, and I’m not joking, you will know that the shite is real and not some chemical soup concocted to meet demand. Think about it. In China the margins were reasonable enough that they created fake chicken eggs. WTF? hoax-slayer.com/fake-eggs-china.shtml
FYI, you need to read the last para, as they’re calling a fake a fake:
What do they mean by perhaps?
HG
Hmm strange the Longjing I know isn’t full of caffeine - quite the opposite (we are talking about the same light green - almost not there glorified water longjing tea?).
My preference is for Taiwan Oolong, but I do like variety and I think west lake dragonwell is the best of the Green teas. I also like Silver Needles white tea (another tea from China). But don’t worry, I have a palate that is finely tuned to organophospates, even DDT, as well as several other things that it would be wise not to elaborate further on.
And the chinese fake eggs are really fake, i.e. genuine fakes!
Willing to differ on the caffeine in Longjing, but I was there as a Chinese medical intern after five years study of Chinese medicine, and I sought help from the head of herbal medicine at the Red Cross Hospital where I worked, and the first thing the woman said was - “Longjing tea’s got heaps of caffeine.”
As for the eggs. To quote a ridiculous quote, it’s a big place, with lots of people. If it’s been thought, it’s been done.
chengduliving.com/fake-eggs-are-no-joke/
HG
I know, the caffeine content has a lot to do with how its brewed. The different types of tea come from the same plant, the difference are in the post-picking process. West Lake Dragonwell green tea is fairly minimally processed and gives a very light / subtle brew, almost like water with a pale green hue. Does that sound like the longjing you were drinking before?
Typically it is brewed with water at a lower temperature than other teas. Being minimally processed and brewed at a lower temperature yields a brew with lower caffeine content than some other types of tea e.g. black tea. But maybe they like a very strong brew in those parts?
HCG, leave it be. It seems patsun has this all figured out. In a market awash spurious good and foodstuffs, no, industrious “entrepreneur”, would ever think of counterfeiting some of the most premium and high margin, high demand teas in China that are produced in some of the more developed regions in China (ie small acreage).
…and lets not forget that all the locally farmed produce we consume in Taiwan, including the tea leaves, are all pure as the driven snow, yes?
Nope. But there is not even half the BS (and that’s being generous). And It is very easy to buy direct, in person. You have visited the place where you buy from online in China, right?
I have visited where the tea is produced, yes.
The site where I buy it from is actually an established boutique tea store in America.
Em tippy teas like long jing are usually full of caffeine. I was being sarcastic in my last comment btw.