I happened across a tuo the other day in a hexagonal red and yellow box
with a gold sticker seal and picked it up for a couple bucks (I think
$4). I'm not expecting it to be anything earthshatteringly amazing, but
if anyone here knows anything about it I'd appreciate the info. There
isn't much online that I can find. Yunnan Sourcing sells a bing made by
the company but that is all i've really seen.

- Dominic

I just checked TaoBao. No additional information from anybody just
basically Golden Sail Brand is a product of the CNNP GuangDong export
company. A 2 year old sheng 100g tuocha was 35y or 4 bucks and loose
change.

Jim

Dominic T. wrote:
I happened across a tuo the other day in a hexagonal red and yellow box
with a gold sticker seal and picked it up for a couple bucks (I think
$4). I'm not expecting it to be anything earthshatteringly amazing, but
if anyone here knows anything about it I'd appreciate the info. There
isn't much online that I can find. Yunnan Sourcing sells a bing made by
the company but that is all i've really seen.

- Dominic

Space Cowboy wrote:
I just checked TaoBao. No additional information from anybody just
basically Golden Sail Brand is a product of the CNNP GuangDong export
company. A 2 year old sheng 100g tuocha was 35y or 4 bucks and loose
change.

Jim

Thanks, that's more than I dug up. That sounds exactly like what I have
here, the guy said it was "a few" years old. I have not opened the seal
on it yet to peer inside, but there are no dates on the outside just a
bit of Chinese (the only symbol I know is the last that says "cha") and
the number "S 305." Should it be decent? Or should I expect very basic
quality?

- Dominic

On 29 Sep 2006 13:36:58 -0700, "Dominic T."
wrote:


Space Cowboy wrote:
I just checked TaoBao. No additional information from anybody just
basically Golden Sail Brand is a product of the CNNP GuangDong export
company. A 2 year old sheng 100g tuocha was 35y or 4 bucks and loose
change.

Jim

Thanks, that's more than I dug up. That sounds exactly like what I have
here, the guy said it was "a few" years old. I have not opened the seal
on it yet to peer inside, but there are no dates on the outside just a
bit of Chinese (the only symbol I know is the last that says "cha") and
the number "S 305." Should it be decent? Or should I expect very basic
quality?

- Dominic

In my experience, most "Golden Sail" brand is generic cooked puerh,
nothing exotic. They are not bad at all though especially if aged
about 7 years. The one thing about many of their bings is that they
are often shrink wrapped which keeps them from breathing well, so the
yeast-like fermentation flavors/aromas are still strong, so they
benefit from a good airing out for a couple weeks after opening the
shrink wrap.



--
Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net

Mike Petro wrote:
In my experience, most "Golden Sail" brand is generic cooked puerh,
nothing exotic. They are not bad at all though especially if aged
about 7 years. The one thing about many of their bings is that they
are often shrink wrapped which keeps them from breathing well, so the
yeast-like fermentation flavors/aromas are still strong, so they
benefit from a good airing out for a couple weeks after opening the
shrink wrap.

Thanks Mike,

Since the info was pretty low on this, I kinda figured it was nothing
special... but at $4 I'm not too worried. I was wondering about that
shrink wrap, which it does have on it. I think I'll unwrap it but leave
it in the box for a few years and check it out then. I figure if it is
2-3 years now it won't be much of a wait. I'm not much for the cooked
puerh's so holding off shouldn't be tough.

Good info and knowledgable as always, it's much appreciated. OK now for
one quick question, I want to buy a bing of the best uncooked I can buy
(within some reason) if you had to pick one what would it be? I've now
tried a number of uncooked pu's but I'm actually starting to move away
from puerh and back to greens and oolongs more and more lately. I still
enjoy puerh (cooked and uncooked) every now and then but not as
enthusiastically as a few months back... so I'd like to check out a
top-notch pu to either make or break puerh's place in my cupboard.

- Dominic
Drinking: Dan Cong Mi Lan Xiang
teasphere.wordpress.com

- Dominic
Drinking: Dan Cong Mi Lan Xiang
teasphere.wordpress.com

That's a nice one. Is it fully fruity
with overtones of spice and a touch
of wood? A good Mi Lan Xiang
is lovely. I'd been experimenting
around with drinking less roasted
versions over the past two years,
but find myself wending ever back
to the darker offerings. I still adhere
to the chockablock stuffed little YiXing
and faster than instantaneous steeps
for best taste.
Michael

Hi Michael,

I'm a big Dancong fan mysellf, and feel quiet lucky to have an amazing
source in Paris - la maison des trois thés - what kind of Dancong are
you refering to when you talk about the less roasted ones ?

Also, any clues on what the single bush thing actually means ? These
leaves really come from a single tree ?

Best,
jd


Michael Plant wrote:
- Dominic
Drinking: Dan Cong Mi Lan Xiang
teasphere.wordpress.com

That's a nice one. Is it fully fruity
with overtones of spice and a touch
of wood? A good Mi Lan Xiang
is lovely. I'd been experimenting
around with drinking less roasted
versions over the past two years,
but find myself wending ever back
to the darker offerings. I still adhere
to the chockablock stuffed little YiXing
and faster than instantaneous steeps
for best taste.
Michael

Michael Plant wrote:
That's a nice one. Is it fully fruity
with overtones of spice and a touch
of wood? A good Mi Lan Xiang
is lovely. I'd been experimenting
around with drinking less roasted
versions over the past two years,
but find myself wending ever back
to the darker offerings. I still adhere
to the chockablock stuffed little YiXing
and faster than instantaneous steeps
for best taste.
Michael

It's excellent. Probably one of the best Mi Lan Xiang I've experienced.
I made a quick post about it as my daily update on what's in my cup,
but the review and description I gave there are not complete. The more
I sat with this and enjoyed it I noticed a number of great things. It
had a nice vegetal almost green taste, with a nice smooth taste and
almost a nutty/almond aftertaste... but then the more I sat with it and
paid attention I noticed a nice slightly citrus note with a touch of
wood as you say. Not so much spicy as citrusy thought I'd say. This
particular tea had come from that Zhong Guo Cha site that had been
brought up here a while back and I looked further into and ended up
speaking with the owner and being sent a generous care package. Their
price for this particular tea is mid-high though IMO at ~$11-12 for
50g, and I plan on buying more as well as from a few other places to do
some more further comparison. I have realized that the Mi Lan Xiang
(generally sold as the English "Phoenix Oolong") I had before from a
few different local vendors was nowhere near where this is, and I think
my love for oolongs is starting to outpace the brief fascination I had
with Puerh... which my fiance is loving because she loves oolong and
relies on me for her fix which used to be a fairly rare occurance or
some mid-grade oriental beauty bought on the side of a more "serious"
order. I was brewing in gaiwan, since I had only a sample and nowhere
near enough to overflow even my smallest Yixing properly... but rest
assured it will be soon.

- Dominic
Drinking: Nada yet, just got to work. Planning some Numi Oriental
beauty since posting this.
teasphere.wordpress.com

Michael Plant wrote:
- Dominic
Drinking: Dan Cong Mi Lan Xiang
teasphere.wordpress.com

That's a nice one. Is it fully fruity
with overtones of spice and a touch
of wood? A good Mi Lan Xiang
is lovely. I'd been experimenting
around with drinking less roasted
versions over the past two years,
but find myself wending ever back
to the darker offerings. I still adhere
to the chockablock stuffed little YiXing
and faster than instantaneous steeps
for best taste.
Michael
Hi Michael,
I like the milan alot too but have found it to be on the light side,
but lucsious just the same..I love both the light and dark dancong, I
guess it depends on my mood. I think I go back to the darker ones
because the darker aroma and body that I crave sometimes, And the
darker ones usually have a lovely chocolate aroma and others of
couse...
I dont know if a red robe is dan cong or wuyi, but I really like that
one and I have tasted darker and lighter red robes too. Both good but
I prefer a darker version yum,...
Jenn

Dominic T. wrote:
Michael Plant wrote:
That's a nice one. Is it fully fruity
with overtones of spice and a touch
of wood? A good Mi Lan Xiang
is lovely. I'd been experimenting
around with drinking less roasted
versions over the past two years,
but find myself wending ever back
to the darker offerings. I still adhere
to the chockablock stuffed little YiXing
and faster than instantaneous steeps
for best taste.
Michael

It's excellent. Probably one of the best Mi Lan Xiang I've experienced.
I made a quick post about it as my daily update on what's in my cup,
but the review and description I gave there are not complete. The more
I sat with this and enjoyed it I noticed a number of great things. It
had a nice vegetal almost green taste, with a nice smooth taste and
almost a nutty/almond aftertaste... but then the more I sat with it and
paid attention I noticed a nice slightly citrus note with a touch of
wood as you say. Not so much spicy as citrusy thought I'd say. This
particular tea had come from that Zhong Guo Cha site that had been
brought up here a while back and I looked further into and ended up
speaking with the owner and being sent a generous care package. Their
price for this particular tea is mid-high though IMO at ~$11-12 for
50g, and I plan on buying more as well as from a few other places to do
some more further comparison. I have realized that the Mi Lan Xiang
(generally sold as the English "Phoenix Oolong") I had before from a
few different local vendors was nowhere near where this is, and I think
my love for oolongs is starting to outpace the brief fascination I had
with Puerh... which my fiance is loving because she loves oolong and
relies on me for her fix which used to be a fairly rare occurance or
some mid-grade oriental beauty bought on the side of a more "serious"
order. I was brewing in gaiwan, since I had only a sample and nowhere
near enough to overflow even my smallest Yixing properly... but rest
assured it will be soon.

- Dominic
Hi Dominic,
My eternal love will always be the oolong, I am finding new ones all
the time and so many are so different from each other. I hope I like
long enough to have at least a cup of every kind, or at least every
kind I can get a hold of.
Jenn

Jean roups.com10/2/06


Hi Michael,

I'm a big Dancong fan mysellf, and feel quiet lucky to have an amazing
source in Paris - la maison des trois thés - what kind of Dancong are
you refering to when you talk about the less roasted ones ?

We have a source for very small manufacturers
in China who produce Dan Congs in painfully
small quantities, albeit hand made and of high
quality. These tend to be rather green though,
and therefore strong in "vanilla" tones, but weak
in some of the other joyful fruit and spice flavors
we want in our Dan Congs. Also, they tend to die
faster than their more roasted cousins, both in their
packages and in the cup. As I've discovered, they
are not to everyone's taste.

Also, any clues on what the single bush thing actually means ? These
leaves really come from a single tree ?

Probably not truly. The term became a euphemism
for Dan Cong of high quality, and perhaps has little
meaningful meaning left. It's a matter of trusting your
vendor. I've had vendors I've trusted in the past on this
score, but alas no more. Wish I had better news.

None of this is to say that vendors cannot be trusted
to supply excellent Dan Congs; I refer to the single
bush thing.

Michael
Drinking a nice, well roasted
cliff tea whose label sports
no detail.

[Dominic on his MLX]
It's excellent. Probably one of the best Mi Lan Xiang I've experienced.
I made a quick post about it as my daily update on what's in my cup,
but the review and description I gave there are not complete. The more
I sat with this and enjoyed it I noticed a number of great things. It
had a nice vegetal almost green taste, with a nice smooth taste and
almost a nutty/almond aftertaste... but then the more I sat with it and
paid attention I noticed a nice slightly citrus note with a touch of
wood as you say. Not so much spicy as citrusy thought I'd say. This
particular tea had come from that Zhong Guo Cha site that had been
brought up here a while back and I looked further into and ended up
speaking with the owner and being sent a generous care package. Their
price for this particular tea is mid-high though IMO at ~$11-12 for
50g, and I plan on buying more as well as from a few other places to do
some more further comparison. I have realized that the Mi Lan Xiang
(generally sold as the English "Phoenix Oolong") I had before from a
few different local vendors was nowhere near where this is, and I think
my love for oolongs is starting to outpace the brief fascination I had
with Puerh... which my fiance is loving because she loves oolong and
relies on me for her fix which used to be a fairly rare occurance or
some mid-grade oriental beauty bought on the side of a more "serious"
order. I was brewing in gaiwan, since I had only a sample and nowhere
near enough to overflow even my smallest Yixing properly... but rest
assured it will be soon.

It's almost hard to go wrong with them. Phoenix Mountains is the region
where these teas are grown. Mi Lan Xiang, the varietal, means Honey Orchid
Fragrance. I got this from my usual source whose URL is:
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=Mi+Lan+Xiang
There ya go.

Michael

10/2/06



Michael Plant wrote:
- Dominic
Drinking: Dan Cong Mi Lan Xiang
teasphere.wordpress.com

That's a nice one. Is it fully fruity
with overtones of spice and a touch
of wood? A good Mi Lan Xiang
is lovely. I'd been experimenting
around with drinking less roasted
versions over the past two years,
but find myself wending ever back
to the darker offerings. I still adhere
to the chockablock stuffed little YiXing
and faster than instantaneous steeps
for best taste.
Michael
Hi Michael,
I like the milan alot too but have found it to be on the light side,
but lucsious just the same..I love both the light and dark dancong, I
guess it depends on my mood. I think I go back to the darker ones
because the darker aroma and body that I crave sometimes, And the
darker ones usually have a lovely chocolate aroma and others of
couse...
I dont know if a red robe is dan cong or wuyi, but I really like that
one and I have tasted darker and lighter red robes too. Both good but
I prefer a darker version yum,...

The words Dan Cong have taken off into odd corners, and I haven't yet teased
out the newest and broadest meanings, which I think have tenticles in WuYi
Mountains as well as Phoenix Mountains. Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) is
definitely WuYi, though never Phoenix. That much I know.
Michael

"Michael Plant" wrote in message
...
- Dominic
Drinking: Dan Cong Mi Lan Xiang
teasphere.wordpress.com

That's a nice one. Is it fully fruity
with overtones of spice and a touch
of wood? A good Mi Lan Xiang
is lovely. I'd been experimenting
around with drinking less roasted
versions over the past two years,
but find myself wending ever back
to the darker offerings. I still adhere
to the chockablock stuffed little YiXing
and faster than instantaneous steeps
for best taste.
Michael


I have a lovely one from Jing Tea Shop: beautiful up-front peach/apricot
flavors for the first few steeps, later a spiciness emerges. $15/100 gm,
and worth every penny.

I trust your taste - any other vendors you've come upon lately that have
good oolongs?

BTW, remember Kyela Teas? Kevin has merged with some friends to form
https://camellia-sinensis.com/. In addition to Darjeelings, they also offer
Chinese and Taiwanese teas. I got some lovely first-flush Darjeeling
recently, and a AliShan oolong. (Usual disclaimer: no commercial
interest/satisfied customer.)

Regards,
Dean

DPMdDQUg.2697$fI1.153@trndny0410/4/06


"Michael Plant" wrote in message
...
- Dominic
Drinking: Dan Cong Mi Lan Xiang
teasphere.wordpress.com

That's a nice one. Is it fully fruity
with overtones of spice and a touch
of wood? A good Mi Lan Xiang
is lovely. I'd been experimenting
around with drinking less roasted
versions over the past two years,
but find myself wending ever back
to the darker offerings. I still adhere
to the chockablock stuffed little YiXing
and faster than instantaneous steeps
for best taste.
Michael


I have a lovely one from Jing Tea Shop: beautiful up-front peach/apricot
flavors for the first few steeps, later a spiciness emerges. $15/100 gm,
and worth every penny.

I trust your taste - any other vendors you've come upon lately that have
good oolongs?

BTW, remember Kyela Teas? Kevin has merged with some friends to form
https://camellia-sinensis.com/. In addition to Darjeelings, they also offer
Chinese and Taiwanese teas. I got some lovely first-flush Darjeeling
recently, and a AliShan oolong. (Usual disclaimer: no commercial
interest/satisfied customer.)

Regards,
Dean

Dean, I've got no recommendations for you at the moment
because I've been buying my tea primarily from local vendors
who are not internet connected. Your recommendation was
valuable to me though; I'm placing an order shortly, and I'll
include a Milan in it.

Sad about Kyela, I think. Like so many tea companies,
an excellent specialist with a tight and well controlled
theme becomes a generalist, and quality collapses. Let's
hope not in this case.

Michael