l visited the anxi mountains a few days a go and observed the entire
process of how the tie guan yin teas are made, really interesting
stuff. There are so many small familes processing this tea and then
they rush it off to the market. I noticed that there are guys all over
the fields spraying chemicals on the bushes to kill the bugs, which
was quite an eye opener and as you drive a long there are tea leaves
being withered on top of concrete buildings and people sitting around
tables sorting the leaves and guys on motorbikes flying around the
corners with teas on big bags. What a business

The best part was I was given at the one factory some aged tie guan
ying , it looked dark, the leaves really krinkled and hardly a smell
to it. Apparantely it is kept in porcelin pots and has to be fired
evry year in a wok to keep the moisture out and maintain its quality.
After tatsing it I was totally blown a way . This tea is really really
nice. Crisp honey fired notes and a woody taste which is subtle and
friendly and this tea just made brew after brew after brew and still
had a dominant character. I asked for half a pound but they only gave
a small sample in a tiny zip lok bag which is now safely in a sealed
tin in my soitcase. did not know that aged oolong existed.. and thank
you Yigo , for those who dont know ,Yigo contacted me through this
forum and he lives in china ,and I called him when I arrived in china
as promised and invited him to join me on this adventure and of course
he dived at the opertunity and we had a very fruitful experience
together.

Maurice

www.tea-junction.com

On Apr 22, 7:43 am, magicleaf > wrote:
> l visited the anxi mountains a few days a go and observed the entire
> process of how the tie guan yin teas are made, really interesting
> stuff. There are so many small familes processing this tea and then
> they rush it off to the market. I noticed that there are guys all over
> the fields spraying chemicals on the bushes to kill the bugs, which
> was quite an eye opener and as you drive a long there are tea leaves
> being withered on top of concrete buildings and people sitting around
> tables sorting the leaves and guys on motorbikes flying around the
> corners with teas on big bags. What a business
>
> The best part was I was given at the one factory some aged tie guan
> ying , it looked dark, the leaves really krinkled and hardly a smell
> to it. Apparantely it is kept in porcelin pots and has to be fired
> evry year in a wok to keep the moisture out and maintain its quality.
> After tatsing it I was totally blown a way . This tea is really really
> nice. Crisp honey fired notes and a woody taste which is subtle and
> friendly and this tea just made brew after brew after brew and still
> had a dominant character. I asked for half a pound but they only gave
> a small sample in a tiny zip lok bag which is now safely in a sealed
> tin in my soitcase. did not know that aged oolong existed.. and thank
> you Yigo , for those who dont know ,Yigo contacted me through this
> forum and he lives in china ,and I called him when I arrived in china
> as promised and invited him to join me on this adventure and of course
> he dived at the opertunity and we had a very fruitful experience
> together.
>
> Maurice
>
> www.tea-junction.com

This "spray chemicals on just about everything" in China is very scary
to me. Ortho is supplying many of the pesticides that are illegal here
to growers in China.
Perhaps it's a good idea to let all the vendors we shop with know that
there is concern.
Happy Earth Day!
Shen

Actually there are many other downers, but I do not want to put things
in a negative perspective. I saw some unsavoury things that made my
eyes open. One good thing I did learn only a few days a go was that
the chinese people always wash or rinse the tea. I did not know this.
But its a blady good idea after what I saw so I guess they do this
for cleaning the leaves for a good reason.
Maurice

magicleaf wrote:
> ... One good thing I did learn only a few days a go was that
> the chinese people always wash or rinse the tea. I did not know this.
> But its a blady good idea after what I saw so I guess they do this
> for cleaning the leaves for a good reason.

Wonder how well that works? A lot of the "best" pesticides aren't very
water-soluble; some are applied in oil emulsion, e.g. Makes sense, since
they wouldn't be as effective if washed off immediately by rain. Another
project for a lab rat with an HPLC.

-DM

On Apr 22, 6:56 pm, magicleaf > wrote:
> Actually there are many other downers, but I do not want to put things
> in a negative perspective. I saw some unsavoury things that made my
> eyes open. One good thing I did learn only a few days a go was that
> the chinese people always wash or rinse the tea. I did not know this.
> But its a blady good idea after what I saw so I guess they do this
> for cleaning the leaves for a good reason.
> Maurice

Do tell, please.

Phyll

On Apr 22, 6:56 pm, magicleaf > wrote:
> Actually there are many other downers, but I do not want to put things
> in a negative perspective. I saw some unsavoury things that made my
> eyes open. One good thing I did learn only a few days a go was that
> the chinese people always wash or rinse the tea. I did not know this.
> But its a blady good idea after what I saw so I guess they do this
> for cleaning the leaves for a good reason.
> Maurice

I hear the chinese mafia are ruthless , if I shed bad light on there
industry I may have trouble sleeping at night
>
> On Apr 22, 6:56 pm, magicleaf > wrote:
>
> > Actually there are many other downers, but I do not want to put things
> > in a negative perspective. I saw some unsavoury things that made my
> > eyes open. One good thing I did learn only a few days a go was that
> > the chinese people always wash or rinse the tea. I did not know this.
> > But its a blady good idea after what I saw so I guess they do this
> > for cleaning the leaves for a good reason.
> > Maurice

The Chinese mafia tends to be ruthless among themselves, but polite to
foreigners ...

Interesting you mention about tea washing.

There was similar post sometimes before and it was said pesticide
stays inside the leaves and doesn't come out easily...

For tea like Da Hong Pao it is re-infused up to 9 times.

Perhaps over-infusing is also a risk as much as tea washing (for
oolong tea) is a benefit.

Julian
http://www.amazing-green-tea.com

On Apr 23, 9:56 am, magicleaf > wrote:
> Actually there are many other downers, but I do not want to put things
> in a negative perspective. I saw some unsavoury things that made my
> eyes open. One good thing I did learn only a few days a go was that
> the chinese people always wash or rinse the tea. I did not know this.
> But its a blady good idea after what I saw so I guess they do this
> for cleaning the leaves for a good reason.
> Maurice

I never saw green tea rinsed before until I moved to Southern China.
The green tea I had drank before was beautifully clean...the stuff
here that you get may or may not contain pencil lead...

Buyer beware...really.

Mydnight wrote:
> I never saw green tea rinsed before until I moved to Southern China.
> The green tea I had drank before was beautifully clean...the stuff
> here that you get may or may not contain pencil lead...

It would be difficult to identify a more innocuous adulterant than
pencil lead, which consists mainly of clay and graphite and is entirely
insoluble in water. However, the point stands.

Is there any progress on credible organic standards and labeling in China?

-DM

OK, I need to ask the question - why pencil lead ?

Cheers
Mal
Oz

"DogMa" > wrote in message
...
> Mydnight wrote:
>> I never saw green tea rinsed before until I moved to Southern China.
>> The green tea I had drank before was beautifully clean...the stuff
>> here that you get may or may not contain pencil lead...
>
> It would be difficult to identify a more innocuous adulterant than pencil
> lead, which consists mainly of clay and graphite and is entirely insoluble
> in water. However, the point stands.
>
> Is there any progress on credible organic standards and labeling in China?
>
> -DM

On Apr 26, 5:27 am, DogMa > wrote:
> Mydnight wrote:
> > I never saw green tea rinsed before until I moved to Southern China.
> > The green tea I had drank before was beautifully clean...the stuff
> > here that you get may or may not contain pencil lead...
>
> It would be difficult to identify a more innocuous adulterant than
> pencil lead, which consists mainly of clay and graphite and is entirely
> insoluble in water. However, the point stands.
>
> Is there any progress on credible organic standards and labeling in China?
>
> -DM

Ya'll can do a search on a previous post I made about contamination
with lead. I provided a link that did research on some tea in
Guangzhou's Fangcun tea market. The found things ranging from DDT to
lead in various teas.

Mydnight wrote:
> I never saw green tea rinsed before until I moved to Southern China.
> The green tea I had drank before was beautifully clean...the stuff
> here that you get may or may not contain pencil lead...
>
> Buyer beware...really.

Where was your previous location, with the clean green tea? Any sources
for U.S. customers?

On Apr 26, 11:13 am, teaholic > wrote:
> Mydnight wrote:
> > I never saw green tea rinsed before until I moved to Southern China.
> > The green tea I had drank before was beautifully clean...the stuff
> > here that you get may or may not contain pencil lead...
>
> > Buyer beware...really.
>
> Where was your previous location, with the clean green tea? Any sources
> for U.S. customers?

Before I lived in a far-away place in China's Western/Central Sichuan
province. Clean tea for export, I seriously doubt that would ever
occur.

There are NO organic standards in China that are credible. The best
thing they have come up with so far is little stickers that read
"organic" in Chinese and sometimes in English. It's meaningless.

There WILL NEVER be organic in China. As long as things are the way
they are here, you will always find people that can BUY their products
into the "organic" category. Maybe it's time to start looking into
Japanese teas more than Chinese teas.

On Apr 22, 10:43 pm, magicleaf > wrote:
> l visited the anxi mountains a few days a go and observed the entire
> process of how the tie guan yin teas are made, really interesting
> stuff. There are so many small familes processing this tea and then
> they rush it off to the market. I noticed that there are guys all over
> the fields spraying chemicals on the bushes to kill the bugs, which
> was quite an eye opener and as you drive a long there are tea leaves
> being withered on top of concrete buildings and people sitting around
> tables sorting the leaves and guys on motorbikes flying around the
> corners with teas on big bags. What a business
>
> The best part was I was given at the one factory some aged tie guan
> ying , it looked dark, the leaves really krinkled and hardly a smell
> to it. Apparantely it is kept in porcelin pots and has to be fired
> evry year in a wok to keep the moisture out and maintain its quality.
> After tatsing it I was totally blown a way . This tea is really really
> nice. Crisp honey fired notes and a woody taste which is subtle and
> friendly and this tea just made brew after brew after brew and still
> had a dominant character. I asked for half a pound but they only gave
> a small sample in a tiny zip lok bag which is now safely in a sealed
> tin in my soitcase. did not know that aged oolong existed.. and thank
> you Yigo , for those who dont know ,Yigo contacted me through this
> forum and he lives in china ,and I called him when I arrived in china
> as promised and invited him to join me on this adventure and of course
> he dived at the opertunity and we had a very fruitful experience
> together.
>
> Maurice
>
> www.tea-junction.com

Great stuff Maurice. Which An Xi village did you visit? It is a very
interesting area of China and fascinating to see production cycles and
also how dependent the area is on tea. Fujian people I believe, though
I have no figures for this, must people one of the largest tea
drinkers in the world. You can't go in to a home without seeing a tea
tray and normally this is in constant use! I have been keeping a blog
at: http://travelocitea.blogspot.com/

The chemical situation also worries me, expecially being English/
European, organics is a very important topic which is relevant for us
all. Interestingly I noted a comment in another forum that African
teas are some of the best in this respect, pollution is very low and
at this time chemicals are very expensive so putting them out of the
range of tea farmers, except those on big, internationally, owned
estates. In China and India the situation varies considerablely from
place to place.

On the point about aged Oolongs, for those that buy them regularly I
would suggest putting a bit a way each year. It is an interesting
experiment on how they alter. I must say the 5 and 10 years Oolongs I
have drunk are very interesting, produce a lovely colour liquor but I
would still the fresh version or go for a Yunnan Pu Er.

Happy tea drinking all,

James

http://www.wanlingteahouse.com