Any Tea With The Word "Monkey" In It

[Vito]

pb said it to PD...last week, I think, while recommending teas.

It stuck with me..."Yeah, pb's right. I never HAVE had a tea with the word 'monkey' in it that wasn't damn good."

So, by way of discovering out which of the othah brothahs hereabouts have tuned into that particular aspect of civility and sensory delights that is the realm of fine teas, can anyone here recommend an excellent and NOT prohibitively expensive Golden Monkey?

Thanks!

:joker:

p.s. No recommendations for Adagio. I won't do business with them.

 

[Simple Man]

*

 

[Vito]

Thanks Simple Man. I should have specified, "...other than Adagio." Their Golden Monkey is good, but I won't patronize them any more. I once was enamored of their service, but they have committed some unpardonable sins. They do have some decent teas, but there are equal or better teas available elsewhere at the same or better prices...and without the abuses I've endured from those people.

Thanks again.

:joker:

 

[Simple Man]

*

 

[-R.]

I don't know what you might consider prohibitively expensive, but Holy Mountain Trading Company has some fine "Monkey" teas:

http://www.holymtn.com/catalog/black-teas-china-black-teas-c-65_71_80/organic-golden-monkey-p-231

http://www.holymtn.com/catalog/oolong-teas-china-oolong-teas-c-65_70_89/tieguanyin-competition-monkey-picked-oolong-p-308

I've always received excellent service from Holy Mountain, and all their teas have been high quality leaf.

 

[Vito]

I don't know what you might consider prohibitively expensive, but Holy Mountain Trading Company has some fine "Monkey" teas...

-R:

Thanks for posting those links, amigo. Holy Mountain Trading is a site I haven't seen before...or at least, I don't recall having visited there before. The number of tea sites is nearly as mind-boggling as the number of teas. Until I order something, all the sites kind of blur together, if you know what I mean. In fact, they blur together even if you don't know what I mean. :mrgreen:

Holy Mountain Trading's prices look like they're pretty reasonable, and generally in line with much of the market. I don't consider $60/pound to be prohibitively expensive for a top-grade Golden Monkey, especially if it's an organic tea. Here's one that I use as a benchmark: SilkRoadTeas: Organic Golden Monkey. Alas, they just raised the price significantly, so I'm looking elsewhere.

Holy Mountain Trading has some other teas that look interesting, including quite a few Fujian blacks. I'm still in the hunt for my go-to Dragon Phoenix Pearl Jasmine, and Holy Mountain's organic pearls are very reasonably priced...if they're the sublime stuff I'm looking for.

Thanks too for your oolong recommendation, but $120/pound is a bit rich for my blood. I’m very fussy about oolongs, and I’ve found some absolutely exquisite ones that are unreasonably inexpensive. So I’m not in the hunt for any oolongs right now.

Thanks again!

:joker:

 

[-R.]

To be honest, I didn't even notice the price of the oolong when I posted that link.

As far as oolongs go, I'm very partial to Phoenix Mountain Dan Cong, which can range from being fairly reasonably priced to outrageous, for whatever reasons govern such matters.

 

[standardtoaster]

Came to post Silk Road Teas, but I guess you have the same experience as me. They used to be cool, man! Now they're turning into a Republic of Tea clone!!!

 

[Vito]

To be honest, I didn't even notice the price of the oolong when I posted that link...

Oh...er, well, if that means you don't even have to think about the cost, you are indeed fortunate.

But I must ask, whence cometh this Phoenix Mountain Dan Cong of which thou speakest? Holy Mountain Trading has none by that name. Of course Googling for it produces the predictably bewildering array of hits. Can you recommend a specific one? (...preferably one that's priced on the reasonable side of outrageous.)

Hmmm...I just remembered that there was a sample of a Dan Cong oolong in an order I received recently. Haven't tried it yet. I'm sipping a #3 infusion of a nice Red Robe oolong right now. After that, maybe I'll give that Dan Cong a try.

...can range from being fairly reasonably priced to outrageous, for whatever reasons govern such matters.

It is indeed a curious matter that teas of similar quality can come at such widely varying prices. Of course, "similar quality" is in so many (but not all) respects such a purely subjective determination, but just going on the discriminating ability of my own tasticles, I have found some teas that are (as I mentioned above)...

...unreasonably inexpensive...

...in comparison to others of the same (alleged) ilk.

Examples abound, as I'm sure you know. Here are two:

• Verdant Tea's Hand Picked Tieguanyin Spring Oolong – Sold out now, but when it was available, it sold for a scant $144/lb. An exquisite Tieguanyin, to be sure, but...
• thepuriTea's Ali Shan Oolong is arguably as good a tea in the same genre (in fact, I like it better), and at a bit more than 1/3 the price of Verdant's offering, there's really no contest in my book.

The factors that determine the price are probably known only to the vendor, although some factors are evident—many of which are related to marketing. Online tea vendors sell image—the look and feel of the website, the hype in the tea descriptions (Verdant's descriptions are masterful...if not always entirely accurate in describing MY perceptions of the teas), and in many cases the vibe of a tea subculture.

Then too, where they're doing business is a factor. The God-awful costs of doing business in some states (I won't mention any names) is an automatic overhead cost generator on any vendors who do business there.

:joker:

 

[Vito]

Came to post Silk Road Teas, but I guess you have the same experience as me. They used to be cool, man! Now they're turning into a Republic of Tea clone!!!

Hey ST:

Thanks for that. I appreciate the thought, even though SilkRoadTeas seems to be pricing themselves out of the market. Actually, I don't get their pricing policy. You pay the same amount per ounce of leaf no matter how much you buy. Most vendors make it attractive to buy in larger quantities.

Funny you should mention them. As of this writing, they happen to have the best Jasmine Pearls I've found so far, and I've tried a mess of 'em. SilkRoad's pearls narrowly beat Upton's ZJ90: Guangdong Province Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearl, my previous fave.

The quest continues. :mrgreen:

:joker:

 

[-R.]

Oh...er, well, if that means you don't even have to think about the cost, you are indeed fortunate.

No, no, it just means that I didn't glance at the price before I posted it. It's a bit too steep for me as well.

But I must ask, whence cometh this Phoenix Mountain Dan Cong of which thou speakest? Holy Mountain Trading has none by that name. Of course Googling for it produces the predictably bewildering array of hits. Can you recommend a specific one? (...preferably one that's priced on the reasonable side of outrageous.)

Well, so far the only one I've been buying has been from Teavana, and it's absurdly overpriced to be honest. I think it's something like $200/lb, but given that I'm only buying 2oz when I happen to be at one of their brick & mortar stores, it doesn't seem so pricey at the time. The one thing in its favor is that it can be potted numerous times. I've gotten four good pots out of the same set of leaves in the past, so paying $25 or so for a couple of ounces doesn't seem quite so dumb on my part. (There's also the factor that the b&m store here seems to sell the teas at a discount from Teavana's online prices.)

Doing some looking, I found this:


http://www.enjoyingtea.com/phmooogdanco.html

Which is much more reasonably priced at $60/lb, but I don't know anything about that site. I'll probably go ahead a order a couple of ounces from them the next time I need to get this oolong, so I'll post my impressions in the future.

 

[-R.]

Thanks for that. I appreciate the thought, even though SilkRoadTeas seems to be pricing themselves out of the market. Actually, I don't get their pricing policy. You pay the same amount per ounce of leaf no matter how much you buy. Most vendors make it attractive to buy in larger quantities.

I've noticed that approach from Teavana as well. For example, the aforementioned Phoenix Mountain is listed on their website here:

http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/oolong-teas/p/phoenix-mountain-dan-cong-oolong-tea

And they offer you the choice of ordering up to 5 pounds, yet there's absolutely no discount for ordering in larger quantities. Because, yes, I really need to spend $1000 on 5 lbs of tea. :scratch:

 

[Vito]

...Because, yes, I really need to spend $1000 on 5 lbs of tea. :scratch:

Oh jeez....that's a hoot. :lol: :lol: :lol: Really...what ARE they thinking? They must have some extraordinarily prosperous customers...er, assuming that anyone actually goes for a deal like that.

I dunno...maybe it's worth it, but I'm disinclined to patronize vendors who seem to regard their prospective customers as a reservoir of creatures with more dollars than sense. :mrgreen:

You prolly already know about Steepster.com. Here's what a search of their site brings up for Phoenix Dan Cong. They're a pretty useful resource for seeking out new sources.

And speaking of new sources, here's the Phoenix Dan Cong offering from a vendor that Brothah Puff Daddy turned me on to just recently: YunnanSourcing.com

PD ordered a several teas from them. I admit to being a bit cautious about ordering from China, but other than the wait involved with shipping the stuff from China, PD said he had no problem. The company looks like they've got their act together. The prices certainly look attractive, probably due to the elimination of a middleman U.S. vendor. I'm waiting for PD to report on the quality. Some of those Yunnan black teas look mighty yummy.

• (Rats! The drool smiley is broken. Medic!...er, I mean Admin! We've got a smiley down here.)

:joker:

 

[Puff Daddy]

You'll be able to check the quality yourself Vito my friend, looks like that package is waiting for me at the post office. Will be sending some goodies your way posthaste

 

[Vito]

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

YOW! Can't wait, PD. Yes folks, it's true...my name is Vito and I'm a Yunnan teaholic. But no worries. It's under control. I'm fine as long as I get my fix of Golden Tips of Yunnan or Red Dragon Pearls ("Dragon Balls" is what Carlos calls 'em :lol: ). Makes it a bit more pleasant to be a mere mortal.

Major poundage just arrived here too. Heads up, _:sunny:. Bombsight re-aimed eastward.

:joker:

 

[-R.]

You prolly already know about Steepster.com.

No, actually, that's entirely new to me. Thanks for pointing it out. This should prove to be helpful.

 

[Vito]

...a vendor that Brothah Puff Daddy turned me on to just recently: YunnanSourcing.com

PD ordered a several teas from them. I admit to being a bit cautious about ordering from China, but other than the wait involved with shipping the stuff from China, PD said he had no problem. The company looks like they've got their act together. The prices certainly look attractive, probably due to the elimination of a middleman U.S. vendor....

Here's an update on these guys. I wanted to keep track of all the YunnanSourcing.com teas I want to try, so I set up an account to give myself the ability to create a wish list. It worked fine, but to my horror, they automatically emailed my login information (username and password) in the clear (unencrypted) right after I set up my account. Aaarrrggghhh!!! :x

I sent them a rather blistering email about what a horrible security practice that is. It's one thing if I lose my password and ask them to send it to me (which still isn't a very good idea; there are better ways to handle that), but it's another thing entirely for them to send it unbidden, in the clear. What...do they think I don't know my own username and password? Sheesh...

To their credit, they responded positively. "Scott" from YunnanSourcing.com replied with an email acknowledging that it's completely unnecessary to be sending their users' login information. Evidently the third-party service that handles their user accounts was just arbitrarily sending the login info...presumably as a "courtesy" to new account holders.

Shitty security is NOT a courtesy, dammit.

Anyhow, Scott said he's going to get the service provider to stop sending login information. His excellent responsiveness on that subject is a very good sign that YunnanSourcing is a reliable vendor. I'm sufficiently impressed that my concerns about ordering tea directly from China have been mostly dispelled.

Good thing, too. After scouring only part of YunnanSourcing's online catalog, I found 18 teas I "need" to try.

The new "TAD": Tea Acquisition Disorder. :roll:

:joker: