509856 Tue Apr 15 20:29:07 -0700 2008 16 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 3598465 Where in the SF Bay Area can I find Taiwanese high mountain oolong? Anywhere is fine, willing to travel or buy online. Tue Apr 15 20:29:07 -0700 2008 10677 hhc 1 3598480 Red Blossom Tea & Ten Ren Tea in Chinatown. Tue Apr 15 20:32:28 -0700 2008 3598465 11277 Paul H 1 3598682 Red Blossom is very strong in oolongs -- Wuyi and Anxi as well as Formosa oolongs. You owe it to yourself to try their Lishan Spring harvest! Tue Apr 15 22:01:33 -0700 2008 3598465 131118 Xiao Yang 2 3598688 Somehow the link didn't take. Tue Apr 15 22:04:04 -0700 2008 3598682 131118 Xiao Yang 1 3598708 For East/South Bay, Ten Ren has a location in Cupertino, and you may want to check out the Ten Ren Tea Station cafes for prices (locations in Newark and Fremont if these are closer to you) to do price comparisons. If the imported Ten Ren prices are high (which they usually will be) there is a tea leaf store in Mountain View on Castro, it's a few doors up from Tea Era and Queen House. The owner is Taiwanese and they do sell imported high mountain oolong and green teas, cheaper than Ten Ren prices. And they offer tasting too before you buy. Tue Apr 15 22:14:07 -0700 2008 3598465 12872 K K 2 3598758 Thanks everyone. I'll check them all out! Tue Apr 15 22:44:58 -0700 2008 3598708 10677 hhc 1 3607178 Teance in Berkeley - shockingly good, despite perhaps looking from the outside like some yuppified milk-tea-crap-shake hellhole. Their oolongs are far better than Ten Ren's. (I haven't tried Red Blossom), and, I think, significantly ahead of Imperial Tea Court's. They have more of the physical sensations on the tongue stuff. Some of their servers know their teas shockingly well - it's one of the few times I've seen gong fu tea service done right in the West. And one of the few tea houses in the West that classes their teas by harvest (Spring 2008, Winter 2007, etc.) Teance is the only American shop I know that has stuff as good as buying direct from Taiwan. For Taiwan, try teafromtaiwan.com. Their upper-price-bracket stuff is worthwhile. The owners are nice - and you get get stuff really soon after the harvest. The upcharge in shipping is more than matched by the downcharge by dealing direct. Fri Apr 18 09:21:25 -0700 2008 3598465 14404 Thi N. 2 3607215 I think Teance has a lot of varieties of the Taiwanese high mountain picked oolong, a premium brand and a more affordable brand. Most of their tea come from China and Taiwan so I think you won't have any problems finding what you're looking for. But I do think you do pay for the quality. Their teas are on the high side compared to Red Blossom. FYI, Teance is in the Fourth Street shopping district of Berkeley sandwiched between Peet's Coffee and Cafe Rouge. Fri Apr 18 09:32:04 -0700 2008 3607178 43882 singleguychef 3 3610102 Is the one on Solano gone? Sat Apr 19 10:19:27 -0700 2008 3607215 10839 Kim Cooper 4 3610441 Celadon is now Teance on 4th Street Sat Apr 19 13:28:17 -0700 2008 3610102 105235 wolfe 4 3614973 Yes, sorry, they closed down the Solano store when they opened on Fourth Street. They transfered some of the tables, etc. Mon Apr 21 10:22:21 -0700 2008 3610102 43882 singleguychef 3 3616300 Teance recently opened an upstairs area. I was in a hurry and had not been to the 4th street shop yet, so was just taking a quick look. There was something about the upstairs being opened on weekends only but ... again ... I was just taking a quick look. Lovely shop though. Nothing about it on the website yet. http://teance.com/tearoom.html Mon Apr 21 15:16:40 -0700 2008 3607215 10264 rworange 4 3616466 I think they've always had the upstairs. But most people rather just sit around the main bar downstairs where the tea is poured. They use the upstairs mostly for their classes on weeknights (I think Friday nights). The classes are pretty informative if you ever feel like trying it. They charge a fee for it. Mon Apr 21 16:02:10 -0700 2008 3616300 43882 singleguychef 2 3607264 Check out Red Blossom. They source all their own Formosa Oolongs including a couple of heirlooms, and also classify them by harvest. Their sales people are as knowledgeable as anyone (particularly Peter and Alice Luong, who run the business) and I think you'll find their teas better priced than Teance's. http://redblossomtea.com/product.php?sec=formosa I don't think anyone can top the list of Taiwanese Oolongs at Maison de Thé Camellia Sinensis in Montreal, though (a must visit if you are in that area). https://camellia-sinensis.com/tea/teas/Wulong+Tea Fri Apr 18 09:47:22 -0700 2008 3607178 131118 Xiao Yang 3 3608137 Point of information. Is Tong Ting the same as Dong Ding. They act the same way and I am afraid I cannot tell the difference in the cup. Obviously my bad but is it just a dialect change or a different leaf or method? Fri Apr 18 13:32:34 -0700 2008 3607264 105235 wolfe 4 3608459 I think it's just different phonetic transliterations. Fri Apr 18 14:59:43 -0700 2008 3608137 131118 Xiao Yang 1 3609357 My report back: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/510830 Fri Apr 18 22:06:11 -0700 2008 3598465 10677 hhc