I no longer get Chinese Oolong Tea from family and friends traveling to Australia for a visit because of the covid. I have consumed all the Oolong Tea in my house and dont know where to get more.
Anyone able to tell me where I can get good quality to decent Oolong Tea in Australia?
Is T2 selling proper Chinese Oolong Tea? I am just worry the taste may be tailor more to Western taste.
I dont even know whether it is a thing/product/market
I'm genuinely curious…
Tea is just tea, isn't it? How can it be tailored to western tastes?
It's like buying maple syrup in Canada, sushi in Japan or pastry in France, those countries have higher expectations for quality, therefore even the basic options are generally a lot better than what we have here. I think he's implying that Chinese tea tailored to Western tastes here, would be of less quality, since people here aren't used to good Chinese tea and can't tell the difference.
Most Chinese supermarkets have them. The brands they carry are different. Which part of Sydney are you in?
I live near Hurstville where there is a lot of Chinese supermarket.
For higher end tea, there is a specialty shop in Hurstville 9 Dora Street near the library.
For low end, shops like Tong Li should have.
Thanks, I will mask up and venture to the wild.
I normally can't stand oolong, but this one is amazing
https://www.lupicia.com.au/66/oolong-tea/99/momo-oolong-supe…
utea.com.au also has oolong.
China
I can highly recommend this ebay seller for selling high quality teas from China at reasonable prices. They sell very specific types of tea from particular regions - think a nice wine - and not just a generic 'oolong'.
https://www.ebay.com.au/usr/niequn-oleg
Also highly rate the Tea Centre - especially their high mountain oolong, which tastes fantastic.
I find T2 to be a bit hit and miss. They are priced similarly to the two above sellers but their base products are generally low/entry-level quality - or otherwise have random flavorings. Note this is not to say they are bad (they're better than supermarket brands) but you can get better value for money elsewhere.
Tea from Chinese groceries can be good but equally difficult to find a good one, as there are so many types and poor translation. So you're stabbing in the dark unless you know what to look for.
If you haven't seen Steepster, have a look. It's a community tea reviewing website and some of the products are available in Australia.
https://steepster.com/
I normally stay clear from eBay unless I absolutely have to. The review is positive.
The quote from the site, "licensed kung fu tea master". Was not aware they need license :)
I was sceptical at first too and wouldn't normally dare buy stuff like this off eBay. However I was after a specific jasmine tea I had in China once and couldn't find a reputable source.
Admittedly, I had already gone through the likes of T2, Tea Centre, most of the grocery store varieties, variety of sellers on Amazon and ofcourse, several local Asian grocery stores. In the end I was stuck with several 100g packs of jasmine tea that weren't exactly what I wanted!
In my search, I found this seller highly recommended by several Reddit posters with in-depth tea reviews and gave it a shot.
I've tried a few sellers on eBay and AliExpress, only to be disappointed with the quality. I haven't travelled to China since COVID kicked off so I'm starting to run out of tea.
Will give this person a try, the teas look legit.
Thanks!
Is this the tea that you get in places that I go to for Yum Cha? The ones that give you a pot when you get there and keep topping it up with hot water while you stuff yourself :)
Yes, but I have been spoiled by quality Oolong tea so there is no turning back.
You can get it at the Asian grocer - not sure if this is the "proper stuff" or "cheap stuff", but tastes exactly the same as what you get at Chinese restaurants to me.
MS.CATTEA had various options.
Note: I haven't tried any of their Oolong but do regularly buy their Earl Grey so I'm happy with their quality.
Has Oz bargains become the new Google?
The tea centre is good. You can also try TWG as well.
Most large Chinese grocery shops should have it.
Not cheap but the tea centre does very nice quality teas https://www.theteacentre.com.au/?s=Oolong+&post_type=product
T2 also not cheap but has a few oolong options https://www.t2tea.com/en/au/tea/oolong-tea/
Otherwise any Chinese supermarket, some will have better choices/higher quality than others.