Ordering tea directly from farmer's shop! From farmer, to your house! (especially Wuyi rock teas!)
Hey everyone, I wanted to share this tea shop that I only recently found out about. This shop was recommended to me by James from Tea DB, when I asked if he could advise me on where to buy Wuyi tea. He told me to contact this shop that was “close to the source”. I got in contact with a lady called Cindy. I was very interested when Cindy told me that they were not just “close to the source”, but actually produce the tea themselves! They have only recently (since December 2016) started trying to sell tea internationally. They are called “Wuyi Origin”. Their website is: www.wuyiorigin.com
(their website is not completely finished at this moment)
They are a small company. They grow the tea, pick the tea, roast the tea and sell the tea! They have been doing this for 4 generations already and much of the workforce’s are family of one another (Cindy and her husband, grandmother, father, uncle, etc). Here are some pictures that I was sent:
Picking leaves: http://oi63.tinypic.com/14bnins.jpg
Cindy’s husband and others carrying leaves: http://oi63.tinypic.com/28txqn4.jpg
Baking room: http://oi63.tinypic.com/16gbehx.jpg
Cindy and others working in baking room: http://oi67.tinypic.com/2chglj.jpg
Uncle lighting charcoal in baking room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46fxi31Cr24
Grandmother sorting leaves by hand: https://www.wuyiorigin.com/store/p4/Laocongshuixian_%28old_bushes_Shuixian%29_%E8%80%81%E6%9E%9E%E6%B0%B4%E4%BB%99.html
The fact that they themselves produce this tea personally and have 4 generations worth of expertise made me think that they would be too expensive for me. BUT! since they sell their own product they sell their tea at a wholesale’s price, so there is no in-between retail shop trying to make a profit. Because of this, their teas are not expensive and affordable for most people.
I have ordered twice already, ordering about 10+ samples (Tie luo han, 2 Rougui varieties, Baijiguan, Da Hong Pao, Da Hong Pao blend, Qilan, Shui Xian, Ban Tian Yao, Jin Jun Mei black tea, Phoenix Dancong Milan Xiang, and 1 or 2 more I can’t remember). All of these tea are Wuyi rock teas, all of which tasted very nice. Some of these teas are generally considered to be higher grade (like the Tie Luo Han and Rougui), but that does not at all mean that their “lower” grade teas are any less delicious. I liked the higher grade samples a lot, but my personal favorite was the Qilan tea (price wise, mid-grade, quality wise, HIGH GRADE!). It had such a special taste. Cinnamon flavor, orchid aroma reminding me somewhat of Tie Guan yin and a very pleasant floral/fruit aftertaste! I ordered more of this tea after trying the sample. For the quality, it was cheap. I would not be surprised if some retail tea shops sold similar quality tea for double the price.
I was so surprised by these tea farmers/sellers that I wanted to share it with you guys. This is the very first time that I heard of tea farmers actually selling their own tea internationally. Not only that, but a whole family that is producing the tea together. I thought it was very special, and I think many of you will agree.
I hope Cindy’s shop gains in popularity. You can contact her via www.wuyiorigin.com or Cindy’s email: [email protected]
At this point their website does not yet allow online shopping, so you have to contact her directly. Cindy said that the website is being worked on and that in the near future people will be able to order via the website.
I hope you guys will enjoy their tea!!
UPDATE: The website www.wuyiorigin.com has been updated. You can now see the tea prices and actually order via the website by just adding teas to your shopping cart.
UPDATE: I wrote reviews on 2 Wuyi Origin teas. Will write a few more soon.
Qilan: https://steepster.com/teas/wuyi-origin/78154-qi-lan
Rougui (cinnamon) fruit taste: https://steepster.com/teas/wuyi-origin/78255-rougui-cinnamon-rou-gui-fruit-taste
I love Cindy’s teas. When I ordered from her in October, she required me to buy 250g of each tea minimum. She did include three samples with my order. Just wanted to note this in case there might be a reason why she allowed Dxniel to order samples that might not apply to others. Do you have a blog, Dxniel? Or, edited to add, she may be finding it possible to allow people to buy smaller amounts, which would be fantastic.
I especially love the ya shi xiang, mi lan, lao cong shui xian and bai ji guan.
No, I don’t have a blog. I think that they’re still refining their international tea selling. I did my first order in January. Perhaps if you waited 1 or 2 months, you could also have ordered samples.
I think that everyone will now be able to order samples, because on her website www.wuyiorigin.com there is an option you can click on called “sample-sets”. At the moment that link doesn’t seem to do much though.
Interesting website but I don’t see any prices on it. There are some interesting looking teas but I have no idea what the price is or what quantities they sell in.
Ah yes, I came across them via James teadb too.
Cringe tho. They were obviously hacked/something done to their site. It’s been well over a week and have not fixed their site of removing the goobygook spam that was put into their tea listings.
https://www.wuyiorigin.com/store/p24/yashixiang_single_old_bush_2016
I’ve reviewed Cindy’s teas quite regularly over the past year and a half, so there are lots of detailed descriptions of them in my blog. We talk about her sales plans sometimes but I can’t really add anything about that, it seems as well to ask her. I reviewed a qi lan recently, and it was nice, just not my favorite style of that type of tea. I typically like her rou gui a lot, and just tried a qi dan and da hong pao I’ll post about this week. her jin jun mei are also nice, and a “wild” version of a lapsang souchong was really nice not so long ago, unsmoked.
Adding that if anyone is interested in trying bai ji guan, da hong pao, or ya shi xiang from wuyi origin, I have plenty. They are all very good, and I think the bai ji guan is my favorite. Maybe. :)
I’m new to Cindy’s teas, but I must say they’re truly a bargain. The Laocong shuixian is about 3 years old and is quite amazing. Nice texture, soft and fruity in a way that’s quite unexpected for a shuixian. I also enjoy their Qilan, Xingren Xiang, and Mi Lan Xiang. Her husband is a Chaozhou local AND his family also makes tea (Dancong oolong), so I ordered a bit of each. I think we’re very lucky to have her as a source. Gotta really hand it to James for introducing her.
I talked to Cindy yesterday and she said they were going to work on setting up samples. She also said that they’d sold out a lot of the 2016 teas they had listed, and would adjust the website to show more clearly what is available and what isn’t. They’re about to get really busy with harvest and processing season so it’s going to be a challenge making website and sales process related adjustments until they get through a lot of that. Eventually they’ll probably isolate the functions better but it’s a work in progress now.
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