I have to thank yyz for posting a link to this Ali store a while back, because this tea is incredible and I doubt I would have stumbled across it by any other means.
This is by far the most chocolatey tea I have ever tried. It’s incredibly rich and smooth with notes of caramelized sugar and a bit of grain hiding out in there. God, it’s decadent. I have to say I think it’s better than the ZhengHe Gongfu I have from Tao of Tea. I’ll have to try that one later today in order to compare. But I’m pretty sure this one has much stronger notes of chocolate while it’s less grainy/hay tasting than Tao’s.
I purchased here http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-The-50-g-classic-grade-Zheng-He-Gong-Fu-of-chinese-tea-is-belong/2043915983.html and had no issues at all. I picked up a few black teas from the seller and everything was fantastic, though this was by far my favorite.
Flavors: Caramel, Dark Chocolate, Grain, Toasty
Preparation
People who liked this
Comments
“I think it’s better than the ZhengHe Gongfu I have from Tao of Tea.” – That’s impressive!
Can we trust this seller as much as Steepsters favorite tea suppliers: Mandala, Misty Peaks, Tao Tea Leaf, TeaVivre, Whispering Pines, Verdant, etc? Is this tea grown without pesticides?
looseTman I have bought from this seller a number of times. He is very personable and ships quickly. I asked the seller about the pesticide issue. His teas are not certified organic nor does he claim to be. He honestly told me that his black teas should meet the MPR requirements but he couldn’t vouch for the Oolong’s. Probably the yancha would be OK. The rolled ones tend to be the highest culprits when it comes to pesticide issues.
This was his exact response ’ Hello, based on our experience, Rock tea, black tea accord with EU minimum standards for pesticide residues, Tie Guanyin is likely to exceed the standard.’
yyz, Thanks for the excellent information! Do you agree with cookies ZhengHe Gongfu comparison?
I can’t really say, looseTman. I certainly didn’t have any problems and they have a high score or AliExpress but of course they don’t have the track record of the companies you listed.
Their website lists an ISO verification and the bag I received the tea in has a QS logo, but I don’t believe either of those things means they’re organically grown. I could be wrong though.
Whoops, didn’t see yyz’s comments before I responded. Thanks for that info yyz!
I like them both and find them really different animals. This one is like Cookies described really chocolatey and rich ( I have only had some Lapsang that were as chocolatey or more so). Whereas Tao’s tea reminds me a lot of one of my favourite jinjunmei with a deeper nuttier undercurrent. I would like to keep both in my cupboard. At its current prices buying from the producer this is a very affordable tea.
LoseTman – I just brewed up some of Tao’s to compare and yyz is spot on. Tao’s is nuttier (I taste a lot of toasted grain) and just has a different feeling to me. Both are good, but I prefer chocolate notes so this one wins out by a bit IMO.
on to the wishlist heh
yyz – I look forward to your review.
I actually did a comparison of them once. http://steepster.com/yyz/posts/265743
Thanks for the link! Will you also be adding a review to the Titan Zhenghe Gongfu page?
yyz, Thanks for your new Titan ZG review!
yyz, Have you had any issues with Ali not sending the tea you ordered? Please see: http://steepster.com/Silaena/posts/308010#comments
Not really. I only have one dealer who I will not deal with. She has high feedback but is running a little bit of a acam in my opinion. She has a few teas that she sells at deep discount than contacts you after she has supposedly sent it and then tells you it is out of stock and suggests several substitutions often older teas or others that are widely available. I refused at first and she said she would refund me, but then she didn’t. It was only a 4.50 purchase so I eventually just let her send me something. The tea she did send me was rather nice and was not one of her original suggestions but I consider her practice dishonest. That is the only problem I have had. However I have only repurchased from a few sellers so I can’t speak to the problem that boychik had with that seller.
Having said this cookies bought this after I did and got the same tea. I haven’t tried the 2015 harvest yet:-)
I look forward to your comments about the 2015 crop! Their Fujian Zhenghe Gongfu looks to be a very good value assuming:
- They ship exactly what’s ordered.
- It’s pesticide-free.
“I think it’s better than the ZhengHe Gongfu I have from Tao of Tea.” – That’s impressive!
Can we trust this seller as much as Steepsters favorite tea suppliers: Mandala, Misty Peaks, Tao Tea Leaf, TeaVivre, Whispering Pines, Verdant, etc? Is this tea grown without pesticides?
looseTman I have bought from this seller a number of times. He is very personable and ships quickly. I asked the seller about the pesticide issue. His teas are not certified organic nor does he claim to be. He honestly told me that his black teas should meet the MPR requirements but he couldn’t vouch for the Oolong’s. Probably the yancha would be OK. The rolled ones tend to be the highest culprits when it comes to pesticide issues.
This was his exact response ’ Hello, based on our experience, Rock tea, black tea accord with EU minimum standards for pesticide residues, Tie Guanyin is likely to exceed the standard.’
yyz, Thanks for the excellent information! Do you agree with cookies ZhengHe Gongfu comparison?
I can’t really say, looseTman. I certainly didn’t have any problems and they have a high score or AliExpress but of course they don’t have the track record of the companies you listed.
Their website lists an ISO verification and the bag I received the tea in has a QS logo, but I don’t believe either of those things means they’re organically grown. I could be wrong though.
Whoops, didn’t see yyz’s comments before I responded. Thanks for that info yyz!
I like them both and find them really different animals. This one is like Cookies described really chocolatey and rich ( I have only had some Lapsang that were as chocolatey or more so). Whereas Tao’s tea reminds me a lot of one of my favourite jinjunmei with a deeper nuttier undercurrent. I would like to keep both in my cupboard. At its current prices buying from the producer this is a very affordable tea.
LoseTman – I just brewed up some of Tao’s to compare and yyz is spot on. Tao’s is nuttier (I taste a lot of toasted grain) and just has a different feeling to me. Both are good, but I prefer chocolate notes so this one wins out by a bit IMO.
on to the wishlist heh
yyz – I look forward to your review.
I actually did a comparison of them once. http://steepster.com/yyz/posts/265743
Thanks for the link! Will you also be adding a review to the Titan Zhenghe Gongfu page?
yyz, Thanks for your new Titan ZG review!
yyz, Have you had any issues with Ali not sending the tea you ordered? Please see: http://steepster.com/Silaena/posts/308010#comments
Not really. I only have one dealer who I will not deal with. She has high feedback but is running a little bit of a acam in my opinion. She has a few teas that she sells at deep discount than contacts you after she has supposedly sent it and then tells you it is out of stock and suggests several substitutions often older teas or others that are widely available. I refused at first and she said she would refund me, but then she didn’t. It was only a 4.50 purchase so I eventually just let her send me something. The tea she did send me was rather nice and was not one of her original suggestions but I consider her practice dishonest. That is the only problem I have had. However I have only repurchased from a few sellers so I can’t speak to the problem that boychik had with that seller.
Having said this cookies bought this after I did and got the same tea. I haven’t tried the 2015 harvest yet:-)
I look forward to your comments about the 2015 crop! Their Fujian Zhenghe Gongfu looks to be a very good value assuming:
- They ship exactly what’s ordered.
- It’s pesticide-free.