Tea-Side's 'Red Tea From old trees aka #3' is a damn good tea. Visually its a stunner, long rolled whole leaves of a vivid and almost Lucy Ricardo red, a gorgeous amber brew, and a full flavorful mouth-feel that lingers a long time. Caramel, fruit, and semi- sweet but not as sweet as Tea-sides Red Tea #6, which makes it second in line for me as I really adored the sweeter tones of the #6 almost to the point of tea-worship.
Tea-Side is a fascinating vendor of teas from Thailand, not the usual place one buys their loose-leaf teas, but very interesting. In their own words;
About Us
TeaSide is a company that produces and sales thai tea. Our main warehouse is located in the far north of Thailand, in the mountains, close to tea gardens and plantations.
In our web-shop you can purchase oolong, pu-erh, red, black and white tea, medicinal herbs. We specialize exclusively in tea and herbs of Thailand.
What is Thai Oolong Tea?
These are Taiwanese oolong varieties. The tea is produced by Taiwanese farmers and by Taiwanese technology, but the bushes are grown on the high mountain slopes of Thailand.
It is known that tea plant (camellia sinensis) is very picky about the quality of the land. Tea bushes and trees form a large vegetative mass of leaves and shoots that requires a large amount of nutrients and water. This is a very "gluttonous" plant. However, the wide cultivation of tea has begun in Thailand not long ago. Mountain slopes suitable for tea gardening are not yet exhausted of fertility, unlike many places in China and Taiwan.
Therefore, here in Thailand many factories produce organic tea, they have no need to use hazardous inorganic fertilizers.
Thai terroir is ideal for oolong tea. In the mountains here is a lot of fog and a lot of sun, which allows to cultivate a truly delicious tea.
Are There Tea Trees in Thailand?
Pu-erh's, red tea from trees and a quality white tea is not easy to find even for those who knows tea places in Thailand. Historically, most of tea factories are engaged exclusively in plantation teas, which means tea bushes. Only few people know that in Thailand grow old tea trees. Almost all the raw materials from the trees is exported to China and then there is blended.
We believe that the Thai tea from young and old tea trees has surprisingly distinctive taste. It worth a particular attention among other teas.
Some kinds of our Pu-erh teas we produce by ourselves.
Our Collection of Thai Tea is Unique.
Thai tea is still rarely found in tea shops. But we try not to abuse this rarity, range of teas in our store is always changing and growing. Our goal is to create a high-quality collection, without reference to the exotic nature of the product.
TeaSide has no exclusive work commitment with any tea factory, I always choose the most delicious tea, inspecting all interesting and serious tea producers. Sometimes it happens that from the whole range of large factories we buy only one, the best variety. Every season I spend extensive testing over again. I arrange parallel brewing and tasting of four-five best representatives of the same kind for almost each tea. More often, only one instance will be included into our assortment.
I don't want to give the impression that this Bulang is a speedy nerve-jarring tea, for that is not so. I am also feeling very present, in the moment and relaxed and calm enough to be able to sit these past few hours reading a wonderful book, A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, and appreciating it perhaps even more fully than I might have sans Puerh!
