Inbetweenisode Episode #4 from James. The tea is mid 1990s Ba-Zhong Red Mark acquired from Origin Tea. Topics include traditionally stored and more mature pu’erh. Recommended reading: Traditional, Not Wet.
Inbetweenisode Episode #4 from James. The tea is mid 1990s Ba-Zhong Red Mark acquired from Origin Tea. Topics include traditionally stored and more mature pu’erh. Recommended reading: Traditional, Not Wet.
27 responses to “1990s Ba-Zhong Red Mark Raw Pu’erh — Origin Tea — TeaDB James InBetweenIsode Episode #4”
Hi James,
I really appreciate the “suave and dapper” look, and I think your girlfriend did a great job with the camera work. I would love to see a comparison in the look of dry/wet leaf in the future episodes.
Looking forward to your mature pu-erh report. I must say I have tried several and do not really like the flavor profile. I find most are musty or taste like tree bark.
As always, thanks for all of your work in putting together this great website!
Carolyn
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for the comment and the kind words! I will forward them along to my girlfriend who I’m sure will be pleased and think of something proper (or perhaps outrageous) for the next inbetweenisode.
Will try to include the dry and wet leaf, especially when available in the future.
Out of curiosity what mature/aged pu’erhs have you tried so far? I suspect it may be an acquired taste for most.
Cheers!
-James
$40.000!
Who’s selling?
and
Who’s buying?
Red Label. That’s whos selling.
I’m afraid none of my friends are buying. But someone must be!
Cheers!
-James
Nice Tie!!!
I remember reading somewhere that it is a good skill to anyone that want to truly get into pu’erh to learn to accept / love the “wet-ness” taste. It opens your possibility to a whole lot more of tea that are priced a lil’ bit less horribly expensive.
I personally don’t mind it too much, but on other hand I like a lil’ bit of “pile taste” too in my young shu so…
Nice ep.. Keep it up 😀
paxl13
Hi paxl13,
Thanks for the comment! Yes I believe for many it is an acquired taste. For me, I’ve never had too difficult of a time and enjoy both wet and dry-stored tea. Perhaps it is the southern Chinese blood which runs strong through me.
Do I remember you saying you live in Florida? It seems like a great place to age humid, quick aging pu’erh.
Cheers!
-James
Unfortunatly you misplace me for somone else. I live in Quebec, Canada. Our winter inside the house are like 18-21C @ 40%… not quite wet storage 😉
Well. for now I don’t plan to age anything. As long as stores like W2T exists… Ziplock bags and glass containers it is 😀
Aha. My mistake. That is about as far from wet as can be!
Cheers!
-James
Hi James
Tell your camera women that I like your tie. Denny has his hats, James has….will it be ties?
I would like to see a review / summary of some of the common ‘recipes’ that we might find out there in the marketplace. That is, I would like to know how the recipes differ etc. Thanks for your ongoing great work.
best
John
Great idea. I’d love that for both ripe and raw!
Cheers
Hi John and paxl13,
Thanks for the feedback! I will have to think about the most appropriate/informative way to approach this topic. Some of this information can be found on the site in article form: Menghai Recipes & Price, Ripe Pu’erh Concepts (some ripe recipes) and Why Buy From a Big Factory. Another great resource for the aging aspects is Kyarazen’s post on Tea Seasons & Aging.
One caveat to it all is these recipes are dynamic and have changed quite a bit over the years. In other words, how 7542 aged from the late 80s may not be the same for 2014 7542.
Cheers!
-James
What is the best way to break up the middle of the cake where it’s been pressed down?
I use a taped handle on a butter knife to hammer the middle that’s in a zip-lock bag.
Hi Uncle Larry,
Thanks for the comment. You must be drinking Xiaguan! That sounds like an appropriately brutal way to beat the tea up. I personally just use a pu’erh pick (acquired from Yunnan Sourcing) and do my best not to harm the base material (and my hands).
I’m sure many accidents have occurred from breaking this particular part of a beeng!
Cheers!
-James
I have a cryno treated letter opener I use.
Great video! Nice to know that it is OK to air out a pu. Sadly, however, I must disagree with those above who like the new look. The shirt looks fine, but the tie can be left behind unless you wish to do it up properly.
Hi Peter,
Thanks for the comment and the honest feedback! I typically wear a tie once a year, usually for a wedding. As a result, this particular outfit will probably not become a regular thing.
That being said, feel free to send in your attire requests :).
Cheers!
-James
The shirt looks great – you are quite the natty gent in it. But that tie ….
Aha. Thanks Peter! I will use your testimony to vote down my girlfriend next time :).
Cheers!
-James
Hi James,
A perfect video for me. I’m getting a lot more serious with my Pu-erh journey and these reviews and informative videos are brilliant.
Coincidentally I read Marshaln’s blog about storage last week and also moved some aged tea from Twodog into a non-air-tight canister as well, so I resonated with this review.
I live in the UK and am new to storing and aging Puerh, would it be possible to show us a snippet of your storage set up? I need to advise with it.
I cannot get enough of Tea Urchin’s stock at the moment, their young gushu is just unbelievable, I’ve not found anywhere that has beaten it yet, I heavily recommend any of their teas, especially (although not a Puerh) their Taiwanese Fu Shou Shan while it is in stock.
Take care and thanks for more great vids,
Rogo
I meant..
I need some advise with it*
Hi Rogo,
Thanks for the comment! Glad you are enjoying the episodes and content. I just received my tea club box from TwoDog and immediately started resting the 7582 in a bit of air.
You can actually get a glimpse of my own setups in Pu’erh Storage Schools . Let me note that I have only seriously stored pu’erh for 6 months, so if you are looking for someone with something more proven strategy I’d look elsewhere. I opt for a simple strategy, similar to the one MarshalN recommends, with just a bit of added humidity with bowls. Seattle is a fairly moderate and wet climate year round. I try to keep the humidity at around 70-73 (temperature is around 70). Also, as I’m sure you know Hobbes and his storage posts will make great reference points for natural UK storage.
Cheers!
-James
Believe it or not, I have yet to order from the Tea Urchin until about a week ago. I mainly picked up gushu and one Yancha. Based off their reputation, I am quite excited!
Didn’t manage to pickup any of their Taiwanese Oolongs but have heard very good things from another trusted source.
Cheers!
-James
Hi James,
Thanks for that, apologies I forgot that you did a full article on the subject so I will definitely check that out fully. Yes I will check out the Hobbes’ blog about it as I don’t want to ruin some already great stored cakes by keeping them in the UK ‘wrongly’. Thanks again for the tips and info.
Yes I think you will love their young Gushu, very full and solid teas. I have only tried their Da Hong Pao and Shui Xian Yancha’s and both were incredibly rich and had great stamina. Their Taiwanese taster set is great value for money with a brilliant Da Yu Ling sample, let us know how you find their teas and enjoy 🙂
Thank you again,
Rogo
Hi Rogo,
No worries. Storage is a tricky subject. I’ve read and re-read material over and over again. Lots of opinions, not very many obvious conclusions.
I’m sure I will be reporting back soon on the Tea Urchin!
Cheers!
-James
Dear James-
This is by far my favorite episode (don’t tell Denny). Any indiction as to how old a 90s cake your red mark is? I find often that 90s designated shengpu is really early 2000 or 1999 at most. Also as an addendum to your video post, is it possible to add the beeng wrapper photo?
H
p.s. Girlfriend! I was a tad disappointed the bromance between you and Denny is only in tea matters. (Just kidding in case your lady is reading these comments…)
it was sold as being mid-90s IIRC. it’s also a white label, didn’t come with a wrapper. Hobbes and Jakub reviewed it.
http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2014/09/000t.html
http://jakubtomek.blogspot.com/2014/07/mid-90s-cnnp-ba-zhong-red-mark.html
keep an eye out for a fourth review.
Hi Hster,
Thanks for the comment and I’m glad you enjoyed the episode! Yes, as Jake pointed out this is a wrapper-less cake. As always, these things are difficult to vary and requires some (maybe alot) of vendor trust. The next James inbetweenisode coming up is the 1990s HK-Style and I show both of the white-wrappers on them.
All that being said, Tony has always brought some very tasty teas to my table for a fair $!
Cheers!
-James
ps. I showed this to my girlfriend and we shared a laugh.