In episode 33, James & Denny review an older 1997 Ripe Pu’erh from Chinese tea factory Fuhai (Lucky Star). Fuhai split off from Dayi in the late 1990s.
1997 Fuhai Shu Pu’erh [Episode 33]
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2 responses to “1997 Fuhai Shu Pu’erh [Episode 33]”
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I generally enjoy ripe Pu’erh and found it to be “friendly” to my stomach, especially comparing to raw Pu’erh. It is also my night tea since it seems like it has less caffeine. You guys mentioned that it is good to drink ripe Pu’erh during this time of the year, i do notice that ripe Pu’erh does have warming effect on me and i wonder is that what you guys meant. I heard people describing it is only worth while to store Pu’erh for long term only if the tea quality is good. I tried a 20 years old ripe Pu’erh, and found it not really any good probably because of its low quality. I would suggest people that want to try ripe pu’erh to taste the tea first before deciding how much they are willing to pay for it and do not assume older tea is necessarily better.
By the way, “fu” means luck or fortune, “hai” means ocean.
Like usual, i enjoy the podcast.-
Thanks for the comment Mengchiu. Definitely agree with ripe Pu’erh being friendly both for the stomach and during the cooler/greyer times of the year. Roasted oolongs and ripe pu’erhs (as is aged raw pu’erh) are generally thought of as warming teas (more or less what we meant).
Yes you are definitely correct on older doesn’t necessarily mean better. Simply looking at current day Lao Banzhang prices and you can clearly see that mountain + leaf quality matter much more than the actual age.
Personally speaking, I think that buying aged ripe pu’erh isn’t a great way to get the best bang for your buck. Ripe pu’erh in general doesn’t tend to get the complexity that raw does with age. In other words the difference between a $20 cake of ripe pu’erh and a $150 one is not nearly as significant as a $20 cake of raw pu’erh vs. the potential of a $150 raw pu’erh.
Cheers,
-James
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