This episode, James continues his exploration of Taiwan stored 8582, with the 2008 version. This is also a solid tea and is starting to mellow to a more drinkable state. At the end of the episode, James compares the 2005 version from the previous episode vs. the 2008 one.
Special thanks to Marco for providing the tea.
Strong, punch, potent, retired smoke this is a semi-aged factory tea that does not go down without a fight.
This episode, James covers one of the famous raw pu’erh recipes from Dayi, the 8582. He drinks a semi-aged version, previously stored in Taiwan.
Special thanks to Marco for providing the tea.
A crisp, tasty green high mountain oolong from TShop. Extremely refreshing with good depth and huigan.
For people looking to learn about pu’erh I usually recommend picking a western-facing, pu’erh-centric, vendor and ordering a bunch of samples that cover a few different categories (my suggestion: young raw pu’erh, semi-aged raw pu’erh, and ripe pu’erh). Most pu’erh vendors feature teas from two or all three categories but the focus of pu’erh-centered western vendors has drifted towards just one of those three — young raw pu’erh. (more…)
This episode features perennial guest, Meet for some more of his favorite tea, Yancha. They drink James’ regular brew of the last year, WuyiOrigin’s Qidan.
An aged white tea from Healthy Leaf. This is a very pleasant, smooth tea that still tastes like white tea with some moderate aged elements.
This episode, James brings on a premium, tippy, extremely powerful pu’erh from Best Tea House. Thanks to Bev at http://listeningtoleaves.blogspot.com/ for the very generous sample.
A 2011 tea from the Wangong area in Mengla County. Clean and very high-quality material that has been dry-stored.
I get asked a lot about traditionally stored and wetter pu’erh. I like to drink these teas and it’s unfortunately a type that lacks a lot of the exposure in comparison with young pu’erh or ripe pu’erh. Most pu’erh focused vendors don’t offer this type of tea and the ones that do, it typically makes up a small part of their catalog.. Pu’erh offers a broad array of unfamiliar tastes to the western palate that can be different and a unique experience for new drinkers (see ripe pu’erh or young raw), but sitting atop that list is traditionally stored pu’erh. That lack of exposure isn’t the case in areas around southern China, where pu’erh has been consumed for much longer than anywhere else and traditional storage has historically been the default. (more…)