teadb

Category: Long-form Article

  • 5+ Year Old “Menghai County” Raw Pu’erh [July 2015 Tea Drinking Report]

    5+ Year Old “Menghai County” Raw Pu’erh [July 2015 Tea Drinking Report]

    Shoutouts to Dignitea, Brian (double B), and Hster for providing teas for this month and allowing the content to be what it is!

    By now you know the drill. I drink a bunch of teas following a certain theme. Blah, blah, blah. This month is Menghai County. One problem.. Menghai County is big and I have a ton of teas that qualify. So, like the Yiwu reports (1, 2) I’ve split this in two. So why am I doing 5+ year old Menghai County tea first? Simply, I’m more calibrated for these semi-aged teas because I more recently have been tasting through similarly aged “Yiwu” teas. (more…)

  • Not Quite so Young “Yiwu” Raw Pu’erh [June 2015 Tea Drinking Report]

    Not Quite so Young “Yiwu” Raw Pu’erh [June 2015 Tea Drinking Report]

    Big shoutouts to Dignitea and Brian (double B) for providing teas for this month and allowing the content to be what it is!

    Welcome to Part 2 of the overly-indulgent Yiwu report. Part 1 was young teas and was composed principally of western vendor’s own productions. This month represents a portion of not quite sp young teas, marketed and sold as Yiwu. With a little over 20 teas, it’s shorter than last month. As most pu-heads know the landscape has been very dynamic in the last 20 years. Even though much of the tea from this month is only a few years older than Part 1, it’s a very different era. I’m also going to be preemptively splitting my Menghai County report into two (July and August). (more…)

  • “Yiwu” Raw Pu’erh [May 2015 Tea Drinking Report]

    “Yiwu” Raw Pu’erh [May 2015 Tea Drinking Report]

    Big shoutouts to Carolyn, Richard, Dignitea and several vendors for providing teas and others like Shah8 for their recommendations! A brief disclaimer: This report should be taken as my own personal journey into tea and not as the ultimate, definitive anything.

    WTF Part 1!? These reports have been getting progressively longer. Rather than do something sensible, (a) get an editor to reduce flab and misspellings or (b) allow my mom or girlfriend to chuck out samples/stage an intervention… I stuck my middle finger out and indulged.. That’s right! This report is even longer than the previous one and will be released in two installments. The first will cover the young tea and the second will consume the Yiwu with some age (somewhat arbitrary set as 8 years). (more…)

  • Yancha (Wuyi Oolongs) [March 2015 Tea Drinking Report]

    Yancha (Wuyi Oolongs) [March 2015 Tea Drinking Report]

    Big shoutouts to Brian, Carolyn, and Richard (+vendors) for providing several of the teas for this month and allowing the content to be what it is! I hope you like long-form content, because this tea of the month report is truly massive.

    In the month of March 2015, the tea of the month was Yancha. During this month, I had Yancha at least once a day (unless totally unfeasible). I’ll still consume other teas, but the primary focus is understanding and building a palate for a specific type/genre/region of tea through repetition. This is the most personal blogging type style of post for TeaDB, and the goal is to stretch my palate as well as give recommendations to interested parties. (more…)

  • Lincang Raw Pu’erh [January 2015 Tea Drinking Report]

    Lincang Raw Pu’erh [January 2015 Tea Drinking Report]

    Big shoutouts to Dignitea, Brian, Jake, Carolyn and Cwyn for providing several of the teas for this month and allowing the content to be what it is! I hope you like long-form content, because this tea of the month report is truly massive.

    In the month of January 2015, the tea of the month was Lincang Pu’erh. During this month, I had Lincang Pu’erh at least once a day (unless totally unfeasible). I’ll still consume other teas, but the primary focus is understanding and building a palate for a specific type/genre/region of tea through repetition. This is the most personal blogging type style of post for TeaDB, and the goal is to stretch my palate as well as give recommendations to interested parties.

    Producers sampled from:

    • S. Mengku
    • Yunnan Sourcing
    • Fengqing Sanning
    • Mandala Tea

    (more…)

  • Mature Pu’erh [November 2014 Tea Drinking Report]

    Mature Pu’erh [November 2014 Tea Drinking Report]

    In the month of November 2014, the tea of the month was Mature Pu’erh. During this month, I had Mature Pu’erh at least once a day (unless totally unfeasible). I’ll still consume other teas, but the primary focus is understanding and building a palate for a specific type/genre/region of tea through repetition. This is the most personal blogging type style of post for TeaDB, and the goal is to stretch my palate as well as give recommendations to interested parties.

    Vendors ordered from:

    (more…)

  • White2Tea, Featured Vendor

    White2Tea, Featured Vendor

    The vendor profile for White2Tea is a part of our Pu’erh Tea Vendor Series, covering a number of Pu’erh-centric vendors that sell to the west. This interview was conducted with TwoDog of White2Tea.

    White2Tea is the prototypical curated vendor. It is run by tea blogger turned vendor (TwoDog), who sells a relatively small but diverse selection of predominately small brands and white labels, a stark contrast with the huge, warehouse-like selection of Yunnan Sourcing, Cha Wang Shop, and ebay vendors. Despite being inherently smaller, White2Tea’s selection covers an impressive range of teas including various ages, areas and storages (both wet and dry). The price range also caters towards different consumers, some teas geared towards beginners and others to experts. Cakes range from $12/beeng to $1,000/beeng. (more…)

  • Ripe Pu’erh [October 2014 Tea Drinking Report]

    Ripe Pu’erh [October 2014 Tea Drinking Report]

    In the month of October 2014, the tea of the month was Ripe Pu’erh. During this month, I had Ripe Pu’erh at least once a day (unless totally unfeasible). I’ll still consume other teas, but the primary focus is understanding and building a palate for a specific type/genre/region of tea through repetition. This is the most personal blogging type style of post for TeaDB, and the goal is to stretch my palate as well as give recommendations to interested parties.

    Primary tea producers:

    Vendors ordered from:

    (more…)

  • Aged Oolongs [September 2014 Tea Drinking Report]

    In the month of September 2014, the tea of the month was Aged Oolong. During this month, I had Aged Oolongs at least once a day (unless totally unfeasible). I’ll still consume other teas, but the primary focus is understanding and building a palate for a specific type/genre/region of tea through repetition. This the most personal blogging type style of post for TeaDB, and the goal is to stretch my palate as well as give recommendations to interested parties.

    Vendors ordered from:

    Also featuring:

    (more…)

  • Crimson Lotus Tea, Featured Vendor

    Crimson Lotus Tea, Featured Vendor

    The vendor profile for Crimson Lotus Tea is a part of our Pu’erh Tea Vendor Series, covering a number of Pu’erh-centric vendors that sell to the west. This interview was conducted with Glen of Crimson Lotus Tea.

    Crimson Lotus Tea is one of the newest and hottest vendors in the pu’erh scene. Formed in late 2013, Crimson Lotus is based in Seattle and is composed of the husband/wife duo of Glen and Lamu Bowers. Lamu was originally from Yunnan, creating an instant familial connection to the land of pu’erh. The pair made their first sourcing trip to Yunnan in Spring 2014 (they also got married on the same trip!). The sourcing trip was well documented on their blog and resulted in a diverse range of pu’erh, Crimson Lotus brand cakes, teapets, and Jianshui teaware offered on their site. Crimson Lotus Tea fits firmly into the curated pu’erh vendor category with a small but eclectic selection of raw and ripe pu’erh. (more…)