TeaDB

Category: Article

  • Loose vs. Compressed Tea & A Riff on Aged Loose Pu’erh

    There’s lots of tea that doesn’t strictly fit the definition of pu’erh. Border tea grown from the neighboring Laos or Burma does not technically fit the definition for pu’erh, likely excluding things like 1990s Tongqing Hao. Some definitions of pu’erh also restrict the plant to being the large leaf varietal which would make some of the…

  • Budgetary Committee: What My Tea Budget Actually Looked Like

    I spent too much money in 2015. Emmett’s group orders and the Asia trip being the large culprits of pushing me from a little over to wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy over.. I’ve compiled some data from purchases from 2015 and without divulging exact teas and $ amounts, here’s some data that is ambiguous enough to save me embarrassment..…

  • The Box. Aged Oolong Report

    The aged oolong market in the west leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the time the teas are usually significantly flawed (re-roasted/sour), overpriced, or more often than not both. A couple years ago, I was lucky enough to sample a number of aged oolongs from Tony of Origin Tea that were offered off-shelf. This…

  • Pu’erh Blogs & Resources

    It’s a lonely world out there for those discussing pu’erh. We don’t have the same accessibility to in-person tea or pu’erh communities like urban centers in the east. This is a straightforward post detailing a few different resources and blogs that you might find valuable or useful.

  • The Much Delayed Taiwan Oolongs Teas to Age Report

    Better late than never, right? I announced this tea of the month about a year ago and have had samples sitting around forever. The original goal of this report was to find some decent oolongs to age for the future. The samples from Mountain Tea and Teahome, two vendors that each had a few inexpensive…

  • HK Report

    Big thanks to those that contributed knowledge and time to helping make this a successful trip. You know who you are! Hong Kong is a very different place than Taipei. Not having been to either, I naively expected a few more similarities. They’re both just big cities in east Asia, right? HK is dense, dense, dense,…

  • Pu’erh, The Body, and Are You Confused Yet!?

    In the west, tea is annoyingly difficult to separate from its health claims. Will this help me lose weight? Will this cure cancer? blah blah blah… Due to its post-fermentation, pu’erh has its own set of purported health benefits many based off its status as a chic probiotic. Most seasoned vendors and drinkers roll their eyes at…

  • Shopping for Tea in Taiwan

    Forever alone.. Being a pu’erh addict in the west is a lonely endeavor and how we intake information and buy tea is in all likelihood very different than the average Asian pu-head. We’re often resigned to the tea table/closet all by our self. If we’re lucky we can get a good friend/significant other to come…

  • 2005 YQH Yiwu Chawang Storage Comparison — TeaDB James InBetweenIsode Episode #61

    Episode 61 is a comparison of two different storages, Tainan and California. Tea being compared is the 2005 Yiwu Chawang.

  • Awkwardness in Pu’erh & A Brief Survey

    Awkwardness in Pu’erh & A Brief Survey

    Thanks to Linda, Scott, and Paul for answering my questions! Raw pu’erh is very tricky. From the time it is processed to consumption the tea is constantly changing. There are ebbs and flows in how the tea develops and what tastes good fresh may not be the better tasting tea in the long-run. Teas can also…