TeaDB

Category: Article

  • 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…)

  • May/June/July Tea of the Month 2015

    Here’s the announcement of the next batch of tea of the months. Feel free to drink alongside, give suggestions, etc. Due to being egregiously and hilariously over my tea budget, I’m not sure how much I will be able to accommodate specific requests!

    • Greater Yiwu, Mengla County + Youle (May 2015)
    • Menghai County (June 2015)
    • Aged Oolongs (July 2015)

    (more…)

  • Cutting Out the Middleman (And is it Worth It?)

    Cutting Out the Middleman (And is it Worth It?)

    As westerners we are in a land far from the production of our beloved Yunnanese pu’erh and from the huge tea markets of China. This seemingly locks us into a constant struggle to eliminate as many middlemen and meddling hands as possible between us and our teas. The western market for pu’erh is far smaller and physically further from the source, giving east Asian vendors little incentive to accommodate us. It’s no surprise that there is a western premium that most of us pay to get our teas. However, unlike oolong or green teas, pu’erh is also sold with very commonly label. For mass-marketed teas like Dayi or Xiaguan it is very easy to find the Chinese prices for the tea using Donghe or Taobao. It is also possible for the willing and resourceful to buy directly from the Chinese market (via Taobao). This article examines this and several of the different tea types and approximates the markups. (more…)

  • Wuliang/Ailao Raw Pu’erh [February 2015 Tea Drinking Report]

    Wuliang/Ailao Raw Pu’erh [February 2015 Tea Drinking Report]

    Big shoutouts to Carolyn & Brian (a different Brian from last month) 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 February 2015, the tea of the month was Wuliang/Ailao Pu’erh. During this month, I had Wuliang/Ailao 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. (more…)

  • Pu’erh Regions: Pu’er Prefecture

    Pu’erh Regions: Pu’er Prefecture

    This article frequently references and links to babelcarp. Babelcarp is a Chinese Tea Lexicon that is an essential resource for tea nerds that want to dive in further and don’t understand Chinese! This article also sources many maps from a TeaChat thread, original sources vary.

    Previously named Simao, Pu’er Prefecture shares pu’erh’s name and is one of the three principle growing prefectures for pu’erh tea. Located in Yunnan, Pu’er is sandwiched in between Xishuangbanna and Lincang and despite not being a particularly important historical growing region it is a historical hub for the tea horse road. Pu’er prefecture also borders Laos, Burma and Vietnam. Within Pu’er Prefecture, there are a few high-profile regions although the majority of the prefecture lacks the hype of the most hyped regions, especially Xishuangbanna. (more…)

  • Pu’erh Buying Thoughts: Diversification & Buying Tea for the Long Haul

    Pu’erh is one of the trickiest teas to buy and a very different landscape than other teas. One reason is the instability of the market, partially because pu’erh is treated as a commodity for investment and is mainly due to the the thought that pu’erh will improve over time. Another is the psychology behind the consumption of pu’erh. Pu’erh drinkers think about their tea in a much different way than drinkers of other teas. lacking the immediacy that naturally accompanies other teas (especially greener teas). In 2007, the pu’erh market busted largely because of over speculation of tea that really wasn’t very good to begin with. People were aggressively buying at a rate that outpaced consumption and the market eventually corrected itself. This article will discuss a few thoughts on pu’erh buying and an alternate buying strategy. (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…)

  • Pu’erh Regions: Lincang

    Pu’erh Regions: Lincang

    This article frequently references and links to babelcarp. Babelcarp is a Chinese Tea Lexicon that is an essential resource for tea nerds that want to dive in further and don’t understand Chinese! This article also sources many maps from a TeaChat thread, original sources vary.

    Regarded as the northern pu’erh region Lincang Prefecture is one of the largest and most tea regions that produces pu’erh tea. While there is some pu’erh production north of Lincang (Dehong) it is sparser and not nearly as common as Lincang or Xishuangbanna. To the west, Lincang borders Burma and to the south is Pu’er Prefecture. Despite lagging behind Xishuangbanna in fame and hype, Lincang is home to a few of the most famed and expensive areas in all of pu’erh. The most notable of these are Bingdao and Xigui. There are also several Lincang-based factories, including Shuangjiang Mengku, and Fengqing (the iconic Xiaguan is located nearby in Dali). (more…)

  • Ripe Pu’erh Shopping. What does your Money Buy?

    Ripe Pu’erh Shopping. What does your Money Buy?

    Tea quality and price aren’t exactly cause and effect. There’s alot of factors that go into pricing tea and there’s a reason why hunting white labels can be lucrative. It’s important to know what exactly goes into the pricing of tea, in order to know where your money is going and to most obviously not get ripped off. Ripe pu’erh occupies a different niche for most tea drinkers compared with raw pu’erh. For many that specialize in other tea genres like Taiwanese oolongs or Tieguanyin, it is their easy-drinking pu’erh of choice. Inexpensive young raw pu’erh is often quite harsh and ripe pu’erh is a far cheaper alternative to drinking aged raw pu’erh. However, there are also more serious drinkers of ripe pu’erh that seek out higher-quality, premium ripe pu’erh. This article will break down the pricing factors and categories of ripe pu’erh. (more…)

  • Problems with Online Tea Reviews

    Problems with Online Tea Reviews

    There are many problems with reviews online. Many people use reviews as a way to filter out the fodder and find good products. Talking about and discussing tea is also an important and necessary part of the learning process and a part that reviews can help to facilitate. Learning in a vacuum is usually a terrible idea and reviews can be a formative part of learning. People who sell products and vendors have realized that online reviews and opinions affect sales and have reacted in a number of ways. On the most basic level, yelp, ebay, and amazon vendors openly ask for and encourage reviews of their product. Fair enough. On a slightly more sinister level, there are paid reviewers of Amazon products that are on the payroll of the producer and are required to give 5 star reviews. This becomes a huge problem when there are only a few reviews of similar products online, meaning one or two five star reviews can propel a significant amount of sales! Many of these problems persist into tea, to varying degrees. While there isn’t necessarily malintent on the reviewer or the vendor’s part, bias and aspects beyond the quality of tea play frequently heavily into the actual review and people’s perception. This article will specifically examine points of bias in the online tea world. (more…)