Due to its reputation as a tea that improves with age, pu’erh and the buying culture surrounding it are different than other teas. This makes sense. People are (rightfully) more comfortable buying larger quantities of pu’erh than dragonwell or green gaoshan. However, it is also a buying culture filled with hoarding and constant procrastination (over drinking the good stuff). Other tea types have a natural timer that regulates purchases. Drink it soon or it will get worst. This urgency and rate will vary tea to tea, but most teas are not stashed away in the same way pu’erh is. This article aims to take a step back and compare pu’erh purchases with both other teas and other consumable beverages. (more…)
Category: Aged Pu’erh
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1990s HK Style Raw Pu’erh — White2Tea — TeaDB James InBetweenIsode Episode #5
Inbetweenisode Episode #5 from James. The tea is mid 1990s HK Style Raw Pu’erh acquired from White2Tea. Topics include white-label tea and more mature + traditionally stored pu’erh.
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White2Tea’s 1998 White Tuo [Episode 81]
In episode 81, Denny & James review an aged ripe pu’erh from White2Tea, the 1998 White Tuo. Dark and dank, this tea is a very good value proposition for a tea of its age (see white label tea).
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1990s Ba-Zhong Red Mark Raw Pu’erh — Origin Tea — TeaDB James InBetweenIsode Episode #4
Inbetweenisode Episode #4 from James. The tea is mid 1990s Ba-Zhong Red Mark acquired from Origin Tea. Topics include traditionally stored and more mature pu’erh. Recommended reading: Traditional, Not Wet.
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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…)
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Shopping for Bargains, The Case for White Label/No-Name Pu’erh
You are quickly becoming a pu’erh-head and have been diligently been studying and drinking pu’erh. It is a complex online marketplace due to the added dimensions of age and storage. What brings the best bang for buck in the pu’erh world? We obsess and look at factories, regions, storages, teas of various ages, vendors, shipping, blah, blah blah. What region should you go for? What age? The answers are subjective and depend on what brings the individual drinker enjoyment… However, one way to find great deals is to buy white labels or off-brand, judging the tea on its own merits. In pu’erh, what does this mean exactly? Finding deals for Dayi or tea sold as as Lao Banzhang is extremely unlikely. But for drinkers that are OK with more ambiguity, shopping for white label cakes or teas with a lack of relevant information (age, factory, region, etc.) and purchasing simply on the basis of quality can be a simple and effective way to buy good-quality tea for a good price. (more…)
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Pu’erh Regions: Western Xishuangbanna, Menghai County
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.
Home of the most famous tea factory, several high-profile areas (Lao Banzhang) and many of the most famous cakes from the masterpiece era of Pu’erh, Menghai County is both historically important in old school pu’erh and is featured prominently in much of contemporary pu’erh’s marketing. Much of the importance of region as both a brand and marker of terroir was covered in a post on Yiwu/Eastern Xishuangbanna. Locationwise, Menghai County is the westernmost county in Xishuangbanna, west of both Jinghong and Mengla. (more…)
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2001 Dingxing Hao via Jiujiucha (Taobao) [Episode 73]
NOTE/Disclaimer: Since filming this, exchanging samples with someone else who bought this tea and simply doing more research, it’s become pretty clear to me that this tea (as most acquired in this fashion) is probably not what is actually advertised. That being said, the tea review still stands on its own.
In episode 73, Denny & James review a pu’erh of questionable origins (supposedly 2001 Dingxing Hao) acquired via Taobao. To buy from Taobao you need a Taobao agent (we used Cheap Agency).
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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…)
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1990s Menghai Grade A Tuo Cha via Tea Classico [Episode 72]
In episode 72, Denny & James review a deliciously dry-stored raw pu’erh from a new vendor, Tea Classico. The tea reviewed is a 1990s Menghai Grade A Tuo.