This episode, I drink another Yangqing Hao raw pu’erh. This one is purportedly a spring only blend of the six famous mountains. It is softer and quite different than the 2007s with deceptive strength.
6.5 Rating.
Category: Raw Pu’erh
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Tea-Side, Vendor Profile & Interview
I had the pleasure of meeting tea vendors and Russian expats Valerii and Jane when I went to Chiang Mai. I had not been planning on any tea meetups on this trip, but Valerii happened to see I was traveling to Chiang Mai on Instagram and we met up for tea. Valerii’s family was very generous and we ended up meeting up a few times during my brief trip, including an outdoor excursion and tea session to the scenic Bua Tong waterfall. After we parted and he sent me home to Seattle with a ton of samples, we agreed to do an interview on the interesting niche he occupies, selling Thai teas. (more…)
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Garrett Pre-Taiwan Travel Diaries [Inbetweenisode 171]
In this episode, we discuss Garrett’s upcoming trip to Taiwan in September. We talk about shopping for tea abroad, what he hopes to buy, and some aspects of traveling there.
After he returns from his trip in late September, we plan to do a recap episode.
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2006 Hongtaichang Mingdee Thai Raw “Pu’erh” via Tea-Side [Episode 271]
This episode we drink a 2006 tea from northern Thailand produced like a pu’erh. It was made under the Hongtaichang label and produced by Mingdee factory. Thanks to Valerii at Tea-Side for providing the sample.
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Some Reasons You Should Consider Aging More Oolong & Less Pu’erh
Sometimes when I’m sipping a particularly delicious aged oolong, I’ll glance over at my tea fridge and then to my wine cooler and get some major self doubt. I enjoy drinking pu’erh and happen to own enough that I’ll be aging it for a very long time. But I I also really do enjoy aged oolong… And for partly inexplicable reasons have hardly even a pu’erh cake worth of oolong put away for the long haul. (more…)
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2007 Yangqing Hao Lingya Raw Pu’erh [Inbetweenisode 170]
This episode, I bring on the well-balanced, semi-aged, dark Yiwu, the Yangqing Hao Lingya. This is a cake that I own quite a few cakes of and enjoy drinking regularly.
7.5 Rating.
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Datapost: The Dearth of Aged Pu’erh Available From Western Facing Vendors
It’s no secret that aged pu’erh is scarce out west. The western vendor scene is dominated by vendors traveling to Yunnan bringing back predominantly young tea to sell. For this exercise, I added all of the older teas from western vendors I could think of. Unlike some of my other data compilations, this one didn’t take long at all.. The cutoff for aged pu’erh (both raw and ripe) was set at 18 years (2000 and older). Setting it at 18 years puts it firmly above semi-aged, but also not high enough (25 years) where we would have no teas making the cut. It’s a number that’s probably going to annoy some people off because its too low and others because it isn’t high enough (ask Su what aged tea is!). (more…)
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Why Not (Age) Oolong? [Inbetweenisode 167]
In this episode, regular guest Garrett comes back to discuss why more people aren’t aging oolong. The episode focuses on difference in pu’erh when it comes to aging, storage, and ease in the west.
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2007 Yangqing Hao Jincha Raw Pu’erh [Inbetweenisode 166]
This episode, James brings on a repeat, the 2007 Yangqing Hao Jincha. One of James’ favorite daily drinkers, it is a semi-aged Yiwu that strikes a good balance between strength and drinkability.
6.9 Rating.
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2003 Dayi Bok Choy 4 Stars Lao Banzhang Raw Pu’erh [Episode 264]
In this episode, Denny and James bring on a tea from the famed Dayi Bok Choy series from the early 2000s. Despite being 15 years old, this tea is extraordinarily potent and is one of the strongest teas we’ve ever brought onto the show (in a good way). Big thank you to Dipu for providing a sample of this tea.
(My apologies for the audio, the recording was corrupted so we had to use the audio from the camera)