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.
Category: Raw Pu’erh
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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)
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1993 Chiang Rai “Raw Pu’erh” via TeaSide Stored in Thailand [Episode 263]
Today, James & Denny drink a unique loose raw stored purportedly from 1993. The tea has been processed like a pu’erh but was harvested and aged in Northern Thailand. Clearly aged, clean, and quite relaxing. Big thanks to Valeri!
https://tea-side.com/aged-raw-pu-erh-tea-1993/
https://tea-side.com/(My apologies for the audio, the recording was corrupted so we had to use the audio from the camera)
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Some Thoughts & Problems With Traditionally Stored Pu’erh
85-90% of the tea being sold is young pu’erh, and the remainder is almost exclusively ripe or 5-10 year old semi-pu’erh. Old-school, traditionally stored pu’erh is an afterthought or an afterthought of an afterthought… This sort of tea can be hit or miss and more of an acquired taste for many.. For me, it’s always been a tea category I personally enjoy and turn to on a regular basis (~25% of the time). I also think if you can find decent examples it is well-worth exploring. As “traditionally stored” implies, this is a style of pu’erh that has been around for a long time. The pu’erh scene has changed and this sort of tea isn’t viewed fashionably or favorably as other sorts of pu’erh (this is not just restricted to the west). (more…)
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Western Vendor Pu’erh Prices at Conception have Risen Since 2011 (& Probably Before)
It’s common in the pu’erh-verse to note the seemingly always rising price of freshly produced tea. Every year more expensive than the last… Even with the limited scope of western-vendor labeled pu’erh, we can take a quick look at the Way Back Machine and glance at what pu’erhs were selling for a few years ago and compare it to 2017/2018 prices.. It’s also an interesting exercise to look at old Half-Dipper reviews and realize that a lot of tea is simply no longer available. It used to be noteworthy when a fresh cake sold for three figures, now it’s commonplace. Those times are gone.. Oh and that cake is probably 200 grams… (more…)