Delicious. This tea comes from 40-50 year old abandoned tea plants, fermented for 46 days and pressed in March, 2012 in the Jing Mai Mountain region of China.
Molasses, plum, and robotussin. I also have a really intense tea sniff at 1:25. Wooooahhhh!
The vendor profile for Tea Urchin 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 Eugene & Belle of Tea Urchin.
Based in Shanghai, Tea Urchin was created in 2011 by the husband/wife team, Eugene & Belle. Eugene had previously run a blog, titled The Tea Urchin, and the online store adopted the same moniker. When first created Tea Urchin’s selection was predominantly composed of their own pu’erh productions, principally higher-end, small-production gushu. Eugene & Belle still travel to Yunnan yearly to press their own branded cakes but have also branched out into other tea genres, specifically Wuyi Yancha, Dancongs, and most recently Taiwanese Oolongs. Their spring lineup of pu’erh pressings typically consists of ~10 teas, the majority from Xishuangbanna but also including several other pu’erh regions (Jingmai, Xigui, etc.). Tea Urchin’s overall tea selection has also slowly broadened to include many teas from other pu’erh producers as well as a few older teas. (more…)
This is an announcement about the tea of the month series for 2015 as well as an outline of January’s upcoming tea of the month. Similar to the other tea of the months this will be more of a personal blogging style post. The mature pu’erh report will come out independently in two weeks.
I launched the first tea of the month in March 2014 and have since done eight different reports. Overall, it’s a fairly free-form format which I’ve personally enjoyed a good deal. It gives a far less filtered look at certain teas and more comparative impressions. As many have stated, the TeaDB video reviews end up being a biased selection of teas that are usually hand-picked for review. While we (especially Denny) will do blind tastings of teas on occasion, they’re often picked out for some reason or another. Big thanks to our readers and for suggestions, this is a great time to post them in the comments! (more…)
Been drinking this every week for who knows how long! A great go-to tea!
Plus you get to watch me break the brand new tea crust 🙂
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…)
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).
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…)
Inbetweenisode Episode #3 from James. The tea is 2012 Menghai 8592 Ripe Pu’erh from Yunnan Sourcing. Topics include ripe pu’erh and big factory pu’erh.
Inbetweenisode Episode #2 from James. The tea is 2009 Menghai Ziyun Ripe Pu’erh from Mandala Tea. Topics include the ripe pu’erh market and buying from a big factory in general.
In the month of October 2014, the tea of the month was Ripe Pu’erh. During this month, I had Ripe 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.
Primary tea producers:
Vendors ordered from: