Category: Tea Learning

  • Tea Urchin, Featured Vendor

    Tea Urchin, Featured Vendor

    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…)

  • White2Tea, Featured Vendor

    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…)

  • Ripe Pu’erh [October 2014 Tea Drinking Report]

    Ripe Pu’erh [October 2014 Tea Drinking Report]

    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:

    (more…)

  • Pu’erh Regions: Western Xishuangbanna, Menghai County

    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…)

  • Aged Oolongs [September 2014 Tea Drinking Report]

    In the month of September 2014, the tea of the month was Aged Oolong. During this month, I had Aged Oolongs 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 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.

    Vendors ordered from:

    Also featuring:

    (more…)

  • Crimson Lotus Tea, Featured Vendor

    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…)

  • Pu’erh Regions: Eastern Xishuangbanna, Mengla County, Yiwu + Youle

    Pu’erh Regions: Eastern Xishuangbanna, Mengla County, Yiwu + Youle

    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.

    Pu’erh is frequently sold by its geographical farming location. Teas are marketed as being from Yiwu, Banzhang, and Bingdao. These areas exist as physical areas but also serve as important marketing terms for pu’erh. Hot regions like Banzhang or Bingdao can fetch extremely high price tags. Learning these regions are an important part in understanding new school pu’erh as well as the regional terroir of Yunnan. The southernmost prefecture in Yunnan, Xishuangbanna is arguably the most important prefecture within Yunnan for pu’erh. Xishuangbanna is home to Menghai Tea Factory and the six famous tea mountains. It is also where most examples of aged pu’erh base material originates from. In the last 20 years, the pu’erh boom is extremely apparent in Xishuangbanna, an area that generally fetches the highest price for their tea. Within Xishuangbanna, there are dramatically different flavor profiles, from the soft, pleasant aftertaste of Yiwu to the bold and brash Bulang. This post will focus on the eastern regions of Xishuangbanna, which includes the greater Yiwu region, most of which falls under Mengla County. (more…)

  • Yunnan Sourcing, Featured Vendor

    Yunnan Sourcing, Featured Vendor

    The vendor profile for Yunnan Sourcing is a part of our Pu’erh Tea Vendor Series, covering a number of Pu’erh-centric vendors that sell to the west.

    Based in both Kunming and Portland, Yunnan Sourcing is one of the longest standing pu’erh vendors in the international online marketplace. The store was founded by Scott Wilson, an American expatriate based in Kunming and was originally conceived as an ebay vendor (in 2004). As the pu’erh tea market has grown in the west and worldwide, Yunnan Sourcing has grown and evolved with it. The ebay store eventually migrated onto its own domain(s), YunnanSourcing.com and eventually YunnanSourcing.us. In 2009, Scott began to source and press the well-received Yunnan Sourcing production cakes, these beengs have become a major selling point on Yunnan Sourcing’s online store. (more…)

  • Pu’erh Storage Comparison CNNP 2000 7561 Yunnan Sourcing, CNNP 2000 7532 White2Tea Raw Pu’erh [Episode 67]

    This is another TeaDB special episode where Denny & James compare and contrast two 14-year old pu’erhs that have undergone different storage techniques. The point here isn’t necessarily the base material of the teas themselves, simply the importance of storage and how it can affect the tea. Tea’s brewed are Yunnan Sourcing‘s Kunming-stored (dry) 2000 CNNP Yi Liang 7561 and White2Tea‘s Guangdong-stored CNNP Tiepai 7532.

  • Bulang Pu’erh [July 2014 Tea Drinking Report]

    Bulang Pu’erh [July 2014 Tea Drinking Report]

    For June 2014, the tea of the month was Bulang Pu’erh. During this past month, I had Bulang tea 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 and concentrated learning. This 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.

    Vendors ordered from:

    Primary tea producers:

    • Banzhang Tea Factory (Cha Wang Shop/White2Tea)
    • Hai Lang Hao (Yunnan Sourcing)
    • Yunnan Sourcing

    Also featuring:

    • Mengyang Guoyan (Yunnan Sourcing)
    • Gu Ming Xiang (Yunnan Sourcing)

    (more…)