TeaDB

Category: Tea Learning

  • 2016 Crimson Lotus Tea Space Girls w/Glen of CLT [Inbetweenisode 123]

    Filmed at Phoenix Teashop in Burien, Washington. This episode features Glen of Crimson Lotus Tea and their 2016 Space Girls blend. Discussion also includes teaware as well as Glen and Lamu’s up and coming trip to Yunnan.

  • Early Yunnan Sourcing Production Aging Mini-Report & Some Pu’erh Thoughts

    Many of the original pu’erh productions by western-facing vendor were in the 2009 or 2010 and principally done by Essence of Tea and Yunnan Sourcing. A lot has changed since then, and while there’s the odd production that has stayed somewhat consistent (i.e. YS Wuliang) both vendors are making from very different gardens and areas now. All of the retastes are still available, and despite them being double (or more) of the price originally sold the pu’erh market has risen meaning most are still reasonably priced and attainable as mid-range, dry-stored tea. (more…)

  • Pu’erh for Beginners

    The pu’erh compendium and vendor guide were written nearly three years ago and the content on this site has become increasingly pu’erh focused. This is fine for those of us already living in a house made out of bamboo tongs, but there’s a large chunk of people that are very fresh and new to the hobby. (more…)

  • Tea Drinking Reflections 2016 & 15 Cake Challenge 2017

    In what is becoming a yearly tradition, I spent too much and bought too much in 2016.  An extended trip to Asia didn’t help matters. Unlike 2015 I’m actually pretty happy with what I spent money on. Part of this is just having another a year under my belt to both learn about tea and my own preferences. For instance, 85-90% of the pu’erh I bought comes from 2003-2007. This hits the right mark for me of affordability, quality of base material and storage. I’ve avoided buying young pu’erh, a category I tend to not drink much and have bought too much of in the past. I bought a bit less mature pu’erh than 2015, but that’s more because I’ve found it difficult to match some of the traditionally stored pu’erh I found in Hong Kong during my brief trip there in 2015. (more…)

  • Selecting Teas from Taobao & Recommended Taobao Vendors

    I covered how to buy from taobao through an agent in the previous post. Knowing how to order is only part of the battle. There is literally an ocean of teas on taobao and samples are not normally offered. While there are decent teas to be found, there’s also an ocean of crap and overpriced teas. Even amongst the vendors that do indeed offer samples, it’s a long process of trying teas and re-ordering. That makes finding and selecting teas very important. (more…)

  • Extended Episode, Grandpa Style & Gongfu. 2003 Brown Changtai [Inbetweenisode 115]

    An extended episode that shows James brewing a light traditionally stored 2003 Brown Changtai in both grandpa style and gong-fu style brewing.

    Relevant: http://www.marshaln.com/whats-grandpa-style/

    Tea is provided courtesy of Toby (https://www.instagram.com/toby8653/) and Emilio (https://www.instagram.com/thejadeleaf/).

  • How to Order Tea from Taobao via an Agent

    Buying through an agent for taobao isn’t terribly difficult. A lot of goods come from China and it’s natural for people to want to buy closer to the source. There’s a number of taobao agents to help satisfy the demand and ship goods to you for a fee. You’ll get dinged and leak money out to these agents/intermediaries, but in many cases the pros of less expensive tea and increased access of goods outweigh the fees and shipping cost. This article details how to go through a forwarder (agent) to purchase tea directly from the bao. (more…)

  • Pumidors 101. Designing & Maintain Your Own Pumidor

    The idea of a pumidor is simple. Create an enclosed space where conditions like relative humidity can be manipulated to better maintain and age pu’erh. In the west, this usually means creating an environment where the humidity is higher than the ambient conditions. Much of the western hemisphere west is a cold, and dry relative to pu-hotspots in east Asia. If Kunming is dry compared with places that pu’erh was traditionally exported and stored at, then a good chunk of the US is the desert. With the risk of the tea drying out or simply not evolving or maturing, it is no surprise that the western pu’erh world is filled with people trying to create artificial ways of aging. One such way is the pumidor, a riff on humidor, an airtight device for aging cigars. (more…)

  • Pu’erh Home Storage — TeaDB James InBetweenIsode Episode #112

    A non-drinking episode covering some topics of home storage. Basic ideas of storage, pumidors, and some dangers of storing pu’erh.

    Further reading: Home Pumidor Survey, Kunming Storage

  • How Dry is Kunming Storage & What Does That Mean For Western Home Storage?

    “At least it’s not Kunming storage.”
    “Stored in Kunming….. Maybe it’ll be ready in 50 years.”
    -Anonymous Pu’erh Heads

    Kunming has developed a reputation as the whipping boy of storage locations. Anyone who’s sampled a tea aged in Kunming knows it’s way different and tea is much slower to change than something like dry Hong Kong storage. There’s a sizable group of pu’erh people who consider Kunming a pu’erh purgatory where tea neither ages nor dries out.. So let’s avoid Kunming and store all our pu’erh in Guangdong or Malaysia. Not so fast.. Yunnan itself certainly isn’t a desert, with places that are known to have decently hot and humid environments, such as Menghai County or Jinghong. Kunming is even described in the climate section of wikipedia as having a “mild climate”. So how dry is Kunming storage really? (more…)