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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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/).
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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…
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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…
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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
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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.…
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Extended Episode, YS 2004 Songpin, Gu Puer — TeaDB James InBetweenIsode Episode #111
An extended episode featuring a pair of Yunnan Sourcing wetter stored teas. 2004 Songpin Hao Yiwu 2004 Gu Puer Cha Ma Gu Dao
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Home Storage Pumidor Survey
Standard Chinese instructions for storing pu’erh: Store in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place. How to eliminate all aroma, dry out your pu’erh, and/or stagnate the aging process in most areas of the west: Store in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place. Pu’erh storage for aging in the west is complex. This is largely due to two factors.…