Pu’erh Tea Inventory & Tins

Pu’erh Inventory

I will be announcing all pu’erh purchases I make in that are over a cake. This can be viewed here. This page will be live and updated as I buy tea. The purpose is to promote transparency and provide insight into what I actually do buy, which the video reviews and tea of the months may or may not indicate very well.

Tea	Vendor	Quantity	Price	Cake Size	$/g	Date Bought	Purpose
2009 Yongde DXS	Fine Pu’er	5	$58.00	500	$0.12	1/2015	Store/Drink Now/Reference
2014 Bulang Beauty	Tea Urchin	1	$99.00	357	$0.28	2/2015	Store
2012 Miles Birthday Blend	Tea Urchin	1	$169.00	357	$0.47	2/2015	Store/Drink Now/Reference
2006 CNNP Yiwu	Fine Pu’er	1	$28.00	357	$0.08	2/2015	Blind
2012 Sanhezhai	Yunnan Sourcing	2	$39.00	400	$0.10	2/2015	Store
2012 Wujiazhai	Yunnan Sourcing	1	$46.00	400	$0.12	2/2015	Blind
2012 Wuliang	Yunnan Sourcing	1	$36.00	400	$0.09	2/2015	Drink Now/Reference
2007 CGHT Yiwu Chawang	Houde Asian	3	$85.50	357	$0.24	6/2015	Drink Now/Store
2007 JMT Guangbien Laozhai	Houde Asian	3	$129.50	357	$0.36	6/2015	Drink Now/Store
2015 Little Walk	White2Tea	1	$19.50	200	$0.09	6/2015	Blind

Pu'erh Stash

Tins

I drink pu’erh in alot of ways. However, one thing I commonly do is break off large chunks of my cakes/bricks/tuos and toss them into small, cheap, non-airtight tins I buy from Daiso. This serves a couple purposes. It is nice because I can break off a number of sessions all at once rather than breaking from a cake constantly. For traditionally-stored pu’erh it also serves the purpose of breaking it up and partially airing it out. As a note, none of these teas tend to be particularly special to me, but very functionally drinkable.

Raw Tins

Tea	Vendor
1980s Wild Arbor	Origin Tea
1982 Sun Moon Lake	Taiwan Tea Crafts
1990s Bazhong	Origin Tea
1990s HK Style	White2Tea
2000 Fuyuanchang	Origin Tea
2001 Dingxing	Taobao
2002 White Whale	White2Tea
2002 Yiwu Ancient Spirit	Yunnan Sourcing
2004 Jianshen	White2Tea
2005 Fengqing Zhuan	Teavivre
2006 Old Bear	White2Tea
2006 Yunhai Nannuo	White2Tea
2008 Xiaguan Happy Tuo	Chawangshop
2012 Purple Spring Yiwu	Yunnan Sourcing
2012 Wuliang	Yunnan Sourcing
2013 Xiangming	Yunnan Sourcing

Ripe Tins

Tea	Vendor
1997 7581	Yunnan Sourcing
1998 White Tuo	White2Tea
2011/2012 Yong de Organic	Yunnan Sourcing

Comments

21 responses to “Pu’erh Tea Inventory & Tins”

Lincang Raw Pu’erh [January 2015 Tea Drinking Report] | TeaDB

February 14, 2015

[…] will now be announcing all pu’erh purchases of a certain size as well as my tinned teas. You can view the page and learn more. This page will be live and updated as I buy […]

Reply
Ian

February 16, 2015

Do you mind posting a link to where you can buy these containers? I’m really in the market for non-airtight (preferably ceramic) tea containers for broken up puer cakes.

Reply
1. James
  
  February 16, 2015
  
  Hi Ian,
  
  I buy them at a local Daiso (Japanese dollar store). Where are you based? You might be able to find something similar poking around thrift stores and what not.
  
  Cheers!
  -James
  
  Reply
  1. bellmont
    
    April 18, 2015
    
    Ian, Also check out:
    
    http://www.daisojapan.com/p-26466-steamed-egg-cup-d31-x-h31in-676-fl-oz-8pks.aspx
    
    http://www.daisojapan.com/p-26466-steamed-egg-cup-d31-x-h31in-676-fl-oz-8pks.aspx
    
    Peace,
    
    bellmont
    
    Reply
    1. James
      
      April 20, 2015
      
      Daiso online.. I didn’t even know! Guess I can eliminate that 15 minute walk downtown :).
      
      Thanks for sharing.
      -James
      
      Reply
bellmont

February 16, 2015

Hey James,

I appreciate the transparency.

What would it look to have column that gives a quick blurb about what you plan on doing with the tea… for instance: “stored for aging” or “all for drinking now” “half stored, half drink now” “use as barter material for magic beans and subterfuge later on” etc…

peace,

bellmont

Reply
1. James
  
  February 16, 2015
  
  Hi bellmont,
  
  Excellent idea. I’ll add some columns soon :).
  
  Cheers!
  -James
  
  Reply
  1. James
    
    February 16, 2015
    
    I’ll also add that everything in tins is for drinking now.
    
    Reply
Tea

February 18, 2015

This is awesome I always wondered myself what tea reviewers/blog actually purchased with their own money.

I like the additional column suggestion, would you be opposed to adding one more giving information on your one major view/opinion/purpose of the tea eg. Daily drinker, cha qi, nice fruity yiwu, aromatic, thick mouth feel,etc. And might you add other types of tea later especially with spring coming around Im curious what greens/oolongs you guys think are worth purchasing

random question, what do you think of the W2T “2006 Yunhai Nannuo.” I have blind bought a few cakes to avoid double shipping charge and been happy with my gambles so far.

Reply
1. James
  
  February 18, 2015
  
  Hi Tea,
  
  Thanks for the comment and kind words! That’s a good idea. I’ll think about ways in which I can add to this to make it more useful.
  
  As for the 2006 Yunhai Nannuo, I own part of a cake (reviewed this a month or so ago). It’s decent enough and easy drinking for its low price. Having had that and the 2005 Gaoshan Qingbing, I’d probably pick the Gaoshan Qingbing despite being a few more dollars.
  
  I end up buying cakes in the same way. Sometimes with shipping costs it just makes sense to get the whole thing!
  
  Cheers!
  -James
  
  Reply
  1. Tea
    
    February 18, 2015
    
    Just realized I saw that episode too whoops, egg on my face. After a little thinking I am just going to hold off on the qingbing and nannuo at the moment since I bought the 05 xiangming manzhuan so that will be my go to fruity tea at the moment.
    
    Going to place an order from W2T within a week or so though is there any teas you think I should sample? Thinking about adding 07 yeixiangwang naka, 90 hk, and 02 yellow mark but my cart is looking pretty expensive as is so I may just get one or two samples.
    
    Btw sorry for the long comments is your email just “info@teadb.org”? feel like I am spamming the comment section.
    
    Reply
    1. James
      
      February 19, 2015
      
      Hi Tea,
      
      Depending on how much experience you have with aged sheng the 1990s could serve a few purposes. If you’ve had a bunch, it’s a decent tea for a decent price. For the more uninitiated, I think the 1990s HK makes an important learning material/reference point for a certain style of pu’erh. I’ve recorded an inbetweenisode a few months back and I definitely enjoy the tea for what it is. It’s probably my favorite bang for buck of the W2T aged pu’erh that I’ve tried.
      
      I think the 2002 Little Yellow Mark is really just an all-around great tea. The storage on it has been very well-executed and it’s at a great place right now. It’s been a while since I’ve tasted it so I don’t have my notes fresh on-hand but it’s a very well-balanced tea.
      
      I have yet to try the 07 Naka, but it sounds good.
      
      No worries on comments. I enjoy answering questions and giving my thoughts on tea. Our email is teadborg@gmail.com , if you’d prefer to correspond over that.
      
      Hope this helps and cheers!
      -James
      
      Reply
Zach Wolf

February 19, 2015

Is this your long term storage system then? I know you’ve mentioned elsewhere you have a cabinet with “basic humidity added”? I was wondering if you could elaborate or lead me to an article I seem to be missing?

Thanks

Reply
1. James
  
  February 19, 2015
  
  Hi Zach,
  
  My long-term storage is a simple mini-fridge. I adjust the humidity to be around 70 by just adding a bowl of water now and then. I haven’t needed one in nearly half a year due to the natural humidity in Seattle.
  
  While there’s overlap in this piece and my own setup, the intent here is just for more transparency about purchases.
  
  Cheers!
  -James
  
  Reply
tea

March 11, 2015

Found it, didn’t realize you added a link under puer tab. I hope Miles birthday blend comes on the next random sip curious to see what provoked you to purchase a $170 fresh cake.

Keep up the good work I watched an older episode the other day and you guys have really made strides, especially over winter.

Reply
1. James
  
  March 11, 2015
  
  Hi tea,
  
  That’s a good idea. Frankly, I’m still a bit camera-shy with my pu’erh list, despite it being public and all. I should add a link soon!
  
  As can be seen from my purchases, you can probably expect a Tea Urchin review or two soon :).
  
  Cheers,
  -James
  
  Reply
  1. tea
    
    March 13, 2015
    
    Cool, I made a big sample order and still sipping slowly through it. They seem to have quality offerings relative to other vendors but I have not come across a tea I loved enough to pay that $20 shipping, it really blows the prices that much more out of proportion.
    
    Realistically I would probably have to fall in love with two+ samples and buy the cakes to spread that shipping cost out but nothing us U.S. residents can do I suppose.
    
    Reply
    1. James
      
      March 19, 2015
      
      That’s fair. I’m still drinking through a couple orders of samples as well. The Gaoshan Zhai and Wangong Zhai from their latest harvest crossed me as very serious teas. Dunno how they’ll evolve with age, but they’re quite tasty now.
      
      Cheers,
      -James
      
      Reply
Wuliang/Ailao Raw Pu’erh [February 2015 Tea Drinking Report] | TeaDB

March 14, 2015

[…] Grass aroma. Sweet, hay/grass, granary taste. Buttery thickness. Thins out around steep 4 or so and starts to get a bit watery. I like it a bit more than the Fengchun. It’s also a bit tough on the stomach. Some huigan. Highly enjoyable and the only tea I bought from this month. […]

Reply
Ignoramus

May 23, 2019

This seems to have been abandoned relatively quickly. Any chance of 2019 updates? Or maybe june 2015 the last time you purchased tea 😉

Reply
1. James
  
  May 23, 2019
  
  Hah. Perhaps I should’ve erased this completely. I got embarrassed at my own habits and stopped. Maybe I’ll publish something of what I’ve bought.
  
  Reply

Pu’erh Tea Inventory & Tins

Pu’erh Inventory

Tins

Comments

21 responses to “Pu’erh Tea Inventory & Tins”

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