I’ve been updating a spreadsheet on pu’erh prices on release for the past few years in order to get an idea of tea being offered to western consumers and any possible trends. The well-known popular narrative is that fresh pu’erh prices have gone up and this certainly seems true in the data. Last year the prices looked about the same as the previous year. And when and how much the price has gone up depends on how we look at this and there’s a handful of different ways to look at the data and options available (I do three here).
(more…)Tag: Cha Wang Shop
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![Can’t I Just Settle Down? Menghai County Raw Pu’erh [September 2015 Tea Drinking Report]](https://teadb.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ripe-puerh3-940x198.jpg)
Can’t I Just Settle Down? Menghai County Raw Pu’erh [September 2015 Tea Drinking Report]
Shoutouts to Meng, Carolyn, Bellmont, and Dignitea for providing teas for this month and allowing the content to be what it is!
Menghai County Part 2! This is the last of the pu’erh reports for 2015. I’ll be traveling to Taiwan and Hong Kong in October and will finish up the year with a pair of oolong reports (more on this later week). It also probably represents the last young pu’erh report for quite sometime (more on this later in the report and next week). Similar to the last Menghai report, this is a continuation of the previous year’s Nannuo and Bulang reports. (more…)
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5+ Year Old “Menghai County” Raw Pu’erh [July 2015 Tea Drinking Report]
Shoutouts to Dignitea, Brian (double B), and Hster for providing teas for this month and allowing the content to be what it is!
By now you know the drill. I drink a bunch of teas following a certain theme. Blah, blah, blah. This month is Menghai County. One problem.. Menghai County is big and I have a ton of teas that qualify. So, like the Yiwu reports (1, 2) I’ve split this in two. So why am I doing 5+ year old Menghai County tea first? Simply, I’m more calibrated for these semi-aged teas because I more recently have been tasting through similarly aged “Yiwu” teas. (more…)
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“Yiwu” Raw Pu’erh [May 2015 Tea Drinking Report]
Big shoutouts to Carolyn, Richard, Dignitea and several vendors for providing teas and others like Shah8 for their recommendations! A brief disclaimer: This report should be taken as my own personal journey into tea and not as the ultimate, definitive anything.
WTF Part 1!? These reports have been getting progressively longer. Rather than do something sensible, (a) get an editor to reduce flab and misspellings or (b) allow my mom or girlfriend to chuck out samples/stage an intervention… I stuck my middle finger out and indulged.. That’s right! This report is even longer than the previous one and will be released in two installments. The first will cover the young tea and the second will consume the Yiwu with some age (somewhat arbitrary set as 8 years). (more…)
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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:
- Menghai Tea Factory
- Xiaguan
- Yunnan Sourcing
Vendors ordered from:
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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:
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Pu’erh Storage Schools
Pu’erh storage is a polarizing topic. This article is not intended to be a storage guide, nor an advertisement or critique of any particular storage methodology. The goal is to simply outline a few concepts and methods surrounding the complicated and controversial issue of pu’erh storage. Similar to how there is no single way in which the Chinese, Yunnanese, or Southeast Asians consume pu’erh, there is no obvious consensus when it comes to storage. This is all despite what vendors or other influencers directly involved with pu’erh might say. (more…)
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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)
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The Price of Menghai Tea Factory Recipes: Taobao & Other Purchasing Options
Menghai Tea Factory. The gold standard of ripe pu’erh and the producer of famous benchmark raw pu’erhs from the 1980s and 1990s. If you purchase legitimate Menghai, it is usually thought of as a safe buy. Dayi has the reach to make these recipes consistent year to year and while there is a higher price associated with the brand, you are paying for a reliable tea factory with a proven track record (Dayi tea is also liquid). This article examines a number of different routes available to purchase young Dayi plantation recipes. One advantage to purchasing pu’erh, especially classic recipes like these is the ability to research the price compared with the Chinese market price (Taobao). (more…)
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Nannuo Pu’erh [June 2014 Tea Drinking Report]
Every month, I dedicate it to one type of tea. This means I drink that genre of tea in some form at least once a day. This could mean gong-fu, grandpa, or even a cold-brew. 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. I had so many different teas this month that my notes were especially useful for this write-up.
Vendors ordered from:
Primary tea producers:
- Mengyang Guoyan (Yunnan Sourcing)
- Hai Lang Hao (Yunnan Sourcing)
- Yunnan Sourcing
Also featuring:
- Ruiyuan, Taochaju, Yunhai, (White2Tea)
- Mingsheng Hao, Nannuoshan Tea Factory, Changtai (Cha Wang Shop)
- CNNP, Guan Zi Zai (Yunnan Sourcing)
- Chen Yuan Hao (Origin Tea)
- Supermarket Pu’erh (Tienxi/Uwajimaya)