Tag Archives: Tea Urchin

Datapost: The Dearth of Aged Pu’erh Available From Western Facing Vendors

Posted on June 16, 2018 by

It’s no secret that aged pu’erh is scarce out west. The western vendor scene is dominated by vendors traveling to Yunnan bringing back predominantly young tea to sell. For this exercise, I added all of the older teas from western vendors … Continue reading →

Posted in Aged Pu'erh, Article, Raw Pu'erh | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Western Vendor Pu’erh Prices at Conception have Risen Since 2011 (& Probably Before)

Posted on April 21, 2018 by

It’s common in the pu’erh-verse to note the seemingly always rising price of freshly produced tea. Every year more expensive than the last… Even with the limited scope of western-vendor labeled pu’erh, we can take a quick look at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Aged Pu'erh, Article, Raw Pu'erh | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

2011 Tea Urchin Guafengzhai [Episode 255]

Posted on March 27, 2018 by

In this episode, Denny and James review one of Tea Urchin’s original productions from 2011 to see how it is coming along. The Tea Urchin GFZ is potent, strong, and quite tasty. Thanks to Man O Tea for providing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Podcasts, Raw Pu'erh | Tagged | 4 Comments

You Can Buy Young Pu’erh From All Over Yunnan

Posted on January 13, 2018 by

The custom private label pu’erh has really thrived in the western market – with vendors increasingly sourcing their own pressings directly from Yunnan. This was a new thing for westerners back in 2009 when just Yunnan Sourcing and Essence of … Continue reading →

Posted in Article, Raw Pu'erh | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Western Pu’erh Scene is Really Dominated by Modern Young Pu’erh

Posted on September 9, 2017 by

For people looking to learn about pu’erh I usually recommend picking a western-facing, pu’erh-centric, vendor and ordering a bunch of samples that cover a few different categories (my suggestion: young raw pu’erh, semi-aged raw pu’erh, and ripe pu’erh). Most pu’erh vendors … Continue reading →

Posted in Aged Pu'erh, Article, Raw Pu'erh, Ripe Pu'erh | Tagged , , , , | 31 Comments

The Box. Aged Oolong Report

Posted on April 9, 2016 by

The aged oolong market in the west leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the time the teas are usually significantly flawed (re-roasted/sour), overpriced, or more often than not both. A couple years ago, I was lucky enough to sample … Continue reading →

Posted in Aged Oolong, Anxi Oolong, Article, Dancong, Drinking Report, Oolong, Taiwanese Oolong, Wuyi Oolong | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

2014 Tea Urchin Spring Xikong [Episode 152]

Posted on April 5, 2016 by

2014 production of a Mengla county from Tea Urchin.

Posted in Podcasts, Raw Pu'erh | Tagged | Leave a comment

Can’t I Just Settle Down? Menghai County Raw Pu’erh [September 2015 Tea Drinking Report]

Posted on September 26, 2015 by

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Article, Long-form Article, Raw Pu'erh | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Tea Urchin’s Old Bush Zhi Lan Xiang [Episode 121]

Posted on September 1, 2015 by

A blind session with a sample of Tea Urchin’s Old Bush Zhi Lan Xiang kindly provided by Richard.

Posted in Dancong, Oolong | Tagged | 2 Comments

2014 Tea Urchin’s Gaoshan Zhai [Episode 113]

Posted on July 7, 2015 by

The second of a two-part series on a couple Tea Urchin teas that were included in the Yiwu report. This tea is the 2014 Gaoshan Zhai, a tea that has an inviting complex taste and a wonderful aftertaste.

Posted in Raw Pu'erh | Tagged | 5 Comments