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2011 Tea Urchin Guafengzhai [Episode 255]
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 tea. http://teaurchin.com/gua-feng-zhai-2011-autumn-1.html
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You Can Buy Young Pu’erh From All Over Yunnan
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 Tea pressed tea. Now it is almost a rite of passage for a pu’erh-centric vendor,…
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The Western Pu’erh Scene is Really Dominated by Modern Young Pu’erh
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 feature teas from two or all three categories but the focus of pu’erh-centered western vendors…
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The Box. Aged Oolong Report
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 a number of aged oolongs from Tony of Origin Tea that were offered off-shelf. This…
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2014 Tea Urchin Spring Xikong [Episode 152]
2014 production of a Mengla county from Tea Urchin.
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Can’t I Just Settle Down? Menghai County Raw Pu’erh [September 2015 Tea Drinking Report]
![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)
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…
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Tea Urchin’s Old Bush Zhi Lan Xiang [Episode 121]
A blind session with a sample of Tea Urchin’s Old Bush Zhi Lan Xiang kindly provided by Richard.
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2014 Tea Urchin’s Gaoshan Zhai [Episode 113]
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.
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2014 Tea Urchin’s Yiwu Beauty [Episode 112]
The first of a two-part series on a couple Tea Urchin teas that were included in the Yiwu report. This one is a soft, easy-drinking young pu’erh, the 2014 Yiwu Beauty.
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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…