This episode, Denny and I drink a solid, robust, and durable black tea from Scott of Yunnan Sourcing. The tea uses material from Yiwu, a traditional pu’erh growing area. The tea is a little slow to start but worth the wait!
Tag: Yunnan Sourcing
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How Much Does Ripe Pu’erh Cost from Western Vendors?
Since I’ve crunched a bunch of numbers for other pu’erh categories, I figured I should do the same for ripe pu’erh. Ripe pu’erh is not exactly the most talked about tea, but it is generally considered to be affordable and there’s enough options easily accessitlbe to keep most people satisfied. I compiled all the ripe productions sold by popular western pu’erh sources: White2Tea, Crimson Lotus Tea, Bitter Leaf Tea, Chawangshop, and Yunnan Sourcing, limiting the massive Yunnan Sourcing selection to 50 teas (still more than any other vendor). It’s also important to note that this data shows the cost of ripe pu’erh for a western audience and doesn’t necessarily imply much about the ripe pu’erh market in east Asia. (more…)
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Q&A. Vendor + Tea Recommendations, Tea Books, Judging Pu’erh, etc. [Inbetweenisode 173]
This episode I answer a series of questions on tea, covering a pretty wide range of topics. Topics include vendors for aged oolongs, water, tea books, caffeine content, judging pu’erh, and some pu’erh recommendations.
Thanks for all the great questions sent in! I answered as many as I could, but unfortunately could not get to everything.
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2015 Dayi Xiangshan (Elephant Mountain) Ripe Pu’erh via YS [Inbetweenisode 169]
In this solo inbetweenisode. James brings on another inexpensive Dayi ripe pu’erh. This one is an extremely soft, smooth, and very comfortable tea from Menghai Tea Factory.
5.8 Rating.
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2017 Gaojiashan Hui Gui Fuzhuan via YS [Episode 267]
This episode, Denny and I drink a very interesting Heicha from Hunan. The tea is made by Gaojiashan factory and is a golden flower brick, Fuzhuan. The processing is done in a way that creates yellow fungi (Golden Flowers). It’s the sort of tea that sounds a lot more off-putting than it actually is. Worth trying for anyone that has yet to try a Fuzhuan. A very tasty and quite inexpensive tea.
2017 Gao Jia Shan "Hui Gui" Fu Brick Tea from Hunan
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Datapost: The Dearth of Aged Pu’erh Available From Western Facing Vendors
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 I could think of. Unlike some of my other data compilations, this one didn’t take long at all.. The cutoff for aged pu’erh (both raw and ripe) was set at 18 years (2000 and older). Setting it at 18 years puts it firmly above semi-aged, but also not high enough (25 years) where we would have no teas making the cut. It’s a number that’s probably going to annoy some people off because its too low and others because it isn’t high enough (ask Su what aged tea is!). (more…)
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2015 Hailang Hao Bianxiang Suiyihao Ripe Pu’erh via YS [Inbetweenisode 164]
This episode, James brings on a premium ripe pu’erh from Bulang mountain. This tea normally sells in large 1kg bricks. Thanks to Scott for providing the tea!
7.3 rating.
https://yunnansourcing.com/products/2015-hai-lang-hao-bi-an-xiang-sui-yi-hao-ripe-pu-erh-tea-of-bu-lang-mountain
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Western Vendor Pu’erh Prices at Conception have Risen Since 2011 (& Probably Before)
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 Way Back Machine and glance at what pu’erhs were selling for a few years ago and compare it to 2017/2018 prices.. It’s also an interesting exercise to look at old Half-Dipper reviews and realize that a lot of tea is simply no longer available. It used to be noteworthy when a fresh cake sold for three figures, now it’s commonplace. Those times are gone.. Oh and that cake is probably 200 grams… (more…)
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2002 Tailian International Pu’erh Tea Expo Raw Pu’erh via YS [Inbetweenisode 162]
This episode, James brings on a Kunming dry-stored raw pu’erh blend from Yunnan Sourcing, the 2002 Tailian International Pu’erh Tea Expo Raw. Thank you to shah and another tea friend for sending this sample at different points.
6.3 rating.
2002 Tai Lian "International Pu-erh Tea Expo" Anniversary Raw tea Cake
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2007 CNNP 8891 Raw Pu’erh Recipe via Yunnan Sourcing [Inbetweenisode 159]
This episode, James reviews a big cake that is a little over a decade old. Sitting at under $0.10/g or $0.10/g on the US website, this is a great value pu’erh.
Thank you to JD for the sample!
2007 CNNP "8891 Red Label" Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake
5.4 Rating.