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New Tea Drinker, wanting to try Puer

Posted: May 19th, '12, 02:04
by Jumpmonkey
Hello,

I'm new to tea and am wanting to try some Puer. As bewildering the array of greens, whites, blacks, etc is, Puer seems more so. I finally found a place that has some affordable Pu' and its even located in the states (Puerhshop.) So, are there any Pu's that you guys can recommend, or any guidelines for starting spots? I'm looking to keep it under $30 or even under $20 if possible (least to start with.)


Thanks alot,
Adam

Re: New Tea Drinker, wanting to try Puer

Posted: May 19th, '12, 02:43
by JakubT
I think you might try these:
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=871

http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=389

The former is a rather well known and already rather pleasant tea, the other is a basic reasonable Yi Wu and should be quite pleasant too.

However, I think that if you want to learn about puerh, it would be wise to buy samples rather than whole cakes/tuos - I am not sure if puerhshop does samples though.

Re: New Tea Drinker, wanting to try Puer

Posted: May 19th, '12, 12:49
by JRS22
Also located in the USA are Norbu and Yunnan Sourcing which sell some lower cost puerh and samples. I haven't bought from them yet because I'm still working my way through samples from Essence of Tea (EOT) and the Mandarin Tea Room but they have lots of satisfied customers here. A search of the forum should get you some tips on what to buy.

Re: New Tea Drinker, wanting to try Puer

Posted: May 21st, '12, 22:03
by Jumpmonkey
JakubT and JRS22,

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the suggestions and the "local" vendor listings!


God bless,
Adam

Re: New Tea Drinker, wanting to try Puer

Posted: May 22nd, '12, 09:18
by gasninja
Jas-etea.com is also a good vendor in the states.

Re: New Tea Drinker, wanting to try Puer

Posted: May 22nd, '12, 11:25
by Jumpmonkey
Gas Ninja,

Thanks for adding to my resources!

-Adam

Re: New Tea Drinker, wanting to try Puer

Posted: May 23rd, '12, 00:41
by tingjunkie
I agree, lots of samples is the way to go at first. To add to the list of U.S. based vendors, there is also Bana Teas, who has 4 different sampler packs.

Re: New Tea Drinker, wanting to try Puer

Posted: May 23rd, '12, 04:27
by TwoDog2
JakubT wrote:I think you might try these:
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=871

http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=389
Personal preference recommendation here, you might want to steer clear of the xiaguan for a first outing, some people find the smoke flavor put-offish. It is from 2008, so it might be pretty subdued by now, but depends on how it was stored. If you are going to go the inexpensive route, maybe dayi tuos are the way to go.
tingjunkie wrote:I agree, lots of samples is the way to go at first. To add to the list of U.S. based vendors, there is also Bana Teas, who has 4 different sampler packs.
These look like a great way to get your feet wet

Re: New Tea Drinker, wanting to try Puer

Posted: May 23rd, '12, 05:43
by JakubT
TwoDog: Well, I do not like smoke either, but the Happy tuo is not really very smoky...

Re: New Tea Drinker, wanting to try Puer

Posted: May 24th, '12, 21:13
by Jumpmonkey
Is there a pack-o-samples I can buy someplace or should I go pick try to pick things that sound good to me to sample?


Thanks for all the suggestions folsk,
Adam

Re: New Tea Drinker, wanting to try Puer

Posted: May 28th, '12, 02:45
by TwoDog2
JakubT wrote:TwoDog: Well, I do not like smoke either, but the Happy tuo is not really very smoky...

Maybe I have not had the happy tuo? I have had the yellow and blue boxed tuos from 2011 and they were quite smokey through the first several steepings. In my experience, most Xiaguan's have quite a bit of smoke for at least a few years after production

2008 might be far enough out that the smoke is gone anyhow, depending how it was stored (If there was any smoke to begin with, that is)

Re: New Tea Drinker, wanting to try Puer

Posted: May 28th, '12, 07:16
by JakubT
2008 Happy tuo is pink, therefore it is probably different.

It's one of very few Xiaguan things I enjoy as it is notably less smoky than the most.