TeaChat

Well, my first attempt at buying a puerh cake didn't go so well. The cake is so dried out that I can't even pry a piece off without it just breaking up really small. Can anyone suggest a good vendor in the usa that is affordable but good quality? Thanks!

Use an ice pick. The cake is supposed to be dry and hard, if preserving aroma is a goal of the maker. Take out chunks, and wash that rock in your gaiwan/yixing a couple of times to soften things up.

Most US vendors are reliable. There is hell to pay if they're not.

May I ask what cake did you buy?

teanovice78 wrote:Well, my first attempt at buying a puerh cake didn't go so well. The cake is so dried out that I can't even pry a piece off without it just breaking up really small. Can anyone suggest a good vendor in the usa that is affordable but good quality? Thanks!

http://houdeasianart.com/

Emmett, I'm not really sure what it is..there are some pictures in another post here is the link:http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17847

Have you tasted this tea yet?

I'll give the same advice others gave me ... buy samples before you buy whole cakes.

It's not too bad, flavor isn't very strong though. It is drinkable so that is a plus.

teanovice78 wrote:It's not too bad, flavor isn't very strong though. It is drinkable so that is a plus.

Somebody already mentioned this, but double emphasis on sampling. Sample as much as you can, or contact a vendor and give them a rough idea of the flavors/strength you want, otherwise you will end up paying an unnecessarily high tuition for getting started. You are bound to make some purchases you regret anyway, everyone has a few cakes in their closet that they could take or leave. But, If you sample a few sessions before buying a cake, you will minimize your losses.

I agree that I will order some samples in the future and see what I like. I am definately looking for a strong flavored tea; more on the earthy side than the sweet. Someone suggested one place, any other usa vendors that have good puerh and fair prices?

Yunnan Sourcing's US store

They have a good selection of ripe tea

Why to limit yourself to US vendors? If you had not, then finepuer and sampletea might be a good place to look for samples, because they have them really cheap (not cheap tea, though hardly too expensive, but the samples are cheap). And from all the vendors I have tried so far, the hit/miss ratio is probably the best for them. They're based in Malaysia, but the shipping is quite allright and fast.

In US, thechineseteashop might be worth a look - I think there are some very good teas and a lot of rather ordinary stuff, generally for good prices. The only thing I really disliked was that cheap 2003 Tong Qing Hao, that's a really disgusting thing.

I think thechineseteashop has enough duds to make it not a good idea for newcomers - if they ordered the wrong things they will hate puerh forever. Better to go with some safer vendors.

teanovice78 wrote:Someone suggested one place, any other usa vendors that have good puerh and fair prices?

Maybe you didn't see this sampler section at Houde's site:

http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... 1c7bf8a8eb

TwoDog2 wrote:Yunnan Sourcing's US store

They have a good selection of ripe tea

Right here

135F2 wrote: Maybe you didn't see this sampler section at Houde's site:

http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... 1c7bf8a8eb

I like Houde's raw selections a lot, but they don't have a big variety for a newcomer to ripe.