TeaChat

MarshalN wrote: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.

+1




A sampler from banatea company might be a good idea. There teas seem fairly reliable.

Also it seems that you have been drinking shu ( cooked, ripe) puerh. Have you tried sheng (raw) puerh? They can be quite different so make sure you know what your buying. One of the great things about Puerh is the variety of tastes available. That also can make it difficult to find the stuff you like at first. So that is why people talk of tuition fees that are spent on bad cakes until you learn how to spot the good stuff.

MarshalN wrote: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.

I guess that's right, my bad...

TwoDog2 wrote: I like Houde's raw selections a lot, but they don't have a big variety for a newcomer to ripe.

Well, not to say that all ripe teas are one-note, but buying one or two standard (and not expensive) Menghai recipes, and maybe some loose gong ting will give you a pretty good idea of what the genre is all about.

Thanks Wyardley and everyone else who gave me some great suggestions! I got my first yixing today and am looking forward to brewing some puerh in it. Thanks a lot everybody! Dan

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.

Since no one else linked to it yet, you may want to have a read of:
http://puerh.blogspot.com/p/new-to-puer.html

Also, keep in mind that, while your tea may indeed be bad, pu'er is supposed to be dry, and is often tightly compressed (compression varies). Tightly compressed doesn't necessarily mean bad, however, learning to break up compressed tea does take a little bit of practice.

Check this out if you haven't already
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th86Ge4fFJs

Though I Nth the recommendations above to use a pick-shaped tool rather than a wider tool for breaking up tea. You can get a cheapie tuocha pick online for very little money.

I had an icepick and I followed the instructions on the video. Worked much better. I think I was trying to take off pieces that were just too small. Pick made a huge difference.

I, too, am interested in your tale of pu. My experience ended in failure, and I'd like to see how you improve the taste of this tea.

I have been drinking shu/ripe cakes/tea only. I want to buy some samples. It sounds like menghai is good for a new ripe. Also a sample of a shortly aged raw cake from menghai. As wyardley suggested I'll try some loose gong tea also.
I'm really looking for a variety of flavors to judge from. I am willing to spend 50 or more dollars. I'd love any suggestions of good puerhs to try and where to find them. Thanks!

teanovice78 wrote:I'd love any suggestions of good puerhs to try and where to find them. Thanks!

Oh, have I mentioned about this US vendor?
http://tinyurl.com/9u42eec

Try the 4th tea from the top on the 1st page of the sampler section (2005 Chen-Guang-He Tang "MengHai Yieh Sheng"). And any tea on the 2nd page.

I don't know about Houde. What I had from them was in really smelly bags and some samples were kind of ruined by it (probably lying in the sample bags for longer time)...

I'm a little late to the party, but I figured I'd second Gasninja's suggestion of Bana Tea Company for anyone interested in ripe puerh. I drink a lot of ripe puerh (though, admittedly, I have yet to hit up a lot of the Menghai classics due to being cheap and a grad student) and I've been quite pleased with their selection; their samplers are also fairly reasonably priced. I've actually been a little less pleased with their raw selection, but that's more because it doesn't agree with my tastes, which tend towards the aggressive, than because it's particularly poor or anything.

wyardley wrote: Well, not to say that all ripe teas are one-note, but buying one or two standard (and not expensive) Menghai recipes, and maybe some loose gong ting will give you a pretty good idea of what the genre is all about.

agree

one shu with broad leaves, like 8592 7581, the like.

another shu with tippy blends, from all gongting grades, to something like a Dayi 0532.

one last shu that's made from one area.

That should do.

I suggest to try aged wild arbor sheng's! At least from 2005 or before.

Fu Cha Yu by Jing Mai is so an excellent sort.
I drink no shu anymore.

Moon_Walker wrote:I suggest to try aged wild arbor sheng's! At least from 2005 or before.

Fu Cha Yu by Jing Mai is so an excellent sort.
I drink no shu anymore.

It's the other way around (Jingmai by Fu Cha Ju). Anyway, that is still available somewhere?