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Re: Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 13th, '13, 04:53
by TwoDog2
MrEffendi wrote:I notice that a lot of you purchase sheng from very recent vintages. As a general rule (not trying to sound uppity), I never purchase sheng that's not at least six or seven years old (I want to drink it now!) Do any of you enjoy drinking brand-spankin' new sheng or are you purchasing it to start drinking it a few years later after it acquires a little age?
I'd rather buy my gushu now and know exactly what it is and how i want to store it.
In 7 years you have to deal with all manner of problems, such as not knowing how it was stored or whether it is real. And then there are the problems of nobody being willing to sell it to you or if they do, at a price that will be very expensive.
If you are buying Tiandiren raw cakes, buy a decade from now. The price will still be low and (almost) nobody fakes it.
Re: Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 14th, '13, 12:21
by gingkoseto
TwoDog2 wrote:
In 7 years you have to deal with all manner of problems, such as not knowing how it was stored or whether it is real. And then there are the problems of nobody being willing to sell it to you or if they do, at a price that will be very expensive.
These are all very true. But for most tea drinkers who buy small amounts, the point of buying mid-age tea is not to study its storage history, but just tasting the tea to see if it tastes good now. It's actually simpler than buying new tea and guessing its future (unless the new tea bought is finished in a year or so).
That being said, I understand that there are sources of new teas whose age-ability one would trust and one doesn't need to guess about its future.
As for price, it used to be a big dilemma. But now thanks for the high prices of new tea, mid-age tea prices don't seem as challenging as before.
Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 14th, '13, 21:53
by Jspigs
Could this be the culprit responsible for the "oolong puerh" that has been discussed recently? As for the topic of the thread, I largely drink young sheng because it is more cost effective than aged sheng. That said I love aged sheng when I can get it.
Re: Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 14th, '13, 23:48
by MarshalN
Tead Off wrote:
Everyone always talks about drinking green teas quickly because of the aging problem. Last year, I was given gifts of a lot of Long Jing and a Chongqing green tea I never had before. Both were already from the previous year's harvest. Both now more than 2 years old. I have been drinking both of these teas quite a bit. The Long Jing has become even better than it was when I first got it and the Chongqing tea is seemingly holding its flavor and aroma perhaps just a bit less than last year. I could not say that for any Japanese green tea that I've had for an extended period of time. Some Korean green teas have and some have not. It is very difficult for me to believe in generalizations.
Did you store you Longjing in open air containers, or did you take care to close the lids tightly? Leave your Longjing out in the open like you would a cake of puerh and try it again in two years.
Re: Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 15th, '13, 08:51
by TwoDog2
gingkoseto wrote: But now thanks for the high prices of new tea, mid-age tea prices don't seem as challenging as before.
What you are saying applies to big factories and unknown plantation tea for sure. You can easily get some nice 10 year old plantation cakes for $100 or less.
But, it does not apply to gushu. I'd still rather buy it now than try to track it down and pay a huge mark up later
Re: Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 15th, '13, 18:55
by gingkoseto
TwoDog2 wrote:gingkoseto wrote: But now thanks for the high prices of new tea, mid-age tea prices don't seem as challenging as before.
What you are saying applies to big factories and unknown plantation tea for sure. You can easily get some nice 10 year old plantation cakes for $100 or less.
But, it does not apply to gushu. I'd still rather buy it now than try to track it down and pay a huge mark up later
Actually I was talking about mid-age big tree teas. I think there are a lot of nice options. Some pre-2007 big factory plantation teas could easily go above $100 these days and I can't afford most of them
But I do horde a bunch of cheap xiaguan and tulin tuos and enjoy them very much too.
Re: Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 15th, '13, 20:34
by TwoDog2
gingkoseto wrote:
Actually I was talking about mid-age big tree teas. I think there are a lot of nice options. Some pre-2007 big factory plantation teas could easily go above $100 these days and I can't afford most of them
But I do horde a bunch of cheap xiaguan and tulin tuos and enjoy them very much too.
In my experience, mid-aged pure gushu cakes are usually well above the current market price of new tea.
I agree on your prices for pre-2007 big factory plantation teas, over $100 or even into the $300 range for certain Dayi offerings. But, what gushu is cheaper than that? I think we would all like to find some 2007 Guafengzhai gushu for $100, but I have never seen any.
Re: Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 15th, '13, 21:09
by gingkoseto
TwoDog2 wrote:gingkoseto wrote:
Actually I was talking about mid-age big tree teas. I think there are a lot of nice options. Some pre-2007 big factory plantation teas could easily go above $100 these days and I can't afford most of them
But I do horde a bunch of cheap xiaguan and tulin tuos and enjoy them very much too.
In my experience, mid-aged pure gushu cakes are usually well above the current market price of new tea.
I agree on your prices for pre-2007 big factory plantation teas, over $100 or even into the $300 range for certain Dayi offerings. But, what gushu is cheaper than that? I think we would all like to find some 2007 Guafengzhai gushu for $100, but I have never seen any.
Guafengzhai I have no idea. A lot of their tea made in 2007 were not labeled with their village name and now many sellers brag that some mid-age tea is "actually" from there.
But I'm not after pure ancient tree. I can't taste the age of the trees, especially between old tree and older trees. And in China they always fight over the definition of "pure". I think it's much simpler to choose one's favorite teas within an acceptable price range. Tasty, big tree mid-age teas, I think there are a lot. Not huge amount, but more than one has time to sample.
Re: Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 15th, '13, 21:50
by shah82
I looked up when GFZ become prominent, and I can't find a credible tea before 2004. The road to the village itself was built in 2001. However, the best stuff is well away from the actual village, at Chawangshu and elsewheres.
I know there is something by Chen Zhitong from 2001, but I don't take that dude seriously when it comes to actual tea. Besides, at this point, the 2006 fall and 2007 spring from him pretty much almost can't count as good GFZ.
Re: Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 16th, '13, 00:00
by Tead Off
MarshalN wrote:Tead Off wrote:
Everyone always talks about drinking green teas quickly because of the aging problem. Last year, I was given gifts of a lot of Long Jing and a Chongqing green tea I never had before. Both were already from the previous year's harvest. Both now more than 2 years old. I have been drinking both of these teas quite a bit. The Long Jing has become even better than it was when I first got it and the Chongqing tea is seemingly holding its flavor and aroma perhaps just a bit less than last year. I could not say that for any Japanese green tea that I've had for an extended period of time. Some Korean green teas have and some have not. It is very difficult for me to believe in generalizations.
Did you store you Longjing in open air containers, or did you take care to close the lids tightly? Leave your Longjing out in the open like you would a cake of puerh and try it again in two years.
No, of course not. I keep the Longjing in a pewter caddy and my cakes in ziplock bags within another container. None of my teas are exposed to the open air.
Re: Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 17th, '13, 08:06
by TwoDog2
gingkoseto wrote:I think it's much simpler to choose one's favorite teas within an acceptable price range. Tasty, big tree mid-age teas, I think there are a lot. Not huge amount, but more than one has time to sample.
Yep, choosing a personal favorite is best in any case.
Re: Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 17th, '13, 18:15
by MrEffendi
My personal favorite has always been Yong Pin Hao and teas similar. I simply found that most of these teas tend to be more clean tasting and not smoky. I don't particularly like a lot of smoke. Yunnan sourcing is good about including samples of their house teas in with their orders. I just had a 2010 Yong Pin from the YS brand and it was good. A bit more punchy than the older stuff I have.
Re: Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 17th, '13, 19:22
by Exempt
MrEffendi wrote:My personal favorite has always been Yong Pin Hao and teas similar. I simply found that most of these teas tend to be more clean tasting and not smoky. I don't particularly like a lot of smoke. Yunnan sourcing is good about including samples of their house teas in with their orders. I just had a 2010 Yong Pin from the YS brand and it was good. A bit more punchy than the older stuff I have.
I have not found a Yunnan Sourcing brand tea that I did not enjoy yet
Re: Buying new sheeng
Posted: Jul 18th, '13, 21:08
by MrEffendi
I don't know why, but I was a tough sell on buying "the house brand," but it's really good stuff. May just buy a few discs and age them for a couple of years.