Longcan shu and prices?

[Balthazar]

I've started drinking young sheng less frequently, since drinking it every day gave me a bit of a stomach pain (at least I think that's the reason). From now on I think I will have to be content with only drinking it every other day or so. (On the upside, the aged stuff seems much more gentle on my body.)

So I'll probably be switching between sheng and shu from now on. While I do very much like shu, I find sheng more interesting, and to be honest I have a harder time distinguishing between the different shu puer that I've tried.

But yesterday I went back to a cake that was gifted to me back in November. I received two of cakes of (the same) shu, from the family of my girlfriend (they are friends with the owner of a teashop). I always found it very nice, and when I drank it yesterday I quickly realized that unlike much of the other shus I've tried this one very much stands out from the crowd. It's very consistent throughout the brews, has a very full body and pleasant (long lasting) aftertaste, just all-around very nice.

So I decided to see if I could find any vendors selling it. Here's two pictures (one of the unopened cake, the other of the wrapper information on the cake I've started on)




Well, none of the vendors I've used previously seem to carry it. So I went to taobao, just to see if I could find it there.

And I think I did ... But it goes for 2009 RMB. I found one other vendor selling the same cake, he too charges 2009 RMB for it. And then I noticed that cakes from other years also sell for a price that corresponds with the year of production (i.e. 2013 cake goes for 2013 RMB).

What's going on here? Is this some sort of gimmick, charing one RMB extra for new cakes every year?

It's a very tasty tea, but I can't say I find it that much better than the "normal" Menghai ripe teas I've tried to justify the 14x price tag.

[Jingjiatang]

went to see the shop, and it seems that the written prices are actually the years of production, not real prices for sale. Some venders keep the price “non-public” for business purpose (such as protect their distributors' profit). You may need to ask for the real price.

[Balthazar]

Ah. Makes sense, I guess. Thanks for the info!

[AllanK]

If your stomach pain is caused by FODMAPS, which could be present in Young Sheng the jury is still out, they are cumulative. You may be able to cut back on something else in your diet and drink your young Sheng again everyday.

[Balthazar]

Had to google FODMAPS... From foods classified as significant "sources of FODMAP" I eat apples, pears and rye daily.. But that's pretty much it. (The rye comes from the bread I make, high-fiber stuff made with sourdough, which incidentally has improved my stomach a lot.)

I don't know exactly what's causing it, but as long as the sheng puer is a couple of years old it doesn't seem to be a problem. For instance, had some 7542 and 8582 from 2008 (on the same day) and experienced no stomach problems. Problems with very young sheng seems to be fairly common for people with a weak stomach more generally, though. I have the same issue with "nuclear green" type TGY, for instance.

I will look into this FODMAP stuff a bit more, though, some of the foods included are things I used to eat a lot of earlier in my life but took off my diet due to problems (dairy products, etc).

[AllanK]

Had to google FODMAPS... From foods classified as significant "sources of FODMAP" I eat apples, pears and rye daily.. But that's pretty much it. (The rye comes from the bread I make, high-fiber stuff made with sourdough, which incidentally has improved my stomach a lot.)

I don't know exactly what's causing it, but as long as the sheng puer is a couple of years old it doesn't seem to be a problem. For instance, had some 7542 and 8582 from 2008 (on the same day) and experienced no stomach problems. Problems with very young sheng seems to be fairly common for people with a weak stomach more generally, though. I have the same issue with "nuclear green" type TGY, for instance.

I will look into this FODMAP stuff a bit more, though, some of the foods included are things I used to eat a lot of earlier in my life but took off my diet due to problems (dairy products, etc).

If there is any milk in your diet, big FODMAP and worth looking into. Many people are Lactose intolerant. Sometimes with FODMAPs you can cut down on them for a few months and then start eating more without effect. The main aspect of FODMAPs is they are things that are hard to digest and cause stomach pain for a variety of reasons.