Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

One of the intentionally aged teas, Pu-Erh has a loyal following.


Oct 6th, '11, 12:51
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by auhckw » Oct 6th, '11, 12:51

2011 Dayi Xin Hai 357g Ripe - Didn't find it interesting except the design of the wrapper. So bought 2 for collection and see how it goes in the future.

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Oct 6th, '11, 12:51
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by auhckw » Oct 6th, '11, 12:51

2010 Dayi Tien Ren Ba Bu 357g Ripe - Didn't get to try this yet. I have bought the blue box (raw) previously, and today got the red box (ripe) to make it a complete set.

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Blue = Raw, Red = Ripe

Oct 8th, '11, 03:18
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by auhckw » Oct 8th, '11, 03:18

2007 Dayi Bamboo Wrap Brick Raw - My first Dayi raw 250g Brick.

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Oct 11th, '11, 01:51
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by HifideliTea » Oct 11th, '11, 01:51

Have been buying gong ting, golden bud, golden needle teas of late, normally anything before 2005 and in loose form.
In the past few weeks have made purchases from various vendors of this tea category after taste tests, and purchased whatever that is clean and drinkable.

On the bing front, I bought 2 tongs of this 200gm bing of 2002 bai zheng jin lian, and when I wanted to buy some more, the store sold out everything. Smooth on the mouth, clean and strong.
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2002baizhengjinlian
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This one is 2005 jin zheng bia lian. It's not cheap and the vendor does not budge on the price. I only bought one piece as a taste test comparison in future, they also come in loose form in 4 X 500gm packs in a box...apparently not the same in terms of taste and flavor as the bings.
2005gongting.jpg
2005jinzhengbailian
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But i thought the 2010 long ju below is much more palatable to my mouth and betters the 2005 jin zheng bia lian, so much so that I may just go buy the whole dragon pole this weekend (there's 2007, 2009 and 2010, but it's 2010 that I'll get due to price point).
2010longju.jpg
2010longju
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Oct 12th, '11, 14:05
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by Cole » Oct 12th, '11, 14:05

Wow -- that's a lot of Pu, KC! Looks tasty :)

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Oct 12th, '11, 20:35
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by AdamMY » Oct 12th, '11, 20:35

Cole wrote:Wow -- that's a lot of Pu, KC! Looks tasty :)

Really I've seen little more than cardboard and paper? What am I missing?

Oct 12th, '11, 20:44
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by beecrofter » Oct 12th, '11, 20:44

With fancy enough paper and some bamboo culm sheath's you can sell meadow muffins.

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Oct 12th, '11, 22:39
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by HifideliTea » Oct 12th, '11, 22:39

AdamMY wrote:
Cole wrote:Wow -- that's a lot of Pu, KC! Looks tasty :)

Really I've seen little more than cardboard and paper? What am I missing?
About 20 kg of loose teas from 9 vendors. Loose tea leaves does not come with attractive packaging...you see one and you've seen them all.

Everytime I ask about the tea quality, the answer is "Just drink it before you buy. If you like it, buy, if you don't like it, we can still be friends" :)

But it's just not me to walk away from a store not buying something (only on 2 occasions that this happened), there's surely something in the shop that appeals to my taste.
loose.jpg
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Oct 13th, '11, 01:05
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by Cole » Oct 13th, '11, 01:05

Haha, maybe I'm not too picky (or just really thirsty!).

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Oct 13th, '11, 06:47
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by Drax » Oct 13th, '11, 06:47

I just tried explaining what Adam meant, but it turned out similar to what happens when you have to explain a joke -- boring and pretty lame.

So instead.... thanks for the pictures, KC! Are you visiting these shops in Beijing? How's the pu'erh culture doing up that way (by that, I mean level of excitement for pu'erh and such)?

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Oct 13th, '11, 11:26
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by AdamMY » Oct 13th, '11, 11:26

Don't get me wrong it is pretty packaging, just I feel this thread has sort of wavered from its roots. It started out as a thread for people to show off their collections, or their purchases*. But as most of the people on the thread were from the West, and didn't have access to teashops where they could walk in and easily buy a high quality cake, even the purchases were decent sized collections.

This thread sort of looses its appeal when every day you see a new cake. Because honestly while the packaging is nice after you've seen quite a few pu wrappers you have basically seen them all, this is the only sub forum on Teachat in which you see people showing off the tea packaging. I mean you do not see people in any of the other tea subforums showing off foil bags in its own topic.

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Oct 13th, '11, 12:24
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by puerhking » Oct 13th, '11, 12:24

I disagree. I enjoy the posts be they wrappers or the tea. This would be a boring thread without those contributions.

Oct 13th, '11, 23:22
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by ycleong » Oct 13th, '11, 23:22

I find postings by the likes of auhckw and KC Lam etc are both interesting and refreshing. It keeps some of us in the loop of new and not so new puerh in the market. In fact, I would like to thank these gentlemen for taking the effort to upload the photos and comments in this forum.

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Oct 14th, '11, 04:44
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by HifideliTea » Oct 14th, '11, 04:44

Thanks ADAMMY, I did get your first joke much later, but the second one got me ROTFLMAO (kidding). And if you do not like my pics, it's OK. We can still be friends. :)

ycleong, thanks for your comments, postings by auhckw is another gauge of what to buy or to avoid.
puerhking, wrappers are useful, I show it to the vendors and they know what I am talking about.

I live in Beijing but this assignment will not be forever.That is why I am on a feverish spending on pu erh teas of late.
Similarly, I would also love to buy the many wines, CD's (I'm an audiophile) and books and I envy those in Western countries that can walk into a shop to taste, browse or listen before making a purchase. Seeing a pic on the web of these items does help too as I am a "visual" person.

I use this site's various pics and owner's feedback to determine if I should get some of these teas for myself too. I also hope showing pictures and the taste feedback allows forum members the opportunity to make a wiser buying decision should they see similar tea on the vendors shelves back home.

Drax, here in China, the culture of tea drinking is about making friends. It takes 3 to drink tea and chat, 4 to drink wine and get inebriated.
I visit Maliandao Tea city every week. Some stores have shut down, others are switching to selling pu erh teas. They tell me that many consumers in Beijing are switching from green teas to pu erh teas, and they also find it is less risky to sell pu erh teas as it does not turn bad over time and actually improves their bottom line the older the tea gets. It is getting very competitive as more shops starts to sell pu erh, thus good for the consumers.
I am cautious about fakes or poorly stored teas and will buy from regular shop owners who are from Yunnan and authorized Taetea distributors (I've counted 7 so far in Maliandao and prices do vary). China Tea has 4 stores here but 2 are selling black tea, the ones selling pu erh does not have any old teas and have little knowledge of pu erh's - disappointing. Xia Guan has 2 distributors but sells newer teas, I have not yet found the Six Famous Mountains distributor here but there is one in Shanghai. And I have not fully covered this whole stretch of road after over 4 months.
I do crave for the toong of 1988 raw pu erh with ginseng (ren shen) flavor that is not sold separately as bings...or the 1970's loose leaves raw tea that you can boil after the 20th+ infusion and still taste good. Those high value aged old teas are meant for people who buy as gifts as more Beijinger's starts to appreciate pu erh teas. Used to be a drink favored by southerners, now is sought after by people in China's capital city.

And the standard comment from sellers is always the same "Try it, if you like it, buy it, if you don't, we can still be friends" And I do get sucked into trying a 60's or 70's and get hooked and end up buying 25-50 gms.
Also the standard message from almost every tea vendor - for newer ripe pu erh's, buy from the biggest pu erh tea manufacturer (you know who) as they have good QC.
Another wise advice - don't chase for the best quality teas, you will get frustrated, if after a period of time you cannot find it anymore (ie don't get addicted to only the best teas).

There's a lot of activities in Maliandao for other teas and tea accessories as this is the tea distribution center; buyers from other regions and provinces come here to purchase bulk for resale back home.

To end this lengthy message, my Talented Cup is filled with 2003 Jin Ya Wang (Golden Bud King). First cleansing already dark red , flowery, no astringency, full body, medium smooth, slightly sweet. Verdict: Value for money.

Thanks for reading.
2003 jin ya wang.jpg
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Oct 14th, '11, 06:51
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Re: Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

by Drax » Oct 14th, '11, 06:51

KC Lam wrote:Those high value aged old teas are meant for people who buy as gifts as more Beijinger's starts to appreciate pu erh teas. Used to be a drink favored by southerners, now is sought after by people in China's capital city.

And the standard comment from sellers is always the same "Try it, if you like it, buy it, if you don't, we can still be friends" And I do get sucked into trying a 60's or 70's and get hooked and end up buying 25-50 gms.
Also the standard message from almost every tea vendor - for newer ripe pu erh's, buy from the biggest pu erh tea manufacturer (you know who) as they have good QC.
Thanks, KC! I have heard other people say similar things -- that the popularity of pu'erh it growing from beyond southern China. It's good to hear confirmation of the story, although maybe it's not so good news from a price and scarcity standpoint! :D

And the situation you describe about trying something and getting hooked sounds similar to a joke about drugs (as in, narcotics) -- the first sample is always free....! :D

To paraphrase the Purcell song, If pu'erh be the food of love, sing on till I am filled with joy....

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