Official Pu of the day

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


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Apr 15th, '13, 15:35
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by BioHorn » Apr 15th, '13, 15:35

theredbaron wrote:
Tead Off wrote: Funny, I thought this a rather weak tea. Not much character or power. A 10 year old cake for $44. Can't expect much. I thought the Wu Chi Dao you mentioned to be a much better buy. But, we all are not going to agree about everything.

Both teas aren't *great* teas, but i find them very good for every day drinking purposes, especially considering the reasonable price. The Ancient Spirit is not a very complex tea, but nice enough. I only tried the samples of the Wu Chi Dao, maybe three pots, and found it more complex in character. I will see later, in a year or so, when i plan to break up my first cake, how i will feel about it then.
I agree. After sampling it, I bought two cakes of the Ancient Spirit. I is quite drinkable and one of the few offerings from Scott to have more of that traditional aged pu taste. The cakes arrived in very good condition. It was clear they had seen careful handling.

I think RB is correct in it being at a very nice price point.

Apr 15th, '13, 16:57
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by theredbaron » Apr 15th, '13, 16:57

BioHorn wrote: I agree. After sampling it, I bought two cakes of the Ancient Spirit. I is quite drinkable and one of the few offerings from Scott to have more of that traditional aged pu taste. The cakes arrived in very good condition. It was clear they had seen careful handling.

I think RB is correct in it being at a very nice price point.
One tea from Scott i have great hopes for is the 2009 Yunnan Sourcing "Wu Liang Lan Xiang". I have sampled it some time ago, and it aged very well and quick for such a short time. Given that - this might be an ideal tea for the lesser humid climates.
The price is very reasonable. While the 2009 tea is out of stock, the same tea from the same location of later years is still available:

http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... oduct=1340

http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... oduct=2112

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Apr 16th, '13, 00:27
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by amaranto » Apr 16th, '13, 00:27

One tea from Scott i have great hopes for is the 2009 Yunnan Sourcing "Wu Liang Lan Xiang". I have sampled it some time ago, and it aged very well and quick for such a short time. Given that - this might be an ideal tea for the lesser humid climates.
The price is very reasonable. While the 2009 tea is out of stock, the same tea from the same location of later years is still available:

http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... oduct=1340

http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... oduct=2112
Thanks for this recommendation, theredbaron. I ordered a bit to try.

Apr 17th, '13, 07:34
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by JakubT » Apr 17th, '13, 07:34

2003 Menghai Wild Arbor Red mark. YUCK! That's a rather awful one indeed. Way too dry for its own good. Aside from decent light fruitiness, it smells and tastes like rancid chestnuts with heavy, disgusting sourness as a bonus.

At least it does not cost much and I did not waste so much money as I did on some other too dry stored teas...

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Apr 17th, '13, 07:44
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Tead Off » Apr 17th, '13, 07:44

JakubT wrote:2003 Menghai Wild Arbor Red mark. YUCK! That's a rather awful one indeed. Way too dry for its own good. Aside from decent light fruitiness, it smells and tastes like rancid chestnuts with heavy, disgusting sourness as a bonus.

At least it does not cost much and I did not waste so much money as I did on some other too dry stored teas...
Don't you usually buy samples to try the tea, first?

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Apr 17th, '13, 07:46
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Tead Off » Apr 17th, '13, 07:46

amaranto wrote:
One tea from Scott i have great hopes for is the 2009 Yunnan Sourcing "Wu Liang Lan Xiang". I have sampled it some time ago, and it aged very well and quick for such a short time. Given that - this might be an ideal tea for the lesser humid climates.
The price is very reasonable. While the 2009 tea is out of stock, the same tea from the same location of later years is still available:

http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... oduct=1340

http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... oduct=2112
Thanks for this recommendation, theredbaron. I ordered a bit to try.
High altitude is good!

Apr 17th, '13, 09:38
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by JakubT » Apr 17th, '13, 09:38

Tead Off wrote:
JakubT wrote:2003 Menghai Wild Arbor Red mark. YUCK! That's a rather awful one indeed. Way too dry for its own good. Aside from decent light fruitiness, it smells and tastes like rancid chestnuts with heavy, disgusting sourness as a bonus.

At least it does not cost much and I did not waste so much money as I did on some other too dry stored teas...
Don't you usually buy samples to try the tea, first?
I do - this one was a sample too. But even money wasted on samples is wasted...

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Apr 17th, '13, 10:39
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Tead Off » Apr 17th, '13, 10:39

JakubT wrote:
Tead Off wrote:
JakubT wrote:2003 Menghai Wild Arbor Red mark. YUCK! That's a rather awful one indeed. Way too dry for its own good. Aside from decent light fruitiness, it smells and tastes like rancid chestnuts with heavy, disgusting sourness as a bonus.

At least it does not cost much and I did not waste so much money as I did on some other too dry stored teas...
Don't you usually buy samples to try the tea, first?
I do - this one was a sample too. But even money wasted on samples is wasted...
Yes. lol.

Apr 17th, '13, 12:39
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by theredbaron » Apr 17th, '13, 12:39

JakubT wrote:
Tead Off wrote:
JakubT wrote:2003 Menghai Wild Arbor Red mark. YUCK! That's a rather awful one indeed. Way too dry for its own good. Aside from decent light fruitiness, it smells and tastes like rancid chestnuts with heavy, disgusting sourness as a bonus.

At least it does not cost much and I did not waste so much money as I did on some other too dry stored teas...
Don't you usually buy samples to try the tea, first?
I do - this one was a sample too. But even money wasted on samples is wasted...

I have now a sheng sample container - a huge stainless caddy that takes at least a kilo of tea in which i empty my samples in after testing. Some i decided not to buy cakes of, for one reason or the other, others remains of samples of cakes i decided to buy straight away. I wonder how that special blend will taste in a few years of time.
I just got tired of having bags of samples around and didn't know what to do with them.

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Apr 17th, '13, 13:33
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by Tead Off » Apr 17th, '13, 13:33

Maybe we will see sometime in the future something like this for sale, 'Red Baron's #9 Blend'. :lol:

Apr 17th, '13, 14:26
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by theredbaron » Apr 17th, '13, 14:26

Tead Off wrote:Maybe we will see sometime in the future something like this for sale, 'Red Baron's #9 Blend'. :lol:

:D

It will definitely be a rather complex blend... :wink:

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Re: Official Pu of the day

by BioHorn » Apr 17th, '13, 15:44

theredbaron wrote:
BioHorn wrote: I agree. After sampling it, I bought two cakes of the Ancient Spirit. I is quite drinkable and one of the few offerings from Scott to have more of that traditional aged pu taste. The cakes arrived in very good condition. It was clear they had seen careful handling.

I think RB is correct in it being at a very nice price point.
One tea from Scott i have great hopes for is the 2009 Yunnan Sourcing "Wu Liang Lan Xiang". I have sampled it some time ago, and it aged very well and quick for such a short time. Given that - this might be an ideal tea for the lesser humid climates.
The price is very reasonable. While the 2009 tea is out of stock, the same tea from the same location of later years is still available:

http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... oduct=1340

http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... oduct=2112

Thank you for the recommendation.
I sampled through most of Scott's spring 2011 offerings. I bought a tong of 2011 Wu Liang which is aging in my pumidor. I have not even taken another look at it. Since you mention it aged quickly, I will be sure to try a sample in the coming months. It was sold at a great price point and quickly sold out. The Ai Lao was also good. Maybe not as complex as the Wu Liang.

Apr 17th, '13, 16:15
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by theredbaron » Apr 17th, '13, 16:15

BioHorn wrote:
It was sold at a great price point and quickly sold out.

There we can also see quite easily the rise of prices for Pu Erh - the 2009 Wu Liang i bought at 15$ per 357g cake.
Fortunately i have so much Pu Erh now that i don't really need to buy in quantity anymore, which is getting more difficult to afford.

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Apr 18th, '13, 12:35
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by futurebird » Apr 18th, '13, 12:35

So far every sample that I have enjoyed enough to want the whole cake has turned out to be out of my price range.

Well except for some of the younger shengs. There are a few of them that I like, but I don't know if the sheng that is good today will be better tomarrow.

I wish I could go back in time and taste the old cakes that I liked when they were young.

Apr 18th, '13, 14:33
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Re: Official Pu of the day

by theredbaron » Apr 18th, '13, 14:33

futurebird wrote:So far every sample that I have enjoyed enough to want the whole cake has turned out to be out of my price range.

Well except for some of the younger shengs. There are a few of them that I like, but I don't know if the sheng that is good today will be better tomarrow.

I wish I could go back in time and taste the old cakes that I liked when they were young.
It's all a bit of a gamble.

Ancient and old trees have a larger chance to turn into complex aged teas, but not necessarily so. That's why i would not spend huge amounts of money on very young Sheng (that is one of the reasons why i straight away bought a couple of cakes of the Wu Liang - and so far the gamble turned out very well).
Some of the very famous tea areas are now so expensive for the better quality leaves that i am not going to buy them, and better look for less famous areas, which are still somewhat affordable.

It is easier to see with teas that have a few years of aging behind them, there it is already clearer how they gonna turn out - there i am also more willing to spend more money on. Well, on occasion, very rarely...

But you gotta start sometime - and best is to spread it a bit. Buy a few younger sheng, such as the Wu Liang, buy some that have some age, but will not be too expensive, and buy some better quality blends.
Don't hesitate to buy some inexpensive tuo cha's from Xiaguan, or similar. While not awesome teas, they still can turn into very pleasant every day sort of Pu Erh's, and are very inexpensive.

One thing that you may find out once the better cakes of your young sheng reached a good age - 10 years or so - that many of the older teas you like now will very likely not be teas that you will still like then.

For example - several teas of the 80's, etc, where samples were somewhat affordable, that have been recommended here i have tried, and found them to be not very nice at all (i don't wanna name names and shops, i don't like bad mouthing shops unless they are dishonest, which these shops weren't - these teas were just not as good as my own home aged teas).

You don't need to buy thongs (unless you can easily afford to spend a lot of money). Two or three cakes of each younger and not too expensive sheng is perfectly sufficient, and of more expensive cakes one is enough. Even then within a relatively short time you will accumulate many teas.

Don't forget - you don't live forever ;)

But if you want to get into collecting and aging your own Pu (which in the end is the only affordable way to one day have a selection of very good aged Pu Erh) - you should better start soon. Prices are rising steadily, and all people in the business i talked with said the same thing - this time now it does not seem to be a bubble, but a driven by the growing Chinese market, and are not likely to come down.

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