Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

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


Mar 6th, '12, 22:29
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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by shah82 » Mar 6th, '12, 22:29

I do not think that is correct. I rant and rave that people should take advantage of YS's pricing of those 2002 Tai Lian bings because they are innately good tea sold at well more than fair price, even though they are very dry stored. In a sense, it's the same with that 7542, it's just good tea at a good price. However, *actual* well-stored Dayi (even sold individually in anon CNNP wrappers) are well over $100 up to about 2003-2004 in the Chinese markets. Moreover, Dayi blends are fairly consistent. Anyone with enough tasting experience can distinguish Dayi from similar Fuhai, Haiwan, Kunming, etc, etc copies, let alone the odd inspirational single mountain or shop branded stuff like HK Henry or XZH versions. If it's some lost tong or three out there without that ticket, it will be easy enough to find a buyer who will give Dayi price, because that person can actually reliably tell the genuine product.

Well stored Dayi 7542 from '98 is roughly $300+. This isn't even talking about the blue water mark version or other special productions. Even if this one is *too* dry-stored, it's not going to be naturally $80 in any way shape or form. That's the price for so-wet-stored-it's-barely drinkable stuff. We're almost certainly talking about a random factory producing a 7542 and vanishing in the dusts of time. That does not mean it's bad, at all. Just like with the Tai Lian, it's a case of marketer-abandoned product. It's the duty of shopkeeps like YS's Scott and Ginkgo (not making any assumptions here) to do the work for their customers and select quality products. Guang from Houde, for example, does a very good job of digging out such products and making Frenchmen swoon over the delicacies he provides. If he puts something up, I don't care if there's virtually no identification on it, I'm just not liable to get seriously burned if I buy it unsampled, based on the rudimentary description and who's it from (not gonna buy Changtai, especially past 03, excluding that nice '04 Jinggu, for example).

Just concluding here by saying I could be wrong, and invite correction with absolutely no rancor.

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Mar 7th, '12, 00:17
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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by gingkoseto » Mar 7th, '12, 00:17

From our discussion so far, it seems we think differently in these a few points:
1. I don't believe 7542 *should* be expensive, compared with many other teas. I don't believe so, because it's the sheng of largest production in Dayi, and Dayi is one of the factories with largest production in puerh industry. The earlier 7542 is rare, and therefore expensive. But 7542 of late 1990s is not super rare, although distinguishing it from other products could be a problem.

2. I do think the wrap of a tea greatly affects the price of a tea, but if you don't agree with me on #1, you can hardly agree with me on this #2. From what I've observed, those 1990s or early 2000s Dayi products that are super expensive all come with some sort of "birth certificate", typically wraps with Dayi trademark, or whole box/basket with complete set of paper/tickets. That's also why I don't buy in the high price of a lot of Dayi. I feel the high price often relies on paper - but that's based on my belief that Dayi of late 1990s and after is not so rare and not so precious, just a lot of them don't have favored type of wraps.

3. I do believe many people judge tea by cover. Those who judge tea by taste only are respectable. But I've seen many judge tea by the wraps (which, ironically, can be easily forged, although some believe there are always ways to tell), and that's why tea with favored wraps or favored batch numbers is often a lot more expensive than tea without them but of the same quality level. I think many investors judge tea by cover not because they don't have enough expertise about taste, but because what's in their mind is future re-sale or financial return of their collection.

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Mar 7th, '12, 09:26
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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by gasninja » Mar 7th, '12, 09:26

shah82 wrote:It's that cheap because it's not Menghai Dayi's 7542, rather, it's some laobaixing's take on the 7542 and wrapped in the ubiquitous CNNP wrapper. Like the ones Jim@Puerhshop got last year.
It is definitly not the same as Jim's which I was dumb enough to buy with out trying.

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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by Drax » Mar 7th, '12, 20:43

I got to spend part of the day with the 1940s Su Yi Shun Liu An that recently went up on EoT. This tea is the oldest that I've tried. I had a very good and long session with the tea (19 steeps over a couple of hours) while I worked at home today... I swear it made a pain in my elbow feel better... :D

Mar 7th, '12, 23:37
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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by bryan_drinks_tea » Mar 7th, '12, 23:37

Drax, that's a hard act to follow! :wink:

I had the 2000 Raw Fu Hai Brick Today. I liked the flavors - sweet, smokey, and herbal. It was stored too dry for my taste, as 12 years had not put much aged flavor on it. I'm personally willing to buy it, but if I did I would put it through more humid storage in the hopes for a more mellow feel.

Some Qi was present too, which was nice.

Mar 8th, '12, 04:37
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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by G-off-re » Mar 8th, '12, 04:37

Bryan_drinks_te... wrote: I had the 2000 Raw Fu Hai Brick Today. I liked the flavors - sweet, smokey, and herbal. It was stored too dry for my taste, as 12 years had not put much aged flavor on it. I'm personally willing to buy it, but if I did I would put it through more humid storage in the hopes for a more mellow feel.

Some Qi was present too, which was nice.
Im not a fan of smoke or dryness so it looks like this brick might not be my cup either. Glad i have one in the mail though since everything i have it wet and this will give me a bit more variety.

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Mar 8th, '12, 21:27
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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by gasninja » Mar 8th, '12, 21:27

Drax that had to be amazing what stood out to you the most about it?Also how did you brew it?

Bryan thanks for saving me the trouble I almost ordered a sample three or four times but kept putting it off.


nite session with the 80's menghai 79092 Ripe from jas-etea. Similar to taste to the 80's gyg at finepuer. Not really in the same league though but also about a third of the price.

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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by Drax » Mar 9th, '12, 08:11

Thanks for the update on the fu hai brick, Bryan! I may have to check that one out...

As for the Liu An, it was a smooth, calm, and mellow experience. I brewed 3g in a 50mL pot; and this was one instance where my first steep looked and smelled so good, I had to try it.

I've only had Liu An a few times before this one, and I believe those had the same distinguishing quality as this 1940s version -- it's a "bright" quality that I tend to associate with loamy soil and fertilizer (keep in mind that I'm a chemist, so my associations of smell and taste are sometimes skewed differently). In the first couple of steeps, this bright quality was rather strong, but by the 3rd and remaining steeps, it settled down with the rest of the (what I would call) "typical" qualities of an aged tea -- the woodiness and tingliness.

I really enjoyed it, and I was a pleasantly surprised that it went that many steeps as well.

Mar 9th, '12, 09:40
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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by jan » Mar 9th, '12, 09:40

My recent discovery was a stack of early 90's (supposedly 1993) 7542 Menghai.
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It does contain some storage taste but it fades. This cake was stored in Hong Kong (according to the dealer).

If you have any thoughts on this please reply. I'm still considering to buy a least a tong of this.

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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by bryan_drinks_tea » Mar 9th, '12, 14:55

Hey Jan,

I'd certainly be willing to try a sample and let you know what I think of it. :mrgreen:

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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by TomVerlain » Mar 9th, '12, 16:55

They look pretty fresh and green for a 20 year old tea. Perhaps some person who knows about wrappers could tell more, but it don't look right.

Just my two renminbi

Mar 9th, '12, 17:13
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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by jan » Mar 9th, '12, 17:13

TomVerlain wrote:They look pretty fresh and green for a 20 year old tea.
The wrapper in reality looks torn like a 90's wrapper. I'm currently trying to get this cake verified.
Last edited by jan on Mar 10th, '12, 01:00, edited 1 time in total.

Mar 9th, '12, 19:29
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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by G-off-re » Mar 9th, '12, 19:29

Jan,
How is the 1993? If possible have you compared it to the one from EOT?

Bryan_drinks_tea,
When you say too dry, are we talking Kunming dryness for 12yrs?

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Mar 11th, '12, 11:40
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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by gasninja » Mar 11th, '12, 11:40

IDK you had brought this up a while back. I remeber you saying that you where ordering EOT's 93 to compare how did they match up?

2001 Jin chang hao Yi wu. This cake was a little musty when I got the cake but in four months it has lost most of that funkyness and the activity in the mouth that I loved in the sample also has kicked up/. Letting an old tea sit for a couple months or at least a couple weeks if broken up is almost a necessity. I feel like adding a lillte bit of the Hengli Chang to this would would make an interesting blend.

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Re: Aged Pu-erh of the Day, Week, or Month

by gasninja » Mar 11th, '12, 14:12

I would say the 98 7542 at life in a tea cup is probably not a menghai tea factory production. Given that every other menghai 7542 has a "Menghai" character on the neifi. I am not sure if the character means menghai but every other cnnp wrapper menghai has this character there. This cake has the zhong in its place. The cake does not look right either.

I would be very happy to be proven wrong in this. By a pic of this batch ticket stating that this was Menghai tea factory product. I am not unhappy with my purchase as I said I feel like given the quality of the sample that I tried the tea is was a fair value for the price. I did not feel that way with the cake from pu-erhshop.

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