Advice on tea from Dragon Tea House

by **stryder** » Mar 3rd, '13, 08:06

Advice on tea from Dragon Tea House

by stryder » Mar 3rd, '13, 08:06

hi all!
First of all sorry for my bad english (I'm from Italy).
I lurked around for a couple of weeks but I don't have a clue on where to start!

Since I'm a student my budget is limited so I want to start from the entry level teas. The only pu erh I tryed are the one that I found on Amazon.co.uk (Yunnan) from "the tea makers, London".

I like it but since I never read about it here I think is not good...

What I need from a tea is an energizing drink and a strong flavour.

What entry level (under 10euro/100gr) pu erh do you think will fit me the most (from the Dragon Tea House)??

Thank you in advance

Westley Cruz

by **edkrueger** » Mar 3rd, '13, 11:19

Re: Advice tea from Dragon Tea House

by edkrueger » Mar 3rd, '13, 11:19

This is about the only pu-erh close to that range that might be ok:

http://www.dragonteahouse.biz/cnnp-7581 ... -ripe.html

I haven't had theirs in particular, but hat brick is generally a good cheap tea.

by **Bad Jedi** » Mar 4th, '13, 11:30

Re: Advice tea from Dragon Tea House

by Bad Jedi » Mar 4th, '13, 11:30

Friend for mine gave me some DHP which he bought from them , what can i say ....

by **emptycup** » Mar 5th, '13, 11:25

Re: Advice on tea from Dragon Tea House

by emptycup » Mar 5th, '13, 11:25

stryder wrote:hi all!

Since I'm a student my budget is limited so I want to start from the entry level teas. ...
What I need from a tea is an energizing drink and a strong flavour.
What entry level (under 10euro/100gr) pu erh do you think will fit me the most (from the Dragon Tea House)??

bannacha.com has many products in your price range with a good q/p

by **stryder** » Mar 5th, '13, 13:08

Re: Advice on tea from Dragon Tea House

by stryder » Mar 5th, '13, 13:08

Thank you guys for the advices!!!

emptycup wrote:bannacha.com has many products in your price range with a good q/p

I didn't know about that site =D. Where do you think I should start from? I really don't have a clue!

edkrueger wrote:This is about the only pu-erh close to that range that might be ok:

http://www.dragonteahouse.biz/cnnp-7581-aged-pu-erh-tea-brick-2002-250g-ripe.html

I haven't had theirs in particular, but hat brick is generally a good cheap tea.

Since now I have another shop where I can buy, do you still think that the tea you linked should be me starting point?

by **theredbaron** » Mar 6th, '13, 14:49

Re: Advice on tea from Dragon Tea House

by theredbaron » Mar 6th, '13, 14:49

Here is another shop - Yunnansourcing - which i would recommend, and two teas that are somewhat in your price category, very reasonably priced and already aged enough to be very pleasant, can be drunk now, both are from small no name factories, which helps to keep prices down:

http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... oduct=1920

this one went up in price recently, but is still affordable:

http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... oduct=1994

by **stryder** » Mar 6th, '13, 17:05

Re: Advice on tea from Dragon Tea House

by stryder » Mar 6th, '13, 17:05

thank you for the input theredbaron! but the shipping cost need to be added and is not so cheap. It would be ok if I already new something about tea so that I could buy more than 1 cake. But I think I should fly down for a bit. I think I should go for order of 100 gr for this reasons:
-I don't know much about types of tea, so if I buy entire cake I would either be broke because I would buy over the year lot of different cakes that I will not finish or would not try different tea over the year
-sample of 20gr I think is made for someone that know a bit about "making a good cup of tea". Somebody that after the first cup know what to do to make it better (like changing infusion temperature/time or gr per cup). Since I'm not that guy I will need for sure more than 20gr.

What do you advice me to start from bannacha or DTH

by **theredbaron** » Mar 7th, '13, 00:45

Re: Advice on tea from Dragon Tea House

by theredbaron » Mar 7th, '13, 00:45

stryder wrote:thank you for the input theredbaron! but the shipping cost need to be added and is not so cheap. It would be ok if I already new something about tea so that I could buy more than 1 cake. But I think I should fly down for a bit. I think I should go for order of 100 gr for this reasons:
-I don't know much about types of tea, so if I buy entire cake I would either be broke because I would buy over the year lot of different cakes that I will not finish or would not try different tea over the year
-sample of 20gr I think is made for someone that know a bit about "making a good cup of tea". Somebody that after the first cup know what to do to make it better (like changing infusion temperature/time or gr per cup). Since I'm not that guy I will need for sure more than 20gr.

What do you advice me to start from bannacha or DTH

I don't know the teas of those two shops.

A few things though - not finishing a raw Pu Erh cake is no problem - on the opposite. Raw Pu Erh gets better the older it is. I personally only drink my Pu Erh's when they have been stored at least ten years (in my more humid and hot climate, add several years if i buy them stored in a more dry climate). Those two teas here have lost most of their green taste, and have transformed quite well already, without having a nasty storage taste that you would have to air out for a year or two before being able to enjoy them.

I would advise you to start off with a whole cake, because 100 gram might not be enough for trying and testing as well. The next question of course is the tea pot issue - do you have a small tea pot (or porcellain gaiwan, which might be cheaper). Pu Erh is drunk different than western style tea - you do short infusion times, and many infusions (depending on tea, you can do with very good teas up to 20 or so infusions - towards the end of course longer infusion times).

But be advised - drinking Chinese tea is very addictive, and it is not a cheap hobby

by **Emmett** » Mar 7th, '13, 00:59

Re: Advice on tea from Dragon Tea House

by Emmett » Mar 7th, '13, 00:59

I would actually start with some samples from Yunnan Sourcing or any puerh vendor so you can get a taste for what you like. Then buy a cake or two. Because if you dont like the cake you get you are stuck with a lot of tea that you dont enjoy drinking. Always try to sample first. You might not like what others do.

by **yalokinh** » Apr 1st, '13, 11:35

Re: Advice on tea from Dragon Tea House

by yalokinh » Apr 1st, '13, 11:35

sampletea samples are pretty cheap, generally around 1$/10g for the new stuff. I think thats a pretty good size for just trying a tea out (I use only
1-1.5g in my yixing pot).
its the shipping that gets you though

by **futurebird** » Apr 1st, '13, 12:39

Re: Advice on tea from Dragon Tea House

by futurebird » Apr 1st, '13, 12:39

Banna tea has a few samplers. I think that's a better idea than getting a cake. You don't know what you like yet and it's time to explore!

So get samples.

by **futurebird** » Apr 1st, '13, 12:40

Re: Advice on tea from Dragon Tea House

by futurebird » Apr 1st, '13, 12:40

yalokinh wrote:sampletea samples are pretty cheap, generally around 1$/10g for the new stuff. I think thats a pretty good size for just trying a tea out (I use only
1-1.5g in my yixing pot).
its the shipping that gets you though

Sampletea is also great for ... well....samples. +1