Taobao Tea. TOPIC MOVED FOR REVIEW

[AllanK]

I am looking for some suggestions, preferably with links for some excellent Puerh, sheng or shu that can be purchased on Taobao. Now that I know I will get what I order I want to order more tea. Anyone have any teas they bought on Taobao that were really good?

[wyardley]

Just a thought, but you might also want to check out shops like Yunnan Sourcing. I think Taobao may be risky if you don't know exactly what you're looking for, and with the extra fees involved, I don't think you will save a lot of money by going this route either.

Going with more conventional vendors might also make it easy to get samples rather than entire cakes.

[chrl42]

Taobao has all, from good to worst. It's up to you to take that journey

But don't expect too much luck (price-wise), Puerh tea most of the time, the quality is proportional to the price, cheap teas (even guaranteed to be authentic) have reasons, mostly the storage condition.

Mediocre teas Yunnan Sourcing has already, safety guaranteed. Big brands like Dayi their prices speak for the fame...custom-made Gushus are rather a blue-ocean...but quantity-marketing Taobao might has a risk. Because good Gushus are never many, good teas are never many...that's what I've learned while tea drinking.

In Yixing teapot and tea, the marketing means bubbles...the marketing is to fool customers, good stuffs are running out without having to pushing ads

[honza]

Nowadays only big factories like Xiaguan, Dayi, Haiwan NEW products are cheap on Taobao, means cheaper than English online sellers. Many Taobao shops sell these teas with very close price to wholesale price. But is only for tea which come from factory now, last few months. You can find their good dealers in Kunming or Guangzhou, better is not take the cheapest one because many best cheapest shop really not make money on these products and they not must pack it good. The point of these shops is, they make their own products which make them money online.
But hunting for gushu, old tea or any good stuff is risk. You miss the time few years back when Taobao had good stuff and cheap. (Many shops close after 2007 and offer good stuff online only and cheap but all these online shops which I know sold out their good stuff or change the price too high...). You can check prices of really good puerh tea cakes in Eng, shops and Taobao and see most is cheaper and more safe in Eng. online shops.
In Taobao now can find only cheap noname but not really interesting cakes, fakes or these big factory new products.

[AllanK]

Just a thought, but you might also want to check out shops like Yunnan Sourcing. I think Taobao may be risky if you don't know exactly what you're looking for, and with the extra fees involved, I don't think you will save a lot of money by going this route either.

Going with more conventional vendors might also make it easy to get samples rather than entire cakes.

I buy from Yunnan Sourcing regularly and Ebay also but am looking for teas I can't find there. I was hoping for specific Taobao recommendations.

[MarshalN]

What kind of budget are you talking?

[AllanK]

What kind of budget are you talking?

If I had a recommendation for something someone has tried I might go as high as $50 to $100 a bing, otherwise, unless I am buying a Dayi I prefer not to spend too much blind. I will eventually try this Tea Urchin I have heard about but need to wait a couple of months before spending any real money on tea.

It would be nice if you could buy samples on Taobao but only whole cakes are available.

[MarshalN]

What kind of budget are you talking?

If I had a recommendation for something someone has tried I might go as high as $50 to $100 a bing, otherwise, unless I am buying a Dayi I prefer not to spend too much blind. I will eventually try this Tea Urchin I have heard about but need to wait a couple of months before spending any real money on tea.

It would be nice if you could buy samples on Taobao but only whole cakes are available.

If you want excellent pu on Taobao for under $50, I'm afraid you're out of luck. It does not exist - even if it does (which it sometimes does) it will take you a fair amount of time and money on gambling before you land one.

A few places sell samples, but they are rare and usually on more expensive cakes.

[Ljung93]

You could try this shop: http://alltea.taobao.com/

Looks excellent.

[Tead Off]

You could try this shop: http://alltea.taobao.com/

Looks excellent.

The biscuits look really good!

[Exempt]

You could try this shop: http://alltea.taobao.com/

Looks excellent.

Not really… the website is well made but the tea could all be crap for all we know

[puyuan]

You could try this shop: http://alltea.taobao.com/

Looks excellent.

Not really… the website is well made but the tea could all be crap for all we know

Jing Jia Tang's tea ranges from "really good for the price" to outstanding (the single tree xiaobings and other premium stuff he sells on pre-order.) It's also one of the most reliable sellers you'll ever meet. Laoban is genuinely passionate about puer, and a crazy workaholic who oversees every step of the production, including most of the picking, if not all. He's always sampling maocha and trying to perfect the price-to-quality ratio of his standard yearly gushu cakes, like the Hekai one, which are all blends of selected small gardens. If Liu Yang says the tea is plantation, fully gushu or fully qiaomu, you can trust his word. There are few people in this business that I would be as comfortable about putting a good word for.

The Grinch in me is actually a little sad to see the link publicized. His better stuff already sells too fast for my pockets.

I found his tea last year and, incidentally, it led me to Mark's (from Zhizheng) Cream of Banna project, which in turn led to me some nice, and one superb, samples. He has teas there that are inbetween that price range; I'd recommend contacting him too, AllanK. I can send you a couple of recommendations from taobao privately but, to be honest, taobao-wise JJT is a very nice start.

[shah82]

The price for those teas are not high enough for real gushu.

[puyuan]

The price for those teas are not high enough for real gushu.

Which? The kouliang series is qiaomu/plantation.

[honza]

How can say something like this
"Laoban is genuinely passionate about puer, and a crazy workaholic who oversees every step of the production, including most of the picking, if not all" so sure ?? You follow him in his every step of all of these bings on the taobao shop ?
I never saw any Chinese person in tea mountains and can not recommend any of them and say 100% these teas are pure gushu.
If you talk and visit many villages and tea farmers or "maocha sellers" you can only listen foreigners are totally honest and fair idiots who watch every step of their small productions of their puer.