Getting What You Pay For - A Rant Against Bargain Hunting

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


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May 26th, '08, 01:47
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by jogrebe » May 26th, '08, 01:47

GeoffK wrote:Also we need to be as critical about tea blogs as we are about stores. Rather than threads listing ALL the tea blogs out there and accept anyone and everyone as an authority on tea, we need to champion the tea blogs which are doing it right. And by that I mean the bloggers who have experience with tea, are giving well rounded reviews and provide the reader with enough information to help decode if a tea might be a good fit to sample.

OK I'm ranting again. As I said in the first post I'm not trying to be 'right', I just feel passionate that this is an issue worth discussing.

Also with respects to Pu-erh shop, my intent is not to single out one retailer over another with these issues. Jim I think your heart is absolutely in the right place, so I'm sorry if you felt attacked in this thread, it wasn't my intent. You've shown yourself to be a stand up business man who respects and listens to his customers, I don't want my take on 2 of the teas you sell to discolor that. See my comments as constructive criticism and not 'bashing' you. I've ordered several times from your store and because of the way in which you truly care about your customers I plan on ordering from you again.
Personally I think blogs are not that simple as not everyone is after the same thing. Personally I'm a shu drinker when it comes to puerh and I don't see myself ever getting into aged shengs and doubt if I will ever bother to try any. Not everyone is going to get into the upper end puerh teas so the opinions of people who are happy with "bargain teas" will not match the people who are after aged sheng. As a tea blogger I focus on how the teas taste now as I doubt most people really aged their shu and the few aged shu samples that I had did not strike me as any different from a good young shu. With that being said I tend to sample and enjoy the cheap shu puerh that Jim's Puerh Shop has to offer from which I've yet to buy anything from him that I did not like but at the same time I'll admit that I'm selective toward the ones that I know will be better. Sure I'll admit that some of the Puerh Shop teas were better than others but that doesn't mean that the others were not enjoyable. At the same time I should add the the main thing that I like about Puerh Shop is that Jim takes shu puerh seriously and carries a good selection of shu to choose from instead of treating shu as a second rate less than real puerh product as some other vendors do. Although personally at times I do question how helpful personal tea blogging really is as I want to focus upon enjoying the tea that is in my cup at the moment compared to ruining the moment by thinking back to older cakes long since finished that were better.
John Grebe

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."
~C. S. Lewis

May 26th, '08, 09:21
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Debate is good and health

by Jim Liu » May 26th, '08, 09:21

I love to read this thread since it's intense and interesting, better than read some standard formatted tea reviews.

My heart is full of gratitude, Puerh Shop won't be here if without your supportting.

I think we went through a few stages if anyone remembered.

First Jason (3Bears) mentioned that our shipping charge sucked, so we did something about that. Then we got a few complains on our packing ...

I know the issue on the quality should come. Thanks to Jeff and many others to ring the bell. Thanks everyone here for your kindly understanding and supportting.

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May 26th, '08, 14:10
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by tenuki » May 26th, '08, 14:10

Something I find interesting is that puerhshop has a feedback mechanism, yet it doesn't seem to reflect the views of people on this forum. The mini-tea bricks have 3 glowing reviews and no negatives, yet they are almost universally hated by the puerhheads here (myself included).

My take away from that is that Puerhshop has provided an easy to use feedback mechanism to their customers, and it's our fault if we aren't using it. Before you complain here, go complain on puerhshop IMHO...
Last edited by tenuki on May 26th, '08, 18:39, edited 1 time in total.

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May 26th, '08, 14:58
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by jogrebe » May 26th, '08, 14:58

tenuki wrote:Something I find interesting is that puerhshop has a feedback mechanism, yet it doesn't seem to reflect the views of people on this forum. The mini-tea bricks have 3 glowing reviews and no negatives, yet they are almost universally hated by the puerhheads here (myself included).

My take away from that is that Puerhshop has provided an easy to use feedback mechanism to their customers, and it's our fault if we aren't using it. Before you complain here, go complain on puerhshop IMOH...
True it could also be laziness of people not taking the time to review. Although at the same time is it really fair to judge shu mini bricks to the same standard as one would for a cake? I know that Jason(BearsBearsBears) reviewed a free sample of a mini brick or tuocha that he got somewhere and said that it was very good for the class of tea that it was. I've had the mini-bricks from Puerh Shop a few times thanks to free samples from Jim tossed in with past orders and I found them to be enjoyable and the best mini-bricks that I've ever had. But with that being said I've never bothered to order them on my own because I normally go for shu cakes, bricks and sometimes a tuocha if it looks good even though they an increased pain to break up even with a tuocha pick.
John Grebe

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."
~C. S. Lewis

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May 26th, '08, 15:16
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MINI BRICKS

by Salsero » May 26th, '08, 15:16

Everyone wrote: ... the mini-tea bricks ...
These poor mini-bricks keep coming up! I have them and find them pleasant (with a good rinse first). They are not the best mini-shu I have had, but better than the worst.

Let's bear in mind that mini-shu was never intended to be anything more than essentially the teabag of the puerh world. They are convenient, that's their only claim to fame (except maybe that they are also kind of cute!)
Last edited by Salsero on May 26th, '08, 16:32, edited 1 time in total.

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May 26th, '08, 15:36
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Re: MINI BRICKS

by tenuki » May 26th, '08, 15:36

My one and only point was there was no negative feedback left on puerhshop for them, and that such a mechanism existed. I know what they are, duh. My point was to complain there not here if you didn't like them.

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Re: MINI BRICKS

by Salsero » May 26th, '08, 16:32

tenuki wrote:My one and only point was there was no negative feedback left on puerhshop for them, and that such a mechanism existed. I know what they are, duh. My point was to complain there not here if you didn't like them.
... and a very good point it was, too, Tenuki! I didn't mean to point the finger at you by any means. It's just those silly mini-bricks have been mentioned so many times by everyone, I thought it was time to say something nice about them! I've edited my previous to clarify this.

If anyone really wants to move into really strange territory, we could talk about the 2002 Tangerine Wrapped Puerh or the 2005 Liu An Tea in Bamboo Basket . I have to confess that I buy some shu products just because they seem so weird or exotic!

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May 26th, '08, 16:51
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Re: MINI BRICKS

by jogrebe » May 26th, '08, 16:51

Salsero wrote:I didn't mean to point the finger at you by any means. It's just those silly mini-bricks have been mentioned so many times by everyone, I thought it was time to say something nice about them! I've edited my previous to clarify this.

If anyone really wants to move into really strange territory, we could talk about the 2002 Tangerine Wrapped Puerh or the 2005 Liu An Tea in Bamboo Basket . I have to confess that I buy some shu products just because they seem so weird or exotic!
Yep I agree the mini bricks are good on their own. Yep I also go for the exotic shu products. I've had teh tangerine wrapped puerh which I enjoyed enough to go back and buy something like 30. The bamboo stuffed with shu puerh is also good as well. I'll also admit to buying the 2003 Songpin Imperial shu cake mainily because I though the historical reproduction wrapper looked really cool ... its not as bad as you think because I scrapbook the puerh wrappers after I break up the cakes because I consider many of them works of art.

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Re: HK wet stored

by tenuki » May 26th, '08, 17:16

TomVerlain wrote: I was also reflecting on how a $300 cake seems outrageously expensive, until you figure it is 70 5 gram teapots, of multiple infusions. That makes each pot about $4.25

For everybody with a starbucks habit, buying $300 beengs would be a SAVINGS :roll:


Good point, I just did that calculation on the $40/100g 80s toucha I'm drinking today. I pay that dollar/gram for Da Yu Ling Li Shan without even thinking twice and this tea is definitely worth it, yum at infusion 10 with no end in sight.

I think the existance of really cheap pu makes the reasonably priced good puerh seem excessively high when it really isn't.

PS: I haven't liked any wet stored hong kong puerh I've sampled (only about 3 and all loose), can't even find the goodness other people like in it. Interested what you will think, please share your thoughts when it comes. heh.

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May 26th, '08, 18:00
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Re: MINI BRICKS

by Salsero » May 26th, '08, 18:00

jogrebe wrote:I scrapbook the puerh wrappers after I break up the cakes because I consider many of them works of art.
Great idea!

And yes, the pu we are calling expensive is largely not really so costy. Aside from occasional tiny bits of 20 and 30 year old sheng, the most expensive teas I routinely buy are the Japanese: sencha, matcha, gyokuro, as high as 30¢ to 55¢ per gram. Course, I also don't buy 400 grams at once, so it doesn't seem like so much.

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Re: MINI BRICKS

by Jim Liu » May 26th, '08, 21:53

tenuki wrote:My one and only point was there was no negative feedback left on puerhshop for them, and that such a mechanism existed. I know what they are, duh. My point was to complain there not here if you didn't like them.
People do post the reviews for the teas they don't like, for example:

http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... iews_id=45

http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... iews_id=24

We are pretty liberal on these reviews.

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Re: MINI BRICKS

by PolyhymnianMuse » May 26th, '08, 22:56

puerhshop wrote:
tenuki wrote:My one and only point was there was no negative feedback left on puerhshop for them, and that such a mechanism existed. I know what they are, duh. My point was to complain there not here if you didn't like them.
People do post the reviews for the teas they don't like, for example:

http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... iews_id=45

http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... iews_id=24

We are pretty liberal on these reviews.
I'm pretty sure not a whole lot of people who purchase stuff actually give reviews on it, that is pretty typical with most sites I see that have reviews. In fact I'll try to give some reviews of the stuff I buy from puerhshop and rate it.

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Re: HK wet stored

by MarshalN » May 26th, '08, 23:13

tenuki wrote:
TomVerlain wrote: I was also reflecting on how a $300 cake seems outrageously expensive, until you figure it is 70 5 gram teapots, of multiple infusions. That makes each pot about $4.25

For everybody with a starbucks habit, buying $300 beengs would be a SAVINGS :roll:


Good point, I just did that calculation on the $40/100g 80s toucha I'm drinking today. I pay that dollar/gram for Da Yu Ling Li Shan without even thinking twice and this tea is definitely worth it, yum at infusion 10 with no end in sight.

I think the existance of really cheap pu makes the reasonably priced good puerh seem excessively high when it really isn't.

PS: I haven't liked any wet stored hong kong puerh I've sampled (only about 3 and all loose), can't even find the goodness other people like in it. Interested what you will think, please share your thoughts when it comes. heh.
Tenuki, if you regularly drink cooked pu, then there's really no good reason why you would dislike wet stored raw pu from HK, provided that they're the real deal and stored properly. [/i]

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Re: HK wet stored

by hop_goblin » May 26th, '08, 23:31

MarshalN wrote:
tenuki wrote:
TomVerlain wrote: I was also reflecting on how a $300 cake seems outrageously expensive, until you figure it is 70 5 gram teapots, of multiple infusions. That makes each pot about $4.25

For everybody with a starbucks habit, buying $300 beengs would be a SAVINGS :roll:


Good point, I just did that calculation on the $40/100g 80s toucha I'm drinking today. I pay that dollar/gram for Da Yu Ling Li Shan without even thinking twice and this tea is definitely worth it, yum at infusion 10 with no end in sight.

I think the existance of really cheap pu makes the reasonably priced good puerh seem excessively high when it really isn't.

I would take a good wet stored over shu any day! :D

PS: I haven't liked any wet stored hong kong puerh I've sampled (only about 3 and all loose), can't even find the goodness other people like in it. Interested what you will think, please share your thoughts when it comes. heh.
Tenuki, if you regularly drink cooked pu, then there's really no good reason why you would dislike wet stored raw pu from HK, provided that they're the real deal and stored properly. [/i]

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