I have never had Pu Erh...

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


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Dec 11th, '08, 20:46
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I have never had Pu Erh...

by Wassupfrombustamove » Dec 11th, '08, 20:46

Can someone suggest a good brand or kind of Pu Erh to start with?

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Dec 11th, '08, 21:07
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by Wassupfrombustamove » Dec 11th, '08, 21:07

haha (sarcastic laugh) about song pin :evil:

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Dec 11th, '08, 21:43
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by thanks » Dec 11th, '08, 21:43

Wassupfrombustamove wrote:haha (sarcastic laugh) about song pin :evil:
I wish pu'er were easier to recommend to people, or at least certain types. The problem is that there are at least three distinct types of pu'er, all tasting vastly different from each other, and even within those three different types, are countless variations. It can be even more confusing than oolong! Tom has a great point. I will also reiterate and stress the fact that samples of tea are insanely important here, especially when you start to get into the older aged stuff that can sometimes go for insane amounts of money.

A decent base recommendation would be to try at least one of each distinct type of pu'er. I highly recommend reading the wonderful article on the tea through wikipedia that our own bearsbearsbears has kindly contributed; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puer_tea. This will give you a great starting point as well as the "welcome to the forum of pu-erh" thread we have stickied here.

I also highly recommend reading up on some gongfu tea ceremony http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongfu_Cha , as brewing some of this stuff western style (if you're not careful) can turn it into one of the most horrible experiences having to do with drinking a liquid, but once you get a better idea of how to brew the teas, you start to consistently produce a better cup, and we're all always learning and fine tuning our skills.

If you stick around and actually enjoy (or curiosity gets the best of you like most of us :twisted:) then be prepared to plunge yourself into the super addictive world of tea known as pu'er.

Welcome to the forum, by the way :D

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Dec 11th, '08, 21:59
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by thanks » Dec 11th, '08, 21:59

TomVerlain wrote:I went back and looked at the sticky with an eye on how it would look to someone new, and did notice there is not a quick "how to brew" link.

Should there be a topic on how to brew ? cover gong fu, gaiwan, western and what ever else fits ?
I think this is a good idea. Just use general parameters to give an idea on the ideas behind each brewing method. How many grams per ml, rough temperature ideas, vessels most commonly used, rough infusion guidelines. The problem with this though, and almost everything else related to tea is that there's no science behind taste, or even tradition. What one person knows to be the "proper" way to brew, is "wrong" to lots of other people and vice versa.

My general recommendation to my friends, or anyone in general, is get a cheap gaiwan from Scott at YSSLC, http://cgi.ebay.com/Porcelain-Gaiwan-Wh ... m153.l1262 , get some samples, fill the gaiwan half with leaf, use boiling water, do a rinse, then here's the times for infusions; 5s, 7s, 12s, 15s, 11s, 30s, 45s, 1:15, etc. Then after that, experiment! This is a decent and general enough introduction, so someone could easily tweak any or all of these settings to taste. If it doesn't taste good, try something else! If it doesn't taste good after you've tried almost everything, then it might not be your cup of tea.

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Dec 11th, '08, 22:01
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by Wassupfrombustamove » Dec 11th, '08, 22:01

Dude tom, read my mind :o . Those links were great but I did have some trouble on finding an easy guide on how to brew...

Oh and thanks, thanks :wink:
Last edited by Wassupfrombustamove on Dec 12th, '08, 18:07, edited 1 time in total.

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Dec 11th, '08, 22:07
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by Wassupfrombustamove » Dec 11th, '08, 22:07

TomVerlain wrote:I went back and looked at the sticky with an eye on how it would look to someone new, and did notice there is not a quick "how to brew" link.

Should there be a topic on how to brew ? cover gong fu, gaiwan, western and what ever else fits ?
I will pm PolyhymnianMuse to see if the sticky can be changed to inclued a brew link 8)

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Dec 11th, '08, 22:15
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by shogun89 » Dec 11th, '08, 22:15

As most have mentioned, spend some time in the sticky, read some reviews. Then I would suggest going to Puerh shop and getting some samples.

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Dec 11th, '08, 22:20
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by Wassupfrombustamove » Dec 11th, '08, 22:20

dang :o ,

You Pu Erh drinkers are the most friendly on the site :o :wink: (could not get the same friendliness out those dang flavored tea drinkers :lol: )

Hey I should make a poll to figuer out who people think are friendliest tea drinkers! :mrgreen:

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Dec 11th, '08, 23:03
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by Goose » Dec 11th, '08, 23:03

WUFBM,
One option is to contact Scott at YSLLC and ask him to select a variety of samples for you to try, you could also get a medium gaiwan to brew in, from him.
For about 30.00 you could be set to begin the madness.

You can reach him at yunnansourcing ( at )gmail.com

Jim
Jim

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Dec 12th, '08, 12:09
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by Dizzwave » Dec 12th, '08, 12:09

Goose wrote:WUFBM, One option is to contact Scott at YSLLC
I second that. I have had the best luck with Scott.

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Dec 12th, '08, 13:34
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by PolyhymnianMuse » Dec 12th, '08, 13:34

I think a basic (atleast for a starting point) guide to brewing would be very helpful to have on the sticky. Is anyone aware of any such threads that are already in the pu'erh backlogs that are all but forgotten? Or should we just start a new thread?

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by shogun89 » Dec 12th, '08, 15:02

PolyhymnianMuse wrote:I think a basic (atleast for a starting point) guide to brewing would be very helpful to have on the sticky. Is anyone aware of any such threads that are already in the pu'erh backlogs that are all but forgotten? Or should we just start a new thread?
I do not think we have one of these yet, and I agree that it would be very helpful.

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