My collection -- Comments?

[jackdaniel]

I'm about to place a large order. I'd like to round out my collection a bit more. I am interested in both sheng and shu. I do not have much experience with the different factories or mountains and have not yet opened any of my collection. I ordered these off of recommendations and review and a two hour visit to a local tea shop. Two questions:

1. Has anyone ever tried any of these? What are you tasting comments? Should I drink it now, or save for later?

2. If you were to add to this collection, what would you get? I'm primarily looking at Puerh Shop and Yunan Sourcing as vendors.

2005 Nanjian Phoenix Green Tuocha
2007 Superior Grade Yinhao Pu-erh Tuocha
2003 Golden Sail Brand Yunnan Pu-erh Tuocha
2007 Xiaguan Gold Ribbon Tuocha
2003 Yunnan Pu-erh Tuocha
2007 Dayi Bamboo Wrapped Pu-erh Tea Brick
2005 Xiaguan Green Tuocha
2007 Xiaguan Tibetan Flame Brick
2005 Imperial Pu-erh Tea Brick
2007 Xiaguan Tuocha for Export
2008 Dayi Wei Zui Yan Green Pu-erh Tea Cake
2007 Mengku Arbor Pu-erh Tea Cake
2006 Douji Yiwu Mountain Arbor Pu-erh Tea Cake
2008 Dayi Big Classic Green Pu-erh Tea Cake
2008 Dayi 7532 Pu-erh Tea Cake

Thanks!

[odarwin]

my comment is that if you are looking for teas to drink now, none of those might be good candidates... for the reason that they are still young. even for 03 ripe cakes that are stored in dry yunnan, the wo dui smell and taste is still very much present in the tea.

if you are saving these for the future, in my opinion, no one can really tell if they will age nice or not... its anyone's bet really.

[oldmanteapot]

1. Has anyone ever tried any of these? What are you tasting comments? Should I drink it now, or save for later?

I've not tried any of the tea listed. You should drink them first (for tasting purposes) before buying more. Unless you've already tasted the tea before, always try the tea before embarking on a large purchase (which will cost a lot of money). ALL the tea you've listed are still extremely young for consumption now.

No one knows exactly if the tea is worth aging or has to be consumed now. Many vendors can't tell with certainty that tea harvested and pressed from 2007 onwards will age like their predecessors. Only time will tell. Unless you've been tracking a specific cake over a year or two. Then you'll have an idea on how well the tea will age. So when you purchase, either buy the same cake a year or two later, or if there are new productions, buy them only if you can be certain that the origins (raw materials e.g. leaves) are exactly the same. If you're in luck, the harvest may even be better, or it might swing the other way round.

You will not know anything about the tea if you've not opened and studied it prior to further purchase. For example, I've been tasting a 2007 Sheng Iron Beeng which has been receiving RAVE reviews over the internet from drinkers to online vendors. But on close examination, I found the leaves to be of low grade sources. Mainly what we call "tai ti cha" which are grown on low altitude and their growth is controlled by extensive harvesting. Though this tea is sold as a "drink now" sheng... I personally don't see any value in aging this tea. I hardly drink this tea anymore mainly because it just doesn't get better over time! I've been tasting this tea over the past 6 months. Now that explains the cheap selling price tag on this tea!....

2. If you were to add to this collection, what would you get?

Get what you like. One man's meat can be another's poison. IMO, the key to a collection worth drooling over is not determined by quantity, but rather by quality! At the end of the day, you won't want to have an extensive collection of (what my friends and I call...) expensive compressed grass!

Cheers!!

[oldmanteapot]

my comment is that if you are looking for teas to drink now, none of those might be good candidates... for the reason that they are still young. even for 03 ripe cakes that are stored in dry yunnan, the wo dui smell and taste is still very much present in the tea.

if you are saving these for the future, in my opinion, no one can really tell if they will age nice or not... its anyone's bet really.

+1

[betta]

Hi Jackdaniel welcome to teachat
To add up to your collection I would suggest to get some menghai dayi 7542 and 8582, they are well known best seller. Hobbes reviewed both of the cakes.
I won't restrict myself to certain vendors when it comes to pu, because there're many vendors offering the same real cakes at a better price.
I got my tong of 7542 couple of months ago from this vendor at a better price. Bill got several stuffs from DTH. Another friend helped me to get 00 kunming iron cake, etc..
But again, the outcome of the aging depends on your storage condition.

[Intuit]

>Mainly what we call "tai ti cha" which are grown on low altitude and their growth is controlled by extensive harvesting

Can you please post photos that clearly show this tea, for educational purposes? Thanks!

[tony shlongini]

my comment is that if you are looking for teas to drink now, none of those might be good candidates... for the reason that they are still young. even for 03 ripe cakes that are stored in dry yunnan, the wo dui smell and taste is still very much present in the tea.

if you are saving these for the future, in my opinion, no one can really tell if they will age nice or not... its anyone's bet really.

In other words, you can never drink them.


Back on topic- the Menghai big classic and 7532 were terrific in 2008. You can enjoy them now and over the next many years. Nobody provides value quite like Menghai. If you want to try something that's a lot better than it has any right to be, open your '07 Xiaguan baoyan brick.