Hello all,
I've never tried Pu-Erh, I'm looking at some places to start. I was thinking some of the loose from Seven Cups or Nada. I don't want to really go crazy and break the bank before I tried it, but the idea of a aged raw does sound interesting! Is black similar at all or are they two totally different experiences? I'd rather keep it around $30-50 until I know if I like it.
-GF
Dec 15th, '09, 13:21
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Maitre_Tea
Re: Pu for newbs?
Read the Introduction to Pu-erh thread for the run-down on pu-erh. Black pu-erh (also known as shou/shu, cooked, ripe) is an artificial attempt that tries to mimic a well-aged raw (also known as sheng). Opinions are mixed about shou/shu, and it really depends on what you like. Younger shou/shu can have a funky smell or flavor (known as wo dui) that is often times the result of bad processing. IMO, I would stick to well-known factories (Menghai, Xiaguan, etc.) for your shou/shu, because smaller factors can have more questionable products (see here for more details: http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2007/10 ... ients.html).
I don't drink much shou/shu, because I don't really think of it as "tea." To me it's something I use to wash down greasy dim sum, so I don't have any good recommendations for shou/shu.
Since it seems that you have a more lenient budget you can probably go for some assorted samplers from Nada or Hou De (Seven Cups doesn't do samples, and they're cakes are little too pricey to qualify for cake = sample theory). I think your best bet would be to email Guang (from Hou De) or Nada and tell them that you're a beginner and you want an introduction to older pu-erh. The recommendations people here can really be a personal taste kind of thing, and IMO vendors can have a better grasp at choosing what products that have are going to be the most accessible to beginners. I think the 80s Wang Zi that Nada offers is good value and a great introduction to the genre of older pu-erh, and although it won't taste as great as a 80s cake, the loose is certainly much cheaper.
As important as it is to understand older stuff, the young stuff is another facet of the d20 that is pu-erh, so I would recommend going for the Menghai/Xiaguan Sampler pack offered over at Jas-etea. If you're a little more daring and want to order a cake, the Menghai 7532 and Menghai 8582 are more accessible than say, the Menghai 7542.
Just my two cents
I don't drink much shou/shu, because I don't really think of it as "tea." To me it's something I use to wash down greasy dim sum, so I don't have any good recommendations for shou/shu.
Since it seems that you have a more lenient budget you can probably go for some assorted samplers from Nada or Hou De (Seven Cups doesn't do samples, and they're cakes are little too pricey to qualify for cake = sample theory). I think your best bet would be to email Guang (from Hou De) or Nada and tell them that you're a beginner and you want an introduction to older pu-erh. The recommendations people here can really be a personal taste kind of thing, and IMO vendors can have a better grasp at choosing what products that have are going to be the most accessible to beginners. I think the 80s Wang Zi that Nada offers is good value and a great introduction to the genre of older pu-erh, and although it won't taste as great as a 80s cake, the loose is certainly much cheaper.
As important as it is to understand older stuff, the young stuff is another facet of the d20 that is pu-erh, so I would recommend going for the Menghai/Xiaguan Sampler pack offered over at Jas-etea. If you're a little more daring and want to order a cake, the Menghai 7532 and Menghai 8582 are more accessible than say, the Menghai 7542.
Just my two cents
Re: Pu for newbs?
Well, I ordered the following, thank you for your help. We'll see how it goes.
1 x 1997 MengHai "Shui Lan Yin" 7542 Chi Tsi Beeng, Uncooked 10g
1 x 70's Aged Liao Fu San Cha, Loose Uncooked 2oz
Size Sample 20g
1 x 1999 Yi-Chang Hao "Yunnan Chi Tse" Song-Charactered, 10g
1 x 1997 MengHai "Shui Lan Yin" 7542 Chi Tsi Beeng, Uncooked 10g
1 x 70's Aged Liao Fu San Cha, Loose Uncooked 2oz
Size Sample 20g
1 x 1999 Yi-Chang Hao "Yunnan Chi Tse" Song-Charactered, 10g
Re: Pu for newbs?
1 x 1999 Yi-Chang Hao "Yunnan Chi Tse" Song-Charactered, 10g
this is great, drop us some pics =)
this is great, drop us some pics =)
Re: Pu for newbs?
One other question: brewing methods?
Most of what I've seen on the 'net is boiling temperature, 30 seconds to a minute. Some advocate flushing it out with some cold water before hand. Sound right?
Most of what I've seen on the 'net is boiling temperature, 30 seconds to a minute. Some advocate flushing it out with some cold water before hand. Sound right?
Re: Pu for newbs?
Those are really odd directions. Do it like this:
Using 5g per 100ml, prewarm pot and cups, do a first rinse steep, steep for about 15 seconds, then add a few more seconds each time.
Using 5g per 100ml, prewarm pot and cups, do a first rinse steep, steep for about 15 seconds, then add a few more seconds each time.