Top picks in cooked puerh?

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


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Jun 5th, '10, 22:32
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Re: Top picks in cooked puerh?

by nickE » Jun 5th, '10, 22:32

+1 to the Golden Needle White Lotus, that stuff is awesome.

I have recently been drinking the '09 Menghai Hong Yun, which is pretty decent. Also, the "Yi Dian Hong" mini-cakes from YS are very good. I ended up ordering a tong of the latter.

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Jun 6th, '10, 12:34
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Re: Top picks in cooked puerh?

by pgho » Jun 6th, '10, 12:34

bearsbearsbears wrote:
thanks wrote:I agree with this, although I will say the 06 Haiwan Lao Cha Tou is a better value, and tastes very similar to the Dayi version.
IIRC, Awazon and Dragon Tea House both have the 08 dayi for cheaper than what the 07 haiwan is going for, something like $14 for 250g instead of $30+ for 500g. (Not accounting for shipping).
I like the Haiwan Lao Cha Tou too, apparently Haiwan rarely sells it Lao Cha Tou since it started business in 1999 so there is a believe the 07 batch contained materials from the past years.

Btw, Haiwan has pretty decent cooked puerh at very reasonable prices. The founder was the Shu-pu expert at Menghai before he branched out on his own. My regular shu is a 250g 2009 brick that cost me < USD4.00 (in Malaysia), don't see @ ebay but available @ Taobao. Sweet, caramel ... no pond taste. Need a few years to further develop the wood and earthy favors but I probably would have finish my 3 bricks before then.

http://search.taobao.com/search?q=09%C4 ... A%EC%B2%E8

Jun 6th, '10, 20:45
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Re: Top picks in cooked puerh?

by nicolas » Jun 6th, '10, 20:45

My favourite 2009 cooked puerh is the Laotongzhi (老同志) Anning Haiwan (海湾) 2009 No. 1 Recipe (一号熟饼) 901.

The primary reasons are because the No. 1 Recipe formula was developed and supervised by Haiwan directors Mr. Zou Bing Liang (who co-invented cooked puerh in 1973 when he was at Menghai before defecting to Haiwan) and Ms Lu Quo Ling (ex-Kunming Tea Factory), and the leaf quality of the No. 1 Recipe is superior because it comes from wild old arbor trees grown at a high altitude of 1700 meters, compared to the commercially farmed low altitude Dayi bushes. Therefore the cha di (茶地) is superior to anything I've seen from other manufacturers. I discovered this tea when I walked into a Haiwan Authorised Dealer in Guangzhou and said, show me your best 2009 cooked puerh. This product was designed to beat Dayi and it did. Even Dayi's flagship 2009 Yun Ding (云鼎) 901 (which, as the name suggests, is made from high altitude bushes)(and which I bought a tong of before I discovered the Haiwan) has inferior cha di and was not post-fermented as well hence it contains more wo dui.

The only 2009 cooked puerh I have tried that can beat the Haiwan is the 2009 Peak Bulang, which is made from select wild old trees and fermented in bamboo instead of the floor, resulting in virtually no wo dui!. However, it costs 900% more than the Haiwan (hence not as cost effective) and is completely sold out. According to the dealer, an American buyer bought it all up. However, I think samples are still available. This tea was sold out because it was produced in low quantities and the fermentation was closely supervised by the Peak team, hence it is not fair to compare this to other mass produced tea which are in a different league.

Having said that, 2009 cooked puerh should not be consumed before 2012.

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Jun 7th, '10, 01:05
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Re: Top picks in cooked puerh?

by spinmail » Jun 7th, '10, 01:05

This cake look identical to the ripe puerh mentioned, except it's 2007 rather than 2009. http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... product=48

Does that seem to be a good pick, from what you know?

Jun 7th, '10, 07:10
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Re: Top picks in cooked puerh?

by nicolas » Jun 7th, '10, 07:10

This seems like a standard Haiwan offering and I have not tried it. For standard offerings, Dayi is the best. It's more fragrant, less bitter, ages well and offers the highest return on investment.

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