2011 Gold Dayi Raw Puerh vs. Gold

[fdrx]

a few pics of a cake that comes from the dayi store:

[shah82]

It should be specifically noted that DTH does not offer images of what they are sending out. They are offering the image of the real Jin Dayi on the website, and sending out fakes.

[MarshalN]

a few pics of a cake that comes from the dayi store:

Note how the leaves are not falling off the surface of the cake like the fake one, even though the edge is a bit frayed here (due to drinking/transport?)

[quikstep]

quickstep,

You have yet to comment on how the tea tastes. Maybe you should compare it to tea that you KNOW is authentic '11 Jin Dayi first before you claim it is fake.

Hmmm ?

hi tst. i've had at least 6 session of this tea since. i've aired the cake for over 2 weeks before tasting it. 5 of the session are with '11 Jin Dayi collectors and 2 of those, we did side-by-side comparison. incidentally, side-by-side comparisons are done with cakes made on the same date 12/06/2011. i went as far as authorized dayi shop.

the taste: it's very noticeable that bitterness and astringency is stronger and lingers longer. there is also smell i associate with wet storage.

the look: comparing the chopped leaves, mine is slightly averagely shorter. and the compression is looser; cake can be dismantled easily with prying fingers. overall height is also not as thin. as marshaln observed, the edges crumble easily. there is a patch about size of half my palm where leaves are dead dull.

the security: the silver strip on the security label can be peeled effortlessly. it came broken in half and not at those places intended (the "S" shaped perforation")

i'm not saying all this with malice. i did mentioned that DTH offered me refund if i sent the cake back. however, tracked shipping cost makes it impossible. i've made 1/2 dozen inquiries to DTH asking the suspiciously low price that they are selling and in all instances, they insist it's real.

[fdrx]

even though the edge is a bit frayed here (due to drinking/transport?)

both drinking and transport, exactly:

[quikstep]

The neifei:

Spacing issue and also security strip does not end at the end of the paper. Notice the discrepancies in the commas.


Full size:http://i.imgur.com/4XdrpFL.jpg

[Balthazar]

Try contacting DTH. I sent them an email about this yesterday, including all the photos I posted here (as well as the auction link comparing the fake and real cake) and they responded today saying they would contact their supplier to see what's going on with these cakes, and refund me (without me having to send back the cake, as the shipping would be more than the purchase price).

Edit: Oh, you already did contact them... It's weird they wanted you to ship it back, I explicitly mentioned in my email that I would not do this (due to the high cost) and they still said they would give a full refund.

[Exempt]

I emailed them a while ago but haven't gotten a response. Hopefully they'll respond soon or I'll try emailing them again.

[quikstep]

hi balthazar & exempt,

i'm pleased to tell you that DTH made a full refund to me without having me to send back the product. i'm not sure if this is tantamount to an admission of this particular product as 'problematic'. nonetheless, i was refunded. i hope in due time they will clear up the issue.

[Balthazar]

Hmm, I was given the value of the cake as "store credit" instead of a paypal refund. That's a smart move, since it will force me to put the credit to use at DTH, but since their shipping is free and they have some other stuff I want to try I don't really mind. I'm happy they were willing to admit to the problems with this cake without requiring that the customers ship them back.

(Incidentally, I did try the cake and the sample side by side, and it's the same thing. In other words, both are probably fake, but they're still tasty enough for me to have made the order based on the sample in the first place. So I'm pretty satisfied with the end result here, and will definitely check cake details, wrappers, etc more carefully when I receive my orders from now on ...)

However, the cake is still available on their webpage, which it shouldn't be as long as they haven't sorted out the problem with fakes.. Sent them another email pointing out this.

[Maxwell2079]

Mmm, I 've bought this one from DHT too. I also got some cakes from sampletea. I compared both cakes with the pictures in the Apache link.

The one from DHT looks like the fake in the link, and it seems that the one from sample tea is not...

I would have to do a tea taste comparison. But a I am afraid is too late for a refund.I got the one from DTH last year.

[AllanK]

Where would be a good seller from whom to buy this cake if Dragon seems to have a questionable tea? Do Yunnan Sourcing or Berylleb King Tea have it?

[Balthazar]

Where would be a good seller from whom to buy this cake if Dragon seems to have a questionable tea? Do Yunnan Sourcing or Berylleb King Tea have it?

http://stores.ebay.com/Berylleb-King-Tea
http://www.yunnansourcing.us/


(From my search, no, they don't).

I don't know of any other (international) vendor that carries it (whole cakes, that is). And if Taobao prices are a guideline there's been a ridiculous price increase since it came out. The reason many here bought it from DTH is that their price was very reasonable compared to other vendors, for a reason as it would turn out.

Sampletea has samples of it, $5.30 for 10 grams... That would mean a cake price of $189 (if we forget that samples are usually more expensive than whole cakes, gram for gram), which is just absurd.

[MarshalN]

Honestly, at the current price the tea is completely not worth it. If you are only interested in drinking and not speculating there are far better value for money plays out there.

[TwoDog2]

Honestly, at the current price the tea is completely not worth it. If you are only interested in drinking and not speculating there are far better value for money plays out there.

+1

I own quite a few of these (from both production dates), which I bought back when it was 200-300 RMB per cake. At that price is was alright. At the current price, there are better plays for either daily drinking tea or "investment".

I am not familiar with the seller in this thread, never had anything from DTH and do not mean this comment to bad mouth them or anyone in particular. I would just say buyer beware of Dayi teas that have a "too good to be true" price tag. If you want real/famous Dayi tea, it will not be cheap.

As a vendor and someone living and doing business in China for nearly a decade, there are no shortage of people making fake cakes. There are entire shops in marketplaces in Yunnan, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou whose entire business model is based on selling fake famous cakes.

It behooves most people to ignore the label and chase after what they enjoy instead of a brand or fame. The most important goal should be finding tea that you enjoy. (If the fake ends up being good, then I guess it is still sort of a win)

Like Marshaln said, for the current price of this cake, no way. I can think of 500 other cakes more worthy of my money.