Help identifying a few cakes

[Nighttrain]

Hi! I'm new to Puer/Pu-Erh/Pu'Erh, and am, as it seems many are, obsessed.

I live in Toronto and have been researching online a bunch, trying to get my hands on what's available. I've placed the orders with online places in Yunnan. But I'm impatient and the weeks it will take for delivery will be excruciating. And so, meantime, I'm scouring what's available here.

So I guess I'm asking 2 questions:

a) for anyone who lives in toronto, where do you go to get your Sheng/Shu cakes? I'm ok with factory, not factory, anything. I'm in the discovery phase.

b) I've come across the following cakes online, but they give very little info about the cakes. I'm wondering if anyone can make any sense of these, and let me know their thoughts on the quality of the cakes?

exhibit a: http://waitteahouse.com/products/pu-er- ... -sheng-tea

exhibit b: http://waitteahouse.com/products/pu-er- ... -sheng-tea

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[mr mopu]

Try Yunnan Sourcing US or Crimson Lotus or Mandala Tea or Tribute Tea or White2Tea. These guys are US based except for White2Tea. All have samples and some have aged stuff as well. If you go the eBay route try Berylleb King tea or aliexpress King Tea. All have pretty good track records. You can message me if you need links to any of them.

[apache]

Yunnan Sourcing US site:
http://www.yunnansourcing.us/
or
Jas-e Tea
http://www.jas-etea.com/
And I wouldn't think it would take that long to post anything across the border.

If you got money to burn, you could try this:
http://www.bestteaonline.com
They are in Canada. Though I never ordered anything from them, the stuffs they sell should be o.k. except of course the price.

If I were you I would leave small factories' tea alone until you know a bit about pu.

A few years old Dayi 7542 would give you some idea what a young sheng should be like and a well respected V93 tuo should give you good indication what a drinkable shu should be.

Leave those small factories stuffs to the pu head experts and it is really not worth the risk.

[Nighttrain]

Thanks for your help! I have subscriptions coming from yunnan sourcing to help me learn - meantime I'll try to track down 7542 and v93... Which leads me to my next question: does anyone in Toronto know where I could get these two pu-erhs in person? I NEED it this week. I'm jonesing bad...

[jayinhk]

Google is your friend:

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10932

'Bo lay' is Cantonese for pu erh, so if you end up in a HK-owned store, you can ask for 'bo lay,' although they'll understand pu erh too.

V93 and 7542 might be a little harder to come by, but give it a shot. I just got a bunch of both, but I won't touch them for at least five years, and I'll probably just sample them then!

[Nighttrain]

whoa! shipping at Jas-eTea and Yunnan Sourcing US is about $40 to Canada... Any Canadians out there know of a shipping method that will get me Menghai factory cakes for a reasonable price within a week? Something like those listed above but with say $10 shipping rather than 40? Thanks!

[.m.]

For Canada, you'll be better with the international site of YS, which ships from china (which is cheaper than from US!) and has a better selection:
http://yunnansourcing.com/
Chawangshop is another great place for cheaper puerh:
http://www.chawangshop.com/
But in both cases it the shipping is probably still gonna be above $20.
Domestically, you may also take a look at
http://www.thechineseteashop.com/
(personally, i havent had much luck with the aged puerh i tried, but they may have some interesting offers)

EDIT: As far as shu goes, most Dayi (Menghai) and Haiwan factory productions should be reliable, YS house blends have also a good reputation.

[Nighttrain]

Thanks! Well, this is a bummer. either I have to pay $40 for shipping or wait 3 weeks. Neither option is palatable... I think I'm heading on an adventure to chinatown...

[jayinhk]

Do it! Buy local. Let us know how it goes. Good luck!

[.m.]

Chinatown is always fun

[honza]

In Toronto is this shop
http://www.tanlongtea.com/collections/our-teas-puer
you can try their sheng from Snow mountain http://www.tanlongtea.com/collections/o ... d-tea-tree I had 2014 version and it was not bad for the price.

[Nighttrain]

Thanks! Their stuff looks interesting.

[Nighttrain]

Hi folks! I'm wondering if I could get a few recommendations for pu-erh's to try. Maybe a push in the right direction. I'm looking for a not TOO expensive (20-40$ USD) strong and very "green" tasting Sheng. I like tart, with that taste that comes up after you finished it that says I want more in the back of your throat. Happy for some floral complexity to come out after the initial tartness. I THINK I might be in Bulang territory here? Any advice on specific teas, or even perhaps regions/mountains that specialize in that type of tea would be helpful. Thanks!

[jayinhk]

Try some of Honza's 2015 cakes--I think you'll be very happy!

[BW85]

Try some of Honza's 2015 cakes--I think you'll be very happy!

By the way, honza = chawanghop.com

Yes, lots of quality affordable teas