2006 Vintages

[hop_goblin]

To you collectors out there,

Recently, there has been a lot of buzz regarding the 2006 Menghai Dayi 0622 and 7432. Futures suggest these are the beengs to look out for as they are speculated to rise significantly in value as a consequence of grade, and for the novelty of 0622 recipie having its first introduction in to the market. (Apparently the the 2006 batch #601 is supposed to be the best as they are all unblended spring mao cha of superior grade.) I have researched the prices for each of type beeng, and they have risen signficantly, as much as $3 USD in the last 2 weeks. I am assuming their predictions could be correct. Currently, prices range from $16 USD to $39 USD for a 400g beeng. I had observed that each time vendors had advertised them, they sell out in a matter of days. And each time they relist, the quantity numbers seem to dwindle. Just today, I haved noticed that a vendor has " uped"their price for the 7432. I couldn't take the risk of not getting mine in the event that speculators are correct, so I just purchased a number of each. I don't collect for resale value, just thought I would fork it out now instead of potentially having to pay 200 for each 10 years from now.

Unfortunatly, I have to wait impatiently for them to to be shipped so I haven't personally inspected them . For those of you who already have them in your hands, what are your initial impressions? Comments? Is it all Hype. Unfortunatly, my sources do not sell samples! Also, are there any "must have" selctions you care to share?

[MarshalN]

Please know that Dayi prices are ridiculous this year -- everything has risen a very substantial amount, as long as it is made by Dayi. Much of this is speculation, and has little to do with inherent quality of the tea, I'm afraid.

This is not to say the tea is bad, it just means that the price rise does not really reflect the inherent quality of the tea. Much of this is a speculative thing based on the fact that it is Dayi tea.

I've tried both. Personally, I like 7432 better. 0622 doesn't really strike my fancy.

[hop_goblin]

Please know that Dayi prices are ridiculous this year -- everything has risen a very substantial amount, as long as it is made by Dayi. Much of this is speculation, and has little to do with inherent quality of the tea, I'm afraid.

This is not to say the tea is bad, it just means that the price rise does not really reflect the inherent quality of the tea. Much of this is a speculative thing based on the fact that it is Dayi tea.

I've tried both. Personally, I like 7432 better. 0622 doesn't really strike my fancy.

Hey Marsh, I have also read that pu-erh prices have all risen in general-I believe I read it in Bearsbearsbears forum, can't remember. I do know about the quality of some chas that are not on par with the cost! (Guilty here for being stupid LOL) However, I am uncertain as to why prices so are crazy! Is it the growing trend? Or are they finally making suckers of us? I'm sure its just neo-classical economics -supply and demand. It is my understanding that you are close to the source, can you account as to why pu-erh prices are on the up?

And I do understand that people pay a premium for DaYi because they produce such a consistent product, (not to mention delicious) however, when comparing other DaYi product prices, they seem not to fluctuate as much as the two that I have mentioned. Additionally, these two seem to rise more than others that I have witnessed, generally speaking of course. (at least the ones I can research from the states and those cites which I can transulate from chinese - as me dont read chinese.

Cheers

[MarshalN]

Actually, believe it or not, what you're seeing here is a pale shadow of the actual mayhem that is going on in China right now.

Let me put it this way..... you can sometimes buy Dayi tea for less on ebay than in China, anywhere. This is not true for any other puerh. The reason is simple -- prices rise so fast that any ebay vendor is unable to keep up. Mostly for two reasons. One is because it will look bad for the vendor to do this on ebay, whose customers aren't used to seeing these ridiculous price rises. The second is because prices can literally jump like 20-30% over the course of a week, especially when the teas first come out. Ebay vendors can't keep up.

A tea that started off from the factory-outlet price of 5USD per cake can now be selling for 25USD. This is 2006 tea. Certain productions are worse than others, and 7432 and 0622 are hardly the expensive stuff.