I've never had aged pu but I have 100 tongs of 2009 sheng

[TIM]

I went through the stage: I think I know.
Now I'm in the stage: I think I don't know any more and I don't know how long I will stuck here.

I went thru your stage 6 years ago. It will certainly pass... One thing that i am lucky enough to not stock new big factory cakes at my early tuition stage. Its a long journey and do take it slow

[shah82]

Yeah, read your blog and your posts @ livejournal.

How's that Menghai 2kg bing doing? Is it aging interestingly?

Wonder what my journey would have been had I sampled something other than Dayi 2005 Mensong Peacock and the 2008 series, and had something not quite so wild from them.

[TIM]

Yeah, read your blog and your posts @ livejournal.

How's that Menghai 2kg bing doing? Is it aging interestingly?

Wonder what my journey would have been had I sampled something other than Dayi 2005 Mensong Peacock and the 2008 series, and had something not quite so wild from them.

Think you got a different author. Not in livejournal...
I do have some Menghai speical limited 2 kg cakes. Some are in refine storage and some just open storage in a cellar. Have not touch them for a couple of years Time to taste some soon

[heatwaves]

I'd like to parrot wyardley and apache's comments. I honestly think 90% of puerh drinkers go through this. The other 10% are just better liars.

When I first began drinking puerh, only Yunnan Sourcing and Hou De offered samples. Hou De's cakes were too pricey for me, so I didn't buy their samples. Honestly, I didn't take advantage of YS's samples in the beginning either because I just liked the idea of owning cakes. As a result, (and as Apache put it) it was like betting on horses. Some great, some good, some bad, and some hilariously bad. That can actually be quite a fun journey in itself. It it a much more expensive way to do it, but whatever.

These days, I sample in rather copious amounts and buy what I like. I also think that I have enough of the larger factory (Menghai and Xiaguan) stuff, that I tend to focus on more "boutique" cakes (i.e. Nada's) or particular regions that I'm more drawn to. This way I have cakes that I enjoy both now and (hopefully) later.

[apache]

I went through the stage: I think I know.
Now I'm in the stage: I think I don't know any more and I don't know how long I will stuck here.

I went thru your stage 6 years ago. It will certainly pass... One thing that i am lucky enough to not stock new big factory cakes at my early tuition stage. Its a long journey and do take it slow

Thank you for you encouragement, Tim. No doubt my path to puerh enlightenment will be long and full of twist and turn. I will try to enjoy the tasting and sampling on the way.

[MarshalN]

I still buy a lot of samples to drink, mostly to try and see if I can find a jackpot. Most of the time, they're misses, but sometimes you get lucky. What's different now is that I'm more sure of my own opinions and what they mean -- and less worried about being "wrong".

[betta]

....
Of course very few people are willing to share as they gather their experiences with expense of, lets say... "tuition fee" in any form.
Those who are willing to share, may have motives behind it.

In another words, no free luch; should one need 2 years to master a skill, why should he let others know the short-cut trick and learn the same skill in 6 months?
......

I don't think there is short-cut when come to tea tasting, it does take time to develop, but the more different tea (good and bad) you sample and better you get.

Developing skill in tea tasting does take time. However if one has no proper information concerning basics to start, then it takes much more time.
I consider access to proper and correct information is one form of short-cut in learning.

This post initiated by one of generous members here, auhckw, is something invaluable for us who don't have access to literal chinese teashops.

Nowadays we don't have to rediscover and re-quantify Newton's law of gravity and motion because the theory has been documented and spread properly. With good laid basic we can develop something above it and don't need a lifetime to rediscover what Newton discovered in a lifetime.