Looking for samples - Novice

[BW85]

David of EoT just moved to Malaysia, I'm not sure how that will effect shipping costs. And as of right now they are still in the process of getting set up down there, I don't think they're shipping orders out yet.

The reason I suggested W2T is because you said you're new to puer, and they offer a nice range of very affordable cakes that are enjoyable to drink. Honestly you shouldn't start out trying to buy premium cakes if you haven't developed a palate for puer, because you won't be able to recognize WHY they are premium. It's best to start out with the basics and work up from there. EoT has wonderful tea, but a year ago it would have been over my head. W2T also has some very nice higher quality teas, but their $40 and under cakes are tasty and affordable as well. You can also learn what kind of puers you like without spending a fortune.

[anabol]

EoT indeed does not take orders right now due to relocation.
Hence, i'm gonna go with W2T.

What's your opinion about these teas:
2002 White2tea White Whale (brick)
2012 Cangyan Gufeng Yiwu
2007 Jin Gui Lincang
2013 Dashu Bulang
2008 Haichao Chenxiang
2013 FT Feitai 7572 (should I?)

[yalokinh]

You can go to http://yunnansourcing.com they have samples available for most of their teas and have a wide variety of puerh. No free shipping but like economist said there's not really any free lunch, you pay for it one way or another.

Not on ebay either, they used to be but moved to their own site. You can still use paypal and get all the buyer protection you're used to from ebay.

The aged teas usually aren't very good, their location is too dry even for someone who likes dry stored tea, but you can get good unaged sheng and shu puerh there. Also really good source for yunnan black(red) tea

+1 on YS, they have a great variety of different teas.

[tinols]

I'm gonna vote for YunnanSourcing. I think it's the best option for a newbie because most of their teas would not hurt our wallets. It's a great store for a lot of chinese teas really. EoT is great too. I bought a ton of samples and a couple of bings from David. I'm not disappointed at all.

[shah82]

Bana teas has some very cost friendly single serving sample arrays...

like...http://www.banateacompany.com/pages/pue ... erVar.html

All ripe selections:http://www.banateacompany.com/pages/pue ... rRipe.html

All raw selections: http://www.banateacompany.com/pages/pue ... erRaw.html

All somewhat aged selections: http://www.banateacompany.com/pages/pue ... rVint.html

The prices are very reasonable for what they are.

[JakubT]

Ah, Bana tea is a good point - that's generally a very nice and well stored tea. I'd just say that ordering their sample package twice might be a good idea as single batch is a bit small (one can mess up one preparation easily in the learning stage). That still won't change it's a good price

[Puerlife]

Recently I've been in a five-gram-per-session phase; larger amounts were not yielding better results. So for me eight grams is an awkward size because four grams seems to small--I'd worry I wouldn't get a bit of every part of the blend--while eight grams is just too much, especially since I often drink alone.

[Cwyn]

Looking at your picks for white2tea, I would go with the Yiwu and the White Whale. My personal favs I would add their 2005 Naka, the 1998 Dry Stored Yiwu, and the 2014 Manzhuan, with these in hand clear your schedule of anything else and enjoy the qi zone:)

[kyarazen]

Recently I've been in a five-gram-per-session phase; larger amounts were not yielding better results. So for me eight grams is an awkward size because four grams seems to small--I'd worry I wouldn't get a bit of every part of the blend--while eight grams is just too much, especially since I often drink alone.

change the pot size!

[Puerlife]

I must confess that teapots are a mystery to me. I have one nice one but have no doubt failed to season it properly, and more recently have started drinking semi-aged tea from it instead of new sheng so I'm mostly back to gaiwans. I have several large gaiwans but I have gotten pretty good at stopping at 100ml. Having an addictive personality, I have a tendency to want too much so I'm enjoying the groove I'm in for now. Of course, when a friend comes over I can't let them leave until they are completely tea drunk so all bets are off.

[Rui]

Having an addictive personality, I have a tendency to want too much so I'm enjoying the groove I'm in for now. Of course, when a friend comes over I can't let them leave until they are completely tea drunk so all bets are off.

Somehow that sounds very familiar to me.

[kyarazen]

I must confess that teapots are a mystery to me. I have one nice one but have no doubt failed to season it properly, and more recently have started drinking semi-aged tea from it instead of new sheng so I'm mostly back to gaiwans. I have several large gaiwans but I have gotten pretty good at stopping at 100ml. Having an addictive personality, I have a tendency to want too much so I'm enjoying the groove I'm in for now. Of course, when a friend comes over I can't let them leave until they are completely tea drunk so all bets are off.

100ml is a nice size.. i'm quite fixated at a sheng ratio of 1:20, i.e. 5g per 100ml, just playing with the steep times and pot shapes occasionally