I hate pu

One of the intentionally aged teas, Pu-Erh has a loyal following.


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Sep 30th, '10, 15:19
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Re: I hate pu

by TwoPynts » Sep 30th, '10, 15:19

Zensuji wrote:Those were the 2 that sprang out to me.
What, you have a 3D monitor!?! :lol:
Lots of choices EoT too, and as you may know, 3 of theirs was used in the last OTTI. My favorite was the Mansai.

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Sep 30th, '10, 15:21
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Re: I hate pu

by rabbit » Sep 30th, '10, 15:21

TwoPynts wrote:
Zensuji wrote:Those were the 2 that sprang out to me.
What, you have a 3D monitor!?! :lol:
Lots of choices EoT too, and as you may know, 3 of theirs was used in the last OTTI. My favorite was the Mansai.
You know those prank cans, when you open one a fake snake comes springing out at you? They should fill those with loose leaf tea..........

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Sep 30th, '10, 15:32
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Re: I hate pu

by debunix » Sep 30th, '10, 15:32

I've got some great pus that I'd love to recommend to you--my favorites that I'd suggest for beginners, are the golden needle white lotus from menghai (I have posted about it several times on this site, it has wonderful warm caramel notes besides mild earthiness); a private pressing from Norbu that is sold out (the 2007 white bud sheng); and a Lao Cha Tou brick that is quite delicious and fruity/plummy (link is to his site, with a review posted there (and also available here if you search for it).

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Sep 30th, '10, 17:32
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Re: I hate pu

by nickE » Sep 30th, '10, 17:32

I'll also highly recommend Essence of Tea. Really can't go wrong there.

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Sep 30th, '10, 18:12
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Re: I hate pu

by laura99 » Sep 30th, '10, 18:12

I have just started experimenting with Pu myself, so far I have learned that ripe seems to be more to my liking.

Debunix - your review on the Lau Cha Tou brick convinced my to make another sample order. Picked a couple others and looking forward to trying them!

Sep 30th, '10, 19:27
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Re: I hate pu

by auhckw » Sep 30th, '10, 19:27

TwoPynts wrote:
auhckw wrote:...I recently managed to find an Age Pu that I really like. It doesn't have the fishiness / fermented taste at all. Doesn't have the wet wood taste. Sort of aged herb kind of taste. Liking it a lot..
May I inquire which one you found?
It sounds interesting.
My current fav for ripe aged puerh...

Early 90s Gong Ting Ripe Pu-erh

Review:
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 05#p170504

Place I bought it:
http://www.tea-li.com/goods.php?id=147

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Oct 1st, '10, 03:01
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Re: I hate pu

by Alex » Oct 1st, '10, 03:01

debunix wrote:I've got some great pus that I'd love to recommend to you--my favorites that I'd suggest for beginners, are the golden needle white lotus from menghai (I have posted about it several times on this site, it has wonderful warm caramel notes besides mild earthiness); a private pressing from Norbu that is sold out (the 2007 white bud sheng); and a Lao Cha Tou brick that is quite delicious and fruity/plummy (link is to his site, with a review posted there (and also available here if you search for it).

This one?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2007-Menghai-Gold ... 274wt_1137

Thanks for all the info guys. I'm going to reference this thread so all your answers are much appreciated

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Oct 1st, '10, 03:52
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Re: I hate pu

by debunix » Oct 1st, '10, 03:52

Yes.

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Oct 1st, '10, 04:29
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Re: I hate pu

by Alex » Oct 1st, '10, 04:29

OK debunix I'm putting my money on you first :D

Oct 1st, '10, 08:12
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Re: I hate pu

by auhckw » Oct 1st, '10, 08:12

You can also try this recent release ripe from Dayi.

2010 Gong Ting Ripe Puerh
Image

Gong Ting in general is meant for the king. So it is supposed to be of higher or better grade.

Info: http://www.tea-li.com/goods.php?id=252

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Re: I hate pu

by TwoPynts » Oct 1st, '10, 09:44

Zensuji wrote:This one?
This is the one I got a sample from. Cake rather than brick.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2007-Menghai-Dayi-G ... 2ea9f1b3a2

Oct 3rd, '10, 04:22
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Re: I hate pu

by zeusmta » Oct 3rd, '10, 04:22

I would highly recommend a slightly aged sheng, the 1993 7542 from esssence of tea. http://www.essenceoftea.co.uk/tea/aged- ... -7542.html

You can get as sample size for about a buck a gram and it's an easy company to do business with. 7542 is considered a classic blend, so it's a good place to start.

I would not start with Shu. That's not to say Shu is not good -- I love it. It's just that an aged or semi-aged Sheng is really what pu erh is about, IMO. That's not to say aged sheng is the only thing. I only drink it occasionally and I drink shu every day. But still, it's a good place to start to appreciate pu erh.

Pu erh can take a long time to understnad and appreciate, and after a couple of years I feel like I'm barely scratching the surface. But that's part of the joy of it.

Also, another bit of advice is to try the same tea more than once, perhaps after a bit of time. I've had teas that I disliked only to love the tea the next time I have it. I never know if it's me or the tea that has changed -- most likely me.

Anyway, I'm babbling now. Give a sample of tha 1993 7542 a try. It won't break the bank.

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Oct 3rd, '10, 12:36
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Re: I hate pu

by Alex » Oct 3rd, '10, 12:36

Thanks zeusmta

I will definitely get some of that.

I ordered this first of all

http://jingtea.com/tea/finest-and-rares ... -shu-puerh

If I dont like it I will continue to find a way in. Oolong is my favourite tea and its 90% of what I drink but for years I didnt like it. Because I didnt brew it properly and I didn't give it a chance on the palate.

I'm going to build a small set of samples and keep plugging away at them. If its a no go its a no go but I want to properly give it a go before giving up.

Thanks to all.. every thing in this thread will be looked in to.

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Oct 5th, '10, 12:16
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Re: I hate pu

by Alex » Oct 5th, '10, 12:16

Right well the 1990 ripe tasted like drinking a piece of highly polished antique furniture with a thick layer of dust on the top and a slightly mediciney flavour. Got a good buzz of it but my throat felt horrible after...dry and fluffy. And the taste wasnt my thing at all. pretty grime really.

Did get a 2007 raw sample which was much nicer and I can see decent sheng being more my thing so that's my next route.

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Oct 5th, '10, 15:41
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Re: I hate pu

by entropyembrace » Oct 5th, '10, 15:41

yes, shu is much more likely to have off flavours than sheng...also if you´re buying aged tea you might want to shy away from anything labeled as wet stored...even if it´s done carefully it develops off flavours imo. Some people like it but it tastes too fungal for me...I won´t eat anything but the mildest cheeses either though. :roll: :lol:

My advice if you want clean tasting puerh...stick to vendors that are reputable for their puerh...even otherwise good western vendors often stock really bad puerh because they don´t know what it should be like. I´m thinking this could be the case to some degree with Jing UK. It´s better buying from sites like Essence of Tea (UK), Yunnan Sourcing (China) and Hou De (USA) which have a good level of knowledge of how to correctly source puerh.

When you´re buying shu puerh look for well known factory names like Menghai Dayi, Xiaguan, Haiwan ect... Also even good quality shu puerh can have strange flavours when it´s young...buy it a few years old if you want to drink it now so it has had time to air out. Ask the vendors if the tea you´re interested in has "Dui Wei" still or not...you´ll want to avoid the ones that do...that´s the term for those funky fermentation flavours and aromas you´ll want to avoid when you´re buying teas to drink right away.

With sheng when young the issues are more along the lines of being very bitter and having a lot of smoky aroma...this can be good or bad depending on your taste preferences. If those flavours put you off again...ask the vendor if the teas you´re interested in have strong bitterness or smokiness...often the descriptions on the sites will tell you.

With aged sheng the thing to watch out for is if they were stored in high humidity they can develop very fungal flavours...even if they were stored carefully with good controls...which I don´t like...others do. If that bothers you look specifically for dry stored tea. Avoid tea that was aged in humid places like Hong Kong. You can ask the vendor for those kinds of details...they should know.

Dry storage will also help to develop cleaner tasting aged shu too.

Hopefully that helps you in finding puerh without any unpleasant flavours...they certainly exist :) Not that everything I listed is bad...some people really like puerh aged in humid climates and I personally really enjoy bitter, smoky sheng....but I think those kinds of puerh are better left to explore when you´re feeling a bit more confident and already have some puerh you like. :)

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