Ancient/wild arbour puerhs that have impressed you

[shah82]

I'm not sure which XZH you were referring to when you said you weren't impressed by.

I don't typically think of YS as a place to get high end sheng, new or old. The proliferation of YS brand stuff, along with the HLH, has me cautious.

Generation Tea isn't typically a place I would buy tea from either. I mentioned them because they actually have a stock of aged sheng. If you're pretty well off in SF, may I ask what kind of shop sells nice aged sheng?

Everyone who's been in this thing for awhile, and regularly talks to one another knows just how individual pu really is. I like some things some people *hate*, and vice versa. I think this is more true for pu than for other kinds of tea

[shah82]

I'm not sure which XZH you were referring to when you said you weren't impressed by.

I don't typically think of YS as a place to get high end sheng, new or old. The proliferation of YS brand stuff, along with the HLH, has me cautious.

Generation Tea isn't typically a place I would buy tea from either. I mentioned them because they actually have a stock of aged sheng. If you're pretty well off in SF, may I ask what kind of shop sells nice aged sheng?

Everyone who's been in this thing for awhile, and regularly talks to one another knows just how individual pu really is. I like some things some people *hate*, and vice versa. I think this is more true for pu than for other kinds of tea

[ltannenbaum]

I have not tried the exact XZH you suggested, but have had others with similar price tags and have been underwhelmed. Being open minded, I did make an attempt to go to Jas-E. Of the sheng you suggested of the XZH, he only has samples available. While I am happy to 'sample' teas, if it's good, then what? Buy more samples? No thanks. Kind of like going to a gentleman's club.

Below is a quote re XZH from The Half-Dipper:

It has become popular to criticise Xizihao. Though I am keen to treat each sample with an unbiased hand, I can understand why such criticism exists. Xizihao is turning into the Calvin Klein of tea. The public wants a quality brand in which they can trust, and, several years ago, Xizihao was satisfactory.

It is my opinion that the popularity of this brand has caused it to bow to market forces, resulting in teas like this Daxueshan [Big Snow Mountain] maocha. The price increases year by year, the product names become more exaggerated (we recently had a Tea Emperor, rather than a "Tea King", and a Desolate Forest, rather than a "Wild Tree"), product descriptions become more stretched and loaded with hyperbole, and the quality of tea inevitably decreases.

I find your comments re YS interesting. Most places that sell on-line eventually start selling their own line of pu. Scott is lucky enough to live there and so perhaps he has the means and ways to produce his own line more so than others. Also, there are so many good reviews of Scott and his shop, your being cautious seems a little odd to me. But no matter, I have bought from HouDe and Scott and been quite happy with both. Their service and quality is quite good. Agree completely with Nick tho, YS does not carry really old sheng (I think his oldest is some '98)

Re my shop here, it is called Mountain View Tea Village. They have no on-line site, but do have over 150 older pu-erhs for sale. Oldest is a 1939, which he does not sell (it is an inheritence for his kids). What is on the shelf is some 1960's though mid 90's. And he does have some newer stuff, but the selection of this is limited. Prices by comparison to the on-line sites is significantly less. If you live in the area, I can introduce you.

Anyhow, as you say.... To each their own. I'm off to make some cha

[TokyoB]

Hmmm..I love Mahei

BTW, is there real LBZ? I don't know..I heard a total crop of LBZ is 5 tons annually, but that Cantonese who monopolized LBZ farm distributed 40 tons this year, not to say he is about to face a bankrupcy soon..

Seems like one needs to watch from plucking to producing, and leaves pictures to enhance the security of LBZ today

chrl42 - For Mahei region, any particular brand/year?
Thanks!

[chrl42]

Hmmm..I love Mahei

BTW, is there real LBZ? I don't know..I heard a total crop of LBZ is 5 tons annually, but that Cantonese who monopolized LBZ farm distributed 40 tons this year, not to say he is about to face a bankrupcy soon..

Seems like one needs to watch from plucking to producing, and leaves pictures to enhance the security of LBZ today

chrl42 - For Mahei region, any particular brand/year?
Thanks!

Mahei is a part of Yiwu, what I had were mostly private hand-produced stuffs...

loves that sweet lingering of spring, this year one seems weak a little bit..hehe.