Tasting Opportunity - Flight of Wisteria Puer

[Chip]

Standard advertising tactics with very little information on the cakes.

I'm surprised something like this is allowed outside the vendors forum.

A few points for clarity.

1. SC had informed me of this tasting program, so fortunately I was not blindsided.

2. SC did not post the topic. I liken this with anyone posting about any other vendor with whom they are not affiliated. This was slightly unusual in that Brandon was involved with helping develop the page or something like that, but I see no foul on the play as he was not paid for his services. There is a touch of gray area, but acceptable.

3. I am all for tastings of just about any kind as they help us to expand our horizons and learn. Recently I think someone also posted about the TKY tasting conducted by MarshalN. Anyone conducting a tasting should feel free to contact me, and I will do what I can to not only promote but share experiences as well.

4. I have extended an invitation to SC to post a topic for his new TeaVenture (not directly tied to this tasting program as I understand it) in TeaMerchant.

5. SC is paying me 10 grand, so you know I approve it! OK, just kidding on this one ...

[teaisme]

Curious. So these cakes really good?

Anyone else try them (seen M's blog post on one). You think they are rather generous with the ancient leaves?

[wyardley]

I have only tried the zipin (Yiwu area) (the tuo version, not the cake). I think it's good tea. When I tried / bought them in 08-09, the price was lower than it apparently is now, but I think even so, the teas are a fairly good value. I have a little bit of the 05 hongyin, but haven't tried it yet. Everyone I know who has tried the zipin I have seems to like it. Additionally, not many vendors carry these teas, and while it's possible to do mail order from Wistaria, it's not really practical unless it's a large purchase.

I do not have the palate or experience to speculate whether the teas are exactly from the areas they are said to be from. There are some lower cost ones from areas nearby.

The early ones, at least, were pressed by 6FTM, but the leaves were chosen by Zhou Yu.

[teaisme]

cool thanks a lot for the info w

[bagua7]

For those who've never heard of Wisteria, its likely the oldest teashop in Taiwan and run by Zhou Yu, generally respected tea man.

Expensive place. There are others as good or even better...of course you need to know a knowledgeable local person to show you.

I hope those teas are worth the money.

[TwoDog2]

Calculating for Chip bribery, seems his margin is much worse than I originally guessed

[the_economist]

For those who've never heard of Wisteria, its likely the oldest teashop in Taiwan and run by Zhou Yu, generally respected tea man.

Expensive place. There are others as good or even better...of course you need to know a knowledgeable local person to show you.

I hope those teas are worth the money.

Possibly, possibly. Possibly sitting down and drinking there might be considered expensive, its a local landmark after all. Possibly some of the tea they sell might be expensive. Do you or your local knowledgeable person know about similar quality cakes at significantly lower prices?

[shah82]

For the age range of the cakes, almost certainly not.

I check enough of these taiwan auctions and establishments to guess that better price/value is almost certainly a matter of good relationships. If you're just another dude(tte) walking into the shop looking for 2000-2007 tea, you generally won't beat Wistaria's P/V, at least, not without liking stuff that fewer other people like, so forth and on.

[bagua7]

Do you or your local knowledgeable person know about similar quality cakes at significantly lower prices?

Not me, but I remember this person (a famous internal martial artist of Taipei) telling me once that he doesn't go to that tea house because it is expensive and very Western in their approach to the tea business...basically the typical place for the rich local folk and foreigners.

Let me send him an e-mail and see what he says. I am not sure if he really is into puerh tea because my chats with him are about Chinese kung fu and not tea.

[MarshalN]

Do you or your local knowledgeable person know about similar quality cakes at significantly lower prices?

Not me, but I remember this person (a famous internal martial artist of Taipei) telling me once that he doesn't go to that tea house because it is expensive and very Western in their approach to the tea business...basically the typical place for the rich local folk and foreigners.

Let me send him an e-mail and see what he says. I am not sure if he really is into puerh tea because my chats with him are about Chinese kung fu and not tea.

Expensive if you sit down and drink tea there, yes. The cakes - $140 for something 10 years old is expensive? What do you consider cheap? I'm hard pressed to find good quality cakes that are from 2003 that are at a similar price.

[the_economist]

Do you or your local knowledgeable person know about similar quality cakes at significantly lower prices?

Not me, but I remember this person (a famous internal martial artist of Taipei) telling me once that he doesn't go to that tea house because it is expensive and very Western in their approach to the tea business...basically the typical place for the rich local folk and foreigners.

Let me send him an e-mail and see what he says. I am not sure if he really is into puerh tea because my chats with him are about Chinese kung fu and not tea.

Well then, how do you know that there are other as good or better places in Taiwan? In particular, how do you know that there are as good or better pu cakes for cheaper?

I wonder what's a Western approach to tea business. You mean they don't know tea but try to sell it anyway? And that Wisteria falls in this category? Your friend must be a tea expert.

[teaisme]

I think the fact that most seasoned drinkers on this forum are jumping on is good indication this is a worthy en devour. Sure you could order cakes yourself by phone, but can you order 6 samples? I imagine not.

This is a sampler. Samplers usually are associated with a jump in price vs bigger quantity. Fair enough that SC charges a small finders fee. Just pretend it is the price you pay for getting 6 harder to access samples. Also consider the small finders fee as a educational fee. Getting direct feedback about these from more seasoned drinkers, while drinking yourself from the exact same cake, is worth some money in itself imo.

Even though I wont be participating in this round, thanks SC keep it coming!

[TIM]

I think the fact that most seasoned drinkers on this forum are jumping on is good indication this is a worthy en devour

That is only because Master ZY is a living tea legend. One of the top tea person in Asia whom really knows what Puerh is all about.

[SilentChaos]

For those who've never heard of Wisteria, its likely the oldest teashop in Taiwan and run by Zhou Yu, generally respected tea man.

Expensive place. There are others as good or even better...of course you need to know a knowledgeable local person to show you.

I hope those teas are worth the money.

Possibly, possibly. Possibly sitting down and drinking there might be considered expensive, its a local landmark after all. Possibly some of the tea they sell might be expensive. Do you or your local knowledgeable person know about similar quality cakes at significantly lower prices?

Sitting down and drinking tea there is many many fold more expensive than buying their tea, and you only get about 5g for a single serving!!

[SilentChaos]

Do you or your local knowledgeable person know about similar quality cakes at significantly lower prices?

Not me, but I remember this person (a famous internal martial artist of Taipei) telling me once that he doesn't go to that tea house because it is expensive and very Western in their approach to the tea business...basically the typical place for the rich local folk and foreigners.

Let me send him an e-mail and see what he says. I am not sure if he really is into puerh tea because my chats with him are about Chinese kung fu and not tea.

Expensive if you sit down and drink tea there, yes. The cakes - $140 for something 10 years old is expensive? What do you consider cheap? I'm hard pressed to find good quality cakes that are from 2003 that are at a similar price.

I agree with MarshalN on this. However, the quality for price issue is not strictly relevant, since this is not a tasting of what I think are the best quality for price cakes. Neither am I experienced enough to offer such a tasting nor would I consider it even if I were.