Chen Sheng Hao cakes

[gasninja]

500 dollar for xin Banzhang ouch.

[Teaism]

Xin Banzhang is another area and out of the league of Lao Banzhang. You can probably get a Xin Banzhang a fraction of that price.

Cheers!

[chrl42]

500 dollar for xin Banzhang ouch.

Even a pure maocha for new BZ ain't gonna cost that much...

I don't know what they are thinking

[shah82]

That whole shop is a ripoff.

[TIM]

500 dollar for xin Banzhang ouch.

If you look into the higher level producer, this is really nothing

[shah82]

That depends on you knowing what a higher end producer is and can discover and buy their teas. There are plenty of people pricing their teas like they're somebodies when they aren't.

[TIM]

That depends on you knowing what a higher end producer is and can discover and buy their teas. There are plenty of people pricing their teas like they're somebodies when they aren't.

So true.

[kyarazen]

so.. having been away from poo-erh for a long time and returning to lots of fanciful brands and colorful names on the market.. i decided to investigate banzhang a little..

there's some speculation that lao ban zhang "maocha" will shoot through the roof in the coming spring. the highest price ever traded for maocha /kilogram was around 8000 RMB this year, just enough to press 400g cake probably.

chen sheng's feeling the pressure the past couple of years. despite having convinced some half of the LBZ village to sign a contract to sell maocha to him, lots of maocha's slipping through his fingers. the contracted price for maocha was 500 RMB/kilogram, in spring this year, the target was 17-18 tons, and yet only 5 tons was received.

many other tea merchants, factory owners and all that had been heading to the village directly and offering the villages figures from 800rmb onwards, up to several thousands for per kilogram of maocha. despite trying to match the price of 800mb, in the end chensheng only received slightly above 10 tons, which was probably half of what they required for production.

given the increased difficulty to get the LBZ raw material, will the quality of LBZ cakes remain constant? is there a bubble forming again?

[shah82]

Much of that info is out of date.

In general, I'd pretty strongly advise that you should expect puerh to decline in value, and most of it returned to merely a hot drink, while the good stuff decreases in availability and liquidity.

As for Lao Banzhang, the price is simply too high. 2003 Banzhang cakes have serious attempts at being sold for $3k, for example.

[kyarazen]

Much of that info is out of date.

In general, I'd pretty strongly advise that you should expect puerh to decline in value, and most of it returned to merely a hot drink, while the good stuff decreases in availability and liquidity.

As for Lao Banzhang, the price is simply too high. 2003 Banzhang cakes have serious attempts at being sold for $3k, for example.

i see that you have very much advanced information compared to my chinese compatriots in mainland china. they were talking about spring tea prices this spring.

any new information on LBZ to share? i'm all ears

as i'm coming back to pu-erh after a long hiatus, what is considered to be "good stuff" amongst the sheng pu-er?

i'm a little wary of banzhang labelled stuffs from 03 though (have a piece of two in collection from my last tea purchase in 03), since the actual return to "quality" was somewhere around 07 together with the rebranding. any input on this?

[shah82]

Banzhang has not been 500RMB/kg since 2005. Also, ChenShengHao's contract was originally for five years, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. That's why you saw so much talk about CSH buying out other mountains like Naka. They still try and get their LBZ cakes together, of course.

Banzhang is good, of course, but you actually have to get some. The good stuff from anywhere at reasonable prices are long gone, really.

[kyarazen]

http://www.puercn.com/puerchanews/news/53238.html

new bank branch opens in Banzhang, on first day 2.8 million in deposits were received. the branch is expected to transact 100mil annually

there's going to be a hotel built there too

"据勐海的茶农讲，勐海老班章寨子的村民在11月份开会，村民对明年的老班章毛茶涨价看法基本一致，建议村民明年的老班章的古树茶卖8000元起步。村民对明年老班章涨价的信心，来自于普洱茶行业对古树茶的强烈追捧。村民说今年秋茶已经被全部抢夺一空，明年涨价势在必行。"

in a meeting in november this year, villagers have come to a certain concensus and recommendation that banzhang "gu shu" tea leaves should start from 8000 rmb (/kg) next year. villagers are confident of next year's rise in banzhang leave value, due to the strong interest of pu-er related businesses in pursuing this material.

"曾经躲在深山无人识的偏僻老班章寨子，现在成了一个热闹的旅游胜地。每年春茶期间，每天至少有一百部以上的豪华越野车到达老班章，其中不乏丰田巡航舰、路虎、卡宴这些名牌SUV，这些都是来自全国各地的普洱茶爱好者。他们有些是茶厂的老板，有些是茶庄的经营者，有些是纯粹的茶友。到云南普洱茶源产地去旅游，看看古茶树，顺便购买一些纯纯的毛茶。这种难得的经历，就是自己圈子炫耀的一种资本。"

the banzhang village is now a tourist hot spot. ever year during spring, more than a hundred luxury cars pass through the village, most of these people are pu-erh enthusiasts from different parts of china, some are factory bosses, some are tea business owners, some are pure tea hobbyists.

oooo the horrorrr

[shah82]

There are reports just now of a corporate invasion of big money flowing in to buy up the best stuff, up to $75 million for one entity, I think Dayi.

Of course, this has a lot to do with China's current issues with the populace and other entities being unable to save or invest productively under a system of financial repression. It's a matter of waiting for the big deflation in the rest of China before puerh prices for new tea comes down, and I have every reason to believe that this will come. Of course, the money is made on guessing the right timing.

[chrl42]

I think Dayi.

Not a good entity

Of course, this has a lot to do with China's current issues with the populace and other entities being unable to save or invest productively under a system of financial repression. It's a matter of waiting for the big deflation in the rest of China before puerh prices for new tea comes down, and I have every reason to believe that this will come. Of course, the money is made on guessing the right timing.

I don't think the deflation will gonna affect LBZ prices even when it comes

It's a cultural thingy, not economic thing...even communism didn't change them

[shah82]

No, it will affect LBZ availability. The good stuff? Never seeing the light of day in the markets. You can, of course, buy itty bits of mediocre stuff, and overpay for fake stuff, which is probably now worse since the usual components have sky-rocketed in price themselves.