Starting a sheng collection

[TomVerlain]

From my experience, 80% of what newbies got in the first year will end up haunting them.

Yes - true and funny

You will discover cheap unknown cakes are cheap and unknown for a reason.

[xogget]

So, then, what ARE the "major brands" and "major recipes?" Can we start a list?

+1

I've gathered that Menghai is a favorite on this board, especially 7542, 7532, 8582, 0622. But I know nothing about the rest of the major factories. What cakes/recipes are good from Mengku, Haiwan, Xiaguan, CNNP, etc?

[tony shlongini]

So, then, what ARE the "major brands" and "major recipes?" Can we start a list?

What cakes/recipes are good from Mengku, Haiwan, Xiaguan, CNNP, etc?

The muyechuns from Mengku are very nice and almost all of Xiaguan's FT releases are good. As Hobbes says, CNNP is where tea goes to die.

[shogun89]

I must protest the comment "CNNP is where puerh goes to die". While this may be mostly true, I have a tong of the 2008 spring CNNP Bulang offering from Puerhshop that I was able to obtain for $60. While its not the best tea, I would consider it on par with all the Menghai recipe offerings. Obviously our tastes are all different but this is a cake that I was able to obtain for a great price and I think It will do quite well as time progresses.

[tony shlongini]

I must protest the comment "CNNP is where puerh goes to die". While this may be mostly true, I have a tong of the 2008 spring CNNP Bulang offering from Puerhshop that I was able to obtain for $60. While its not the best tea, I would consider it on par with all the Menghai recipe offerings. Obviously our tastes are all different but this is a cake that I was able to obtain for a great price and I think It will do quite well as time progresses.

That was a nice tea (at a great price), and, to my mind, is an exception that proves the rule.

Other recent CNNP selections have been ghastly.

[aKnightWhoSaysNi]

While we are on the subject of offering advice... does anyone have any experience with cakes that are composed of leaves from Guangdong and Yunnan? I've been thinking about trying this CNNP cake: http://cgi.ebay.com/1998-Guang-Yun-Gong ... 4a96bcdd9e

[brandon]

I must protest the comment "CNNP is where puerh goes to die". While this may be mostly true, I have a tong of the 2008 spring CNNP Bulang offering from Puerhshop that I was able to obtain for $60. While its not the best tea, I would consider it on par with all the Menghai recipe offerings. Obviously our tastes are all different but this is a cake that I was able to obtain for a great price and I think It will do quite well as time progresses.

If you take a broader view of puerh than the 2008 harvest, you will learn that your favorite recipes mentioned above were staples of CNNP (Yunnan Branch), a state run company comprised of 3 main factories in Kunming, Menghai County, Xiaguan. The Menghai Tea Factory was not fully a private entity operating the Dayi brand until 1996. This makes most of our beengs of 70s-90s sole products of CNNP. Today the situation is cloudy, where an organization bearing the name CNNP contracts out large productions to private factories.

But don't take my word for it - Jason's excellent wikipedia articles should put this to bed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menghai_Tea_Factory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerh

[jackdaniel]

I think CNNP has come decent, cheap stuff. Nothing outstanding that I've had (no aged sheng), but definitely acceptable for an every-day brew.

[tony shlongini]

If you take a broader view of puerh than the 2008 harvest, you will learn that your favorite recipes mentioned above were staples of CNNP (Yunnan Branch), a state run company comprised of 3 main factories in Kunming, Menghai County, Xiaguan. The Menghai Tea Factory was not fully a private entity operating the Dayi brand until 1996. This makes most of our beengs of 70s-90s sole products of CNNP. Today the situation is cloudy, where an organization bearing the name CNNP contracts out large productions to private factories.

I think that most of us are already aware of that. Perhaps Hobbes meant that "CNNP is where factories go to die."

[Maitre_Tea]

Well, looks like he's revised his stance...apparently it's where modern maocha goes to die...
http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2009/10 ... -8100.html

[tony shlongini]

Well, looks like he's revised his stance...apparently it's where modern maocha goes to die...
http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2009/10 ... -8100.html

Hobbes is the greatest. Really nice guy, too.

[brandon]

Thanks a lot Hobbes - still the top resource for young puerh.
We should be careful though to not extrapolate our findings on a region or factory in one vintage across decades of tea, or pass on our prejudices on a new drinker thread unqualified.

Enjoy your tea.

[shogun89]

Menghai Dayi all the way!!!!!!!!

[tony shlongini]

Menghai Dayi all the way!!!!!!!!

I don't know if it's my favorite, but it sure is in the top two.

[tingjunkie]

Menghai Dayi all the way!!!!!!!!

I don't know if it's my favorite, but it sure is in the top two.

I have seen several types of Menghai Dayi- should I assume they are all pretty decent, or is there a particular # or recipe to recommend?

I am pretty much in the same boat with wanting to start a sheng collection, so I have been following this thread with great interest. I definitely see the wisdom in spending time trying many samples of lots of different puerh to find out what we like. In particular, Tim's warning about being haunted by pu's of the past sounds like very sound wisdom. In that light, I have ordered some samples recently from reliable vendors.

However, people like me like to play with new toys NOW, so perhaps we could keep going on the list of inexpensive ($15-$30) beengs which are surprisingly good for their price range? Of course this is all subjective, but I would like to get a couple cheap beengs to drink/age now just because little bagged samples look so boring sitting in my shelf, and I hardly think I would regret a couple $20 "investments" if it turns out they are not my favorite.

On that note, I was lucky enough to grab the last cake of Nada's 2009 Nannuo Plantation. I wanted to buy two- one to age, and one to drink- but it was the very last he had. For those who have tried this tea, can you please recommend whether I should dig into it now or leave it alone for a few years?