Show off your Pu!!!!!!!

[Deleted User #17777]

I have the same 2005 cake as shogun, and saved the pic (in my exel spreadsheet of tea happiness)

Have you tried the tea ? If you enjoy the tea, that is real test. Having a special cake from a friend improves the taste of all tea ....

It really does look a bit newer than a 1997. I found a pic of a 1990's tong qing and it looks very different. Obviously, teas even from the same year can look very different depending on storage.

The puerhshop 2005 cake


90's tong qing review

[shogun89]

Tom nailed it dead on, Did you enjoy the tea before you posted it here? If the answer is yes than you are a winner. In the long run it dosnt matter what the factory is, when and where it was produced, how it was stored, it all ends up as a simple pleasurable cup of tea, if you can find this pleasure then you accomplished the soul reason for drinking tea. So it dosnt matter whether its vintage '97 or not, brew some up relax and enjoy. : )
I am actually going to brew some of this up tonight. . .

[OhJungMin]

Thanks for the input everyone!
Unfortunately, the "year" problem can't be solved. My friend said the store sold it as a 12 y.o. Puerh so I'm gonna go with that piece of information....

Tom and shogun89, thanks for reminding about what we're all after - tea and not what year it is from. Thanks again!

[Drax]

Two packages today...!

The first one was a little disappointing. Or at least, it's a little worrisome when you ordered some tea and a couple of gaiwans, and all you get in the mail is what is obviously a single pu'erh bing.



It's still a thing of beauty. A 2008 Nan Jian... I've enjoyed the older tuos, so I thought I'd give a cake a try. I just hope another package arrives with my gaiwans and the other samples I ordered... hmmm! (and going on 4+ weeks here...)

The other package was my first foray into "skip4tea" -- the online auction house. Got the package only 10 days after the placement of the order. Not too bad!



Here's the tea after peeling off the outer layers. Oooh, what awaits underneath?



I ordered an orange mark 2000, 2 yellow mark 2003, and 2 green mark 2000. Including shipping, came out to ~$23 per cake. I thought that was pretty good! Well, the true test will be tasting the tea and seeing how it has been stored...!! But so far, the experience has been quite good.

[shogun89]

Yeah, those prices are pretty good if the tea is in good shape, cant wait to hear your thoughts!

[Salsero]

Good prices indeed, compared to what I have heard about SkipforTea. I am also very interested in your take on these cakes.

[Drax]

I have a huge backlog of samples to try (probably ~30-40 at this point), but I will try to bump these up and take some good pictures in the process. I just finished examining them, cleaning up the scraps (I'd estimate ~1-2% had come loose).

Granted my experience is still quite limited, but they looked pretty good for their age, decent darker coloring, nice odor. Of course... that's all still the prelude to what counts...

[Deleted User #17777]

drax - those cakes look very nice - I haven't been brave enough to try skp4tea yet, but might have to after hearing (hint hint) how they are...

On another note, here is a pic of my tong qing cake.



The wrapper looks like a natural type of paper, brownish ... but the nefi has the logo with the missing bottom left corner, on a brillant white paper.

My cake has a red ribbon. The tea is very dark brown, like a maduro cigar wrapper. It looks more like the 90's cake from the blog. Not very uniform leaf pieces, Meng Hai is very "standardized" to look at, uniform. This has big stems, dusty particals, and everything in between. Not a super wonderful cake, but certainly decent. Does not have the kind of "round" mouth feel I would prefer. Woodsy, no pond tatse. Not at all astringent, but no lingering sweetness either.

I also dug out a meng hai v93 sheng tou I had. I noticed the leaves broke apart a little more easily, but towards the middle was still very tightly packed.

The tea has a bit of the smoke flavor, more bitter than astringent, but a very "round" mouth feel, and an after taste of sweetness. As I recall, this was a bit of a depature of dayi, kind of a new product to meet the raising bubble demand for tea. Supposed to be a "higher" end tuo, had to say, but shows promise.

[xuancheng]

I was wondering if anyone had ever had any of this tea, and had any thoughts. It is mabeituo Cha from Xiaguan factory. I can get a whole box of 60 tuos for 100 USD, They are 2007.

I was considering buying one or two (boxes 60-120 tuos) and leaving them here in China until I get back in maybe 2-3 years. They won't be fully matured, but I think south China may be a better place for ageing puer than my home near Boston.






I was just wondering if anyone has heard anything good or bad or read anything about these tuos. They taste a lot like most Xiaguan stuff. I tried a search, but haven't found anything yet.

Happy pu post #10,000 (oops, 10,001. I was beaten by Trioxin )

[thanks]

I was wondering if anyone had ever had any of this tea, and had any thoughts. It is mabeituo Cha from Xiaguan factory. I can get a whole box of 60 tuos for 100 USD, They are 2007.

I was considering buying one or two (boxes 60-120 tuos) and leaving them here in China until I get back in maybe 2-3 years. They won't be fully matured, but I think south China may be a better place for ageing puer than my home near Boston.






I was just wondering if anyone has heard anything good or bad or read anything about these tuos. They taste a lot like most Xiaguan stuff. I tried a search, but haven't found anything yet.

Happy pu post #10,000 (oops, 10,001. I was beaten by Trioxin )

I've seen this brand's tuos before, I believe they're an unofficial sub-branch of Xiaguan? Either way I have heard good things, and to get a jump start on storage could never be bad! I say go for it!

[xuancheng]

I've seen this brand's tuos before, I believe they're an unofficial sub-branch of Xiaguan? Either way I have heard good things, and to get a jump start on storage could never be bad! I say go for it!

Thank you for the feedback.

It certainly has the Xiaguan name on the packaging, and each tuo is embossed with the Xiaguan 'G' looking shape.

Has anyone tried the new 2008 Baoyan Jincha/mushroom tuo?

[thanks]

I've seen this brand's tuos before, I believe they're an unofficial sub-branch of Xiaguan? Either way I have heard good things, and to get a jump start on storage could never be bad! I say go for it!

Thank you for the feedback.

It certainly has the Xiaguan name on the packaging, and each tuo is embossed with the Xiaguan 'G' looking shape.

Has anyone tried the new 2008 Baoyan Jincha/mushroom tuo?

Yes I'm a fan of that one. Not as much of a fan as the guys over at B&B, but it's definitely good.

[Salsero]

I really like the mushroom.

[tony shlongini]

Has anyone tried the new 2008 Baoyan Jincha/mushroom tuo?

Yes I'm a fan of that one. Not as much of a fan as the guys over at B&B, but it's definitely good.

You're banned!


I've said it before and I'll say it again- everyone is the world's leading authority on their own opinion. There's a big difference between saying something is basically either good or bad and saying that a particular tea is a favorite of yours. A tea may be great, but too smoky or astringent for you (or not enough). Everyone should strive to develop their own set of criteria and decide what suits them best. I've tried some teas that were raved about and came away saying "meh". It's all part of the fun of this hobby.

The '08 Xiaguan Fei Tai jincha is one of my top five teas, but that's primarily due to the fact that it delivers the precise flavor palate I'm looking for, and in abundance. If you disagree, you're right. I love their Duling Fengsao (FT exquisite elegance) but Salsero (I think it's him) doesn't. That's why there's chocolate and vanilla. They more you taste and the more you know, the "pickier" you can become.

[xuancheng]

Has anyone tried the new 2008 Baoyan Jincha/mushroom tuo?

Yes I'm a fan of that one. Not as much of a fan as the guys over at B&B, but it's definitely good.

You're banned!


I've said it before and I'll say it again- everyone is the world's leading authority on their own opinion. There's a big difference between saying something is basically either good or bad and saying that a particular tea is a favorite of yours. A tea may be great, but too smoky or astringent for you (or not enough). Everyone should strive to develop their own set of criteria and decide what suits them best. I've tried some teas that were raved about and came away saying "meh". It's all part of the fun of this hobby.

The '08 Xiaguan Fei Tai jincha is one of my top five teas, but that's primarily due to the fact that it delivers the precise flavor palate I'm looking for, and in abundance. If you disagree, you're right. I love their Duling Fengsao (FT exquisite elegance) but Salsero (I think it's him) doesn't. That's why there's chocolate and vanilla. They more you taste and the more you know, the "pickier" you can become.

I sue everyone who voices or writes an opinion different from mine. You'd better hope I like that tuo!

I recently found a good pu'er shop. Every other place I have been to before is either full of mold or cigarette smoke or has $100 2007 cakes no one has heard of or some combination of the above.

I have kind of gone ape on Baoyan because I like xiaguan, and everything baoyan I have ever had has been at least decent. Today I bought 3 jin of 2005 baoyan mushroom tuo. A week ago I bought 5 jin of the 2006 FT mini tiebings. I also have a 2004 FT brick, and am considering getting more.

I also want to get a bunch of the new baoyan FT mushrooms and the Duling Fengsao cakes. If people who like Xiaguan and Baoyan like these new ones, then I probably will too. They don't have any in the shop, but can be ordered easily, which is why I ask.

I also had a 2001 Nanzhao tuo from 2001. It seemed good, but also seemed to die fairly quickly for a xiaguan. Any thoughts on Nanzhao?

Thanks again for all the feedback!