newbie question...

[dktea]

hey guys, sorry to intrude as a complete newbie to pu erh (and relative newcomer to quality tea in general), but from what I've seen most of teaChat seems to be very welcoming, helpful, and eager to spread the greatness that is tea. so now on to my rather long winded post...sorry for that, but I'm really interested in expanding my horizons.

in terms of tea, I've been ordering from adagio since I got into it. from what I've seen and heard this is a great place to start and get introduced to tea. while I've been very satisfied, I feel like there is a bigger tea world out there. I am very interested in learning more about pu erh specifically. I have sampled the two pu erh varieties from adagio, and while I enjoyed them, I have a feeling I still have a lot to learn and experience. I really don't know anything about pu erh, and was wondering if anyone knew any good online resources for beginners to learn. also, while, due to the complexity of the pu erh world, I'm sure this is a very tough question to answer as specifically as I ask, can someone point me in the direction of a type of pu erh and where I can buy it online that is a quality, yet affordable (not looking for a $3000 ancient cake) product for a beginner such as myself. (kind of like a "buy X from Y")

Thanks!

edit/PS: I did check out the excellent introduction thread that is linked to in the sticky, but as I said, the world of pu erh is a bit overwhelming, and I was looking for some specific newbie recommendations

[wyardley]

Pu'er is a really broad category, so I would suggest to start by ordering some samples that are representative of some of the general types. Age and storage can affect the taste of the tea dramatically. Take your time, and don't let one bad example of a particular sub-category turn you off to all teas of that sort.

I don't think these two threads are in the sticky post, though maybe they should be. The first gives you some good suggestions as to the types you might want to try, and mentions some specific vendors you might have good luck with.

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=6672
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?p=64296

[coloradopu]

Pu'er is a really broad category, so I would suggest to start by ordering some samples that are representative of some of the general types. Age and storage can affect the taste of the tea dramatically. Take your time, and don't let one bad example of a particular sub-category turn you off to all teas of that sort.

I don't think these two threads are in the sticky post, though maybe they should be. The first gives you some good suggestions as to the types you might want to try, and mentions some specific vendors you might have good luck with.

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=6672
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?p=64296

what he said and i would like to add that this tea changes. sooooo if you find a sample you like please stay open minded to it cuz it will change. and if you go for a whole cake in the 30-40$ range and it arrives only to not sit well on you pallet don't dis pare you are getting into something that is permanent/not permanent in that ----that 30-40$ cake which does not sit right is not and should not go any wear except into storage to be visited again an a few months/year/years. they do change and mostly your taste will too all for the better. pu-erh once let into you life takes up residence there some people wake up one day and find it moved in and has its own bedroom .
another thing about pu is you can do things to change it on the spot but i do not know much about this as i am still learning too. but one i know works is steep time change that around and the tea will be different as usual.

[808Hawaiian59]

I started getting into Pu-erh about a year ago. All I can say is take your time, try a lot of samples, "Ask" a lot of questions, learn about how to store your Pu-erh, learn about Yixing teapots and Gaiwan (That's another story in it's self!!) And hopefully you'll get the hang of it. Who had help me a lot besides this forum is Scott Wilson of Yunnan Sourcing LLC. Besides having a lot of Pu-erhs on his website he is willing to offer you a lot of information and help you with your decisions.

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Yunnan-Sour ... QQ_armrsZ1

[Dizzwave]

Yep, what those guys said exactly. Scott (Yunnan Sourcing) is my favorite dealer of pu-erh for collecting. I've filled a dresser full of cakes mostly from Scott, at a reasonable price. He is pretty good about recommending good cakes/samples, and respecting your budget.
I also recommend checking out some of the more "specialty" dealers like Hou De, Nada Cha, etc. I rarely buy whole cakes from them since they genereally deal in the primo stuff, and I don't have a huge tea budget, but if you want to try (e.g.) what a good aged pu-erh is like, buy a $10 sample from one of them and see what you make of it. (Still cheaper than Starbucks, as we say around here. ) Chances are you'll have a new addiction on your hands!
Puerhshop can be useful too, since it's shipped from the US and you can have some cheap pu in your hands within a couple of days that way. But, make sure you get a couple of recommendations (second opinions?) from folks in this forum on specific teas from there, as the quality can range widely.
best of luck!

p.s. I've noticed that traffic has been down in this pu-erh forum lately.. Maybe everyone went to Badger and Blade. They have a popular thread called Sheng of the Day, that's worth checking out.

[dktea]

thanks so much everyone! this was all so helpful. what I decided to do was to order a bunch of samplers from pu erh shop (i like the idea of it getting here quickly). I've tried to pick out as much variety as possible. then hopefully i will have a better understanding of what to look for when I look into buying larger quantities from other sources (I think Yunnan Sourcing will be my next stop).

Thanks again!

[shogun89]

Welcome dktea!

I would say before getting into the tea itself, you want to think about teaware. If you really want to get anything from puerh (a good experience) you are going to want a gaiwan or a yixing. These will make a HUGE difference in the brew.

Next you have the option of what kind of puerh, Shu (ripe, what you had from adagio) or sheng (raw) and young or aged. Most likely your not going to want to pay the price for aged since you are new to this. I would advise getting a cake of shu< since you know you enjoy it and its all fairly similar in taste. And a cake or 2 of sheng and maybe a few samples. Many people around here preach on the samples, which, yes they can be helpful but with a little knowledge you can safely buy a whole cake and save a bunch of money. A 357g. cake at $15 outweighs a 25g. sample at $3.00 IMO.

As mentioned above, Scott of YSLLC is a great dealer and has great prices, but unless you are buying 5+ cakes, the shipping isnt worth it, so I would advise against it as a first time source. My recommendation for you is to go to puerhshop.com for your first purchase, pretty good tea at a good price and fast shipping. Here is what I would recommend purchasing:

Shu
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=886
or
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=573

Sheng
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=890
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=854

Hope this helped.

[shogun89]

Welcome dktea!

I would say before getting into the tea itself, you want to think about teaware. If you really want to get anything from puerh (a good experience) you are going to want a gaiwan or a yixing. These will make a HUGE difference in the brew.

Next you have the option of what kind of puerh, Shu (ripe, what you had from adagio) or sheng (raw) and young or aged. Most likely your not going to want to pay the price for aged since you are new to this. I would advise getting a cake of shu< since you know you enjoy it and its all fairly similar in taste. And a cake or 2 of sheng and maybe a few samples. Many people around here preach on the samples, which, yes they can be helpful but with a little knowledge you can safely buy a whole cake and save a bunch of money. A 357g. cake at $15 outweighs a 25g. sample at $3.00 IMO.

As mentioned above, Scott of YSLLC is a great dealer and has great prices, but unless you are buying 5+ cakes, the shipping isnt worth it, so I would advise against it as a first time source. My recommendation for you is to go to puerhshop.com for your first purchase, pretty good tea at a good price and fast shipping. Here is what I would recommend purchasing:

Shu
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=886
or
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=573

Sheng
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=890
http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main ... cts_id=854

Hope this helped.

edit; whoops, you beat me to it, oh well, Im sure there is still some info there that can help

[betta]

Or just in case you want to know more, this puerh wikicha could be a useful resource.

[oldmanteapot]

Hi DK,

Welcome to the wonderful world of pu! I'm sure you will enjoy this ride with everyone here...

Cheers!

[tony shlongini]

Hold on to your wallet!

[Dizzwave]

what I decided to do was to order a bunch of samplers from pu erh shop

Cool! Let us know what you like or don't like from your selection. Chances are some of us have tried some of what you got. If you decide you don't like pu-erh anymore, maybe you just picked some bad ones. (It can happen.)

I agree with shogun -- get a cheap gaiwan (you can find one for $3-5 at any chinatown-y shop.. or not, depending where you live, but you can get them equally cheap online). I'd recommend holding off on getting yixing teaware though... Sure, it makes some difference in the taste, but it's an investment, and why get ahead of yourself? Just my 2c.

[dktea]

thanks for all the extra info on here. shogun89, those suggestions are really helpful. I am sure some or all of them will be part of my next order. i do see what you mean about the samples being overpriced comparatively, i will however be able to try quite a bit of variety with what I ordered. I will be sure to share my opinion when they arrive. I can see myself becoming very active in the world of pu. like I said, when I get idea of what I like and with those suggestions I will certainly be ordering more soon. I can see this becoming a very expensive habit...

and I actually had already done just what dizzwave suggested and picked up a cheap gaiwan from chinatown (I live in NY).

thanks again everyone for all the great advice.

[Oni]

Hi, I am a nwebie to puerh too, I only had two puerhs, one shu cake, and one pack of mini tuocha, those were bad, like unreparably bad, but after reading about puerh, I learned there is an imense variety there are 26 mountains in yunnan that produce tea, there are just as many companyes producing puerh, and there are numerous blends.
I wanted to try a fairly young, not too young puerh, and at least most of it should be wild tea, so I asked a friend who is a puerh drinker to recomend me something, and he advised me to buy from Yunnan sourcing, Xi Zhi Hao - San Ho Tang - Dragon and Phoenix 2007, he said this was that years best sheng price vs quality,
http://cgi.ebay.com/2007-Xi-Zhi-Hao-Dra ... .m14.l1262
I will try this cake later this year as an introduction to the good stuff.

[shogun89]

Never had anything from that brand but I know they are reputable. However 2007 wasnt the best year for puerh. . .