"Pu erh" from outside Yunnan

[Rithmomachy]

The thread on "What makes a puerh tea a puerh tea?" brought to mind the restriction the Chinese government has making "pu erh" a geographical designation like "champagne" in Europe or bourbon in the US. According to Wikipedia and other things I've read, Guangdong was a major producer of pu erh until the restriction went into effect less than two years ago. What happened to the tea Guangdong was producing? Are there now bargains on generic "black tea" from Guangdong that would have been sold as expensive pu erh two years ago?

[Rithmomachy]

No one knows? It must be a bigger mystery than I thought if the folks here don't know!

[gingkoseto]

That's a big ongoing debate and I don't know who to sympathize more. Some famous products are named differently, such as "Tribute Cake", without having puerh in the name. Some Tuo Cha names didn't have puerh in the name from the beginning, and they will have to change their product category and don't have puerh in the description. But many others, I don't know what happened to them.

[Rithmomachy]

Thanks, gingko! Are these teas avaialble in the US or were they pretty much cut off from the export market? If they're still for sale, where do you find them? Are they bargains?

Also, does this affect tea produced before the change? If someone in China has a beeng they've been saving since 1960 that happens to be from Guangdong, can they sell it as aged pu erh?

[gingkoseto]

Thanks, gingko! Are these teas avaialble in the US or were they pretty much cut off from the export market? If they're still for sale, where do you find them? Are they bargains?

Also, does this affect tea produced before the change? If someone in China has a beeng they've been saving since 1960 that happens to be from Guangdong, can they sell it as aged pu erh?

I have no idea about the aged puerh. I guess if there is Guangdong aged puerh available in market, it won't be a bargain. The new Guangdong puerh's market price is comparable to those Yunnan regular products. Guangdong puerh is mainly famous for their Shu. I didn't see higher end Guangdong puerh in US (but other guys may know). I see Jin Fan Tuo （product name is Yunnan Tuo Cha, brand name is Jin Fan, made in Guangdong) all the time in Chinese grocery of Toronto (and probably other large cities).

I think it's not bad, but I am not a big fan of Shu. So I have one tuo, drink it from time to time, and never seem to finish it. It's the typical Guangdong puerh taste, similar to the tea at Dim Sum place, but more refined than restaurant tea.

Overall I think bargains are always hard to find. It's nice if we can find things cheap enough or good enough so that there is no regret about them

[bearsbearsbears]

Also, does this affect tea produced before the change? If someone in China has a beeng they've been saving since 1960 that happens to be from Guangdong, can they sell it as aged pu erh?

The restriction hasn't stopped the aged Guangyun Gong cake from being called pu'er on taobao. Vendors on taobao also list new Guangyun Gong cakes as pu'er, but from what I can see on the packaging of the tea, there's no reference to pu'er on the actual product.

As far as what else they might call it, a search for "guangdong pu'er" on taobao yields productions made to commemorate the yearly tea expo there. A search for "guang dong hei cha" yields motorcycle helmets; narrow that down to tea and you get one listing for a hunan heicha being sold in guangdong. I mention this because, if Guangdong is still pressing its own leaf into cakes, it's not being labeled with a different origin, or is not easily available.