What would be a good pu-erh brand to try for those unfamiliar with it. Although I have not liked most Pu-erh I have tried. On the not liked list was the Lapsang from Twinnings, the Foojoy bagged, and various cheap cakes from the Asian market. Does that mean I really should not bother? Is there a mild brand/version that is easily available at most Asian markets (I am in San Diego if that means anything) that I could look for. I know this has probably been addressed, but the sheer amount of info on Pu-erh is overwhelming. Thank you!
I wish I felt that the "sheer amount of info on Pu-erh" was overwhelming! BTW, lapsang is not a pu-erh. I guess my first question is: which kind of pu-erh do you want to try, cooked or raw? Cooked pu-erh is more common at Asian markets; it's unlikely you'd find raw pu-erh at your asian market. The "Golden Needle White Lotus" cake, available on eBay and at houdeasianart.com, is rather tasty cooked cake. The "yiwu zhengshan" from teaspring is very mild for a raw cake. When looking for a young cake, though, look for something with large leaves, as the flavor tends to be milder. I think both houde and eBay also have loose-leaf raw pu-erh.
But as for finding a raw cake in your asian market, it's likely they'd only have the green-boxed raw "tuocha" from xiaguan factory, which is rather bitter and harsh if not brewed properly.
If $ is an issue, take advantage of sellers like houde and jingteashop.com, who offer samples so you can try teas without making an investment. Every time I brew a sample form them, I thank them in my head for offering such a useful service.
Also, I don't work for them. I'm just thankful.
see
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for reviews of cakes you might be interested in. click on "puerh reviews" at the top of the page to see them sorted by factory, year, etc.
In the "little saigon" area of El Cajon Blvd there are many tiny asian markets. Go in one or two and look for a cylindrical tea container about the size of your fist that says "Yunnan" somewhere on it. In it you will find a decent cooked pu cake for less than $2 which will last you weeks if not months.
There isn't much in the way of "brand" as we know it when it comes to pu'er. I guess you could say factory name instead of brand, but it's a little hard to find "mild version"; not exactly sure what that means.
Mike usually recommends, and I trust his advise on pu'er, that you try to stick with the big factories until you develop some ability to know what is good and what is bad pu'er. The two largest would be Menghai and Xiaguan, and they produce some pretty good stuff. If you need some weblinks, do a search on this forum and you're sure to find whatever you need to buy some stuff. New tea from these factories is usually pretty cheap.
In my Chinatown you can still buy the 2003 Xiaguan QiZi shu bundles for $18. They don't seem to run out so I don't buy and hoard anymore. It does taste different than the CNNP Xiaguan 100g shu tuocha for a $1. What I've learned from both is letting them air out. The tuocha paper wrapper is heavy so the puer can't breath. The QiZi is tissue wrappers and breathes better when the shell is loosened. I've come to appreciate the rancid taste in more recent shu versus the coffee taste of something more mature. I'll take rancid over coffee anyday. I remember in my early days when struggling with cooked puer Lew recommended golden melon which I liked right away. I'd say find something that talks about the quality of the bud if you don't like what you find in Chinatown.
I mean rancid as in leathery,ashy,fishy,moldy as me and others try to describe the first time taste on something most likely bought in Chinatown which is probably a Xiaguan product. That taste I discovered simply comes from leaf grade and is suppose to ameliorate over time with help from the yeast and proper storage supposedly. Grading in China refers to 'taste' which seems to be directly proportional to price. I like a rancid shu with a meal but like the higher grades by themselves. I think you are referring to wet storage puer which I've seen described as spoiled tasting.
I'm still going to stick to my guns here and assert that if you have ashy, leathery, fishy, or moldy tea; it's something wrong with the storage and not neccessarily the leaf quality. I've had many a sheng or shu that were totally junk quality, but I've never encountered any fishy tasting pu before.
You are about half right. Pricing in China does have a lot to do with taste, but it has a lot to do with leaf quality too; it sorta corresponds to taste. Depending on which tea you are talking about, there are different standards to judge grade by. Most teas that are higher in quality have full, soft leaves and not chopped or broken pieces of leaf. Even with pu'er, leaf quality is important. For instance, the 1995 Menghai Fang Cha that I have has pretty decent looking leaves if you know how to cut a portion off correctly.
Saying that, I've also had some really crumby looking leaves in my tea and the taste was acceptable. Grading is a very difficult process in China because the standards aren't as set like as in India.
To tell the truth I can't taste these flavors anymore in the sense I call them objectionable. But I remember it was my first impressions similar to others. The Chinese dealers I order from sell the first,top,king grades which seem to relate to taste and not leaf size perse.
Jim
PS > > I mean rancid as in leathery,ashy,fishy,moldy as me and others try to
I rise to defend ash. In a young sheng, a certain amount of ash, as in the taste and aroma of cigar ash, isn't necessarily a bad thing. It may go away in a year or two. I've heard it said that an ashy note in a new sheng is a promise of good taste once the tea has aged, but honestly, I've never held onto a cake or brick or tuo for ten years.
Lewis snipped-for-privacy@panix1.panix.com6/13/06 18: snipped-for-privacy@panix.com
[OP}
[Mydnight, I think]
[Lew]
[Michael] Nowhere in your paragraph do you claim to like the taste, I note. It would be very fun to hop into our way-back machines so that we could discover whither ash leads in an aged tea and whither bitter.
I keep trying to remember if I've drank sheng that tasted like ashes and I simply cannot. Most of the brand new sheng that I brew usually tastes grassy, a little bitter, and kinda like green tea. I did pick up some loose sheng that has a lingering honey aftertaste that is pretty excellent; now THAT, I think, will be pretty awesome in 10 years.
If ya'll want samples of it, toss me an email. It's quite interesting.
I would go with a 1st or 3rd grade loose Pu-Erh from Ten Ren to get your palate started. I know several people who have been turned off Pu-Erh because they started out with pretty bad quality stuff to begin with. Pu-Erh is, afterall, more an acquired taste so start safe.
I don't find much comparison between loose and compressed pu even accounting for grade. For the timid start with the sheng. For the shu cut your tastebuds on Wuyi DaHongPao or Rock tea. The loose stuff is for the boys the compressed for the guys. For the opposite sex substitute gals and ladies. I think compressed pu in general is sink or swim.
Jim
PS: My Ch> I would go with a 1st or 3rd grade loose Pu-Erh from Ten Ren to get
Wow, how terribly insightful * snipped-for-privacy@getslim.nl * you wouldn't have any alterior motives or connection to the weightloss website quoted, would you? Jeez, you would think spammers would at least try to hide the fact that they are a dirtbag. Ugh.
I'm proud of you, Alex. You're a man of conviction. Just think: I'll never have to actually taste a Yi Wu wild Tree tea again, and I get all the health benefits myth makers can devise. Cool!
Speaking of which, and not that you need it, but the weather here in NYC this morning at 4:00 am as I trundled my way to work was actually pleasant. There's a word we haven't heard ascribed to weather here in many a day.
Funny you should mention it. I thought the same thing this morning. It was eerily cool and breezy.
A friend of a friend called me the other night for China travel advice, and told me that everyone told her to avoid China in August. Last August I was in Chongqing and the weather was exactly the same as it was in New York yesterday, so I told her she has nothing to fear.
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