> Let's put it this way, if there's a demand, people will "create" a
> supply for it. If there's big dollars to be easily made, then people
> will devise ways to get that money into their hands. So,if there's a
> demand for say, ancient tea tree puer, then, surely enough, there will
> be a large supply of it. That means, they will intentionally mis-label
> the product, produce it in large quantity (using pesticides and
> fertilizers) and use other methods to fool the customer into thinking
> it's ancient tea tree puer; and to ensure there's a large enough
> supply to meet the demand. That's how money is made, unfortunately.

There does indeed seem to be a lot of (well, let's put it kindly)
somewhat exaggerated claims of age and origin in the pu-erh world,
even among otherwise reputable shops. When I see a $30 beeng listed
as being 40 years old, I laugh out loud.

I for one would never buy an aged pu-erh or other upper-grade tea
without tasting it first, either via mailed sample or preferably in
person at a shop.

I bought a 100 gram tin of loose pu-erh labelled as 70 years old and
"wild-born large leaf" (I translated the symbols) for about $100. I
*knew* that it was almost certainly not more than 30-40 years old and
very unlikely to be wild-tree tea (although the large leaf suggests it
was at least arboreal tea), but I had tasted it first and thought it
to be well worth the money anyway. Potentially false claims aside,
that tea had a superior taste that justified the cost. That was all
that mattered.

On the opposite end I sometimes buy lower-grade teas and find pleasant
surprises. I've stumbled across $16/lb green oolongs that rival the
$100+/lb ones I normally pick up, but admittedly that is a very rare
exception to the rule.