> To further complicate matters it appears that 2005-2006 maocha is not
> of the same quality as maocha from years gone by. China's newly
> affluent families have created such a demand for puerh that almost any
> maocha is being used regardless of quality. The standards appear to
> have been lowered. There is even speculation that the puerh bubble
> will crash in a year or two. To sum it up, 2005-2006 cakes may not be
> the best choice for aging.

Most people are now considering tea from 2003 and before to be the
stuff that's going to have true value in the upcoming years. The
uneduated locals here have bought up pu'er as if it were an oil
reserve; I know a guy that bought 300jin of some really low quality qi
zi bing from some unknown factory simply because he thought it, "was
[is] a good investment". I recently went to market to see if I could
find some 2003 aged stuff, and even most of that has been bought up.

Pu'er doesn't have a very bright future.