Hey folks,
I was wondering if anyone could recommend a green puer from the last
few years, one that won't cost me an arm and a leg? Thus far, I haven't
been able to find anything in shops here. Which reminds me- does anyone
know of a place to get green puer in the Twin Cities area? If possible,
I'd like to be able to sniff before I buy.

In article .com>,
wrote:

> Hey folks,
> I was wondering if anyone could recommend a green puer from the last
> few years, one that won't cost me an arm and a leg? Thus far, I haven't
> been able to find anything in shops here. Which reminds me- does anyone
> know of a place to get green puer in the Twin Cities area? If possible,
> I'd like to be able to sniff before I buy.


try http://www.houdeasianart.com/

tons of pu-erh.................p*

(and oolong)

On 8 Jun 2005 09:43:23 -0700, wrote:

>Hey folks,
>I was wondering if anyone could recommend a green puer from the last
>few years, one that won't cost me an arm and a leg? Thus far, I haven't
>been able to find anything in shops here. Which reminds me- does anyone
>know of a place to get green puer in the Twin Cities area? If possible,
>I'd like to be able to sniff before I buy.

I personally like this pu'er a lot:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=4382896 222
or
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.p... ducts_id=196
They are the same except that the first one is for a one kg brick and
the second one is only a 250g brick. The first one is a lot cheaper
but the second one offers samples.

I am unaware of the brick and mortar shops in your area, if you cant
find one I would recommend one of these vendors as a place to start:
http://www.jingteashop.com/
http://www.teaspring.com/pu-erh-tea.asp
http://stores.ebay.com/Yunnan-Sourcing-LLC
http://www.sevencups.com/tea-shop/home.php?cat=281
http://www.houdeasianart.com

Most of them will offer you sample sizes to try before buying larger
quantities.

Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net

Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net
"In this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be forgotten that much likewise is performed."
Samuel Johnson, 1775, upon finishing his dictionary.

I live in the twin cites. I have not found green pu-erh. Black puerh
I have found. I have found tea at society of tea on lyndale and 25th.
teavanna in the mall of america, teasource at clevland and ford parkway
in st paul. I have checked out all the asian markets on nicolett ave
from 28th to 24th. I spent 6hrs looking at tea in themarkets on
university ave in st paul.

iI have not found green peurh. just black tuochas. flat compressed tea
hubcaps about 8in across, some loose peurth in many places.

I first found this croupe about a year ago. they were talking of peurh.
I went to a shop on lyndale and 64th, behind the coin op laundry. and
got peurh. I loved it and now I lurk in this site every day.

Sorry I couldn't help more. maybe some of these stores will have some
when you check them out.

tom

Thanks so much, ya'll. I'll keep you posted on my quest.

No offense, but there is no such thing as a green puer more than a year old except in American marketing. Here, green puer simply means it was picked this year. Some older puer simply smells green, which is an indication of poor (no pun intended) quality. Green puer here is purchased for investment purposes. If its a good quality puer it will no longer smell green, the fermentation and/or aging will have improved it, and it will be much more valuable like good wine. Vendors often run out of aged stock and find ways to market "green" puer that range from truthful investment selling to outright fraud. Beware. Its easy to get burned here, let alone the states. I know because I make my living buying and selling tea in China. Moved here from America to marry a Cantonese girl and decided to stay.

I made a few more comments on this in my response today to Gills' thread about a good teapot for puer if you want to check it out. I give away green investment puer with purchases (its that cheap here) or give it away for shipping and a five dollar handling fee so don't spend an arm and a leg on it until you have educated yourself a little more. Good luck. I hope you find my comments useful. I'm pretty tired of seeing Americans get ripped off on this stuff.

Renny wrote:

> No offense, but there is no such thing as a green puer more than a year
> old except in American marketing. Here, green puer simply means it was
> picked this year. Some older puer simply smells green, which is an
> indication of poor (no pun intended) quality. Green puer here is
> purchased for investment purposes. If its a good quality puer it will
> no longer smell green, the fermentation and/or aging will have improved
> it, and it will be much more valuable like good wine. Vendors often run
> out of aged stock and find ways to market "green" puer that range from
> truthful investment selling to outright fraud. Beware. Its easy to
> get burned here, let alone the states. I know because I make my living
> buying and selling tea in China. Moved here from America to marry a
> Cantonese girl and decided to stay.
>
> I made a few more comments on this in my response today to Gills'
> thread about a good teapot for puer if you want to check it out. I
> give away green investment puer with purchases (its that cheap here) or
> give it away for shipping and a five dollar handling fee so don't spend
> an arm and a leg on it until you have educated yourself a little more.
> Good luck. I hope you find my comments useful. I'm pretty tired of
> seeing Americans get ripped off on this stuff.
>
>
> --
> Renny

Renny, I totally agree that there is a tremendous amount of deception
in the Western market. I have seen a lot of alleged 20 year old cakes
offered for sale that were no more than a few years old at most, I have
cooked pu-erh offered up as old aged raw pu-erh, and very frequently
pu-erhs offered here are less than half of their alleged age. I started
my website as a direct result of the misinformation and outright
deception that I found in the marketplace here. I, and most others who
have bought pu-erh in this country, have been ripped off numerous
times. Yes, it is also true that the price of Pu-erh in China is often
a mere few dollars per kg, and by the time it gets here it is marked up
as much as a thousand percent or more. That's why I buy most of my
pu-erh directly from China.

However, I have to disagree that there is "no such thing" as aged
puerh in the USA. I do run across it regularly now. Vendors such as
Teahub, Jingteashop, Teaspring, Genertation Tea, and most recently
MITea, do indeed offer authentic aged pu-erh, albeit at a heavy price.

Mike
http://www.pu-erh.net

No offense, but there is no such thing as a green puer more than a year
old except in American marketing. Here, green puer simply means it was
picked this year.

However, I have to disagree that there is "no such thing" as aged
puerh in the USA.


Hi Mike,
I was simply pointing out the difference between American marketing and how it sells in China. If you look closely you will see that I didn't say there is no such as aged puer in the states. You can get any puer in the states. I was only saying that what is called green puer here is never over a year old. It simply means it is this years pick and isn't aged. Therefore, you can't get green puer over a year old anywhere (by Chinese standards). Older tea that still smells green (and hence is suspect regarding quality) is simply not aging well.

Hope that clears it up.

I would say more, but i'm going to save the rest to answer the replies (a lot of them) on the other post I made. Check it out. I think you will find it interesting.

Best regards.... Renny

Hi Renny

I understand your meaning now. That is not how it is marketed in the
USA though. In the USA Puerh is divided into two major catoagories,
Green and Black, regardless of age. Any "raw/uncooked/sheng" cake is
called "green" here regardless of age.

Mike



>Hi Mike,
>I was simply pointing out the difference between American marketing and
>how it sells in China. If you look closely you will see that I didn't
>say there is no such as aged puer in the states. You can get any puer
>in the states. I was only saying that what is called green puer here
>is never over a year old. It simply means it is this years pick and
>isn't aged. Therefore, you can't get green puer over a year old
>anywhere (by Chinese standards). Older tea that still smells green
>(and hence is suspect regarding quality) is simply not aging well.
>
>Hope that clears it up.
>
>I would say more, but i'm going to save the rest to answer the replies
>(a lot of them) on the other post I made. Check it out. I think you
>will find it interesting.
>
>Best regards.... Renny

Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net
"In this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be forgotten that much likewise is performed."
Samuel Johnson, 1775, upon finishing his dictionary.

[Mike Petro]
> However, I have to disagree that there is "no such thing" as aged
> puerh in the USA. I do run across it regularly now. Vendors such as
> Teahub, Jingteashop, Teaspring, Genertation Tea, and most recently
> MITea, do indeed offer authentic aged pu-erh, albeit at a heavy price.

[Michael]
Yes, to which I can add that I have an impecable source in New York City.
The teas bear this out. 50's, 60's, and 70's; red, blue, and yellow label.
They aren't giving these teas away, though. Mike's trust in on-line vendors
might be slightly greater than mine, although I've had no bad experiences
with the vendors I've tried, out of the ones he mentioned above.

If I buy this year's Pu'erh and hold it fifty years, I'm sure I would enjoy
it. Of course, I'll be 101 years of age then. So, perhaps I ought to spring
for a bit of old Pu'erh NOW...before it's too late...before I become one.

Michael

Michael /22/05


>
>
> [Mike Petro]
>> However, I have to disagree that there is "no such thing" as aged
>> puerh in the USA. I do run across it regularly now. Vendors such as
>> Teahub, Jingteashop, Teaspring, Genertation Tea, and most recently
>> MITea, do indeed offer authentic aged pu-erh, albeit at a heavy price.
>
> [Michael]
> Yes, to which I can add that I have an impecable source in New York City.
> The teas bear this out. 50's, 60's, and 70's; red, blue, and yellow label.
> They aren't giving these teas away, though. Mike's trust in on-line vendors
> might be slightly greater than mine, although I've had no bad experiences
> with the vendors I've tried, out of the ones he mentioned above.
>
> If I buy this year's Pu'erh and hold it fifty years, I'm sure I would enjoy
> it. Of course, I'll be 101 years of age then. So, perhaps I ought to spring
> for a bit of old Pu'erh NOW...before it's too late...before I become one.
>
> Michael

Sorry. Make that 111 years of age.
>

> No offense, but there is no such thing as a green puer more than a year
> old except in American marketing. Here, green puer simply means it was
> picked this year.

Could you tell us where you are in China? Because when i go to my
suppliers for my pu erh in fang cun (Guangzhou), i can ask for green pu
erh that is between current year and 5 years old. Green pu erh doesn't
mean tea of current year, it simply refers to this type of pu erh -
"Sheng Puerh".

SEb

Hi Seb,
I'm in Zhuhai and I and others I know visit GuangZhou regularly. Your confusion is very understandable. Much tea is presented as green tea and the term you refer to is old. It has only in the last five or ten years come to refer to older tea, however. The popularity of puer, the increasing difficulties in supply, and other factors have recreated it as a marketing term that is accepted by many outside (or unfamiliar with) the Chinese conventions in this regard. Many buyers (including myself) look upon this as a marketing gimmick and are more than a little perturbed that people new to the business (Chinese and guilo alike) are being taught and indoctrinated in this as though it were always so and means things it does not. By and large its used to sell low quality tea to new or uninformed buyers. The problem is that they can't go back once they started. If they know you are knowledgable, but used to the term they will still use it.

Best regards.... Renny

Renny,

>Your confusion is very understandable.
I am not confused with what I know, but I am really confused with what
you wrote.

I am stating that there are 2 types of pu erh on the market in China
raw and cooked. If i understand you correctly, the term "sheng" is old
and nobody is using it but everybody is calling pu erh "green tea".
Well if I go to a tea shop and ask for "luk tsa", will I be served
with pu erh?

If green pu erh is the tea of the year, how do you call a 1 to 5 years
old raw pu erh, a 5 to 10 years old pu erh, and a pu erh that is over
20 year old? How do you call a cooked pu erh?

>Much tea is presented as green tea and the term you refer to is old.

As for using old term, I learn tea from people that have been in the
tea business for many generations and they do tend to be old fashion
and very respectul to Chinese Tea Culture. So I guess that just make me
a old fashioned Lowai who fall deeply in love with Chinese tea culture
and not Chinese tea business

SEb

Hi Seb,
this is an apology and explanation of my reply to you. I was quite negligent. First of all I do know the difference between Sheng and Shou, but when I read your response I was confused and had to go back and read the thread because I couldn't remember commenting on Sheng. Thats because I didn't. I have to admit I didn't actually read your post before I replied (yes, i'm embarrassed). I hope this post will keep you from thinking i'm too much of a moron.

We have a lan here and sometimes others read whats on the screen while we are talking. My partner, an aussie from Hong Kong (who knows little about tea), was looking while some of us were talking and asked me what was meant by buying a type of puer call Sha Qing(at least thats what I heard) while I was talking on the cell to someone else. That term means killing out, though for some reason I can only attribute to a brain fart I said green in my post. It is just a term for a part of puer processing and has been used to cheat people. The response was quickly typed without reading the post (again... sorry) and submitted. I didn't even realize you weren't in the states and was thinking "Oh my God... is that crap in the states too".

In other words it was a hasty and negligent reply that resulted in a comedy (I hope) of errors. If my wife had been there it probably wouldn't have happened. She is my saviour in language problems. I always take her with me for some good reasons. Most of my friends mix mandarin and cantonese freely in their converstations and talk fast. This presents several problems for me on a regular basis. I don't pretend to be fluent in either, my apptitude for languages is poor(though I get better every day), and I have a disability that makes Cantonese in particular a regular problem. I'm tone deaf (don't laugh). Her interpretations are a double edged sword, however. She often knows what I mean and uses language beyond my capacity in our dealings. That she keeps me well informed when I can't keep up is still not always covering many nuances. For instance, if she says sheng sheng she is talking about the stars. Sheng can also mean new. It is my understanding that the nuances for green and raw are used seperately and the meaning new (only when related to green... not raw) means basically only "new" in this context. Correct me if i'm wrong. The result is I always ask how old it is just to be sure like everyone else does. If you are fluent enough to never have such problems I envy you. I'm probably a year or two away from that yet.

When I went back to it my answer was as confusing to me as it must have been to you. I don't know if i've completely explained myself or not because I can't remember all I was thinking (or apparently not thinking) but I am sorry for the confusion.

I haven't dealt much with westerners on tea (a small client base of friends, family, and business associates) but have been interested in going further with it (there is enough that it should pay for itself or be curtailed). I don't intend to make a lot of money with it (I just love tea and have other more profitalbe business interests) but one reason I came to this forum was to start learning how to talk about this to westerners. I am learning fast that there is a huge difference in the communication I am used to and what is common elsewere. Also, I need to remember that others don't know me and I should be more careful. Many will not be as forgiving of my brain farts as my friends and family.

At any rate, I had been busy with other things for a day or two and just got back and saw this. I figured I owed an apology and explanation. Hope its accepted. I'm an old (53) and old fashioned guy in the same fashion as you so I think we have more in common than I might have realized at first. My wife and family call me a zhong guo guoai loh (hope I spelled it right.... i'm being more careful now.... really).

embarrassed..... Renny

6/21/05


>
>> No offense, but there is no such thing as a green puer more than a year
>> old except in American marketing. Here, green puer simply means it was
>> picked this year.
>
> Could you tell us where you are in China? Because when i go to my
> suppliers for my pu erh in fang cun (Guangzhou), i can ask for green pu
> erh that is between current year and 5 years old. Green pu erh doesn't
> mean tea of current year, it simply refers to this type of pu erh -
> "Sheng Puerh".
>
> SEb
>

Seb,

That's my understanding. Ah, language. It's there for us to use and abuse.

I tried to send email to you but it bounced. if you see this, please
email me at
bridgerb(at)cox(dot)net