Hey Folks,
I'm looking to buy some aged raw pu-ehr online, between 7-10 years old.
I'm willing to spend around $70 including shipping, although I might be
persuaded to go higher if there's some really good stuff. It seems like
ebay has some good selections and better prices, though I'm aware you
can't really really on it for the most part.
Since this is a pretty big investment, I'm looking to first hand
experience of seasoned pu-ehr drinkers. I'm willing to trust someone's
judgement and take the plunge. I want to avoid getting ripped off,
which seems very common in this market. I greatly appreciate the help.
Best Regards,
Nico

ahem, I meant, of course "you can't really RELY on it."

ok, one last thing. If there is something to be found for less money-
then I'd be happy to hear about that as well.

>I'm looking to buy some aged raw pu-ehr online, between 7-10 years old.
>I'm willing to spend around $70

The price seems to still be a bit low for 7-10 year old pu'er. Can you
show us a pic or give us a little more info on the tea?

>ok, one last thing. If there is something to be found for less money-
>then I'd be happy to hear about that as well.

If you're into real aged pu'er, I'm sorry to say, but it can get quite
expensive...that is, if you can find authentic tea.

perhaps I should rephrase: if I'm looking for a cake from 98, how much
should I expect to pay and where can I find it?

After a recent sampling of 30 year old loose Poo Nee and 20 year old
Yunnan shu tuocha from my private stock I'd say save your money and buy
the cheapest stuff you can find in Chinatown. No matter how the
discussion starts everything ends up as a fake or it wasn't aged
correctly or the prices on TaoBao can't be correct. Pu is a tea like
any other and no correlation between tastebuds and price. I'd say
broaden your choices and buy recent crops and hope you get something
you like. If not you can wait a good part of your life to see if it
gets any better. If you're in China standing in line with tourists to
taste aged pu make sure you can also buy antiques. I will admit
standing in line makes any tea taste better.

Jim

Nico wrote:
> ok, one last thing. If there is something to be found for less money-
> then I'd be happy to hear about that as well.

Nico wrote:
> perhaps I should rephrase: if I'm looking for a cake from 98, how much
> should I expect to pay and where can I find it?

Hi Nico,

Unfortunately this is probably one of the hardest age groups to find.
There are several choices for older tea but very few stock tea in the
7-15 year range. While many may say their tea is this old very few are
authentic. One vendor that I trust when it comes to authenticity who
also stocks teas in this range is
http://www.jingteashop.com/cat_aged.cfm while I have not tried most of
these teas I do trust that they are authentic.

As for pricing there are several factors, what is the Factory and Age,
how well was it stored, how well is it known ie was it a particularly
good year, and probably most of all what will the market bear.
Depending on these factors you should expect to pay anywhere from 10
cents a gram on up to 30 cents a gram.

My recommendation would be to get the 1998 Feng Qing raw pu erh AND the
1995 Meng Hai Puerh Tea Fang Cha. They are both 100g each and both of
them together will easily fit your budget. This will give you an
opportunity to compare the teas and begin to develop your own taste
memory and preferences.

I do caution you not expect too much from this age group as it wont
have matured enough yet for most people, it is however an affordable
jump if you are trying to age the tea yourself.


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

>I'd say save your money and buy
>the cheapest stuff you can find in Chinatown.

Unfortunately we don't have much of a Chinatown here in
Minneapolis. There are several southeast Asian markets,
which sell only cooked puer, which I do buy farely
frequently. I thus far haven't found any uncooked stuff. If
anybody knows where to find some, I'll be there tomorrow.
..

I use Chinatown more as a description than a location. In my metro
area it is two major intersecting boulevards with shops up and down
either. You'll need a car to get around. I think the real definition
do the shops serve an ethnic group. In my case it is Vietnamese with
primarily Chinese owners but a few Vietnamese. I think SF Chinatown is
primarily for tourist and Oakland more local. There are other local
stores in my area that serve Arabic, African and Russian even though I
wouldn't call them a 'town'. Black puerh is plentiful while green
scarce only in form of Xiaguan tuocha. I think the black is still
viewed as medicinal with the green as the bottom of the barrel and less
wholesome. I think the local stores could easily stock more green but
it will take more than the suggestion of a lowai.

Jim

Nico Dornemann wrote:
> >I'd say save your money and buy
> >the cheapest stuff you can find in Chinatown.
>
> Unfortunately we don't have much of a Chinatown here in
> Minneapolis. There are several southeast Asian markets,
> which sell only cooked puer, which I do buy farely
> frequently. I thus far haven't found any uncooked stuff. If
> anybody knows where to find some, I'll be there tomorrow.