I've been enjoying the discussion on a thread about how newbies should go
about purchasing pu er ("question for you Pu-er experts" thread--which I
created it but soon was lost in from the discussion).

So, here you go. Anyone out the if you had a friend who was interested
in learning more about pu er and they told you "_________ (fill in the
blank: Mike! Jim! SEb! etc.) Your longstanding devotion to pu er has
inspired me. I have $100 (US)--please suggest a tea or teas that I should
buy (including vendors) so that I can start experiencing pu er (preferably
over the Internet because there are no local Chinatowns)."

What would you answer?

Just wondering about responses.
thanks
one of the newbies
L

Yeah..! Lara, I'v got many photos of puer on a photo sharing site
,which is called Chinese Flickr... wish you like.

http://www.yupoo.com/user/988e538e20...47b48a82d49b4d

On Thu, 25 Aug 2005 02:49:50 GMT, "Lara Burton"
> wrote:

>I've been enjoying the discussion on a thread about how newbies should go
>about purchasing pu er ("question for you Pu-er experts" thread--which I
>created it but soon was lost in from the discussion).
>
>So, here you go. Anyone out the if you had a friend who was interested
>in learning more about pu er and they told you "_________ (fill in the
>blank: Mike! Jim! SEb! etc.) Your longstanding devotion to pu er has
>inspired me. I have $100 (US)--please suggest a tea or teas that I should
>buy (including vendors) so that I can start experiencing pu er (preferably
>over the Internet because there are no local Chinatowns)."
>
>What would you answer?
>
>Just wondering about responses.
>thanks
>one of the newbies
>L
>


To best answer that please tell us a bit about your tea experience.

Have you tried any peurhs at all yet?

Do you prefer black teas or green teas?

Do you currently use loose leaf or teabags?

What type of brewing equipment do you own?

$100 is a large budget for a first time around. Why so much? Are you
looking for a selection?

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.

Those look like pictures I cull everyday off TaoBao and Ebay. I note
factory,date,price,brief description. It is convenient.

Jim

hanry wrote:
> Yeah..! Lara, I'v got many photos of puer on a photo sharing site
> ,which is called Chinese Flickr... wish you like.
>
> http://www.yupoo.com/user/988e538e20...47b48a82d49b4d

lara,

my advice is that you save your $100 for future when you are more certain of
your tastebuds and preference...

instead of buying whole pieces of tea which you might not like later, it
might be better for you to start out on samples first. Spend $20 - 30 on
samples, and then build up your repertoire from there...



Danny


"Lara Burton" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> I've been enjoying the discussion on a thread about how newbies should go
> about purchasing pu er ("question for you Pu-er experts" thread--which I
> created it but soon was lost in from the discussion).
>
> So, here you go. Anyone out the if you had a friend who was
> interested in learning more about pu er and they told you "_________ (fill
> in the blank: Mike! Jim! SEb! etc.) Your longstanding devotion to pu er
> has inspired me. I have $100 (US)--please suggest a tea or teas that I
> should buy (including vendors) so that I can start experiencing pu er
> (preferably over the Internet because there are no local Chinatowns)."
>
> What would you answer?
>
> Just wondering about responses.
> thanks
> one of the newbies
> L
>

"samarkand" > writes:

> my advice is that you save your $100 for future when you are more certain of
> your tastebuds and preference...
>
> instead of buying whole pieces of tea which you might not like later, it
> might be better for you to start out on samples first. Spend $20 - 30 on
> samples, and then build up your repertoire from there...

Yes yes yes!

With Puerh it's very easy to build up a stock of tea that you aren't
enthusiastic about. The most typical unit is nominally 357 grams,
which is a *lot*, and it's easy to tell yourself that it's cheap for
the price, and besides, it might get better as it ages. Well, it
might, but it might not, so it's a very good idea to find out if you
really like the stuff before you buy, say, a hundred pots' worth.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

"Mike Petro" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 25 Aug 2005 02:49:50 GMT, "Lara Burton"
> > wrote:
>
> To best answer that please tell us a bit about your tea experience.
>
> Have you tried any peurhs at all yet?

only a black cooked loose from Rishi. but I loved it and this ng raves so
much about pu that I'd like to learn more

> Do you prefer black teas or green teas?
greens mostly, some whites (some reason I love Indian whites) I don't drink
blacks. Just habit, I suppose.

> Do you currently use loose leaf or teabags?

loose only.

> What type of brewing equipment do you own?

Two ceramic tea pots and an Inginuitea. I am seriously considering a gong
fu

> $100 is a large budget for a first time around. Why so much? Are you
> looking for a selection?

$100 is a nice round number. I usually drop about $70 on a green tea order.
With the $100, those who think I need "a really good tea" can refer me to
one special cake, while others can refer me to several lower priced samples.
I am looking only to experience pu er. Variety of lower priced, single
higher priced, whatever. I want the experts to advise. I will consider all
the suggestions, weigh the issues, etc and finally purchase several samples
at my discrection.

Thanks for your response
>
> 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.

Hi Lew,

Sorry I visited Michael and Winnie at the Tea Gallery without you...next
round? Love their place...

:")


"Lewis Perin" > wrote in message
news
> "samarkand" > writes:
>
>> my advice is that you save your $100 for future when you are more certain
>> of
>> your tastebuds and preference...
>>
>> instead of buying whole pieces of tea which you might not like later, it
>> might be better for you to start out on samples first. Spend $20 - 30 on
>> samples, and then build up your repertoire from there...
>
> Yes yes yes!
>
> With Puerh it's very easy to build up a stock of tea that you aren't
> enthusiastic about. The most typical unit is nominally 357 grams,
> which is a *lot*, and it's easy to tell yourself that it's cheap for
> the price, and besides, it might get better as it ages. Well, it
> might, but it might not, so it's a very good idea to find out if you
> really like the stuff before you buy, say, a hundred pots' worth.
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin /
> http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On Fri, 26 Aug 2005 03:33:32 GMT, "Lara Burton"
> wrote:

>> $100 is a large budget for a first time around. Why so much? Are you
>> looking for a selection?
>
>$100 is a nice round number. I usually drop about $70 on a green tea order.
>With the $100, those who think I need "a really good tea" can refer me to
>one special cake, while others can refer me to several lower priced samples.
>I am looking only to experience pu er. Variety of lower priced, single
>higher priced, whatever. I want the experts to advise. I will consider all
>the suggestions, weigh the issues, etc and finally purchase several samples
>at my discrection.


Lara, the puerh genre covers a wide spectrum of teas and most of them
are very unique, especially when compared to the more common teas. I
fully concur with Danny and Lew in that I wouldn't recommend you blow
a bundle on 1 or 2 cakes, you might wind up with a bunch of tea you
despise.

You have a nice budget to start with so go for sample and taster
packages. Don't buy anything expensive yet, stay away from
significantly aged tea simply because it costs a lot and you don't
know what you like yet. You did like the black which is cool,
understand that green puerh is completely different. Sample sizes are
better for you right now but if you do go for whole pieces stay away
from the bingcha and stick with 100g tuocha or fangcha, less
investment and less tea to waste if you don't like it. Here are some
sample sized suggestions.

Email Jing Teashop (http://www.jingteashop.com/contact_us.cfm), as
they are good about filling unique requests. Ask them to put together
a sample package of as many tea as possible that represent the
"spectrum" of puerh. I would ask for 25g of each which is enough for
several pots. They have the knowledge to guide you down this path,
many other vendors don't.

Another good source for small samples is
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.p...dex&cPath=1_27 as
they offer 1oz samples. The prices include shipping. Hopefully more
vendors will take their lead.
Some teas to think about from them would be:
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.p...duc ts_id=214
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.p...duc ts_id=207
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.p...duc ts_id=263
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.p...duc ts_id=241
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.p...duc ts_id=201
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.p...duc ts_id=137
Email Guang privately and he might also put together some other
samples for you that are not listed on his site. I wouldn't buy the
aged samples just yet, learn the genre first.

ITC offers a sampler
http://www.imperialtea.com/AB1002000...Category_ID=30
but it is mediocre IMHO.

Unfortunately not many people off sample sizes and even fewer offer
any kind of selection. Generation Tea used to offer a sampler but they
are out of stock on it right now. David Hoffman from Silk Road Tea
used to offer a fantastic sampler but he discontinued it.

There are a tremendous amount of loose leaf black puerhs. Don't spend
too much time dwelling on them as their pedigree is hard to determine,
which means it is hard to replicate if you decide you want more. Get
one or two, maybe a small leaf and a large leaf, but not any more
than that.

Stay away from the minis as most of them are only average at best,
there are a few exceptions but I don't think they are worth pursuing
just yet.

If you look at my Brewing page (http://www.pu-erh.net/howtobrew.html)
I have instructions for brewing puerh using your Inginuitea pot. There
are better methods of brewing but I don't recommend investing in any
new equipment just yet, make sure you like the genre enough before
investing more $.
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" > wrote:

> You have a nice budget to start with so go for sample and taster
> packages.

(Very impressive list of samplers snipped)

Mike,

What is your opinion about the puerh sampler set from Holy Mountain? And
generally, how is the quality of their puerhs? I have once ordered a lightly
aged (6 years old) green Menghai cake from them, and although it has a nice
taste, it is far not as impressive as the young greens which I have received
from Michael from mandjs.com.

Thanks,
Gyorgy

Gyorgy Sajo wrote:
> "Mike Petro" > wrote:
>
> > You have a nice budget to start with so go for sample and taster
> > packages.
>
> (Very impressive list of samplers snipped)
>
> Mike,
>
> What is your opinion about the puerh sampler set from Holy Mountain? And
> generally, how is the quality of their puerhs? I have once ordered a lightly
> aged (6 years old) green Menghai cake from them, and although it has a nice
> taste, it is far not as impressive as the young greens which I have received
> from Michael from mandjs.com.
>

Thanks Gyorgy, I forgot about them, it has been a while since I visited
their site. The sampler on http://www.holymtn.com/tea/t-samplers.htm
looks appealing enough. They also are now selling a lot of loose leaf
and minis in 1 oz sizes. However if one is trying learn the "spectrum"
of puerh you only need 1 or 2 loose blacks/minis.

In general Holy Mountain puerhs are as advertised, although you can get
better prices from the China based vendors. Michael from mandjs.com
does sell good authentic puerh however I think the Jing Teashop and
Teaspring, both also based in China, have better prices once you throw
shipping into the equation. They certainly maintain their websites more
frequently.

Mike

Hello Lara,

I agree with Mike and Danny. $100 is much more than what is really
needed to jump into pu erh especially since you already tried the
cooked loose. You can focus more on the green/raw pu erh.

I would say that starting with tuo cha and fang cha are your best bet
because of their weight, price, and also because they use smaller grade
which make the tea not as "strong" as a traditional beeng cha. After
experiencing with these and if you think you like the tea, then you
could try a beeng cha.

Happy discovering!

SEb

Lara Burton wrote:
> I've been enjoying the discussion on a thread about how newbies should go
> about purchasing pu er ("question for you Pu-er experts" thread--which I
> created it but soon was lost in from the discussion).
>
> So, here you go. Anyone out the if you had a friend who was interested
> in learning more about pu er and they told you "_________ (fill in the
> blank: Mike! Jim! SEb! etc.) Your longstanding devotion to pu er has
> inspired me. I have $100 (US)--please suggest a tea or teas that I should
> buy (including vendors) so that I can start experiencing pu er (preferably
> over the Internet because there are no local Chinatowns)."
>
> What would you answer?
>
> Just wondering about responses.
> thanks
> one of the newbies
> L

"Mike Petro" > wrote:

> Michael from mandjs.com
> does sell good authentic puerh however I think the Jing Teashop and
> Teaspring, both also based in China, have better prices once you throw
> shipping into the equation.

Indeed. I had bought some Xia Guan tuochas from Michael before, but now I
have found out that I can get the same tuochas considerably cheaper from
Jing Teashop because of the lower shipping fee. On the other hand, Michael
has this incredible Wild Tree cake from Menghai, which I have almost become
an addict of, and which I can not find at other vendors.

Gyorgy