Bad pu-erh - Yunnan Tribute Tea - similar experiences?
 

Hi tea fans!

After having good luck with my first venture into pu-erh teas with the
inexpensive "Lucky" brand Yunnan Tuocha, I ventured to Wing Hop Fung in
Monterey Park, CA to try some other pu-erh teas. I've found Wing Hop
Fung to be a rather good retailer of Chinese products, and the store is
well-regarded by the local Chinese community. Thus I figured it was a
safe place to go.

I bought two teas, one packaged in a box labeled "Yunnan Tribute Tea"
and another whose brand was in chinese but featured a rooster on its
paper wrapper. They cost about USD $6/cake.

The Yunnan Tribute Tea featured a different pressed symbol on each
side. This same tea can be found by googling "Yunnan Tribute Tea", for
sale by Tenren (for a much higher price than I paid!). I tried the cake
tonight and found the first two brewings (done gongfu style) to border
on rancid. The smell of the brick hinted at this before I brewed it,
but I tried it anyway. Subsequent brewings were just ok. The cake
seemed very dark--I figured it was cooked rather than raw and aged,
especially considering the price. I'm wondering if this is an example
of wet storage pu-erh? It had a clear red liquor, but smelled like
pesticides.

The Rooster tea smelled much better, but was also very rancid in taste.
Its liquor was yellow-green and cloudy, and the flavor reminded me of a
poorly stored or low grade pouchong, maybe even kudingcha! I thought
perhaps it was just a very young cake, considering it would have been
produced this year or for release this year, but the cake was brown, so
I didn't think it could be that young. The leaves were present on the
outside, but inside the tea was like mush. I wish I could find this
particular cake online for reference, but this is all the info I have
on it.

I was wondering if others on this board had similar experiences with
either of these teas, or if they enjoyed them. I don't know if these
are just examples of bad pu-erh or if my palate hasn't quite graduated
to finer pu-erh sensibilities.

Anyway, all replies appreciated.

> I was wondering if others on this board had similar experiences with
> either of these teas, or if they enjoyed them. I don't know if these
> are just examples of bad pu-erh or if my palate hasn't quite graduated
> to finer pu-erh sensibilities.

That's BAD puerh! Nothing wrong with your taste buds. I would actually
advise you to not drink anymore, likely to do you more bad than good.

James

>I was wondering if others on this board had similar experiences with
>either of these teas, or if they enjoyed them. I don't know if these
>are just examples of bad pu-erh or if my palate hasn't quite graduated
>to finer pu-erh sensibilities.

The cooked stuff is likely just bad. Bad cooked puer is readily
available in asian markets. From my experience, which is limited,
you're best off getting your stuff compressed. I have found compressed
stuff to generally better than loose stuff in asian markets. Also, look
for tuochas that come in green cylinder-shaped boxes with Yunnan Tuocha
printed on the top. These are from the famous Xia Guan Factory and are
quite good if brewed correctly.

As for the other one, I think the rooster is the Six Famous Tea
Mountain factory. The taste may stem from its being new. I've been
using somewhat cooler water for new puer. I think they need to be
brewed like green tea.

If you can, give the puer a sniff before you buy it. That in itself
should tell you if something is really bad.

Nico

On 9 Sep 2005 04:17:34 -0700, "Nico" > wrote:

>As for the other one, I think the rooster is the Six Famous Tea
>Mountain factory. The taste may stem from its being new. I've been
>using somewhat cooler water for new puer. I think they need to be
>brewed like green tea.

I am doubtful that this is the 6FTM cake as the one from them for "The
year of the Rooster" is premium priced, even in China, and targeted at
collector types. I doubt it was available for $6 here in the states,
although it hard to tell for sure without a picture. Go to this site
and look at the logo, http://www.liudachashan.com/new/ is that logo
on the cake anywhere? If you hunt around the cake is probably on that
site as that is the factories webpage.


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.

You're on the right track. It took me about ten purchases from
Chinatown and China to realize the cooked taste can vary and you will
like some more than others but in the end it is like drinking beer.
You get use to the taste. Don't worry about the price. Be glad you
can find it cheaper in Chinatown. I also recommend drinking cooked
with a meal especially greasy ones. Then you can graduate to just by
itself. Also a little black goes a long way. I've only got one
impressed cook. I would guess that is a sign of better quality. You
sure the Rooster isn't a Swan. I checked my captured images from
TaoBao and didn't see any Roosters.

Jim

wrote:
> Hi tea fans!
>
> After having good luck with my first venture into pu-erh teas with the
> inexpensive "Lucky" brand Yunnan Tuocha, I ventured to Wing Hop Fung in
> Monterey Park, CA to try some other pu-erh teas. I've found Wing Hop
> Fung to be a rather good retailer of Chinese products, and the store is
> well-regarded by the local Chinese community. Thus I figured it was a
> safe place to go.
>
> I bought two teas, one packaged in a box labeled "Yunnan Tribute Tea"
> and another whose brand was in chinese but featured a rooster on its
> paper wrapper. They cost about USD $6/cake.
>
> The Yunnan Tribute Tea featured a different pressed symbol on each
> side. This same tea can be found by googling "Yunnan Tribute Tea", for
> sale by Tenren (for a much higher price than I paid!). I tried the cake
> tonight and found the first two brewings (done gongfu style) to border
> on rancid. The smell of the brick hinted at this before I brewed it,
> but I tried it anyway. Subsequent brewings were just ok. The cake
> seemed very dark--I figured it was cooked rather than raw and aged,
> especially considering the price. I'm wondering if this is an example
> of wet storage pu-erh? It had a clear red liquor, but smelled like
> pesticides.
>
> The Rooster tea smelled much better, but was also very rancid in taste.
> Its liquor was yellow-green and cloudy, and the flavor reminded me of a
> poorly stored or low grade pouchong, maybe even kudingcha! I thought
> perhaps it was just a very young cake, considering it would have been
> produced this year or for release this year, but the cake was brown, so
> I didn't think it could be that young. The leaves were present on the
> outside, but inside the tea was like mush. I wish I could find this
> particular cake online for reference, but this is all the info I have
> on it.
>
> I was wondering if others on this board had similar experiences with
> either of these teas, or if they enjoyed them. I don't know if these
> are just examples of bad pu-erh or if my palate hasn't quite graduated
> to finer pu-erh sensibilities.
>
> Anyway, all replies appreciated.

This is the link for the "Yunnan Tribute Tea"
http://www.tenren.com/yutrtea.html
The rooster tea isn't from 6FTM--the paper is thick, tan, has four
chinese characters on it, and a red rooster on a brown hill with little
tufts of green grass.

Anyway, following your advices, I'll probably just consider them "bad
pu-erh" and buy from someone else online. Maybe I'll use them to show
people what bad pu-erh is like, to compare with something significantly
better. If these bad experiences repeat with other pu-erhs, I'll figure
I'm not cut out for them yet.

I just hope they haven't lent their bad taste to my yixing pot!

I don't suppose anyone on here is from Los Angeles County and knows a
reputable pu-erh seller? Elixir only carries mini tuocha, Chado doesn't
carry them, Les Palais des Th=E9s only has loose pu-erh, Tenren only
carries cheaper "gift" pu-erh like the bad ones I bought.

Wing Hop Fung downtown had a beeng (that I hope I can recognize now
that I've done more looking around online), some generic tea-money
bricks, and "chess tea".

Maybe I'll find some others in herbalism shops in Chinatown. *crosses
fingers*

> I just hope they haven't lent their bad taste to my yixing pot!

Might be a good idea to try your first pot of a new puerh in a glazed
or cast iron pot, and if it passes muster, then brew subsequent batches
in the yixing?

On 9 Sep 2005 22:31:03 -0700, "stePH" > wrote:

>> I just hope they haven't lent their bad taste to my yixing pot!
>
>Might be a good idea to try your first pot of a new puerh in a glazed
>or cast iron pot, and if it passes muster, then brew subsequent batches
>in the yixing?

I tend to us gaiwan for new teas, at least until I get to them a bit.

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.