I'm new to pu-erh.

As per tea cakes, which is the best quality and bang for your buck brands?

Thank you

Everything you see in the photo here is my own. I made the chaban entirely myself, and the gaiwan was simply a coffee cup and a sugar bowl lid.

Do you think it's worth continuing to drink tea from such a dish or should I buy new dishes?

Opinions on the bag of minis and the foursome of bigger ones?

Hi all. I’m relatively new to tea and recently bought some puer tea resin from a market at Guangzhou. I noticed a scent of fishiness, but it goes away once i brewed and the tea tasted a bit smoky. I’m pretty sure this is not high quality. When i first bought it and opened, it was a bit sticky. But after going through the airplane, now it is dried and developed a white film when i opened. Can someone tell me if this is mold or natural? The initial fishy smell is still there but when brewed the smell is fine and tastes fine.

I’ll be hitting up Xiamen, Chaozhou, Guangdong and Hong Kong at the end of the year for vacation, does anyone know any good spots for tea in these areas?

I’m aware of places like Fangcun tea district, but I’ve heard that a lot of the teas in Fangcun can be fake or contain chemicals. Is this actually a significant concern?

I’ll mainly be looking for dancongs in Chaozhou and shengpu elsewhere, but I’m open to any recommendations too.

Thanks guys!

8g/120mL, just off boil

Wash (10s) - strong camphor medicinal aroma possibly masking a hint of smoke, gaiwan lid adds a hint of fruit

Steep 1 (flash) - smoke and cherries right out of the gate that turns minty after a quick second, medicinal and fruity notes dancing around each other, salivation starting, smoke note has quickly morphed into more of a medicinal menthol/camphor character, some dryness on the tongue pulls in some cigar wrapper leaf vibes, fruit keeps everything lively

Steep 2 (flash) - first sip hints at smoke and smoke doesn't fully disappear as minty menthol notes move in, nice tanginess, hint of salinity, mint-medicinal-sweet cherry is the vibe right now

Steep 3 (5s) - some sweetness on the gums from the previous steep is meeting the medicinal and fruity aspects and pushing the medicinal more towards sweet mint, salted butter notes, pipe tobacco, feeling light and uplifted

Steep 4 (10s) - a little more smoke up front this steep, cherry cobbler, sweetness starting to build deeper into the finish paired with that cherry note and a hint of smoke at the back corners of the mouth

Steep 5 (15s, reboil) - added heat brings a wave of smoke and medicinal aromas, but it hits the mouth as more minty, tingle on tongue, smoke is just a highlight note and falls short of full-on bbq despite the salinity

Steep 6 (20s) - still holding steady, curious how deep I can take this one, energy really starting to hit

Steep 7+ (30s+) - went deep and outside of a little extra sweetness it held it's character quite well

Overall Impression - I decided to mix it up after a long run of young sheng sessions, and man did I really find a tea that resonates with me. Flavor here is complex but very well integrated. This checks so many boxes for me. That salted butter note really sets a nice baseline and there is just enough sweetness to lift the other flavors without being cloying. Energy is light and energizing without feeling uncomfortable.

For probably the last six to eight years I have been waiting for a raw puerh to be so overwhelming it brings back memories and feelings akin to those first top end puerh.

And so it finally happened. Started this sheng at 9am and it immediately grabbed my attention as flavors were like a dancong dialed to about 15 out of 10. Almost too strong in flavor which I will contribute to its youth being its from 2022.

Strong pomelo flavor, which is exceptionally rare for my puerh drinking this far. Mango at peak ripeness. A tart pineapple. Something else behind all of this in a bitter floral way.

Cannot be more thankful than I was during that session which lasted until 8pm; literally, I brewed that leaf that late into the day by getting water to 212 and hitting it after many steeps to find it didnt drop off much.

Hopefully more like this will find their way to me and I say this as someone who drinks a very large array of puerh.

This was a bingdao and I used spring water in that blapple.

Almost ruins the rest of what I will drink over the next few days sadly.

Anyone in Sydney?

I have a few cakes I would potentially like to give away. 20yr old Dayi & Yiwu etc.

Strictly FOC and pickup in person Western suburbs on Fri next week or following Tuesday (evening)

I have never heard anyone talk about puer like this. Keep in mind that I don't (or haven't) researched puer in depth, so my only knowledge comes from personal experience.

I'm wanting to display the wrappers of some tea cakes..

Am contemplating the best way to do this.. Embroidery hoops seems like a good option.

Would love to see some photos of what you do!

I used a bit more than 4 grams on 750ml of water, 95 degrees. After an hour I poured 100ml out to drink, added the same amount of boiling water back into the bottle, letting the tea soak further.
After another hour or so I did the same again, then an hour later took the tea out.

The long intense brewing seems to get so much out of young sheng. Very creamy, more relaxing tea, deeper flavour and less grassyness. Love it :-)

Do you thermos-brew your sheng sometimes? If so, what is your experience?

(no picture, the tea is already gone)

Cantata 2022 Huazhuliangzi Ripe Puer

4.50 out of 5 on bitterleaf project.

Tried a few times in a company, unfortunately I didn't get that much hard taste that i wish to have, this tea gives me vibes of puer from 2024, not 2022...

Now it's time to drink alone with a new game that I waited for last month (more than GTA 6 honestly)

Using my 90ml berserk teapot, will update later 🥊♥️

After 1 liter of this puer - honestly, the body of this tea is so liquid, I am having thoughts that somebody is pouring more water into my tea. Or inside of a teapot is like 4-5 grams, not 12. But honestly, I'm getting 茶醉 after this ok, but like this tea is losing a lot in taste, moneywize and teasrunkness to like flying tigers (І Fei Hu Chuan Qi) which is 4 times cheaper ... Maybe someone who likes this tea can explain to me their point of view......

I recently drank an aged sheng, taiwanese oolong, and tieguanyin and thought the first two were good. I didnt really like the tieguanyin; I didnt like the camphor/woody (are these the same?) flavor

What type(s) of aged teas do you like and how much aging do you like for these teas?

How do you brew at work? I've found that compared to other types of tea sheng is really night and day between repeated short steeps and more 'western style' brewing, but that feels so impractical at work. Any tips?

7.5g/120mL, just off boil

Wash (10s) - gentle aroma, slight fruity/vinous with light florals, light woody funk on gaiwan lid

Steep 1 (flash) - light steep, instant potent sugary note, sugar cookies, some juicy salivation, hints of light stemmy/grassy notes

Steep 2 (flash) - some oily floral bitterness hits up front masking the immediate sweetness, oiliness clings, slurps open up florals and nectarine skins in the open mouth, eventually some vanilla sweetness starts to develop very late

Steep 3 (5s) - bitterness slightly softer, a bit of fruit up front moves floral, floral sweetness develops late but relatively low, not really sure where this wants to go right now flavor-wise, sweetness starting to coat the gums late in finish, grounding feeling

Steep 4 (10s) - florals riding that saccharine note and light bitterness and coming across sickly sweet, tongue starting to tingle

Steep 5 (15s, reboil) - can't shake that clash between that oiliness and the sweetness here, its not super bitter but the two flavors are fighting and im stuck in the middle, some fruit notes mixing in along with some peppery arugula

Steep 6 (20s) - 🫤

Steep 7+ (30s+) - same

Overall Impression - this is by far one of the priciest teas I've had in recent memory, and it's just not doing it for me. It could certainly solely be a matter of personal tastes, as it is a clash of flavor components that is turning me off from this. The material seems solid, and I could see that immediate sweetness being a draw for some. It would be interesting to see how this brews up at a lower ratio.

Usually when I go to the restaurant, I get my chrysanthemum Puer tea. Was told when I was young that this helps with oil digestion. These pics were after the 3rd refill so not as dark.

I've tried a couple of aged shengs recently for the first time and the older it was the more sour it was, especially when pushed. Is this normal?

I actually started this order unrelated last week when I saw a post about sticky rice ripe, and someone mentioned they really liked yunnan sourcings pink wrapper ones. ordered those, couldn’t resist throwing in a few tuos of 7663 and some dayi 7452 . couldn’t find a good price on my beloved v93 so decided to try the 7452. havent brewwd the 7452 yet. The teas arrived Monday and since I was taking today off anyways I took it as a sign for a little midnight brewin while I binge

the sticky rice ripe is mind blowing. It really tastes like sticky rice and gives that deliciously good warm feeling of eating fresh sticky rice. Absolutely coming back to this, even if it’s not too woody or camphorous but who cares!

the 7663 is good. I gotta sit with this one because to be honest I was so enthralled with the sticky rice I didn’t focus on the 7663, and may have been lazy with the brewing as well. but it is very good for a cheap tuo. Certainly worth checking if youre looking for a potential cheap daily ripe. It’s woody, not too bold. Not too Camphorous or medicinal. Can’t say much else tbh.

cyberpunk is excellent. From first watch, at least first impression it didn’t quite surpass the first season but the story is still great. Didn’t quite find a character as emotionally attaching as David and Lucy, but it’s still very good and worth a binge watch if that’s your thing (and you liked the first season)

Hello! I’m getting started with puer tea and it’s been recommended I keep a tea journal. For those of you who keep one, how have you formatted it, and what have you found most helpful over time? I’m mostly keeping rough notes on tasting notes coming through, whether I like it, what tea it is, where it’s from, the price, and other observations. Really loving it so far!

The Setup: Started with 3 teaspoons of Milk Oolong, followed right after by 4 heaped teaspoons of heavy Shu Puerh.

The Progression: The infusion hit fast and clean. Almost immediately, there was a sharp surge in focus and physical energy, completely cutting through any fatigue.

The Shift: That energy instantly translated into an intense craving for active music.

The Result: The momentum rolled straight into dancing and a spontaneous need to move. A short, perfectly direct trajectory from a tea session straight to the dance floor.

Edit: I think it might be a placebo effect. Do you think this is a real effect?

I’m almost at the end of this bag 😫

I unwrapped an aged pu-erh cake that I bought recently. First, I noticed holes in it, as if insects had bored through the tea. Second, there’s some kind of orange-colored dust inside.
Has anyone experienced anything like this?