I had just returned from Kuala Lumpur and had the opportunity to attend the Malaysia tea expo last week. The expo this time was held in a large new shopping mall; Tropicana Gardens mall. I like this new mall. Lots to see and lots of unique eats. Very convenient as the train has a stop at the mall.
This tea expo was a small scale affair. There were no foreign exhibitors and some local ones were not represented in this expo. I counted less than 30 booths and they were all local tea dealers. Yes, big local players like Taetea, Xiaguan and China Tea were all present. There were numerous Liu Bao booths and I managed to snagged 1 kg of old Liu Bao.
This tea expo was a chance for tea dealers, collectors and tea drinkers to meet up. I sensed a bit of 'revenge buying' - everyone was walking and holding a bagful of tea. I suppose after 2.5 years of 'no tea fair events', there was an 'urge' to buy some tea. Overall, it was a well managed and successful event to those dealers that had booths during this event.
What did I buy besides the Liu Bao? I had a good time sampling many new pu erh. Many of the new pu erh tea are now processed differently. The tea tasted lighter and greener. I managed to buy some traditional old Xiaguan tea that were strong, aromatic and has a smoky characteristic. Such old tea, if new was difficult to drink and had to be stored away for some time. I suppose I am old fashioned. I like my tea strong and aromatic with some age in the tea. Some of these tea I had bought, are about 15 years or older, stored in Malaysia and in my opinion is now only ready to drink. I am happy.
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