An Old Yinhao tuo

 

This raw puerh tuo was produced in 2000.   I broke up this 22 year old tuo and stored the pieces in a tea caddy.  The compression is still quite hard and I had to used a pick to carefully fry the tuo apart. 

This tea is strong.  Lighty smoky with an interesting Chinese tonic soup qualities in both taste and aroma.  Mild camphor aroma with a slight intoxicating sensation after drinking the tea.  I enjoy drinking this tea hot.  Smooth and mellow.   

But I digress.  The difference in drinking an old tea, in this case a 22 year old tuo against a newer pu erh would be that the older tea would have some age in taste and aroma.  In this case, this tea was less smokey since I drank a similar tuo 10 years ago.  This tea has mellowed but remain a strong tea.  I actually reduced the tea leaves used for a tea session. My thoughts are that if you are aging your pu erh tea, please expect your tea after aging for 12-15-20 years to be more mellow than it was after time in storage. The tea cannot be stronger in taste and aroma after time in storage. What I am trying to say that if you have a pu erh tea that is smoky or fruity or floral and you store it away..... that tea will not become more smoky, more fruity or more floral.  Some pu erh tea may not age to one's expectation. It is not that the tea is good or bad but this was the result of the tea, the processing of the tea and the storage conditions while the tea were being kept away.  Storing a pu erh tea is an adventure in itself. I have a number of teas that is coming to 20 years of storage. I look forward to drinking them. 

A Tea Set For A Road Trip

 

I am sure for many tea drinkers, you had wished you had a tea set with you when are out of the house for a few hours or a few days.......  something like a short stay with friends or relatives, an urgent business trip or a weekend getaway.  Yes, a teapot or gaiwan and a few cups are all we need to brew a tea but I am sure that a little extra or fancy stuff like a tea tray or fairness cup can make the tea session a little more enjoyable.

I had initially bought this 'portable' tea set as a gift to a new Chinese tea buddy who is starting his Chinese tea adventures.  However, he had excitedly told me, even before I wanted to present him this set, that he had went out and got a tea set himself.  I am now 'stuck' with this set. However. I am quite happy with this purchase.  

This set is inexpensive.  It comes with a 'rubber like' case with strap (23cm square).  Inside you get a gorgeous tea tray (20cm square); bamboo top on plastic. a glass fairness cup (230ml), a porcelain gaiwan (160ml), 6 porcelain teacups (50ml), a porcelain filter and holder, a pair of bamboo tongs and a tea towel.  Quality and finish is good.  Cost - $20.  

My thoughts - cheap and good. Practical and useful. I might keep it for myself. 

2008 Zhongcha Wild Yiwu Cake

 

This 2008 Zhongcha brand, aka CNNP is composed of wild Yiwu material. Already 14 years old, this raw pu erh cake is a fun tea to brew. This tea had been stored locally and there is a good aged taste and aroma in the tea. The tea brews strong and I like the long aftertaste in the mouth after drinking a cup of this tea. There is a nice oil mouthfeel and this tea in my opinion can be quite addictive. I find myself finishing a session of brewing and drinking this tea very quickly. Happy days.

But I digress. I have increased the flat rate shipping from $10 to $12, for my online store. This increase will help mitigate the dramatic rise (past 2 years) in postage cost.

Chinese New Year

 

Happy Chinese New Year.   Its the year of the tiger and I wish all my friends, readers and tea buddies a roaring year ahead.  It is already the 5th day of the Chinese New Year and I am have brewed up some Chinese tea and poured them into a few cups, settling down on my work table to write this blog entry.

I looked forward to the year of the tiger. Singapore had started vaccinated air travel late last year and the response was very good.  The Omicron dealt a set back these 2 months but I foresee this as a temporary disruption before air travel starts to pick up again in summer this year.  I may need to travel to Europe end of this year and I hope to visit Mona (her 2nd name is Lisa) during a free day there.  

Talking about tea, here are some news:

1.  Price of Chinese tea is not getting cheaper.  Chinese tea is getting expensive.    Older tea (10 years or more) like pu erh and oolong are seeing a dramatic price increase (within China and outside China as well).  This is due, from what I gathered, not due to an increase in tea drinkers but instead due a reduction of tea being produced or made available for sale.  My tea distributor friends told me they noticed the new tea produced are much less in terms of quantity.  Limited edition teas were also hard to get.  For older tea, collectors are now only willing to sell the tea for much higher prices.  

2.  Physical tea shops are not doing well. Due to restrictions, many tea shops see a drop in customers to their shops.  Many are now operating online and may even reduce their shop size or closing down the physical shop entirely and opting to sell and buy tea online.

3.  Tea buyers now get their tea online.  Yes, we buyers are spoilt for choice with many online shops offering a big variety of tea and tea ware at comparable prices.  Most of these tea are new tea.  Buying the older and more expensive tea is a little more tricky, unless you are familiar with the seller.  I myself have bought a gorgeous travel tea set and I will be writing on it soon.  However, I am starting to see many online shops that sell tea.....that tea is just one of the many products in their store.  This meant that the shop may be selling handphone accessories, toys, bags and other stuff and tea is just one item within the store.  The shop may have a carton of pu erh and a carton of tinned oolong and only replenish the tea carton once the tea has been sold out.  Is this good or bad?  You decide.

Happy New Year.  Live long and prosper.    

Tinned Wuyi Shuixian - Butterfly Brand

 

It was about 7 years ago where there was a shortage of the Sea Dyke yellow tinned shui hsien oolong.  It was either (I cannot recall) a shipment delay issue or a production disruption.  This shortage caused many local oolong tea drinkers some consternation and many of them had to go hunting for the tinned tea in either Chinese grocery shops or Chinese medical halls. 

I was recommended at a teashop, during that time of shortage, to try out Butterfly brand of Wuyi Shuixian. A slightly cheaper alternative....and I ended up with a couple of tins. 

I had kept this butterfly tin for a few years before I opened it recently.  This tea is produced under the auspices of Zhong Cha tea company.  There is good aromatic notes to the tea. Taste and aroma is very good for a tinned Shui Hsien. I found the tea comparable to the Sea Dyke's version. This tea can brew up to 5 good infusions and the mouthfeel is good. The aroma does stay in the mouth for about a minute after you had a cup of this tea.  Roast levels are traditionally high roast, just the way I like it. 

I would recommend this tea to any Shui Hsien tea drinker and I will look out to buy a few Butterfly tins in my next tea shopping day. 

Cooling Tea - Tan Ngan Lo cooling tea bag

 

Happy New Year 2022.

Cooling tea?  No, not iced tea.  Many Chinese communities all over the world drink cooling tea. Known as Liang Cha in Mandarin or Leong Cha in Cantonese, this tea is actually a herbal concoction that many Chinese drink when they feel 'out or sorts' or heaty sensation in the body.  Many Chinese medical halls will have their own cooling tea concoction. You can buy an inexpensive pack of herbs, add water and put it to a boil and its ready to drink in minutes.  Some medical halls have a brewing service where there would brew up a bowl of this tea for consumption. 

This Tan Ngan Lo's cooling tea is a convenient tea bag version. Simply dunk a tea bag into a mug of hot water and its ready to drink after a minute. The aroma is pleasantly herbal.  Taste is not too bitter with a light orange/ lemon peel in the aftertaste. This teabag is very popular in Malaysia and Singapore and I know a few friends who are ardent supporters of this tea.  

I would most probably be putting this tea up in my online store for my tea readers and friends (if you are interested) to try a mug of cooling tea. 

2021 To All The Tea I Drank Before

 

Yes, sing this phrase 'to all the tea I drank before' to the famous song 'To all the girls I loved before' and you would had realised you are now a hardcore Chinese tea drinker.  I had bought and drank some nice pu erh tea, within my budget, and I am happy my tea stash is more than enough till my next tea adventures abroad.

I recently had an online chat with my Guangzhou tea dealer friend and both of us agreed that the investment/ speculation aspect of pu erh tea had made both of us sit up and pay more attention to the pu erh tea prices.  

Yes, I buy buy and sell tea. My motivation for selling tea, which I started an online store few years ago, was simple. When I go for my tea adventures overseas, I would buy the tea I like and to get a good discount, I would buy a carton of that tea.  One carton of tea would take a long time to finish. Buying a few cartons every trip would add up, in terms of space, and I made the decision to keep a few tongs of tea from a carton and selling the remainder of the tea. This will free up space for me to get more tea and let my tea readers and buddies buy and drink some Singapore/ Malaysian storage tea.  My readers would had realised that the tea selection in my store is small and limited.  This is a hobby based business and I will continue to add more tea from my stash and from my tea adventures when I start travelling next year. 

My tea dealer friend and myself noticed many new pu erh tea that are now sold are not drunk.  These tea are kept to be resold for a a higher price.  This investment phenomena is not new but it seemed that the volume of these investment purchased is now more pronounced.  Common teas like Taetea 7542 is an example. People now buy the 7542 and store them away hoping to sell for a higher price,  Taetea realised this phenomena and raised its prices of their new 7542. The demand for the new tea remained strong (in spite of higher prices) and the tea continued to be bought up.  Xiaguan tea factory has joined this investment tea climate by producing Hong Yin and Banzhang limited edition cakes this year.  My tea dealer told me that most of the buyers of these new tea are investment buyers than drinkers.  Tea dealers had to ensure the cartons of such tea sold, must be in mint condition....any dents of damage to the unopened cartons are rejected by the buyers.  My tea dealer friend remarked there is no necessity now for buyers to sample the tea before a purchase of such tea.  

This uptick in pu erh tea investment is a worry as many of these investors do not appreciate or drink pu erh tea.  The main goal is to profit from reselling tea.  There is no concern on aging the tea.  It is a strong possibility these buyers are more focussed in maintaining the 'mint' condition of the unopened carton of tea.  Humidity and temperature may be adjusted to keep this 'mint' carton box and the tea may not age well inside the box.  

The entry of some many new 'investment' buyers had caused some anxiety in me.  Tea would be more expensive and may deter new Chinese tea drinkers to take up tea drinking as a hobby.  The last time Chinese tea was heavily speculated (around 2007) caused many losses to investors when tea prices fell and left a negative impact in the Chinese tea industry.   I should get a clearer picture of the tea markets when I travel next year and will let you know my findings. 

Till then, thank you 2021 and I look forward to 2022.