That Time of the Month, II

It feels like an appropriate time for one of those "state of the nation" posts that become necessary when accusations of a certain gravity have been made regarding this tired old web-site.  If memory serves, the last one was this article from January, 2009.

Such frank feedback is genuinely appreciated, as it keeps a man honest.  So, then...

In an exhange following notes on the 2009 Xizihao "Daxueshan", a reader by the name of "Alex" made the following remark:

I am already pretty well stocked [...], so the cake from your friend at Nadacha isn't as appealing as it might otherwise be. 

Also, your various glowing comments about Nadacha smell like a shill.

Your modesty is comendable, but like it or not, you are an arbiter of taste when it comes to the world of online pu'er. So, in the interest of impartiality and in fairness to your considerably large and admiring audience, I dare you to say something unambiguously negative about one of Nadacha's offerings. I bet you can't.

Of course, the reason for singling out this particular comment for special treatment is that it explicitly states the author's belief that I am happily "shilling" for Nadacha / Essence of Tea, and hence requires a more full and public response, as I'm sure you'll understand.

Regular readers will of course know that I count Nada as a good Teachum, and he's visited Lei and me in Oxford twice now.  As I think I commented at the time, it was a pleasant surprise that he decided to start a business selling tea.

While I am sympathetic (in the looest possible sense) to the commercial ventures of people that I enjoy writing with concerning tea (including Stephane of Teamasters, Scott of Yunnan Sourcing, Imen of Tea Habitat, Steve of JAS-eTea, and perhaps now Toki of The Mandarin's Tea), I have no personal interests in their success or failure.  My concern with vendors, and people who I know as "teachums" who are vendors, is (i) the sale of good tea, and (ii) appropriate pricing.  Good quality and good value are all I'm after, the same as with all vendors.

I am in the difficult position that Nadacha / Essence of Tea is doing a very good job at sourcing good tea (usually through investing time travelling around Yunnan, as far as I can tell) and selling it at very fair prices.  Thus, my comments regarding that venture tend to be positive.  I suppose that you can only take my word for the fact that this is based simply on objective assessment, rather than "shilling".
 

Let it be stated again that I have absolutely nothing to gain from writing positive things about Nadacha (or anyone else), as I pay for my cakes the same way that everyone else does.  It's a very simple relationship, and is one I share with all vendors.  With Nada, as with the other vendors, I swap samples - this is a normal function of being an active tea-drinker, and most readers will enjoy similar relationships with their teachums (and, probably, me, given that you're reading this!).

My glowing praise of Nadacha tea simply comes from the fact that this one venture produces tea in which I have very high confidence, because it is sourced so transparently.  For example, we are told, via Nadacha's blog, about the farmer of the 2008 tea "cutting" (i.e., diluting) his laoshu leaves with standard leaves, and how this was caught and remedied in the 2009 productions.  

A more recent example would be the 2005 Gan En tea that I planned (for a while) to buy from Nadacha (the article for this is in the publication queue, by happy chance).  My searches for the same tea on Taobao came up with higher prices than were offered by Nadacha.  I know from many such searches that his profit margin on searchable (i.e., modern) teas is respectably slim.  This compares very favourably to many other tea vendors, whose profit margins are similarly derivable from web searches, and who appear to enjoy significantly larger profit margins.

All of these facets (the good, transparent sourcing and the low, transparent profit margins) results in positive commentary from me (and many, many others).  I can only "call 'em like I see 'em". If Nadacha chooses not to sell distasteful tea, and chooses not to sell it at unpleasantly high profit margins, then what criticism exists can only be that which you read in my notes of his teas.

Rest assured, dear Corresponder, that if you opened a tea business with similar virtues, you would enjoy similar praise from the Half-Dipper, which would recommend your reasonably-priced laoshu tea whenever (moderately overcooked) Xizihao is sold at $100/bing.

Surely, that's the way it should be.

This entire site would be useless if it were at all partial, hence my distaste for suggestions to the contrary.  I trust this has, if not solved your problem, at least clarified my situation for you.
 

As always, I encourage you, dear Reader, to air your thoughts for discussion, which I believe to be the healthiest approach to conflict.