Taobao - some you win, some you lose. There isn't a great deal of well-priced Chenguanghetang out there, and what is being sold (at any price) tends to be sold by a small clique of merchants - the prices can, correspondingly, extend beyond being stratospheric, and break into the mesosphere.
Read prices such as 1,200 RMB ($185), ye mighty, and despair.
This little cake came in at a more reasonable altitude, probably somewhere in the ionosphere, costing as it did a respectable 170 RMB ($26) - a solid price for Mainland tea, but certainly nowhere near what we're used to paying from Western merchants.
I bought it from Yihexuan Pu'er (谊合轩普洱, something to do with pu'er friends coming together).
The leaves are supposedly from Mahei, one of the "in vogue" tea locations in Yiwu, along with villages such as Guafengzhai. It has seemingly become quite popular to source teas from these areas, which is no bad thing if the quality stays high. I'm hoping that the Land Rovers don't start moving into the area, along with the influx of new money.
The leaves look good, on the whole, being long and dark, with an encouraging aroma of dark sweetness, and a heavy yellow soup.
It is surprisingly watery in the mouth, with a surrounding gentle sweetness. It draws water from the tongue, and yet it all seems quite high, sweet, and a touch thin.
It marches in reasonably well, and remains clean, smooth, and tidy. Despite its lightness, it sits well in the throat, and does a decent job at being Yiwu sweet.
Like the stereotypical Chinese merchant, Chen Zhitong is not know for his modesty. This rather standard cake is called "典藏" [dian cang], meaning "classical", which is pushing it a bit, as is usual for his descriptions of his own products. There is a very low signal-to-noise ratio in his descriptions, and I tend to filter accordingly.
If you find yourself on Taobao, you might like to try it out, as being a low-end example of his oeuvre, which is currently being sold at a reasonable price. There's not much one can find for $26 these days.
5 comments:
I'm impressed by your ability to scavenge the mystical depths of TaoBao! Any thrustworthy shops you would like to recommend?
Best wishes,
Terje
Hi, Terje,
You know, I don't really keep track of the vendors from whom I buy, on Taobao, other than listing them in my "tasting notes" page so that I know where to get more. Generally, I buy from sellers with (i) professional-looking outfits, (ii) large inventories, and (iii) plenty of good feedback from previous buyers. These are just the usual rules for eBay, etc. I've never been "stung" on Taobao, sticking to those guidelines, and so all of the vendors that you see listed on my "tasting notes" page could be taken as being implicit recommendations. :)
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
Does this happen to be the same cake recently put up at houde under a different name yield wu tong sing-he special reserve. The wrapper appears to be the the same. But the price is not 26to 69.
GN
Dear GN,
This is a different cake - the wrapper is similar in design, but the name is different (and both are available on Taobao - or were!).
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
Hi there,
TaoBao is a recent discovery for me and i am looking for cakes that i can no longer find anywhere but on their site. Did you us an agent to make a purchase or not. If so are their any trusted ones you recommend to handle your currency exchange?? Or am i being scammed?
Bests,
Theodore
P.S. I love your site it is very honest!
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