What do you crazy puer people do with all that tea? Obviously it's more than you can drink in any amount of time..I'm just curious what your estimate of what % of your total income is spent on tea (since *I* am seen as buying a lot of tea to the casual person..but, compared to you...nope.)
Thanks again for the most excellent package; Lei and I have been thoroughly enjoying its contents. The last photograph is a "father" teapot along with two "sons" - most appropriate!
Dear Nick,
Half of the fun with pu'ercha is not buying merely for the fulfilment of one's needs; with pu'ercha, you can hand it on to your friends and family, when aged (if all goes according to plan)! I'm sure that I have far too much tea to drink, by myself. Of course, tea is a gamble - we're not sure which cakes will turn out to be winners - if indeed any at all will turn out that way. Perhaps some of my cakes will be dreadfully undrinkable. It is a lot like backing horses at the races. :)
To answer your question, my spreadsheet indicates that I spent less than 0.5% of household income on tea over the last year, which is relieving!
Mostly, I buy cakes for which I have bought / been sent samples, and which I subsequently enjoyed. In the last year, I've bought from Yunnan Sourcing, Essence of Tea, various Taobao merchants, Teavivre, etc. The usual suspects. :)
In the coming year, I'll probably add Bannacha, Chawangshop, Pu-erh.sk, and a few other newer merchants; I've had some nice cakes from each, which all have articles coming up / have had articles already published. It's a good time to be a tea drinker, is it not? :)
Also, I think one of the reasons there is a subculture of buying lots of Puer-people is that the default unit is >250 g, and that you can get remarkably good stuff for far cheaper than good oolongs or greens, typically. I an drinking a sample of 2011 Yunnan Sourcing "Nan Po Zhai" Ancient Arbor Raw, and it's delicious. If you buy the cake it comes out to about $5/ounce. It's impossible to buy an oolong or green of comparable quality for that price in the states.
Might I ask how many friends and family you have who would treasure such a generous gift of aged sheng?
I for myself struggle to count even on my two fingers. While I have no shortage of family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, mailmen, all visitors to my house who happily receive my chocolate bars and honey jars, this pu-erh has been a most difficult sell.
I thoroughly recommend indoctrination of the next generation - it seems to work quite well! Xiaohu has reached the point where he says "More! Nice tea!" when given pu'ercha, and where he says "No more! Don't want!" when I try to give him wulong.
That's my boy.
Of course, I can also recommend having Chinese people in your family, which works quite well, as does meeting your teachums (Chinese or otherwise) for a session - we seem to swap cakes whenever we visit one another.
That said, most of my (English) family still buy me single malts for my birthdays and Christmas. Not that I'm complaining. :)
Absolutely - part of the fun of pu'ercha is that it is, at least in theory, possible to get an entirely rocking cake for minimal outlay of dirty cash.
Also, don't underestimate the fact that pu'ercha is a "product" - we can talk meaningfully (ish) about the "2003 Dalaowaishan from Binglybonglydinglydangly Tea Co.", because it exists as a distinct entity. It gets much harder to talk about wulong, hongcha, etc. "Yes, this wulong, er, is from 10 or so years ago, and I think it was made by some guy whose name was Wang. Or Zheng. I think. It was probably reroasted recently. Or at least within the last five years."
Hobbes: Actually, local wulongers have their percentage of roasting and oxidation! And multi obama and all that. I must admit that the world of Dan Congs is a large one... and other areas are probably very interesting too. I do not know how much you tasted Wu Yis or Dan Congs - I have had maybe 20 of the former and 40 of the latter - and even though they may not seem like as exciting as puerh, it is possible, that if I had 1000+ Wuyis and 40 puerhs, I'd feel that puerhs are more or less the same, while Wuyis have a huge palette of tastes/processings/etc.
As a sidenote, these oxidation percentages are probably not really as crucial as some make them sound. One local vendor was selling 2000 Song zhong, "oxidized at 25%" - I am not in a relationship to ask him what it means, so I asked the eshop where he bought it (*) directly. Much to my amusement, the owner admitted he did not know what the percentage means and said they do not give any information of such kind.
(*) Of course, on the way from the eshop here, it became a huge, treasured rarity :)
15 comments:
I need some Keng also!!!!
Hmm, what's that liu'an?
Beautiful!
Hi Hobbes, I am flattered. Keng.
What do you crazy puer people do with all that tea? Obviously it's more than you can drink in any amount of time..I'm just curious what your estimate of what % of your total income is spent on tea (since *I* am seen as buying a lot of tea to the casual person..but, compared to you...nope.)
Dear Keng,
Thanks again for the most excellent package; Lei and I have been thoroughly enjoying its contents. The last photograph is a "father" teapot along with two "sons" - most appropriate!
Dear Nick,
Half of the fun with pu'ercha is not buying merely for the fulfilment of one's needs; with pu'ercha, you can hand it on to your friends and family, when aged (if all goes according to plan)! I'm sure that I have far too much tea to drink, by myself. Of course, tea is a gamble - we're not sure which cakes will turn out to be winners - if indeed any at all will turn out that way. Perhaps some of my cakes will be dreadfully undrinkable. It is a lot like backing horses at the races. :)
To answer your question, my spreadsheet indicates that I spent less than 0.5% of household income on tea over the last year, which is relieving!
Dear Marshaln,
Yes - liu'an and, I think, liu'an in there, too.
Toodlepip all,
Hobbes
where do you get your tea from?
Mostly, I buy cakes for which I have bought / been sent samples, and which I subsequently enjoyed. In the last year, I've bought from Yunnan Sourcing, Essence of Tea, various Taobao merchants, Teavivre, etc. The usual suspects. :)
In the coming year, I'll probably add Bannacha, Chawangshop, Pu-erh.sk, and a few other newer merchants; I've had some nice cakes from each, which all have articles coming up / have had articles already published. It's a good time to be a tea drinker, is it not? :)
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
Also, I think one of the reasons there is a subculture of buying lots of Puer-people is that the default unit is >250 g, and that you can get remarkably good stuff for far cheaper than good oolongs or greens, typically. I an drinking a sample of 2011 Yunnan Sourcing "Nan Po Zhai" Ancient Arbor Raw, and it's delicious. If you buy the cake it comes out to about $5/ounce. It's impossible to buy an oolong or green of comparable quality for that price in the states.
>"you can hand it on to your friends and family"
Dearest Hobbes,
Might I ask how many friends and family you have who would treasure such a generous gift of aged sheng?
I for myself struggle to count even on my two fingers. While I have no shortage of family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, mailmen, all visitors to my house who happily receive my chocolate bars and honey jars, this pu-erh has been a most difficult sell.
Hster
Hster,
Exactly!
Dear Hster,
I thoroughly recommend indoctrination of the next generation - it seems to work quite well! Xiaohu has reached the point where he says "More! Nice tea!" when given pu'ercha, and where he says "No more! Don't want!" when I try to give him wulong.
That's my boy.
Of course, I can also recommend having Chinese people in your family, which works quite well, as does meeting your teachums (Chinese or otherwise) for a session - we seem to swap cakes whenever we visit one another.
That said, most of my (English) family still buy me single malts for my birthdays and Christmas. Not that I'm complaining. :)
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
Dear Nick,
Absolutely - part of the fun of pu'ercha is that it is, at least in theory, possible to get an entirely rocking cake for minimal outlay of dirty cash.
Also, don't underestimate the fact that pu'ercha is a "product" - we can talk meaningfully (ish) about the "2003 Dalaowaishan from Binglybonglydinglydangly Tea Co.", because it exists as a distinct entity. It gets much harder to talk about wulong, hongcha, etc. "Yes, this wulong, er, is from 10 or so years ago, and I think it was made by some guy whose name was Wang. Or Zheng. I think. It was probably reroasted recently. Or at least within the last five years."
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
Hobbes: Actually, local wulongers have their percentage of roasting and oxidation! And multi obama and all that. I must admit that the world of Dan Congs is a large one... and other areas are probably very interesting too. I do not know how much you tasted Wu Yis or Dan Congs - I have had maybe 20 of the former and 40 of the latter - and even though they may not seem like as exciting as puerh, it is possible, that if I had 1000+ Wuyis and 40 puerhs, I'd feel that puerhs are more or less the same, while Wuyis have a huge palette of tastes/processings/etc.
As a sidenote, these oxidation percentages are probably not really as crucial as some make them sound. One local vendor was selling 2000 Song zhong, "oxidized at 25%" - I am not in a relationship to ask him what it means, so I asked the eshop where he bought it (*) directly. Much to my amusement, the owner admitted he did not know what the percentage means and said they do not give any information of such kind.
(*) Of course, on the way from the eshop here, it became a huge, treasured rarity :)
Hi, Jakub!
I hope the mathematics are treating you well.
I enjoy wulong (unlike my son), but I just can't appreciate it all that much. It's a personal flaw, I'm quite sure. ;)
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
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