beginning pu'er on $100
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 11:33 pm
Cwyn mentioned an interesting starting point in her last Death by Tea blog post, about someone losing a sheng collection in a flood, and how one might re-start owning sheng spending only $100. Then her suggestions really shifted to how a beginner might go about exploration, which isn't exactly the same, but it's an easier question to answer:
https://deathbytea.blogspot.com/2022/06 ... h-100.html
She mentioned about $300 in tea someone might buy, and $200 in gear, including some kind of random suggestions, like buying an $80 gaiwan, or an extra draining hose for a tea tray, and trying white tea instead. Her suggestions weren't too bad anyway, all but one related to trying Xiaguan and Dayi teas. Broad sampling gets recommended more, spending $100 on random samples at Yunnan Sourcing, maybe just with one tuo thrown in.
This kind of thing comes up a lot in discussion, if you are active in places like Reddit subs. I've just mentioned the two main answers, and then from there it gets pretty random, with people just citing what they like. The $100 limit makes it rough, but that is still a valid way to consider it all.
A guy just visited where I live, in Bangkok, and I was explaining local options in a way that overlapped. It's different though, because mentioning shops folds in on-site tasting options. Chinatown shops are great for this entry level exploration, just more hit and miss in comparison with the best quality and value in online options.
For the other concern, re-starting owning sheng (a brutal thought, narrowing it down to $100), I might recommend buying two cakes from Tea Mania, something really cheap and then still moderate, one with a few years of age and one new. Two of anything from Yunnan Sourcing doesn't get you beyond their factory teas or cheapest Impression series versions now, and the two lowest priced listings from Farmerleaf might still be under $100. I bought cheaper teas from Chawang Shop this year but the dry storage trade-off is also rough. King Tea Mall, which Cwyn mentioned, is probably promising related to this theme.
https://deathbytea.blogspot.com/2022/06 ... h-100.html
She mentioned about $300 in tea someone might buy, and $200 in gear, including some kind of random suggestions, like buying an $80 gaiwan, or an extra draining hose for a tea tray, and trying white tea instead. Her suggestions weren't too bad anyway, all but one related to trying Xiaguan and Dayi teas. Broad sampling gets recommended more, spending $100 on random samples at Yunnan Sourcing, maybe just with one tuo thrown in.
This kind of thing comes up a lot in discussion, if you are active in places like Reddit subs. I've just mentioned the two main answers, and then from there it gets pretty random, with people just citing what they like. The $100 limit makes it rough, but that is still a valid way to consider it all.
A guy just visited where I live, in Bangkok, and I was explaining local options in a way that overlapped. It's different though, because mentioning shops folds in on-site tasting options. Chinatown shops are great for this entry level exploration, just more hit and miss in comparison with the best quality and value in online options.
For the other concern, re-starting owning sheng (a brutal thought, narrowing it down to $100), I might recommend buying two cakes from Tea Mania, something really cheap and then still moderate, one with a few years of age and one new. Two of anything from Yunnan Sourcing doesn't get you beyond their factory teas or cheapest Impression series versions now, and the two lowest priced listings from Farmerleaf might still be under $100. I bought cheaper teas from Chawang Shop this year but the dry storage trade-off is also rough. King Tea Mall, which Cwyn mentioned, is probably promising related to this theme.