Kunming DRY storage

[Andrew S]

@aet: I suppose that flavour and smoothness can be faked, but the thing that people haven't been able to fake yet (so far as I'm aware) is the feeling that old tea can give me.

Some of the 2000s / 90s / 80s descriptions for puer (especially for loose leaf puer) can be treated like generic quality descriptions (ie, 80s should be 'better' than 90s, etc), but if they provide a nice, strong, calming, energetic feeling, then they're worth it to me (subject to price, of course), and ff not, then they're not worth it, regardless of whether or not they're actually that old.

I've had a few 90s cakes that I have to accept were good quality and well-stored tea, but they were just too green for me, whereas some loose leaf tea was actually more to my liking.

But I suppose people need to try genuine examples before they can make decisions based on how a tea should 'feel', if they care about such things at all, which is where fakers come into the pictures, unfortunately...

You've inspired me; I'm going to enjoy some 70s loose leaf puer tonight, while I have the time to do so.

Andrew

[faj]

In China ( probably in all Asia ) , more famous / legit you get the bigger balls you have , because the questionable stuff nobody will question if purchased from you.

As I once heard one of those TC judges say in a cheap TV trial reality show, "I am not final because I am right, I am right because I am final". If you are recognized as the ultimate judge, then whatever you say is reality. And unquestioned authority is, shall we say, not always used to benefit the masses.

if right temperatures with humidity guaranteed, some magic happens.

That is kind of a tragedy, in a way. If you need to keep the magic hidden because it is used to fake something, then you are not using it as a legitimate manufacturing process for something people might actually want to buy at scale. Now, if the old stuff has value only because it is old, and good imitations would not sell if they were sold as such because people do not find them actually pleasant, that is an entirely different story.

[aet]

That is kind of a tragedy, in a way. If you need to keep the magic hidden because it is used to fake something, then you are not using it as a legitimate manufacturing process for something people might actually want to buy at scale. Now, if the old stuff has value only because it is old, and good imitations would not sell if they were sold as such because people do not find them actually pleasant, that is an entirely different story.

Well , accelerated ageing is used in world wild alcohol industry as well. And I'm not entirely sure that all producers state that fact on their "wrapper". Time ago I was doing some job in alcohol producing factory. They had section called Caustic Store , where all those chem.sh** was in big barrels. Some of it was for cleaning the production line of course.
I'm not optimistic in that if I buy some cheap 12y old whiskey ,that it was actually sitting somewhere 12 years before reached supermarket shelf.

I think that puer is still ok in that matter as only heat and humidity are applied to do the trick.

With shu is even easier, as it's already fermented and even harder to read actual age , so those vendors do not bother with artificial ageing but throw the whatever date they pleased.
Because some people still believe that old shu is the best shu , completely misunderstanding the whole point of making this product at the first place.

You my call it "tragic" , I call it dirty marketing ( which I do not resonate with ), same as with age trees claims.
The box of milk also doesn't have a picture of actual reality but some happy cow eating fresh green grass under the Alpine mountains with snowy peaks. Might be a different concept of lie but effect is same.

[Bok]

The box of milk also doesn't have a picture of actual reality but some happy cow eating fresh green grass under the Alpine mountains with snowy peaks. Might be a different concept of lie but effect is same.

This is excellent!

[faj]

You my call it "tragic" , I call it dirty marketing ( which I do not resonate with ), same as with age trees claims.

It can be both a tragedy and dirty marketing.

If plant-based meat imitations were sold as real meat, that would be dirty marketing. But they can be sold for what they are. Imitation without false claims is not an issue, and plant-based meat has legitimate advantages over real meat (such as lower environmental footprint) that can be marketed only if not sold as a fake. The tragedy is the missed opportunity of using a legitimate process for illegitimate purposes, because that reduces its potential.

Any tea aging is artificial. Tea is not found as cakes of dried leaves in nature, and deers in the forest do not sip on 50-year-old sheng. One may call it "natural storage" or "traditional storage", but it is all man-made with the purpose of transforming the tea. If there are quicker, safe ways to achieve a good result, there is nothing wrong with that if the product is not sold under false pretenses.

[LeoFox]

From a legal perspective, there is a difference between actionable false advertising and puffery.

https://aminiconant.com/the-best-articl ... fery-ever/

[aet]

You my call it "tragic" , I call it dirty marketing ( which I do not resonate with ), same as with age trees claims.

It can be both a tragedy and dirty marketing.

If plant-based meat imitations were sold as real meat, that would be dirty marketing. But they can be sold for what they are. Imitation without false claims is not an issue, and plant-based meat has legitimate advantages over real meat (such as lower environmental footprint) that can be marketed only if not sold as a fake. The tragedy is the missed opportunity of using a legitimate process for illegitimate purposes, because that reduces its potential.

Any tea aging is artificial. Tea is not found as cakes of dried leaves in nature, and deers in the forest do not sip on 50-year-old sheng. One may call it "natural storage" or "traditional storage", but it is all man-made with the purpose of transforming the tea. If there are quicker, safe ways to achieve a good result, there is nothing wrong with that if the product is not sold under false pretenses.

the meat you are mentioning might have some advantages ,but I don't see it similar to the artificial ageing of puer.
If I sell 2y old cake with claime being as 6y old taste coz accelerated ageing. I'd still have to sell it for price range of 2y old stuff. At least online. Offline might get lucky to impress some tea drinker and command higher price.
HK has 2 concepts ,if I remember correctly. Dry and Wet ( which is more aggressive ) storage. How they value it towards to the market , I don't know.
Back in time the " taste was more important than age " as the whole puer biz concept was different. Nowadays ( especially with online selling ) , the age , age of trees, location ...all that is very important to buyer and therefore subject of marketing / faking.