Beaten copper-tin teapot is the traditional hand craft of Nigata. This teapot was made from one single piece of copper plate laminated with 99.99% of tin, and beaten repeatedly until it forms the shape of a teapot.

Thanks to the tin on the inside layer, this material makes dramatic changes to the taste of tea. Taste of tea is much smoother and flavor intensified.

I don't think it change the taste of tea. Rather it changes the taste of the water.

It is much better off to buy a good mineral water or collect spring water yourself. Copper teapot is useless if you do not have quality water to begin with.

Correct. I have recently found out a problem.

Whenever I am at the teashop the tea there always tasted better, but I couldn't get the same kick at home.

So I did an experiment. I brought along my water and my brewing equipments to the teashop. Upon testing, we concluded that the equipments seems fine, but the water is the problem. Side by side comparison showed that the tea brewed using my water is somehow less tasty/flavoring.

If you got budget, you can go to purple cane teashop and see how they stored the water.

One less expensive way is to stored your water in the porcelain jar for a couple of days. Buy bamboo charcoal and put in the water. The water will taste better this way.

It is said that Spring Puerh is of the best quality compared to other seasons. But the question is how do you determine it is from Spring???

Here are some info I got from a tea seller:-

1) Spring Puerh does not carry bitterness. If it is bitter, it is not spring Puerh

2) The date printed on the packing of the Puerh does not necessary mean it is from Spring. The date is referred to packing date. This makes it even harder to identify 

3) Packing of some small factories are totally ridiculous and non standardized. I have experience seeing Puerh of the exact same packing and dates but was told that the inner Puerh is of different season. Price range is so much different.

4) It has to come down to tasting the Puerh. Problem is, how are you sure by tasting it even with no bitterness it is Spring?

So what is your opinion? How do you select?

Any idea where to buy bamboo charcoal in PJ/KL area?

Last time I bought it from Popular Bookstore. Some supermarket also sell them. Just ask around.

My father is a heavy smoker, now in his 80s, started smoking when he was 11 as he came from fishing village. He drinks Chinese tea his whole life. One thing that I always believe is that by drinking Chinese tea, it helps to neutralise the smoking effects and helps prolong his life. Although I can't say he is perfectly healthy at his age.

I categorized puerh in these categories:-
Young Ripe (cheap)
Young Ripe (expensive)
Young Raw (cheap)
Young Raw (expensive)
Aged Ripe (5 to 15)
Super Aged Ripe (15 and above)
Aged Raw (5 to 15)
Super Aged Raw (15 and above)

Puerh is somehow an acquired taste (especially for aged puerh), so sample in categories and see which one you fall into. Sometimes it may take awhile before you will acquire the liking for puerh, so take your time. Once you have identified which category and specific type of puerh you like, then it is easier for your selection. Not everyone likes aged. Not all young raw are hard to drink. So sample sample sample.

For puerh, there is a Up and Down in terms of its character/taste. When it is Down it will lose its flavor and taste, but it doesn't mean that piece of puerh is gone. It 'may' still go Up but this may take from days, weeks or even years. So don't throw away your puerh when it is Down. Keep it aside for future tasting.

When tasting, always go for ripe first then only raw. Preferably you drink in sequence of grade too, from low to high. Reason, raw taste is stronger than ripe. So if you tasted raw first, you cannot fully enjoy the ripe. Same goes for grade sequence, higher grade will overwrite the lower grade.

For a start, go for Big Factory Puerh such as Menghai-Dayi then Xia Guan then explore the rest as you go. These days it is 'safer' to buy from big factories be it genuine or cleanliness.

If you are lost and don't know where to start, go for standard recipe such as Dayi's 7542 (raw), 8582 (raw), 7452 (ripe), 7572 (ripe). Then you can venture into their more special/premium editions.

Next venture can be more specific to which mountain you like too. But take note when they say eg, Bulang mountain, this mountain area can be very very big. Not all quality are the same. But in general, if the leaves are from very old trees (hundreds to thousands of years old) and is at high altitude then it 'should' be better. Don't be surprise with the price difference when it come to these criteria.

Also, first batch puerh are usually better. You can identify the batch by the number on the packing. Eg. Year 2009's first batch will be labeled 901, Year 2010's first batch will be labeled 001, and so on... Another thing to look for is, Spring tea is usually better than other season's harvest, but this can be hard to identify especially when it come to big factories where they usually mix the leaves.

I don't buy tea online, but here are some places i look for puerh reference:-
http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/

http://stores.ebay.com/Dragon-Tea-House

A chinese seller for new products and price reference:
http://goodtea114.taobao.com
I don't know how to read chinese, but looking at the pictures and google translator helps

A tea seller was sharing his experience with me that back then young raw can be very hazardous to drink. He knows some other sellers who has actually admitted into hospital because of the tasting too many young raw. Can be damaging to liver and if serious lungs.

The good news is that these days younger raw are easier to drink, but here are his advise:-
1) Don't drink young raw with empty stomach
2) If you drink young raw, compensate back by the same amount of water
3) Drink age raw or ripe

~Lesson from JYH~

Hi, found this interesting yet informative thread, I love chinese tea too. 

I started chinese tea since 12 years ago, following friends to tea shop and get 'hooked' lol.

I started with Oolong tea (such as Tie Quan Yin, etc.) then Green Tea (Long Jing, Mei Jia Wu, etc.) and three years ago, started with Pu-Er.

Like most of ppl, I do not like Pu-Er initially as was cheated with bad quality Pu-Er, after few years later, during one of the tea exhibitions, someone introduced me various type of Pu-Er like previous posts stated, young raw, old ripe Pu-Er, etc.  I started with young raw Pu-Er as it is easy to get adapt, slowly I also start liking the old ripe Pu-Er.

Two year ago, I have bought Xia Guan (下关）Duo Cha and Yi Wu （易武）spring young raw Pu-Er (three rolls, each roll with seven pcs), keep them in well ventilated space/clay pot (紫砂）for natural fermentation.

Starting to learn to differentiate taste of different years of Yi Wu young raw Pu-Er. 

Just to share a brief story of my tea experience, there are lot more to learn and experience from this thread.

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Added on September 22, 2010, 3:42 pm

My recent medical report showed that my ALT/APT (liver) are higher than the normal, could it be the cause of young raw Pu-Er tea? Usually I drink around 3 - 5 pm during weekend approximately 500ml.

Glad to hear from you.

So when the result showed higher ALT/APT (liver), what did the doctor say to make it stable?

I have been on 1liter+ consistently daily for past 4 months. A little worry myself, but just couldn't resist to drink on. Is there any symptom of pain, etc?