Yes, I would agree. It is nice, but does not justify the price ratio. I mean the LBZ I bought is expensive about 10x more than dayi-7542 (901) but taste wise is not 10x better than it.

LBZ is indeed good but not super 'great', and for the price it is, I think I can get better non LBZ tea. Eg, the mengku I posted earlier is a also very good. I would prefer the mengku over lbz. Price wise mengku is 1/2 of the LBZ.

As for the tea leaves, it is indeed doesn't look great for the price. Initially I have doubts too. I even questioned the seller a few times, but after getting some justifications about the genuinity of the LBZ that I bought, I have only got to rely on my taste to determine it. After sampling it yesterday, I would say it should be ok and tasted above average for a young raw. But then, my experience in Pu is not that long... I would one day seek out some tea master that I've met recently for opinions. That would at least educate me better.

I think LBZ is in a way, supply and demand + hyped. That said, good to have bought it... and move on for next tea...

Lao Ban Zhang - The Story Behind The King Of Raw Pu-erh
Source/Credit: http://www.facebook.com/notes/hojo-tea/lao...125284497520601

by Hojo Tea on Saturday, September 4, 2010 at 6:01pm

In China tea market, Lao Ban Zhang (老班章) is famously referred as the King of Raw Pu-erh tea. Its flavor is uniquely strong with bold, complex taste. In Kunming, tea connoisseurs often describe the taste of Lao Ban Zhang as “霸” (superiorly dominant). This is why they crowned Lao Ban Zhang as “The King”.

Lao Ban Zhang is named after the village that produces this tea. Lao Ban Zhang Village is located in Bulang Mountain (布朗山)at Menghai (勐海) county, Xishuang Banna (西双版纳，South West Yunnan). The earliest record on the village’s tea production can be traced back to 1476. Lao Ban Zhang Village is resided by minorities known as The Bulang tribe. For generations, the Bulang people planted tea trees and produce tea in the mountains. Today, there are 117 Bulang families residing in Lao Ban Zhang Village.

The village is situated at 1700-1900m high mountain area. Such high altitude is rare in tropical part of South Yunnan. The average temperature yearly is 18.7C. For half of the entire year, this mountain village of Lao Ban Zhang is covered in thick fog.

Lao Ban Zhang’s tea plantation is located close to the borders of Burma. It covers 310 hectares of land. It was estimated that there are 78,555 tea trees aged more than 100 years old, 70,866 tea trees that is more than 200 years old, 37,076 tea trees aged more than 500 years old and 9,412 tea trees more than 800 years old.

The trees grow in the jungle, they co-exist with other jungle plants, and therefore they are not polluted by pesticide or any chemical fertilizer. The Bulang farmers manage and take care of these trees with their own original method. Until today, they still produce Lao Ban Zhang tea by following the traditional processing method passed down from their ancestors.

In 1950s, this tea was selected as tribute tea to Chairman Mao, who was known as a tea maniac.

In the past, Lao Ban Zhang was a secluded, peaceful village, very few visitors go there. But from 2000 onwards, especially since 2004 during the pu-erh boom in China, many tea merchants and collectors often visited Lan Ban Zhang village. They competed to buy this tea because of its genuine good quality and fame. Most of these tea merchants let the Bulang people produce the raw material by themselves, but the merchants buy over the loose tealeaves and bring back to their factory.

They then compress the tea into cake size and package it under their own label. As a result, nowadays we see a lot of Lan Ban Zhang tea exist in the market with various kind of labels and packaging.

In 2007, Chen Sheng Tea Factory （陈升茶厂） seized an opportunity to dominate the tea supply in Lao Ban Zhang village so that they could control the supply and market price for Lao Ban Zhang tea. They signed a contract with the villagers, from then onwards became the major buyer of Lao Ban Zhang tea raw material. Since then, most of Lao Ban Zhang tea, whether compressed into cake size or bricks, were manufactured and branded by “陈升茶厂” (Chen Sheng Tea Factory) . However, out of 117 families that produce tea in Lao Ban Zhang village, there are still 28 families who did not sign the monopoly contract with Chen Sheng Tea Factory. These few families can still sell their own raw materials to other tea merchants.

Due to the domination by Chen Sheng Tea Factory, nowadays genuine Lao Ban Zhang tea are sold at a very high price in the market.

In general, the following factors make Lao Ban Zhang’s price very high:

1) Good quality, sweet and strong aftertaste, bold and rich flavor.
2) Historically famous. Was once a tribute tea for top leaders in China.
3) Limited supply and production quantity.
4) Supply of raw materials is partly monopolized by one factory.


tea leaves plucked in early spring makes the most superior quality Lao Ban Zhang

Asahina Gyokuro

After few days of consistently drinking pu erh, time to have a break. So here I am brewing Gyokuro.

Gyokuro is so refreshing and tasty at a different level. The aroma smells good. The taste is delicious. That said, some people may not like it as it may taste grassy or seaweed.


5g : 160ml

Boiling Water poured into Shigaraki Kyusu, keep the water for 2 minutes, then pour water into glass pot for brewing.


1st infusion
-30s
-strong aroma but only decent taste


2nd infusion
-3s
-stronger taste, liquid seems thicker, some sweetness


3rd infusion
-6s
-even stronger taste than 2nd brewing


4th infusion
-15s
-colour looks darker. taste maintain


5th infusion
-30s
-colour similar to 4th infusion. taste maintain


6th infusion
-60s
-colour drops a little. taste drops a little too but still good

Couldn’t proceed… almost full



Today's brewing was quite a success. No bitterness and managed to maintain the taste for quite a number of infusions. Too bad not much aftertaste in the throat, but mainly aftertaste in the mouth.

Just had this 'Shi Feng Long Jing'... and I have to write the joy I had.


*Picture not mine

At the shop, before tasting Long Jing, I was tasting few puerh which was very good. The aftertaste in my mouth and throat was with the puerh.

But after tasted Long Jing... I have a new definition of what is call good tea. It basically overwrites the puerh I had earlier. If Gyokuro is good, Long Jing to my definition is one step above. It has some 'similarity' taste of Gyokuro, but stronger flavor and sweetness. Not to mention stronger and longer aftertaste.

First 5 brewing has strong flavor and tasted sweet in mouth and throat. Then we continue to brew for another 5+ times, the flavor goes down per infusion, but the sweetness remains.

I was then told not to waste the Long Jing leaves. It can be used to make soup, or mixed with other drinks. So, I was then given to try Coffee with the used Long Jing. There is some slight improvement in the taste of the coffee but not much.

Actually, by then anything I drink is actually with the Long Jing sweet aftertaste. I tasted the earlier puerh again, it was diff. The puerh tasted sweeter. I tried plain water, it was also sweet.

The good sweet aftertaste lasted about 3 hours+ The joy...

Now for the ouch part...
50g = 380.00 MYR = 121.939 USD
Per serving at about 3g@150ml = 25.00 MYR = 8.02233 USD

This post has been edited by auhckw: Sep 5 2010, 06:54 PM

Was digging youtube for Longjing... found some interesting videos

How to distinguish a good Longjing tea

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTBAz5I6NFw

Brewing Longjing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETU6jq-i66Y

My opinion for keeping puerh for aging...

The question you should ask yourself when buying puerh for aging is, what is the objective of aging the puerh? Is it for your investment or consumption?

For investment:-
-I've seen/spoken to people who buy in boxessss of toong for keeping. These people will usually go for those big factories ie Dayi, XiaGuan.
-It is a volume game and these people normally buy current year puerh as it is cheaper.
-Diversify the range of recipes when buying. As long it is standard recipe it 'should' be ok for the future as it is well recognized. Eg. 7542 y2010 - in 10 to 20 years time, it 'should' be still sought after.
-Buying in bulk requires you to choose trusted suppliers cause there are fakes out there and profit margin for suppliers are very high. So find trusted suppliers and those that is willing to give good discount. I've seen young puerh which was markup 300% (could be more) if you were to buy in few pieces and good discount was given if were to buy in toong and even more discount if were to buy in boxes.
-For the recent years, puerh are produced in mass production. Will there be oversupply in future? Will the return of investment as good as it used to be? You need a magical crystal ball to tell you :mrgreen:

For consumption:-
-Sample and choose those that you really like now and 'hope' that it will age well. There is no guarantee. Personally, I don't buy puerh for investment. So I tend to choose better grade puerh for aging, as chances of better grade puerh 'should' be better in future. Again there is no guarantee but 'hope'.
-Better grade now doesn't mean it will turn out good in future. Cheaper grade now doesn't mean it will not turn out good in future. So diversify when buying.
-Since you are buying for the future, I would suggest you to buy raw and ripe now. Even though you may like raw now, it doesn't mean in the future you may not like ripe. So buy a little of both and when you are 'aged' too, your taste may change. Especially when our body gets older, some people make move towards ripe or aged raw then.
-Not sure it is just me, another thing I've found out is, as when you have tasted better and better quality tea, your expectations will go up. I have currently some puerh that was tasted good back then, but after tasting more high end puerh, those that was bought previously have actually become not that good to me. So drink premium puerh at your own risk :mrgreen:

This post has been edited by auhckw: Sep 8 2010, 11:11 PM

Was having another tea session with another tea master.. here is what he has to share...

Why are some young raw puerh bitter?
If brewing parameters are right, high chance the puerh is not from spring leaves. Spring leaves are of the better quality and should have no bitterness.

Bitter young raw puerh is not good for health too. Don’t consume too much if you are on empty stomach. Either brew it at a lower temperature or let it age for some time, the bitterness ‘may’ go down.

Why is ripe puerh not as health either?
Ripe Pu-erh tea is made by fermentation of mold. If mold is not controlled well, it may be harmful to our body.

How to smell tea (as in the brewed liquid form)?
Higher quality tea’s aroma will smell like it is going down. Where normal/lower quality tea’s aroma will stay on top and the aroma is like going up.

Why are aged puerh expensive? It is really good?
‘One’ of the reasons why aged puerh are expensive is because of the material it was made. Back then, demands are not a lot, most puerh uses good material from old trees. The better the material used then, the better it is and the more expensive it is now.

Unfortunately, this is not the case now. Big factories have to target volume and delivery consistent quality; therefore they will mix up few different grades of leaves. If one were to buy puerh for aging… take lower grade leaves to age will not create miracle. Lower grade leaves will still be lower grade in the future.

Where are all the high quality young puerh now?
These days it is difficult to find good quality young puerh in big factories as the raw material they use is of average mix. High quality puerh must come from very old tree (from hundreds to thousands of age) planted at high latitude. These quality puerh are limited. Hardcore puerh hunters and collectors will usually purchase them. Some may even book ahead. Also, the local government will purchase these high quality puerh as part of their gift exchange culture. Therefore, quantity is not enough for export. Not to mention not many sellers willing to purchase expensive young puerh as it may be difficult to clear stock.

Is loose young puerh better than compress?
In order to compress, steam (heat and water) will be used upon the leaves. This will decrease the natural quality of the leaves. So loose puerh is in a way better as it is un-steamed. People have no choice but to compress puerh for convenient sake.

Why is puerh from some of the famous mountain not worth to buy?
Not because due to overpriced by demand. Not because of limited quantity. It is because the quality is not it supposed to be. In order to produce quantity from the demand for these famous mountain, some factories will apply fertilizer to increase output of the leaves. Some will even chop off the middle part of old trees so that leaves will start growing faster on the outer side of the tree, which makes it not the same old tree any more. When a famous mountain becomes commercial, quality will usually drop. Good news is, there are still many mountains in china.

---

Added on September 9, 2010, 11:57 pmAccording to people from China who do tea business, many tea sellers are actually just businessmen. Many sellers do not know how to really taste good quality tea. Some may even buy at a cost they want regardless of what quality they may get so long the factory is willing to produce.

Problem is not only with the sellers. There are many tea drinkers who are incapable of identifying what is good tea. This may be because:-
-they were not taught how to taste properly
-they may not have tasted better good quality tea to compare
-they may be under the influenced of what other people says
-they are just incapable of identifying the difference. Some people unfortunately falls under this category

This post has been edited by auhckw: Sep 10 2010, 10:54 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyBcuWeinDM

Had another day of tea marathon... 10 types of tea... lucky not tea drunk

3x puerh
1x yunnan black tea
1x yun feng (chinese green tea)
1x gyokuro
1x 7 years old vacuum pack oolong
1x li shan cha oolong
1x gold rush (scented tea)
1x white chrysanthemum (taste spicy, smells like those flower used for chinese praying)

This post has been edited by auhckw: Sep 12 2010, 07:09 PM

'Hand Leg Pu-erh' is direct translation from chinese which means 'Tampered Pu-erh'

My friend got this Ripe Tampered Pu-erh from a tea seller. According to the tea seller, someone from China gave this sample to him asking him to taste and if good to sell. This is actually young ripe, but tampered to look and taste at least 5 to 7 years old. For 250g, cost price is about USD2 and suggested selling price is about USD10.

The tea seller didn't give the wrapping for the puerh, so I couldn't post the cover. Here are some photos.







From an inexperienced me, the material and colour of the tea looks fine. Aroma is not that strong but flavor is quite similar to my other 5 years old CNNP ripe. Smoothness and thickness is quite good compared to my 5 years CNNP.

If one is not careful, and if wasn't informed. I think can be easily cheated by this.

This post has been edited by auhckw: Sep 15 2010, 07:23 AM

You nearly made me ban 'Tea Tarik' but after reading it, seems like it only disable the full potential of tea and is not harmful.

Cause tea seller admits it himself and he doesn't intend to sell. So he gave it to my friend as an 'education'

Shi Feng Long Jing

Brewing method: Boiling hot water poured into Shigaraki Kyusu. Left the water in it for 3 minutes to cool down. Then from Shigaraki Kyusu poured the water into a glass teapot for brewing.

Tea Drinkers: Only me


3g : 150ml


First infusion: 1 minute
Review: Colour of the tea is quite light. I somehow relate the aroma and flavor to Gyokuro but it doesn’t have the ‘soup’ and ‘seaweed’ taste of Gyokuro. Flavor is deeper and smoother compared to Gyokuro too. Upon drinking, I can immediately taste the sweetness on my tongue but only slight sweetness aftertaste in the throat.

Second infusion: 10 seconds
Review: Stronger flavor. Sweetness increased. Very obvious aftertaste in the tongue area but still not much in the throat area.

Third infusion: 20 seconds
Review: Flavor remains like the second infusion but started feeling strong aftertaste in my throat. The sweetness has gone to the throat. When I swallow my saliva, can feel sweetness too.


Fourth infusion: 30 seconds
Review: Colour of the tea has gone down. Flavor and sweetness didn’t drop. Still tasty and good aftertaste in throat.

Fifth infusion: 40 seconds
Review: Flavor has gone down, but sweetness remains. Felt a bit tea drunk already.

Sixth infusion: 50 seconds
Review: Flavor quite similar to fifth infusion and the sweetness aftertaste in throat didn’t drop. I think by now anything I drink also will be sweet.


Seventh infusion: 60 seconds
Review: Colour of the tea is quite similar to fourth infusion. Flavor drops quite a lot but sweetness didn’t drop a bit, but this may not be accurate. I tasted plain water, and it too tasted sweet.

I think I have to stop here, nearly full…

RAT problem!!! Took me 20 minutes hunting down the rat. Lucky managed to chase it out from the house.

Eighth infusion: 80 seconds
Review: Not much flavor. Light sweetness aftertaste in throat.

Ok, enough infusions. Didn’t want to waste the leaves, so brewed this:


2 minutes : 250ml per infusion till the bottle is full. Going to put it in the fridge and try out cold brew the next morning.


Remaining Leaves

Overall I’m very happy about this.Tasted plain water again, and it has sweetness. Not many teas can give me this kind of long lasting sweet aftertaste in the throat…

Indeed it is



Ok, feedback on the left over brew. No more Long Jing flavor. Very light flavor, which I can't relate to Long Jing. The aftertaste sweetness in throat reappears from drinking this. Drinking plain water after 30 minutes also gives some sweetness in throat.

Copper-Tin Teapot

Some new lovely teapots in store @ Hojo. This is their upcoming new teaware after Shigaraki Kyusu.







I tried it side by side with their Shigaraki Kyusu, and this Copper tin Teapot is somehow similar. Both are good but I couldn't feel a big difference in both only slight difference in character of the water that came out.

Price wise for this Copper tin Teapot is not that cheap. You can check in in their online store. Nearly double the price of the Shigaraki Kyusu.

Will I buy? Yes unless I am a teaware collector who has plenty of money.
Unfortunately I am not, so I wouldn't purchase since Shigaraki is already very good to me and I love the clay design more.

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.

So what water system am I using at home?

Outside the house:
http://www.diamondmasterfilter.com/diamond_master_filter.htm

In the kitchen, this is the water filter I use for drinking/boiling:
http://www.diamondmasterfilter.com/diamond_energy_water.htm

Quite disappointed with the outcome of the filter, but what can I do...

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 place I would look for it, but thanks for pointing the direction. Will ask around there.

I once asked a doctor why some people heavy smoker / liquor drinker but still no problem at such old age.

He said, everyone has cancer cells. If you have the cancer that relates to smoking or drinking, it will activate the cancer cells faster even if you take in little volume. So if you don't have that cancer cells, it will be lower chance to get problems even if you take a lot.

Today went tea shop and managed to sample few aged raw and ripe puerh.

20+ years Raw puerh: USD 650 / beeng: Old is Old. Tasted old. Flavor is old. Very little aftertaste. Smooth.

15+ years Raw puerh: USD 250 / beeng: Tasted less old. Has light smokiness. This pu when it was young has strong smokiness, but over the years has gone down. Dry. Very little aftertaste.

15+ years Ripe puerh: USD 200 / beeng: Little flavor. Smooth. Very little aftertaste.

I probably shouldn't rule out in general, but for today's puerh tasting, the impression that aged puerh gives me is that I don't like it. Aged puerh has less flavor, lacks aftertaste and tasted like dirt. I think this is very much an acquired taste.