Choosing a tea is a pleasure. We look at it, smell it, touch it, and taste it. If it makes a gurgling noise when we drink it, these are our five senses combined. However, even when you're in China and speak the language, finding teas that satisfy all your sensory organs is no easy feat. Admiring, smelling, caressing, tasting, and hearing tea is still possible with loose tea.
There are some excellent ones.
Some rare and precious teas, of both high and low quality, should be purchased before any contact, even visual.
Unless you know exactly what you're looking for and go to the winery, buying tea is like finding the perfect wine.
Just like our grape varieties, we find teas in different appearances, at all prices, with subtleties and palates that vary according to the terroir, the years and the know-how.
1 kg Shou Puer Flower, Very Aged Black Tea Slab, Sheng/Shou Puer 1990-2020, 5 to 500€,
1 pancake 2020 Shou Puer 357 g, €2,500
As a general rule, and especially for Sheng Puer (raw) teas, it is best to buy them in the same year and age them. Aged teas are more expensive and difficult to find. They can be incredibly similar. Teas that look similar can even be opposite in taste.
A triple rule: know the person, trust them and appreciate them.
Below are some examples of Shou Puer Cha Zhuan (Yunnan Cooked Tea)
2005 Sweet and pleasant €5 2005 Interest-free €13
2002 Bof €17 1992 Fantastic €25
2005-2012 Bof 35-65€ 95-2011 Bof 50-85€ Fair
88-95 Good 85-125€ Pleasant 1998 Extraordinary 155€
It is essential to know their production method and location, as well as their aging process. The best thing to do, like a good bottle, is to keep it in the cellar.
Mobility is granted if it is suitable.
For example, aged teas in Hong Kong are very famous.
Ours are also aging there, just like in Shenzhen, where I live, in Fujian and Yunnan too.
That's why I'm doing this, it's my pleasure, to clear the way for you.
Apart from the aged bricks and cakes that have fermented, all the teas chosen together here come from controlled and responsible agriculture, without pesticides or fertilizers.
