Was doing some initial research on what makes a 'good' fake pu'er..

found this interesting..
http://www.puerhcha.com/Articles/Det..._Bad_Puerh.htm

will keep looking, but if anyone has any other thoughts to share on what
makes a 'good' fake pu'er, I'd listen.

Cheers
Mal
Oz
(disclaimer: no affiliation with this vendor whatsoever - although I did ask
for a pricelist)

On May 24, 11:41 am, "Mal from Oz" > wrote:
> Was doing some initial research on what makes a 'good' fake pu'er..
>
> found this interesting..http://www.puerhcha.com/Articles/Det..._Bad_Puerh.htm
>
> will keep looking, but if anyone has any other thoughts to share on what
> makes a 'good' fake pu'er, I'd listen.
>
> Cheers
> Mal
> Oz
> (disclaimer: no affiliation with this vendor whatsoever - although I did ask
> for a pricelist)

I think the most common fake puerh you'll see are actually high-
temperature processed green tea being pressed into cakes. They don't
age well -- turn bitter and sour in time -- but tastes great now and
is often masquerading as puerh as puerh prices are now higher than
some low/cheap grade green teas.

MarshalN
http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN

On May 24, 11:41 am, "Mal from Oz" > wrote:
> Was doing some initial research on what makes a 'good' fake pu'er..
>
> found this interesting..http://www.puerhcha.com/Articles/Det..._Bad_Puerh.htm
>
> will keep looking, but if anyone has any other thoughts to share on what
> makes a 'good' fake pu'er, I'd listen.
>
> Cheers
> Mal
> Oz
> (disclaimer: no affiliation with this vendor whatsoever - although I did ask
> for a pricelist)

hi Mal,

The article, if anything, is not complete in its coverage on what
makes bad pu'er...and on what makes a good fake pu'er, different
people would have different views on that too.

In fact, if one takes a good look at pu'er through the years, fake
pu'ers have been popping up now and again, it is not a current
phenomenon, though the present pu'er fever accentuates the production
of these pu'ers to supplement the high demand for the tea. It will
not come as a surprise if everyone who has a pu'er collection has at
some point, came into possession of fake pu'er - it will not be a
surprise even if what most collectors who ardently profess their love
of pu'er and its depths of nuance are in reality collecting the good
fake pu'ers MarshalN described.

A good fake pu'er comes, in my personal definition, in 2 forms: the
material, or the maocha; and the method of processing.

The material. Some puritans consider maocha outside of Yunnan
province as "un-pu'er", meaning maocha that are harvested in the
regions surrounding Yunnan. Even if they are pressed according to
strict temperature regulations, many do not consider them real pu'ers
as they taste different.

The processing method. We should worry about this. Using high heat to
kill-green the leaves and then laying them out in the sun to dry, a
vendor will tell convincingly that the leaves are "sun-dried". Using
proper heat to kill-green the leaves, then drying them under the sun,
then using too high a heat to press the tea, he will still tell us the
tea is "sun-dried". To speed up production and export, the properly
processed cakes are left in a drying room with heat turned up on high
to dry the tea quickly, the tea is still "sun-dried". And I've not
mentioned the tea processed during the wet seasons, when there is
insufficient heat from the sun for drying, and the roll-drum processed
maocha...

Bottomline is, we have to drink and drink and drink to tell the
difference. I believe that other than a handful of experts in this
area, most of us are still trying to tell the good fake pu'er from the
real one apart.

Danny