Thought this was interesting:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/...tea.php?page=2

I'm sure some of the claims are true but to what extent? The claims
are 1) too much pesticides used on pu-erh 2) much pu-erh is claimed to
be from ancient trees but isn't 3) pu-erh is frequently not as aged as
claimed. Thoughts everyone?

On Apr 15, 1:16*pm, TokyoB > wrote:
> Thought this was interesting:http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/...tea.php?page=2
>
> I'm sure some of the claims are true but to what extent? *The claims
> are 1) too much pesticides used on pu-erh 2) much pu-erh is claimed to
> be from ancient trees but isn't 3) pu-erh is frequently not as aged as
> claimed. *Thoughts everyone?

Any commodity crop, tea included.

TokyoB > writes:

> Thought this was interesting:
> http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/...tea.php?page=2
>
> I'm sure some of the claims are true but to what extent? The claims
> are 1) too much pesticides used on pu-erh 2) much pu-erh is claimed to
> be from ancient trees but isn't

Of course the trees are ancient! If you look closely at the picture,
you'll see that the waist-high trees in those neat rows are *bonsai*.
It takes 500 years to grow a tree that way. No wonder the leaves are
so expensive. I, for one, feel privileged to buy them.

/Lew, ducking
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

> I'm sure some of the claims are true but to what extent? *The claims
> are 1) too much pesticides used on pu-erh 2) much pu-erh is claimed to
> be from ancient trees but isn't 3) pu-erh is frequently not as aged as
> claimed. *Thoughts everyone?


Let's put it this way, if there's a demand, people will "create" a
supply for it. If there's big dollars to be easily made, then people
will devise ways to get that money into their hands. So,if there's a
demand for say, ancient tea tree puer, then, surely enough, there will
be a large supply of it. That means, they will intentionally mis-label
the product, produce it in large quantity (using pesticides and
fertilizers) and use other methods to fool the customer into thinking
it's ancient tea tree puer; and to ensure there's a large enough
supply to meet the demand. That's how money is made, unfortunately.

> Let's put it this way, if there's a demand, people will "create" a
> supply for it. If there's big dollars to be easily made, then people
> will devise ways to get that money into their hands. So,if there's a
> demand for say, ancient tea tree puer, then, surely enough, there will
> be a large supply of it. That means, they will intentionally mis-label
> the product, produce it in large quantity (using pesticides and
> fertilizers) and use other methods to fool the customer into thinking
> it's ancient tea tree puer; and to ensure there's a large enough
> supply to meet the demand. That's how money is made, unfortunately.

There does indeed seem to be a lot of (well, let's put it kindly)
somewhat exaggerated claims of age and origin in the pu-erh world,
even among otherwise reputable shops. When I see a $30 beeng listed
as being 40 years old, I laugh out loud.

I for one would never buy an aged pu-erh or other upper-grade tea
without tasting it first, either via mailed sample or preferably in
person at a shop.

I bought a 100 gram tin of loose pu-erh labelled as 70 years old and
"wild-born large leaf" (I translated the symbols) for about $100. I
*knew* that it was almost certainly not more than 30-40 years old and
very unlikely to be wild-tree tea (although the large leaf suggests it
was at least arboreal tea), but I had tasted it first and thought it
to be well worth the money anyway. Potentially false claims aside,
that tea had a superior taste that justified the cost. That was all
that mattered.

On the opposite end I sometimes buy lower-grade teas and find pleasant
surprises. I've stumbled across $16/lb green oolongs that rival the
$100+/lb ones I normally pick up, but admittedly that is a very rare
exception to the rule.

> There does indeed seem to be a lot of (well, let's put it kindly)
> somewhat exaggerated claims of age and origin in the pu-erh world,
> even among otherwise reputable shops.

Some people are so uptight about the age thing with puer. Just assume
the puer is 40 years old, or even 20 years old before you buy it, how
do you know under what conditions that puer was stored? What about if
it came in contact with undesirable odors, etc.? Some things you can't
tell by looking or by smelling. And if you can't sample it, then how
will you know if it's good tea or not? And does the age justify the
price? So many people are going for aged puer recently the prices are
so crazy.

In Hong Kong tea shops, you see lots of old puer wrapped in Saran
wrap. Some of that stuff looks like it's been "fixed". The outer edges
are rough, and the surface is kind of rough too. At one time, it could
have had mold on the surface that someone scraped away before they
wrapped it in plastic wrap to nicely display on a store shelf. Some
moldy puer isn't going to taste as good as a non-moldy puer.

I personally only buy new, sheng puer (usually last year's harvest)
that's been sitting on store shelves. They will allow you to sample
it. And if I can sample it and I like drinking the tea right at that
moment, then, if I buy some and store it properly, it's got to be way
much better after 10 years (if I don't drink it up before then).
Rationale: If I like it now, I will like it later.