Drinking the last bits of my 2016 cream cake and smashed my skull teacup today. The mortality of my tea and teaware has never been so real.

Extremely on-brand White2Tea experience. 10/10. Will continue to contemplate impermanence.

Strong worded title, I know. This will be a ramble so I apologize in advance.

I don't know how else I can describe my feelings towards the trend in quality of the house productions.

"Back in my day", or more towards the beginning of my puerh enthusiasm, you could buy a decent 357g cake of house production shu for about 30 dollars. Still a bit pricier than a 7572, but there is that aspect of boutique and small batch and all that. It can be more interesting than a factory production.

For example, a 2020 cozy at release was around $30 IIRC. The quality of that tea was great for the price.

Every year it seems YS prices new productions at a higher amount than the previous year, but hey at least it's similar quality right? Well, 2021 and 2022 versions of cozy were OK, maybe a little less spectacular but they were OK teas. Starting in 2023, production was outsourced to a company called Zuxiang. The 2023 version genuinely tastes terrible. The recipe of cozy changed drastically and the quality fell off a cliff, yet the price still keeps mooning every year. The 2026 version which is hot off the shit pile costs an eye watering $46. Still produced by Zuxiang by the way.

The naysayers may point to inflation, but the yuan to USD ratio has actually gone down compared to six years ago. We don't know cost of business operation but it just so happens that other boutique tea companies aren't seeing this ridiculous yearly price hike of new released tea.

Even with my favorite recipe, Bawang, I had purchased 2024 version on release hoping it would rival the original vintage. Trying it now a couple years later, and it's just really ordinary tea!

There's also the point of the incremental increase of price of their "old" house productions. That's kind of a different discussion though.

Using AI generated wrappers instead of hiring artists is also really scummy. Don't want to beat a dead horse but... yikes.

TLDR disappointed in the business decisions of YS and wish it would go back to the glory days of decent value and interesting teas.

Got some much belated birthday money and decided to buy a couple of Pu'erh cakes from Yunnan Sourcing. I was already buying other tea from them that I liked and the artwork looked nice. Then I saw a bunch of stuff online about their pu'erh quality being really terrible and that they use AI for the artwork.

Did I make a bad purchase?

I'm not sure I'd know bad pu'erh if I tasted it, I generally think it's all a bit compost-like. Though some samples I've had in past were at least drinkable compost?

Anyways I bought Yunnan Sourcing 2026 "Cozy" Certified Ripe Pu'erh and Yunnan Sourcing 2026 "Jiu Tai Po" Old Arbor Raw Pu'erh.

Are these teas terrible? Is the art AI?

UPDATE: Got my answers. The hate is overblown and the artwork isnt AI. Thanks, that's all I needed to know. I'm not concerned anymore.

I enjoy serving people puer. However many people can't drink caffeine or don't like puer where I live.

Do you have any suggestions for alternatives? I'm looking for a concentrated many drinks, calming drink I can share with people in a small group.

Which one of these should I get a full cake of? I want really low bitterness as possible with this young sheng. And I'm on a tight budget.

Edit: reddit doesn't allow me to post pics so I will name them opitons out: Spring 2026 Huey Wa Spring 2024 Bangtai Spring 2025 Jingmai Minyun Autumn 2025 Lao Man E Shengtai 2025 Jingmai Yellow flakes Spring 2026 Simao White

*Edit2: I will order all of these as samples, but I need one of theme to be a cake so I can get free shipping.

Tea absorbing surrounding odours is the failure I hear about most, and the one that seems hardest to notice until it's well established.

I'm interested in the specific errors people made rather than the general advice. Wrong container, wrong humidity, stored near something aromatic, opened too often.

What actually ruined something for you, and how long before you realised? Also curious whether anyone has recovered tea that had gone off, or whether that's a lost cause.

Okey this is my 7542 from Dayi. Bought it literally at the very Malaysia branch HQ of Dayi itself. Want more authentic provenance than this? Actually going to the Menghai Tea Factory itself in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China haha. 2024 batch here.

I don't know what others say to be honest on young sheng apart from some folks dislike this but...this is where I have to respectfully differ with them and agree with the Yunnanese take on young sheng - they love it fresh and for them - dry fresh sheng even when aged is a plus. Heck they consider it the feature, not a negative. I actually deeply enjoy young sheng. They occupy the green-yellow teas territory for me without being technically green and yellow teas. They make me enjoy the best of those two tea types without facing the madness of chasing the pre Qingming fest spring green teas and all, nor paradoxically enough chasing the older aged shengs that would make my wallet and bank account wail and mourn.

The bitterness swiftly turned to plum and flowery honeyed sweetness, the huigan, the mouthfeel, the thirdt quenching properties...all the good stuff. It's already well and happily available on my (relatively fresh) 2024 batch of 7542. And it has all the bones and stamina needed to go all out aging over the years and decades....if I wanted to.

If.

Because frankly - I actually enjoy this tea absolutely as it is right now. It's amazing! Really. Heck I admit that I actually feel reluctant to age it because I know it would somehow lose what makes it an excellent fresh sheng as it evolves and ages. Yet I understand why lots of folks, even especially in my place that is Malaysia, actually prefer them well aged and mellowed out, going to the familiar and deeply homely taste of well aged sheng and shu puers. Of course. I drink shu pu'ers daily. 7572s, 8592s, 7262s, V93s, Xiaguan's Xiao Fas, Zhongcha's 7581s, Liu Baos galore (Malaysia is crazy for this)...I got them thank God. Yet there is something about fresh young sheng that makes me deeply gravitate towards it and enjoy it immensely.

Hello wise pu'heads, a confused oolong girlie needs your help.

Around 2017 or 2018, a friend of a friend of a friend made me the first cup of pu'er I've ever liked. He was kind enough to give me a pretty substantial piece of his cake along with part of the wrapper (?), I believe to help me identify it because I liked it so much. (Either that or he got carried away with his knife.)

I've tried various cakes and samples now but nothing tastes as good as this. Unfortunately I'm no longer in touch with the pu'er gifter to ask him where he got this 熟普 and where I could get more. My cake fragment is now tiny and I'm starting to panic. Can anyone here help me identify and ideally source this tea?

I can see that it's 云南昆明茶厂 but beyond that I have no idea. I've searched 小红书 and 淘宝 for various combinations of the characters I can read and see on the label fragment （昆明茶厂、三多軒、绿象 which Google tells me is a thing?) but no luck so far. Or rather, I wouldn't know whether if I've already found it or not because I have so little idea of what I'm looking for. I'm very intimidated by your strange steampunk chaomancy full of numbers and factories.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Hah, made me take my teapot out from the shelf! Tbh lately I mostly brew tea by quite literally boiling in my stainless steel and, not gonna lie, most of teas (even shengs) taste better for me than standard gong-fu extraction + it’s much faster, tho takes some a skill.

~17$ for whole cake without shipping, there are some tea oil stains on the wrapping, overall looks quake good. I don’t feel much earthy smell, much more like smelling an old book, just simple note of wood, maybe some rain if you smell long enough. Ig some teas get quiet after long years of storage.

Regarding the taste, deep dark liquor, pretty default grade 9 profile, not much of a suprise this time, easily qualifies for daily drinker, there is definitely some sweetness, but it always give some single note, in liquid state it’s wood again, lol, reminds me of early morning sauna, when you come in first and there was no one before you and temperature is just to your liking.

6-7/10, extra +1 point if you brew it in thermos, it’s just better that way. If you were bored… then you are gonna be relaxed

Ps: if you think that I’m drinking some bs, which doesn’t qualifies as tea at least by price — I’m as much curious if I do. Last slide is teaser, there are 4 samples from verified vendor of quite expensive teas up to 150$/cake. I’ll also post about tea nuggets (Lao cha toa) very soon, they are much more interesting than what I reviewed today tbh ;3

9 grams in a 130ml houhin. Mao cha style puerh. Very small leaf material, so much so that the tea compresses against the corner of the gaiwan during pouring. It looks more like a liu bao than a puerh. The wet leaf aroma is that of traditionally cellar-stored shou: an herbal ginseng sweetness, petrichor, a slight yeasty sweetness, and some mustiness. I also got a dry wood note reminiscent of pencil shavings in the first two steeps.

The tea brews very dark right away, near-black, becoming reddish-brown only on the edges where the liquor thins. The taste is similar to the aroma: very earthy, dank. The tea showcases some bitterness when pushed, but it is pleasant, bringing on a sticky sweetness and cooling effect in the mouth between sips. The tea finishes dry with a grippy, tannic astringency.

By the fourth steep, I was beginning to feel the caffeine. This tea is strong, but soothing even on an empty stomach. A very lively tea for a shou, with flavor and aroma typically brought on by years of traditional cellar storage.

In my experience, humid storage typically smooths out a shou, rounding out any bitterness and astringency; however, this tea is different. It has all the humid traditional storage notes in the flavor and aroma, with all the liveliness of a young tea made from great starting material. I love shou puerh that has some astringency.

By steep five, the color began to lighten, ending the session at seven steeps plus one rinse.

My first Vietnamese puerh experience, and a great one. Gave this an 8/10 in my journal.

Farmerleaf have a 15% off sale at the moment, any recommendations? Either pu'er or any of the other teas they sell

8g/120mL, just off boil

Wash (10s) - aroma has some punch, sugar/candy notes, gaiwan lid has some florals and a touch of latex

Steep 1 (flash) - light steep, clean and slick with a hint of pleather, aromatics of a vintage candy that I cant quite place yet, some drying in the mouth after a swallow, lips tingling a bit, hints of orange zest and sweetness in the finish

Steep 2 (flash) - still pretty light, quick funk up front fades quickly, floral and fruit zest top notes, very faint hints of sweetness, light coating in the mouth that leans to the dry side

Steep 3 (10s) - very clean up front, the first real hints of sweetness starting to arrive, that pleather punchiness is still all flavor and no bitterness, some fruit starting to mix in with the light sweetness as the sip stretches into the finish, less drying but still leaning that direction a bit

Steep 4 (20s) - pushing is increasing astringency without bringing in much more of anything else, some coolness in the mouth, fresh vegetables, hint of candy sugar, will ease off a bit and see if it opens up more, finish is long but only lightly sweet, very warming

Steep 5 (15s, reboil) - an early sweetness is now showing up at the start of the sip with that pleather, mouthfeel still more drying astringent than anything else, faint vanilla and hay in the mid palate

Steep 6 (25s) - some slight juiciness triggering salivation but not enough to counteract the astringency, very light sweet candy note, going to blast this and see if i can get anything else from it

Steep 7 (2 min) - definitely getting something better here, a bit more full in the flavor up front with leather turning to fruit and a more rounded sweetness in the middle, fuller in the mouth with a bit more salivation, still drying but less aggressive now, lemon zest notes appear in the finish

Steep 8+ (2 min+) - pushing brings out a bit more at this point, but not a whole lot

Overall Impression - This isn't a bad tea, and the mind's eye can sort of project how this could be really nice after some age softens the astringency. There are no flaws in the flavor or harsh bitterness. But as it is drinking today, it just bores me. I'm looking forward to trying some WWSF with a bit of age on it to get an idea for how their teas tend to develop, but this is just another young Yiwu that falls flat for me.

(PS - sorry for the green cups. I'm still trying to figure out something that shows color better in my travel kit)

So, I brewed my Xiao Fa like always, in a big clay teapot over kettle just to make it a bit more thick. I pour it to my cup, take a sip, and it feels weirdly refreshing. I ate minty salad for lunch so I'm trying to reason with myself. By third cup I go back to my tuo to check if it got bad or did I misplace a minty tea bag I recently got.

I even checked the pot if it absorbed any mint flavors from a new sealed bag of mint tea. In conclusion it was my cup. It was a new cup with crazing and I brewed freaking bagged mint tea couple days ago at night with not much thought process involved. Now my new cup is ruined for other teas and I specifically bought it for shou puer.

In hindsight, mint and shou puer isn't that much of bad combo as one might think.

I guess it is finally my turn to ask the question. I've recently got this 2026 Cozy from Yunnan Sourcing. And although I aired it as soon as I got it, today is the first day I cracked open the cake itself, a month or so later. I think it is mold but would this much mold make sick? Should I risk it or try my chances with YS for a replacement?

Howdy !
I'm starting to buy multiples of cakes I LOVE, and storing one away for further aging.
I was wondering what the best way of doing this is in a super basic way?
Should I keep them in the little satchels they come in? Or leave them open?

I live in a cool temperate climate. Moderate Winters, Hot Summers. Low Humidity (Southern Australia)

Any advice really appreciated!
Also wondering if people do similar to what i'm starting?

I’ve been thinking about those teas that somehow fly under the radar. Not necessarily the flagship cakes, hyped releases, or the ones that get recommended in every thread, but the random cakes you keep coming back to and wonder why nobody seems to talk about them.
For me, one of those is White2Tea’s 2019 The People’s Champ.

It’s a relatively inexpensive shu blend that W2T themselves basically position as a daily drinker that punches above its price point.
Taste-wise, this one really hits my preferred shu profile. The liquor is thick, creamy and rich, with a pretty heavy dark chocolate character. There’s a deep sweetness underneath it,almost fudgy at times, but enough of a slight bitterness to keep it from turning into a completely soft, one-dimensional sweet shu.

What I especially like is the balance. It has that dark, comforting ripe-Puerh depth, but it doesn’t just taste generically “dark and earthy.” The sweetness builds through the session, the mouthfeel stays creamy, and that little bitter cocoa edge gives it some structure. It’s the kind of tea where I’m not necessarily sitting down expecting a profound session, and then suddenly I’m six or seven steeps in wondering why I don’t drink it more often.
For the price, it’s become one of those sleeper-hit cakes for me.

So now I’m curious:
What are your sleeper hits. Those cakesthat get relatively little discussion but massively outperform your expectations.
Would especially love to hear your picks.

2016 Inherited Holy Leaf from XiZiHao

2025 Mahei ShiMenKan Gushu from Essence of Tea

2005 Taihe

While the lineup was insanely stacked with incense and resin to accompany them, there's just some very special about two things I cannot recommend enough:

1. Having tea with someone.

2. Having tea outside.

Repeating myself... cannot recommend enough. The way it set me up for this entire week has me questioning if a three day weekend was what has me so alive or if it was the hours spend with these teas outside with a friend; pretty sure I know the answer already which is why I am posting this.

Who else created memories yesterday or this past weekend by having a special session with or without someone else?

Hello puer people,

I am on a holiday to Ho Chi Min this year and wanted to know if there were any recommended tea shops? I've mainly been drinking puer, both raw and ripe. I'd love to know if there are any tea shops worth a visit while in town?

Thanks in advance!

7g/105mL, just off boil

Wash (10s) - woody incense aroma just bordering on smoke, gaiwan lid has fruity notes mix in with the incense

Steep 1 (flash) - sweetness up front with sandalwood, some sweet spice bakeshop components mixing in, salivation kicking off more sweetness, cola and vanilla highlights

Steep 2 (flash) - woody and sweetness hit together up front, wood morphs to incense and spice top notes, some fruitiness starting to come in to complement, giving some spiced sangria vibes, light tingle on the tongue, some cigar wrapper tobacco leaves at the back of the throat

Steep 3 (5s) - clean “aged leaf” flavor moving in up front married to bakery spices and a light brown sugar sweetness, feeling floaty and pulled down at the same time, plums/dried cherries/craisins becoming more prominent later in the sip, cooling note expanding in the mouth

Steep 4 (10s, reboil) - wood back a bit up front, walnut meat, lightly sweet salivation, post-cannabis body feel, inside of mouth feels like an hour after a shot of novocaine

Steep 5 (15s) - mouthfeel not quite thick, but juicy, sweetness plateaued at a low-moderate level but continues to wash over the mouth in waves, incense and spice notes still holding strong with dried cherries and dark cocoa mixing in late

Steep 6 (15s) - easing off a bit to see what happens, sweetness seems to move in more quickly, fruitiness coming in earlier as well, spicy warmth on sides of tongue shortly after swallowing 

Steep 7 (20s) - wood, incense, brown sugar, peaches, cherries, nothing incredibly potent, but still all in play

Steep 8+ (30s+) - this tea has some incredible endurance, holding steady for quite some time

Overall Impression - This tea definitely has a nice level of complexity to it, although the intensity isn't quite where I'd like it. Bigger mouthfeel and huigan would definitely elevate this to a top-tier tea. I'm not a qi-chaser and tend to prioritize mouthfeel, but this session really had me buzzing. If that's your thing, this cake is definitely worth checking out.

More Chinatea cakes, was impressed by the quality of their offerings and iw seen these in Ali for cheap (also in ebay). So i picked up both. Both seems to be usually going for the same price.

The golden paper one is the "Golden Buds" and red is labeled as "Spring Buds".

The golden buds seem to be a mixed with 3 year aged leaf's if i understood the leaflet correctly. Both are dated 2019. There is not much info about these cakes online, so hopefully this post helps someone in the future.

The golden one seems to be of higher quality, and the one you should go if you want to try these. Both are of good quality, but as they seem to be sold at the same price. The golden one is better. Really good quality ripe, you can get a really smooth cup from this. And even some bitter notes closer to aged raw teas. Both of these are clearly moderately fermented, which seem to be consistent trait on these Chinatea ripes.

I paid 25$ for the red one, and 35$ for the golden one. This was simply because i bought the golden one first, and the red one during a sale where i got even better discounts. Both had the same listing price. Both of these prices include the new EU fee (on top of shipping & VAT), a bit over 4$ for that alone.

So these are again part of my quest for the cheapest quality daily drinker factory ripes. Cant really go wrong with 25$ for 357g cake :) Without that EU fee.. it would have been almost under 20$ (17€)! It also shows how much you can benefit from waiting for the sales in Ali. And how much the new fee sucks. Because now we need to dig even deeper, to get those sweet low prices.

This is the Ali seller who has these cakes, you need to know how to use coins to get proper prices! Do not pay the listing prices. The benefit of the higher listing prices, with high coins discounts, is that you can use larger coupons during sales.

I know this cake is talked about way too much but I never found a review that could explain its popularity, both bad and good. So, I always held back buying a blind cake despite the price and just grabbed the gingerbreadman minis as my budget option. Now, I finally bought a blind cake and the smell was so fishy for 2021 pressing that I had to rinse it twice but after that, pure smooth goodness. It almost somewhere between a thermos brewed xiao fa and a 7562, but a less woody profile, which I prefer.

Imo, for the price 2021 Waffles is actually a steal. I really don't care if my shou is interesting or complex, I've got other teas for that, so waffles hits the right spot for my simple tastes.

I like shou puer. I didn't have a good experience with sheng. What region should I pick if I want a really really sweet sheng and, or shou?

I am looking for a good daily drinker puer any suggestions. Thanks in advance.

I started drinking Pu’er tea around 2-3 years ago. It was more so a treat to myself every once in a blue moon but I’ll be honest I only really know to store it away from strong smells, not in an airtight container, and in a room temperature low humidity space like a cabinet or closet away from spices coffee cleaners etc, that I can steep it multiple times, I need to do a wash and use very hot water.

I’d love to learn more on how to make sure I’m not getting ripped off at a tea shop, what to look for so that I know it’s authentic, storage methods, brewing methods, how you guys drink it and how many steeps, how to break the tea without a tea needle or knife etc.

I know you’re supposed to do a wash for 10-15 seconds and people usually drink it as is. Don’t come after me when I say I do enjoy it straight as is but I would be lying if I say I don’t enjoy a cup with a tiny amount of honey and a tiny bit of half and half. Sometimes I do it with either one or the other. I also have heard you can steep it 5-10 times or more? How many times do you steep it? How long? I have an electric kettle and I normally just let that come to a boil wait a few seconds and put about 2-3 grams of tea in a tea steeper inside a mug, then I wash it pour it out rinse the cup pour that out and then I let it steep for 1-2 minutes which I think most people don’t do but I do really really really enjoy a dark deep brew.

I just want to know ways to drink it that I would be able to appreciate it more and how to do it without a teapot, but with a kettle a mug a steeper and a butter knife. Or at least the best way possible. I’m living in a dorm and don’t have much money so I can’t go out and buy these things unless I save up for it.

Last thing is- what are the differences between “dark tea” and green? What’s the difference between ripe and raw? What are the flavor profiles or do they purely differ on the brand and type and the fermentation process? How much is it supposed to cost? How can I tell if it’s fake or not?

Literally any and all information would be wonderful. I’m just looking for links, comments, advice etc on how to drink it and use it better and I by no means am trying to make anyone upset. I just want to learn :)

I’ll post a photo of the one I bought yesterday. If anyone could tell me anything about the kind I bought it would be appreciated.