What is this chinese tea and how can I replace it?
December 5, 2010 11:39 AM   Subscribe

Help me identify this style of chinese tea.

My father went on a business trip a couple three years ago, to somewhere in China. He was being a visiting dignitary on a business trip associated with the business school at the university where he works, and he was given this tea as one of the make-nicey gifts that were exchanged. Apparently it was produced locally in the area they were.

My father doesn't drink tea, so he gave it to my husband, who does. My husband drank all the tea and really liked it. We'd like to replace it with the same stuff or something similar. But all I can get from the label is that it is some sort of Pu Erh tea, which is a pretty broad category.

Can you help me figure out what a good replacement would be?

If the pictures aren't clear enough, I'd be happy to take more or closer up ones.
posted by leahwrenn to Food & Drink (13 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
It says the name in English in the cylinder on the left - Gu Zhuang Pu Erh tea. Could it be this or this?
posted by zippy at 11:43 AM on December 5, 2010


Also, for what it's worth, the background image on the cylinder on the left matches the background image on the second link. Here's a closeup.
posted by zippy at 11:46 AM on December 5, 2010


My friend suggests that you look for Tian Fu brand, she has never heard of the brand in the picture.
posted by parmanparman at 11:46 AM on December 5, 2010


zippy's right about the brand - Li Ji Guzhuang (李记谷庄); can't read all the characters in the pic to say for certain which of their Pu'er teas it is. Quick search in Chinese seems to suggest the brand isn't actually that long-standing - this Baidu answer says they first sold tea in 2005. Also says they've won awards at tea shows (big deal in China now but wouldn't be surprised if they were fixed) and got themselves named as the official tea of China-ASEAN talks.
posted by Abiezer at 11:59 AM on December 5, 2010


Should say that 2005 might be just the first time that they sold Pu'er, as opposed to any tea, as that's what's specifically being asked/answered at that link I gave; the company could well have been going much longer (and also on closer inspection it was just a media forum at the China-ASEAN talks).
posted by Abiezer at 12:10 PM on December 5, 2010


In fact scrub that altogether - the questioner was asking specifically about the 2005 batch, so tells us nothing about the company's longevity. I'll slink off embarrassed now.
posted by Abiezer at 12:14 PM on December 5, 2010


Response by poster: There seem to be different pu erh options---raw vs. cooked, loose vs. cake. The stuff we had was definitely loose, so zippy's second suggestion seems to be not likely since it says it's a cake. I can't tell if the first (out of stock) one would be right or not.

But I'm not committed to that brand, necessarily, but rather something that's the same style/quality.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!
posted by leahwrenn at 1:50 PM on December 5, 2010


Re: Zippy's 2nd suggestion: It's probably the same brand (same chinese, anyways). Could it also perhaps be sold loose-leaf?

Ten Ren is a decent brand. Their Ti Kuan Yin is also pretty good.
posted by onegoodthing at 4:15 PM on December 5, 2010


Pu-erh teas come in a huge variety of quality. I've found a few resources to be really useful in learning about these teas: pu-erh.net has a wealth of knowledge about the different kinds of pu-erhs you mentioned and ow they are made, plus it gives some reviews of various teas and tea shops. My personal favorite tea shops are Seven Cups and Jing -- the people running the sites really know their tea, are responsive to questions, and offer quality teas at decent (but not bargain) prices. Pu-erh is kind of like wine -- it comes in "vintages" and gets better with age if properly stored, plus there is a whole community of people rating it, trading it, hoarding it, and selling cheap knockoffs of the fancy stuff. Unfortunately, much of this acticity is conducted in Chinese, which I don't speak. I've had the best experiences with Seven Cups, which is a US based importer with a Chinese tea master who travels frequently to China to select the teas. They are really nice folks and will answer any questions you have without being snobby about it. (I don't work for them or anything, I just buy lots and lots of tea because I drink it every day.)
posted by cubby at 6:10 PM on December 5, 2010


Also - generally I find the pressed cakes to be of better quality than loose-leaf pu-erh. The good stuff gets is flavor from being aged after being pressed into the cake. When left loose, it must go through the "cooking" process which chemically speeds up the same effects that long-term aging of uncooked, "green" tea leaves. Plus, its super fun to pry apart the tea cake.
posted by cubby at 6:13 PM on December 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


Indeed tea comes in a vast constellation of varietals and quality. I was going to suggest visiting a Chinese tea purveyor for a tasting before selecting which batch you wish to purchase... but you're in Fairbanks, AK.

Any chance of visiting Vancouver BC, in the future?
posted by porpoise at 7:23 PM on December 5, 2010


Can't help you on that, specifically, but pu-erh does come in a vast array of qualities. Puerh can get moldy, or absorb flavors from the scents around it - which is why, it's really important to NOT buy pu-erh from a chinese grocery market where they're storing it next to the dried fish...

I get most of my tea here: http://www.imperialtea.com/. They have both loose leaf and cake puerh. Cakes are expensive, but they last a long, long time. If you order from them, you can probably email the owner your pictures and he might be able to give you some recommendations of what would be the closest (and probably superior) type they have.
posted by yeloson at 10:04 PM on December 5, 2010


For Pu-Er teas, I like Life In Teacup.

I can't tell from the packaging whether it is raw (sheng) or cooked (shu), but as long as you're buying from the same style it should be close enough.
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 10:05 PM on December 5, 2010


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