A Tea Addict's Journal

Saturday August 19, 2006

August 19, 2006 · 6 Comments

I keep going back to the Best Tea House, but I am finally closing in on some potential purchases.

Two things, really

1) A pot that I like.

Among the many:

Is this…

What do you think? It’s a bit steep in price… close to $180 USD. It’s not very big (the coin is about the size of a quarter — slightly bigger than a quarter). The pot is nicely shaped, I think, and pours well. The lid obviously fits very nicely over the pot — very smooth worksmanship. You know how some pots, when you turn the lid, you can feel it’s slightly uneven? This one feels absolutely flawless.

But it’s not cheap.

I’m thinking of using it for puerh. I’m not sure. What do you all think?

2) Tea. Puerh, to be exact

More pictures:

This is a cake from Fuyuanchang, which, from what I understand, is a brand that is made primarily for export to Korea. This is, now that I’ve looked more carefully, probably a 2006 cake, as it has a round sticker about how it is a “no pollution” cake with the date 2006 on it.

The cake is a Mengku Spring tips. The leaves are mid sized, I guess, as you can see. The flavour is mostly sweetness, with a bit of bite and there’s some smokiness in there. It’s still an early cake, so I think that’s what you can expect. Not bad, pretty pleasant overall. The cake is not expensive — about $10 USD a piece if I buy the whole tong.

Comments?

Categories: Uncategorized

6 responses so far ↓

  • osososososos // August 19, 2006 at 4:21 pm | Reply

    expensive, but beautiful pot.
    re: the tea, you should set your white balance to the lighting of the shop (tungsten?), cuz it’s coming out a bit yellowed. looks pretty otherwise! how’s the compression?

  • MANDARINstea // August 19, 2006 at 10:29 pm | Reply

    What a nice pot… you are truly in trouble : )

    When was it made?

  • Phyllo // August 19, 2006 at 11:30 pm | Reply

    Hey, that’s a nice pot you picked!  Grab it before Toki or I do! 🙂

    I also thought the ones with wavy cloud are good classic designs…I’m always looking for a replica with great workmanship, but no luck so far.

    About the tea, I’m not sure about buying a tong. Are you thinking for long term aging?

  • Phyllo // August 20, 2006 at 1:01 am | Reply

    Oops, picture didn’t come out in comments section.  I meant the 2 pots in the mid-level, smack dab in the middle, with wavy pattern in the middle of the body….They look like one of Gu Jingzhou’s creation that sold for >US$200K.

  • MANDARINstea // August 20, 2006 at 1:17 am | Reply

    A real Gu Jingzhou’s usually fetch for or start at 10,000 US. and up….. Phyllo my friend, never buy any of that before asking your friends!? hehe.

  • MarshalN // August 20, 2006 at 3:07 am | Reply

    The pot is a consignment piece, not one of BTH’s own offerings. It’s been used before, and obviously well made. I’m very, very tempted. I just fear it might be a little small for puerh.

    As for the tea — the colours is slightly off. Although I do think it is a bit yellow to begin with. Yeah, this isn’t for drinking it now, but rather just letting it rot for 20 years. I think it will turn into something reasonable. Nothing fantastic. Decent cha qi… and cheap enough at $10 a piece.

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